As I looked into her dreamy deathlike eyes, I felt myself falling into a trance. Mayuri’s arms waved against the sky like the quiet branches of a content tree, and yet, I knew somehow that beneath her composed face, there lurked anger. An anger so ancient that it threatened to wipe out all that she saw before her.
“I am sorry,” I said in a faltering voice. I did not know what I was apologising for, but I couldn’t get rid of the enormous feeling of guilt that weighed me down. “Sorry that you had to come here?” she hissed. Her voice crawled up my spine like a snake. The sky was a demonic red by now, the last blood dripping out of the vanquished sun. Soon, night would come sweeping by and the darkness would hide the shame I felt.
“He is only a boy, remember that,” said Guava. Mayuri turned to her slowly and said, “But he will grow. And he will become one of them. Someone who owns the earth, names the beasts and the birds. And someone who will cringe at the sight of me.”
The dinosaur sisters were trembling in fear. The Chinese elephant, however, was smiling at Mayuri fondly. “Such character! Such depth!” he announced. “That will do, thank you,” said Mayuri, not unkindly. She turned her attention to me again, “How old are you, boy?” “Fifteen.” “Almost a man then,” she said.
“You gave your word. You said you would protect him from them,” said Guava. I shot her a grateful glance. “He is harmless, trust us. Not all humans are evil. Don’t forget that you, too, were once human!” implored Lemon.
A flash of rage smote Mayuri’s face. “I was never human. Not today, not yesterday. Don’t you forget that!” Lemon fell silent at once. The air was tense with the weight of quarrels waiting to break out. “I’ll protect you,” she said at last. “Not because I was asked but because revenge is human and I want no part of it.”
Relief washed over me. I bent low in gratitude. I did not know the full extent of Mayuri’s powers in Anunirva, but if there was a queen, it was her. “Such style!” whistled the Chinese elephant. He seemed to be completely unfazed by the unnamed threats that hung in the air like bats.
