Page 140 of Tiger's Voyage
Kishan met with the newly revitalized manticore again, and this time he answered the question correctly. The manticore moved him ahead in the maze. He was close now. Much closer than Ren. Ren stopped when he came to a dead end. The maze was blocked by a brick wall. He turned the horse around and went another way and hit another brick wall. He was trapped. Large spiders started spilling out of the hedges, causing the white horse to stamp and rear.
Ren soothed the horse and at the same time he used the Divine Scarf to make a large net. It swept up all the spiders, catching them in a filmy web. He had the Scarf roll them into a giant spider-filled cotton ball, speared it with his sword, whipped it around his head a few times, and threw it into another part of the maze. The brick wall crumbled, and Ren maneuvered his horse carefully through the broken pieces.
After some time, he stopped at a stream of water that kept disappearing as he tried to drink. The horse was able to drink, but not Ren. He stood there thinking for a while, changed to a tiger and drank his fill, and then changed back to a man. Using the Scarf, he made a water bag and filled it to take with him. His princely clothing stayed with him when he changed back. Ren and Kishan slept unmolested that night, making their beds on the soft grass of the maze.
The challenges came so often and were so difficult that I was in a constant state of horror. I’d just see one man safe and breathe a sigh of relief when the other one would be in danger. I sat on the bed glued to the mirror, thinking that if I left for one minute, I’d return to find one of them dead or horribly injured. They’d both assured me they couldn’t die, but I wasn’t entirely sure of that. What if something cut off their heads? Or poisoned them? Ren had scratched the bullet out of Kishan’s shoulder with a claw, a gory process that I had to turn away from. Kishan had healed, but what if the bullet had gone deeper? Blocked an artery? I tried to rest when they did, but I’d wake with a start every time I heard a noise.
Early the next morning, Kishan burst through the maze and found a black horse waiting for him. The mists cleared momentarily, so he could see the castle. He mounted his horse and rode hard, urging his steed to a gallop. Ren met a giant salamander that spat poison. Using his sword, he cut off its head, and watched the dead creature reform itself. It shrank and turned golden—it became Fanindra. Ren knelt and held out his hand. The cobra wound around his forearm and hardened into her jewelry form.
He next met a man made entirely of bronze and fought him for several minutes without making any headway. The sword bounced off his skin in a shower of sparks, and thechakramcouldn’t penetrate the bronze torso either. It banged off of him like a knife caught in the garbage disposal. The threads of the Scarf couldn’t hold him. Fanindra came alive and snagged her body over a low tree limb while Ren fought.
She lengthened and wound down and stealthily moved into a position behind the bronze man. Then, when the opportunity presented itself, she bit him just behind his knee. The man staggered, grunted, and fell over, dead. When Ren examined the body, I could see through the mirror that Fanindra had bitten him on a tiny patch of white skin where the man had been vulnerable. Ren’s reward was food. He gave the apples to the horse, patted its head, and ate the bread. After thanking Fanindra and sliding her up his arm, he leapt onto the horse and rode out of the maze.
Kishan had reached the castle walls now and, from his perspective, they soared upward forever. He twisted the trident and shot a series of spears into the wall. The golden darts sunk deeply into the stone. He stepped on one, testing its strength, and found it could hold his weight. He climbed up the dozen darts, shot more into the rock, and kept climbing.
Ren raced toward the castle but became lost in the dragon-made mist. Fortunately, Fanindra came alive again and moved her head in the direction she wanted him to go. When he made it to the far side of the castle, he leapt down from the horse, and used thechakramand the Scarf. He created a sturdy rope, wrapped it around thechakram, and took several steps back. Ren whirled in a circle and threw thechakramwith all his might toward the top of the castle. When thechakramspun back to him, he yanked on the rope and, finding it stable, tied off the end to a tree and began scaling the wall.
At the same time, Kishan made it to the top. He ran along the battlement until he found a bridge. I asked the mirror to show me the dragon. L sèlóng was standing on the uppermost turret of the keep. Pressing his hands on the stone wall, he leaned over so he could see the brothers’ progress below. He smiled as if anticipating the battle and ran a thumb across his bottom lip.
Snapping his fingers, he disappeared for several seconds and then reappeared in dragon form. Wrapping its lithe body around a nearby drum tower, it waited for Kishan and Ren. Kishan ran down the stone bridge and entered the keep. When he crossed the threshold, his princely costume disappeared and instead he wore a suit of black armor. He also held a golden shield with a black tiger emblazoned on it and carried a long spear. Without missing a step, he charged forward.
Ren lowered himself using the rope and dropped into the bailey. Before entering the keep, he took Fanindra off his arm and said, “Find her, Fanindra.” The snake obediently came to life and slithered into the castle’s darkness. When he stepped into the castle, the same thing happened to him: his clothes shimmered and changed into a suit of armor. He pulled a heavy broadsword from the scabbard at his side and picked up his shield. His symbol was the white tiger on a blue background and his armor was silver. A white cloak hung down his back.
Instead of charging ahead like Kishan though, he trailed after Fanindra. Encouraging her to continue, he followed the snake through many doors and passageways until he came to a set of stairs. I heard him call.
“Kelsey? Are you up there?”
I gasped. The call came not from the mirror but from outside my room. “Ren? Ren!” I ran to the door and pounded. “I’m here! I’m up here!”
“I’m coming!”
He started up the stairs, and I heard a voice in my head.Tch, tch,tch. Now what did we say about cheating? Hmm? Did you forget you aresupposed to slay the dragonbeforeyou rescue the princess? Just for that, youget a time out.
Ren shouted, “Kel—” then the sound of his voice was suddenly cut off. I hurried back to the mirror to see what had happened. Fanindra slithered under my door and curled up in a resting position. I picked her up and put her on the dresser. Ren had disappeared from the stairs and was now tied with chains to a pillar near the dragon. Kishan ran up to the roof and stopped, shocked to see Ren there. He started toward him but was cut off by a blast of fire.Up here, black knight. Your brother willjoin us in good time.
Kishan turned, screamed out a battle cry, and lunged toward the dragon with spear raised.
The dragon knocked him down with a blow of his tail and laughed.Is that the best you can do?
Kishan whispered some words and suddenly the drum tower was covered in hot oil. The dragon slid off awkwardly and banged its head against the parapets, causing the tower to shake. A massive chunk of broken stone broke and dropped hundreds of feet below.
Kishan didn’t wait. He raised his spear and heaved it powerfully at the green dragon. It glanced off a scaly side, but not without leaving a bloody wound behind. The dragon roared and blasted Kishan with bright reddish-orange fire that rushed toward him in a plume of heat.
Kishan brought his shield up just in time to protect himself, but the edges became soft and started to melt. The flames jumped to the pooling oil, and the drum tower burst into flame. Ren ran past Kishan and threw himself on top of the dragon. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten free. I guessed he’d either used thechakramto file through the chains holding him, or the dragon had released him from the penalty box.
The dragon bucked and heaved trying to dislodge Ren, but he clung tenaciously, distracting L sèlóng long enough that Kishan could retrieve his spear and thrust it into the side of the dragon. At the same time, Ren lifted his sword over his head and drove it into the dragon’s back. Lsèlóng screamed, piercing the air with the sound of twenty angry pterodactyls and slammed both of them against the parapet. Another piece of stone wall broke off near Kishan, who fell over the side. He yelled and gripped the crumbling edge with just his fingertips.
Ren leaned over and grabbed Kishan’s hand, but before he could pull him up, the dragon turned its head and closed on the now-vulnerable Ren. It seized Ren in its jaws and lifted both him and Kishan into the air.
Lsèlóng shook Ren and crunched on his armor with its powerful jaws. As Ren groaned in pain, he let go of Kishan who dropped to safety on the top of the drum tower. After crushing Ren’s armor terribly, the dragon opened its mouth and tossed Ren to the stone roof of the next building. Ren fell with a crash and lay immobile, looking like a large can of tuna run over by a semitruck.
Kishan yelled and attacked the dragon with a vengeance using every weapon at his disposal. He launched a multi-angled assault using the Scarf, the Fruit, thechakram, and Ren’s dropped sword.
The dragon beat him back with claws, tail, teeth, and flame until he was battered, bruised, and breathless. I knew he couldn’t last much longer. Ren was still out of commission, and Kishan was hurt. Even he couldn’t heal this fast. Kishan yanked off his helmet. Blood trickled down a sweaty cheek, and he was limping badly. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and bent over, panting.
The dragon smiled.It’s just a matter of time, you know. I’ve defeatedyour brother, and now I’ll beat you. You can’t possibly outlast me. You canbarely stand.
“I’m just catching my second wind. Shall we continue?”
