Page 95 of Tiger's Destiny
“I am called Anamika.”
I shifted carefully around her spear. “Nice to meet you,” I said, surprised at her fluency in English.
Anamika kept her eyes trained on me. As I moved, I noticed her tiny waist was cinched in by the armored dress’s heavy belt where several other weapons dangled.
“Do you mind pointing that thing somewhere else?” I asked.
She narrowed her eyes and then planted the blunt end of her spear on the ground, whipping her long hair back as if annoyed with it.
“What is your name?” she asked.
“Kelsey,” I answered. “And you can call your warriors off. We won’t hurt you.”
Anamika translated my statement to her men, and I heard several snickers and a rumble of comments from the soldiers. Then she clipped off a command, and the warriors picked up Ren and Kishan.
Alarmed, I demanded, “Where are you taking them?”
“Come, Kelsey. There is much to do.”
Because Ren and Kishan were still unconscious, and we didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, I followed her through the forest.
“Where are we headed?” I asked again.
“Back to my camp. It is not far,” she smirked. “Though it may seem far to one as soft as you.”
Did the Amazon just insult me?
“I may not be wearing armor on the outside, but I’ve seen my share of battle.”
Anamika rubbed her fingers together and then moodily shifted her spear to the other hand. Her green eyes glittered.
“Really?” she said in a mocking tone. “It’s hard to imagine you engaged in warfare with anything more substantial than a cooking pot.” She boldly gave me the once-over, looking down at me from her freakishly tall Amazonian height.
I stuck my chin in the air and clenched my fists, deliberately tamping down the fire that raged through my blood. This woman was ticking me off.
“Please,” she laughed insultingly, “tell me of your battles.”
Tight lipped, I hissed, “Maybe later.”
Determined to keep up with her though she covered twice as much distance per stride, I followed along and tried my best to take note of my whereabouts and study my captors. The forest was cold, especially after spending the last few weeks in the heat of lava falls and fire trees. Rubbing my arms, I wished that I could figure out a way to make warmer clothes using the Scarf without being noticed.
The leggy warrior-woman saw my twitching and smirked, so I ramped up my speed, determined to tough out the nippy temperature. Thinking quickly, I used the power of the amulet to warm me. A pocket of heat swirled around my body, and I smiled secretly as I moved along.
The going became rough as we descended a stony face. When the afternoon sun broke through the trees and my forehead broke out into a sweat, I turned off the heat and let the still, cooler air envelop me. Toward the bottom, the trees parted, and I looked up to find a very familiar sight. Towering snowcapped mountains loomed on all sides.
“We’re in the Himalayas?” I gasped.
“We are near the great mountains,” Anamika corrected.
“That’s just fantastic,” I mumbled. “It was bad enough the first time.”
“You have been to this place before?” warrior Barbie asked.
“Not this place exactly, but close enough.”
She made no further comment, and I concentrated on getting to the bottom of the incline without breaking my neck while still keeping an eye on the men jostling Ren and Kishan. They’d been unconscious for a long time. I mused on their condition, thinking that maybe I’d recovered faster because of the mermaid’s elixir.
Anamika must have read my thoughts. She pointed to Ren and Kishan. “Your men are weak. I found no injuries on their bodies, but still they sleep.”
