Page 99 of Tiger's Quest
“Strange. I’m not used to it. I keep waiting for the tiger to take over. I can still become a tiger if I wish, but I don’t have to take that form.”
“The same thing happened to Ren. Well, enjoy it while it lasts. Ren changed back the minute we left Kishkindha.”
He mumbled something and started going through the backpack.
“Can you hand me the prophecy and Mr. Kadam’s notes?” I asked. “The first order of business is to find the omphalos stone, the navel stone, the stone of prophecy. We look into it, and it shows us where to find the tree. It looks like a football standing on end with a hole in the top.”
“And what does a football look like?”
“Hmm, I guess you’d say it’s oblong shaped, but more pointy on the ends.” I stood up on shaky legs.
“Don’t you think you should rest a little bit longer?”
“I feel pretty well rested, besides, the faster we can find the stone, the sooner we can rescue Ren.”
“Alright, but we’ll go slowly. It’s pretty warm here. Wouldn’t you like to change out of your snow gear first?”
I looked down at my ripped pants. “Right.”
Kishan had removed my coat, but I was sweating in my insulated pants. He’d already changed and was now wearing jeans, hiking boots, and a black T-shirt.
“Don’t you get sick of black?”
He shrugged. “It just feels right.”
“Hmm.”
“I’ll scope out the area and see if I can find a trail for us to follow while you change.” He grinned. “And don’t worry. I won’t be peeking.”
“You’d better not.”
He laughed and walked off through the grass toward the tree line. As I changed, I marveled at my torn pants.That bear really did a number on me.I checked my leg and calf. There was no wound. Not even a scar. The skin was healthy and pink, as if it had never been damaged.
By the time Kishan came back, I’d washed using the best thing I could come up with—a pot of warm rose tea courtesy of the Golden Fruit and a T-shirt. I poured the rest of the rose tea through my hair, brushed it out, and braided it into a long tail that hung down my back. I’d just changed into a long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans, and hiking boots to match Kishan, when he hollered out a warning and strode into the camp. He looked me up and down with masculine approval, and smiled.
“What are you grinning at?”
“You. You look much better.”
“Ha. What I wouldn’t give for a shower, but I do feel better.”
“I found a creek that runs near the tree line with a game trail. I think that might be a good place to start. Shall we?”
I nodded while he shouldered the backpack and headed for the trees. When we got to the creek, I marveled at how beautiful it was. Gorgeous flowers sprung up near rocks and tree trunks. I recognized narcissus growing by the creek and told Kishan the story of the handsome man from Greek mythology who fell in love with his own reflection.
He listened with rapt attention, and we were both so involved with the story that we didn’t notice the animals. We were being followed by forest creatures. We stopped, and a pair of rabbits hopped up to look at us curiously. Squirrels leapt from tree to tree to get nearer, as if to listen to the story. They jumped to a branch that bent with their weight and brought them just a few feet from us. The woods were full of creatures. I saw foxes, deer, and birds of all kinds. I held out my hand, and a beautiful red cardinal flew down and perched delicately on my finger.
Kishan held out an arm and a golden eyed hawk flew from the top of the tree to balance on his forearm. I walked up to a fox that fearlessly watched my approach. Stretching out a hand, I stroked its soft, furry head.
“I feel like Snow White! This is amazing! Whatisthis place?”
He laughed. “Paradise. Remember?”
We walked all day, escorted at times by a variety of animal companions. In the afternoon, we emerged from the forest to find horses grazing in a meadow full of wildflowers. I plucked stems to make a bouquet as we walked. The horses trotted over to investigate.
Kishan fed them apples from a nearby tree while I braided flowers in the mane of a beautiful white mare. They walked alongside us for a while as we continued.
In the early evening, we saw a structure of some kind at the base of a large hill. Kishan wanted to make camp for the night and explore it the next day.
