Page 139 of Tiger's Voyage
“You signaled them somehow. You told them where to find you. There was no way they could have discovered this island on their own. I don’t know how you did it, but I’ll be watching you much more closely from now on. Obviously, I underestimated them. Now I’ll have to make part two harder.”
“Harder? You almost killed them!”
“Yes.Almost.They’ve ruined my track record now. They’ve won the battle, but I will win the war, I assure you. Still,almosthas never happened with me before. I was right in believing this would be my best game. If you hadn’t tricked me into limiting myself, I would have beaten them the first day.”
“Limitingyourself! Ha! You cheated! Twice! Maybe more. I wasn’t watching you the whole time, so you probably cheated the whole way through!”
“It’s my game, not yours. If you don’t understand the complexities of the rules, that’s not my problem. Now before we start phase two, you should be properly attired, my dear.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you’re going to play the part of a princess, you have to look it.” The dragon circled me, appraising my shape and coloring. “Ah, I have just the thing.” He snapped his fingers, and I was enfolded in whispers of fabric. The room faded to white and then started to rematerialize. I looked down and gasped. My clothes had been replaced by a beautiful gown. I lifted one hand to touch the tight sleeve that ended at my wrist.
“No, there’s something missing. Ah, I know. It’s the hair. Your hair is entirely too short.” I pulled a short curl to the front of my face and peered at it. He snapped his fingers, and I squeaked as the hair began to grow.
“Hey!”
He hummed as my hair kept growing and growing.
“Stop it!”
The hair was now past my waist, and he was busy checking his appearance in the mirror.
“L sèlóng!”
“What?” His eyes met mine in the mirror. “Oh.” He snapped his fingers again and my hair stopped growing, but it was now just past my knees, and it was heavy. “There. Much better. You can watch in the mirror if you like. This part shouldn’t take long at all.”
“Wait!”
He spun in a circle and disappeared. The door slammed shut, and I was alone once again. I pounded angrily on the door, just because it felt good, and then walked over to the mirror to check on my tigers.
A stranger stared back at me. The dragon had not only dressed me, he’d done my makeup. A bold-eyed beauty was reflected there, and I poked my cheek several times to make sure I was the same person. He’d dressed me in a blush-pink gown that enhanced my dark eyes and hair. The dress had long tight-fitting sleeves with silver embroidery at the edges and was embellished with satin ribbon. An elegant neckline, trimmed in silver, swept just over my shoulders, leaving my neck bare.
Filmy organza tippets draped from armbands and a thick silver belt hung at my waist. The skirt was tiered in alternating silk and organza, and the bodice was adorned with silver embroidery to match the sleeve edges. Twisted silver and blush piping bordered the hemline of the skirt, and I wore dainty silver slippers. My long brown hair was shiny and fell in waves from a delicate silver headband with a long pink veil. I was a beautiful, pouty-looking princess who was extremely ticked off.
I ripped the veil off my head and sat on the bed, but then grunted in frustration as my head was wrenched back because I’d sat on my stupid hair. I yanked two ribbons from my sleeve, tore them off, and braided the mass into two long French braids. I said to the mirror, “Show me my tigers.”
The mirror shimmered and zoomed in. The poor brothers were still sound asleep. The air moved, and suddenly L sèlóng was standing next to them. He cleared his throat, and the two tigers sprang to alertness and roared. The dragon snapped his fingers, and the tigers shifted to men. Ren and Kishan stood before him angry, filthy, and dangerous. They both took a step toward the dragon, who calmly examined his fingernails.
“I’ve decided this next part of the game will have different rules. Instead of giving you your weapons here, you will have to fight for them. You will find them at different places in the maze, but to take them you must overcome the guardian who protects them. Some you may have to fight. Others you will have to outsmart. If you survive the maze, you will have to scale the castle walls, overcome me, and rescue your princess. And this time, no cheating. Now, let’s make sure you look the part.”
He snapped his fingers and the clothing changed on both of them. Kishan wore a brown leather doublet with a long-sleeved tunic, black breeches, tall polished riding boots, and a hooded black cloak. Ren wore a white shirt that pulled through the sleeves of a green velvet doublet edged in gold. He had black leggings and thigh-high boots. His fulllength woolen cloak was trimmed with fur.
Apparently I am going to be rescued by either Robin Hood or PrinceCharming.
The dragon considered both of them. “Excellent. Now I imagine you’re hungry. You will find food in the maze as you travel and, this time,” he slapped his palm lightly with a leather glove as he considered, “I think it would be best if you didn’t travel together.” He leaned closer and leered. “We don’t want the challenge to betooeasy now, do we?”
He laughed and snapped his fingers again. Everyone disappeared. I asked the mirror to show me Ren. He was standing at an opening to the maze. He looked up the hill toward the castle, but the dragon had caused a mist to cover it, so it would be harder to find. Ren set his jaw and entered the maze. When I had the mirror switch to Kishan, I found him already in the maze. He was jogging down a long section, then turned left and kept going.
By midday, Ren had stolen water and bread from an angry pack of dogs and won a sword and scabbard from a gnome he’d captured and hung upside down while holding his foot. The upset gnome kicked and screamed, but Ren refused to put him down until he gave him a prize. Kishan, meanwhile, had killed a boar by grabbing its tusks and twisting violently, breaking its neck. He won the Golden Fruit and had it create food. He ate and drank as he ran.
By evening, Ren had defeated an ogre and gotten Kishan’schakram, Kishan had won my bow and arrows in an archery contest, and they were about halfway through the maze. Ren settled down for the night, but Kishan continued on. He moved ahead quite a ways but guessed the wrong answer when a manticore asked him a question. The creature was red with the body of a lion, the face of an ogre, the tail of a scorpion, and the wings of a bat. Kishan defeated the manticore when it attacked but was sent back to the beginning of the maze. Kishan bellowed in frustration and started walking again. Finally, he stopped around midnight and slept.
Ren was attacked in the early morning while he was still sleeping. A gang of thugs surrounded him with nets and spears. He fought them off with the sword and then with his bare hands. As a man would fall incapacitated, he would shimmer and then disappear. Panting, Ren finished off the last man and was awarded a spectacular white horse with a silver saddle. He climbed up on the steed’s back and pressed on through the maze.
Kishan was far behind now, and he’d chosen a different path than he had before. He won thegadaby wrestling with a giant snake and the trident by killing a large vulture with a golden arrow. Ren used thechakramto cut off the heads of three female harpies who tried to lure him with spells and seductive promises. As his prize, the Divine Scarf was returned to him.
Kishan crossed a boiling stream by skipping across on stones. While he was mid-stream, a giant crocodile attacked. He had the Golden Fruit fill its mouth with sticky peanut butter, and it disappeared under the water again. A few steps later, Kishan found hiskamandalhanging from a tree. Placing it around his neck, he tucked it into his tunic, and moved on.
