Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (24 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The Cave of the Bandits

I
T WAS NOT DIFFICULT FOR
A
LEXANDER
and his new friends to find the general area of the Blue Warriors' cave; Nadia had given them the approximate location, and Borobá took care of the rest. The little monkey was still riding Alexander's shoulders, with his tail wrapped around the youth's neck and his hands buried in Alexander's hair. He did not like climbing mountains, and he liked going down them even less. Every so often, Alex would slap at the monkey to let go, because Borobá's tail was choking him and his nervous little hands were pulling out tufts of hair.

Once the party was sure of the whereabouts of the cave, they approached with great caution, taking advantage of the cover of shrubs and the irregular terrain. They did not note any activity, or hear anything but the wind among the hills and, from time to time, the cry of a bird. In that silence, their footsteps, even their breathing, sounded deafening. Tensing picked up a few stones and tucked them into the folds his tunic formed at the waist, then telepathically ordered Borobá to go scout what lay ahead. Alexander breathed a sigh
of relief when finally the monkey jumped down.

Borobá went loping off in the direction of the cave, and within ten minutes he was back. He could not voice what he had seen, but in the monkey's mind Tensing saw confused images of several persons, and in that way verified that the cave was not empty, as they had feared. Apparently the captive girls were still there, guarded by a few Blue Warriors, though most of the men had left. That made their immediate task easier, but Tensing did not consider it good news: it meant that the others must be in Tunkhala. He had no doubt that, as the young American had suggested, the criminals had not come to the Forbidden Kingdom to kidnap a half-dozen girls but to steal the Golden Dragon.

The three men and the monkey crawled close to the cave, where a man sat on his haunches, supporting himself with his rifle. The light shone directly on him, and at that distance he made an easy target for Dil Bahadur who, however, would have to stand to use his bow. Tensing gestured to him to stay flat on the ground, and pulled out one of the stones he had gathered. Mentally, he asked forgiveness for the act he was about to commit, and then, without hesitation, he threw the stone with all his strength. To Alexander it seemed as if the lama hadn't aimed at all, so he was dumbfounded when the guard fell forward with barely a sound, knocked unconscious by the stone that had struck him squarely between the eyes. Tensing motioned to the others to follow him.

Alexander picked up the guard's weapon, though he had never fired a rifle and didn't even know if it was loaded. The weight of the gun in his hands gave him confidence, and awakened an unfamiliar sense of combativeness. He felt a strong flow of energy; in an instant his doubts disappeared and he was ready to fight like a wild
beast.

All three ran into the cave at the same time. Tensing and Dil Bahadur were yelling bloodthirsty yells, and without thinking about what he was doing, Alexander imitated them. Normally he was a rather shy person, and he had never made such an uproar. All his rage, fear, and strength were concentrated in those cries; thanks to them, and the charge of adrenaline surging through his veins, he felt invincible, like the jaguar.

Inside the cave they found four bandits, the woman with the scar, and the prisoners, who were in the back of the cavern with their ankles tied. Surprised by that trio bellowing like madmen, the Blue Warriors hesitated only an instant and then reached for their knives, but that instant was enough to allow Dil Bahadur's first arrow to hit its mark, piercing the right arm of one of the men.

The arrow did not stop him. With a howl of pain, he threw his dagger with his left hand, and immediately drew another from the sash at his waist. The dagger hissed as it flew straight toward the prince's heart. Dil Bahadur stepped to one side. The dagger brushed his armpit without wounding him, as he raised his arm to shoot a second arrow; he was calm as he stepped forward, sure that he was protected by the magic shield of the dragon dropping.

At the same time, Tensing, with incredible skill, was dodging the knives flying about him. A lifetime of training in the art of Tao-shu allowed him to predict the course and speed of each dagger. He didn't need to think, his body reacted instinctively. He eliminated one of the men with a quick leap and a sharp kick to the jaw. With a swipe of one arm he dislodged the gun from another who was aiming to fire, but the Blue Warrior immediately pulled out his knives.

Alexander didn't have time to aim at anything. He pulled the trigger and a shot echoed through the air, exploding against the rock walls. He felt a push from Dil Bahadur, stumbled, and escaped by a hair from being the target of one of the knives. When he saw that the bandits still standing were going for their rifles, he grabbed his by the barrel, which was hot, and charged them, yelling at the top of his lungs. Without conscious thought, he slammed the rifle butt down on the shoulder of the nearest man; the blow did not put him out of commission but stunned him enough that it gave Tensing time to get his hands on the man and press a key point on his neck. His paralyzed victim felt an electric charge travel from his neck to his heels; his knees buckled and he dropped like a rag doll, eyes bulging and a scream stuck in his throat, unable to move a finger.

In only a few minutes the four Blue Warriors were on the ground. The guard had recovered slightly from being struck with the stone, but he had no opportunity to use his knives. Alexander placed the barrel of his rifle to his temple and ordered him to join the others. He spoke in English, but the tone was so clear that the man did not hesitate to obey. While Alexander stood guard with the weapon he didn't know how to use, trying to look as bold and cruel as possible, Tensing bound the Blue Warriors with rope he found in the cave.

As Dil Bahadur, bow at the ready, started toward the girls at the back of the cave, he was stopped short by a loud scream. About midpoint in the ten yards that separated him from them was a pit of glowing charcoal. The woman with the scar had deserted her cooking pots; she held a whip in one hand and, in the other, an open basket that she was shaking over the heads of the five captives.

“One more step and I'll drop the scorpions over them,” the jailer shrieked.

The prince did not dare shoot his arrow. From that distance he could fell the woman with no difficulty, but he couldn't prevent her from spilling the lethal insects on the girls. The Blue Warriors, and surely the woman as well, were immune to the venom, but anyone else was at risk of dying from their stings.

Everyone froze. Alexander kept his eyes and his weapon trained on the prisoners, two of whom had not yet been tied up by Tensing and were waiting for an unguarded moment to jump him. The lama did not dare act, either. From where he stood, the only weapons he could use against the woman were his extraordinary parapsychological powers. He tried to project a mental image that would freeze her with fear; there was too much confusion and distance between them to try to hypnotize her. He could see enough of her aura to recognize what a primitive and cruel creature she was, and one who was frightened besides; he knew they would have to use force to subdue her.

The standoff lasted a few seconds, but that was enough to shift the balance of power. One more instant and Alexander would have had to shoot the two men who were primed to leap on Tensing. Then something totally unexpected occurred. One of the girls threw herself against the woman with the scar, and the two of them rolled across the cave floor as the basket arced through the air and hit solid ground. A hundred black scorpions scrabbled toward the back of the cave.

The girl who had jumped in was Pema. Despite her slim, almost ethereal build, and the fact that she was tied at the ankles, she took on her jailer with suicidal determination, ignoring the whip the woman was wielding blindly, and the imminent
threat of the scorpions. Pema pounded the woman with her fists, bit her, and pulled her hair, fighting for her life; the girl was at a clear disadvantage, because the woman was stronger, and by now she had dropped the whip and pulled out the kitchen knife she wore at her waist. Pema's actions gave Dil Bahadur the opportunity to drop his bow, seize a tin of the kerosene the bandits used in their lamps, pour the combustible fluid on the ground, and light it with a twig from the fire. A curtain of flames and thick smoke swirled up, singeing his eyelashes.

Indifferent to the fire, the prince ran to Pema, who was on her back on the ground with the evil woman on top of her, straining with both hands to hold back the knife inching closer and closer to her face. The tip of the knife was scratching Pema's cheek, as the prince grabbed the woman around the neck, pulled her back, and with one chop to the temple knocked her unconscious.

Pema sat up and desperately slapped at the flames licking her long skirt, but the silk was blazing like dry tinder. With one tug the prince yanked off the skirt and then turned to the other girls who were huddled against the wall and crying with terror. Using the woman's knife, Pema cut through her bonds and then helped Dil Bahadur free her companions. She led them through the curtain of fire—where charred scorpions were twisting and crackling—toward the entrance to the cave, now filling with smoke.

Tensing, the prince, and Alexander dragged their prisoners outside and left them tightly tied two by two, back to back. Borobá took advantage of the bandits' defenselessness to make fun of them, tossing clods of dirt at them and sticking out his tongue, until Alexander called him. The monkey leapt to his shoulders, curled his tail around his neck, and clamped onto his ears. Alex sighed with resignation.

Dil Bahadur took the clothes from one of the bandits and handed his monk's habit to Pema, who was half-naked. It was so big on her that she had to fold it over twice around her waist. With great revulsion, the prince put on the black, stinking clothes of a Blue Warrior. Although he would have preferred a thousand times over to wear only his loin cloth, he knew that as soon as the sun set and the temperature fell, he would need some protection. He was so impressed with Pema's courage and self-possession that giving her his tunic seemed the least he could do. He couldn't take his eyes off her. The girl acknowledged his gesture with a shy smile, and wrapped herself in the rough, dark red habit typical of the monks of her country, never suspecting that she was wearing the clothing of the heir to the throne.

Tensing interrupted the emotion-charged glances between Dil Bahadur and Pema to ask the girl what she had heard in the cave. She confirmed what he already suspected: The other members of the band were planning to steal the Golden Dragon and kidnap the king.

“I understand the first part of the plan, the statue is very valuable, but not the second. What do they want of the king?” the prince asked.

“I do not know,” she replied.

Tensing quickly studied the aura of the prisoners in order to select the most vulnerable, and planted himself before him, piercing him with a penetrating gaze. The always-sweet expression of his eyes had changed completely: the pupils had narrowed to slits and the man had the sensation that he was facing a snake. Tonelessly, the lama recited some words in Sanskrit that only Dil Bahadur recognized, and in less than a minute the frightened bandit was in Tensing's power, sunk in a hypnotic trance.

The lama's questions clarified certain aspects of the Sect of the Scorpion's plan, and confirmed that it was already too late to stop the band from getting into the palace. The man did not believe that they had harmed the king; the American's instructions had been to take him alive, they needed him. That was all the Blue Warrior knew. The most important information they gained was that the sovereign and the statue would both be taken to the abandoned monastery of Chenthan Dzong.

“How do they think they can escape from there?” the prince asked, surprised. “It's in the middle of nowhere.”

“By air,” the bandit said.

“They must have a helicopter,” Alexander put in. Even though he did not know the language, from the images forming in his mind he was able to grasp the broad outlines of what was being discussed. These pictures conveyed most of the communication between the lama and the prince, until Pema was able to fill in details.

“Are they referring to Tex Armadillo?” asked Alexander.

He could not get a clear answer, because the bandits knew him only as “the American,” and Pema had never seen him.

Tensing brought the man out of his hypnotic trance and announced that they were going to leave the bandits there, after making sure they could not work free from their bonds. It wouldn't hurt them to spend one or two nights outdoors, until they were found by the royal guard or, if they were lucky, their own men. Joining his hands before his face, and bowing slightly, the lama apologized to his prisoners for the discourteous way he had treated them. Dil Bahadur did the same.

“I will pray that you are rescued before black bears, snow leopards, or tigers find you,” Tensing
said with all seriousness.

Alexander was intrigued by this show of courtesy. If the situation had been reversed and they had been the victims, those men would have murdered them without a hint of a bow.

“Perhaps we should go to the monastery,” Dil Bahadur proposed.

“What shall we do with the girls?” Alexander asked, indicating Pema and her friends.

“Possibly,” Pema offered, “I can lead them back to the valley and advise the king's troops to join you at the monastery.”

“I don't think it would be wise to use the bandits' trail; they must have men posted through these mountains. You will have to take a shortcut,” Tensing replied.

“My master has forgotten the cliff,” the prince murmured.

The lama smiled. “Perhaps the cliff is not an entirely bad idea, Dil Bahadur.”

“Possibly my master is joking?”