Rain (The Quest Trilogy-Book Two) by Iram Dana Page A

cliff. Behind him was a short, steep drop and before him, the open mouth of the tunnel, which was surrounded on either side by large boulders.
     
    Rain was surveying the rocks when his eyes met two pairs of dull, dead, grey colored eyes with slits for pupils staring back at him blankly. Rain gave a startled jerk as he realized that someone had been watching him all this while. Or some thing .
    What was it anyway? Man or woman? Human or animal? It had an ashen face with disheveled hair, and a thin line for a mouth. It was camouflaged so well with the rocks, that it was no wonder Rain hadn’t noticed it there before.
    “Lost your way, sequestor?” hissed the creature on the rocks, fixing its lusterless eyes on Rain.
    How did it know he was a sequestor? wondered Rain. And should he start worrying now?
    “Who are you? …What are you?” asked Rain.
    “I am Kaami, the cursed. And I was once a human woman. Before you ask, you are on the Island of Bana. What brings you to my cave, unfortunate one?” she hissed.
    “I am on a Quest.” said Rain. “I seek a wisdom. Maybe you can give me one, or point me in the direction where I might find one?”
     
    He studied the creature lying opposite him. Her arms and legs were short, thin and scaled, as though the muscles in them had degenerated long ago due to disuse. Her torso was extra-ordinarily thick and long. The front of her belly was white with horizontal lines running across it, while the rest of her body was covered in small grey scales. She reminded Rain somewhat of a crocodile lying on its back.
     
    Kaami remained silent for so long, that Rain thought she had not heard him. He was about to repeat his request when she opened her mouth to speak.
    “How strange ... how very strange. On a Quest, seeking a wisdom, hmm?”
    She jerked forward suddenly, flinging her body off the rock and onto the floor.
    Rain jumped a few steps back in fright.
    She began to wriggle and writhe jerkily and for a second, Rain thought that she was convulsing with fits. But then he noticed she was edging closer to him and he realized that this was how she moved. On her belly, almost like a snake.
    Though he was scared, Rain bravely stood his ground until she reached him; which was in no time at all.
    “Listen up, sequestor,” she hissed, addressing him, “do me a favor and I will give you a wisdom in return. Deal?”
    For the second time, Rain wondered how she possibly knew he was a sequestor. Was she aware of Geeya marks?
    “What’s the favor?” asked Rain, warily watching her slowly writhe around him in a circle. He turned in time with her, so that his back was never facing her.
    “Let me start at the beginning.” she said, darting out a fork-like tongue.
    She’s tasting the air, thought Rain, as Kaami continued to speak.
    “I was a dabbler in dark magic and found great pleasure in harming others and from the power I derived because of it. One of my spells required me to eat snakes. I did that, and discovered that I had quite the taste for them…”
    Rain’s face turned slightly pale and he began to feel nauseous.
    “One day, I ate the Queen Mother’s newborns… by mistake, of course. She cursed me; condemned me to remain like this forever. Half human, half animal.  Stuck in this form I knew that death would bring me even more pain, since my soul would find place among neither humans nor animals. So I searched out the well of immortality and I have been drinking from it since, keeping myself alive … waiting for someone to come free me from this wretched curse so that I may at least die in peace. Is that too much to ask, sequestor? I am, after all, deeply remorseful for my actions …” she finished, coming to a halt before his face.
    “How old are you?” asked Rain, grateful that she had stopped going around in circles, for he would not have been able to control his nausea much longer.
    “Two hundred years old.” she said, smiling a sickeningly sweet smile and exposing a