Lightning flashed before Justin's closed eyes, causing him to wake from a fitful sleep. He flinched, knowing what would come next. Two seconds later, it sounded like a fighter jet streaking by just above the treetops. Hands gripped Justin's shoulders. He screamed out, the noise muffled by the thunder that continued to rumble. He looked up at the outline of a tall figure.

"Shhh! It's okay!" yelled a voice.

Lighting flashed again, illuminating Murrugesan. His head stuck out of a black poncho raincoat dripping with water.

Thunder boomed again, rattling the tin roof above them. Justin sat up and looked over at Nitara, who lay still and silent on the cot.

"I'm sorry, Justin," Murrugesan comforted.

"Is she..." the word dead caught in Justin's throat.

Murrugesan shook his head. "No, but there is nothing else we can do for her."

Reaching a hand out, Justin grabbed Nitara's small, delicate one. He pulled it up to his lips and kissed it. Tears pooled in his eyes as he whispered, "I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry," over and over again.

Murrugesan squeezed Justin's shoulder. "Come, Justin, the trackers have found your beast. We must go after them." He shoved a black raincoat, identical to the one he wore, into Justin's face.

"What will happen to her?" Justin asked, letting go of Nitara's hand.

"Thangamani will look after her while you are away. We must leave now."

Maya let go of her sister's hand. "Goodbye my princess," she said. She could feel the string loosen from her heart and then unravel back towards the sleeping girl. Justin grabbed the raincoat, stood, and put it on.

Murrugesan headed to the back door and stopped once he reached it. "There are trackers swarming the jungle this morning. We must be silent and you must follow my every move."

Looking out at the water pouring from the sky, Justin nodded and followed Murrugesan out from under the shelter of the roof. Thick droplets of rain hammered onto the hood of his raincoat and splattered into Justin's face. Murrugesan led Justin to a small back staircase. Justin gripped the rail tightly to keep from slipping down the wet, steep stairs. At the bottom, Justin's Vans sunk into the mud. He picked his feet straight up to pull them from the mud and keep them from slipping.

Grabbing Justin's arm, Murrugesan pulled him underneath the tree house porch. He signaled for Justin to stay behind the large tree. Justin watched as the man slowly stepped around the tree and peered out at the village. Squinting, Justin tried to see beyond the pouring rain, but he could see nothing.

Murrugesan returned, his face expressionless.

"There are trackers hiding behind some of the huts in the village. We will have to travel under the cover of the jungle."

Without warning, the man sprang out from under the shelter of the porch and ran for the dense foliage of the jungle. Justin bolted after him. As he emerged from underneath the porch, one shoe caught in the mud and he went flying. His face landed in the oozing mud with a loud squelching noise. He tried to push himself up, but his hands sunk deeper into the mud and he slipped again.

The earth around Justin trembled. Splashing sounds erupted from behind him. As fear jolted through his body, Justin heaved himself to his feet and lunged at the awaiting jungle. Behind him, the splashing sound quickened. Justin ducked under heavy branches filled with water, jumped over a fern, and dived through a hole in a large log. He scrambled through the log and emerging out the other side, a hand grabbed his arm. He screamed just as thunder boomed, muffling his fear.

"Come." It was Murrugesan. He pivoted and disappeared behind a tree. Justin followed, struggling to keep up. Water poured into his eyes from the hood of the raincoat and the man easily slipped between, under, and through the jungle foliage. While the man clearly belonged in this realm, Justin was an intruder.

Pulling back the large frond of a fern, dense jungle loomed on the other side. He lost Murrugesan once more.

"Get down!" The man's voice shouted out from somewhere to Justin's left.

Immediately, Justin dropped to his stomach. A minute went by and the only sound Justin could hear was the patter of the rain hitting the leaves all around him. Slowly, Justin lifted his head, wanting to see what was going on. Lighting flashed above the jungle canopy, illuminating the world around Justin, and then everything went dark again. Justin dropped his head back down. He placed a hand over his mouth to keep from breathing loudly.

Seared into Justin's vision was the outline of five very tall men. It wasn't the men that scared Justin; it was what perched on each of the men's arms. Each of the men had one arm outstretched and eagles the size of a large dog perched on their arms. He hoped that neither the men nor the birds had seen his head poking out.

Out of the bushes crawled Murrugesan. He lay down next to Justin and leaned in close. "Stay here," he whispered. "Do not move. The beast's hiding place is up this hill. I am going to go check to see if it is clear."

Crawling away, Murrugesan left Justin alone with five bird men somewhere very close by.

The jungle went quiet. The thunder and lightning stopped as if all someone had to do was flick the switch off. Mud dripped onto his lips, but he did not dare move even to wipe the mud off. He concentrated on the surrounding sounds, hoping for some clue to what was going on.

A branch snapped only feet away to Justin's right. He held his breath. A low growl reverberated through the mud to Justin's left. He clenched the mud beneath his fingers, trying to keep himself from jumping to his feet and running.

A loud screech from above shattered the suspense. Justin flipped onto his back and looked up at one of the large, dog-sized eagles hovering in the air above him, sharp talons outstretched. The eagle dove and Justin rolled to his left. There was a deafening roar, and a large black mass leaped over Justin. The eagle screeched and then silence enveloped the forest once more. Justin stood up and looked around. Only the silhouettes of trees and bushes loomed around him.

Justin turned and ran for the hill that Murrugesan had gone to scout. The rain gathered on the hill, creating a small stream. The earth beneath Justin crumbled into the stream and he slid back down. A hand grabbed his arm and yanked him to the side.

He looked up at Murrugesan, whose eyes narrowed. "I told you not to move."

"A giant eagle attacked me."

The man sighed. "It's clear ahead. For now."

Bending down, Murrugesan lifted Justin off his feet, carrying him the rest of the way up the hill. At the top, he set Justin down. Far off in the distance, lighting flashed, illuminating a war zone. In the center of a massive clearing lay the remnants of a tree trunk, the same type of trunk that Justin hid in the first night he encountered the beast. Except this tree was ten times larger.

A ring of black roots still stuck into the ground. Around the ring, pieces of the tree lay scattered on the charred ground as if a bomb detonated on top of it. Heat rose from the ground and even though it rained, some of the charred branches glowed.

Justin stepped on something that clanked. Looking down, he stood on a long metal chain attached to a large metal collar. Further into the clearing, Justin found pieces of charred rope. The pieces appeared to be a part of a large net.

"What happened?" asked Justin.

"The child fought back," Murrugesan replied from the edge of the clearing where he stood rooted to the spot.

Feet away from the man, small streams of water all coalesced together into a larger river that flowed into the clearing, washing away the branches and the weapons.

"We can't stay here," said Murrugesan.

Thunder echoed across the jungle.

"Where do we go?" Justin shouted.

"It should be safe to return to the village now."

Murrugesan gestured for Justin to follow him. Justin did not move. "But the beast and Niraj, we can't stop now."

The man's shoulder's slumped. He stepped quickly over to Justin and stopped only when his face was inches from theirs.

"We were too late. Darshan will have the beast by now. Come with me and I will help you get home."

Justin stepped back. "Wait, how do you know that Darshan would have the beast by now?"

Murrugesan frowned, remaining silent.

"And why would the village be safe for me now? Aren't there trackers everywhere?"

In a whisper, Murrugesan said, "Jahan's business is powerful. It has influence over most trackers."

Justin's eyes went wide. "What did you do?"

"I saved my village. We never have to lose another child ever again."

"Nitara!" Justin screamed and ran past the man toward the jungle.

"Justin! Stop! You can't save her, it's too late!"

Justin did not listen. All he could think was that this was all his fault. If he hadn't opened the door to India, Nitara and Niraj would still be safe and sound in their apartment. He would do anything to make this right. He took three steps into the undergrowth when a figure stepped into his path.

Behind him, Murrugesan shouted, "Justin, watch out!"

Before him stood a large tiger, its face level with Justin's eyes. With golden orbed eyes, it looked past Justin and watched as Murrugesan raced to Justin's side. It growled at the man and then locked eyes with Justin, purring.

Slowly, Justin bowed his head. The tiger dipped her own head in return. She took a few steps into the jungle, away from the direction of the village, stopped, and looked back at Justin.

"She wants me to follow," he said.

"You cannot," said Murrugesan shaking his head, "I have contacted your family. I am getting you home."

"How?"

"The woman whose phone you used, she is in our village for tourists. She hasn't stopped talking about you."

Justin took a step towards Mari and the tiger purred even louder.

"There's a chance you could still save Nitara. They may not have taken her yet."

Justin closed his eyes. The string around his heart was gone. He opened his eyes and shook his head.

"You lie."

He ran after the tiger.