Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck

Author:Colleen Houck
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Animals, Azizex666, Fantasy, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, General, Etc, Lions, Leopards, Fiction, Tigers
ISBN: 9781402798436
Publisher: Splinter
Published: 2012-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

lords of the flame

Disguised once again as citizens of Bodha, we made our way to the temple. The townspeople had long since dispersed to their homes, and the city streets were quiet. We’d slept only a few hours, wanting to be up with the sun so as not to miss the goings on in the city.

I did not think it was possible, but the temple was even more dazzling in the predawn hour. We walked in without any fanfare, and the guards completely ignored us until Ren leapt onto the temple staircase. Kishan lifted me up to Ren, and by the time the three of us were standing on the first terrace of the temple, we were surrounded.

“Why have you come here?” a guard interrogated. “Why do you disturb our leaders at this most sacrosanct time?”

Ren lifted an eyebrow, but I jumped in before he could say anything.

“Brave warriors, we did not mean to cause alarm. We have been traveling and have news of the Rakshasa queen. We believe that the information is important enough to justify this intrusion.

“The Rakshasa queen has worked a terrible magic upon us. She tried to prevent us from warning your people.”

Ren added a personal story of the Rakshasa queen torturing him. I assumed that it had really happened, and it wasn’t a stretch for me to murmur sympathetically and take his hand. I dropped my head sadly and managed to squeeze out a tear.

This seemed to convince the guards that we were sincere.

“Come with us,” a warrior ordered.

We followed two of the guards up the temple staircase while the others resumed their positions. At a terrace halfway up, we turned into a marble hallway and descended a crystal staircase that led to the center of the structure. The sides of the pyramid stretched upward until they met at a peak high above us. From this vantage point, the facets of the crystal looked like sparkling windows set at multiple angles.

Like the hallway, the floor of the temple’s inner chamber was ivory marble streaked with gold. Fire trees stretched their leafy fingers to the top of the pyramid and framed a pair of statues depicting the Lords of the Flame seated on golden thrones. Life-sized Qilin, a likeness of the Phoenix, and other beasts were carved out of gleaming stone and served as the centerpieces for assorted fountains that flowed with bright reddish-orange lava. Warm steam rose from the fountains.

As we walked past, Ren and Kishan gingerly touched the hot liquid and said it felt refreshing.

The guard led us to a new section of the temple that was more beautiful than what I’d already seen. There were more statues, including a towering ivory marble carving of a lovely woman kneeling. Long hair swept past her waist and fire flowers were braided through her tresses. Her chiseled lips were full and lush, and the folds of her draped gown pooled onto the smooth floor. Fresh flowers were strewn around her. This lovely girl could be none other than the beloved Lawala.

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