Page 75 of Tiger's Dream
“As you know, each gift corresponds with one piece of the amulet. The necklace works with the water piece. The scarf with air.”
“So Fanindra goes with…”
“Time,” he answered for me.
“Time?” I gaped.
“Do you remember when I told you about the first temple of Durga? The one with the columns?”
“Yes. You told me that was how Kelsey figured out how to summon the goddess.”
“Correct. At the time, Kelsey discovered four columns. Each one depicted a scene that gave a small glimpse into the different quests you went on. Since that time, I’ve studied the columns in great depth, and what I found was very revealing. Basically, each one represented either earth, air, fire, or water. Kishkindha, being underground, was earth. Shangri-La was air.”
“Yes, yes. Fire was the place we found the Lords of the Flame, and water was obviously the City of the Seven Pagodas. What does that have to do with anything?” I asked, rubbing a hand through my hair.
Kadam gave me the same look he gave me when I was a young man and didn’t want to put in the time or energy to figure out his war scenarios. “How many gifts are there?”
“Apparently five,” I spouted off automatically.
“And how many pieces are in the amulet?” he queried softly.
“Five,” I repeated, growing impatient.
“And the number of columns?” he queried, giving me a meaningful look.
“Okay,” I said, wrapping my brain around his puzzle. “You’re saying there was another column representing the last piece of the amulet?”
“Yes, there was once. To guard the information of the time portion of the amulet, that column was destroyed.”
“Who destroyed it?”
He waved a hand. “The who is irrelevant. The question you should be asking is, what was on it?”
“Fine,” I said. “What was on it?”
“Like you said, the columns showed how the goddess Durga could be summoned for each quest.”
“But there aren’t any more quests. We’ve defeated Lokesh.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Lokeshisgone. But it still remains that there is one more quest in your future—saving Anamika.”
I frowned. “So I do what, exactly? Summon the goddess again? Draw her out like I did with Ren? Fight dragons?” I pointed a finger at him. “You said the goddess Durga doesn’t exist in this plane. How can I summon her if she doesn’t exist?”
“She doesn’t, but still, summon her you must. You must make an offering to the goddess to summon her soul and separate her from her younger form. If you are successful, then the two of you will return to the normal time stream, and the young Anamika Kalinga will become what she is meant to become. She is already the daughter of a powerful man, but when she returns from her ordeal, she will become much more.
“If you fail,” Kadam said, “she will never become a champion or a warrior. She will never be trained alongside her brother or learn how to lead armies. It would not be an unhappy life, but the goddess Durga will never exist, and all the good she does and has done and will do will be undone.”
I pressed my forefinger and thumb on my nose, pinching the bridge. “Okay,” I said.
“Okay?”
“Okay.” I lifted my head. “I’ll go. Make an offering. Do whatever needs to be done. If you think I can bring her back, save her, I will.”
He gave me a long, discerning look, and it felt like he was looking at the man I’d become and somehow found me lacking. The notion disturbed me more than it should have. “Here,” he said. “Take her.”
Rising, he handed over Fanindra and then dropped an old rucksack at my feet.
“What’s this?” I asked, hefting it over a shoulder.
