Tiger's Curse

by Collen Houck

  Awkward.Even though Ren was a big tiger and it would be like riding a small pony, I was still conscious

  that he was a man, and I didn’t feel right about turning him into a pack animal. I took off my backpack and set it down wondering what I could do to make this a bit less embarrassing. Mustering the courage to sit on his back, I’d just decided that it wouldn’t be too bad if I sat sidesaddle, when my feet flew out from under me.

  Ren had changed into a man and swept me up in his arms. I wiggled for a minute, protesting, but he just gave me a look. The don’t-even-bother-coming-up-with-an-argument look. I shut my mouth. He leaned over to pick up the backpack and let it dangle from his fingers, then said, “What’s next?”

  “I don’t know. That’s all that Mr. Kadam told me.”

  He shifted me in his arms, walked over to stand in the doorway again, then peered up at the statue.

  He murmured, “I don’t see any changes.”

  He held me securely while looking at the statue and, I have to admit, I totally stopped caring about what we were doing. The scratches on my arm that had been throbbing a moment ago didn’t bother me at all.

  I let myself enjoy the feeling of being cuddled up close to his muscular chest. What girl didn’t want to be swept up in the arms of a drop-dead gorgeous man? I allowed my gaze to drift up to his beautiful face.

  The thought occurred to me that ifI were to carve a stone god, I’d pick Ren as my subject. This Ugra half lion and half man guy had nothing on Ren.

  Eventually, he realized I was watching him, and said, “Hello? Kells? Breaking a curse here, remember?”

  I just smiled back stupidly.

  He quirked an eyebrow at me. “What were you thinking about just now?”

  “Nothing important.”

  He grinned at me. “May I remind you that you are in prime tickling position, and there’s no escape. Tell me.”

  Gads. His smile was brilliant, even in the fog. I laughed nervously. “If you tickle me, I’ll protest and struggle violently, which will cause you to drop me and ruin what we’re trying to accomplish.”

  He grunted and leaned close to my ear, then whispered, “That sounds like an interesting challenge, rajkumari . Perhaps we’ll experiment on it later. And just for the record,Kelsey , Iwouldn’t drop you.”

  The way he said my name made goose bumps rise all over my arms. When I looked down to quickly rub them, I noticed the flashlight was off. I switched it on, but the statue remained the same. I sighed and suggested, “Nothing’s happening. Maybe we need to wait till dawn.”

  He laughed throatily while nuzzling my ear and declared softly, “I’d say that somethingis happening, but

  not the something that will open the doorway.” He trailed soft, slow kisses from my ear down my neck. I sighed faintly and arched my neck to give him better access. With a last kiss, he groaned and reluctantly raised his head.

  Disappointed that he’d stopped, I asked, “What does rajkumari mean?”

  He laughed quietly, carefully set me down, and said, “It means princess. Let’s find a good place to sleep for a couple of hours, shall we? I’ll run back and tell Mr. Kadam that we’re planning to wait till dawn to try again.”

  He took my hand and led me to a grassy spot hidden from view. Once I was settled, he left. I bunched my blanket up under my head and attempted to sleep. Restless until Ren returned, I finally snuggled against his tiger back and fell asleep.

  I awoke to find myself moving, nestled in Ren’s arms. He was carrying me back to the doorway. I sleepily mumbled, “You don’t have to carry me. I can walk.”

  He smiled. “You were tired, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you. Besides, we’re here already.”

  It was still dark outside, but the eastern horizon was just starting to lighten. The statue was the same as we’d left it—with red snake eyes glowing and mist seeping out from the mouth. We stood in the doorway for a moment. I immediately felt something twist and move. It was Fanindra. She suddenly came alive, swelled to her normal size, and unwound herself from my arm. Ren lowered me closer to the ground so she could drop delicately to the dirt below. She wound her way toward the statue and found a way to climb up to the top where the snake heads were resting.

  We watched from the steps as she weaved over and under the seven snakes. As she passed them, they too came alive and writhed back and forth. We could see the coils that the statue was sitting on slowly change to scaly flesh.

  Fanindra made her way back down and slithered over to Ren and me. Winding her body into loops, she stiffened and shrunk back to her golden armlet form. Ren set me down and walked over to pick her up.

  He slid her carefully up my arm, smiled at me, then traced the scratches on my arm lightly and frowned.

  He brushed a light kiss on the tender skin and changed back into a tiger.

  We approached the statue where the wriggling snake torso was now moving and shifting. The snake coils lifted and slowly raised the statue higher and higher in the air, until a black void opened up underneath. It raised high enough that there was space for Ren and me to step down into the opening.

  Peering into the hole, I saw a series of stone steps that disappeared down into the darkness. The mouth of the statue suddenly stopped emitting fog; instead, began to draw it back in. Fog swept back toward us, up into the mouth of the statue, and dropped down into the pit below.

  I gulped and turned my flashlight toward the steps. We stepped between the thick snake coils, and Ren and I descended into a fog of nebulous shadow.

  CHAPTER 20

  We walked carefully down the stone steps depending on the weak illumination of my tiny flashlight.

  When we reached the bottom, Fanindra’s eyes began to glow and gave the tunnel an eerie, viridian illumination. I stopped Ren and opened the paper that Mr. Kadam had pressed into my hand before we last parted. He had written the prophecy down and had included some of his notes. I read the whole page out loud to Ren.

  For protection, seek her temple

  And take hold of Durga’s blessing

  Travel west and search Kishkindha

  Where simians rule the ground

  Gada strike in Hanuman’s realm

  And hunt the branch that’s bound

  Thorny grasping dangers above

  Lovely dazzling dangers below

  Strangle, ensnare, the ones you love

  And trap in brackish undertow

  Lurid phantoms thwart your route

  And guardians wait to bar your way

  Beware once they begin pursuit

  Embrace in moldering decay

  But all of these you can refute

  As serpents find forbidden fruit

  And India’s hunger satisfy

  Lest all her people surely die

  There are several trials you must face when you enter Kishkindha, so be wary. I have also included the warnings from Durga as you described them. She said that you should try to stay near Dhiren. If for some

  reason you get separated, there is great danger for you. She also said do not trust your eyes. Your hearts and your souls will tell you the difference between fantasy and reality. The last thing she said was that when you obtain the fruit, hide it well.

  Bhagyashalin!

  May you be endowed with Luck!

  Anik Kadam

  I mumbled, “I have no clue what these dangers might be. The thorny ones are obviously some kind of plant…at least I hope so.”

  We started walking, and I babbled along the way about what kind of animals might have thorns.

  “Let’s see. There are stegosaurus. No, stegosauruses. Hmm, maybe it’s stegosauri. Well, however you say the plural, there are those kinds of dinosaurs. Then there are dragons, porcupines, and we can’t forget horny toads. If Ihad to pick a thorny animal, that would be my number one choice. Oh! But what if

  the horny toads are giant? With huge gaping mouths. They could swallow us whole! Maybe we should get the gada out of the backpack, hu
h?” I took it out. The hiking would probably be bad enough as it was without hauling around the weighty club but it made me feel better.

  The tunnel soon turned into a stony path. The farther we walked, the brighter it became. Fanindra’s eyes dimmed, and her light went out. Her eyes became mere glittering emeralds again. Somethingweird was going on. My weirdness meter had expanded considerably in the last few weeks, but this was weird even for me.

  I couldn’t really tellwhere the light was coming from. It seemed to filter in from ahead.Literally , we were

  following a light at the end of the tunnel. There was a dream-like quality to the place. It wasn’t bright, but

  it wasn’t dark either. My recent nightmares have been very powerful. Ren, Kishan, Mr. Kadam, and now Durga were all a part of them. A lurking evil seemed to permeate my subconscious. I think it was embodied in the man I dreamed about who killed Ren. He chased me, thwarted my progress, and hurt those I cared about. This place felt like one of my nightmares. I felt as if we were walking in a surreal kind of dream.

  The roiling mist seemed to follow us. As we walked, it surged slightly ahead to hinder our view of the path. When we stopped, it gathered itself and circulated around us like small nebulous clouds in orbit.

  The cold, gray mist swirled around our feet and explored our skin with icy fingers as if looking for an Achilles’ heel.

  The corridor began to feel different. Instead of walking on stone, my feet sunk slightly into moist ground,

  and I could hear the crunch my shoes made on the stubby grass. The walls became mossy, then grassy, and soon were covered with small fern-like plants. I wondered how they could survive in this humid, dim

  environment.

  The walls grew farther apart, and I couldn’t make them out anymore. The ceiling opened up to a gray sky. Sky may be the wrong term. There was no depth to it, and yet I couldn’t see an end. It reminded me of an I-MAX or a biosphere dome, but it wasn’t manmade. It was like we’d stepped on another planet.

  Our path turned downward, and I had to focus on my feet in front of me. We entered a forest full of strange plants and trees. They rocked on their roots as if the wind was pushing them, but I didn’t feel a hint of breeze. The trees were so close together and the brush was so thick that the path became difficult to see, and then it disappeared altogether.

  Ren stayed in front and tore a trail with his body. The trees had long branches that drooped to the ground like weeping willows. Their tendrils were feathery and tickled my skin as I passed. I reached up to scratch my neck and found it wet.

  I must be sweating. Strange, I don’tfeeloverworked. Maybe water fell from the branch.

  Something was smeared on my hand. The greenish light gave the liquid a brown appearance.What is that? Tree sap? No! Blood!

  I plucked a feathery leaf to get a closer look. When I examined it, I was surprised to find tiny needles lining the underbelly. I reached out a finger to touch one, and the needles swelled, lifting out toward my finger. I moved my finger back and forth, and the needles shifted, following my finger like a magnet.

  “Ren, stop! The branches are scratching us. They have needles underneath that follow our movements.

  They’re the thorny grasping dangers!”

  When he stopped, feathery branches slowly slithered down from above and wrapped around his neck and tail. He jumped away and tore them viciously from the tree.

  “Ren, we have to run or they’ll ensnare us!”

  He doubled his effort to break through the undergrowth; I jogged after him. The forest seemed to go on forever with no sign of the trees thinning. After another fifteen minutes, I slowed, feeling extremely tired. I

  just couldn’t run anymore.

  I panted, “Ren, I’m slowing you down. Go on ahead without me. Break through the tree line. You can make it.”

  He stopped, turned around, and raced quickly back to my side. The branches started snaking down and began to wrap their curly tendrils around his body.

  He roared and rolled, then slashed at the branches with his claws, which made them retreat for a moment. I felt one twisting its way around my arm and knew that this was it for me. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I knelt to stroke Ren’s cheek.

  I begged, “Ren, go.Please leave me.”

  He shifted form and placed his hand over mine.

  “I won’t leave you, Kelsey.” He smiled sadly. “We have to stay together. Remember?”

  I swallowed and nodded as he gently removed the curly branch from my arm and batted away another one that was reaching out for my neck.

  “Come on.”

  He grabbed the gada out of my hand and started beating it against the branches, but they just tried to wrap their sharp green fingers around the weapon, unaffected by its power. Then he moved to a trunk and beat it severely. Immediately, the tree gathered into itself. Branches folded in toward the trunk and wrapped around it protectively. Ren stepped in front of me and cautioned me to wait by the injured tree.

  He walked ahead a few paces and swung the gada.

  He thrashed the tree trunks, leaving gaping, pulpy wounds as he went. I followed a length behind as he made his slow progress through the forest. The branches seemed to know what he was up to and tore at him viciously. Ren seemed to have an endless amount of energy. I winced as I watched the cuts and scrapes appear across every bare patch of skin. His back was soon lacerated, his shirt torn and bloody.

  He looked like he’d been brutally whipped with a cat-o’-nine-tails.

  At last, we reached the edge of the eternal needle forest and stopped in a clearing. He pulled me out of the reach of the branches and allowed his body to collapse to the ground. He bent over, sweating and panting from his exertion. I took some water out of my backpack and offered it to him; he drank the entire bottle in one gulp.

  I leaned over and touched his arm. His body was slippery with sweat. I got out another water bottle and an old T-shirt and began cleaning the dirt from his cuts and bruises. I pressed the cool, wet cloth to his face and back. He started to relax and breathe slower as I continued my ministrations. His cuts quickly began to heal, and as my worry over Ren diminished, I realized something.

  “Ren! You’ve been a man now for much longer than twenty-four minutes. How do you feel?”

  He rubbed his hand on his chest. “I feel…fine. I don’t feel the pull to change back.”

  “Maybe this is all we need to do. Maybe you’re cured!”

  He considered for a minute. “No, I don’t think so. I have a feeling that we need to move on.”

  “Why don’t you test it? See if you can become a tiger or not.”

  He changed to a tiger and changed back.

  “Perhaps it’s just the magic of this place that allows me to be human.”

  My face must have appeared crestfallen.

  He laughed and kissed my fingers. “Don’t worry, Kells. I’ll be fully human soon, but for now I’ll take this gift as long as I can keep it.”

  He winked at me and grinned, and then he leaned over to pull me closer so he could have a turn at examiningmy injuries. He inspected my arms, legs, and neck. He swiped a wet towel down my arms and cleaned my cuts with healing tenderness. I knew that his injuries were much more severe than mine, so I tried to dissuade him, but he wouldn’t have it.

  He declared, “Everything checks out okay. You have one wicked scratch on your neck, but I think it’ll heal fine.” He bathed the back of my neck with the towel and pressed it there for a moment. Then he tugged at the collar of my T-shirt with his finger. “Are there ah…anyother places you want me to check out for you?”

  I batted his hand away. “No, thank you. Thoseother places I can check for myself.”

  He laughed and grinned good-naturedly, then stood and helped me up. He put on my backpack and hefted the gada over one shoulder. He offered me his hand and began walking.

  We passed more of the needle trees, but they were spaced much farther apart and were mixed in with some norm
al, non-killer types of trees, so we were able to stay out of their range.

  He twined his fingers through mine. “You know…it’s nice just to walk with you and not be worried about how much time I have left.”

  “Hmm, yes,” I agreed.

  He seemed happy despite our situation. I thought about how hard it must be for him, knowing that he had only a few minutes per day to be a man and trying to make the most of each and every minute. He felt like this creepy place was a gift. His cheerful mood eventually affected me too. I knew that worse challenges probably awaited us, but walking alongside Ren, I didn’t care. I let myself enjoy my time with him.

  We found a dirt path again and started to follow it. The path led toward some hills and a large tunnel that

  we assumed led through them. There was no other place to go, so we entered slowly, keeping a careful watch of our surroundings. Torches lined the stone walls, and many other tunnels led off from the main one. I jumped as I saw something pass by in a side passage.

  “Ren! I saw something in there.”

  “I saw something too.”

  It seemed we were in a vast honeycomb of tunnels, and figures kept appearing at the edge of our vision.

  I pressed my body close against Ren, and he draped an arm around my shoulders.

  I heard a voice, a woman’s voice, cry softly, “Ren? Ren? Ren? Ren?”

  It echoed from tunnel to tunnel.

  “I’m here,Kells !Kells !Kells !”

  Ren looked at me apprehensively and squeezed my shoulder. The voices were ours. He let go of me and pulled the gada out to a ready position in front of him. Walking warily in front, he watched the other tunnels very carefully. I heard screams and running footsteps, growling tigers, and screeches. I stopped walking for a moment and stood in front of one of the tunnels.

  “Kelsey!Help me!” Ren appeared in the side tunnel. He was fighting a group of monkeys that were scratching and biting him. He changed to a tiger, sunk his teeth into them, and ripped them apart. It was gruesome!