Epilogue
IT’S BETTER TO TURN BACK THAN TO LOSE YOUR WAY
“So he betrays his friends? What kind of a coward was he?”
“Lay down again, son. Your fever will return,” Kadam chided, rising to wet a towel in the sink, then placed it on Kishan’s forehead.
“Don’t forget how easy it is to judge others when we haven’t walked in their shoes.
You and your brother had the advantage of being loved and cared for by a wonderful set of parents. ”
“Even if we hadn’t, we also had you for a mentor. This young man did as well.”
“I . . . wasn’t as hands on with this group as I was with all of you. It’s one of many things I have come to regret.”
“But surely he made his own choices.”
“Yes,” Kadam conceded. “All of us do. But you forget how many life paths I went down when exploring our own world. Not all of your own life paths were as joyful as the one you ended up selecting.”
Kishan grunted. “You mean the one you selected.”
“Be that as it may, I hope you know that my intent for all of you was only that you find a measure of happiness.”
“We all know that.”
“Good. Now get some rest.”
“But what happens next? Will Nik succeed in banishing his father to hell? Will all of them escape the dreamworld? How will Stacia handle having three tigers inside her? What must that be like?”
Kadam chuckled. “Sleep. I’ll return in the morning and continue the tale, if you wish. Perhaps, if you’re feeling better, I’ll tell you of how the sisters were ultimately able to triumph over evil and overcome their trials. Does that suit you?”
Nodding, Kishan closed his eyes, and Kadam stepped outside and took in a deep breath of fresh evening air.
All was quiet. The sun had just set. It was the time between, when the things of the day switched to the things of the night.
He knew that soon evening predators would be on the prowl, seeking, hunting, searching for anything they could find to assuage their hunger.
As he well knew, there were some dark things in his world as well as others, with an appetite so powerful that no matter how much they consumed, they could never be filled.
Anik Kadam glanced up at the wide expanse of the sky and felt small and a bit sad. There was so much dark in the world. It was hard to continue fighting it all the time. But then the first star appeared. Then another, and another. He smiled.
It was a little reminder that light could always be found if one looked.
And light could always defeat darkness.