us less if we move slowly and quietly and get done with what we came to do.”
“I’ll try.”
Bees swarmed angrily around us. It took all my resolve not to bat them violently away from my body. Several had landed on my clothing, but it seemed the stingers couldn’t penetrate the fairy cloth. I felt a sting on my wrist and pulled my hands into my long sleeves, holding the opening closed. I approached the stone and looked inside. “What do I do?” I asked.
“Try using your power.”
Kishan had been stung several times on the face; in fact, his eyebrow was swelling. I shook my hands out of my sleeves and winced as a bee took the opportunity to crawl up my arm. I put both hands on the sides of the stone and willed the heat to move up from my belly. Fiery warmth shot down my arms and into the stone.
The stone turned yellow, then orange, and then bright red. I heard a hissing sound from within and smelled gas fumes. As smoky gas began to fill the cave and the bees became sluggish, they plopped to the cave floor like fat gumdrops and slept.
“I think you might have to inhale the fumes, Kells, like those oracles Mr. Kadam talked about.”
“Okay, here goes.”
Leaning over, I took a big whiff. I saw shooting stars and colors. Kishan became distorted, his body twisted and elongated. Then, I was sucked into a powerful vision. When I woke, we were in the jungle again, and Kishan was dabbing my stings with a gooey substance the color of inch-worms. To say it wafted a strong odor would be an understatement. The fetor permeated my hair, my clothes, and everything around us.
“Ugh! That stuff is nasty! What is it?”
He held out a jar. “The Silvanae gave it to us when I told them we would be seeing lots of bees. They’ve never heard of bees that sting but they use this salve on the trees to repair damage when a limb is blown off by the wind. They believed it would help.”
“When did you tell them we’d be going to a bee cave?”
“When you were changing. They said this bee cave was outside their realm.”
“It smells awful.”
“But how does it feel?”
“It feels . . . good. Soothing and cool.”
“Then I imagine you can tolerate the smell.”
“I guess.”
“Were you successful then? Did you see the tree?”
“Yeah. I saw the tree and the four houses and something else too.”
“What else?”
“Like you said before, there’s a snake in the garden. To be specific, it’s a very large snake wrapped around the base of the tree preventing anyone from accessing it.”
“Is it a demon?”
I considered, “No. It’s just an exceptionally large snake with a job to do. I know how to get there. Follow me, and we’ll figure out what to do on the way.”
“Right. Before we get underway though, would you mind?”
He held out the salve and I began smoothing the substance on his neck. He removed his shirt so I could reach the raised red stings on his upper chest and back. I quickly moved behind him to hide my red face. Though I tried not to linger, I couldn’t help but notice his bronze skin was smooth and warm.
When I circled around him, he swept his hair back away from his face so I could dab the green slime over his cheeks and forehead. There was a large sting near his upper lip. I touched it lightly. “Does it hurt?”
My gaze moved from his lips up to his eyes. He was looking at me in a way that made me blush.
“Yes,” he responded quietly.
It was obvious to me that he was not talking about the sting, so I said nothing. I could feel the warmth of his gaze on my face as I quickly finished his lip and chin. I stepped away as soon as possible and put the top back on the jar, keeping my back to him as he put on his shirt.
“Let’s get a move on then, shall we?” I began walking, and he caught up, matching my pace.
We hiked another hour or two and made camp as the sun went down. That night, Kishan wanted another story so I told him one of the stories of Gilgamesh.
“Gilgamesh was a very clever man. So clever, in fact, that he found a way to sneak into the realm of the gods. He wore a disguise and pretended he was on an errand of great