Page 73 of Tiger's Dream
“It is not made of the finest steel, that I’ll grant you, but the Damon Amulet is the most powerful weapon you have.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “Powerful and not working at the moment,” I said.
“No,” he said. “I imagine it wouldn’t be right now.”
My back stiffened. “You know what’s happened then?”
He sighed. “Yes. I know.”
“If you knew this was going to happen, you should have warned us.”
“Just because I know something doesn’t mean I can or will prevent it from happening.”
“Yeah. Which reminds me.” I took a threatening step toward him, not entirely sure what I was going to do. It wasn’t as if I’d never fought him before. We’d sparred plenty in the long years we’d known each other. My fists tightened and the blood pounded in my veins.
“You can strike me if you like, son,” he said softly. “I wouldn’t blame you.”
He looked so tired in that moment. The utter exhaustion was like a cloak he wore over his still-strong frame. I recalled the sadness I’d felt when we lost him. I’d choked it down where it now rested deep in my belly, but it still tore up my insides like a burr whenever I thought about it, leaving me raw and bleeding. The fact was, I still mourned him. The taste of it was ashy in my mouth.
I turned away from him. “So what’s wrong with it?” I asked, raising the amulet between my fingers.
“What’s wrong is that when Anamika crossed paths with her former self, she essentially erased her future self from the fabric of the universe. The goddess Durga no longer exists, and because of that, the bond between you has fragmented and the amulet has no power. Without a goddess, Damon and his amulet have no purpose.”
He took a seat on a fallen log and continued, “Everything the two of you were supposed to do, were supposed to become, is now existing in limbo.”
The blood in my veins froze. “Do you mean Ren and Kelsey…”
“They never met. In this plane, both you and Ren died a long time ago. This version of you cannot shift into a tiger. If fact, you have no power at all other than what you would have had as a young warrior.”
“The weapons?” I asked.
“The weapons and gifts of Durga are fading away. Even if you were able to recover them from the fiends who made off with them, and managed somehow to wield them, they would not serve you. Do you remember how I struggled to use the bow?”
“I remember.”
“You would be as unable to draw it as I was. Regardless, the weapons will soon vanish.”
“And what about the demon?”
“Lokesh?”
I nodded.
“He never gained immortality because the Damon Amulet doesn’t exist in this plane.”
“I see.” I sunk down to the grass, folding my legs beneath me and rubbing my thumb mindlessly over the amulet. I’d lost her. I’d lost myself. I’d lost everything. Just as despair threatened to sink me, I thought of something. “Wait. If the amulet never existed, then how are you here?”
Kadam gave me a reedy smile. “You always were a quick strategist. The answer is, you were able to fix it in my plane of existence. Do you recall when I said that I’d traveled down many possible paths?”
“Yes,” I answered somberly.
“This was one of the potential paths. In fact, this is the one that ultimately leads to the best outcome.”
“And that is?”
“I believe you can prevail and save her.”
“But how? Do you take me back to her?”
