Tiger's Voyage

  “I wish I would’ve brought that sweater.”

  Tinkling laughter rippled through my mind.

  The stars are bright but cold. While I am with you, you will not freeze. Look there. That is my palace, it voiced with pride.

  I looked up and saw that the red dragon was heading for a bright cluster of stars. It surged ahead with increased speed, and Kishan leaned forward again, grabbing onto Ren’s waist, crushing me between them. The head of the dragon angled upward, and I slid back into Kishan’s chest as the dragon flew straight up in the air. The Divine Scarf’s ties pulled against us, threatening to tear. Ren’s arms strained as he held the weight of all three of us, and I felt Kishan’s legs tighten as he gripped the dragon between his thighs. I could do nothing but lie against Kishan’s chest and hope the two of them had enough strength to keep us from falling.

  Finally, the dragon evened out again, and Ren leaned forward heavily, panting. He was probably also sick now from my close proximity. He briefly looked back at me over his shoulder. His face was pale and clammy. His arms, slick with sweat, shook with tremors.

  I felt a kind of weightlessness. This must be what zero gravity is like, I thought. My hair began to rise, and my arms were light as if the buoyancy of the ocean was holding my body afloat. I became very aware of the movements of the dragon. I could feel its smooth muscles roll under us. Its tail seemed to be propelling it forward now. It twisted back and forth like a shark and rolled the rest of its body from side to side.

  The star cluster was much closer and brighter now, brighter than anything I’d ever seen before. It radiated energy and pulsed softly like a beacon. As we neared, my mouth fell open in awe. The dragon’s palace was like a diamond mansion hung in the sky. It gleamed and reflected light from its many facets. When the dragon neared, a door opened to a room big enough to house a couple of airplanes. The dragon slid along the clear diamond floor on its belly, circling back so its sinuous body was folded in half, and came to a stop.

  At Kishan’s whispered request, the Divine Scarf undid our bands, and he jumped off the beast. I slid down into Kishan’s arms, and then he turned to Ren, who staggered off the dragon and stooped over, clutching Kishan’s arm for support. I moved away several steps, and after a moment, Ren nodded to Kishan and stood.

  The dragon shivered, and its body began to convulse. It started shrinking; its long shape diminished and twisted. Then with a snap, it disappeared, and a man stood in its place. He was black skinned and beautiful with red eyes and red robes. His white teeth were brilliant against his skin. He bowed briefly.

  “Welcome to my sky palace. Perhaps I could interest you in a game? Refreshments?”

  Kishan shook his head. “We’d like to get what we came for.”

  “Ah, yes. Forgive me. It’s been so long since I’ve had visitors.” The dragon man smiled toothily. “Come. I will show you the item you will need.”

  He guided us through his diamond mansion. Everything sparkled and reflected back our images. I felt like I was in a hall of mirrors. I would have quickly become lost if not for our guide. He led us to a pedestal, on the top of which rested a diamond object. I squinted in the light, trying to recognize the shape.

  Kishan hefted it in his hands and said, “A sextant.”

  Inching closer to inspect the heavy apparatus, I saw a sparkling telescope mounted onto a pie-wedged diamond frame. Numbers were etched into the arc along the edge. What parts would normally be made of glass and metal were instead made of priceless polished gemstone.

  “Yes, a sextant,” said the red dragon. “It will guide you to my brother. Now for the agreed upon price.”

  He led us to a door that opened to a balcony—and beyond that, space. He pointed up at a pair of stars. One was dim and the other bright. “You agreed to fix my star.”

  The four of us stared at the stars for a while, and then the dragon went inside while we quietly brainstormed on how to repair the star. I tried to use my lightning power, but it couldn’t cross the distance. Kishan wanted to throw the chakram, but I was worried about losing it in space. Not coming up with any other ideas, Kishan disappeared inside to talk with the dragon about other options and shortly returned.

  “Lóngjn has agreed to play a game of chess with one of us instead. If we win, we get the sextant. If we lose, one of us must remain behind.”

  “That’s no good,” I said. “I’m terrible at chess.”

  Ren and Kishan stared at each other for a second, and then Ren said, “You’re the better chess player. Kadam only wins most of the time with you.”

  Kishan nodded and disappeared inside. Ren and I followed him and watched the game. The dragon took the black diamond pieces while Kishan took the clear ones. Kishan began. After several moves, I began to fear that Kishan was going to lose. The dragon sat back smiling and patiently waited for Kishan’s next move. I panicked and elbowed Ren.

  He followed me outside, and I told him I wanted to try one more thing. I asked for his trident. He handed it over, and I used the Divine Scarf to make hundreds of meters of stiff rope and tied one end to the balcony. I also asked it to weave the other end tightly around the trident.

  Next, I handed Ren the trident.

  He looked at me, puzzled. “What do you want me to do with it?”

  “I want you to shoot the trident into the star and pull it toward us.”

  “You think it will go that far?”

  “I’m hoping the momentum of space will help carry it. The Scarf can create more rope as it travels and if we miss we can pull it back. I’d do it myself, but you have more power in your arm.”

  Ren nodded and stepped forward. Aiming carefully, he shot the trident into space like a giant arrow. It soon became obvious that he’d missed.

  I had the Divine Scarf pull the trident and rope back, and he was soon ready to try again. We heard the dragon yell “Check” gleefully from the other room and knew we were running out of time.

  “Aim higher this time. The light from the star is reflecting off the palace. Maybe it’s throwing off your aim.”

  This time his aim was true, and when the trident shot into space with a twang, it continued on a direct path toward the star. It impacted with a distant boom. Now came the hard part. I picked up the silky rope the Divine Scarf had made and asked it to retreat while Ren and I pulled. We strained for a minute and then were gratified to feel the rope coming back. We pulled until the star came loose and quickly began gravitating toward the palace. When it neared, Ren stood on the balcony and braced against the wall to catch it.

  I knew everything that had just happened was physically impossible. First of all, stars don’t move, and even if they did, they would have burned up anything that came close. I decided it would be better if I didn’t try to make sense of what just occurred.

  Ren wrenched the trident from the star and told the Divine Scarf to take back all the rope, and then turned to me. “Now what?”

  “Now we use fire.”

  I lifted my hand toward the star as the familiar feeling of hot molten lava burned in my middle and shot up my arm. My hand glowed and my white light shot into the star. I pumped all my energy into it and though the star flickered more brightly, it soon dimmed again.

  Ren stepped forward. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Try again.”

  I lifted my hand and white light burst from my palm again, brightening the star. I stayed there for several minutes but soon felt exhausted. My energy waned. Ren put his hand on my arm to stop me, and during that brief touch, golden fiery hot light shot out from my hand. The star brightened threefold. I stopped and looked at Ren.

  “Stand behind me and touch my arms.”

  He looked at me for a brief moment, but I lowered my gaze and focused ahead. I was acutely aware of him as he slowly moved behind me. I raised my hand to fire again. White light surged forward. Ren pressed his cheek against mine and slid his hands down my arms. It burned. He twined his fingers
through mine and the light turned gold and then white again. It blazed with an intensity ten times more fierce than it had been before. The star pulsed, then expanded and brightened with a golden inner core that turned white hot.

  I held the blaze for several minutes. Ren started shaking with the effort. His fingers tightened, and his arms trembled. I felt like I was burning with him. My limbs quaked, and it was all I could do to remain standing. I heard him groan with pain. The heat coming off of our entwined limbs was terrible and brilliant.

  Soon I couldn’t stand upright anymore. I collapsed back against Ren’s chest, and the fire died. My blood pumped through my body in time with the pulsing star, quickening down my arms where Ren’s skin still touched mine. Despite the agony I was sure he was feeling, he held me gently and then led me to the wall. We rested against it for a few moments.

  Ren moved several feet away and leaned over, clutching his stomach and panting. The skin of his cheek where he’d pressed it against mine and the inside of his arms were glowing with the same golden color as the star. Surprised, I looked down at my own arms and found them shining in the same way. I lifted a tired limb and watched the radiance slowly fade and then disappear altogether.

  Leaning my head back against the wall, I watched Ren, though I could barely keep my eyes open. He climbed the balcony rail, braced his feet, and pressed his palms against the pulsing star. With a Herculean shove, he launched the star back into space. Eventually it settled itself into its former position.

  Ren climbed down and collapsed to a sitting position against the railing. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. I closed mine too, and we both sat there for several minutes, exhausted. A voice whispered my name. I knew that voice. I’d heard it in my dreams. I kept my eyes shut tight. If I opened them, he would be gone.

  “Kelsey.”

  I shook my head in silent denial and groaned softly.

  “Kelsey.”

  I twisted uncomfortably and realized I was sitting up. Why would I sleep sitting up? He called me again.

  “Kelsey.”

  I blinked open my eyes and stared at the diamond palace in confusion. “Where are you?”

  “Over here.”

  I saw Ren still sitting in the same spot, his head against the railing and his long legs stretched out in front of him, his feet crossed at the ankles.

  His eyes locked onto me, and I blushed, remembering his fingers entwined with mine. His look was hot, sultry, and tangible.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  My throat closed, and my tongue felt thick. I licked my lips so I could speak and saw his eyes tighten. I sucked in a breath and just nodded.

  “Good.” He smiled, then closed his eyes, and at that moment we heard the dragon, Lóngjn, shout out, “Checkmate!”

  A crestfallen Kishan appeared on the balcony followed by the beaming dragon. Lóngjn clapped his hands together and said, “Now then. Which one of you would like to be my companion here among the stars?”

  Kishan immediately knelt at my side and pushed a strand of hair from my face. “Are you alright? What happened?”

  I nodded weakly and pointed toward Ren, who was seated on the floor, his head resting in his hands. Kishan spoke quietly with Ren and then returned to me. He sat next to me and pulled my body into his arms. I snuggled against his chest, but when I opened my eyes, Ren’s blue eyes captured mine again. I felt like I was staring into a shiny blue reflecting pool. On the surface the water was calm, but I felt that if I could have looked farther into the depths, I’d find the water churning, roiling, full of thoughts and memories I couldn’t access. I couldn’t see through the surface of those eyes though. I couldn’t pull the man I knew from the depths of his mind. He was hidden from me.

  The dragon laughed. “None of you will choose? Fine. I will choose myself.”

  I looked up. “You don’t get to choose. We fixed your star.”

  “Znme?” the dragon asked incredulously.

  “Look for yourself.”

  He walked to the balcony and peered up at the sky. “How did you do that?”

  “As you pointed out earlier, our job was to figure out how, not to explain it to you.”

  The dragon frowned and rubbed a cheek. “Still … a game was lost. I must have some kind of compensation as the winner.”

  I groaned and stood up. Kishan rose immediately to help me. “Would you be satisfied with this?”

  I put my hands on the dragon’s shoulders and pecked his cheek. It felt very warm and leathery. He pressed his hand against his cheek, shocked. “What was that?”

  “A kiss,” Ren said as he rose silently next to us. “Men have been known to fight over the favor.”

  I lowered my eyes and felt Kishan take my hand and squeeze it. The dragon’s eyes twinkled. “A kiss. Yes. I am satisfied. You may take the sextant and go.”

  He turned to leave, and I said, “Lóngjn? Would you consider giving us a ride back to our boat?”

  The dragon man stopped to weigh his answer. “Yes. If you give me another … kiss. But this time in my true form.”

  I nodded as we followed the dragon back through his house of diamonds. Kishan picked up the sextant, and we asked the Divine Scarf to make a bag to carry it in.

  As Kishan strapped it across his back, Lóngjn warned, “You may only use it while in my realm and only to find my brother. Once you leave our oceans, it will return to me.”

  Kishan adjusted the weight and bowed briefly. “Our thanks, great dragon.”

  His body quivered and erupted in an explosion of scaly flesh that quickly spread across the room. As Ren moved toward the dragon, I put my hand on his arm then quickly let it drop. He turned to me.

  “Will you be okay?” I asked. “Do you need to rest longer?”

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll be fine. Just make sure the ropes are tight.”

  I nodded and Ren and Kishan climbed onto the dragon’s back while I approached its reddish head and pressed a warm kiss onto its blackbearded cheek.

  While the dragon shook its mighty head, I heard tinkling laughter in my mind.

  What a pleasant gift. Climb on quickly, my dear. The stars are waning.

  Kishan pulled me up, and in the instant I had commanded the Divine Scarf to create ropes to wrap around our legs and secure us, the red dragon dove over the floor of its sky palace and spilled into space like a hapless pebble over a waterfall.

  16

  The Blue Dragon’s Pet

  If I thought going up on dragonback was bad, going down was much worse. Lóngjn plummeted hundreds of lengths straight down, and then spun and wove through the sky like a great snake. Kishan’s arms locked around me, holding me tight. I fell against Ren’s back and closed my eyes as I desperately tried not to throw up. I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally reached the water.

  When the red dragon met the sea, it didn’t submerge but glided on top of it. The ocean was still quiet, fortunately, and the dragon raced quickly across the water. As we reached the boat, Lóngjn raised its upper body to the top of the wheelhouse to let us off and impatiently shook its head to further motivate us to disembark as soon as possible.

  Kishan and Ren leapt off quickly, but I wasn’t fast enough, so the dragon gave a final quick thrust of its body that shot me straight up into the air. I rose up, screaming to the accompaniment of tinkling laughter. Just as I started falling over the side of the wheelhouse, both Ren and Kishan leaned over to grab an arm. I was unceremoniously yanked up and landed with a thud on the deck between the brothers.

  After I could suck in a breath again, I said, “Thanks … I think,” and spun around to stare over the edge with the guys. They were watching the dragon’s retreat. It bounced across the water, then gathered its body and sprang into the air. As it climbed higher, the three of us watched it fly up into the stars and vanish. In the blink of an eye, it was gone.

  With a heavy thump, Ren grabbed the sextant from Kishan and disappeared over the side
of the wheelhouse, presumably to confer with Mr. Kadam.

  Kishan rolled toward me and gently pushed the hair away from my face. “Are you alright?” he asked. “Do you hurt anywhere?”

  I laughed then groaned. “I hurt just about everywhere, and I could sleep for a week.”

  Kishan raised himself up on an elbow. “Come on, then. Let’s get you to bed.”

  He helped me down the ladder of the wheelhouse and briefly ducked his head inside. “I’m putting Kelsey to bed.”

  Mr. Kadam nodded and dismissed us with a wave, being already absorbed in his new toy, but Ren looked up and studied me briefly before bending over to look at something Mr. Kadam was showing him. Kishan walked me down to my room, stripped me of my gear and shoes and asked, “Clothes or pajamas?”

  “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On if you plan on staying to help.”

  He grinned and rubbed his jaw. “That’s an intriguing question. What would you like me to do?”

  I poked him in the chest. “Why don’t you wait here while I change in the bathroom.”

  His face fell in disappointment, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  I changed into my pajamas with my eyes closed because I was so tired, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and groped my way back toward the bed. My hand bumped into Kishan’s broad chest, and I was quickly scooped up off my feet and placed between the cool sheets. Kishan turned the light to its lowest setting and knelt beside the bed. My weary head immediately sank into the pillow. I shifted slightly and whimpered.

  “Where does it hurt, Kells?”

  “My elbow.”

  He examined my bruised elbow and pressed a soft kiss against it. “Anywhere else?”

  “My knee.”

  He pulled down the sheet and slid my silky pajamas to above my kneecap. He squeezed my knee gently. “You’ve skinned it, but I think it will heal.” His lips touched my knee as he kissed me sweetly there as well. “Next?”