“You’re serious? You seriously want me to do this?”
“Yes, I’m serious. Now stand here while I make a few practice runs.”
“Can’t we just find another corridor or something?”
“There aren’t any. This is the right way.”
Reluctantly, I stood near the edge and watched him leap back and forth a few times. Observing the rhythm of his running and jumping, I began to grasp the idea of what he wanted me to do. All too quickly Ren was back in front of me again.
“I can’t believe you’ve talked me into doing this. Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m sure. Are you ready?”
“No! Give me a minute to mentally write a last will and testament.”
“Kells, it’ll be fine.”
“Sure it will. Alright, let me take in my surroundings. I want to make sure I can record every minute of this experience in my journal. Of course, that’s probably a moot point because I’m assuming that I’m going to die in the jump anyway.”
Ren put his hand on my cheek, looked in my eyes, and said fiercely, “Kelsey, trust me. I will not let you fall.”
I nodded, tightened the shoulder straps of my bag, and moved nervously to the edge of the chasm. Ren changed back into tiger form and ran all the way to the end of the tunnel. He crouched down and then surged forward in a rush of speed. A huge animal was charging, barreling toward me, and all my instincts said to run—run as fast as I could in the other direction. The fear of the chasm behind me dwindled in comparison to being run down by an animal of his size.
I almost shut my eyes in fear, but I pulled myself together at the last possible second, ran two steps, and hurtled my body into the void. Ren took a mighty leap at exactly the same time and I reached out to wrap my arms around his neck.
I desperately began clutching at his fur, sensing myself falling, and then felt arms grab me around my waist. He pulled me tightly to his muscled chest, and we rolled in the air so that he was under me. We hit the dirt floor on the other side of the chasm with a heavy thump that knocked the wind out of me as we bumped and skidded along for a bit on Ren’s back.
I sucked a huge breath of air into my collapsed lungs. Once I could breathe again, I examined Ren’s back. His white shirt was dirty and torn, and his skin was scratched and bleeding in several places. I took a wet shirt from the bag to clean his scratches, while removing little pieces of gravel embedded in his skin.
When I was finished, I grabbed Ren around the waist in a fierce hug. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I whispered against his chest quietly but firmly, “Thank you. But don’t ever . . . ever . . . ever do that again!”
He laughed. “If I get results like this, I surely will do it again.”
“You will not!”
Ren reluctantly let me go, and I began mumbling, complaining about tigers, men, and bugs. He seemed very pleased with himself for surviving a near-death experience. I could practically hear him chanting to himself: I overcame. I conquered. I’m a man, etc, etc. I smirked. Men! No matter what century they’re from, they’re all the same.
I checked to make sure I had everything I needed and then pulled out my flashlight again. Ren changed back into a tiger and moved in front of me.
We walked down a few more passageways and came upon a door etched with symbols. There was no knob or handle. On the right-hand side, about one third of the way down was a handprint with markings similar to mine. I looked down at my hand and turned it over. The symbols were a mirror image.
“It matches the drawing from Phet!”
I put my hand on the cold, stone door, lined it up with the drawing, and felt a warm tingling. Pulling my hand off, I looked at my palm. The symbols were glowing bright red, but strangely, my hand didn’t hurt. I moved it back toward the door and felt the warmth build up again. Electric sparks began popping out between the door and my hand as I moved closer. It looked like a mini lightning storm was occurring between my hand and the stone, and then I felt the stone move.
The door opened inward, as if pulled by invisible hands, and allowed us to pass. We walked into a large grotto that was glowing dimly from phosphorescent lichen growing on the stone walls. The center of the grotto housed a tall rectangular monolith with a small stone post set in front of it. I dusted off the stone post and saw a set of handprints—a right and a left. The right handprint looked the same as the one on the door, but the left one had the same markings that were on the back of my right hand.
I tried putting both hands on the stone block, but nothing happened. I put my right hand with the backside down on the left handprint. The symbols started glowing red again. Flipping my hand over, I placed it palm down on the right handprint and felt a more than a warm tingle this time. The connection crackled with energy, and heat poured out of my hand and into the stone.
I heard a deep rumbling at the top of the monolith and a wet sucking, slurping noise. Golden liquid spilled over the top of the edifice and poured down the four sides, pooling into a bowl-shaped basin at the bottom. The solution was reacting to something on the stone. The stone hissed and steamed as the liquid foamed, bubbled, and fizzed, eventually dribbling down into the basin.
After the hissing stopped and the steam cleared, I gasped in shock, seeing that glyph engravings had appeared on all four sides of the stone where none had been before.
“I think this is it, Ren. This is Durga’s prophecy! This is what we have been looking for!”
I pulled out the digital camera and started taking pictures of the structure. Then I took some more with the disposable camera for good measure. Next, I grabbed the paper and charcoal and made a rubbing of the handprints on the stone and the door. I had to document everything so Mr. Kadam could figure out what it all meant.
I wandered around the monolith trying to make out some of the symbols and then heard a yelp from Ren. I saw him pick up his paw carefully and set it down again gingerly. The golden acid was seeping out of the basin in little rivulets and moving across the stone floor, filling in all the cracks. I looked down to see that my shoelace was steaming where it lay in a golden puddle.
We had both just leapt over to the sandy part of the floor when another great rumble shook the maze. Rocks began to fall from the high ceiling. They dropped to the stone floor and shattered into tiny pieces. Ren nudged me back against the wall, where I ducked down, sheltering my head. The shaking became worse, and with a deafening crack, the monolith split in two. It fell with a mighty boom to the floor and broke into large chunks. The golden acid bubbled through the broken basin and started to spread across the floor, slowly destroying the stone and everything else it touched.
Acid crept closer to us until there was no place for us to go. The doorway had been blocked, sealing us in, and there appeared to be no other way out. Ren got up, sniffed the air, and walked a short distance away. Standing up on his hind legs, he put his claws on the wall and started scratching furiously at something.
Approaching him, I saw that he had opened a hole and that there were stars on the other side! I helped him dig and pulled out rocks until the hole was big enough for him to leap through. After he was out, I tossed out my backpack and shimmied my way through until I fell out the other side and rolled across the ground.
At that moment, a huge boulder fell with a thunderous boom, sealing off the hole. The quaking slowed and then stopped. Silence descended in the dark jungle where we stood as a light, powdery dust filtered down from the air and fell gently upon us.
12
durga’s prophecy
i got up slowly, dusted off my arms, and found my flashlight. I felt Ren’s hand grasp my shoulder as he spun me around and looked me over.
“Kelsey, are you alright? Did you get hurt?”
“No. I’m fine. So, are we done here? The Cave of Kanheri was fun and all, but I’d like to go home now.”
“Yes,” Ren agreed. “Let’s head back to the car. Stay very close to me. Animals that were sleeping when we
came into the jungle are awake and hunting now. We must be careful.” He squeezed my shoulder, morphed into tiger form again, and headed into the trees.
It appeared that we were on the far side of the cave, maybe a half mile behind it at the bottom of a steep hill. Ren led me around the hill to the stone steps where we had started so many hours ago.
I was actually happier walking through the jungle at night because I couldn’t see all of the scary creatures that I was sure were watching us, but after about an hour and a half, I didn’t even care if animals were watching me or not. I was so tired. I could barely keep my eyes open and my feet moving.
Yawning for about the hundredth time, I asked Ren again, “Are we there yet?”
He rumbled softly in a response, and then suddenly stopped, lowered his head, and peered into the darkness.
With eyes fixed on the jungle, Ren turned into a man. “We’re being hunted,” he whispered. “When I say run, go that way and don’t look back . . . run!”
He pointed to my left and dashed into the dark jungle as a tiger. I soon heard an impressive, menacing roar shake the trees. Rousing my tired body, I began to sprint. I had no idea where I was or where I was going, but I tried to keep myself going in the direction he’d pointed. I moved quickly through the jungle for about fifteen minutes before slowing down. Breathing heavily, I stopped and listened to the sounds in the dark.
I heard cats, big cats, fighting. They were about a mile off, but they were loud. Other animals were quiet. They must have been listening to the fight too.
Heavy growls and roars echoed through the jungle. It sounded like more than two animals, and I started worrying about Ren. I walked for another fifteen minutes and listened carefully, trying to pick out Ren’s sound from the other animals. All of a sudden, it became deathly quiet.
Did he drive them off? Is he safe? Should I go back and try to help him?
Bats fluttered overhead in the moonlight as I quickly backtracked my steps. I’d gone about a quarter mile in what I hoped was the right direction when I heard a popping, rustling noise in the bushes and saw a pair of yellow eyes stare at me from the darkness.
“Ren? Is that you?”
A shape emerged from the bushes and crouched down, watching me.
It wasn’t Ren.
A black panther was staring at me boldly, assessing my ability to fight back. I didn’t move. I was sure that if I had, he would have sprung immediately. I stood up as tall as I could and tried to look too big to eat.
We watched each other for another minute. Then, the panther sprung. One moment he was crouching, tail flicking back and forth, and the next he was quickly accelerating toward my face.
The panther’s sharp claws were extended and glistened in the moonlight. Transfixed, I stood and watched the snarling cat’s claws and gaping maw full of teeth draw closer to my face and neck. I screamed, drew my hands up to protect my head, and waited for claws and teeth to rip my throat out.
I heard a roar and felt a rush of air brush past my face and then . . . nothing. I cracked open my eyes and spun around looking for the panther.
What happened? How could he have missed me?
A flash of white and black rolled through the trees. It was Ren! He’d attacked the panther in mid-flight and pushed him out of my path. The panther growled at Ren and circled him for a moment, but Ren roared back and batted the panther across the face. The panther, not wanting to face a cat more than twice his size, growled again and ran off quickly into the jungle.
Ren’s white-and-black shadowy form hobbled through the trees to me. There were bloody scratches all over his back, and his right paw was hurt, maybe broken, causing him to walk with a limp. For just a moment, he turned into a man and fell at my feet, panting. He reached for my hand.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
I crouched down next to him and hugged his neck tightly, relieved we had both survived.
“I’m fine. Thank you for saving me. I’m so glad you’re safe. Will you be able to walk?”
Ren nodded, gave me a weak smile, and returned to his white tiger form. With a lick of his paw, he snuffed and started walking.
“Okay. Then let’s go. I’m right behind you.”
Another hour of walking and we were back to the Jeep. Too tired to do anything else, we drank about a gallon of water each, folded the back seat down, and climbed in. I fell into a deep sleep with my arm draped over Ren.
The sun rose too quickly the car started to get hot. I woke up drenched in sweat. My entire body was sore and filthy. Ren was exhausted too, and still drowsy, but his scratches didn’t look bad. In fact, they were surprisingly almost healed. My tongue was thick and fuzzy, and I had a terrible headache.
I groaned as I sat up. “Ugh, I feel terrible, and I didn’t even have to fight panthers. A shower and a soft bed are calling my name. Let’s go home.”
Reaching into the backpack, I checked each of the cameras and the charcoal rubbings and secured them before I pulled the Jeep out into the morning traffic.
Upon our arrival, Mr. Kadam rushed out the door and began peppering me with questions. I handed him the backpack and walked zombie-like toward the house, mumbling, “Shower. Sleep.”
I made my way up the stairs, peeled off my dirty clothes, and stepped into the shower. I almost fell asleep standing under the tepid water as it pounded my back, massaged my aches and pains, and washed away all the dried sweat and mud. Rousing myself to rinse my hair, I somehow managed to get out and blot myself dry. I slipped on my pajamas and fell into bed.
About twelve hours later, I woke up to a covered tray of food and realized I was starving. Mr. Kadam had outdone himself. A stack of fluffy crepes sat next to a plate of sliced bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. Strawberry syrup, a bowl of yogurt, and a mug of hot chocolate accompanied it. I pounced on my midnight snack. I ate every delicious crepe and then took my cocoa onto the balcony. I made a mental note to thank Mr. Kadam for being so wonderful.
It was the middle of the night and cool outside, so I snuggled into a cozy deck chair, wrapped my quilt around me, and sipped the hot cocoa. A breeze blew my hair into my face and when I reached up to push it aside, I realized with dismay that I had been so tired, I’d forgotten to comb it out after my shower. After finding my brush, I headed back to my comfy chair.
Brushing through my hair was usually bad enough after a shower. Letting it dry without brushing it was a terrible mistake. It was full of painful tangles, and I hadn’t made much progress when the door at the end of the veranda opened and Ren walked out. I squeaked in alarm and hid behind my hair. Perfect, Kells.
He was still barefoot, but had on khaki pants and a sky-blue button-down shirt that matched his eyes. The effect was magnetic, and here I was in flannel pajamas with giant tumbleweed hair.
He sat across from me and said, “Good evening, Kelsey. Did you sleep well?”
“Uh, yes. Did you?”
He grinned a dazzling white smile and nodded his head slightly. “Are you having trouble?” he asked and watched my detangling progress with an amused expression.
“Nope. I’ve got it all under control.”
I wanted to divert his attention away from my hair, so I said, “How’s your back and your, um, arm, I guess it would be?”
He smiled. “They’re completely fine. Thank you for asking.”
“Ren, why aren’t you wearing white? That’s all I’ve ever seen you wear. Is it because your white shirt was torn?”
He responded, “No, I just wanted to wear something different. Actually, when I change to a tiger and back, my white clothes reappear. If I changed to a tiger now and then switch back to a man again, my current clothes would be replaced with my old white ones.”
“Would they still be torn and bloody?”
“No. When I reappear, they’re clean and whole again.”
“Hah. Lucky for you. It would be pretty awkward if you ended up naked every time you changed.”
I bit my tongue as s
oon as the words came out and blushed a brilliant shade of red. Nice, Kells. Way to go. I covered up my verbal blunder by tugging my hair in front of my face and yanking through the tangles.
He grinned. “Yes. Lucky for me.”
I tugged the brush through my hair and winced. “That brings up another question.”
Ren rose and took the brush out of my hand.
“What . . . what are you doing?” I stammered.
“Relax. You’re too edgy.”
He had no idea.
Moving behind me, Ren picked up a section of my hair and started gently brushing through it. I was nervous at first, but his hands in my hair were so warm and soothing that I soon relaxed in the chair, closed my eyes, and leaned my head back.
After a minute of brushing, he pulled a lock away from my neck, leaned down by my ear, and whispered, “What was it you wanted to ask me?”
I jumped.
“Umm . . . what?” I mumbled disconcertingly.
“You wanted to ask me a question.”
“Oh, right. It was, uh—that feels nice.”
Did I say that out loud?
Ren laughed softly. “That’s not a question.”
Apparently, I did.
“Was it something about me changing into a tiger?”
“Oh, yes. I remember now. You can change back a forth several times per day, right? Is there a limit?”
“No. There’s no limit as long as I don’t remain human for more than a total of twenty-four minutes in a twenty-four hour day.” He moved on to another section of hair. “Do you have any more questions, sundari?”
“Yes . . . about the maze. You were following a scent, but all I could smell was nasty sulfur. Was that what you were following?”
“No. I was actually following a lotus flower scent. It’s Durga’s favorite flower, the same flower that’s on the Seal. I figured that was the right way to go.”
Ren finished with my hair, set the brush down, and then began lightly massaging my shoulders. I tensed again, but his hands were so warm and the massage felt so good, I sat back in my seat and started to slowly melt into a puddle.