Spirits Collide, page 10
part #2 of Evil Awakened Series
When Celia’s eyelids started to flutter, Pamoon watched as her friend thrashed on the bed. She was covered in sweat, mumbling incoherently. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, and she shot straight up, sitting erect and staring at Pamoon.
Pamoon didn’t flinch as she stared back but white-knuckled her staff.
Celia scooted as far away from Pamoon as she could until her back was up against the headboard of her bed. Her blank stare slowly changed, her eyes morphed to amber slits before transforming back to normal. She looked at Pamoon with apprehension as she eyed the staff. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?” Fear bled through her voice.
“I could never kill you,” Pamoon whispered. “I love you.”
Celia thought back to their fight on the edge of the woods. The fight where she, or her demon, tried to kill Pamoon. She remembered Pamoon mouthing the words, “I love you,” just before she faded into black smoke and retreated into the Netherworld.
“So, everything you just showed me was the truth? There was no weird guy. I was never kidnapped and brought to the Glades.”
Pamoon nodded. “Everything you saw was true. You and the guys were all part of Kanontsistonties plan to rule the Spirit World.”
“And you,” Celia paused, her mouth dry as she tried to swallow, risked your life to save us?”
Again, Pamoon nodded.
“And Mike? He really chose to remain a demon?”
Celia watched Pamoon’s expression change. Her eyes turned downward, the color in her cheeks faded. “I tried . . . I tried to save him, but he chose to stay a demon.”
“You told me you loved me even though I tried to kill you, why?”
“I knew it wasn’t you, not the real you. I was hoping my love would be enough to save you.”
Celia threw herself at Pamoon, wrapping her arms around her, crying harder than before. “I’m so sorry for hurting you. I don’t even know how to thank you for what you did.”
Pamoon dropped her staff and hugged her back. “You don’t have to thank me. You would have done the same thing for me.”
As the girls hugged and reminisced about what happened, they heard Bobby’s truck backfire as it pulled up in front of Celia’s house. Scout stood, the fur on his back raised, his mouth furled, showing his teeth. A growl emanating in his throat grew loader until Pamoon jumped off the bed and squeezed his snout shut. “Shh. No growling,” she commanded. She looked at Celia. “Hurry, go tell your mom to tell them you’re sick, tell her not to mention me being here.”
Celia jumped off the bed and ran into the kitchen. She was back moments later, just as they heard a loud knock on the door. “What do we do?” Celia mouthed.
“We need to get out of here. Follow me.” Pamoon slowly opened the window of Celia’s room, trying not to make a sound. It opened to the back of the house which bordered the woods. “Come on.”
Celia followed Pamoon and Scout out the window, and the three of them ran for the woods. They didn’t stop running until they reached the part of the woods that bordered White Eagle’s.
26
Stories and Truths
Pamoon and Celia sat at the kitchen table with White Eagle and Nuna as Pamoon told them everything that happened at Celia’s. White Eagle sat back, his posture stiff, as he listened in Pamoon recite what occurred. Nuna seemed more relaxed. She leaned forward, reaching across the table to hold Celia’s hand trying to comfort her.
“Well?” Pamoon said. “What do you think we should do?”
“Celia stays with us until this mess with the boys is over,” Nuna said, without hesitation.
Pamoon looked at her uncle for reassurance. She watched as he looked at each of them, before setting his gaze on her. “It’s not that easy,” he said. “The boys are just one part of the whole. Celia’s safety, her destiny runs much deeper than Bobby and the other hoodlums.”
“Then what do you suggest, chief?” Nuna barked. “That we send her back home where she’s an easy target?”
“Of course not,” White Eagle said, as he stood. “If you’d ever, just once, give me a chance to finish a thought, it would be a miracle.”
Nuna winked at the girls when White Eagle turned away. “Stop babbling and finish your thought, oh wise one.”
White Eagle rolled his eyes at his sister. “Celia stays here. We’ll get Powaw to perform a binding ceremony around and in the house; that should keep the boys, or other demons, from sensing Celia’s presence.”
“It’s about time that crazy fool is good for something,” Nuna remarked.
White Eagle ignored his sister’s sarcasm. “That solution will only be temporary. Eventually, Celia will have to go with Pamoon into the Spirit Cave.”
“Why?” Pamoon interjected.
“Celia, like the boys, is tainted with the blood and spirit of Kanontsistonties.” He put up his hand to stop any questions, so he could finish. He looked at Celia, who was now trembling. “Celia, you weren’t bit directly by Kanontsistonties, so you probably don’t feel the pull of the Michi-Pichoux as much as the boys, but it might still be enough for you to turn.”
Pamoon hugged her friend who was shaking. “I won’t let that happen.”
“How could you stop it, if it did?” Nuna asked.
Pamoon now understood why White Eagle said she needed to bring Celia into the Spirit Cave. “I don’t know if my powers are strong enough to stop it, but the power of the Spirit Cave, the power of the eternal flame is. That’s why White Eagle said I needed to take Celia into the cave.”
“What does all this mean?” Celia said, not understanding. “Where is this cave you’re talking about?”
Pamoon opened her mouth to explain, but White Eagle’s voice stopped her. “That’s not important right now,” he said. “What’s important is that we get you settled and that Powaw gets over her to conduct the ceremony.
“Nuna, why don’t you show Celia to the guest room and then call Debbie and let her know her daughter will be staying with us for a while.”
Nuna took the hint that White Eagle needed to talk to Pamoon privately. She nodded and led Celia out of the kitchen.
Once Nuna and Celia left the kitchen, White Eagle made a quick phone call. Hanging up the phone, he eyed Pamoon. “Let’s go for a walk,” he said, as he opened the door. Pamoon followed in silence as White Eagle quickened his pace. Reaching the far end of the reservation and since she knew he had spoken to Powaw on the phone, she figured they were headed for the sweat lodge. She was surprised when her uncle led her to where she practiced her fighting techniques with Tihk, and even more surprised to find Tihk sanding alongside Powaw when they arrived.
“What’s this all about,” she asked.
“You have yet to mention what happened when you entered the Spirit World, but it’s evident it was something big,” White Eagle answered.
Pamoon knew a lot did happen since she had entered the Misty Woods, but she didn’t understand how White Eagle knew. “Why did you say that? I mean, how do you know something big happened?”
He pointed behind her left ear. “The feather. It is not an old feather which molted from a bird or plucked from a dead raven. It still harbors life. That means it was given to you by a raven as a totem. Totems are only given to protect someone when evil is in abundance.”
Pamoon raised her left hand and touched the quill behind her ear. She had forgotten all about it.
“If a raven or an eagle give one of the wing feathers to another, they are offering protection from what it to come,” Powaw added. “Tell us, Kiche, what is to come?”
They sat on the logs around the fire pit and Pamoon told them every detail of what happened since she set foot in the Misty Woods until she returned to the natural world.
“A story was told when I was very young by my great-grandfather about the Valley of Blood,” Powaw said when she was finished. “It is a story that somehow became lost as the generations passed.
“I am not familiar with it,” White Eagle said. “Tell us of the story.”
“The tribal ancients, and I mean all tribal ancients, not just Cree, decreed that the Netherworld would one day bust open and all demons would be released. The story told says the demons would choose sides and brothers would fight brothers, sisters would fight sisters.” He looked around at those seated, “It is said that the valley will be covered in blood, and the winner of the war would rule the Spirit Mount.”
To Pamoon, it looked like Powaw aged ten years as he recited the story. “Why are you so scared?”
“The tribal ancients, all of them, said the Mount would be lost and evil would rule Spirit Realm. The story ends with what I can only describe as Hell on Earth.”
Pamoon eyed Powaw, Tihk, and White Eagle; they all looked as if the battle was already lost. Their expressions angered her. She stood and stomped her boot, snapping a branch the lay next to the fire. Pointing to Powaw, she seethed. “You of all people know that the stories told are just one possible path—just one possible outcome. Did your great-grandfather’s story mention the Wandering Spirit or the Kiche?” Powaw shook his head. “And what about the Kowi Anukasha and Kwanokasha, did it mention them?”
Her mentioning the Choctaw Little People and The Watcher seemed to shock White Eagle and Powaw. “What are you talking about?” White Eagle said. “You never mentioned either when you told us of your trip to the Spirit World.”
“That’s because they’re not in the Spirit World. They were right here in our woods. They were waiting for me as soon as I reentered the natural world”
Powaw jumped to his feet. “Take us to them.”
Pamoon shook her head. “They’re gone. They went to gather all the tribal little people and bring them to the Valley of Blood. Kwanokasha said the little people would fight alongside the Kiche in battle.”
Powaw sat back down. “Some,” he said, rubbing his chin.”
“Meaning?” White Eagle said.
Tihk, who had remained quiet until now, spoke up, “Brother against brother, sister against sister,”
“Eha,” Powaw responded.
White Eagle’s nonemotion and lack of speaking surprised Pamoon. When she looked at her uncle, he looked as if his thoughts were far away. “What are you thinking about, chief?” she asked, using his title as a term or respect.
“You said Kise mentioned using your fire. Did she say what that meant?”
Pamoon shrugged. “She talks in riddles, even more so than you and Powaw, so what she said didn’t make any sense.”
“What did she say?”
“Kise told me I wore my fire on my back and I had to learn to harness its power, which made no sense, the only things on my back were my pack and my sword. What she next was even weirder.”
“Try to remember her words exactly.”
“Kise said, ‘Go to your mother, for only she has the answer,’” I told her Kamenna was dead, but her answer didn’t change.” Pamoon saw White Eagle’s expression change. She saw sadness, but then his facial expression seemed to harden.
“Anything else?” he asked.
“When I told The Watcher I wanted to go with him, Kwanokasha told me the same thing, he said I needed discover the power of my fire before I could join in the fight in the valley.” A cold sweat ran down her spine as she remembered his next words. “He said I would die without it. He also said Bobby and his friends had been trying to enter the Misty Woods.”
“Were they successful?” Powaw asked, trepidation leaking from his tone.
“No.” She looked at White Eagle. “Like you, they were thrown out when they tried. But Kwanokasha said that each time they tried, they came back changed.”
“In what way?” Powaw said.
“He said they were bigger and stronger each time they reentered the woods. He said he saw evil in their eyes.”
“That’s a bad sign,” Powaw said. “They must have made contact with Michi-Pichoux.”
“If that’s the case, why would they have been tossed back when they tried to enter?” Tihk asked.
“Because they are not yet strong enough to cross the Misty Woods.” Powaw eyed Pamoon. “You’ll need to get Celia to the Spirit Cave before they grow stronger. The Misty Woods are dangerous enough without three more demons to face.”
Pamoon stood and readied herself to leave.
“Before you can make that trip, we must make another.” White Eagle said, his voice deep and his words clipped. “Where is your sword?”
“It’s in the back of my jeep. I didn’t want to scare Celia by bringing it to her house.”
“Come, we must get it. Time grows short.”
“Wait,” Powaw said. “What sword?”
“The sword.” White Eagle answered.
Powaw’s legs buckled as he reached for Tihk for support. “Not the—”
“Eha,” White Eagle said, jogging away. “The Sword of Truth.”
27
Blade of Fire
“Are you ever going to tell me where we’re going,” Pamoon said as she drove north on the Florida Turnpike.
“Pull off at the next rest stop and we’ll talk.”
“It’s about time,” Pamoon mumbled.
As Pamoon parked the jeep, White Eagle turned in his seat so he could look at her face-to-face. “You never read the letters I gave you. The ones between Kamenna and your birth-mother, did you?”
Pamoon shook her head. “I told you I wouldn’t. I don’t care what my birth-mother had to say.”
“After your experience with the peyote ceremony, I found your sword. I didn’t lie to you when I said I had never seen it before. I was curious what it was and wanted to get a better look, but when I grabbed hold of the handle, it burned my hand.” He held up his bandaged hand. “It was if I had grabbed a burning log.”
Pamoon’s squinted. “That makes no sense. I can hold it without getting burned.”
“Eha. That’s because it belongs to you, and you only. You are the rightful owner of the Sword of Truth.”
“What is the Sword of Truth? I thought the sword was just some sort of memento that Kamenna kept as a keepsake.”
“I wasn’t sure what the sword was until I read your mother’s letters.”
“You read the letters?”
“Eha. When Nuna took you to the mall.”
Pamoon threw her head back against the seat. “Don’t hold back now, chief, what did they say?”
“It’s best I let your mother explain.”
Pamoon practically jumped out of her seat. “Is that where we’re going? To see my mother!”
“Eha.”
“Hell, no,” Pamoon said, starting the jeep. I swore I would never meet her and I’m not. We’re going home.”
White Eagle reached over and turned off the car, gabbing the key before Pamoon could react. “You are going to sit there and listen to what I have to say.”
Pamoon crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. Say what you have to say, but you’re not changing my mind.”
She is definitely Kamenna’s daughter, White Eagle thought as he watched Pamoon twist her lips in disgust. “Kise and Kwanokasha both told you that your mother held the answer to your use of fire. We have no choice. If you refuse, the demons will win the war that is about to take place in the Valley of Blood. Ayas will surely die, if you don’t learn to harness your powers.”
White Eagle knew his niece’s love for Ayas. He didn’t want to scare her, but this was the only way. “Besides,” he said, “this is not the first time you have met her.”
Pamoon trembled at is words. “Wh…what are you talking about?” she stuttered.
“Your thirteenth birthday. Do you remember meeting the social worker?”
“Yeah,” Pamoon answered, drawing out her response.
“She was your birth-mother.”
“How do you know? Did you know then?”
“No. I read it in the letters. She came to give the sword to Kamenna for safe keeping until you were old enough to understand its power.”
Pamoon thought back to how the thorns retreated from the sword. She knew it held power, but she didn’t understand what it was. “The sword belonged to my birth-mother?”
“Sort of. It’s best the explanation comes from her.”
“How do you know where she lives?”
“All I have is the return address from her letters. I just hope she still lives there.”
Pamoon closed her eyes, visions of Ayas covered in blood and his telling her to run and hurry made her lips quiver. She held her hand out. “Let’s get this over with. May I have the key?”
The corners of White Eagle’s mouth turned upward as he placed the key in her hand.
Two hours later, they turned off I-75 into the small town of Dunellen. “The address should not be far from here,” White Eagle said.
Pamoon followed his directions until they pulled off the main street onto a dirt road. She was surprised to see nice homes lining the road. “I thought she’d live in some flop house. You know, somewhere druggies lived.”
“People change.”
Pamoon thought of Tihk and how he changed his life around. She nodded. “Which one is her’s?”
“Slow down so I can read the numbers on the houses.” A about a mile up the road, he pointed to a brick house which sat back off the road. “There,” he said. “Pull into that driveway.”
The jeep idled as Pamoon stared at the house. The yard was surrounded by a fence; she smiled briefly when she spotted horses grazing near the back of the property. The entire drive, Scout had lay sleeping in the back seat. The scent of the horses must have caught his attention because he now stood, his front paws and head between Pamoon and White Eagle. She could tell he was excited to see the horses. She scratched him behind his ears as he licked her face. I wish I shared his excitement.
Pamoon stared straight ahead. “I don’t know if I can do this?”
