Page 90 of Tiger's Curse
I swallowed and nodded as he gently removed the curly branch from my arm and batted away another one that was reaching out for my neck.
“Come on.”
He grabbed thegadaout of my hand and started beating it against the branches, but they just tried to wrap their sharp green fingers around the weapon, unaffected by its power. Then he moved to a trunk and beat it severely.
Immediately, the tree gathered into itself. Branches folded inward and wrapped around the trunk protectively. Ren stepped in front of me and cautioned me to wait by the injured tree. He walked ahead a few paces and swung thegada.
He thrashed the tree trunks, leaving gaping, pulpy wounds as he went. I followed a length behind as he made slow progress through the forest. The branches seemed to know what he was up to and tore at him viciously, but Ren seemed to have an endless amount of energy.
I winced as I watched the cuts and scrapes appear across every bare patch of his skin. His back was soon lacerated, his shirt torn and bloody. He looked like he’d been brutally whipped with a cat-o’-nine-tails.
At last, we reached the edge of the needle forest and stopped in a clearing. He pulled me out of the reach of the branches and allowed his body to collapse to the ground. He bent over, sweating and winded from his exertion. I took some water out of my backpack and offered it to him. He drank the entire bottle in one gulp.
I leaned over and inspected his bloody arm. His body was slippery with blood and sweat. I got out another water bottle and an old T-shirt and began cleaning the dirt from his cuts and bruises. I pressed the cool, wet cloth to his face and back. He started to relax and breathe slower as I continued my ministrations. His cuts quickly began to heal, and as my worry over Ren diminished, I realized something.
“Ren! You’ve been a man now for much longer than twenty-four minutes. Are you okay—well aside from the scratches?”
He rubbed his hand on his chest. “I feel . . . fine. I don’t feel the need to change back.”
“Maybe this is all we need to do. Maybe we’ve broken the curse!”
He considered for a minute. “No, I don’t think so. I have a feeling that we need to move on.”
“Why don’t you test it? See if you can become a tiger or not.”
He changed into a tiger and back and his bloody torn clothes were immediately replaced with clean white cloth.
“Perhaps it’s just the magic of this place that allows me to be human.”
My face must have appeared crestfallen. Ren laughed and kissed my fingers.
“Don’t worry, Kells. I’ll be fully human soon, but for now I’ll take this gift as long as I can keep it.”
He winked at me and grinned, and then he leaned over to pull me closer so he could have a turn at examining my injuries. He inspected my arms, legs, and neck. He swiped the wet cloth down my arms and cleaned my cuts with healing tenderness. I knew that his injuries were much more severe than mine, so I tried to dissuade him, but he wouldn’t have it.
He declared, “Everything checks out okay. You have one wicked scratch on your neck, but I think it’ll heal fine.” He bathed the back of my neck with the towel and pressed it there for a moment. Then he tugged at the collar of my T-shirt with his finger. “Are there, ah, anyotherplaces you want me to check out for you?”
I batted his hand away. “No, thank you. Thoseotherplaces I can check for myself.”
He laughed good-naturedly, and then stood and helped me up. He slipped on my backpack and hefted thegadaover one shoulder. After offering me his hand, we began walking.
We passed more of the needle trees, but they were spaced much farther apart and were mixed in with some normal, non-killer types of trees, so we were able to stay out of their range. Ren twined his fingers through mine.
“You know, it’s nice just to walk with you and not be worried about how much time I have left.”
“Hmm, yes,” I agreed shyly.
Ren seemed happy despite our situation. I thought about how hard it must be for him, knowing that he had very little time each day to be a man and trying to make the most of each and every minute. He felt like this creepy place was a gift. His cheerful mood eventually affected me too.
I knew that worse challenges probably awaited us, but walking alongside Ren, I didn’t care. I let myself enjoy my time with him.
We found a dirt path again and started to follow it. The path led toward some hills and a large tunnel that we assumed led through them. There was no other place to go, so we entered slowly, keeping a careful watch of our surroundings. Lit torches lined the stone walls, and many other tunnels led off from the main one. I jumped as I saw something pass by in a side passage.
“Ren! I saw something in there.”
“I saw something too.”
It seemed we were in a vast honeycomb of tunnels, and figures kept appearing at the edge of our vision. I pressed my body close against Ren, and he draped an arm around my shoulders.
