Tiger’s Destiny (18 page)

Ren crouched down to peer in. “It’s a lava tube. Probably an active one.”

“So lava will come spurting out of there?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, what should we do? Go on or go in?”

Kishan leaned over the opening, “It’s too hot. She won’t survive.”

“What about you two?” I interjected. “I assume you don’t want your fur burned off either.”

“Then we move on,” Ren said as he stood and shifted his pack.

Following in his footsteps, we started to walk away but then I stopped and turned.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Kishan asked from behind me.

“It’s a . . . a song.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” Ren answered.

“Me neither,” Kishan added.

I closed my eyes and listened. “There it is again. You can’t pick it up with your tiger hearing?”

They shook their heads.

“I hate to say this but I feel like . . . this is the place.”

“But it’s too hot, Kells.”

“Then we need to cool it off. Cooling myself off in the process wouldn’t be a bad idea either.” While brushing away the sweat that tickled the back of my neck, my fingers touched the Black Pearl Necklace.

“I have an idea,” I said to Kishan. “Follow me.”

We climbed onto the lip above the tunnel. I touched the pearl lotus flower on the Necklace at my throat and murmured a few words. A rumble shook the island, and I heard the rushing of water. Ren wrapped an arm around me when I stumbled as the ground moved.

“I hope I can control it,” I mumbled nervously with arms raised.

I focused on the wall of the caldera. The trees shook wildly, and then a spray of ocean water rushed over the wall and plunged into the basin. Visualizing the flow of water, I willed it to come closer, and it quickly rolled over the black surface of the volcano.

Steam shot up in several places and hissed with the sound of a thousand snakes. I raised my hands, cupping them, and slowly brought them together. I tamed the water, shaped it, until it became exactly what I wanted it to be, guiding the flow toward the lava tube.

Cold sea water rushed forward and surged down the open mouth of the tube. I could feel the water moving through the island traveling through tunnels miles long and I willed more and more water to come until I’d displaced something the size of a small lake from the surrounding ocean. Spreading my fingertips, I sent the cold sea water underground to flow over lava that hissed and steamed and blackened as the two disparate elements met. I stood silently with closed eyes and felt the stream’s progress until every last bit of it had evaporated.

When I opened my eyes, Ren and Kishan were watching me quizzically.

“How did you know to do that?” Kishan asked.

“I don’t know. I think it was the song. Are you sure you didn’t hear it?”

When they both shook their heads, I wondered if I was now hearing things in addition to having strange powers and control over magical objects. Whatever had been my inspiration seemed to work. The tunnel was warm but it had cooled significantly.

We stepped into the damp opening. As we descended, the tunnel twisted and became very dark, and only the glow of Fanindra’s eyes lit our way. The air felt muggy and humid. Metallic veins of fibers clung to the sides of the tunnel, and I coughed as little wisps floated in the air.

We came to a fork in the tunnel, and I turned left, only hesitating when Kishan whispered, “How do you know where to go?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I just do.”

My answer echoed sinisterly through the dark passages. I swiped the back of my neck and pulled my sticky T-shirt away from my lower back. To keep my mind off the heat and the danger, I hummed Christmas carols and thought about snow. To my surprise, Ren and Kishan joined me on “Jingle Bells,” but the song was quiet, hesitant, and when the echo came back, we sounded more like the ghosts of holidays long since forgotten.

The lava tube was rounded and smooth as if a giant earthworm had tunneled it out for us. It was easily twelve feet in diameter, and two of us could walk comfortably side by side. We journeyed downward about a mile or so.
Surely we are well below sea level by now.
I heard a rushing sound ahead and wondered if some of my ocean water was still running through the tubes.

We came upon a broken section that glowed with an orange light. We stepped closer, and a rush of heat instantly dried the sweat all over my body.

Ren held me back, but the three of us craned forward to see into the opening. A hundred feet below, a river of lava flowed. Its rocky edges were dark and sluggish, but the middle was bright orange and moved quickly. A cooled dark skin cracked and floated on the surface in different places, making the lava look like a reddish-orange pudding left uncovered in the refrigerator.

Kishan pulled me away from the spectacle, and we continued downward through the maze of tubes until we finally came to a dead end. I placed my hand onto the coarse surface of a rock wall.

“I don’t understand. This is the place,” I murmured.

Ren placed his hands on the wall and brushed them over the surface, dusting off the grit. Kishan and I helped. My fingers sank into a slight depression, and I swept my hand over it, digging out the powdery dust. Loose gravel fell at my feet, and a moment later I called out.

“It’s here. The handprint!”

I placed my hand into the depression and let the crackling sparks pour into the rock. My henna drawing surfaced and glowed, illuminating my hand from the inside out. The cavern shook, and the rock wall shifted. As dust rained down on us, Kishan grabbed me and pressed my head into his chest, covering me with his body. The stone groaned and rocked back and forth, then slowly rolled to the side and stopped. I wiped some feathery dust away that tickled my cheek and stepped through the opening.

We were standing on a ledge that overlooked a giant underground forest.

“Trees? How can there be trees here?” I asked in disbelief.

“I don’t think those are normal trees. This must be like Kishkindha,” Ren murmured, “an underground world.”

“Yeah, except this world is hotter than Hades.”

When Ren found a series of stone steps, we began to make our way down. As we moved along, I marveled at the beauty of the woodland. Thick, sooty trunks supported a vast canopy of limbs covered with leaves that softly flickered like the embers of a dying fire. Curly golden tendrils grew out of the branches and moved in our direction as we walked.

Ren watched them warily and removed the
gada
from his backpack, but I strode forward fearlessly and held out a finger. A small tendril stretched toward my hand almost hesitantly, and then slowly, gently, it wrapped around my finger and clung to me. Warmth reverberated through my body, and the amulet around my neck began to glow.

“Kelsey?” Ren stepped toward me.

I held out my hand to stop him. “It’s okay. It’s not hurting me.” I smiled. “It’s drawn to the power of the amulet.”

Another thin vine with two quivering leaves brushed against my cheek. Kishan approached the tree, but the leaves flickered colors of alarm. I stroked the trunk to reassure it.

“They won’t hurt you. You have nothing to fear from us.”

The tree seemed to recover and let Kishan touch a limb.

Shivering delicately, the fire tree stretched out another vine with tiny buds that sprang open into bright orange petals with gold leaves.

“It’s beautiful,” I exclaimed.

Kishan grunted, saying, “They seem to like you.”

The leaves trembled and turned toward us as we made our way down the slope.

We saw flickering ferns and fiery flowers that burst into radiant bloom as we walked by. Ren and Kishan found tracks and spied a red-orange animal that looked like a rabbit. The forest seemed to enclose us in warmth but spared us from the devastating heat of the volcano. The air was dry, and the ground was rich and dark like the most fertile potting soil. Thick glowing mosses in a variety of orange and red shades grew on black rocks and tree trunks.

We sat on a fallen trunk and ate a lunch made by the Golden Fruit, quietly talking of the strangeness of the place. Trees often stretched out curly vines to touch my hair or my arm. The amulet glowed upon contact, and warmth spread through my limbs. I felt as if they were recharging my batteries, and the heat no longer bothered me.

Though the forest was ablaze with light, the sky was dark and without stars. We started up a rise and, upon reaching the peak, Ren pointed at the distant horizon.

“Can you see them?”

“See what?” I asked.

“Over there. It’s a mountain range. It’s hard to see because the mountains are black on black.”

Kishan said he could make out the outline, but all I saw was blackness.

“Your tiger vision must help. I can’t see anything.”

Ren nodded and suggested we make camp in the valley below. We had just started down when a bright light shot across the sky and burst into a quiet cascade that reminded me of Fourth of July fireworks. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, all the trees went dark. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of me.

“What happened?” I exclaimed nervously.

Ren took my hand and drew me to his side. “I’m not sure.”

Fanindra’s emerald eyes glowed, casting a welcome glimpse of green onto this strange, dark world. Ren made his way down the hill, holding tightly onto my hand.

At the bottom, we set up camp and made a large tent with the Scarf. When I reached out to touch a tree limb, I felt nothing. It didn’t move or fill me with warmth. It seemed to be dead. I put my hand against the trunk and allowed some of my fire energy to seep into it. A faint thrumming confirmed the tree was alive, but I guessed that this was its version of sleeping.

When I crawled into the tent to join Ren and Kishan, they abruptly stopped talking.

“Keeping secrets, huh?” I teased. “I don’t want to know anyway. I only wanted to tell you that the trees are all asleep. I think it’s just a light’s out kind of thing.”

Ren nodded, “Fine. We’re going to keep watch tonight. We think . . . it’s possible you’re being manipulated, Kells.”

“What?” I laughed. “Are you serious?”

Neither of them made eye contact.

“You think the trees are leading me astray?”

Ren spoke softly. “We have to keep our minds open to the possibility.”

Kishan added, “And for that reason we’re keeping watch, and you are not allowed to participate in that.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “I think I know when I’m being manipulated. And why do you two tigers always think you know what’s best for me? You’re such, such . . . men!”

“
Kells
,” they both protested.

“Fine. Knock yourselves out. Go sit on a spark while you’re at it.”

I heard Kishan’s sigh and a soft, “Goodnight, Kelsey,” as I rolled over and stuffed my fist beneath my cheek. I twisted, kicking off my blanket in the heat, and fell asleep.

A bright flash penetrated the fabric tent and woke me. I heard a popping sound and a metallic hum, and suddenly everything was bathed in flickering firelight.

Ren was asleep. He had one arm raised over his head and the other resting on his stomach. I moved closer, and he sighed and angled his head better on his pillow.

I wanted to reach out to him, to touch him. I knew his golden skin would be smooth and warm, but instead I sat there listening to him quietly breathe and wondered how I could be engaged to one man and still long for another.

What a terrible person I am
, I thought and stumbled out of the tent.

“Good morning,
bilauta
,” Kishan said, still keeping watch. “Are you still angry?”

“No.”

“Good.”

He wrapped me in a bear hug and kissed my head. A tiny vine as soft as a kitten’s paw touched the back of my hand. I let it curl around my pinky and felt its warmth.

Feeling sticky and grimy from the volcano, I walked off a ways and tried to set up a shower using the Necklace. But as soon as the drops of water touched them, the trees shook violently and their leaves turned brown and fell off.

Hmm . . . that’s strange
, I thought and stopped the flow of water. Remembering the trees’ attraction to the fire amulet, I wondered if fire might be their energy source.

I tried to repair the damaged trees by warming them with my fire power. The first tree started to heal, but I could still feel the energy draining out of it. Heartbroken, I removed my hands from the trunk as silent tears ran down my face.

Ren found me a few minutes later, brushed away a tear, and asked, “Why are you crying?”

“I killed a tree,” I said through a sniffle. “I think these trees feed off of fire and die when they come into contact with water. I tried to save them but I don’t have enough power.”

He studied the tree, and then picked up my hand and placed it onto the trunk. “Try again.”

I closed my eyes and let the fire build up until it began to flow into the tree. I sensed the feeble glow deep within it respond to me and reach out with weak fingers. We stretched toward each other, but I knew we’d never bridge the gap. In despair, I sobbed anew, but then I felt a burst of golden energy radiate out of my hands and travel from the tree’s roots to the once-fiery leaves. The liquid gold rushed through deadened limbs, invigorating dried, brown tendrils as it went.

Pulsing with new life, the tree reached toward me and softly stroked my hair and face. My tears dried in the warmth. A branch wrapped me into a leafy embrace, and I joyfully stood in its glow. Turning around, I realized that all the other trees had also been healed.

“How did one tree heal them all?” I asked out loud.

Ren answered, “Maybe their roots are connected.”

Ren brushed the hair away from my neck and ran his thumb lightly across the sensitive place just behind my ear. I shivered, and my eyes met his.

“Maybe they responded to your touch,” he said quietly, his lips just inches from mine.

“Why do you have to look at me like that?” I asked while stepping away and lowering my eyes.

His hand dropped from my neck. “How am I looking at you?”