The ground shook as he thunderously charged. I raised my arms to protect myself when the points of his horns made contact. A horrible roar echoed in my mind as his dark wind passed through my body. I screamed and fainted.
When the vision was over, I opened my eyes to see Ren and Kishan leaning over me. Kishan was using the Scarf to bandage my elbow, and Ren was examining my throat. Both had stony expressions but asked no questions. My back stung until Kishan applied a salve from the Golden Fruit.
I gulped the life-saving elixir from thekamandal, and within a few minutes, I began to feel better.
“She’s starting to heal,” Kishan remarked.
Ren nodded.
“Where’s—” I tried to clear my raspy throat, but it hurt too much. “Chimera,” I whispered.
“I used the Rope to whip her,” Ren said, stroking my bruised throat. “She ran off and hasn’t returned yet.”
I saw regret in his eyes, but then he touched my arm and the steely determination returned. I knew how much it pained him to abuse an animal, even one that would have killed us. But I couldn’t help but feel grateful that the Chimera wasn’t around.
“She’ll come back soon,” Kishan said. “We need to leave.”
I nodded my agreement. Ren gently lifted my arms to help me put on a new T-shirt. After he slipped it over my old torn one, he asked the Scarf to reabsorb the ripped and bloody shirt underneath. Threads flew out from under the hem and sleeves, and soon the Scarf was quiet.
Kishan and Ren helped me stand, and then Kishan picked up the Rope of Fire. I took hold of the Rope in one hand and placed the other on top of Kishan’s.
“Try it now, Kishan,” I encouraged, my voice just a bit stronger.
He whipped the Rope in a wide circle in front of him. I channeled my fire power into the Rope, and the entire length caught on fire. I sent in more energy, and he whipped faster and faster until the inner circle became a black vortex. Flames danced along the edges.
“Tell it where you want to go,” Kishan said.
I whispered, “Take us to the past. To the place where we are to meet our destiny.”
The blackness flickered and a green forest materialized.
Ren put on the backpack, picked me up, and ran toward the vortex just as the Chimera shot out from the trees. As he and Kishan leapt through the circle of flame, Ren twisted in the air to shield me from her. The Chimera’s jaws snapped, but her teeth missed us, and we fell backward into the void. I was wrenched away from Ren, and then the three of us tumbled around one another in the vortex.
At first, I felt nothing. Then gravity took over, and my stomach heaved as I plummeted downward into an abyss. I screamed, terrified, as my body tumbled into blackness. The echoes of voices calling my name swirled around me.
I closed my eyes as a wave of dizziness overtook me. I heard a snarl, a roar. Then I felt heat and flame rush over my skin. Just as quickly, all motion ceased, and I felt my consciousness start to slip away until it disappeared altogether.
a new world
Get up!” shouted a woman’s no-nonsense voice.
I opened my eyes to see a lovely leg in a mile-long, thigh-high boot connect with my stomach. I curled into a protective ball, blinking and groaning at the aches and pains in my body.Who is kicking me? And why won’t she stop?
The woman kicked me again and hissed, “Get up!”
Twisting into a sitting position, I looked up and saw a tall, striking woman in front of me. A helmet covered most of her face, but her eyes were a brilliant green, and her skin was an exotic buttery-brown of sugar caramel. Her long black hair fell well past her waist. I also noticed the sharp tip of her spear hovering dangerously close to my nose.
I shuffled slowly to my feet, trying to get a grip on my current situation. Once again, I was in a forest. I was surrounded by armored warriors who had confiscated our backpack and weapons and were pointing various spears directly at me. Ren and Kishan were bound with coarse ropes and still unconscious. The Rope of Fire lay idly on the ground.
“Who are you?” I asked the beautiful Amazon who could have doubled as a swimsuit cover-model. “What do you want with us?”
The men spoke to her in a foreign language until she silenced them with a signal.
“I am called Anamika.”
I shifted carefully around her spear. “Nice to meet you,” I said, surprised at her fluency in English.
Anamika kept her eyes trained on me. As I moved, I noticed her tiny waist was cinched in by the armored dress’s heavy belt where several other weapons dangled.
“Do you mind pointing that thing somewhere else?” I asked.
She narrowed her eyes and then planted the blunt end of her spear on the ground, whipping her long hair back as if annoyed with it.
“What is your name?” she asked.
“Kelsey,” I answered. “And you can call your warriors off. We won’t hurt you.”
Anamika translated my statement to her men, and I heard several snickers and a rumble of comments from the soldiers. Then she clipped off a command, and the warriors picked up Ren and Kishan.
Alarmed, I demanded, “Where are you taking them?”
“Come, Kelsey. There is much to do.”
Because Ren and Kishan were still unconscious, and we didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, I followed her through the forest.
“Where are we headed?” I asked again.
“Back to my camp. It is not far,” she smirked. “Though it may seem far to one as soft as you.”
Did the Amazon just insult me?
“I may not be wearing armor on the outside, but I’ve seen my share of battle.”
Anamika rubbed her fingers together and then moodily shifted her spear to the other hand. Her green eyes glittered.
“Really?” she said in a mocking tone. “It’s hard to imagine you engaged in warfare with anything more substantial than a cooking pot.” She boldly gave me the once-over, looking down at me from her freakishly tall Amazonian height.
I stuck my chin in the air and clenched my fists, deliberately tamping down the fire that raged through my blood. This woman was ticking me off.
“Please,” she laughed insultingly, “tell me of your battles.”
Tight lipped, I hissed, “Maybe later.”
Determined to keep up with her though she covered twice as much distance per stride, I followed along and tried my best to take note of my whereabouts and study my captors. The forest was cold, especially after spending the last few weeks in the heat of lava falls and fire trees. Rubbing my arms, I wished that I could figure out a way to make warmer clothes using the Scarf without being noticed.
The leggy warrior-woman saw my twitching and smirked, so I ramped up my speed, determined to tough out the nippy temperature. Thinking quickly, I used the power of the amulet to warm me. A pocket of heat swirled around my body, and I smiled secretly as I moved along.
The going became rough as we descended a stony face. When the afternoon sun broke through the trees and my forehead broke out into a sweat, I turned off the heat and let the still, cooler air envelop me. Toward the bottom, the trees parted, and I looked up to find a very familiar sight. Towering snowcapped mountains loomed on all sides.
“We’re in the Himalayas?” I gasped.
“We are near the great mountains,” Anamika corrected.
“That’s just fantastic,” I mumbled. “It was bad enough the first time.”
“You have been to this place before?” warrior Barbie asked.
“Not this place exactly, but close enough.”
She made no further comment, and I concentrated on getting to the bottom of the incline without breaking my neck while still keeping an eye on the men jostling Ren and Kishan. They’d been unconscious for a long time. I mused on their condition, thinking that maybe I’d recovered faster because of the mermaid’s elixir.
Anamika must have read my thoughts. She pointed to Ren and Kishan. “Your men are weak. I found no injuries on their bodies, but still they sleep.”
“You don’t know what they’ve been through,” I responded.
“Perhaps they are soft like you.”
“I’d really appreciate it if you’d stop using that word.”
“Very well. Then I will use the wordslow or perhapswilting.”
I gaped at her. “You’re pretty quick to judge, aren’t you?”
“I must make quick assessments of my warriors, yes.”
“Have you heard the phrase, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’?”
“I do not spend my time judging books.”
I snorted and tripped on a rock. Anamika helped me to right myself, but I shoved her away, pointed my finger, and threatened, “Don’t you dare call me soft.”
She bowed her head slightly and continued on with a small grin on her face.
Looking around, I noticed that several of her warriors had fresh injuries. One man had a bandage-wrapped leg, another sported a nasty cut across his brow, and a third limped painfully.
“Have you been in recent battle?” I asked.
Anamika frowned. “Yes, we have been engaged in war. There have been many casualties.”
I bit my lip. “Have you heard of a man called Lokesh? Is that the man you fought?”
She shook her head. “We are fighting the demon Mahishasur.”
“Mahishasur?”
The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember what it meant. I’d have to consult Mr. Kadam’s research—that is, after I ditched the bossy Barbie in calf-hugging boots.
At sundown, we wound our way through a narrow passage to a valley surrounded by towering mountains. Ahead was the camp. Tents dotted the valley as far as I could see.
Surprised at the numbers, I remarked, “You have a lot of men.”
“Not as many as I came with,” she said softly.
Anamika led us to the largest tent somewhere in the middle of the camp. After having her men untie Ren and Kishan and depositing them onto a soft rug, she dismissed all but one and conferred briefly with him before sending him out too. With a weariness she didn’t show in front of her men, she sank onto a chair, removed her boots, and massaged her feet. They were cracked and crusted with blood.
I knelt on the straw rug between Ren and Kishan and casually commented, “You are indeed tough if you can maneuver long distances with feet as injured as yours.”
She set her feet on the floor as if embarrassed. “Do you expect the commander of the last of the Vedic Aryans to coddle herself, bathe her skin in milk, and anoint her hair with fragrant soaps like you?”
“I’ll have you know that I’ve never bathed in milk. Who are the Vedic Aryans?”
Anamika sighed heavily. “We are the last of our people. Once we were one of sixteenMahajanapadas. Our republic flourished under the rule of my grandfather, but one by one each of the sixteen kingdoms was conquered. Now we serve the Maurya Empire and answer to its head, Chandragupta Maurya. I was the captain’s advisor, but he has been... lost. Now his duties have fallen onto me.”
I berated myself for not studying Indian history more. If I had, I could at least figure out what time we were in. Ren and Kishan might know. Still the name Chandragupta sounded familiar. I’d read about him or heard of him somewhere before.But where?
Anamika turned her back to remove her armor. I heard the thump of her helmet as it hit the floor and ignored her while I tried to awaken Ren and Kishan. They were breathing and their hearts were beating, but Ren’s pulse was very slow. When I found I couldn’t rouse them on my own, I took thekamandal from Kishan’s neck and wet their lips with a few drops.
After splashing water on her face and arms, the long-legged warrior returned and stood behind me, watching my efforts as she brushed out her long hair. I bristled under her scrutiny but wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of making eye contact. When she caught her brush on a snarl, I leaned over Ren and Kishan, hoping she wasn’t paying attention, and took the opportunity to pour a little fire power into both brothers. Color returned to their faces, and they stirred.
Cobalt blue eyes blinked, and Ren sat up.
“Are you okay, Kells?”
“I’m fine.”
Kishan rolled his upper body and leaned onto one arm while he rubbed his eyes. “Is the Rope still here?” he mumbled sleepily.
“Yes, I’ve got it.”
“Good.”
He opened his eyes and froze. Ren wasn’t moving either. Both men were staring at Anamika, who’d gone suddenly quiet as well. I rolled my eyes and got to my feet.
“Ren and Kishan, I’d like to introduce you to, Ana...” The breath flew from my lips. “... mika.”
The woman standing behind me clutching her brush was the same fiery green-eyed Barbie that I’d been talking with for the last few hours, but without her helmet I realized something that should have been obvious before. I knew her. I stared at her dumbly while she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.
“Why do you all stare at me like large-eyed puppies waiting for a bone?” she hissed.
Kishan was the first to react. He twisted around and prostrated himself before her. He bowed his head, and said, “How may I serve you?”
“Durga?” I whispered.
She looked exactly like the goddess we’d visited four times. Only this version had two arms instead of eight.
“What is a Durga?” she spat sharply, “and why is that one putting his face onto the floor? Has he lost control of his faculties? Perhaps his mind is as feeble as his body.” She leaned over and addressed Kishan in a loud voice as if he were hard of hearing. “You may stand up now. You have mistaken me for someone else.”
Kishan raised his bowed head and narrowed his gaze at the woman. Growling, he rolled quickly to his feet.
“What’s going on?” Ren whispered.
Anamika answered. “What’s going on is that we are at war, and I don’t have time to coddle weaklings.”
“Weaklings?” Kishan spat. He took a step toward the woman, but she only raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down with a disdainful expression.
I squeezed Kishan’s arm, and he stopped moving but continued his stare-down with our hostess. “Anamika, this is Dhiren Rajaram, and this is his brother, Kishan.”
“Anamika?” Kishan said. “Is that what she’s calling herself?” he mumbled hotly.
The goddess-like woman put her hand onto a dagger strapped to her waist. “Are you suggesting I am not who I say I am? I am Anamika Kalinga, advisor to Chandragupta, the most esteemed female champion in the history of my people, and the daughter of great kings.” She fixed a stormy gaze on Kishan. “I have bested men larger and smarter than you. You would be wise to treat me with respect,durbala.”
“Durbala?”
Whatever that word meant caused Kishan to lose it. He strode toward Anamika and seized her wrist before she could pull her knife. Even though he was a few inches taller, she still managed to look down at him. If steam could have billowed out from his nose and his ears, it would have. I’d never seen him so angry before.
“Kishan,” I said softly and held out my hand.
Settling down, he let go of Anamika’s wrist and returned to my side.
Ren deftly inserted himself between Kishan and Anamika. He bowed slightly and said, “Forgive us. We have traveled far from our homeland, and despite appearances,” he turned and gave Kishan a warning look, “we are grateful for the hospitality you’ve shown to us.”
He then launched into Hindi and introduced himself and Kishan more formally. I caught the names but that was about it. Anamika switched languages easily, and words flowed silkily between Ren and the leggy woman. The ease with which she talked with Ren and the change in her demeanor irked me. She lowered her guard with Ren, and soon she was all smiles and laughs.
Kishan and I watched and listened, and I honestly didn’t know whether to trust her. Frowning, I shifted, uneasily wishing I could understand what was being said.
At one point, Kishan interrupted, changing back to English. “My fiancee is weary. Might I ask for some food and a place where she may rest?”
Ren turned to look at me. I flushed under his scrutiny. I couldn’t help but feel like he was comparing me with Anamika—and I fell short. Through tight lips I protested, “I’m fine. I don’t need to rest.”
“Perhaps that would be for the best,” Ren argued quietly.
With a smirk, Anamika replied, “I’ll have my men prepare thesoftest bedding they can find.”
I bristled again while Kishan added, “I’m sure Kelsey would find that most welcome.”
As soon as Anamika stepped outside the tent, I folded my arms across my chest and turned to Ren and Kishan. “Let’s get one thing straight right now. I don’t care what century we’re in or even what planet we’re on. You two don’t speak for me. If either of you has got it into your heads to make me play the role of the little fiancee who needs a big strong man to think for me, you’d be wise to reassess your position! You are not going to send me off to my room so that I miss out on all the important discussions.”
Kishan said, “Kells, I didn’t mean... I wasn’t trying to get rid of you. I just wanted you to be comfortable.”
“I’m perfectly capable of making myself comfortable.”
“I know, it’s just...”
“Just what?”
“It’s just that we don’t exactly fit in. Our clothes are different, our speech, our mannerisms. Kelsey, I announced our betrothal and made efforts to see to your comfort to protect you. A single woman doesn’t fend for herself. Not in this kind of environment.”
“What about the Queen Bee over there? I don’t see a ring on her finger, and she seems to be fending for herself just fine.”
“It’s different for royalty,” Kishan explained. “She is likely protected by her man-at-arms or even a group of bodyguards.”
“But you’re forgetting that I can protect myself.”
“It doesn’t hurt to keep up appearances.”
As I stewed over his words, Ren added, “I apologize for leaving you out of our conversation. I was simply trying to assess who she is and what languages she speaks. It will help us to determine where we are and what point in history we are in without asking outright.” He took my hand. “I didn’t intend to brush you aside. I’m sorry.”
“Oh,” I sighed. “Well, I don’t like her, and I don’t trust her. We should leave.”
“Where else do you expect us to go, Kelsey?” Ren asked.
“We should be looking for Lokesh.”
“We don’t know where to find him,” Kishan stated. “I don’t like the harridan either, but our best option is find out what she knows.”
The harridan? I raised my eyebrows. Kishan had never treated a woman with anything but respect.
“What exactly doesdurbala mean?” I asked Ren as Kishan busied himself inspecting the tent.
“It depends on how it’s used, but the word can mean ‘small,’ ‘sickly,’ or... ‘impotent.’”
I clapped my hand over my mouth to stifle my giggle. “No wonder he’s mad.”
Ren gave me a lopsided smile, retrieved our backpack, and sorted through everything to count all of our weapons.
Picking up Anamika’s fallen hairbrush, I twirled it thoughtfully and remembered her blistered feet. “Well, she’s obviously not the goddess, so why does she look like Durga?” I wondered aloud.
Ren took the trident from his belt and ran his fingertips down the length of it before placing it into the backpack. “I don’t know, Kells. But we were brought here for a reason. We just need time to figure out what that reason is.”
“Are you hiding our weapons?”
He nodded. “For now. They are of exceptional quality. I wouldn’t want someone to see the gold and make plans to take them. Speaking of which...” Ren rose and gently lifted the sleeve of my T-shirt. His fingers brushed against my skin, and I shivered as he slid Fanindra down my arm. Bright blue eyes sought mine, and a familiar lopsided smile appeared as he watched my reaction to his touch. Saying nothing, he let out a soft sigh and placed Fanindra into the backpack; then he moved on to retrieve Kishan’s weapons.
Anamika returned, followed by several men carrying rugs, pillows, and platters of food. They positioned the bedding behind a curtain, set the food on a low table, and waited at the entrance.
“Kelsey will stay in my tent,” Anamika announced.
Kishan was about to protest when Anamika raised her hand.
“I allow no impropriety among my men, and I won’t make any exceptions for you and your betrothed. I will, however, give you my vow that she will remain safe with me. The two of you will be assigned a tent to share and will be given proper clothing and... boots.”
I had forgotten that Ren and Kishan had no shoes. They’d switched from tigers to leap through the vortex and wore only their loose shirts and pants.
Anamika examined my jeans and T-shirt with a puzzled expression. “Perhaps some of my clothing can be cut down to accommodate your smallish stature,” she offered.
No one had ever called me small before. I stood up as tall as I could. “Just because you’re freakishly large does not mean I am small. My height is considered slightly above average in my homeland, I’ll have you know.”
“Indeed.” Her mouth twitched.
I took the backpack from Ren and slammed it over my shoulders. “I have my own clothes anyway. There is no need to cut any of your precious warrior-Barbie outfits.”
Anamika made a noise suspiciously like a growl and signaled a guard. “Take the men to their tent.”
As the brothers were being escorted away, she said to Kishan, “You may return to visit your little woman at the morning meal.”
Kishan and Ren both paused at the tent opening to look at me. I jiggled the backpack to reassure them I could take care of myself. They nodded and disappeared.
A servant entered and poured water into our goblets. Anamika sank onto the floor to make herself comfortable on the pillows. Placing my backpack as close as possible, I joined her and picked up my cup. The liquid was icy and fresh—the most delicious water I’d ever tasted.
“It’s wonderful!” I remarked after draining my cup.
Anamika grunted. “The water comes directly from the mountains. I also find it refreshing. Now, please, eat. I wouldn’t want your fiance to accuse me of starving you.”
There were several different dishes, including bowls of toasted almonds, spicy chickpeas, pickled potatoes, lentils, and a few small pieces of fire-roasted meat. Anamika nibbled on a fragrant white fruit called lychee.
I picked up some flatbread and used it to scoop up chickpeas and the meat. “How did you hurt your feet?” I asked.
“My feet are none of your affair.”
“They looked pretty bad,” I remarked as I tried the potatoes.
She grunted but didn’t say anything more. I watched her as I ate.Who is she and why does she look like Durga?
After she pulled off a small piece of flatbread and ate it, she turned her body away from the table as if she couldn’t look at the food any longer.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You don’t like the food? A woman like you probably doesn’t like to eat anything she didn’t hunt down and kill herself, right?”
“I am no longer hungry.”
I paused with a piece of plump lychee fruit pinched between my fingers. “You’re full?” I was confused, but only for a moment. I’d met women like her before, women like Ren’s annoying girlfriend, Randi. “Oh, you’ve got an Amazon figure to maintain.”
“I do not understand ‘Amazon figure.’”
“A figure is the shape of your body, and Amazons are these tall, beautiful women who live in South America. They are warriors who don’t need men to take care of them.”
“I have no concern for the shape of my body as long as it is strong. An Amazon, as you call me, may be what I am now but I was not always so. I like men.”
She’d said it with such sincerity that I couldn’t help laughing. “I understand. I like men too,” I said. “So why are you an Amazon now?”
Anamika brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I was not always alone. I had a brother... Sunil. He was my twin.” The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. “He was thesenani, in command of our forces.”
“What happened to him?”
“He was taken. Captured by our enemy.” She paused. “He is likely dead or so my men would have me believe. You asked about my feet. I dreamed my brother called to me, and I left my tent to find him. His voice compelled me forward, and I pressed on, not caring that my feet were cut by sharp rocks and torn by thorns and brambles. When I woke, I found I had experienced a walking dream and was far from my camp.”
“I’m sorry about your brother, Anamika.”
“We came here with thirty thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand chariots, and five thousand battle elephants, along with dozens of spies and messengers. In the last battle, my brother was lost and oursena, our army, was struck down, hobbled. Hundreds of our elephants were overcome, and all that is now left of our proud warriors are a few thousand, most of whom are injured.”
“Your enemy sounds formidable.”
“He is a demon,” she said tiredly.
“Why don’t you eat a bit more?” I pressed. “You need to keep up your strength.”
She turned to me with piercing eyes. “I will not. This food is more than most of my men get in a month. How can I eat more when they are starving?”
I paused in reaching for another piece of flatbread. “Your men are hungry?”
“Hunger is the most trivial of their sufferings. I have asked them to return home, but they refuse to desert me, and I cannot leave until I determine what has happened to my brother.”
With a pointed glare, she got up and thrust aside the sheer curtain dividing the sleeping area. Anamika lay down on the floor of the tent and wrapped a thin blanket around her body. Whispering hushed words, I used the Golden Fruit to refill the bowls of food and even add a few more. Then I asked the guard outside the tent if he would distribute the food to the men.
The bowls were quietly removed and a hush fell over the camp as the men sought their tents for warm blankets. I peered up at the bright stars and wondered which tent belonged to Ren and Kishan. Shivering, I closed the flap and rubbed my arms.
Finding my pile of blankets, I wiggled between them and attempted to sleep. I lay there thinking about how warm I’d be if I was nestled between my tigers and clutched my blankets tightly as the night cooled to freezing temperatures. Finally, I could no longer stand it. Glancing at Anamika’s inert form, I asked the Divine Scarf to make thick blankets and to soften the thin pallet I’d been given. I also made cozy mittens, cushioned socks, and a knit hat to cover my ears.
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