Secret Of the Sighing Mountains (The Quest Trilogy) (17 page)
Read Secret Of the Sighing Mountains (The Quest Trilogy) Online
Authors: Iram Dana
You are all now in possession of great power and knowledge, which means that you all now bear the burden of using them responsibly. Never forget one fundamental rule of life – what goes around comes around. I hope the message is clear?
That is all. My friends and fellow sequestors… let the festivities begin.”
Master Shengdu bowed and then climbed down from the dais to thunderous applause.
A huge banquet had been laid out behind them while everyone had been busy with the Naming Ceremony, and now stomachs growled all around as the smell of the tasty food wafted through the air.
The sounds of cheer and laughter disturbed the silence of the night as the sequestors enjoyed what could possibly be the last few hours of normal life they had left.
The next day, the monastery was a mass inactivity. After last night’s celebrations, nobody had woken up till late in the afternoon. Sierra had woken up at around noon time and gone straight to find out when they were supposed to leave. According to the roster, he was due to leave in three weeks’ time and one week after that, it was Diego’s turn. He entered their room to find Diego still fast asleep and drew out his gift box to see what Master Shengdu had given him.
He could not believe how quickly the time had passed. Just nine months earlier, in January, they had celebrated their twenty-first birthday, and now it was September already, and time to leave for their Quest.
Sierra tore open the wrapping and opened the box inside it to find a silver chain with eleven claw shaped ivory pendants. He didn’t know how this was going to help him solve his Quest, but he put it around his neck anyway, trusting that Master Shengdu knew what he was talking about. Then he tried to wake Diego up, who for some reason would not budge today. After his fifth unsuccessful try, Sierra decided to open Diego’s gift himself because he could not contain his curiosity. He looked around for Diego’s gift box, but could not spot it anywhere. After much searching around he found a discarded wrapping paper in the bin with Diego’s name on it. Apparently, Diego had not been able to contain his curiosity either.
“D,” he shook Diego vigorously, “get up, D! I want to see what Master Shengdu gave you.”
Diego stirred groggily and fished around in his pocket. He removed a small black stone with millions of pores dotting its surface and handed it to Sierra.
“What’s this supposed to be? Another rock for you to smash?” joked Sierra, observing the stone carefully. At the right angles, it caught the light and reflected it, appearing to have a dark sort of glitter.
“Oh, I know what this is. It’s pretty to look at. But it’s useless, just like you.” teased Sierra. He easily avoided the lazy punch that came his way. Diego grabbed his rock and shoved it back into his pocket.
Sierra walked out of the room fingering the chain around his neck, deciding that he liked his gift way better than Diego’s.
Everybody had to leave Mt. Chimpu via the Well of Origins. It was a fancily done up well, made of elaborately patterned red and gold bricks. The sequestors had to plunge into it and it would take them where they needed to go. Sierra had spent many an hour here loitering about, or sharing a laugh with Diego, never imagining that this was where they would begin their journey from. Master Shengdu informed them all that it was called the ‘Well of Origins’ because it led to the origin, or the beginning, of one’s Quest.
Three sequestors – Land, Journey and Rage left on the first day. Several days later, it was Moto’s (now Brain) and Ashitaka’s (now Heal) turn to go. Sierra and Diego dutifully accompanied their roommates to the well to bid them farewell. They had spent three years tolerating the two, it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to see them disappear forever. Moto was given a nicely wrapped package by the twins that contained a pair of his smelly underwear, that Sierra had stolen and hidden days earlier. Moto was advised to open the package at a time when he was feeling most desperate and lonely, and then he was all but pushed into the well by Diego when he was ready to jump in. Ashitaka was not spared a goodbye present. They did him the favor of hiding his glasses just an hour before his departure so that poor Ashitaka had to spend a good deal of that time just searching frantically for the missing glasses. When the glasses were finally found, they were duly mangled, but this didn’t bother Ashitaka much and he fixed it in a matter of moments. When all was well again, they exchanged their goodbyes and then Ashitaka exited Mt. Chimpu via the well.
A day later, it was Stephanie’s turn to go. Both Sierra and Diego were present at the well along with a host of other boys and a few girls, to bid her goodbye. She was popular, no doubt about that.
Sierra and Diego hung around at the back of the crowd, reluctant to join the farewell parade. But it wasn’t long before Stephanie spotted them and came bounding over.
“Hey, you guys!” she greeted with a sunny smile. “Well, this is it, I guess. It’s been quite a ride.”
Sierra and Diego nodded their agreements. Stephanie pulled out two tiny silver pendants shaped like the first initial of each of their names and handed their respective pendant to them.
“I made these for you guys. I’ll always remember our time here fondly. Maybe we’ll meet again, maybe we won’t. But all the same, I’d like to wish you both the best of luck on your Quests.”
Sierra accepted the pendant with a smile. “Thanks, Steph! You take good care of yourself out there in Quniverse and rock your Quest!”
“I will.” Stephanie smiled back.
“And stay out of the past!” Sierra warned good-naturedly, to which Stephanie responded with a giggle.
“For sure! I think I’ll have enough to handle in my future.”
She turned to Diego. “Well, thanks again for everything.”
Diego nodded and jammed his hands into his pockets. “You’re welcome. Wish you a good journey and a successful Quest. And thanks for the pendant.”
“No problem. So … goodbye you guys.”
“Bye Stephanie.” They said in unison, and the watched as she turned to go. When she had jumped into the well, they turned and headed towards their own room. Sierra lifted the pendant she had given him and examined the flawless finish.
“D … can I see yours?” he asked his pensive brother. When he did not respond, Sierra tried again, glancing at Diego’s hands and trying to figure out where he might have put the pendant.
“D? Can I see the pendant Stephanie gave you?”
“I don’t have it.”
“Don’t have it? What happened to it?”
Diego shrugged. “I threw it.”
Sierra screeched to a halt.
“You … threw it! Why in the world would you do that?”
Diego shrugged again. “What the hell am I gonna need a pendant in Quniverse for?”
Sierra stared at his brother in incredulity. “Just … it’s a memento. A thought. It counts, right?”
Diego returned Sierra’s look with silence for a moment, and then he broke off and stalked away towards the monastery. With a confused shrug, Sierra retraced their steps until he came upon a flash of silver in the grass. He lifted Diego’s pendant and tucked it into his own belt. Diego might not want it, but it would serve as a good reminder of his eccentric brother to Sierra, when he was gone from here.
The train continued with sequestors leaving, sometimes in two’s or three’s and sometimes, alone. Sierra spent this time rearing a caterpillar striped orange, black and grey as a pet, naming it ‘Sierra’. In two weeks, Sierra’s caterpillar had gone from fat worm to fat pupa, and by the third week, it had turned into a beautiful Monarch Butterfly. It spread its wings when it was ready to fly, and Sierra watched it flutter its beautiful wings, unsteadily at first, and then catch the wind and fly off confidently. The name ‘Sierra’ and the life he had known as that identity had just flown off. ‘Sierra’ was gone now. He had let go of his mother’s gift. He was Rain now, just Rain.
*****
Diego was adjusting to the loss of his old identity in his own way. He would spend all his time carving two lumps of rock until he had achieved what he set out to make – two tombstones.
Once they were ready, he engraved the words ‘R.I.P Diego’ on one, and ‘R.I.P Rayva’ on the other.
Then he went out to the fruit orchard. Under an apple tree, he sat down and shaped two mini- graves, sticking the stones at their head. He stayed there, staring at the two graves for hours until it started to get dark outside. Then he headed back to his room, a stranger, his only clue to the beginning of his new life being his name – Star. But he was ready now; ready for a new life, for a new name.
He was ready to be Star.
*****
End of Secret of the Sighing Mountains
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