by Iram Dana
Rain got up to leave. “I should be on my way. It’s been very pleasant talking to you.”
“Leaving so soon? I thought you would spend the next one thousand years here with me.” said the tree with a wink.
“I would have, if I had that kind of a lifespan.” laughed Rain.
“Oh, well. If you must go …” she said dejectedly.
“I must.” said Rain. “But thank-you for everything.”
Four mangoes dropped at Rain’s feet out of nowhere.
“Mangoes?” he asked. “Wherefrom?”
“Take them. They are a gift from my children. Something to keep up the energies of a young man.” said the tree with a smile.
Rain, who was absolutely famished and practically dying of hunger, picked the fruits up from the ground, his hungry stomach lurching and growling in grateful anticipation.
“Do you mind if I eat these now?”
“As long as you sit close to me.”
Shaking his head in irony, Rain sat down at the foot of the tree once more, eager to enjoy this unexpected meal and not caring in the least where he had to sit to do it.
The old Willow tree hummed softly all the while he sat there eating. When he was done, she asked him to bury the seeds somewhere near her.
“Will that be all?” he asked her, washing the mud off his hands and face with a short burst of rainfall.
“Yes, that will be all. Good luck with the witches!”
“Thank you.”
Rain smiled and turned to leave.
“Before you go, young man, I feel a little itch on my backside. Could you …?”
Rain laughed and patted the frisky old tree’s rump before he left. She threw him three more mangoes in return. He waved to her and set off towards the graveyard.
*****
Throughout the journey back, Rain kept meeting with some or the other minor accident. Tree roots would suddenly jut out from below the ground. Heavy jack-fruits would drop out of the sky, narrowly missing his head. In the three days it took him to reach his destination, he fell as many times into well hidden ditches. Each time, his Geeya rescued him by pulling out. When he finally reached the entrance to the marble hall, five shadowy figures rose from the ground and converged upon him. Rain, who had removed his sword midway in his journey through the forest in wary anticipation of an attack of some kind, was prepared for this onslaught, and he slashed at them blindly with his sword, ripping through their dark bodies and rendering the air with a series of piercing screams.
“Is that all?” he panted, when no more seemed to be coming at him. “Well, let’s go find out.” Rain strode into the marble hall and went straight out of the back doors to the graveyard.
“All right, you three witch sisters!” he bellowed into the empty night air. “Come on out. I have the answers you wanted of me.”
With three deafening cracks the witches reappeared along with the electric bands connecting them to the three capsules.
“You seem to …”
“Have made it …”
“Back safely.”
“Pity, isn’t it? And after all your efforts to the contrary.” said Rain, as it struck him that these witches were the reason he kept meeting with accidents on his way here. They didn’t want him to come back with the answers.
Cold smiles lit their pallid features.
“Let’s …”
“Hear …”
“Them.”
“Who’s first?” asked Rain.
The witches scattered and began to circle around him in a wide radius once more. The first one to fly up to him was the witch connected to the blue capsule.
“Tell me, what are the four lessons life teaches?”
Rain repeated the answer the Willow tree had given him. When he had finished, the witch said nothing. She simply flew behind, allowing another of her sisters to come forward. The witch connected to the pink capsule came forward.
“How can you see without using your eyes?”
“With my mind.” answered Rain. “I closed my eyes and I was able to see the twenty four years of my life gone by.”
“And what did you see?”
“I saw the mistakes I made, the lessons I learnt. The people I have hurt, the situations I could have avoided … I saw everything.”
Again, the witch said nothing. She, too, flew back to stand next to her sister.
The witch connected to the green capsule flew forward.
“Have you brought me an example each of the ugliest, and the most beautiful, man and woman who have ever lived?”
Rain took a deep breath, knowing he was about to wing this one and hoping he was right.
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“As my examples, I would like to present Adam and Eve; the first man and woman and the representation for all humanity, because every man and woman has the capability to be the ugliest- or the most beautiful- person.”
“How so?” asked the witch.
“Angry people are the ugliest people, while kind people are the most beautiful people. The truth is, beauty, or the lack thereof, doesn’t just lie in the face of a person.”
The witch flew back to join her sisters. The three of them stood there regarding Rain silently.
“Well?” demanded Rain.
“None of your …”
“Answers is …”
“Correct.” They sneered.
It was now Rain’s turn to regard them silently.
“I see,” he said, tightening his grip on his sword, “Well, it doesn’t matter, because they didn’t have to be.”
“Is…”
“That …”
“So?”
“Yes. You asked me to bring you the answers to your questions. You never said anything about them having to be correct.”
The witches cackled.
“Ah!”
“But you are …”
“A wily one!”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to have the girls freed.”
The witches cackled again.
“We have lived for over a thousand years …”
“And have learnt lessons that nobody can teach you …”
“Young man, in this life, nothing is precious … until it belongs to you!”
Rain felt a warmth at his neck and he knew, his chain was glowing. He had found his wisdom in the words of the last witch.
“What are you trying to say?” asked Rain. “Don’t speak in riddles. Tell me clearly.”
“Our lives are precious, because they are ours…”
“We have lived for so long, because we survive on the life force of others …”
“In this case, that force comes from each of these girls.”
“Are you going back on your word?” demanded Rain, dreading their reply. After all, what was a promise to a couple of witches?
“Of course not!”
“You may have…”
“the girls …” they paused for effect, then added in unison;
“If you can take them.”
Rain’s lips thinned into a menacing line. What was he supposed to do now? If those girls were the life force behind the witches, then there was no way they were going to let him have them, because it would mean death for the witch connected to that girl. Rain understood everything clearly now. Why they were trying to prevent him from getting here. Why they tried to negate the correctness of his answers. And he was sure his answers were correct.
But he had done his part. He had kept his side of the bargain- a bargain that they had made. And he was going to have his reward – whether they liked it or not.
Rain assessed his position. He would have to be very quick. The instant he moved, they would all converge upon him like a pack of wolves.
He was standing closest to the green capsule. He would go for that one first. Then the blue, and lastly, the pink.
How he was going to carry three unconscious girls
and run somewhere safe, he had no idea yet, but he was not going to leave any sequestors here to have their life force sucked out of them by the witches.
Having planned his strategy, Rain made a sudden dash towards the green capsule. With a swift move of his sword he cut the electric cord joining the witch to the capsule.
The minute the sword cut through the cord, several things happened all at once:
The body of the witch who was connected to the capsule snapped into two, and she fell to the ground in a limp mass.
The capsule burst, and the girl trapped inside fell into Rain’s waiting arms, taking both of them down to the ground with her sudden weight.
The two remaining witches opened their mouths and let out shrill, horrific shrieks, wildly flying towards Rain with their gnarled hands outstretched.
But they couldn’t reach him, because everything began to move.
Rain could see the withered fingers of the witches clawing at the empty air after him as everything turned into a blur, moving past him at great speed.
Rain, too, had one arm outstretched. He was getting pulled out of his Quest.
“No!” he cried in panic.
He still had two more lives to save. Before he had finished yelling out, he was out of the graveyard and back on the outskirts of their camp site.
*****
CHAPTER 23
Strong arms were enveloping her. Strong, masculine arms. She knew, because she had one hand resting on the flat planes of his chest, where she could feel the rhythmic beating of his heart.
Awareness was coming slowly, and with each passing moment – clarity of thought. She couldn’t really tell where she was or why she was here. Was she in danger still? Not likely. The arms holding her were too careful and gentle for that. Was she really free, then? Free from the clutches of those terrifying witches? And who had saved her?
She felt her savior halt and kneel down, still carrying her in his arms. The air around them got disturbed slightly due to his movement, carrying with it his scent to her nostrils.
He smelled like grass … and flowers. He smelled fresh. Like rain.
She took another little whiff of the sweet, uncannily familiar scent. Why did it feel like she knew this? Was it because of its nature? At the same time, it felt alien, too. This was confusing, she thought fretfully. His voice cut through her jumbled thoughts, silencing them.
He was speaking now.
“… there were three of them, all alike, trapped in these three capsules. I only managed to free one …”
His voice was smooth, even … friendly- the kind you could instantly trust.
Her head still felt like it was trapped in some kind of a snare but Earth longed now, to open her eyes and look at the face of her rescuer. With some effort, she fluttered her eyelids open. And there it was:
A handsome, tanned face with short blonde hair and the most amazing pair of green-gold eyes she had ever seen. The fire burning behind him made his face look like it was surrounded by a golden halo, and Earth could almost hear the angels sing.
Reflexively, she reached out to touch this mesmerizing face but someone- not the one holding her- stopped her. They probably thought she was panicking or trying to attack.
But Earth was not panicking – she was drooling; over the hunky guy whose arms were still holding her protectively close. She had been saved by the proverbial prince charming. He was cute, and courageous, and he was … staring at her cleavage.
Earth stole a glance downwards.
Somewhere during the scuffle of being rescued, the neckline of her top had gotten ripped a bit too far, exposing a fair amount of flesh.
Earth took a deep breath and fought back a wave of irritation.
“Hello …” she said softly. Her voice was slightly hoarse because of disuse and she coughed to clear her throat.
He pulled his gaze up then, and smiled at her. A brief, impersonal smile.
“You’re awake,” he said, “are you feeling all right?”
Earth nodded slowly.
“I’m okay … who are you? And where am I?” she asked.
“I’m Rain. And you’re free from the witches.”
Rain … The name itself was different, easy on the ears…
“Did you save me from the witches?” she asked.
Guilt flashed briefly across those handsome features.
“I … ah, yes. Only you, though.” he replied.
So that was why. He was feeling bad at not having been able to rescue the others. He was thoughtful, too. Another plus.
“My name is Earth.” she said, staring at him with wide, vulnerable eyes. Afraid, yet, at the same time, feeling strangely safe in his arms.
He gave a short nod of acknowledgement and then his eyes dipped down to her cleavage again. Earth was displeased. Minus points! Minus points, her brain yelled.
She took another deep breath. Bad move.
His eyes widened along with the circumference of her chest.
“Thank-you for saving me.” she said quickly, wanting to divert his roving attentions and at the same time, surprised that her voice sounded so calm even though she was feeling more than a little bugged by now.
“It was nothing, really.” he brushed off her gratitude magnanimously, ever Mr. chivalry. Such a paradox, thought Earth.
There was that brief, impersonal smile again and then his eyes went down for another dip into her cleavage. Irritation flushed her cheeks and all her previously generous thoughts about him went out of the window. Earth no longer wanted to touch his face, she wanted to slap it.
She shoved Rain’s arms away and angrily, but shakily, got to her feet, brushing aside the help being offered by numerous outstretched hands.
“Tell me, how long has it been since you last laid eyes on a woman?!” she demanded furiously of Rain.
Rain’s ears went red with embarrassment. He lowered his eyes and coughed self-consciously into his fist.
“I should introduce you to the rest of the sequestors here …” he began.
“Never mind!” said Earth, cutting him off. “I’ll take care of the introductions myself!”
“Actually,” said a voice from behind Earth, coming in defense of Rain, “it has been a while since brother Rain laid anything on a woman. Hello, my name is Heart.”
Earth ripped her gaze from Rain’s face and met the soft, gray eyes of Heart. She looked at his outstretched hand and indecision flickered across her face.
Rain glared at Heart. “Keep your great observations to yourself, okay?” he snapped.
Heart ignored him and continued to smile at Earth, while at the same time trying to calm her down from within. Angel decided to step in then, to cool things off.
“Now, now. What’s going on here? Don’t you know how to treat a lady?” boomed Angel.
He turned to Earth and bowed slightly.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Angel. Welcome to our little group, Earth.”
Some of the color left Earth’s face and her shoulders seemed to relax.
“Hello, Angel. And thank-you for the welcome.” she said.
Behind them, Subodh gave a cough and Angel hastened to introduce Earth to him and Destiny, in case the old man had any intentions of using his stick on the new girl.
When Angel was done with the introductions, he put his hand inside his belt pocket and pulled out a clean, new towel and a fresh pair of clothes for Earth. He handed the lot to her and she accepted them gratefully. Angel gestured toward Destiny.
“Destiny stays in that tent over there. You could spend the night in there with her, if you both don’t mind.” said Angel.
“I don’t mind at all. Destiny, is it all right with you if I share your tent?” said Earth, looking at the girl. She looked like the reserved and introverted kind. Hopefully, her looks were deceiving.
“You are more than welcome to come join me.” said Destiny, giving Earth a warm smile.
Earth followed Destiny into the tent with the clothe
s given to her by Angel clutched tightly in one hand. When they had disappeared inside, Heart and Angel turned to pin chastising glares on Rain.
“What?” said Rain, raising his hands defensively. He rose to his feet and stalked off.
*****
By the time Rain woke up the next morning, the camp was already buzzing with activity.
“Yo, Heart,” said Rain, yawning and stretching sleepily, “where’s Angel?”
“He has gone to hunt, brother Rain.”
“Hunt? Why? He could just pull out our food from his belt.”
“Not really. That belt takes care of everything you need, not everything you want. When we were walking through the deserted plains, we needed food. But here in the mountains, there is plenty. And we are skilled hunters. Therefore, we must fend for ourselves.”
“Hmm …”
Rain looked at the tent. “Earth and Destiny still sleeping?”
“No. they have gone to the stream.”
“The stream?” repeated Rain, scratching his head in confusion.
“Yes, brother Rain, the stream. When you left, I was beside myself with worry over a source of fresh water for Destiny. Then, I remembered I could ask my Geeya for help.” he shook his head and turned to face Rain with a wry smile.
“Can you believe it? We have a beautiful fresh-water stream running so close to our camp, and we never realized it?”
“Really? You have to show me where it is. Maybe there’s fish in it and I can catch some.” said Rain, taking some water out of an earthen pot and splashing his face with it. “Which way is this stream?”
“That way.” said Heart, turning around and pointing to a path just behind him.
Destiny and Earth could be seen walking up that way, returning to camp from their little sojourn.
