The Gods Awaken

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Even over the whistling wind and hard-driven rain, Palimak could hear the waves boom against the reef.

Dimly he made out their jagged line-the boiling surf dyed pink by the grinning Demon Moon.

He tried to back-paddle, but the tidal current was too strong, sucking him inexorably toward the reef.

"To your right, Little Master!" Gundara cried.

Palimak obediently turned his head and saw a thick black object lifting up in the curl of a wave.

"Swim for it!" shouted Gundaree.

Palimak struck out for the object. One stroke. Two. Three. And then he was drawing close and could see it was a gnarled, twisted log, with a dozen or more limp branches trailing behind.

Palimak reached for it, then caught a glimpse of a horribly familiar set of teeth grinning out of the trunk.

Fear lanced his heart and he snatched his hand back, nearly drowning as he went under in a desperate effort to kick away from the tree-beast.

He came up, choking and sputtering, pawing at the water to stay afloat.

"Don't worry, Little Master," Gundara cried. "It's dead!"

"Well, it's almost dead, anyway," Gundaree quibbled.

"Never mind that!" Gundara said. "Get up on it before you drown, Little Master."

It took all of Palimak's faith in the Favorites to comply. Gingerly, he caught hold of the tree creature. He felt a faint flutter of life and heard the weak clicking of teeth.

Doing his best to still his quaking nerves, he flung himself across the trunk. He dangled there for a moment, skin instinctively shrinking where it touched the creature's rough surface.

"Sit up on it," Gundaree ordered.

Shuddering, Palimak did as he was told-throwing a leg on either side until he was straddling the dying beast. Then he saw one of the fang-rimmed mouths snap open near his crotch and almost flung himself off into the sea again.

But Gundara hopped down onto the trunk, pulling a kerchief from his tunic pocket. He stuffed it into the gaping mouth.

"Eat that, you stupid thing," he said. The Favorite turned back to Palimak. "See, we told you it would be all right," he said.

"Sort of all right," Gundaree cautioned.

"Well, I guess we still have to get him over that reef," Gundara admitted.

Palimak shivered. "You mean, we're not done yet?" he asked.

"Oh, no," Gundaree said. "That was just the first part of the idea."

"The easiest part," Gundara added.

If crawling up onto one of these awful monsters was the twinsa€™ idea of easy, Palimak didn't even want to think about what was coming next.

Then he flinched as one of the tree creature's trailing limbs thrashed back to life. It rose from the water, hung there for a moment, then started to curl toward him-several small mouths opening to expose chattering fangs.

"Oh, pooh!" Gundaree said. "Honestly, some things don't know when they're dead."

"Cut it off with your knife, Little Master," Gundara advised. "It's hard to concentrate with all that chewing noise."

"The stupid thing's making me hungry," Gundaree complained.

Numb, Palimak pulled out his knife and lopped the branch off. It fell into the sea and sank out of sight.

"Let's get on with it, please," Palimak said, returning his knife to its sheath. He nodded at the reef. "We're getting awfully close."

"I don't know," Gundara said doubtfully. "Are you sure you can stand up that long?"

"Maybe it'd be better to wait until the last minute," Gundaree put in.

"Stand up?" Palimak croaked. "What do you mean, stand up?"

"Well, how else are you going to jump over the reef?" Gundara asked.

"Maybe he knows how to jump sitting down," Gundaree said to his twin.

"Well, maybe he can," Gundara said doubtfully, pulling on his chin. "Although I've never seen him do it.

Even in the circus."

Palimak was aghast. "Have you two lost your tiny wits?" he demanded. "I thought you were going to use magic. Not have me do something that's not only impossible but ridiculous to even think about."

"Of course, we're going to use magic," Gundaree said.

"That's what we do, remember?" Gundara put in.

"Except you have to help a little bit," Gundaree said.

"By standing up on the tree-creature…" Gundara began.

"…And jumping when we say so," Gundaree finished.

"Trust us," Gundara said. "It'll work."

"And even if it doesn't," Gundaree added, "you were going to die anyway. So what's the harm in trying?"

"We'll be all right either way," Gundara said. "Since we're so close to the beach we won't be stuck at the bottom of the sea like we would've been before."

"That makes me feel a whole lot better," Palimak said sarcastically.

"Such a kind Little Master," Gundaree replied. "Always thinking of us!"

Palimak was a hair's breadth from saying to the hells with it and revolting. But then he thought, what else can I do but trust them? He also remembered their trick with the four sea carnivores. If they could pull that off, why not this?

"All right," Palimak said grudgingly. "I'll do it."

"Isn't he brave?" Gundaree said to his twin.

"He sure is," Gundara said. "Bravest master we've ever had."

"Except Sakyah, the demon," Gundaree said. "He was awfully brave."

"That's true," Gundara said. "He just couldn't jump very well."

Alarmed, Palimak asked, "You mean you've tried this trick before?"

"Sure we did," Gundaree said. "And it almost worked, too."

"Poor Sakyah," Gundara said. "He wasn't such a bad master."

"Better than that witch who got us next, at any rate," Gundaree said. He sighed. "If only Sakyah could have jumped a little better. It would've saved us so much trouble!"

"Never mind Sakyah," Palimak snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, it's my tender skin you need to start worrying about."

Both Favorites took note of the reefs, now no more than fifty feet away. Huge waves crashed over them, then withdrew to reveal a vast expanse of sharp coral.

"Maybe you should try standing up now, Little Master," Gundara said.

"That way you'll have a few seconds to get used to the balancing part," Gundaree added helpfully.

Heart pounding, Palimak gingerly climbed to his feet. The tree-beast swayed in the water, but he managed to steady it, thanking the gods for Arlain's lessons in acrobatics.

"That's very, very good, Little Master," Gundara said.

"Now, get the turtle out of your pocket," Gundaree said.

"What am I going to do with that?" Palimak asked, bewildered by this new instruction.

"Well, just as you jump," Gundara said, "you have to throw it."

"We'll be inside, so don't worry about losing us," Gundaree added.

Burying his suspicions about this last instruction, Palimak dutifully got the stone turtle out of his pocket.

Immediately, the two Favorites disappeared inside the talisman.

The reef loomed up, the storm-driven sea thundering against it. Then hissing like an enormous nest of disturbed snakes as the water retreated, revealing a massive, dripping cliff face studded with spears of coral.

Palimak fought for balance as he was drawn up, up and up. And then a huge wave flung him forward.

He plummeted down the side of the wave, heading directly for the coral reef! Feet skittering on the slippery surface of the tree-beast, outstretched arms wavering, the stone turtle clutched tightly in his right hand.

Then he was rising, surf boiling up to his waist, the reef top coming first to eye level, then higher until he could see a small bay on the other side-edged by a broad, rain-battered beach.

For a brief moment he thought he was going to make it. That the dead tree-beast, with him upon it, would be flung to safety on the other side.

But then he saw jagged rock rushing forward and knew he was going to be slammed against it.

"Throw the turtle, Little Master!" Gundara shouted.

"And jump!" Gundaree cried.

Palimak hurled the turtle as far as he could. Then closed his eyes and leaped.

He was never quite sure exactly what happened next. The moment he jumped, the trunk of the tree-beast struck the rocks. He had a brief sensation of flying through the air. Then of falling to his certain doom.

But just before he struck, what felt like an elastic tether suddenly jerked him forward. He heard Gundara and Gundaree shouting at him, but he couldn't tell what they were saying.

Then he was plunging into the water on the other side of the reef, desperately striking for the bottom where he thought the voices of the Favorites were coming from. Clutching onto the magical tether as a guide.

Suddenly the stone turtle was in his hand again and he struck out and up for the surface. He had time to suck in air before another wave caught him, hurling him toward the beach.

Then his head struck something hard and all became shooting stars of pain against a black, velvety night.

When he came to, Palimak didn't know how long he'd been unconscious. He was lying face down in wet sand, mouth full of grit, hot sun scorching his back, the stone turtle gripped in his right hand.

And the Favorites were jumping up and down on his shoulders, shouting hysterically:

"Get up, Little Master! Get up! Get up! Get up!"

Palimak spat sand and moaned, "I can't. Gods, I hurt all over!"

"You have to get up, Little Master!" Gundara pleaded.

"It's coming, it's coming!" Gundaree cried.

He groaned and forced himself to his knees, brushing sand from his face. Then he heard a furious roar and sudden fear swept away all feelings of pain and weariness.

Hurtling along the beach toward him was an enormous lion's head. Seemingly supported by an invisible body that left no tracks in the sand, the maned head was carried about five feet off the ground.

The lion's eyes were fixed on Palimak and it was roaring in fury, exposing fangs the length and breadth of heavy spear blades.

Palimak needed no further persuasion from the Favorites. He jumped to his feet and ran for the jungle.

A narrow opening through the dense trees seemed to promise safety and he swerved toward it, practically diving through the leafy portal when he reached it.

Palimak stumbled, heard another roar-this one seeming to come practically at his heels-and he recovered, sprinting along the dimly-lit path as fast as his demon-powered muscles would carry him.

The lion was so close that he didn't have time to stop and climb a tree. He ran onward, praying his strength and breath would hold out.

Then he came to a sharp bend in the trail, forced by a great tree surrounded by thick roots that towered many feet above him.

"Stop, Little Master, stop!" the twins shouted in unison. "It's a trap!"

But the lion roared at the same time, its foul breath washing over his shoulders.

Naked fear spurred a panicked leap and in less than a heartbeat he was hurtling past the sharpest part of the path's bend.

There was a burst of colorful lights, then a tingling sensation that shivered up his body from toes to crown. He fell heavily, landing on hard-packed ground.

Palimak remained there, hot sun scorching his bare torso. And he wondered why his heart was beating so hard and why his breath was so labored-as if he'd run a great distance at top speed.

But he had no memory of this, much less of the reason for it.

Many other questions came flooding in. He heard hundreds, possibly thousands of people cheering all around him.

Who were they? And why were they cheering?

There was also this shrill chattering noise in his ears. What was that all about?

And then he felt a stone-hard object in his pocket-jammed between the ground and his upper thigh. For some reason the object was important to him, although he couldn't say why, only that he was relieved it was still there.

Palimak thought, I wonder where I am?

And then came another, most disturbing thought: I wonder who I am?

Confusion mixed with growing alarm. For the life of him, he couldn't think of his name. It didn't help that all those people were shouting and those two hysterical voices chattering alien words in his ear wouldn't stop. He just wished everyone would shut up and give him a chance to figure it out.

Shut up, shut up, shut up, he thought. Odd, how those words seemed so familiar and served to make him feel better. He mouthed them: Shut up, shut up, shut up! It was like a tonic, settling his nerves.

Then a strong hand clutched his. And a deep voice said, "Rise, Honored One."

Palimak let himself be drawn to his feet. He found himself facing a broad, sun-blackened chest. He looked up-then up some more, neck craning back-until he saw a huge lion's head sitting upon on a man's thick, muscular shoulders.

"Good day, honored sir," Palimak said mildly, feeling not one twinge of fear at this oddity. "Who might you be?"

"I am King Felino," the lionman said.

"Very nice to meet you," Palimak replied. Then, frowning, he asked, "Pardon, Majesty, but am I supposed to know you? I hope you don't mind my rude question, but I seem to have lost my memory."

Instead of answering, the lionman handed Palimak a spear. Red ribbons were hung from its haft, looking like streams of blood.

"This is for you, Honored One," King Felino said.

Palimak nodded. "If that's my name," he said, "I quite like it: Honored One. So much better than the only other name I can think of, which is Little Master."

He grimaced. "I keep hearing that name in my head. a€?Little Master, Little Mastera€™ these voices keep saying. And I do wish they'd stop."

Palimak looked around and noted he was in a broad arena made of hard-packed red earth. Surrounding the arena were hundreds of half-naked people. Faces painted with gaudy colors, teeth filed to points.

And they were all shouting: "Kill, kill, kill, kill!" as they slammed their spear butts against the ground.

Palimak looked at his own spear, then at the lionman. "Am I supposed to kill somebody with this?" he asked.

"It is your duty, Honored One," King Felino answered. "You must save your people."

Palimak nodded. "That's a pretty good reason," he said. "First sensible one I've heard all day."

Then he wrinkled his brow. "A little earlier somebody advised me to jump and although that seemed like a terrible idea at the moment, I did it anyway. And I guess it must've worked out. Because here I am, ready to do my duty and all."

Just then the voices in his ear rang louder and this time he could make out the words: "It's a trap, Little Master! A trap!"

Reflexively he glanced around the arena. "I don't see a trap," he said to the voices. Then, to the lionman,

"Do you see one?"

"It is time, Honored One," King Felino said.

"That's good," Palimak said. "Because I'm starting to get tired of just standing here and doing nothing but listen to these crazy voices."

Again, he scanned the arena. "If you don't mind me asking, Majesty," he said, "exactly who and where is this person I'm supposed to kill?"

The lionman lifted his long, brawny arm, pointing. "There," he said.

Obediently, Palimak looked where the lionman pointed. At first he didn't see anything except empty arena.

Then, in the center, there was a burst of bright light. Followed by an enormous swarm of colorful butterflies exploding out of nothingness.

Puzzled, he thought, I don't see anything but butterflies and they hardly seem worth killing.

And the voices in his ear jabbered, "It's a trap, Little Master. A trap!"

"Oh, shut up with your trap," Palimak said, getting really irritated. "Can't you see I'm busy looking for somebody to kill?"

At that moment a man popped out of thin air and plunged to the ground. He remained there for a moment, as if recovering from shock.

The crowd's shouts grew louder: "Kill, kill, kill!"

"There's the villain, Honored One!" King Felino thundered. "The black-hearted enemy of your people-Safar Timura!"

Then he roared his lion's roar, quickening instant hate in Palimak's heart.

As the enemy rose to his feet, Palimak lifted the spear and charged.

And Palimak thought, Die, damn you! Die, Safar Timura!