Page 202 of Tiger's Dream
Time passed as the two of us happily focused on our family. We took great delight in raising our young ones. When our children, who became mighty hunters and skilled warriors, were old enough, they accompanied us into our battles. I watched proudly as they fought and was able to heal them merely by touching the Damon Amulet to their skin.
One by one, they left us. It was always sad and we visited them as often as we could, but eventually our children and then our grandchildren died. They lived long past the age of the mortals around them. They were each leaders in their own way, and we were proud of them.
We attended each funeral, birth, and wedding, in some cases openly, as parents and grandparents, but then, later, as strangers. When our brood became too large to keep track of, we left off watching them, though we could sense, through the truth stones we wore, when we came across certain people, that they were a part of us.
Every decade, on our anniversary, I started a tradition of adding to the gifts I’d given Ana. The mango tree had thrived under her care, and I plucked the ripest fruit and planted her a new tree until a great grove of them had risen near our mountain home. With the help of Yínbáilóng, the white dragon, I found a grouping of giant clams and was able to add more of the precious black pearls to her necklace.
We visited the home of the phoenixes, and each new bird gifted me with a feather, which I wove onto her belt. After hundreds of years of adding to her wedding presents, the magic inside each one grew until we realized what we were looking at. They were the gifts of Durga. The single pearl had become the Pearl Necklace. The belt of phoenix feathers became the Rope of Fire. The green veil, the one she wore most frequently, was now imbued with even more magic and it became the Divine Scarf.
One day as we were walking in the grove of mango trees, we forgot to phase out of time. Inspired by the bucolic setting, I’d drawn Ana beneath the branches and kissed her. As we were leaving, I noticed something shimmering above us on a high limb of the tree. Ana lifted her arms, wrapping a bubble around us, and we rose in the air. There, nestled among the other mango fruits, one lone globe bobbed, the sunlight sparkling off the shining skin.
She plucked it and held it out to me with a smile. We now had all the gifts and we knew where they’d come from. They’d been woven together by time, love, and magic.
Eventually, the story of the goddess and her tiger changed and people forgot. Prayers and supplications became not only less frequent but less pressing. Ana became ill for the first time since she’d accepted the role of the goddess. Alarmed, I sought out Kadam.
He mixed a drink for her. When I asked him what it was, he replied, “Soma. The restorative of the gods.”
“The same one you gave me all those years ago?”
“Yes. She can recover from this sickness, Kishan, but I fear it will sap some of your energy as she draws upon the healing power inside you. Do you remember when Kelsey healed Ren from the Gáe Bolga?”
“Yes,” I answered, hope filling me.
“You can do the same with your bond. Just be cautious not to give so much that there is nothing left for yourself. At this point, she cannot survive without you.”
“I’ll do it,” I insisted. “Take whatever you need to.”
“Kishan,” Kadam said, “you know that neither you nor she is immortal. Ana has wielded great power over the centuries. It’s taken a toll on her. She begins to show signs of age.”
“Then I’ll gather more elixir from the mermaid. I’ll go to the phoenix for help.”
“The elixir no longer works on her. She is now immune to its effects. As for firefruit juice, I fear it is the same. This is the natural way of things. I’m sorry, son, but Ana’s body is tired. Her energy wanes. She must draw upon your stores now if she is to heal.”
Looking down at my lovely wife, I touched my fingers to her dark hair. Even in the throes of sickness, she looked as young as the day we married. If her eyes weren’t as bright or her skin wasn’t as firm, I considered it due to her illness. Ana wasn’t aging. I couldn’t accept what Kadam was saying. This time he was wrong.
“Ren didn’t age. And you’ve lived as long as she has,” I argued, desperate to find a solution.
“I have led a quiet life other than these last few months. As for Ren, the tiger and Yesubai’s gift kept Ren young,” he explained. “The Damon Amulet grants long life, especially to you and Ren, who embraced the essence of the tiger. But you and Ana have lived many, many years. Much longer when you consider how many weeks and months you’ve skipped through time. And you’ve drawn upon the power of the amulet in ways the rest of us haven’t.
“Ana has always wielded her power through you,” he said. “It’s been shared freely between you all these years through your bond, allowing you both to do many great things in serving mankind, but it burns through her now. She is beginning to feel the weight of her mortality.”
“You’re certain?”
“I am.” Kadam touched her shoulder and I saw something else in his eyes.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I want to say I’m sorry.”
“For what? You didn’t cause this.”
“No. But I accelerated the process.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you…if you didn’t have to save me from trapping myself in the grave, the two of you might have had many more years together. I’m afraid saving Ren’s life and then rescuing me cost you both. We drained your power significantly. It’s a terrible thing, son. I cannot ask you to forgive me, for there is nothing I could ever do to make up for this loss.”
I took her hand as she writhed in fever, pressing her fingers to my lips. We didn’t speak for many moments. “It doesn’t matter,” I finally told him quietly. “Ana would have wanted you saved no matter the cost. I knew there would be a price to pay.”
