“What? Why him?” I asked.
“Because he drank the soma. If this one tried to enter the water,” she pointed to Ren, “it would kill him immediately.”
“Drank the soma? You mean that drink at Phet’s house?”
“I don’t have any idea where he drank it. I just know he did. The power just shimmers on his skin. Can’t you see it? It’s very enticing.”
I peered at Kishan. “Nope, can’t really see his power.”
“Well, the water is full of it. Power, I mean. My job is to stir it once in a while so it doesn’t settle to the bottom. Dip a finger in, and you’ll get the shock of your life. An arm, and your brain shuts down. Your entire body? Zap! You’re just nutmeg floating in the eggnog.”
“Great,” I mumbled.
“But the water does do wonders for a girl’s scales. Milk baths are all the rage when your tail dries out. Don’t you try it, though. There’s not just creamy goodness in that lake. All kinds of special powers are in there, and only an elite few can access them. You might call it the swimming pool of the gods, and only those who have a pass can enter. It’s a members-only kind of thing. Neither of you belong to the club. He’ll probably still freeze anyway, but at least he has a sporting chance. Oh, and I forgot to mention, you’d better make it quick. My toes are freezing already, and if the fountain refreezes before you get back, you can’t enter or exit the lake, and I won’t be able to tell you how to get the Necklace.”
We stood there dumbfounded.
“Shoo. Go on now. Hurry up.”
The three of us took off at a run, slipping and sliding back through the tunnel to the lake. I heard the soft complaints of the mermaid whining about her tail not getting enough moisturizer. Then we turned the corner, and I couldn’t make out her words anymore.
Kishan threw off his coat and slipped out of his shoes while I used my heat to make a hole in the ice big enough for him to enter.
We could faintly hear Kaeliora shouting, “It’s gold! Shines in the dark! Can’t miss it!”
Kishan shook out his limbs, kissed me hard, and dropped straight down into the ice. He stayed down several minutes before his head cracked the thin glaze now covering the hole. Taking a deep breath he said, “Don’t see it yet.”
I stood there stewing, biting my lip, and trying to think of a rational excuse for why I didn’t act the same way with Kishan diving in the dangerous water as I had with Ren. I was soon able to convince myself that it was just because I hadn’t had the time to process my feelings.
Two more times Kishan surfaced. On the last time, he said, “I saw it, but it’s pretty far. I’m sure I can get it though.” His teeth chattered, and his lips were blue.
Kishan submerged again, and the mermaid called out in a loud but still-bored voice, “He won’t make it. He’s freezing to death. You can help him, you know.”
“How?” I hollered back.
“You already know how.”
I let another few seconds go before ripping off my coat and yanking off Ren’s. He didn’t say anything, and he already seemed to know what I was going to do. I pushed up the sleeves of my shirt and threw my firepower at the lake. Ren pulled me back into his chest, pressed his cheek against mine, and slid his hands down my arms. I felt the hot flames lick my skin as golden fire burst from not one of my palms, but both of them. He twined his fingers with mine, and the heat intensified.
Steam rose from the lake and the hole grew quickly and began to expand across the entire surface. A head emerged halfway down and Ren whispered, “He’s alright. I can hear him breathing. Can you do more?”
I nodded and continued to warm the lake until I could no longer see ice and Kishan started swimming toward us in the milky water.
He got closer and shouted, “Hey! This feels pretty good. Almost like a sauna! Too bad you two can’t try it!”
Seeing he was safe, I jerked myself away from Ren, who raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing, and asked the Scarf to make towels.
Kishan stood up, waded out of the water, and shook himself like a dog. He grabbed me, gave me a very soggy kiss, and pressed the key into my hand. While Kishan stayed behind and changed into dry clothes, I ran down the now muddy path back to the fountain with Ren following along silently behind me.
I slid to a stop by the half-frozen mermaid, gave her a blast of heat, and then showed her the key. “We’ve got it. Now what?”
25
The Seventh Pagoda
“Good. Now listen to me very carefully. You obviously seek the Necklace and have Durga’s favor.” Kaeliora paused to delicately sniff the lotus blossoms again. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be helping you. Continue to follow this path. The tunnel will lead you back to the ocean. I suggest you move through the ice quickly, because some of the world’s most ancient creatures make this realm their home, and they aren’t too keen on intruders.”
“The white dragon didn’t tell us about that,” I commented as Kishan caught up to us.
“Yes, well, he hasn’t been down here in a long time, and what doesn’t faze a dragon can be deadly to a human. Some of the ocean’s most terrifying predators are mere pets to one such as Yínbáilóng. Once you arrive at the pagoda, use the key to open the doors. The Necklace will be found inside the shell of a large oyster in a pool of milky water so make sure only he,” she nodded at Kishan, “goes in to search for it. That’s the easy part.”
“Wonderful,” I muttered.
“The hard part is—” she wiggled her tail and softly grunted. “I seem to be frozen again. Would you mind?”
I sighed and lifted my hand but nothing happened.
“
“She can’t. She’s exhausted,” Kishan explained.
Ren removed his glove and caught my bare wrist before I could move out of range. Golden light surged out from my palm to warm the entire fountain. Steam rose from the water, and the mermaid sunk deeper, sighing with pleasure.
“That is absolutely lovely. You don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been truly warm. Thank you.”
“No problem.” I lowered my hand and tried to inconspicuously jerk my wrist away from Ren’s grip. Sheepishly, I took a step closer to Kishan, who seemed shocked. I glared at Ren, who just looked away. It’s not like I was exactly cheating on Kishan, but I felt like I’d just been caught lip-locked with Ren. There was something different, something special, about the golden flame, and I didn’t want to explore the uniqueness of it.
“It’s nothing,” I whispered.
The mermaid disagreed. “Oh, I’d definitely say it’s something. I haven’t seen a connection that strong in millennia.”
“What do you mean by connection?” Kishan inquired politely but with an edge in the undertone.
“That light. It’s more powerful than she can make alone. He acts like … well, like a filament. She pours her energy into him, and he heats it. Then he sends it back into her just like a light bulb. They create a kind of vacuum between them; that is the connection I am referring to. It’s very special and rarely seen. When they’re touching, nothing else exists outside the two of them. All they are aware of is each other.”
My first reaction was shock. That explains a lot. The mermaid was dead-on accurate. There was only one problem with her theory. Ren didn’t need to touch me to create a vacuum. I could feel him—all warm and powerful—all the time. All I needed to do was close my eyes, and he could wrap me in a bubble so strong I’d forget everyone and everything else. Ren was just that potent.
My connection to Ren was cosmic. Makes sense. We were destined to find each other to break the curse. That’s all. And if I just avoided touching him, I could probably do a better job at being Kishan’s girlfriend and, as a result, be less plagued by guilt. I might even be able to forget what’s-his-name and love Kishan completely with my full heart, which was my goal.
Kishan looked at me with hurt and confusion, probably misunderstanding the emotions that were crossing my face. I took Kishan’s hand and do
wnplayed the parts I didn’t want to think about.
“Well, I guess that explains why we can create the golden light together, if you can take an ice mermaid’s word on the whole light bulb analogy. As if she would know. Like she’s changed a lot of bulbs down here in the ocean.” I laughed though no one else did. Clearing my throat, I stammered on, “It’s definitely a handy tool though. Saved your life a little while ago, Kishan.”
I squeezed his hand, a silent message that we would talk later, and asked Kaeliora to continue with what she was supposed to tell us. I also sent her a warning look not to mention other things that should remain unmentioned.
“Oh, yes … what was I talking about?”
“The hard part,” Ren furnished.
“Oh, right. The hard part is not getting in. It’s getting out. The Necklace will help you escape. Just ask it for a way to the surface. It can manipulate water, much as your other item manipulates cloth. But a great predator lurks outside the Seventh Pagoda. It doesn’t eat. It doesn’t hunt. It doesn’t sleep. Its only purpose is to prevent you from doing what you are going to do.”
“Will it be able to break through the ice tunnels?”
“It won’t have to. You cannot return through the tunnels.”
“Why not?”
“Because once you pass the threshold into the pagoda, the tunnels will melt to prevent any potential thieves from escaping. The only way to the surface is through the ocean.”
“But the pressure will kill us!”
“Not if you have the Necklace. It’s still very dangerous though. Understand that before you make your choice. You can still turn back if you don’t want to risk it.”
Both men looked at me.
I bit my lip. “We’ll go on. We’ve come this far.”
“Very well. Before you go, I have a gift for you, Keyfinder. You may fill your flask from my well,” she said with a grand flourish.
“My flask?” asked Kishan curiously.
“Yes. A flask. A container of some kind. Don’t you have one? Durga should have given you one.”
“Durga?”
“Yes, yes.”
“A container from Durga? It’s the kamandal,” I burst out excitedly. “Are you wearing it?”
He yanked on the thong around his neck and pulled the conch shell out of his shirt. “You mean this? But it doesn’t have a stopper.”
“That doesn’t matter,” the mermaid said. “Just dip it into my fountain. You won’t need a stopper. Not a drop will be spilled unless you wish to use it.”
He held the conch shell under a stream of milky water. “What am I supposed to do with it? Kill people?”
The mermaid laughed—a bubbly, happy sound. “No. Its properties change once it leaves this place. It won’t hurt you any longer. The nectar of immortality is to be used when you are the most desperate. Trust your instincts. To use it liberally is to change the course of destiny. A wise man sees the path all must walk and embraces the free will of humankind, even if to watch it unfold causes him pain.”
Kishan nodded and placed the kamandal under his shirt.
“If your decision is to move forward, I suggest you go quickly.”
Ren and Kishan prepared the sled while the mermaid called me to her. She plucked a bloom from the lei and pressed it into my hand.
“You’re a lucky young lady. Love can overcome many challenges. It’s a precious treasure—worth more than all of these other miraculous things. It’s the most powerful magic in the universe. Don’t let it slip through your fingers. Hold onto it. Tightly.”
I nodded and left to strap in the tigers. After I was seated and buckled in, I turned to look at the mermaid one last time. She was splashing contentedly in her fountain. I patted Fanindra and tied one of the bags more securely, and then we started off.
As the boys circled the fountain, I gasped in shock. The mermaid and the entire fountain were already frozen. Milky droplets hung suspended in the air, trickling from the mouths of frozen fish. Kaeliora had dipped her head to smell the lei and had iced over with a glistening smile on her face. The boys started running, and I shifted to watch the path looming before us.
It wasn’t long before we shot into the ice tunnel again, running through the ocean. The black water surrounding us suddenly made me fearful. As we raced along, I couldn’t help but hum the song from Willy Wonka’s scary paddleboat ride. Creepy neon fish darted up to take a look but mostly left us alone. They weren’t really big enough to break through the ice, but it wasn’t very long before something large took an interest.
I didn’t see anything except a gray shadow at first. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but then I looked down over the side of the sled and saw a giant eye peering up at me. I screamed, and the tigers slid to a halt. Something about us stopping spurred the creature to action. It nudged the ice tunnel from beneath. The sled popped into the air abruptly and crashed down, knocking the air out of my lungs. Kishan and Ren fell in a tumble of legs and tails, and the sled tilted and slammed into the side wall. I pushed against the ice and righted us again while the boys scrambled to their feet.
The creature swam to the right and scraped its scaled side across the ice. We bounced into the other side, and a large crack appeared. Ren and Kishan broke into a run, with the creature giving chase. I started calling out its positions, so they could brace themselves when it hit. Cracks were forming all over the tunnel. I knew the ocean could easily rush in and kill us. We had no dragon air bubbles here—all we could do was run.
Faster and faster the tigers sprinted, but the creature easily outswam us. At one point, I couldn’t see it anymore and had just breathed a sigh of relief when I looked to the right and saw something swimming toward us at top speed. It looked like a prehistoric crocodile. Its long snout gaped open as it headed right for us. It was going to bite the ice tunnel in half!
I screamed again and braced for the impact. Closing my eyes and covering my head, I felt the tunnel shake violently as the creature hit. Kishan and Ren slid to a stop and dug in their claws. I’m sure they were wondering, as I was, if it would be smarter to turn around and go back.
As we waited for the shaking to stop, I looked deeply into the maw of the beast. The only thing preventing us from being fish food was the tunnel. Its teeth were each a foot long and jabbed into the ice with a terrible crunch. Water started leaking in where a tooth pierced the top. Kishan nudged Ren, and they began running forward again.
The creature wrenched its head up and bellowed in frustration as we moved away from it. More huge cracks appeared in the ice as its body pounded over the top of the tunnel trying to catch us. Its noise must have attracted attention, because it was soon joined by another beast—an eel that had a long tail ending in a fin. It wrapped its tail completely around the ice tunnel and started squeezing. I heard several pops and water streamed in, coating the walls and making the ice slippery. The tigers slid and had to slow down to dig in their claws for traction.
A vibration shook the tunnel as the crocodile bellowed and started to fight the eel for the prize. The eel creature bit the crocodile’s tail while the latter slammed its body against the tunnel, pinning the eel. The ice crackled before they swam off in a flurry of fins. The tigers took advantage of their absence to press on.
We turned a corner and saw a rocky outcropping and a glint of gold ahead. The Seventh Pagoda! We were close. Through the ice I made out the temple. We were headed for a mountain of stone that rose from the bottom of the sea. Carved into that mountain were tall pillars and smooth dark panels that looked like glass, though I knew the pressure here would implode windows. The tunnel led right to its golden door.
The tigers doubled their speed, but the first creature was back, slamming its head violently against the tunnel. Water sprayed against us as more cracks appeared. The frozen rivulets dripped into the thick layers of my clothes, making me shiver. Icy water hit my face and my hair, instantly freezing it and causing my breath to hitch. A thin river ran under
our feet making the path slicker, even for claws. Ren and Kishan scrambled as best they could, knowing it was going to be a close race. A cold fear crept into my stomach and grew, creating sharp icicle daggers that shot through my limbs.
Another impact, and I saw terrible claws rake down the sides of the tunnel. Shards—dangerous spear-sized icicles—dropped and shattered around us. A section of tunnel opened and a wall of water slammed against the sled, spinning us around. We were only twenty feet from the door, but the tunnel was filling with frigid seawater. The beast bit the tunnel again. The horrible crack sounded like a pocket of ice breaking off a glacier. I wrenched off my ties to the sled and unstrapped Ren. He changed quickly and began helping Kishan.
“Run, Kelsey! Get the key into the lock.”
I waded as fast as I could, but my clothes dragged me down. The water was up to my waist now. I tried to gulp in air, but the shock of the frozen water on my body was overwhelming. My lungs tightened and wouldn’t expand or contract normally. Prickles of pain raced through my limbs then faded to numbness. Ren and Kishan were coming up fast behind me. The crocodile beast bellowed again and a rush of freezing water slammed me into the golden door. My hand shook as I pulled the key out of my pocket with frozen fingers. The keyhole was underwater, and thanks to my panic and fuzzy depth perception, I couldn’t get the key in the lock.
Hands covered mine and guided the golden key. We twisted it, and the door opened just as a surge of ocean threw us into the Seventh Pagoda. I spilled out onto the floor next to the bags Ren tossed in and scrambled to my feet as Ren and Kishan threw themselves against the door, trying to shut it against the weight of the water. A shiny object hit my shoe. I reached down to pick up Fanindra and cuddled her against my chest. Grateful that Ren had thought to retrieve our bags and my golden pet, I stroked her coils and apologized as best I could.
The brothers somehow managed to shut the door and lock it, and then slumped to the wet floor, panting. I positioned myself between them and slid to the floor too.
Tiger's Voyage Page 45