Page 5 of Tiger's Dream
“Yes. You’d been missing for weeks.”
“Correct. I shared with you then that a power had whisked away Nilima and me when the harpoon shot toward us.”
When I nodded, he pulled the broken piece of the Damon Amulet he used to wear from his shirt and went on, “And since then you have discovered that the piece of the amulet I wear is the one that controls space and time.”
“Yes. But how is it that you are wearing the amulet once again when I know that your particular piece, the one used to send Lokesh to the past, has been restored to the whole and is currently around Anamika’s neck?”
“I have this piece because I still wear it in my own time.”
Standing, I began to pace. Kadam pulled a jar from his pocket and unscrewed the lid. A spicy scent wafted up. “Frankincense?” he offered. “It calms the nerves.
I waved his offer away and he shrugged, taking a piece for himself before screwing the jar lid shut. “Then tell mewhenyou are from,” I pressed.
Kadam replied softly, “I am visiting you from just before my death. You all believed that I was under the weather after my return, but in fact I was doing the work that destiny had assigned me.”
“You were missing often,” I mumbled. “Distant.”
“Yes,” he answered. “Very distant, in fact.”
Kneeling before him, I pleaded, “You can go back then and undo what has happened. We can defeat Lokesh alongside you. There’s no need for you to sacrifice yourself. You don’t have to die. It hasn’t happened in your timeline, so we can prevent it.”
He shook his head. “Lokesh is too powerful. If you had helped me, Miss Kelsey would have been taken.”
“But we could’ve—”
Kadam interrupted by raising his hand. “Kishan, son, trust me when I say that my death is and was the only way to send Lokesh to the past, and his defeat in the past affects the future. Without a monster for Anamika to defeat, without a goddess”—he smiled—“or two, riding into battle on the back of a tiger, the fabric of our world would unravel. This is much more important than prolonging my life.”
When I didn’t respond, he reached over and gripped my arm. “Please accept this. Leaving you will be the hardest thing I’ll ever have to do, but I know, it must be done. Somehow, when the time comes, I’ll try to find the courage.”
Dismayed, I pressed my forehead to his knee. My eyes stung with unshed tears. “I know you will,” I said, grieving anew for his impending loss.
When I raised my head, I asked, “Did Phet ever exist or has he always been you?”
“Phet’s purpose was to orchestrate the tiger’s curse. I am Phet and he is me…most of the time,” he demurred.
“But we would have smelled you. Both Ren and I would have figured it out long ago.”
Kadam shook his head. “I was able to stifle my scent, not only by filling the hut with copious amounts of herbs but by shifting myself slightly in time. You have this ability as well. Both of you could see me and touch me, but if you think back, you will not recall that Phet had a personal essence.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Kishan, as much as I would like to, discussing Phet’s place in our world is not the reason I am here today. Today you must journey into the future to save Miss Kelsey.”
“Save her? How? Has Ren—”
Kadam held up his hands to stop me, stood, and said, “It will be easier to show you. You’ll need the Damon Amulet. Borrow it from Anamika but do not share with her that you’ve seen me, not yet. Meet me back here in one hour, and I will give you the instructions you need to fulfill your purpose.”
I blinked and he was gone, leaving only the crushed blades of grass where he’d stood. My world had been upheaved once again, but this time the idea electrified me. Every nerve was on edge, and adrenaline pumped through my veins as I ran through the trees. Unsatisfied with my pace, I switched to tiger form and covered the distance to the base of Durga’s mountain in a short time.
Carved into the towering Himalayan peak called Mt. Kailash, Durga’s palace was rarely seen since it often hid within the clouds, but when the sun chased away our dewy blanket, the vision of our home was stunning. It was modeled after the style of a Chinese temple with towers, pavilions, and archways that conformed to the contours of the mountainside. Five stories were connected by stairways and long corridors, and the steep rooftops were laid with glazed tiles that sparkled in the sunshine.
In the center of two symmetrical towers, Anamika had used her power to produce a soaring fountain that spilled over the granite stones on the lower level and then freely flowed down the mountainside, creating a waterfall that reflected rainbows when the afternoon sun slanted in just the right way.
Surrounding the fountain was an expansive flower garden with dozens of varieties of roses, and in one corner she had fashioned a large pond, where she cultivated lotus blossoms, her favorite flower. When I stayed in the palace, I preferred spending my time in her garden. At night I drowsed on the soft cut grass under a sky brilliant with stars and imagined what could have been.
A zigzagging staircase was cut into the stone leading from the palace down to the base of the mountain, where acolytes gathered to beg favors of the goddess. It was the only way for mortals to access our home, and because of this, it was gated and heavily guarded. There were always a good number of people camped directly under the palace, begging for admittance. Only a few special people were allowed to gain an audience with Anamika. Even then, as they climbed to the top, they were always escorted by the loyal remnants of Durga’s army.
Wanting to avoid being seen, I headed around the back side of the mountain to a private entrance only Anamika and I used. As dramatic as it was to ascend and descend on a cloud every day, we’d both decided we wanted something more practical and built secret entrances into the mountain palace that had once belonged to Lokesh.
Switching to human form, I placed my hand into a sunken depression where we’d created a lock of sorts using our power. It had been my idea to create handprints that would only read and accept us. I knew Kelsey had been able to use the magic of Phet’s henna design to enter the different realms where the gifts of Durga had been hidden, and the idea stuck with me.
The hidden door opened, and I made sure it shut behind me before heading up the long staircase. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me and I stopped cold on one of the steps. I realized that there had never been a henna design given by Phet. It had always been Kadam’s design. He’d been the one to start Kelsey on her journey. Shaking my head, I tried not to think about the strangeness of Kadam being Phet and focused instead on Kelsey. The stairs seemed endless most days but especially when I knew I’d be seeing Kelsey soon.
