Serpentine Love (5 page)

“
Maybe we’re in his
spot?”

Maya shook her head. There was
something else, a nagging feeling at the back of her head. They
were being watched, hunted. “I don’t know.” Carefully she looked
around, but could see no sign of danger.

Was she being paranoid? Or was there
danger lurking within the dense confines of the forest?

“
Is everything
ok?”

“
Yes, I guess so.” She
rubbed the back of her neck. “We should be heading back in a
while.”

“
If there was time, I
would’ve liked to trek up to the twin peaks,” he said.

Maya finished her sandwich. “We could
do it tomorrow. It’s a fascinating two day hike to the
top.”

She folded her napkin and placed it
back in her pack.

“
I’ll leave in the
afternoon. I’ve asked Isaac to arrange for a car.”

Maya was astounded. He hadn’t said
anything to her about this abrupt change in his plans. “What? I
thought…you planned to stay.”

“
That was when I thought
Isaac could help me. I…” He shook his head. “I need to find the
inagimi. Perhaps, I’ll head to Indonesia.”

“
Can’t you forget about this
inagimi and find some other material for your book?”

“
I’m not a
writer.”

“
You’re not?”

“
I’m a snake charmer and a
wizard. I know it sounds strange.” He laughs. “Actually, I’m from
another world, sort of like a parallel universe. I’m on a mission
to find the inagimi. I guess you don’t believe me. You’re probably
thinking I’m crazy.”

Maya realized her mouth was hanging
open. “I’ve heard stranger things in life,” she muttered. Maya felt
as if she was dealt a blow to her heart. “A snake
charmer?”

“
It’s a part of my magical
gift. I can sense feelings of snakes, but that’s not the extent of
my gift. See there.” He raised his hands palm up and bolts of light
shot out of his hands and speared the rock that sat six feet away.
Sparks of fire flew off the stone.

Maya felt beads of sweat popping on her
forehead. “You search for inagimi to sell them?”

Leaning forward, Arya took her hands in
his. “Forget about the inagimi for a moment, and the fact that I am
wizard. It’s hard to take in all at once. There’s something else I
must say to you. I…I feel a connection to you. It’s too fast, too
soon. We don’t know each other well enough…but still I’m attracted
to you. And I know you’re attracted to me. Why don’t you come with
me to Indonesia?”

“
I can’t.” Maya tried to
pull her hands away. She couldn’t breathe…couldn’t
think.

“
There are a thousand
reasons you can say no…but there is only one reason to say yes. You
want me as much as I want you.”

“
I…”

“
I know you feel the same
way I do.” He locked his gaze with hers. “Your heart beats for me
the way mine beats for you. There is something special about the
way we feel for each other. It’s never happened to me before. It’s
like destiny, or karma…the world is striving to get us together. I
can sense it in my bones, in my heart. All my life I’ve done what
my mind has dictated, just this once I want to listen to my heart.
Say you will come with me. As soon as I find the inagimi, we’ll
come back to Kenya. We’ll live wherever you want …we’ll settle
down…”

“
The inagimi?” Maya
whispered.

“
I’ve this contract to
fulfill. I’ll convince them to give me more time. One year. No more
than that. If I don’t fulfill it during that time, I’ll…somehow get
out of the contract and we’ll come back here.”

“
What contract?” Maya shook
her hands free and stood up. She was cold all over, so cold and so
dead inside. It was like a world opened up inside her, and then it
was smashed to bits. It was a pain like no other she’d ever
experienced.

She cared for him, was attracted to
him. Perhaps, given time, this would have developed into something
more.

Now, there was no chance.

She folded her arms across her chest
and stepped away.

“
You’re a snake charmer?” It
was a whisper. Maya could not trust her voice.

“
Well, yes.” His eyes
narrowed, Arya stared at her. “Are you alight?”

“
I can’t…I need…” Turning
her back on him, Maya took a few deep breaths. “We need to head
back now.” She turned, only to find him gazing behind her, a
strange look on his face.

“
What?”

“
Are there leopards in this
forest?”

“
Well, yes…why?”

“
There is one behind you, up
on the tree. Don’t turn,” he ordered, his voice clipped. “It’s
poised to attack. Get behind me.”

Ignoring his words, Maya turned and her
blood ran cold as she took in the sleek young cat perched high on
the tree. Its brilliant black eyes were fixed on them. Clearly, it
had selected Maya as prey, for its powerful shoulders were hunched
forward and its neck muscles were tight with tension. It was ready
to spring off the branch on to her.

Arya cursed, and moved forward to
propel her back and behind him.

The cat sprung off the branch at the
same exact moment that Arya pushed Maya behind him, and with all
its mighty power the leopard fell on him, its claws ripping his
shirt and its jaws aiming for Arya’s jugular.

Arya twisted the cat’s face away,
burning it with a sting of his magic. The leopard growled, and
jumped off, weary of this strange prey.

“
Run!” Arya yelled to Maya
as he raised his hand and let forth a ball of fire. To his dismay,
he missed the animal by an inch. His power on earth was weaker than
what it was in his own world. The non-magical properties of this
world diluted his magical abilities and made him
vulnerable.

The leopard lunged to pin him under its
body weight, ready to crunch his neck in its powerful
jaw.

In one smooth movement, it was swept
off its feet and thrown a few feet away as a huge glistening black
python moved its body in front of Arya and hissed warningly. The
cat wavered, attacked, too angry to consider retreat. The leopard
was big, at least five feet in length--and was strong, but it was
no match for a ferocious python. In a tangle of sharp claws and
slippery coils the two fell on the floor of the forest not three
feet away from Arya and engaged in a ferocious battle.

The python wrapped its body around the
cat’s torso and neck and squeezed. The leopard growled and
struggled. Its claws sank into the python’s skin and drew blood.
Soon, the leopard’s movements becoming sluggish as the python
forced its coil around the cat’s neck and constricted its
windpipe.

The leopard became still. With a loud
hiss, the python threw the near unconscious animal away where it
lay breathing slowly, exhausted from the fight for its
life.

The python raised itself on its coils
and hissed menacingly before heading straight for Arya. The shiny
black serpent shifted into the shape of the beautiful woman Arya
knew so well.

“
Maya?” Arya muttered,
slipping into blissful unconsciousness before the sheer shock of
the revelation drove him mad.

Arya opened his eyes and found himself
lying on the hard floor of a dark cave. A candle flickered nearby,
its flame casting hazy yellow shadows on the walls.

He tried to get up.

“
Wait,” Maya’s gentle voice
soothed him. She gave him a cool tin cup from which he drank
eagerly.

The liquid was warm and sweet. It
tasted of warm cinnamon and butter melted together.

“
Where am I?” Arya said
after he’d swallowed the nectar down. Pain radiated from his chest
and traveled down his legs to his ankles. Every bone in his body
ached and creaked.

“
You’re safe and doing
well,” she said.

Arya looked at her. In the warm
candlelight, she was stunningly beautiful. Her hair hung down her
back, her eyes were luminous and her skin shone with accents of
warm honey. It was hard to reconcile the image of her with that of
what he had seen yesterday. Memories came flooding. “You? The
leopard…you!” he gasped. “inagimi!”

“
I’m an inagimi. There is no
sense in denying what you’ve already seen. Although, I wish it
could’ve been different.”

“
But, how…”

“
You need to rest now. When
you wake up, you will feel better and I’ll tell you everything. I
promise.”

Arya fought the drowsiness creeping
into his senses. His body seemed numb, his mind dull. He couldn’t
even lift his head. “The medicine?”

“
It’s an ancient recipe, to
heal and soothe. Rest,” she said. “It will all make sense in the
morning.”

He slept.

Maya placed the cup in a niche on the
wall. She worried by his side. Her secret was a secret no more.
Apart from Isaac, no one knew this. Her inherited gift came from
her mother. When she died thirteen years ago in a car accident,
Isaac became her guardian. He had been privy to her mother’s
identity and agreed to keep it hidden from the world. He protected
Maya, raised and nurtured her.

Now her privacy was in Arya’s hands.
Could she trust him to keep her secret to himself?

She recalled the look on his face as
she’d shape-shifted into a python and back. That look of absolute
horror would remain etched in her memories forever. That was the
reason why she never gotten involved with a man. How could any man
accept a woman who was half-snake?

Since she didn’t want a relationship
based on deception and lies, her only option was to remain single -
always.

The fact that he was a wizard from
another world, and a snake charmer didn’t bother her – but what
bothered her was the realization that he intended to capture an
inagimi.

He was her enemy. Would she be able to
convince him to give up his quest?

Too many questions swirled in her mind.
There were no answers.

As she knelt beside Arya’s sleeping
form, Maya realized that her life was in his hands. The inagimi
were a reclusive lot; there was so few of them left in the world.
And none of them wanted to be an object of scientific research.
They were not interested in making a quick buck by selling their
stories to a tabloid. She wanted to keep her life private and away
from public glare.

She could only hope he would listen to
her pleas to safeguard her privacy.

Dawn came swiftly. Adhering to the
sacred ritual of the Cave of Silence, Maya sat under the tree,
bathing in the warm sunlight as it trickled down the leafy branches
of the old gnarled rosewood. She felt the hum of the earth and the
movements of the countless ants and insects living beneath and
above its surface.

“
What is this place?” Arya
stumbled out of the cave, holding on to the rock wall for
support.

Maya watched as he walked forward on
unsteady legs. He sat down on the low rock next to the tree. His
breathing was laborious and sweat trickled down his forehead, but
his color was better and he could walk, albeit with great
difficulty. One more day, she thought and he would be ready to trek
back down to the village.

“
This is the Cave of
Silence.” She gestured around her. Her hair tumbled down her back
in a curly mass. “It’s where I come sometimes to meditate, and the
locals come here to offer their prayers. This tree is centuries
old, and it’s said this is where the God of the Mountain first
dwelt when he came on the earth.”

“
An interesting story.” He
looked around at the small clearing surrounded by huge rocks and
boulders. In the middle of it stood the old tree, covering the
entire place with its multitude of branches and canopy of leaves.
“How did I come here?”

“
I dragged you here in my
coils,” she said.

“
All these days I searched
for an inagimi and you were there, discouraging me, telling me that
they weren’t real. What an idiot I was?”

Rising, she walked towards him. “Let’s
see how much you’ve healed?” Bending down in front of him, she
opened his ripped shirt and examined the wounds with a practiced
eye. There were two giant slashes across his chest, and many more
on his face and arms. “Leopard claws can carry bacteria. Lucky for
you, there are healing plants all over this mountain. I made a balm
and covered your wounds with them. Tomorrow, we’ll head back
home.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me?”
Arya grabbed her arm as she moved to get up. “There I was, like a
fool, telling you that I cared for you…and you kept such a huge
secret from me.”

“
You also kept secrets,
didn’t you?” She snapped back. Maya shook her hand free. “In any
case, this secret is bigger than you or me. It’s a trust that we,
inagimi, keep for each other. There are others like me in the world
and I’ve no right to tell you or anyone else something that will
change their lives forever. You came here searching for an inagimi,
not so you could write a book but because you wanted to capture one
and sell it a wizard who would use me for his own gain? Am I
right?”