“Fanindra, of course.”
The golden snake wriggled, coming to life, and expanded her coils, and yet she looked different than she normally did. Her skin was peeling away in several places and her eyes looked dim. The snake wound her way through the grass until she reached Kadam’s boot, and then she stretched her upper body, raising it up into the air. Gently, he held out a hand and lifted her, cuddling her body protectively in his arms.
“What’s wrong with her?” I said.
Kadam stroked her back, unflinching when a patch of her skin flaked off.
“She is dying,” he said somberly.
“Dying?” I cried with alarm. “Fanindra can’t die.”
“I assure you she can. She is one of the weapons of Durga. Is she not?”
“Yes, but…” I opened and closed my mouth. The sick feeling was back.
“But Fanindra is a bit more than a weapon. Aren’t you?” he said to her. “She’s also a gift.”
The snake’s green eyes glowed dimly.
“A gift?”
“Yes. Like the rope or the fruit,” he explained with a flourish of his hands.
“But there were only four gifts.”
Kadam counted on his fingers. “Four gifts, five sacrifices, one transformation.”
“Right,” I said, folding my arms. “We have the four gifts. Where does Fanindra come in?”
“As you know, each gift corresponds with one piece of the amulet. The necklace works with the water piece. The scarf with air.”
“So Fanindra goes with…”
“Time,” he answered for me.
“Time?” I gaped.
“Do you remember when I told you about the first temple of Durga? The one with the columns?”
“Yes. You told me that was how Kelsey figured out how to summon the goddess.”
“Correct. At the time, Kelsey discovered four columns. Each one depicted a scene that gave a small glimpse into the different quests you went on. Since that time, I’ve studied the columns in great depth, and what I found was very revealing. Basically, each one represented either earth, air, fire, or water. Kishkindha, being underground, was earth. Shangri-La was air.”
“Yes, yes. Fire was the place we found the Lords of the Flame, and water was obviously the City of the Seven Pagodas. What does that have to do with anything?” I asked, rubbing a hand through my hair.
Kadam gave me the same look he gave me when I was a young man and didn’t want to put in the time or energy to figure out his war scenarios. “How many gifts are there?”
“Apparently five,” I spouted off automatically.
“And how many pieces are in the amulet?” he queried softly.
“Five,” I repeated, growing impatient.
“And the number of columns?” he queried, giving me a meaningful look.
“Okay,” I said, wrapping my brain around his puzzle. “You’re saying there was another column representing the last piece of the amulet?”
“Yes, there was once. To guard the information of the time portion of the amulet, that column was destroyed.”
“Who destroyed it?”
He waved a hand. “The who is irrelevant. The question you should be asking is, what was on it?”
“Fine,” I said. “What was on it?”
“Like you said, the columns showed how the goddess Durga could be summoned for each quest.”
“But there aren’t any more quests. We’ve defeated Lokesh.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Lokesh is gone. But it still remains that there is one more quest in your future—saving Anamika.”
I frowned. “So I do what, exactly? Summon the goddess again? Draw her out like I did with Ren? Fight dragons?” I pointed a finger at him. “You said the goddess Durga doesn’t exist in this plane. How can I summon her if she doesn’t exist?”
“She doesn’t, but still, summon her you must. You must make an offering to the goddess to summon her soul and separate her from her younger form. If you are successful, then the two of you will return to the normal time stream, and the young Anamika Kalinga will become what she is meant to become. She is already the daughter of a powerful man, but when she returns from her ordeal, she will become much more.
“If you fail,” Kadam said, “she will never become a champion or a warrior. She will never be trained alongside her brother or learn how to lead armies. It would not be an unhappy life, but the goddess Durga will never exist, and all the good she does and has done and will do will be undone.”
I pressed my forefinger and thumb on my nose, pinching the bridge. “Okay,” I said.
“Okay?”
“Okay.” I lifted my head. “I’ll go. Make an offering. Do whatever needs to be done. If you think I can bring her back, save her, I will.”
He gave me a long, discerning look, and it felt like he was looking at the man I’d become and somehow found me lacking. The notion disturbed me more than it should have. “Here,” he said. “Take her.”
Rising, he handed over Fanindra and then dropped an old rucksack at my feet.
“What’s this?” I asked, hefting it over a shoulder.
“There’s a knife, clothing, supplies, and…and the phoenix egg.”
“You mean the one from my room?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you put that in the bag?”
“Because it’s time for you to unveil the truth, Kishan.”
“The truth?” When I’d been given the egg, the phoenix warned me that it would never hatch a phoenix, but would instead become a truth stone. As far as I knew, it didn’t do a blessed thing. I’d tried several times to peer into it, to ask it questions, hoping it would grant me the wisdom the phoenix promised. Eventually, I gave up. Supposedly, the heart of a phoenix rested inside. But no light, not even Durga’s magic, was ever able to penetrate the jeweled shell. I assumed it just wasn’t responding to me.
Kadam put his hand on my arm. “There’s one jug full of firefruit juice. It was the only thing I could bring you. Use it sparingly. Since you are mortal now, you can be injured or even killed. Be careful, son.”
“I will.”
“And bring her back.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“See that you do.” He squeezed my upper arm, his eyes bright and piercing. I sensed that he wanted to say more but he purposefully held back. He stroked Fanindra’s head. “You must hurry before her power fails. She will take you to her mistress. Good luck and farewell.”
Before I could answer him, he clutched the amulet at his neck and disappeared.
“Well,” I said to Fanindra. “I guess it’s just you and me now.”
The golden cobra twisted her head to look up at me, her tongue flicking in and out. Gold flaked away from her body and dropped to the grass. Trembling with effort, she turned and opened her hood. Her body swayed back and forth, back and forth, like she was dancing to the music of a charmer. My skin erupted in gooseflesh as cold air settled on my body. It felt like death had wrapped me in his icy hands. Trees whispered as the leaves rustled overhead and their heavy branches creaked in the wind.
Between the trees the sun cast a pillar of light but the rays weren’t warm or soothing. Almost in a trance, I followed Fanindra’s bobbing head as she angled herself to the light. My breath rasped in my lungs and the snake’s normally warm skin was cold to the touch. When I stepped into the light, we were sucked into a vacuum. I thought I screamed but there was no sound.
One moment I was in a bright space with nothing around me but painful white light, and the next, I stumbled on a rocky path. I caught myself before I fell but still spilled Fanindra from my arms. The backpack landed with a thump alongside her.