Tiger Thief (19 page)

A
s the boy collapsed, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. For a moment all his memories and fears returned with the roar of cheers all around him. Then there was a tugging sensation as though he was being pulled underwater, and all of a sudden the noise stopped.

In wonder, he looked around. He was in a circular tunnel, whose walls were slowly revolving as they flickered with light. The tunnel was twisted, and the pathway ahead rose and fell. Catching his balance, he stepped forward. With a start, he noticed the figure of a woman running up ahead. She was dressed in green with long, black hair.

The boy frowned. His mind was blank, but somehow he knew this woman’s name.

“Mohini!” he called, running to catch up with her.

The woman spun around, hair whirling. Her throat was scratched and bleeding, but her face was a picture of jubilation. With a quick glance she looked him up and down.

“So,” she said, her mouth twisting. “You made it. I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“How did I get here?” asked the boy, confused. Visions of fighting, of blood, of despair jostled in his mind.

“You stabbed Emira with the Sword of Shiva, and opened a gateway back to the world of the jinnis,” said Mohini in triumph.

“But I was wounded,” remembered the boy. “My body collapsed.”

“That was just your human side,” Mohini told him. “Now you’re all jinni. You’ve left your body and its memories behind.”

The boy stared at her. “Does that mean I’m dead?” he asked, suddenly feeling sick.

Mohini shook her head. “Only your human side is dead,” she told him. “Let it go. It was worthless, and anyway, you won’t need it where we’re going.”

She carried on down the twisting tunnel, with the boy on her heels.

Just then they turned a corner and up ahead he saw a circle of dazzling light. In front of it, poised to spring, was a white tiger. His heart leapt.

“Emira!” he called.

With a questioning growl the tiger turned her head.
Then, as she saw the boy, her growl turned into a purr. She bounded back towards him.

The boy threw his arms around her. “You’re alive!” he cried.

“Come on!” said Mohini sharply. “The gateway won’t stay open forever. If we don’t move now, we’ll be trapped between the worlds.”

Just then the boy noticed that the circle of light up ahead was beginning to shrink.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“We’re going to Aruanda,” Mohini told him. “But we have to go now or we’ll never get through!”

“Aruanda!” The boy felt a thrill as the name conjured up visions of a beautiful garden. He hurried on, feeling a tugging sensation as he drew closer to the light, but just then a crystal-sweet voice broke the silence behind them.

“
Kalki! Kalki! Kalki!
” it sang.

The boy stopped in his tracks. Next to him, the tiger stopped too, her ears turned back.

“What was that?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Mohini told him. “It’s coming from the world of men. You’re a jinni. That place can only be a prison to you now.”

The boy stepped forward.

“
Kalki! Kalki! Kalki
!” The voice came again, pure and clear.

A thrill of recognition passed through the boy’s body. He froze. “Wait a minute,” he said. “I know that voice. It’s a little girl.”

“Leave it!” snapped Mohini, as the walls of the tunnel began to close in on them. “If we don’t go now, we may never get another chance.”

Reluctantly, the boy stepped forward, but just then the voice pierced the air once more.

“
Kalki! Kalki! Kalki!
”

All at once, the boy felt a rush of unfamiliar power flooding his body. “That’s my name!” he exclaimed. “I’m Kalki, and that voice is calling
me
… It’s Aya!”

Mohini’s eyes flashed. “Never mind Aya,” she hissed. “I’m the Queen of the Forest and I order you to come with me.” She seized his arm.

Emira growled.

Kalki stared at her. “You’re not the Queen of the Forest!” he exclaimed. “You’re Mohini, Mistress of Illusion. I’m not following
you
.”

Giving her a shove, he pulled himself on to Emira’s back. Emira roared in approval.

“You fool!” shrieked Mohini as she teetered at the edge of the light. “You have no idea what you’re doing. Rookh’s a monster. He’ll never let Aya go. If you knock him down he’ll only rise up twice as strong.”

Kalki ignored her, clinging on tight as Emira spun around and flew back up the shrinking passageway. As the tunnel closed behind them, Mohini let out a cry of rage.

Emira shot into the ring, bigger and more ferocious than ever before. Riding on her back, Kalki felt triumphant,
alive, and full of power. He was the Prince of Jinnis! Then he caught sight of a familiar body lying on the ground. Sharat’s body. It lay in a pool of blood with Aya kneeling by its side.

Kalki felt a thread tying him to this body and his sense of power vanished as he was sucked back into flesh.

All at once, he couldn’t see and he could hardly breathe. For a moment, he thought he had come back simply to die. But then he heard Emira roar and felt a dark vein of strength fortifying his muscles and sealing the wound in his chest. He drew in one ragged breath, then another, and his eyes flew open. He sprang to his feet.

Aya stepped back with tear-stained eyes.

“You’re alive!” she gasped.

Kalki’s eyes burned. An aura of power surrounded him. At a glance he saw Rookh striding towards him. Quickly, he reached down to snatch up his sword.

“I’ll deal with Rookh,” he yelled at Aya over the din. “See if you can find a way out.”

Aya spun around. To her dismay she was faced with a sea of ghuls. Just then something swooped down from above, landing on one of the ghuls’ shoulders with a shiver of ivory feathers. It was the bird from the cage.

Aya stared up at him in recognition. “Ripiraja!” she exclaimed. “It’s you!”

“Ripiraja to the rescue!” cawed the parrot as he began to whistle a jaunty tune.

All at once, the ghuls began to follow him, their ghostly feet moving to some long-forgotten dance.

Aya didn’t stop to ask how Uma’s parrot had found his way into the underworld. Throwing up her hood, she pushed her way through the crowd and stared out at the bridges that spanned the inferno below. Kalki wanted her to find a way out, but she had no idea where to begin.

Emira and Kalki turned to face Doctor Rookh and his army of fiends. In a flash, feathers sprouted from the demons’ arms, and they turned into crows. With caws of triumph, they circled the tiger, attacking her eyes and raking their talons across her back, before flying out of reach with cackles of delight.

“You take the crows, I’ll deal with Rookh!” Kalki yelled at Emira.

With a roar of pleasure Emira leapt towards her tormentors.

Rookh faced Kalki, his staff raised.

“Let’s see what you can do, then, circus-rat,” he sneered.

Kalki lifted the sword and swiped, but Rookh was gone.

Just then Kalki heard a raucous caw from above. Throwing his head back, he saw a massive bird, as black as death, overhead. As it dived towards him he smelled the stench of decay.

Without thinking, Kalki took a deep breath, and blew. All at once, the air flew into a gale that blasted the bird towards the side of the cavern, where it smashed with a crunch. Then it disappeared.

Kalki’s head jerked in confusion. Had he done that? He didn’t have long to wonder. As he looked warily around the ring, he heard a blistering roar behind him and with lightning reflexes he spun around to find himself gazing into the jaws of a dragon. With a gasp he leapt aside as a jet of flame nearly engulfed him. The monster lashed its tail and roared.

Kalki stood his ground. He could feel his powers rising up strongly inside him now.

With another roar the dragon lunged and prepared to unleash a second fiery blast. This time Kalki knew exactly what to do. Sucking in his cheeks, he took a deep breath and spat with all the strength he could muster.

A cloud of steam swallowed up the beast and everything around it. For a moment Kalki felt a surge of triumph. But then he found himself slipping perilously on the glassy surface of the island. With a gurgle of revenge the billowing cloud turned into a wave that rose up and swept him right over the side.

Kalki felt himself plummeting down, down and down, through the air and through flickering flames until he plunged into the lake below. As he sank to the bottom there was a shiver of movement in the water nearby. Moments later he caught a glimpse of evil eyes and the glimmer of teeth bared in a terrible deathly grin. Behamot! First there was one … then another … and then he was surrounded!

“Aaaaaahhhhh!” he screamed, his voice escaping in a cloud of bubbles as he lashed out with his sword and plunged it into the mud beneath him, hitting rock.
Suddenly the earth trembled and there was the sound of a great crack. Before he knew it the water all around him had drained away, leaving the monster fish flailing helplessly in the slime.

Kalki scrambled to his feet. Rookh was nowhere to be seen, but just then he heard a roar and looked up to see Emira bounding towards him.

Leaping on to her back, he thrust the sword into the belt around his waist.

“Where’s Aya?” he gasped.

A
ya pushed her way through the ghuls, desperate to find a way out, but before she could reach one of the bridges a girl with a ruby eye stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she snapped.

Aya stared up in shocked recognition. “Nara!”

“Do I know you?” demanded Nara, glaring at her fiercely through her good eye.

Aya slipped the hood off her head. “It’s me,” she said.

“Aya!” Nara exclaimed. Her face softened. “My little princess.”

“What are you doing here?” asked Aya.

Nara’s face became fierce again.

“I was kidnapped by ghuls to work in the mines.”

“Oh.” Aya didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t feel sorry for me,” Nara snapped. “I’m happy here. I’m working for Master Rookh now.”

“You can’t work for him! He’s the man that killed my mother,” gasped Aya. She took Nara’s hand. “Run away with me!”

Nara was looking at Aya with an expression of scorn. “Run away?” she said. “Where would I go? Back to the sewers?” She shook her head. “This is the best place I’ve ever been in my life.”

Aya didn’t have time to argue. “Then help
me
,” she begged. “I’ve got to get away. I’m Rookh’s daughter. He’ll make my life hell down here.”

Nara’s mouth twisted. “A princess even in the underworld,” she said, her voice bitter. “Everything is just handed to you on a plate, isn’t it?”

“I don’t
want
to be a princess,” cried Aya in desperation. “You’re welcome to take my place. Just show me how to get out of here!”

Nara hesitated. She eyed Aya shrewdly. Then she made up her mind.

“You can’t go through the usual gates,” she said. “They’ll be guarded.”

“Is there no other way?”

“Only one,” Nara told her. “Through the workshop. The hole in the dome leads into the secret passageways under the city.” She pointed out one of the bridges. “It’s that way.”

Aya clasped her hand. “Thank you!” she said.

Nara pushed her away. “I don’t need your thanks,” she said, avoiding Aya’s eye. “Just get out of here. There’s only room for one princess in this kingdom.”

Aya glanced around as Nara hurried away. Behind her the ring had turned into a battlefield. The ghuls, something in them woken by Ripiraja’s singing, had turned on the demons, lifting them into the air with skeletal hands to hurl them into the fiery abyss below the obsidian island. Aya felt a rush of hope, but the fiends simply turned into crows as they fell, and then rose soaring into the air to repeat their attack.

Keeping her head down, Aya dodged her way to the bridge Nara had pointed out. Before she could get there she was surrounded by demons.

With a cry of triumph they seized her. “Back to the dungeons!” they cackled, but just then there was a terrible roar as Emira came bounding over, and the demons scattered, shrieking as they turned into crows to escape. Kalki was on Emira’s back.

“Did you find a way out?” he gasped.

“We have to find Rookh’s workshop,” said Aya, turning to run. “This way!”

“Get on behind me,” Kalki told her.

At a glance, Aya took in Emira’s fierce eyes, fearsome teeth, and bloodstained claws, but there was no time to be afraid. Seizing the tiger’s fur, she clambered on and clung to Kalki’s waist.

Behind them the night-crows had regrouped and were about to dive.

“Let’s go!” shouted Kalki.

“Don’t go without me!” cawed Ripiraja, shooting over their heads in a streak of crimson feathers.

Emira shot across the bridge like a bolt of lightning, while Kalki beat off the crows with his sword.

They reached the first set of double doors.

The house-marshal’s bulging eyes flew open. When he saw them he began to scream, “Runaways! Runaways! Runaways!”

“Shut up!” shouted Aya. “This is the Prince of Jinnis! Do you understand? He’s the only one that can set you free!”

The house-marshal sneered. “Prove it!” he snapped.

Kalki lifted his hand and blasted the door with a ball of fire.

“I never did like those house-marshals,” he muttered as the ashes crumbled to the floor.

Emira dived over the charred wreckage and ran towards the door on the other side. Behind them they could hear the sound of beating wings.

“Come in! Come in!” said the second house-marshal quickly, opening the doors into the workshop.

“Don’t let anyone else in!” snapped Kalki once they were through.

The door slammed obediently shut. Behind them they heard the frustrated shrieks of their pursuers, but no sooner had they stepped forward when there was a buzzing and a clicking from above, and a host of similickers emerged from their cells, their ruby eyes blazing as they sought
out the movement and warmth of living flesh.

“Get out of the way!” said Kalki. “I’ll deal with them.”

Aya watched in terror as he leapt off Emira’s back and ran into the centre of the room.

With a furious buzz the similickers turned towards him, but he was ready. Lifting his sword, Aya saw that the blade was white hot and as the creatures dived for him, the sword moved in a blur, creating a shield of fire that made them ricochet off him and clatter to the floor in a hail of golden rain. Soon the workshop was littered with their mangled bodies, their eyes still blazing.

Emira let out a roar of satisfaction.

Quickly, Aya and Ripiraja released the animals from their cages. The room was filled with baying, howls and chirps as they jumped, flew and scurried to find their own ways out.

Neek, alerted by the noise, came rushing into the hall.

“What are you
doing
?” he asked, his eyes staring and his hands agitated.

“Looks like there’s been a bit of a malfunction,
fish-face
!” cawed Ripiraja.

Neek stared down at the pile of mechanical bodies at his feet. His eyes scanned them anxiously, counting them in a split second. “Four thousand, two hundred and ninety-nine!” he cried. “All broken!” He picked one up and looked at it helplessly.

“Let’s go!” gasped Kalki.

Emira bounded towards him, and Aya ran to catch up, but before any of them could make a move, a familiar
blast of wind threw them apart. With a swirl of his cape, Rookh appeared before them, his staff raised in triumph.

“Not so fast!” he snapped.

Eyes gleaming, he swung round to face Kalki.

“A most impressive display of your powers,” he said, gesturing at the creatures that lay twitching on the floor. “I will enjoy being your master.”

Raising his sword, Kalki lunged forward, but Rookh blocked him with his staff. He smiled.

“You can fight me, but you can never win,” he said. “I own you now. Have you forgotten?”

Kalki felt a burning in his heart. He looked down in shock. The golden medallion was still embedded in his chest. Just then he felt Rookh’s will piercing his
new-found
strength and a shiver of unwanted pleasure ran through his body.

“Master,” he whispered.

“No!” cried Aya. “He’s not your master. Remember who you are!”

Moments later, Emira’s roar cut through the air like a crash of thunder.

Kalki’s face twisted in pain as he tried to resist Rookh’s control. “I am not your slave,” he choked. “I’m the Prince of Jinnis!”

He dug his fingers into his chest and, with a sharp move, he pulled the golden disc from his flesh, throwing it at his adversary with all his force. Without hesitation the spidery legs lifted up and embedded themselves into Rookh’s throat.

The result was immediate. Rookh relaxed, and a look of bliss softened his face. Then he closed his eyes and his head slumped back, drawn into a dream of his own devising.

Kalki wasn’t so lucky. As soon as he ripped out the gold, he began to bleed, but this was no mere physical injury, it was as if all of his life force had been sucked out of his body. In agony he slumped against Emira. He was no longer Kalki, the Prince of Jinnis; he was only Sharat the circus boy, and he was dying.

There was a crack as the heavy wooden door behind them splintered and they heard the gibbering of demons.

“Let’s go!” shrieked Ripiraja. “We’ve got company!”

Sharat managed to pull himself on to Emira’s back and Aya scrambled on after him.

“Which way?” she cried.

“Up here!” cawed Ripiraja as he circled the dome and the hole in the ceiling.

Emira roared as she crouched to spring.

“Hold tight!” gasped Sharat.

Emira’s body was as sleek as silver lightning as she leapt towards the dark hole in the dome’s ceiling and landed in the tunnel where Sharat and Aya had first seen the similickers. Faint starlight shimmered above, but Emira didn’t keep climbing. That way would only lead back into Shergarh and she wanted to get away from the city. With a sniff, she turned into the darkness, picking out the shadows of rats as she ran. Normally she would have
stopped to investigate. She hadn’t eaten since she’d been kidnapped, but now wasn’t the time to think about food. It was time to escape.

Unerringly, she led them through the twisting passageways, unravelling their secrets until they spilled out of the bowels of the earth into the darkness of night. In triumph she turned her head up to face the indigo sky that faded to red in the east. A star twinkled above them. They were free!

Emira bounded across the wasteland towards the northern mountains which were just becoming visible against the brightening sky. Behind them, the City of Jewels rose up out of the plains, with Shergarh as its sinister crown. Sharat saw a cloud of darkness rise up from the centre of the fortress, and it was growing bigger.

“Watch out,” he gasped. “The night-crows are on our tail.”

Emira was running fast, but the crows were faster still, their infernal wings beating them inexorably closer.

Suddenly Aya remembered the remains of the ghuls that she’d rescued from the dungeon floor.

“I’ll stop them!” she cried.

Seizing her bag, she scooped out handfuls of seeds and flung them far and wide as Emira raced along.

For a moment it seemed to have worked. With angry caws the crows stopped to descend on the barren earth, seeking out every last seed, but still more were coming, and soon they were surrounded by thrashing wings,
gouging beaks and ripping talons.

“Take that!” shrieked Ripiraja, attacking from above.

“We’ll have to stop and fight!” gasped Sharat, his face pale with the loss of blood.

“No, wait!” cried Aya. “Look! It’s dawn!”

As the sun began to rise, the crows’ raucous cries gave way to shrieks of frustration. Moments later, their wings shrivelled as they turned back into demons and came plummeting down to earth. With a roar, Emira snapped up half a dozen, spitting them out contemptuously when she was done. Then, with a spring she easily left them far behind.

Aya let out a sigh of relief, but they weren’t out of trouble yet. As Emira sped across the barren plains away from the City of Jewels the blood kept on flowing from the wound in Sharat’s chest.

“How did we get here?” he whispered, his voice weak. “I can’t remember anything.”

“Never mind that,” said Aya, slipping her scarf around him to bind him to Emira’s back. “Just hold on!”

Sharat nodded, but his eyes were dull. Soon Emira’s fur was sticky with his blood and his hands lost their grip around her neck.

Desperate to keep him awake, Aya kept whispering encouragement, but it was no use. Sharat was too weak, and at some point on their journey he ceased to hear her, and slipped silently away.