Page 114 of Tiger's Quest
“Okay, my turn.” I picked up a round gourd painted with flowers, raised it above my head, and smashed it to the floor. A black, hissing snake emerged from the broken pieces. It coiled to strike and spat at my leg. Before I could raise my hand, I heard a metallic whirring. Kishan’s chakram sank into the wooden floor at my feet, severing the snake’s head. The serpent’s body and the broken gourd melted into the floor.
“Umm, your turn. Maybe it’s a good idea to go with plain gourds.”
He chose a bottle-shaped gourd, which produced something that looked like milk. I cautioned him not to drink it because it might not be what it seemed. He agreed, but we found that if we didn’t drink it, the next gourd wouldn’t break, and the broken one with the milk inside wouldn’t dissolve. He gulped down the milk and we went on.
I chose a huge white gourd and got moonlight.
A small warty gourd produced sand.
A tall thin one made beautiful music.
A thick, gray gourd that looked like a bottle-nosed dolphin splashed seawater on Kishan’s leg.
My next choice was a spoon-shaped one. When I broke it, a black mist emerged and headed for me. I darted away, but it followed and moved toward my mouth and nose. There was nothing Kishan could do. I breathed it in and began coughing. My vision blurred. I felt dizzy and staggered. Kishan caught me.
“Kelsey! You’re turning pale! How do you feel?”
“Not good. I think that one was disease.”
“Here. Lie down and rest. Maybe I can find a cure.”
He began frantically breaking gourds while I watched. I shivered and started to sweat, a scorpion came out of the next one and he stomped on it with his boot. He found a gourd with wind, one with a fish, and one that contained a small star that glowed so brightly we had to close our eyes until the light diminished and it sunk into the floor.
Every time he found a liquid, he rushed it over to me and made me drink. I drank some fruit nectar, regular water, and some kind of bitter dark chocolate. I refused to drink one that smelled like rubbing alcohol but I dabbed it on my skin so the gourd would disappear.
The next three contained clouds, a giant tarantula, which he kicked into the corner of the room, and a ruby, which he pocketed. My vision was going black at this point, and Kishan was getting desperate. The next gourd he chose had some kind of pill. We debated if I should take it or not. I was really dizzy and weak, feverish and sweaty. Breathing was hard, and my heart was racing. I panicked, feeling sure that if we couldn’t find something soon, I’d die. I chewed the pill and swallowed. It tasted like a kid’s vitamin, and it didn’t make me feel better.
Two more gourds contained cheese and a ring. He ate the cheese and slipped the ring on his finger. The next one had a white liquid. He was nervous. It could be a poison that killed me outright or it could be my cure or it could be the elixir of eternal youth for all we knew. I waved him over.
“I’ll drink it. Help me.”
He lifted my head and tilted the gourd, its contents spilling between my dry, cracked lips. The liquid trickled down my throat as I swallowed weakly. Immediately, I began to feel strength return to my limbs.
“More.”
He held the gourd steady as I drank. It tasted delicious and gave me enough strength to take the gourd from him. Wrapping both hands around the bowl shape, I gulped down the rest in two big swallows. I felt stronger than I had before we’d come into the room.
“You look much better, Kells. How do you feel?”
I stood up. “I feel good! Strong. Invincible, even.”
He let out a shaky breath. “Good.”
I looked around with clear sight. Almost better than clear. “Hey. What’s that?”
I pushed a few gourds out of the way and grabbed the handle of a large round gourd with a long top stem. “It has a tiger carved on the outside. Try this one, Kishan.”
He took it from my hands and smashed it on the floor. Inside was a folded paper.
“It’s like a fortune cookie! What does it say?”
“It says—The hidden vessel shows the way.”
“Thehiddenvessel? Maybe it means a hidden gourd.”
“Pretty easy to hide a gourd in a room full of gourds, Kells.”
“Yeah. Let’s look for out-of-the-way gourds that are in the back of the room or tucked in corners.”
