Page 88 of Tiger's Curse
He laughed quietly, carefully set me down, and said, “It means princess. Let’s find a good place to sleep for a couple of hours, shall we? I’ll run back and tell Mr. Kadam that we’re planning to wait till dawn to try again.”
He took my hand and led me to a grassy spot hidden from view. Once I was settled, he left. I bunched my quilt up under my head and attempted to sleep. Restless until Ren returned, I gratefully snuggled against his tiger back and fell asleep.
I awoke to find myself moving, nestled in Ren’s arms. He was carrying me back to the doorway. I sleepily mumbled, “You don’t have to carry me. I can walk.”
He smiled. “You were tired, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you. Besides, we’re here already.”
It was still dark outside, but the eastern horizon was just starting to lighten. The statue was the same as we’d left it—with red snake eyes glowing and mist seeping out from the mouth. We stood in the doorway for a moment. I immediately felt something twist and move. It was Fanindra. She suddenly came alive, swelled to her normal size, and unwound herself from my arm.
Ren lowered me closer to the ground so she could drop delicately to the dirt below. She wound her way toward the statue and found a way to climb up to the top where the snake heads were resting.
We watched from the steps as she weaved over and under the seven snakes. As she passed them, they too came alive and writhed back and forth. We could see the coils that the statue was sitting on slowly change to scaly flesh.
Fanindra made her way back down and slithered over to Ren and me. Winding her body into loops, she stiffened and shrunk back to her golden armlet form. Ren set me down and walked over to pick her up. He slid her carefully up my arm, smiled at me, then traced the scratches on my arm lightly and frowned. He brushed a light kiss on the tender skin and changed back into a tiger.
We approached the statue where the wriggling snake torso was now moving and shifting. The snake coils lifted and slowly raised the statue higher and higher in the air, until a black void opened up underneath. It raised high enough that there was space for Ren and me to step down into the opening.
Peering into the hole, I saw a series of stone steps that disappeared down into the darkness. The mouth of the statue suddenly stopped emitting fog, and, instead, began to draw it back in. Fog swept back toward us, up into the mouth of the statue, and dropped down into the pit below. I gulped and turned my flashlight toward the steps. We stepped between the thick snake coils, and Ren and I descended into a fog of nebulous shadow.
We had found the entrance to Kishkindha.
20
trials
We walked carefully down the stone steps, totally dependent on the weak illumination of my tiny flashlight. When we reached the bottom, Fanindra’s eyes began to glow and gave the tunnel an eerie, viridian illumination.
I stopped Ren and reread Durga’s prophecy out loud.
For protection, seek her temple
And take hold of Durga’s blessing.
Travel west and search Kishkindha
Where simians rule the ground.
Gada strike in Hanuman’s realm;
And hunt the branch that’s bound.
Thorny dangers grasp above;
Dazzling dangers lie below,
Strangle, ensnare, the ones you love—
And trap in brackish undertow.
Lurid phantoms thwart your route
And guardians wait to bar your way.
Beware once they begin pursuit
Or embrace their moldering decay.
But all of this you can refute
