by Iram Dana
“Wait a minute …. You sent me there because you wanted me to kill her, didn’t you?”
Kaami said nothing, just stared at him impassively and more revelations dawned on Rain as he looked around the cave.
“And it’s not the Queen Mother who feeds on humans, it’s you!”
An evil smile stretched across her features and in the dull red glow cast by his Geeya, she looked truly terrifying.
Rain knew he was in trouble then. Knew he had to keep her talking and somehow figure out a way to escape. His hand reached slowly towards the arrows behind him and then stopped midway. It was no wonder she wasn’t afraid. Since she had drunk from the well of immortality, the arrows would not kill her. In fact, nothing would. His only hope was to wound her badly and that, too, would fail, because she would kill him the minute he let the first arrow fly.
“Why did you want me to kill her?” he asked, sounding braver than he felt.
“The Queen Mother is the protector of this island. She, along with her young, keeps the Island of Bana free of all dark and evil elements. Elements … like me.”
“And how did you know that I am a sequestor?”
“Because no human prey comes walking up to my cave. They seem to sense… how shall I put it? That something is not quite right …”she said, laughing with a soft hiss. “It is only the sequestors who come walking in … the unfortunate one’s …but you should be proud of yourself. You are the only one so far to have succeeded in bringing me the stone.”
“How many sequestors have been here before me?”
“Four…”
“And how many survived?”
But Rain knew the answer to that question before he had even asked it.
“None.”
Kaami had confirmed his worst fears. No one had made it out of here alive, yet. And obviously, other than him, no one had actually retrieved the Nahla from the Queen Mother either. They had probably tried to fib Kaami into believing that they had it, deduced Rain.
He looked behind, searching for the entrance to the cave. The way inside was so long and twisted, he had no idea how to find his way back out. Rain’s spirits sank as the realization hit him that she had brought him this deep into the cave so that he wouldn’t be able to escape.
“How … how do you intend to use the stone?” he asked, rotating the stone slowly in his hand.
“How else? I will swallow it along with you. An effective way to prevent the stone from ripping my insides, don’t you think?” gloated Kaami. “Oh, clever Kaami! Clever, clever Kaami … you have trapped him well!” she sang, swaying with glee.
Rain’s breath was coming faster as thoughts raced through his mind. If this stone could break something as strong as the Queen Mother’s curse, could it also break the shield of immortality on Kaami?
A stone of unimaginable powers, that’s how the Queen Mother had described it.
It hit Rain then, the only way for him to escape from here alive. And he would have only one chance to get it right.
“Enough talking! Time to eat, already.” growled Kaami, growing serious.
She launched herself on the floor and began to wriggle towards him quickly. Equally quickly, Rain unwrapped the silver skin from his body and bundled it securely around his right arm. He clutched the Nahla firmly, ignoring the pain of the jagged spikes digging into his flesh. He could deal with these small wounds later, once he had survived this.
Kaami halted in front of Rain and stood up so that she was towering over him.
“Goodbye sequestor.” she said, opening her jaws so wide that Rain was certain she would not have any problems swallowing him whole. He held his breath and waited for the exact moment.
Kaami pounced down on him and the instant she did, Rain shoved his entire right arm into her throat, digging the Nahla deep into her flesh. Kaami’s eyeballs bulged and she made a gagging sound while her hands tightened around his neck like a noose. Without losing a second, Rain pulled his arm upwards inside her throat, dragging the stone through the soft flesh within. There was a gross ripping sound as her back opened up and then Kaami went limp on his arm. Rain jerked his arm out and kicked her grey corpse away from himself. He bent over, breathing hard. He stared at his arm in disbelief. It had worked; the armor had actually protected him from both, Kaami’s teeth, and her venom.
His shoulders slumped with relief and he looked about for someplace to lean his body on.
“Don’t’!” warned his Geeya, and Rain looked up, startled.
“Kaami has licked the walls of this entire cave, coating them with her venom. If you touch anything, you will die within the hour.”
Rain got to his feet.
“Man, talk about keeping your cards close to your chest. She definitely believed in living by example.”
“Yes. There were many lies and half-truths in what she told you. She manipulated you expertly in order to get what she wanted.”
“Still,” said Rain, his brow furrowed with worry, “that’s only one part done. I don’t know the way out of this place.”
“Don’t worry. I remember it. Just follow me.” said his Geeya. Rain understood that since he had collected his wisdom, his Geeya was now able to help him and this help couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, because Rain could hardly think straight anymore for lack of oxygen.
She led them both safely out of the cave. Once they were outside, Rain pulled in long breaths of the fresh air into his lungs.
“I need to go return the Nahla to the Queen Mother.” said Rain, putting the stone back into his belt along with the skin.
He started down the dirt path with his Geeya floating alongside. He had hardly taken five steps, however, when he felt the now-familiar sensation of being pulled as the air rushed by his ears.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in the forest, near the well of immortality where a newly put up sign warned everyone of the dangers of drinking from it. Everything was quiet around the well.
Heart was gone.
Marine was gone.
And the Nahla … was still in his pocket.
*****
CHAPTER 10
Rain walked up to the well taking slow, deliberate steps and then slumped down on the ground with his back against it, at the exact spot previously occupied by Marine.
“Not planning on taking up from where Marine left off, I hope?” said his Geeya, looking concerned.
“No, I’m not.” replied Rain. “Where’s Marine anyway?”
“He is no longer here.”
“Gone forever?”
“Yes.”
Rain looked forlornly at his hands. They were rough and calloused. He gave a loud sigh. For some reason, he didn’t feel happy about completing another mini-Quest; he felt tired and sad. On the chain around his neck, a single claw was still glowing. He took the claw between his fingers and it crumbled to dust.
“It was Miti all over again.” he spoke quietly, throwing his head back.
“Yes. But the good thing is, you were successful this time, too. You got your third wisdom”
“Why don’t I get pulled out the instant I have collected it? I mean, why wait for me to kill or be killed?”
“Rain … haven’t you noticed? You don’t just get pulled into and out of a Quest. You only leave once you’re ready and are only pulled out once your job there is complete. Nothing happens just like that.”
“Are all these things I’ve faced until now … real? Kaami, Miti …”
“Of course they’re real. You thought they were make-believe? Somewhere, in some part of the world, they exist … well, at least they did, until you got to them.”
Rain felt like he was going to be sick.
“Rain? Are all right? You’re turning green.” said his Geeya.
“Somehow, I don’t feel good at all.”
“Is it the killing of Kaami that’s bothering you?”
“That … and what she looked like.” he said, remembering Kaami’s scaly grey body jerki
ng on his arm as she died and the horrible gurgling sounds she had made. “Pretty much everything about it bothers me.”
“Even the wisdom?”
“Yes, even the wisdom. I mean, she said never to trust anybody with all your secrets. But there are people who you love and trust entirely. Like maybe your best friend, or your brother. Even the one you love. How can you love someone and not be able to trust them fully? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Actually, it does. When you love somebody, you have to be able to trust them with secrets. What Kaami simply said was to trust nobody with all of them.”
“But if I love someone the most, and they love me just as much, then what I reveal shouldn’t make a difference to the way we feel about each other.”
“If you want to continue being the one they love the most, then it would be best to follow Kaami’s advice. People are most forgiving and accommodating to the one’s they love but everyone has their limit. Things they cannot bear to know. Why test that limit?”
Rain fell silent. Was it true? Could revealing your deepest, darkest secrets really make a difference to the way two people felt about each other? But his Geeya was right about one thing – everybody had their limits, so why test the limits of a person’s tolerance?
He remained lost in his thoughts as the hours passed by, unaware of how late it was, until his Geeya floated up to him.
“Maybe we should head back to the hut now. It’s very late.” She lifted his right hand to observe it. “Thankfully, the deep piercings made by the Nahla have completely healed. It must be the stone’s doing.”
She let his hand drop and moved away and Rain noticed then that the forest had grown very dark and no animals could be heard moving about anymore.
How long had he been sitting there? He had no idea. He got up lethargically and followed the dull glow cast by his Geeya, trusting her to lead him somewhere safe and not really caring where they went.
Soon, they arrived at the hut where Rain found Subodh fast asleep and Heart preparing to do just that.
“Hope I am not disturbing you and your wife?” drawled Rain, approaching Heart from behind.
Heart leapt up to his feet.
“Brother Rain! You are back from …”
The words died on his lips as he took in Rain’s drawn face.
“Everything all right, brother?”
“What?” said Rain, feeling confused and unfocussed.
“You were successful in your Quest, this time?”
It dawned on Rain then that he was probably looking as sad on the outside as he felt on the inside. He tried to appear cheerful.
“Everything’s fine.” he reassured Heart. “I was successful. Got my third wisdom too, see?” he said, holding out his chain to show Heart the remaining claws.
“You are after wisdoms?” said Heart, looking at the chain on Rain’s neck. “And your chain shows you how many are left?”
Rain gave himself a mental kick. He had just unwittingly revealed his Quest to Heart. Being this scatter-brained was not helping his cause.
“I … aah, yes. Eleven wisdoms in all. I’ve collected three so far.” said Rain. What was the use of hiding anything now?
“Don’t worry, brother Rain. Your Quest is in no danger from me.” said Heart, pouring sincerity.
“I hope so, buddy, I hope so. Please ignore me. I am not myself today.” explained Rain.
He removed fresh clothes from his backpack which was lying in a corner of the hut. Heart’s eyes followed him silently, until he was out of view.
Rain took a dip in the cold, dark sea and instantly felt better. After a short swim he paddled out of the sea and then stood still while making a short cloud-burst wash away the salty sea-water out of his hair and body. He dressed in his fresh clothes, leaving the dirty ones in a wet pile at his feet. He would deal with those in the morning.
When he returned to the hut he found Heart still awake and staring up at the cloudy sky.
“Still awake, mate?” asked Rain.
Heart smiled in response.
Rain set his sleeping bag down next to Heart’s and got in.
“What are you thinking about?” he whispered, not wanting to wake Subodh up.
“You mean, what am I worried about.” corrected Heart, turning his face towards Rain.
“Okay, what are you worried about?” amended Rain.
“You” came the reply.
“Me? Why?”
“You haven’t eaten anything.”
“Oh …that. I’m just not hungry.”
“Difficult task?”
Rain paused to think before answering this time, then gave up because it was just too difficult.
“Er … yeah, it was.”
Heart turned back to look at the sky.
“I had a difficult task, too … my very first one.” said Heart, with a faraway look in his eyes. “I had to escape the Sera.”
“What are ‘the Sera’?” asked Rain.
“They are one-eyed people with no arms and no legs. They sort of roll around to get from one place to the other. Since they cannot move things out of their way, they simply chew through everything.”
“Sounds awful.” said Rain, his attention fully caught.
“It was. They were the guardians of a phoenix’s nest high on top of a mountain below which they lived. My clue was in the phoenix’s nest, hidden between its eggs.”
“How did you get past them?”
“It was fairly easy to climb up. I have legs, see? So I could outrun them any day. And since they could not roll uphill, they were unable to follow me. My luck held once I reached the mountain-top. The phoenix was out. I found the little scroll with my clue on it inside the phoenix’s nest, but in my nervousness, I broke one of the eggs. Phoenix eggs, they are hot like fire! You cannot touch them. And I burned my hand badly. Anyway, I took my clue and ran down, hoping my momentum would help me zoom through the waiting Sera. But when I reached the bottom of the mountain there was nobody there. It was empty. Silence everywhere.”
Heart paused.
“What happened then?” asked Rain.
“I got suspicious. They were supposed to be protecting the phoenix’s nest, and they are just letting me get away? I ran slowly, looking around for them, so I didn’t see the ditch in front of me. Those blasted creatures! Knew they had little chance of catching me if I ran, so they set a trap for me. Chewed the ground and made a ditch in the time I took to get my clue. The minute I fell inside they came rolling out of their hiding places, falling like marbles into the ditch, eager to chew me up.”
Rain couldn’t fathom how Heart could have gotten out of that alive.
“How did you manage to escape?” he asked, forgetting to whisper anymore.
“Miracle.” replied Heart, placing his palm on his heart. “The phoenix had returned. And when she found one of her eggs cracked, she went mad with rage. The Sera had failed in their duty. She swooped down on the ditch, where they were all rolling in by the dozens, breathing fire upon them all. Thankfully, the Sera are terrified of fire. Those who were not scorched fled faster than a thief who has just heard the police siren… and I made good my escape.”
Rain let out a low whistle. He looked at Heart with new eyes of respect.
“That was a tough one. It’s amazing how you pulled out of that intact.”
“I was very lucky.” said Heart modestly. “But I learnt that day itself that my journey in Quniverse was going to be no less than extraordinary, and in order to complete my Quest successfully, I would have to keep my heart as unburdened as possible. It has to work overtime in sticky situations, see?” said Heart, trying to make light of the whole thing.
Rain could see where Heart was going with all this. There was a burden on his heart, too. Would it help to talk about it? Heart had trusted him more than once with his Quest. Could he, Rain, do the same? Or should he keep as much of his Quest as he could, a secret?
Rain gave an inward sigh of resignation. Heart
already knew what his Quest was, now. He had given it away himself. Talking about the details of his Quest wasn’t going to change what it was.
Having made his decision, Rain narrated the details of his Kaami Quest. When he was finished, he was surprised at how much lighter he felt.
“Brother Rain…”
“Yeah?”
“If you don’t mind my theorizing, I think it is the Kaami woman’s curse that is making you feel this lingering sadness. You killed a cursed creature before its curse was broken. That has to have some backlash…”
“You think so?”
“I’m pretty certain it’s how these things work. But I think the effects should wear off in a few days.”
“I hope so. I don’t like feeling sad. It’s against my nature… so alien to me.”
“You’ll be fine, brother. Don’t worry.”
Rain looked at Heart with gratitude.
“Thanks Heart. You’ve been a real help tonight.”
“It was nothing. You are welcome.”
The minute the words left their mouths, they knew they had made a mistake. There was a soft shuffling noise above them and then two blows landed in quick succession on each of their heads.
“Ow!” they yelled, turning in irritation towards Subodh, who harrumphed and then promptly dropped off to sleep once more.
Rain and Heart exchanged wry smiles. They should have known better than to thank each other in Subodh’s presence. They decided it was best to call it a night and were soon fast asleep.
*****
As the days passed, Rain hoped that his condition would change for the better. Instead, it only got worse. The feeling of being sad and tired all the time never left him and two months later, he was no better than when he’d started. He was crabby and irritable and even snapped at his Geeya when she reminded him that he had completed one year in Quniverse. He felt terrible about his actions, though, and apologized instantly.