Rain (The Quest Trilogy-Book Two)

by Iram Dana

  “Sorry. I’m afraid that is not enough for me.” said Destiny quietly.

  She tried to get up, but felt a wave of dizziness and sat down again. Heart reached out to help her, but she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head stubbornly.

  “I’ll manage it. It’s just going to take me a few more tries, that’s all.”

  “It’s not like we want to force you to stay among people you do not trust. But pray child, tell me, how are you going to leave with that on your leg?”

  It was Subodh who spoke now.

  Destiny met the healer’s penetrating gaze for a brief second and then looked away guiltily.

  She hadn’t meant to insult the old healer. After all, he had saved her life.

  She decided, instead, to take a look at what Subodh was pointing to. Her leg was held straight by two flat pieces of wood on either side of her calf, tied securely with muslin strips.

  “Is that a …?”

  “Cast? Yes.” said Subodh.

  “No.” groaned Destiny. “You don’t understand. I can’t stay!”

  “Yes, you can, Destiny. You are safe here. I will personally see to your safety.” rasped Subodh.

  Destiny sighed in resignation.

  She was smart enough to know when a battle was lost. If she had to spend the next few days here healing, it would be best not to antagonize the men here any further.

  “All right. I’ll stay.” she acceded.

  No one looked more relieved than Heart to hear that.

  “You won’t regret your decision.” said Heart.

  “We’ll see about that. Did you bring my backpack?” said Destiny, making sure to keep her voice reserved and unfriendly.

  “It’s right here.”

  “I have a tent in there. Could you pitch it for me, please?”

  “Gladly. But why do need a tent? It’s much more pleasant out here in the open.”

  Destiny regarded him disdainfully. “A woman needs her privacy. Let’s leave it at that.”

  For the first two days, Rain, Angel and Heart would maintain sober demeanors during Destiny’s waking hours but then, as the days passed, they slipped into their friendly camaraderie even when she was awake.

  Their primary need here in the forest was pure, clean water and they were never short of it, courtesy their resident water tanker: Rain.

  One week after Destiny’s arrival, Rain’s chain began to glow once more and Heart began to fret.

  “You could be gone for days … weeks. Even months. What will I do if Destiny decides to stay? She needs fresh water!”

  Rain rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, no matter where I am or how long I take, I will concentrate on our camp every day and make it rain without fail.”

  Heart stopped pacing agitatedly. “Can you really do that?”

  “Duh, no!”

  “Damn!”

  Rain shook his head and walked out of the camp. He had an upcoming Quest to worry about right now. Heart and his water woes could wait.

  Late that night, when he wandered off for a walk alone, Rain left his companions behind as he got sucked into yet another Quest.

  *****

  CHAPTER 22

  He was standing in the middle of a large hall made entirely of marble. Ahead of him, he could see a door. As Rain walked towards it, it opened for him on its own. Beyond the door, there was gravel. Mounds and mounds of gravel with dead, dry leaves rustling over them softly due to the wind.

  “A graveyard …” said Rain, stepping onto the mud.

  He walked ahead gingerly, taking great care not to step over any of the graves. At the centre of the graveyard were three large glass structures that looked like inverted test tubes. In each of these giant capsules was a girl, suspended in some sort of liquid. All three capsules were glowing: one pink, one blue, and one green.

  Rain’s eyes scanned his immediate vicinity. As far as he could tell, he was alone except for the three girls encased in the glass capsules.

  Rain walked up to the glass structures to observe them closely. All three girls were dressed in the same white, frock-like dress. They all had long, platinum blonde hair that Rain estimated would reach their hips if it wasn’t floating upwards in the liquid. And they all looked exactly alike. They had only one distinguishing feature: the front portion of their hair, their bangs, which was cut short into bangs and colored differently in each case. The girl in the pink capsule had her’s colored pink, the girl in the blue had blue colored bangs, and the girl in the green capsule had brown.

  “Is this some sort of an illusion?” asked Rain, looking the capsule up and down. “There are metal plates bearing names at the bottom.”

  Rain started with the pink capsule. “Fire.” he read.

  Onto the blue; “Snow.”

  And lastly, the green;

  “Earth.”

  Rain looked up at the girl suspended in the clear liquid.

  “What do you suppose these are?” he mused aloud, his eyes trailing the little bubbles flowing upwards from the bottom of the capsule. “Humans? Aliens? Are they even alive?”

  He gave a start as his eyes fell on the girl’s right hand, where he could clearly make out a metallic green inscription.

  “A Geeya mark!”

  Rain quickly scanned the hands of the occupants of the other two capsules, seeing one blue and one pink Geeya mark.

  “They’re all sequestors!” he exclaimed. “I have to free them somehow!”

  He ran back a few steps and then charged towards the pink capsule, ramming into it with his shoulders. The minute his shoulder crashed into the glass casing, a jolt ran through his body and he was thrown several feet away with the force of the impact. The glass capsule, however, remained unharmed.

  Rain got to his feet slowly.

  “They’re protected by a force field of some kind.” he said, rubbing dirt off his elbows.

  There was the sound of a deafening crack and Rain automatically covered his ears with his palms. The first sound was followed by two more.

  Rain opened his eyes to find three withered, ugly women in front of him. Their feet didn’t quite touch the ground; they were floating slightly above it. Each of the three women was connected to one of the capsules with a glowing cord the same color as the capsule it was connected to, and that buzzed and snapped like it was made of electricity. Their eyes were like two thin, horizontal slits on their faces beyond which Rain could only make out red.

  “Who dares …”

  “To disturb …”

  “Our sleep?”

  They said, taking it in turns to speak in a wheezy voice that rattled in their throats.

  “Who are you?” inquired Rain.

  He was surprised to find that his voice sounded so strong. He was even more surprised to find that he was not afraid of them. By now, he had seen and experienced worse.

  The witches took it in turns to introduce themselves.

  “I am Mull.”

  “I am Kull.”

  “And I am Pall.”

  “We are the three witch sisters.”

  “We have survived for over a thousand years.”

  “And we will live forever.” They said.

  “Have you trapped these girls, here?” said Rain, emphasizing the word ‘you’ and pointing to the capsules.

  “You wish …”

  “To free …”

  “Them?”

  “Yes I do.” said Rain.

  “Then …”

  “There is …”

  “A price to pay.”

  “Name your price.” said Rain.

  “Answer …”

  “Our questions …”

  “And we will …”

  “Let you …”

  “Have them.”

  “What are the questions?” asked Rain.

  A witch flew towards him at blinding speed and halted inches away from his face. The other two witches began floating around the periphery of the graveyard, like sentinels guarding th
eir sister’s prey. The witch before him was connected to the pink capsule. She pointed a pale, withered finger at Rain.

  “If you wish to free Fire, then bring me the answer to this question: How can you see without using your eyes?”

  She flew behind and the witch connected to the green capsule flew forward.

  “If you want to free Earth, then answer this: Bring me an example each- of the ugliest, and the most beautiful – man and woman who have ever lived.”

  The third witch, who was connected to the blue capsule, flew forward.

  “To free Snow, you must tell me: what are the four lessons that life teaches you?”

  They flew behind to stand together again.

  “You …”

  “May …”

  “Leave.”

  “Before I go, I have your word that I can have the girls if I answer your questions?” said Rain, trying to make sure there were no loopholes they could exploit.

  “Yes.” they said, in unison. They then began to sway and fade away before Rain’s eyes.

  Rain took one last look at the three girls trapped in the capsules, and then walked out the door that had led him into the graveyard.

  “What now?” Rain asked his Geeya, standing in the marble hall again. “Where do I begin searching for the answers to these questions?”

  “Beyond this hall is the forest of Feni, where the Wise old Willow tree lives. She will be able to help you out. She is almost twenty-two thousand years old and as a result, is suitably wizened.”

  “I have to get to her then. Can you show me the way?”

  “I can lead you to the tree. Getting the answers out of her is your job.”

  “But of course.” agreed Rain, and they set out.

  *****

  Rain traveled through the forest for three days without any food. The supplies in his belt were long over and if hadn’t been for his ability to make rain, he would have gone thirsty, too.

  “I’m exhausted. How much further do we have to go?” groaned Rain, flattening his palm on the back of an old tree and pausing to catch his breath.

  “We have to go no further. We are there.”

  “We are? Where is the old willow tree?” said Rain, swinging his head left and right.

  “You’re leaning on her.”

  Rain jerked upright in embarrassment, afraid he might have offended the old tree.

  “Oops!”

  There came the sound of a soft giggle from the other side of the willow tree.

  “Now, I should be telling you off for touching the backside of a lady in such an ungainly manner, but at my age, such encounters with handsome young men come few and far between – so I’ll take it!”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize …” began Rain, walking to the front of the tree, but she cut him off.

  “Oh, do be quiet! Don’t spoil the moment for me by admitting you never meant to do that!”

  Rain’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re certainly not what I expected.”

  There was the face of an old woman in the belly of the tree’s trunk. It might have looked pleasant if it were made of flesh, but it was as though the tree itself were molded in the shape of a human’s face lined in woody wrinkles and with bits of moss and lichen sticking everywhere. Her voice, though, was not really a voice. It was as though the brushing of the leaves and branches against each other was producing a soft, soothing sound that formed into words in Rain’s head, and actually made sense.

  “Expected a frumpy woman, did you?” the tree demanded in mock offence. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint. And if it’s not too much to ask of you, I would prefer not to be reminded that I am an ‘old’ willow tree.”

  Rain raised his eyebrows in amusement. “As you wish, ‘youthful’ Willow tree.” he amended, good naturedly. Hey, if she was playing, who was he to pop her bubble?

  “Now that’s more like it! I’ve always preferred young men who indulge in false, yet morale-boosting, flattery!”

  Rain made a great show of checking the Willow tree out from top to bottom. “You’re covered in everything from moss to exotic mushrooms. Nice!”

  “You like my style?” she asked.

  “I like it very much. It’s very … bohemian.” said Rain. Well, that was as close to the truth as anything. The tree creaked and groaned with pleasure in response.

  “Aren’t I a dish?” she sang.

  Rain smiled.

  “You’re certainly one of a kind. And that is no ‘false-yet-morale-boosting’ flattery!”

  The tree bestowed Rain with a benign look. “You can have a date with me whenever you wish, young man.”

  “Why, I am honored to have that privilege. How about today? Right now?” said Rain, enthusiastically taking her up on her offer.

  “Certainly! What shall we do?” she replied with equal enthusiasm.

  “Talk?”

  “Oh, I love talking! What shall we talk about?”

  “I have certain questions … maybe you could answer them for me? I have heard much praise of your wisdom. Maybe I could get a chance to witness it today?”

  “Would I miss the chance to impress my first date in five hundred years? I think not! Fire away, young man. My wisdom is at your disposal. Now, make yourself comfortable. It seems like you and I are going to be spending a while together.”

  Rain smiled at her gratefully and sat down cross legged at her roots.

  “Let’s begin with a question about life.” said Rain. “Can you tell me what are the four lessons that life teaches?”

  The old Willow tree pursed her lips and looked at Rain sternly. “You have been playing with the witch sisters, haven’t you?”

  Rain looked down guiltily. “Not really, no. I haven’t been playing with them. They have trapped … three of my friends. And in order to free them, I need to answer their questions.”

  Okay, so maybe they weren’t really his friends just yet. But since he was going out on a limb to try and save them, surely they would like to be friends once they woke up, or were revived or whatever?

  The tree heaved a sigh.

  “All right, if you must. But be careful. They are a cunning lot.” she warned.

  “I’ll be careful.” promised Rain.

  “Good. Now, what was it you wanted to know of me?”

  “The four lessons that life teaches…?”

  “Ah, yes. The four lessons … life teaches everyone four lessons. They are love, humility, hope, and death. Let us start with the lesson of love: depending on which lesson life chooses to teach you, you will learn much about the lesson of love. Maybe you will learn what it is like to have loved and lost, or to have loved and been loved in return. Or you may learn of the dangers of obsessive love …or the emptiness of never having been loved at all … I could go on and on …but you get the idea.”

  Rain nodded and she continued.

  “Then, the lesson of humility. As children, everyone is born humble. And it is a lesson we must hold on to for life. If, at any point in life, you become conceited or arrogant, then sooner rather than later, you will receive the smack of a lifetime that will bring you down to earth once more.

  Thirdly, the lesson of hope: there may come a time when you feel that in all the world, you have it the worst. But as you go on, you will realize that nobody has it easy… Then you will learn to hope for the best, because life does with you as you hope and expect from it.

  And so, we come to the last lesson. That of death. Treat death not as an enemy, but as a friend, for it is the most dependable of them all … it will surely come. Death teaches you the value of all the other lessons that life teaches you. Death teaches you the value of life itself. As a teacher, none can compare to death.

  And so you have them, the four lessons that life teaches you: love, humility, hope and death.”

  Rain was listening carefully, and also glancing at his chain time and again. Just in case.

  There were several wisdoms she had sprouted while giving him his answ
er and he was here looking for a wisdom, after all. He looked up at the waiting tree.

  “My next question: How can I see without using my eyes?”

  “To do that, look within yourself.”

  Rain closed his eyes for a while and reflected on the twenty four years of his life gone by. He sifted through thousands of memories from his childhood to his adolescence to adulthood. He remembered some good times, some bad times. Some incidents that he had forgotten, but remembering which now made him laugh, like the time he had hidden all of Diego’s underwear in retaliation for Diego’s having hidden a valentine’s day card that he had received at school. Some horribly embarrassing moments, like the time he had wet himself in class as an eight year old because he could not hold it in any longer and was too scared to ask the teacher for permission to go to the bathroom. How the days had passed before he had left with his brother for his Quest. All that had happened since then, since he had entered Quniverse. At last, Rain opened his eyes feeling mixed emotions in his chest.

  “I did it … I saw a lifetime worth of incidents, and I saw it all without using my eyes … within my mind.” he said.

  “Exactly.” The tree said with satisfaction. “Now, what is the third question?”

  “This one’s tricky. She asked me to bring an example each of the ugliest, and the most beautiful, man and woman who ever lived.”

  The old tree’s eyes went wide. “Oh, my!” she exclaimed. “Is that so? Well, I am going to leave it up to you to figure that one out.”

  Rain looked at the tree in alarm. She could not do this. Not now, when things had been going to well for him, too.

  “You are? Why?”

  “Because you already know the answer to that.” she replied sagely.

  “I do?” said Rain, looking worried and doubtful.

  “Yes.” she said with finality.

  Rain didn’t know what to make of that, but he was grateful enough to have answers to two of the witches’ questions. At least, he told himself, if not all three, he would at least be able to rescue two of the girls. But his conscience nagged at him. It just didn’t feel right to leave one of those sequestors trapped there. If the old willow tree had said that he knew the answer, then he must have it. He would just have to look for it inside his head.