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Kumar woke up in anguish, breathless. What had just happened? He thought the High Priest had thrown him into the Goddess Pit, and found himself in the jungle, lying next to Maya who gurgled when she saw he was awake.
He thought he heard a voice whisper, "You must live, Kumar."
His heart was still beating too fast, so he took deep breaths, trying to calm down. The wound on his belly itched but looked closed, another external scar on his body, not as deep as the one inside him. The green of the jungle was a welcome sight after such a long time in the dark tunnels, torch-lit rooms and crowded beds. The whisper of leaves was sweeter than the words uttered in his ears by passionate but unwelcome lovers.
He looked around, but couldn't see the tunnel where they had had the bad idea to seek shelter. And it wasn't raining, therefore the monsoon was gone. He was free. What should he do? Try to find that tunnel and his friends? They should be half-way back to Leland if they had some sense. Or maybe not, as both Shafiq and Hayato wanted to free Keiko.
But there was no way to free Keiko. They didn't have access to her. And Kumar didn't want to go back to the Sect, not only because they had just tried to kill him. They had also hurt him more than anybody else, more than death itself. Death looked peaceful in comparison. Death was rest from a life that had become a burden to him. He should have requested it the day he had met the High Priest. Living with the Sect had been the worst nightmare of his nightmarish young life.
He held his knees, putting his chin on them, thoughtful. His heart had slowed down. The noises of the jungle didn't distract him, he had gotten used to it – even if his friends were now gone, lost to something much worse than the jungle. He looked up at Maya, the only friend he had left, the best protection for his new life, because he had to move on.
He looked at the scar on his belly. He knew the sacrifice had happened, but he still had no idea of who (or how) had saved him. That sweet, ethereal voice who wanted him to live – what for? His life was a useless struggle. He had lost so much, why keep going on?
His gang was gone, and he felt relieved – no more responsibilities, taking care of them, taking the beatings (or worse) for them, fighting for them. He was tired of fighting. He wondered how many months he had spent in the underground city of the Sect, following their gory rituals, learning their perverted ways, used and abused by a power he couldn't really handle yet.
He had survived, though. Somebody wanted him to live, but still... the Fury awakened by the Sect's ways burned deep inside of him, and he didn't want any of the power he had felt in the underground city. He was barely sixteen, and felt he had lived enough already. He decided to erase all the painful memories and keep going. It was useless dwelling in the past.
He knew he could take care of himself. He didn't need Hayato, nor Keiko, or Shafiq and Jayanta. Alone was actually better. Maya was the only company he really needed. He didn't feel like going back to town either. Enough of crowded streets, hustling and stealing through life. The jungle looked like the perfect place to earn a living on his own, without worrying about stepping on someone else's toes.
***
Kumar saw the mud hut from Maya's back. It was built between the jungle and a river, with a bamboo fence all around it to avoid unpleasant visits, although one part had been torn down, probably by a buffalo. A man was seated on a log in the small cleared space in front of the hut, preparing bamboo lances to repair the broken fence.
The noise of the long knife cutting bamboo branches and the gleam of its blade in the sun caught Kumar's attention. He didn't have any weapons on him since his mysterious escape, so he had trouble finding meat.
He slid down from Maya's back and talked quietly to her. "Distract him so I can get that knife."
Maya gurgled and he patted her, watching her walk towards the nearby river. He wouldn't mind a bath too, but he had to steal that weapon first.
He climbed on a tree with branches hanging over the spiky bamboo fence and waited. He heard Maya trumpet and saw the man look up – black beard, white turban, no tattoos, probably a common hunter.
He watched the man rise to try to see her, planting the knife on the log where he had sat and moving two steps towards the river. Kumar moved along a branch and jumped inside the bamboo fence with a hushed thud.
The man swirled around, lance ready to hit. He had fine hearing, apparently. Kumar plunged forward to grab the knife and found the bamboo lance at his throat.
"Hold on, boy!"
Kumar lost his balance and fell backwards, furious with himself. This wouldn't have happened in a town. He didn't have trouble in stealing weapons before leaving Leland with his friends.
"What are you trying to do?" the man asked.
"I need a weapon," he answered with a frown.
The man scoffed and took back his knife. He was tall, but not as threatening as the High Priest.
"I'm sorry, I need it," he said. He swung it threateningly, but Kumar didn't flinch. That man didn't look evil like the High Priest. That man probably wouldn't kill him, and certainly not in cold blood.
Maya was coming to his rescue, though, and she trumpeted a challenge to the man.
"No, Maya, I'm fine!" he shouted, stopping her before she trampled the bamboo fence and attacked the man, hurting herself. Maya gurgled and stopped outside the fence. Good girl.
The man, who had been ready to use his long knife and bamboo lance to defend himself from Maya, turned back to look at him, surprised.
"You own an elephant?" he asked with a dreaded Arquon accent. Kumar had to remind himself that the other was a common man, not a member of the Sect.
"I don't own her, she's my friend," he answered proudly, getting back on his feet.
"Ah." The man smiled and his teeth shone whiter than usual next to his black beard. "I wouldn't mind an apprentice, if you care to stay."
"What do you do?" Kumar asked, wary.
"I'm a tiger hunger."
Now, that was interesting. He could learn a new, useful skill.
"If you care to share my palace," the man added, pointing at the small one-room hut and the clearing with the bamboo fence.
"Your palace looks much better than any brick and mortar building I've seen so far," he replied. Or any cave or underground city for that matter. "I'd be honored to be your apprentice."
***
The hands of the High Priest on his body awakened the power again. The mouth of the High Priest gagged him, the tongue and hands made a shiver run down his spine and he felt so weak, as if life itself was being sucked out of him.
Snakes of darkness grabbed his wrists and ankles, spreading him out on the bed. Cold and heat ran through his body, making him quiver under the tongue and lips of the High Priest. He was burning with fever, but was not sick, not a normal illness anyway.
Kumar gasped for breath as he sank in the nightmare of clashing energies. His body responded against his will, and he tried to retreat in a place where he wouldn't feel, neither pain nor pleasure.
He found himself in the common room, with Hayato gently soothing him. There was no way he could go on for much longer in this awful place. As he came in his friend's arms, he whispered, "We must run away."
He woke up, his head still throbbing, his heart still pounding against his chest. He was free. Still, his hand ran to his groin to relieve himself. It was still dark and the inner pulse was choking him.
Then the tiger hunter came into his vision, with his long black hair and beard so different from the shaven head of the High Priest. A fresh hand on his burning forehead, blurred words, a warm tisane down his throat. Slowly his heart stopped pounding and all his muscles relaxed.
He drifted back to sleep.
In the daylight he almost forgot his nightmare. But the tiger hunter kept staring at him.
"You're a runaway of the Sect," the man said at lunch time while cooking two fishes he had caught in the morning. Kumar managed to nod, feeling a lump in his throat as the nightmare and memory came back to haunt him. He didn't want to think about it, but he was aware of the fact that he was unable to control his awakened sexuality.
"You're not from Arquon, though."
"Akkora," he managed to say.
The man nodded, thoughtful. "So you weren't born in the underground city."
He shook his head, wondering what else the man knew about the Sect.
"I can relate," the man said, lowering his eyes. He looked sad.
Kumar gulped down his anguish. "You met them?" he asked.
"Ten years ago," The man nodded, serious. "They were different then. They wore white and hid somewhere because our king didn't like their cult. Our king was considered a semi-god, you see. So he chased them from Zarquon over fifty yeas ago and they hid somewhere. I've heard this story form the elders when one of their youths discovered our village and the outside world."
The tiger hunter smiled ruefully.
"Manjeet was very sweet," he said. "He was genuinely interested in what happened outside of his very closed community. And he met Ashlee who was in turn very curious about him."
Kumar nodded, thoughtful. He had fallen in love with a woman because she was different. He could understand that. Never mind the fact that his love was unrequited, not everybody was as unlucky as he had been.
The tiger hunter offered him his part of perfectly cooked fish. In spite of the inviting smell, he needed to know more, though.
"What happened next?" he asked after a quick thank you.
"Manjeet managed to have himself kicked out of his community and married Ashlee. She was pregnant when they came for him. The Sect was born and one of his childhood friends wanted him back. We never saw him again."
Probably killed by the High Priest. So the man who gave him nightmares was the founder of that madness. And the Sect now controlled the king of Arquon, which meant they might eventually leave their underground city to rule the kingdom...
Kumar looked at the tiger hunter, wondering if he knew the High Priest had seduced the man who was now king when he was fifteen and still completely controlled him. He had felt Neeraj's jealousy on himself when the now twenty-five-year old king had come to the underground city once: the High Priest liked his lovers young, and Neeraj was too 'old' now that he had new toys – Kumar and his friends.
"When she lost her baby, Ashlee was desperate," the tiger hunter resumed his tale after eating in silence. He was obviously obsessed with that story. "I offered my heart to her and she accepted to marry me only to die in childbirth."
"At least they didn't take her," Kumar commented. Now he knew how close to the Sect he still was, but they thought he was dead, so he had time to regroup and learn a new skill before going back to Akkora.
"They broke her heart."
"They'd have broken her body, it would have been worse," he assured.
The man looked at him knowingly. "I'll help you deal with it," he said. "Unless you prefer going back home."
"I don't have a home," he replied gloomily. Abandoned at birth, grown up on the streets, raped and beaten and... no, he didn't have a home.
"Parents? Relatives?" the tiger hunter insisted.
He shook his head. He had his gang, the Orphans. Before the Sect got them. Now he had only Maya, and she couldn't live in towns.
"The House of Children," the man deducted.
He nodded.
The man sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to take care of you, then," he said.
"I don't need to be taken care of," he replied proudly. He took care of everybody. He offered his body to spare his friends. He didn't even remember when he had lost his virginity! He had stayed with them when the Sect had captured them (if only he had known what awaited them, he'd have chosen immediate death!), and had covered their backs when they escaped. He was the leader, the caretaker, the...
"Then go back to the Sect and let them help you," the other teased gently.
He averted his eyes. He had been foolish. He had allowed adults to use and abuse him. He had tried to protect his friends when he couldn't even take care of himself.
"There's no dishonor in asking for help," the tiger hunter added.
"Thanks," he answered sullenly. He knew men didn't do anything for free. That one was meant to ask him something in return for the help. He might as well get that out of the way. "Do you want my body?"
"Good Gods, no!" the man laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you," he apologized seeing how serious he was.
"I like paying my debts, and I have only my body to do it," Kumar said. A battered body with a shaken mind, but still. In spite of his belly scar he knew he was still attractive. And he wouldn't let anyone inside his messed up head anyway.
"I don't want your body," the man assured. "Your apprenticeship will repay me well enough."
Kumar stared at him. He couldn't believe his ears. That man would have made an excellent father. Not that he had experience with fathers – he didn't have one, never had – but he thought that's how they should behave.
"You're the first decent man I've met," he said.
"You're the first boy with an elephant I've met. Do you think Maya will help us get that tiger?"
"Oh, she's good. She saved me once already."
"Good. I know her name, but not yours, though."
"Kumar. You?"
"Sameer," the man offered his hand with a smile. Kumar took it and enjoyed the strong grip. "Let's go get that tiger."
***
After feeling restless for so long, Kumar was finally at peace. He had a mentor, a roof on his head, food and freedom. Slowly the nightmares faded away, and he learned to control his body – and the surges of energy he feared could call the Sect upon him.
He liked Sameer. Grumpy, but good. They didn't have long conversations, concentrating on the tasks at hand – hunting, cooking, living in the jungle with very sparse visits to close villages – but he didn't mind it. He wasn't very talkative anyway. And for the first time he didn't have anybody to take care of. He was on his own, building his life, and it felt good.
The memories of the sacrifice, the Sect and the rest were fading as he adjusted to a new way. He thought he could grow some fondness for Sameer, but his heart seemed dead, and his feelings with it. He didn't miss his past. He didn't want to miss anybody. He only wanted to forget. Survive and forget. Eat, sleep, hunt. And forget. Forget the hands, mouths, whips and chains.
He exulted when he killed his first tiger. He silently followed Sameer in the nearby villages to sell pelts and snake skins. Sameer lived close enough to the Sect's underground city to know about them, but wasn't one of them. He was strong enough to resist the call of the Dark Pond and controlled enough to resist any other urge. Kumar really admired him, almost as much as he had admired someone else, albeit for other reasons.
He decided to become as strong and controlled as Sameer, and then he could look up the woman who has stolen his young heart before he fell into the Sect's trap.