I grunt as yet another branch whacks me in the face. Ali is the lead of our expedition, followed by Nasrin, who keeps whacking me in the face.
She's released so many projectiles in my direction in the last few hours that it's just instinct for me to duck down when she pushes a branch out of her way. I dip my head as a bendy branch snaps back at my head, and it hits a very disgruntled Mina smack in the face.
She clutches her cheek. “Ow!” she exclaims. I fall back and throw an arm over her shoulders, rubbing her back with my other hand.
"Anyone up there got a machete we could borrow back here?" I drawl sarcastically. "We're kind of taking a beating here."
"No, sorry," Nasrin apologizes, barely glancing over her shoulder. I shake my head. I've had enough of trekking through the jungle in the last few hours to last me an entire lifetime.
"Are we close?" Mina calls out, gingerly touching the red welt on her cheek.
"We're nearly there," Ali vows, not even bothering to look back at us.
Ali delivers with his promise. Sure enough, the woods seem to thin out a few hundred yards ahead of us, and a few minutes later, we break out of the thick wall of vegetation. I inhale deeply. There's no shortage of fresh air here on the Gaokerena, but I couldn't enjoy it in the forest. The plant life was so dense, and the air was so humid that it felt suffocating.
"So, this is it?" Nasrin wonders aloud.
"I'm pretty sure," Ali says.
Mina and Nasrin flop to the ground with bottles of water, mumbling about how their feet hurt. I roll my eyes and place my hands on my hips, examining my surroundings. The Gaokerena hasn’t failed to impress me yet. Nothing here seems like it should be possible, but what lies in front of me makes less sense than anything I've seen here so far.
A massive maze of 20-foot hedges stretches out for miles and miles in front of us, illuminated by the harsh sun. Mist floats gently to the heavens from the ground, and the whole place is eerily silent. The whole thing is a bit dizzying with its endless twists and turns.
Ali and I start down the little hill leading out of the forest towards the maze. Sharp pains shoot up my legs from my feet, begging for a break, but the change in terrain is enough for me to persevere. The knotted wood of the tree's branches isn't the easiest to walk on, but the ground underfoot here by the hedges is a bit more forgiving. The wood seems to have been sanded away and replaced by glossy marble, creating an even surface for us.
I grab Ali's arm and yank him aside. "It's about time I tell you what we're here for," I say quietly. He nods his consent, and we step into the shadow of the entrance of the maze.
I rub my hands together anxiously. "You know why I'm here, right?" I ask. My answer meets silence, so I proceed, unsure of what the quiet is supposed to mean. "I was recruited to do a mission for Anahita."
"Well, I know now," Ali interjects.
I offer a tight smile. "Great. Anyway, Anahita sent us here for a reason, we're just not entirely sure of what that reason is." I pause for dramatic effect. However, Ali's features remain stony, not offering me any sort of curiosity or excitement. Tough crowd.
"We think that someone is after some sort of... immortality elixir," I continue. "We chased down those two daeva you were looking for earlier in New Delhi. We think that they're working for whoever it is that wants the potion. That's probably why they went after Nasrin when she was hurt. They didn't want us to follow them here."
Ali shakes his head. "And you guys think that you can just find the elixir and stop whoever's trying to get it?
I bite my lip and shrug. "We have to try."
"Kiana," Ali starts, lowering his voice. He looks me dead in the eyes. I almost squirm at the intensity. "Are you sure that this is a good idea? We should just get out of here before anyone gets hurt."
I narrow my eyes in suspicion. "Do you know something?" I whisper, pointing an accusing finger at his chest.
Ali's eyes lock with mine. "I know that we are not going to want to be here when whoever's trying to get the elixir shows up. Whoever it is will be a powerful enemy to have. We need to be smart."
I place my hands on Ali's chest and shove as hard as I can. "If there's something that you're not telling me, you better fess up right now," I spit out.
Nasrin waltzes up. "We don't have a problem here, do we?" she threatens, placing a hand on her hip. Ali takes a step towards me, but she holds a finger up. "Hold on," she demands, her tone icy.
I glower at Ali. "We don't have a problem. Ali was just asking me if he could just leave now on his own instead of tagging along. Then we can go find the elixir. Alone. Right, Ali?"
Ali nods, glancing at Nasrin. I turn to my friend. "Could you just give us a minute?" I ask. Nasrin nods, pressing her lips into a tight line. She places a supportive hand on my arm and gives it a short squeeze before turning on her heel and walking back to join Mina.
I whip around to face Ali. "Look, Ali. You can leave if you want, but we're not going anywhere until we finish what we came here for." I gesture to my friends.
Ali purses his lips like he wants to argue, but he must decide against it. He rubs his stubble covered jaw, clearly stressed. "It's fine if you don't want to help yourself, but I'm not going to let your stupidity get me killed. I'm getting out of here."
My jaw ticks. "Fine," I say with a sneer.
Ali crosses his toned arms over his chest. "Fine."
...
My hand runs lightly along the right wall of the hedges that surround us, temporarily displacing the thick green leaves as I pass by.
"How long do you think we've been walking?" I ask, rubbing my neck.
"Forever," Nasrin grumbles. She drags her feet along the smooth marble underfoot like an "We're almost there," Ali mutters. He shakes a hand through his hair.
We start down a long corridor just as Mina joins in on Nasrin's vocal pity party. I’m about to suggest that we stop and rest when the ground trembles violently. I bend my knees to maintain my balance, but Mina crumbles to the ground. I race to her side and help her up. She shakes her head, dazed. “What was that?”
The ground rumbles once more, and a giant beast comes into view about a half mile ahead. I squint at it. It sprints towards us at full steam. “Should we run?” Mina asks. “I think we should run now.”
“But what is it?” I mutter.
The animal continues to near. “Is that— is that a donkey?” Nasrin says.
Mina utters a prayer under her breath and Nasrin curses. My face assumes and expression of horror. “What’s wrong with its face?”
The donkey must be at least fifteen feet tall. Its face is as wide as the front of a car, and as it grows closer, I count a total of nine mouths and six eyes. The eyes are the size of dinner plates, and each mouth has an extreme over-bite. It brays in fury, sending a spray of spit from its jaws that I can see hundreds of feet away.
“I second Mina’s idea. I think it’s time we run,” Nasrin says nervously.
I turn on my heel. “All in favor of running, say I.”
Our small party takes off in the opposite direction. “I!”
I toss a gaze over my shoulder. The donkey from hell is gaining faster than we can keep up with. “We can’t outrun it,” I pant. “We’ve got to do something.”
Ali snatches my hand. “What do you think you’re doing?” I shout.
He scowls at me. “You said do something, didn’t you?” He reaches out and grabs hold of Nasrin, and she latches onto Mina. Ali closes his eyes in concentration, and we reappear suddenly several hundred feet down the corridor behind the donkey.
My stomach turns. We didn’t teleport very far, but it was enough to make me feel at least a little bit nauseous. “I thought you weren’t able to teleport that many people at once,” I say, pointing an accusatory finger in his direction.
“Never said I couldn’t. Just said I couldn’t do it far,” he shoots back.
The donkey pauses as it realizes it’s no longer chasing anything. It looks around and slowly shifts its weight around until it’s facing us once more. My eyes widen, and my muscles tense up.
“Now would be a good time for some ideas, team.”
Ali furrows his thick eyebrows together. “You guys run. I can take care of this.”
“Okay,” Nasrin articulates before turning on her heel and leaving us in the dust. Mina nods gratefully in his direction and follows suit. I place a light hand on his arm.
“Are you sure?” I ask. His jaw sets, and he gives a sharp nod.
I don’t move. I can’t leave him behind. “I’m going to stay with you.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t want you to do that. You’ll just get in the way.”
I feel my face heat up in embarrassment. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Ali glares at me in annoyance. “Just go, Kiana. I can handle this by myself.”
The donkey brays again and I snap my attention from Ali to the monster ahead of us. It’s gotten closer than what I deem comfortable in the time we’ve wasted arguing. Ali bends at the knees like he’s preparing for a fight. “Okay. The donkey might be stronger and faster than us, but we’ve got one advantage. It can’t turn very fast. We’re going to let it get really close to us, and then we’re going to slide under it so that we end up behind it.”
My heart races. “Are you crazy? It could crush us!”
“But it won’t.”
The donkey is closing in. Its hooves thunder against the ground, making the hedges shudder.
“Three.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Two.”
“This is a terrible idea.”
“One.”
Ali takes a running start towards the giant animal and slides like a pro baseball player under its stomach. I follow him, a little less gracefully albeit, but I make it all the same. I scramble to my feet on the other side, surprised to not be a stain under the donkey’s hoof.
The beast lets out an agitated cry. Ali widens his stance and raises his hands. Suddenly, the monster is soaring above our heads, thrashing its legs about every which way. It has a startled look on its face that says, well, that’s never happened before. He throws his arms to the right and the donkey flies over the hedges and lands with a thud on the other side. It brays angrily once more, and the wall of plants quakes as it butts it from the other side.
“I told you I didn’t need you here,” Ali snarks.
“Well, at least I didn’t get in your way.”
“You could’ve gotten hurt.”
“But I didn’t. Why are you so worried about me? Worry about yourself.”
“There’s nothing you could’ve done to help me. There’s no earth up here,” he shoots back.
“You’re underestimating me,” I accuse.
His eyes flicker dangerously. “I know what you’re capable of. You just have your head in the clouds. You need to start seeing things logically.”
I’m about to retort when he grabs my arm. We appear next to Mina and Nasrin who’ve made it quite far in the corridor. Mina gasps as we pop into existence and falls backwards into the hedge. “Maybe an announcement next time?” she says.
I don’t say anything, and fold my arms over my chest, fuming. I avoid eye
contact with Ali, but he seems oblivious to the fact. He starts walking away, wearing his normal blank expression as if nothing ever happened.
Nasrin shakes her head. “Why would there be a giant demon donkey living in a tree? What kind of backwards twisted logic—”
“It’s a guardian,” Ali whispers.
“What?”
Some sort of clearing is at the end of the passageway, and he points to it. “A guardian of the immortality elixir. It’s true. It really does exist.”
I put a little skip in my step. We reach the opening in the maze, and we're greeted by a neat little pavilion. The whole courtyard is pristine. The hedges are trimmed to sharp angles, and the marble underfoot looks as though it’s never been walked across; there’s not a footprint or scuff in sight. A golden bottle rests on a marble pedestal in the middle of the clearing. The liquid is an intense gold that glitters in the sunlight.
I take a step into the swept square, and my breath hitches in my chest.
"It's the elixir!" Mina lets out a giddy giggle and waltzes around in a circle. She catches Nasrin's arm and whirls her around as well, laughing the entire time.
I don't join in the frivolity. "Did... did you know that this was here?" I wonder aloud, turning to Ali.
His expression doesn’t reveal his intentions, and I feel my heart drop to my stomach. This frustrates me more than it ever has before, so much so that I feel like I could scream. "How would I know that?"
"You did!" I look to Mina and Nasrin, crestfallen. “We’re so stupid to not have seen it. You… you’re the Big Boss that the daeva were working for. You left Visya the same day we did to go after the horns of the sarsaok. You came back to Visya once you figured out who got in the way of your plan. You knew that we wouldn’t be as capable without Nasrin, so you took her to your grandmother’s house to keep her out of the way. You made us feel bad for you, so we wouldn’t be able to see what a scumbag you are.” I realize. “You’re the one who the poem is about.”
Ali pauses. “What poem?”
“The prophecy from Anahita,” Nasrin mutters. “The tree is the source of his gain. You were searching for a cure for death and found it here. They grasp the horns of the fiery bull of life, accidentally causing great grief and great strife. The sarsaok’s horns have been rumored to have qualities to prolong life or even prevent death completely. You went after those first, but it didn’t work out. The bull tore up a whole block in New Delhi.”
“But that wasn’t me, now was it?” Ali accuses, pointing to me.
I shake my head. “We trusted you. I treated you as my equal when no one else did.”
"Look, Kiana. I told you that I didn't want you around to see this part. I gave you a warning," Ali says. “I wanted to leave you out of all of this.”
"Huh?"
He steps towards the pedestal. "Ali, stop. You're freaking me out," I say. My chest tightens.
"I'm sorry," he says, taking another step closer to the elixir. Mina steps forward and reaches for Ali's sleeve, but he grabs her arm and flips her around quickly.
He pushes down on the pressure point near Mina's neck. She crumples to the ground instantly, her eyes rolling back in her head.
"No!" Nasrin shouts, announcing my feelings before I get the chance. I can practically see the rage fueled steam pouring from her ears.
She whips the bow from her back and nocks a bow. She pulls back the string and fires the bow straight at Ali's head. He raises a hand almost casually and flicks the projectile to the side. The arrow flies to the ground and explodes in a shower of splinters. Nasrin grimaces and shoots another arrow. Ali just deflects it with ease once again, barely lifting a finger.
Nasrin shouts in frustration. She throws her bow and quiver to the side. Ali takes a step back. "Nasrin, stop," he says, his tone icy. "Let's talk about this."
"Talk about what?" Nasrin hisses.
Ali shakes his head. "Look, I'm sorry about Mina, but she isn't dead. Can you just calm down and listen to me?"
Nasrin points a finger at Ali and lunges forward. "You do not have the right to tell me to calm down!" I catch her arm.
"Wait, Nasrin. Let's hear him out."
Nasrin glances and looks at me in disbelief. "What?"
"I said, let's hear what he has to say."
"But last time-" Nasrin starts.
"No!" I exclaim, holding out a shaking hand. "Please, Nasrin. Give him a chance."
Nasrin's nostrils flare. “Haven’t we given him enough chances?”
I do my best to communicate my thoughts to her through my eyes, praying that she gets the message. Let me think. She clenches her fists, but she silences herself nonetheless.
I search desperately for a solution as Ali gives me the side eye. My compliance doesn't make any sense, even to him, I suppose. I close my eyes. "Just tell us why you need the elixir," I whisper, not brave enough to raise my volume.
Ali narrows his eyes. "You're stalling," he states plainly.
I try to conjure some tears to make my plea appear more realistic. "Please, Ali. Help me understand. I don't want anyone to get hurt."
Ali frowns. "I'm glad we're on the same page now." He releases a shaky breath, and my confidence grows slightly. His steely façade might suggest otherwise, but he’s nervous too. "I- I don't even know where to begin."
The plants. The plants have water in them.
The thought occurs to me suddenly; it's a random but welcome miracle. Ali thinks that our case is hopeless. He doesn’t know I can control water. I try to catch Nasrin's attention, but she's too busy being furious, focusing on anything but me.
I let out a soft sigh and rub my fingertips together, trying to get a feel for any water in my surroundings. Sure enough, I feel a tug towards the hedge on my left. I desperately grab onto every twinge of anger in my body and force it to course through my veins. I can feel the fury in my bones. Every pore on the surface of my skin aches with it.
I want to go home and see my family. I'm tired, and hungry, and exhausted. I just got betrayed by someone who I was supposed to be able to trust, and one of my friends is lying on the ground, unconscious because of my mistakes.
Suddenly, the urge to defeat Ali is just as strong as my anger, but I swallow my emotions in an effort to remain calm. He doesn't seem to suspect anything.
The plants creep silently along the floor of the marble courtyard behind him, and he still stands in front of me, completely oblivious.
Ali takes a step towards the potion bearing pedestal, his outstretched palm open. "I know you don’t understand, but I need this-" he begins, but I don't allow him the opportunity to finish.
"Stop," I demand, my tone cool and even.
"Excuse me?" Ali asks, his mouth hanging open slightly.
I set my jaw in determination and tweak my head to the side sharply. The vines creeping out of the bush surge forward and wrap around Ali's ankles in an instant. I yank my fist backwards, and he flies to the ground, landing on his back with a disgruntled, "oof."
I nod to Nasrin. A smile stretches across her face, and she leaps into the air, wielding a wickedly sharp knife. "Now, where in the world did you get that?" I mutter, shaking my head.
Nasrin lets out a vicious war cry. She vaults though the air, about to drive the knife into the unfortunate Ali, but he rolls out of the way at the last moment. Nasrin whips around, just inches away from stabbing Ali once again. He leaps to his feet hastily, his expression somehow still cool.
Nasrin launches forward once again, ready to unleash hell's fury on our opponent, but this time he's ready. His eyebrows furrow in concentration, and he lifts his arm as Nasrin nears. He flings it to the side violently, and she flies through the air, spinning over more than a few times. She lands in a heap across the pavilion, and something audibly crunches.
Chills erupt along my spine. "No!" I scream, shaking with adrenaline. I turn towards Ali. "What are you doing?" I shriek. My voice cracks, inducing a cringe from Ali. Good. I need him to feel sorry for me. I can try to fight him, but ultimately, he’s more powerful. My words are the only way out of this situation.
"Why would you do that?" I sob, my voice thick with emotion.
Ali's face remains blank. I have to dig deeper. "Think about your grandmother. Do you really think that this is what she would want for you?"
Ali's eye twitches. "It doesn't matter what she wants. It's what he needs."
"Who's he?" I demand, stalling for time.
"My father." I nod, taking a step forward. I will the plants to snake along the ground, this time not even bothering to be subtle. I close my eyes and clench my stomach muscles. An opening in the maze reveals itself, leading straight to the edge of the Gaokerena 's branch. I don’t know why Ali is letting me back him into a corner. He could easily overtake me right now if he wanted to, yet here I am, pushing him to the edge of the tree.
"Tell me more," I threaten. Ali backs away and bumps into the pedestal, nearly knocking the elixir to the ground. He dives for the bottle, rescuing it just before it shatters.
"Your father? What does he have to do with any of this?" I press.
Ali rises and massages his temples with his free hand. "Everything," he snaps. He backs through the opening, cradling the potion.
"Who... who is your father?" I ask slowly, still advancing.
Ali snaps his gaze up from the ground to meet mine. "You really haven't figured it out by now?" I shake my head.
Ali huffs in disbelief. "Are you really that dense, Kiana?" Ali stops at the edge of the branch. "My father is Angra Mainyu, the brother of Ahura Mazda."
I raise an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to know who that is?
Ali shakes his head and clenches his fists. "You are so clueless, Kiana."
I set my jaw in anger. "Look," I spit out. "There's no point to insulting me." The plants from the maze edge closer to his feet.
Ali blinks at me. "Fine," he continues. I raise my eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.
"Ahura Mazda. He's the God. You know at least that much, don't you?"
I scowl and cross my arms over my chest. "Of course, I do."
"Then you know that he's considered to be good and all-knowing."
I furrow my eyebrows. "Yes, I do. Where are you going with this, Ali?"
Ali tucks the potion under his arm and presses his hands together as if praying, bringing his fingers into his lips.
"What if he didn't really know everything? What if he wasn’t seeing things from every perspective?"
I shake my head. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, there are so many ideas out there. So many ideas that make a lot of sense."
"I don't know what you mean," I mutter.
"How would you like to be in the good graces of a god?" Ali asks, completely changing the subject.
I let out a bitter chuckle. "I don't know if you knew, but I sort of already-"
"No! No, no, no," Ali exclaims. "I mean a real god. A powerful god. Not like Anahita. Angra Mainyu has a different thought process than Ahura Mazda and Anahita, but this doesn't mean that he's wrong."
"What kind of ideas are we talking about?" I press.
"Look," Ali says, dancing around the topic, "I need this elixir. This potion is the only way I can reach my full potential.” He looks to the side. “My father doesn’t think I’m a powerful enough asset to his cause. I need to prove myself to him. Why don't you help me out here? We could work together. I could get the most powerful god on this planet to do whatever you need."
So that’s why he’s letting me push him around. He’s not done toying with me yet. Ali places a hand on his hip and looks at me, his eyes searching mine.
I shake my head. "That's not going to happen," I vow.
A frown stretches across Ali's face, sending my heart into a nervous flutter. "What? What is it?" I demand frantically.
"Don’t say I didn’t give you options. You just didn’t make the right choice." He takes a step forward, and I take a step back.
I close my eyes and gulp. Be brave, Kiana. "No," I whisper.
Ali snaps. An invisible force knocks the air out of me, making me double over. I look up to meet Ali's gaze. He snaps his finger again, and the vines behind us catch on fire. They erupt in a flurry of sparks, lighting as fast as tumbleweeds.
My heart begins to race in horror. Mina and Nasrin are still in the maze.
"No?" Ali shouts, taking another pace forward. "You really think you're some sort of hero for denying me?" He shakes his head and licks his lips.
"You should've given up when I gave you the chance." Ali raises his hands dramatically. "Game over," he whispers.
I swallow my fear and shake my head. "No, it's not."
I race forward, raising an arm to protect myself from the intense heat of the flames. I lift my foot and kick him in the chest with all my might. We make eye contact for a split second, and in that moment, his eyes full of realization and panic. The world seems to slow down. Ali's arms begin flail around wildly before he topples off the edge of the tree, still clutching the potion to his chest. I slap a shocked hand over my mouth and scurry to the edge of the branch.
Ali descends through the air screaming. It feels as though he falls for an eternity, but the reality is that he becomes a tiny dot in an instant and disappears from sight in another blink of an eye.
The weight of my actions sinks in and pains me like a predator sinking its teeth into its prey. I did that. I just killed a human being. A human being that was my friend.
My stomach aches. I collapse to the ground and throw up over the edge of the tree. I moan as I empty the contents of my stomach and the tears start to fall. I don't know what I'm going to do.
I would be content curling up in a ball and lying at the edge of the branch for the rest of eternity, but I force myself to my feet and race back into the maze, ducking away from the sparks that fly at me from every direction. My chest begins to heave, and I look up to the heavens. I stumble and fall to my knees. "I don't know what I'm going to do," I whisper. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
...800Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi15XHOSzBq
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