Secret Of the Sighing Mountains (The Quest Trilogy)

by Iram Dana

  “Wow …” breathed Sierra, as she stood in front of him and extended her hand. He automatically extended his right hand in response. She softly stroked a finger over his wrist.

  A searing burn ripped through his arm and Sierra cried out in agony. His eyes started to water and in a motion of sheer reflex he shoved his arm into the bowl of ice in front of him, right up to the elbow. Smoke went up with an audible hiss as seared flesh met ice.

  The burning was concentrated at the spot on his wrist where she had touched, and Sierra kept his hand buried in the ice until the burning subsided. When he drew his arm out of the bowl it was an angry red color, but right at the point on his wrist where the Geeya had touched him, was a scarlet colored inscription that looked like two curving lines intersecting each other in an elaborate ‘X’ with four diamonds in each of the quadrants. Stretching outwards were two more ‘S’ shaped lines on either side of the ‘X’.

  He bent his wrist to check its functionality. He felt no pain now and neither did his skin feel any different at the spot where the inscription was, even though the mark looked as though it had been welded into his skin. The ice must have healing properties, thought Sierra, observing the beautiful mark left on his wrist by the Geeya. It caught and reflected the lights around, glinting like metal.

  He looked about, searching for his Geeya, but somewhere during the ensuing chaos, she had disappeared along with the remains of her egg-shell.

  Master Shengdu placed a hand on Sierra’s shoulder.

  “What you just received is your Geeya mark. It establishes a permanent and binding connection between a sequestor and his Geeya. Your Geeya will be your friend, companion and advisor in the journey to complete your Quests. The ‘X’ and the diamonds within stand for the four directions; North, South, East and West. And the two lines stretching outwards depict the bonds that bind the two of you together from every direction. Whenever you need to communicate with your Geeya, just touch your Geeya mark and she will appear … no, not now …” he placed a restraining hand on Sierra to stop him from touching the Geeya mark.

  “Later, all right?” he said, gently pushing Sierra’s hand back.

  He turned towards the sequestors.

  “Similarly,” he continued, picking up from where he had left off, “touch your Geeya mark again if you need her to leave. You are done now, Rain, you may go back.”

  Sierra felt another thrill on hearing his Core Name. He started to move forward, watching Master Shengdu remove the scroll from his robe’s pocket in order to consult the list of names again.

  “Next … can we please have Diego? Will Diego please come forward?” he announced.

  Diego nodded in response to the command, and then started towards the dais where Master Shengdu was waiting for him. He watched Sierra leave the dais slowly. This time, Sierra didn’t skip the three steps leading down from the stage. Instead, he climbed down the stairs laboriously, groaning like an old man with each movement.

  “That was seriously cool, Si.” Diego said, landing a playful punch to Sierra’s swollen shoulder.

  “Yaah!” cried Sierra, “not now, D! I’m tender!” he said, rubbing his shoulder and then wincing at his own touch.

  “You okay?” asked Diego in a concerned voice.

  “No. Now go, stop wasting time here. And good luck with your Core Name.” replied Sierra, waving a concerned-looking Diego away.

  Sierra shuffled forward, slowly making his way to the front of the crowd of sequestors. He realized as he walked that he had probably used the nickname, ‘D’, that he had affectionately bestowed on his brother, for the last time.

  By the time Sierra had taken his place and turned around, Diego had received his gift and was now fishing inside the bowl. He started pulling out the Pao’s and calling out the alphabets they represented.

  “D …” he called, and dipped again.

  “I … E … G … O …?”

  Diego looked at Master Shengdu, frowning in puzzlement.

  Master Shengdu stared at him blankly for a few seconds.

  “Oh! Silly me!” exclaimed Master Shengdu, “I forgot to say the chants before you dipped your hands in. You have just removed your current given name. Sorry.”

  Quickly putting the Pao’s back inside the bowl he murmured a quick incantation.

  “Please proceed now.” he motioned, with his hands.

  Diego started removing the Pao’s again, anxiety written large on his face.

  “A … R ….” He paused to look at Master Shengdu. “Am I doing it right? Should I go on?”

  “Please.”

  Diego nodded and dipped again. “T …” he called out, naming the respective alphabet as he drew out the Pao.

  Sierra smirked, he should stop here, he thought evilly. Rat would be just perfect because Art, Diego was not!

  Diego, on the other hand was wishing furiously, Don’t let my name be Rat! Anything but Rat!’

  He reached for the bowl again, hoping for some more alphabets. Would the bowl let him in?

  He paused at the mouth of the bowl, clenched his eyes shut and quickly dipped his hands in twice. The first time he brought out the alphabet ‘S’. The second time, his fingers hit an invisible wall. This was all he was going to get. Diego waited as Master Shengdu threw the Pao’s up, stuffing his hands deeply in his pockets to keep from biting his nails; a nervous habit he had given up when he was ten. He could hardly believe how edgy he was.

  Sierra watched his brother’s clear discomfort with unconcealed glee. For the first time in his life Diego was feeling out of his element, and Sierra wanted to enjoy this rare phenomenon for as long as it lasted.

  Master Shengdu began calling out the real order of the Pao’s and Sierra’s hopes of a silly name slowly died as each alphabet was announced.

  “Diego, your core name is … S … T … A … R … Star!”

  And just like it happened with him a few minutes ago, Sierra watched his brother’s body rock with the jolt of power, the enormous weight sending him down on one knee. Diego braced his hands for support on each side, with palms flattened on the dais. His lips were pulled back in a grimace and low grunts were erupting from his chest as he tried to hold his own against the force threatening to crush his body. Again, just as suddenly as it had come, the force disappeared.

  Sierra watched his brother with envy. Why couldn’t he have gone through this with as much grace as Diego had?

  Chest rising and falling rapidly with every labored breath, Diego slowly got to his feet and turned to Master Shengdu, who looked at him expectantly. Diego’s face broke out into a wide grin, just like Sierra’s had. He removed the sash at his waist and then took off the long ceremonial robes, letting them fall to the floor in a heap, exposing his bare chest.

  Sierra watched the enfolding drama with narrowed eyes. Somewhere between getting ready and coming here, the sneak had managed to dump the shirt that Sierra had forced him to wear.

  Diego circled around the robes while everyone held their breath, wondering what he was up to. Then he bent down and with one touch, sent the robes up in flames. The flames were not the ordinary yellow color but were so hot, they were white. The robes were reduced to cinders in seconds.

  *****

  CHAPTER 15

  There was a collective gasp of admiration from the assembled crowd, but Master Shengdu did not look amused.

  “It’s nice to see what you can do, Star, but did you have to choose your ceremonial robes to display your prowess?” he said testily.

  Diego shrugged his shoulders, liking the sound of his new name. He blew at the ashes that were his robes now, sending them flying off the dais.

  Master Shengdu turned to face the eggs, still a little bit annoyed with Diego, and called for his Geeya to make her appearance.

  Sierra watched carefully, because he didn’t know what had taken place once he had received the Geeya mark. He felt a sense of déjà vu as he watched three eggs begin to glow – one gold, one silver and one black.
Then the golden egg began to quiver and split open with a deafening crack, but Sierra saw nothing emerge from within this time. The only indication that nothing was amiss was the dumbfounded expression on Diego’s face. Seconds later, Diego was snarling and shoving his hands into the bowl of ice. Sierra turned just in time to see the remains of the brilliant golden eggshell vanish into a puff of golden smoke. His work finished, Diego was dismissed from the stage by Master Shengdu.

  At least, Sierra thought with some small amount of satisfaction, Diego was lumbering over to him like an old man too.

  The Naming Ceremony continued and the sequestors watched in amazement-and at times fear, as everyone found out their Core Names and discovered their true powers. Ashitaka received a sea green Geeya, and his core name turned out to be ‘Heal’. To display his newfound abilities to the crowd, Ashitaka took off his wristwatch, smashed it to smithereens and then proceeded to put it back into its original state simply with his mind.

  Diego and Sierra groaned in unison.

  “Oh no!” lamented Sierra, “he really can fix it now!”

  “Yeah,” agreed Diego, thinking that punching him or breaking his glasses would be no fun now that he could mend things so quickly.

  When it was Moto’s turn to receive his Core Name, he literally had to be dragged to the stage. He stopped dead about a foot away from the dais; too terrified by everything he had seen and refusing to budge any further. Finally, Diego had to lift him up and dump him onto the stage. His core name had turned out to be Brain.

  Diego had snickered at that, saying;

  “Probably because that’s the only organ he doesn’t have.”

  “If that’s the case,” piped in Sierra, “then his name should be Brain, Guts and Spine. How’s that for a Core Name?”

  “Truly the essence of Moto.” said Diego solemnly.

  They continued making jokes and passing snide remarks at Moto’s expense, chortling and giving each other high fives, until they saw what Moto could do.

  Moto was suddenly standing proud and tall. All fear and cowardice was gone, as he displayed to everybody the ability which he now possessed. Diego and Sierra exchanged uneasy glances when they saw the most brilliant sequestor holding his head and yelling, then suddenly falling to the ground, babbling and laughing like a newborn baby.

  “This sucks.” said Sierra.

  “Should I kill him now?” wondered Diego, a comment that earned him a pointed look and a firm ‘no’ from Sierra.

  Diego paid special attention when it was Stephanie’s turn. Her core name was Light and she gave a deep, throaty laugh, as she watched her fellow sequestors sway and tumble about in confusion when they found themselves hovering a foot above the ground. She had made them so light, they were actually floating. Then, she released them and they all fell to the ground.

  “Oopsies! Looks like I need some practicing yet!” she said apologetically.

  Once everyone had received their core names and Geeya, Master Shengdu called their attention to himself.

  “Dear sequestors, first of all, I would like to congratulate all of you for successfully finishing your training here. I hope the discovery of your Core Names helps all of you to achieve your goals successfully, and ethically. I know that, though you have carefully refrained from asking me about it, you have all wondered why you do not have any exams at the end of your training here, just like you would have had in any ordinary institution. Well, the answer is that it’s deliberate. Mt.Chimpu is a training ground, where we prepare you and impart training to you. You will be examined and tested aplenty once you step into Quniverse. Therefore, you are spared for now. You will start to leave for Quniverse from tomorrow itself. The list bearing the order in which you are to leave has been put up outside the doors to the main hall. Until your turn comes, you are free to use the remainder of your time here adjusting to your new identities, but you are forbidden from testing your newfound abilities on Mt. Chimpu. Anyone who does so will be duly - and severely - punished. This is in order to make sure that a training ground still exists for the next batch of sequestors due shortly. We will end our Naming Ceremony here, but the feast will only just begin. There is a lavish spread waiting for all of you, courtesy all of the staff here at Mt. Chimpu. One last thing before you go, though;

  You are all now in possession of great power and knowledge, which means that you all now bear the burden of using them responsibly. Never forget one fundamental rule of life – what goes around comes around. I hope the message is clear?

  That is all. My friends and fellow sequestors… let the festivities begin.”

  Master Shengdu bowed and then climbed down from the dais to thunderous applause.

  A huge banquet had been laid out behind them while everyone had been busy with the Naming Ceremony, and now stomachs growled all around as the smell of the tasty food wafted through the air.

  The sounds of cheer and laughter disturbed the silence of the night as the sequestors enjoyed what could possibly be the last few hours of normal life they had left.

  The next day, the monastery was a mass inactivity. After last night’s celebrations, nobody had woken up till late in the afternoon. Sierra had woken up at around noon time and gone straight to find out when they were supposed to leave. According to the roster, he was due to leave in three weeks’ time and one week after that, it was Diego’s turn. He entered their room to find Diego still fast asleep and drew out his gift box to see what Master Shengdu had given him.

  He could not believe how quickly the time had passed. Just nine months earlier, in January, they had celebrated their twenty-first birthday, and now it was September already, and time to leave for their Quest.

  Sierra tore open the wrapping and opened the box inside it to find a silver chain with eleven claw shaped ivory pendants. He didn’t know how this was going to help him solve his Quest, but he put it around his neck anyway, trusting that Master Shengdu knew what he was talking about. Then he tried to wake Diego up, who for some reason would not budge today. After his fifth unsuccessful try, Sierra decided to open Diego’s gift himself because he could not contain his curiosity. He looked around for Diego’s gift box, but could not spot it anywhere. After much searching around he found a discarded wrapping paper in the bin with Diego’s name on it. Apparently, Diego had not been able to contain his curiosity either.

  “D,” he shook Diego vigorously, “get up, D! I want to see what Master Shengdu gave you.”

  Diego stirred groggily and fished around in his pocket. He removed a small black stone with millions of pores dotting its surface and handed it to Sierra.

  “What’s this supposed to be? Another rock for you to smash?” joked Sierra, observing the stone carefully. At the right angles, it caught the light and reflected it, appearing to have a dark sort of glitter.

  “Oh, I know what this is. It’s pretty to look at. But it’s useless, just like you.” teased Sierra. He easily avoided the lazy punch that came his way. Diego grabbed his rock and shoved it back into his pocket.

  Sierra walked out of the room fingering the chain around his neck, deciding that he liked his gift way better than Diego’s.

  Everybody had to leave Mt. Chimpu via the Well of Origins. It was a fancily done up well, made of elaborately patterned red and gold bricks. The sequestors had to plunge into it and it would take them where they needed to go. Sierra had spent many an hour here loitering about, or sharing a laugh with Diego, never imagining that this was where they would begin their journey from. Master Shengdu informed them all that it was called the ‘Well of Origins’ because it led to the origin, or the beginning, of one’s Quest.

  Three sequestors – Land, Journey and Rage left on the first day. Several days later, it was Moto’s (now Brain) and Ashitaka’s (now Heal) turn to go. Sierra and Diego dutifully accompanied their roommates to the well to bid them farewell. They had spent three years tolerating the two, it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to see them disappear forever. Moto was given a nicely
wrapped package by the twins that contained a pair of his smelly underwear, that Sierra had stolen and hidden days earlier. Moto was advised to open the package at a time when he was feeling most desperate and lonely, and then he was all but pushed into the well by Diego when he was ready to jump in. Ashitaka was not spared a goodbye present. They did him the favor of hiding his glasses just an hour before his departure so that poor Ashitaka had to spend a good deal of that time just searching frantically for the missing glasses. When the glasses were finally found, they were duly mangled, but this didn’t bother Ashitaka much and he fixed it in a matter of moments. When all was well again, they exchanged their goodbyes and then Ashitaka exited Mt. Chimpu via the well.

  A day later, it was Stephanie’s turn to go. Both Sierra and Diego were present at the well along with a host of other boys and a few girls, to bid her goodbye. She was popular, no doubt about that.

  Sierra and Diego hung around at the back of the crowd, reluctant to join the farewell parade. But it wasn’t long before Stephanie spotted them and came bounding over.

  “Hey, you guys!” she greeted with a sunny smile. “Well, this is it, I guess. It’s been quite a ride.”

  Sierra and Diego nodded their agreements. Stephanie pulled out two tiny silver pendants shaped like the first initial of each of their names and handed their respective pendant to them.

  “I made these for you guys. I’ll always remember our time here fondly. Maybe we’ll meet again, maybe we won’t. But all the same, I’d like to wish you both the best of luck on your Quests.”