The Wintermaker
CHARMIAN, WINTER BORN, and the two GeeBees carefully crowded around the little niche set in the ice wall, peering within with wide eyes. The ice was slightly frosted, vaguely obscuring what rested within...but it was pretty obvious that it was a person, encased in the wall.
They stared at it for a moment, then Charmian cupped a hand to the ice and breathed on it. It melted just slightly and she rubbed at it until it grew clearer. Winter Born followed suit until they'd cleared a big enough space to see within properly. Set at least a few feet back was the form of a young man, resting upon a bench or pallet carved out of the wall itself. He wore clothes like those that Charmian and Winter Born were now wearing--like No-Tongue had worn--and he was lying stretched out on his back, his eyes closed and his hands folded over his chest. The look on his face was peaceful, and his skin, though just slightly paler than usual, was the same copper as the Islanders', his hair in two long black braids; crystals set up higher in the ice illuminated him in soft shades of orange and pink. But what was strangest was that he was surrounded by flowers.
Winter Born peered up at Charmian, brow furrowed. "Charmian...who is he?"
Charmian slowly shook her head. "I...I have no idea." She rubbed at the ice again when it began to frost over, and squinted. She couldn't detect any signs of life, so the lifelike look of the young man surprised her. "It looks like he was just...flash-frozen into the wall or something!"
Winter Born cupped her own hands to the ice. "I wonder how he got way back in there...or who put him there or why?" She frowned. "And how come he has flowers all around him...?" She pulled back again, biting her lip pensively. "Where do flowers grow way up here?"
Charmian could only shake her head again. "I wish I knew," she murmured, taking a step back. The truth was, the strangely peaceful scene unnerved her somewhat; there was no way that a man being frozen into the wall could be a good sign. She started gnawing on her lip as well.
Augwak let out a nervous noise, shifting from foot to foot. "Fleshling! What if it's a trap? What if we keep going and get STUCK in the walls?!" He started gnawing on his own claws.
"It doesn't feel like a trap..." Charmian said with a frown.
Augwak just bared his teeth. "'Duh'! That's what MAKES it a trap!!"
Winter Born looked up at her. "Should we keep going?"
Charmian nodded and tried turning away from the ice, though the image held her attention and it was hard to look away. "This doesn't change plans any. I get the feeling that if Kabebonikka wanted us dead, he could've done it long before now, like when we knocked in his door. Maybe this is some kind of test." She rubbed her arms. "Like when we faced Mishosha. Maybe we have to stand up to him to get his respect."
Winter Born's face lit up. "I bet that's it! Come on then!" She turned and started sliding along the floor. "There's a big room ahead!"
"Hold on," Charmian called, and the little girl skidded to a halt, peering back questioningly. "Earning respect doesn't mean being rude in return," she said, feeling annoyingly like a fortune cookie, and Winter Born waited until they were next to each other before moving again, the two GeeBees following. "Just because we might have to stand up to him doesn't mean we should antagonize him. Until we see just how he is, we go the polite route."
"I rather think we moved beyond that after knocking in his door," Augwak groused, but said nothing else. They drew close to the great room ahead and slowed down in the entryway, looking up at the immense walls and peering inside. The walls within looked much the same, only they spread out in a vast circular shape, and the lighting within was even brighter than in the hall. Charmian had to squint. She couldn't tell if it was the ice glowing, or if there were more crystals set into it, or what.
"It's not quite what I expected," she said with a frown.
"It's beautiful," Winter Born breathed. "Come on! I want to see what his place looks like!" And without another word she skated out into the room.
Charmian blanched and made a hasty grab for her, just missing. Winter Born made a graceful glissade into the center of the room, turning around and beaming back at them. She waved. "C'mon! It's no trap, see--?"
Charmian's brow furrowed, then she reluctantly slid into the room. Just as promised, nothing grabbed her or stabbed her or fell on her head, and she let out a breath to find that there was nothing in the room but more ice. "Huh," she said, looking around. "That seemed way too--"
A loud GRONCH sound came from the entryway, and she and Winter Born gasped and whirled around, nearly falling over. That was the same sound the ice doorway had made right before collapsing. Charmian expected to see a pile of ice and two crumpled GeeBee bodies...which was why she was even more surprised to see a new door of ice where one hadn't existed before. It completely sealed off the passageway they'd just come in from, and Pakwa and Augwak were on the other side.
The two GeeBees blinked at them for a dazed moment or two, then crowded forward and began beating their fists against the ice, eyes wide and mouths moving soundlessly. Charmian had a weird feeling of déjà vu, and looked down at Winter Born to see the same look on her face that she assumed she must have. Winter Born looked back up at her.
"Do you think that maybe it was a trap after all...?" she wondered aloud.
Charmian opened her mouth to speak. Then shut it when something made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle--she didn't hear anything, or feel anything, but something in the air seemed to change, and Winter Born seemed to notice it as well, as her eyes slowly grew wider.
"Visitors. How nice."
Charmian sucked in a sharp breath and whirled around, grasping Winter Born's arm as she did so, the girl's hood falling forward over her head. The room had been empty before...but now she noticed another opening in the ice ahead, and a shape was standing within it, nothing but two ice-blue glowing eyes staring back out. They were as narrow as slivers, yet Charmian thought she could detect more than a trace of amusement in them.
"Humans," the same ice-smooth, cultured voice said. "How interesting."
Charmian felt Winter Born's fingers tighten on her arm, and nudged the girl back. "Stay behind me," she whispered, and felt Winter Born nod before creeping out of sight. She stood up straighter as the shape emerged from the entryway and started gliding across the room toward them.
"It's not often that I get visitors," the voice said as it drew closer, "much less human ones." Whatever it was, it was dressed in a long white deerskin robe and hood fringed with white fur; all of the necklaces dangling around its neck looked like claws and bits of flint and shards of ice. Its arms were folded in front of it, wrapped up in its sleeves, and on its feet Charmian could see moccasins as white as its robe. They were decorated with blue quillwork in designs that also looked like icicles and mountains; Charmian felt colder just looking at them. She noticed that the figure had halted, and her head jerked back up to look into those ice-sliver eyes. She recognized them as manitou eyes now, and let out a breath, seeing it plume before her.
"Are..." She had to clear her throat just a little to get her voice to work. "Are you Kabebonikka...?"
The light hit the figure's face in such a way that she could see it--him--smile, though nothing was visible above his mouth but those slivered eyes. "I have been known to be called that."
Charmian's brow furrowed a little. "Kabebonikka's not your real name--?"
The smile grew and the eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "My real name is Keewadin-Nodin," the voice said. "But I find that Kabebonikka is fitting."
"Wintermaker," Winter Born whispered ever so quietly behind her, and Charmian tightened her grip a little to show that she'd heard, then loosened it. She looked up at him again, seeing as he towered over both of them--his height looked almost fit to rival Megissogwun's, though his build was much thinner.
"I actually came to talk to you," she said, fighting to not start shivering; the cave temperature seemed to have dropped twenty degrees as soon as he'd entered.
Kabebonikka tilted his head just slightly. "I know," he said in a mild voice. "I've had quite some amusement watching your progress here."
Charmian blinked. "You--you saw us coming--?" she blurted out.
The smile again. "Ever since you left Wabun behind." He shifted his foot and his robe rustled around his feet. "I have to say that you and your little band are quite entertaining. Most humans would barely even last so long, much less bother climbing up my mountain." He paused for a moment, then added, "I do hope my Wendigo wasn't too much trouble for you."
Ripping off a butterfly's wings, Charmian thought, and ground her teeth to keep her face as neutral as she could. "Not too much," she said, though it tasted bitter to say it.
Kabebonikka nodded a little, then lifted his head to look toward the entryway. "Good...I was beginning to fear they might end up like those pathetic creatures." Charmian glanced back at Augwak and Pakwa, still crouching behind the ice and staring in at them with wide eyes. "Rather sad, to see just how far they've fallen, back where you come from. I had rather hoped that my Wendigo would teach them some sort of lesson." He looked down at Charmian again. "But I suppose your victory was just as entertaining."
Charmian had to take a breath to keep from gnawing her lip raw. "You mean you've watched us ever since we left the east? You've seen everything since then?"
He lifted one shoulder. "More or less...there were times, I admit, when I grew quite bored and had to tend to other things. But between you and that tiny wabano, it made for fascinating viewing."
"You know Mishosha--?" Charmian asked, surprised. She shook her head before he could speak, if he was even planning to. "So you sat up here and watched us climb all the way up this mountain," she said with a twinge of irritation. "So you know why it is we're here. So I don't have to spend an hour explaining it."
"Actually, I said that I watched," Kabebonikka corrected her. "Unfortunately, my vision does not allow for me to hear all that well...so perhaps you'd best explain why it is you went to such great lengths just to come visit me?" And he gave another narrow-eyed smile.
Charmian started fuming, but Winter Born grasped her arm again. "Fine." She clenched her free hand. "We're looking for the one who can defeat Megissogwun, so we can save Manitou Island."
Kabebonikka tilted his head again, seeming genuinely curious. "The Pearl Feather...?" When Charmian nodded he pursed his lips. "So that was him I saw...interesting. I had been told that my elder brother did him in long ago...but apparently, he was too interested in visiting with humans, to see to more important matters."
Charmian ignored the veiled insult. "You mean you're surprised? Funny, I thought you saw practically everything."
"Well," Kabebonikka said almost boredly, "I did see him tearing the wings off of that friend of yours, and sticking him on his own spear...though his back was to me, and I couldn't be certain it was really he. I was more interested in watching the look on the other party's face...if you understand what I mean."
Winter Born's grip tightened again and Charmian checked herself as soon as she felt her muscles tensing. Everything's a game, she reminded herself of Chakenapok's advice, and took a breath and let it out. Kabebonikka smiled as soon as he noticed it, but she steadied herself before speaking. "Yes, he's still around, and no, Kabeyun didn't finish him off. He's come back to finish up his business from last time."
"Hm," Kabebonikka said, lifting his head and shifting his other foot. "I have unfortunate news for you, then, if this is why you came. For I know you have been to see the Sky Mother, and surely she or Wabun told you of how even I could not defeat this manitou. It was close..." his eyes narrowed "...but not quite close enough."
"From what Geezhigo-Quae said, he pretty much rubbed your face into the ground," Charmian said in as casual a voice as she could muster, and heard Winter Born take in a tiny breath. She began to think that maybe she'd made a mistake when Kabebonikka's eyes flared brilliant blue and the smile vanished from his face, and she tensed, waiting to get her head blasted off...but in a split second his smile was back, chillier than ever, and his eyes had returned to normal.
"You have quite a tongue for a human," he said. "Interesting how in one case that can get you killed, and how in another it might save your life."
Charmian let out a breath, muscles relaxing slightly. "Look," she said. "We actually came to ask if you know where to find Kabeyun. Since he's the one who defeated Megissogwun. Wabun and Shawondassee didn't know where to find him and they said that you might."
"As if I am the keeper of my elder brother?" Kabebonikka said.
"They told us you could help," Charmian insisted. "I'm ready to give you tobacco and everything!" She pulled out the tobacco pouch and held it out toward him, growing desperate.
The North Wind's face twitched as if with disgust. "You think I have any need for that piffling human thing...?" he said, actually sounding slightly offended, and Charmian blinked in confusion before drawing her hand back.
"But...Shawondassee and everyone else liked it," she said.
A slight snort. "Allow me to give you some advice, human...the use of tobacco to benefit the manitous is a human invention...which, unfortunately, most of my brothers and cousins and fellows have taken to heart. I have no use for such a trivial thing. We manitous got by just fine for thousands of moons without it, and we will continue to get by just fine, whether you humans are around to offer it or not."
Charmian struggled to find her voice again. "Well...do you know where Kabeyun is or not?" she blurted out. "Everybody said YOU would know--!"
"In this rare case, everybody would be right," Kabebonikka replied.
Charmian blinked, then cut herself off, mouth snapping shut. "You--you do know--?" she asked in disbelief; when he tilted his head forward in a slight nod, she felt her spirits rise. "Then could you tell us--? Please--?"
Kabebonikka's expression changed to one of boredom. "Why should I?" he said, and Charmian's spirits sank like a stone; of course she should have expected THAT. "Whether that Island of yours survives or not is no concern to me, or to my brother. Even if I were to tell you--what makes you think he would help you any more than the Pearl Feather himself would?"
"I have to at least TRY, damn it!" Charmian snapped.
Kabebonikka nodded. "I see. The reason why you killed an Animiki, and killed a little Nebanaubae, and clambered all the way up my mountain, getting one of your friends killed in the process. Interesting. Most humans wouldn't even bother, after the first being they killed."
"Are you going to help us or not?" Charmian had to keep herself from shouting.
"That depends," Kabebonikka said. "It wouldn't be fitting for a Wind to help any little human who comes his way...something that my little brothers would do well to learn, in the future. There is a reason why Wabun and Shawondassee are the weakest of the Winds." He shifted his arms inside his robe. "If, however, you offered me some sort of incentive...then perhaps I could be obliged to tell you where to find my elder brother."
"Incentive like what?" Charmian asked sourly, Winter Born peering out from behind her.
Kabebonikka opened his mouth to speak, then shut it, frowning slightly. Charmian saw his eyes shift a little to the side, and he tilted his head. She glanced down to see Winter Born staring back; her hood had fallen back again, and she stared at the North Wind with wide eyes. Charmian's brow furrowed, then she turned back to Kabebonikka.
"The girl with snow hair," he said. "Interesting."
Winter Born blinked. A second later, Charmian was nudging her behind herself again and moving to stand in front, her hand tensed to throw a fireball. "Leave her out of it," she warned. "She has nothing to do with any of this."
Kabebonikka's eyes flitted back up to fix on hers. "Oh really? There's a good reason then why you've dragged her along this whole way, despite your own misgivings? If you think you are the only one who can see the medicine in her, then you are mistaken."
"Huh--?" Winter Born said, looking confused, but Charmian nudged her back again.
"I came up here to talk with you myself," she said. "So talk to me. And tell me what I have to do to find Kabeyun. That's all I want to know from you."
Kabebonikka stared at her through slitted eyes for a moment, then relaxed slightly, the corner of his mouth twitching up. He looked down at Winter Born again, who Charmian couldn't quite keep from peeping out at him. "Little winter girl," he said, and Winter Born ducked her head a little but didn't break her stare. "You are interested in knowing exactly what powers you possess...?"
He pulled his hands free of his robe, and Charmian blinked when she saw how pale they were, wan and gray like those of a corpse--she could see the bones and tendons through them, and his fingernails were as long as Augwak's. He lifted his hand and gently grasped the hood of his robe, pulling on it so it fell back over his shoulders. And Charmian and Winter Born both sucked in a breath.
Kabebonikka's face was as pale as his hands, yet he still had the high cheekbones and slightly slanted eyes that the other two Winds had had so far. His eyes were as blue as sapphires, just like Geezhigo-Quae's, and his hair was much like hers as well, long and snow white and trailing down over his shoulders. Charmian hadn't known that such smooth white hair could exist; the light cast down by the ice made it almost seem to glow. It was his face that made Charmian's heart leap up into her throat the most, however. If it hadn't been for the long hair and pale skin, he would have looked almost like...
An image of Chakenapok flashed in her head and just as quickly vanished. She closed her mouth when she saw the North Wind staring at her and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out in surprise.
Kabebonikka's eyes narrowed a bit and his mouth twitched. "Something you see surprises you, human...?"
Charmian continued gnawing on her cheek for a moment before summoning up the courage to reply, "You...remind me of somebody. A little bit."
"Really?" He smiled now. "I do suppose a slight blood resemblance would be possible." He looked at Winter Born again. "You would do well to start asking more questions, little winter girl, because as it turns out, everyone has been hiding things from you."
Winter Born's brow furrowed; Charmian was thankful that she didn't speak up. "You said you know where Kabeyun is," she repeated herself, drawing his attention back. "Everybody's pretty much told me what to expect--so whatever it is you want me to do, I'll do it. But I need to know what it is."
Kabebonikka continued staring at her for a moment or two, then pursed his lips a little and folded his hands back into his sleeves. "You are just a little human, yet somehow you are quite entertaining to watch," he said. "Considering what ridiculous things you're willing to do for some little Island." His smile started to return. "I'll tell you what. All I wish you to do, for me to tell you where my elder brother is, is to survive long enough to reach him. I think I should like to see this very much, a little human fending off mitchi manitous and wabanos and Lynxes and whatnot."
Charmian's brow started to furrow. "Huh...?" she asked, not certain if she'd heard right. "Survive--? You want me to survive--?"
"I must admit," Kabebonikka said, "you and your companions have provided me with the most entertainment in quite a long while. Should you live long enough to reach my elder brother, it would be quite an achievement, indeed." His eyes narrowed a little in amusement. "And so...?"
"What's the catch?" Charmian demanded. "There's always a catch for something so simple. Tell me what it is."
"No catch," Kabebonikka replied. "Of course," he added, as soon as her muscles started to relax, and they tensed again as soon as he spoke, "you are going to be facing my medicine in addition, this time...now that you are in my land...though I like to think you're game enough to put up with that little additional obstacle. You already attempted it, in killing off two of my Wendigoes."
"You mean you're going to try to stop us?" Charmian asked.
"Not so much 'stop,'" Kabebonikka said. "Just make the going a bit more challenging." His smile grew. "What's wrong, human...are you afraid now?"
"Of course not," Charmian snapped, nudging on Winter Born's arm. "If that's what you want, then fine."
Mainlander, Chakenapok's voice said in her head, and she jumped a little, gasping; the others looked at her, Kabebonikka's smile fading a little. Make certain you ask all conditions, Chakenapok said. I do not like the simplicity of this. Remember that even those things which do not have catches can have a catch!
"Interesting," Kabebonikka mused. "It seems your help has come along with you. You needn't worry, human, as I'll freely tell you all you wish to know. All you need do is ask."
"All right," Charmian said, forcing her tensed fists to go loose. "If we win," she said, "then you tell us where Kabeyun is? Exactly where he is, no strings attached, no tricks--?"
"I will do you one better than this, human," Kabebonikka replied. "If you succeed, and everyone in your party remains alive until you reach the western plain, then I will release this land, and call back my Wendigoes."
Charmian blinked. "Release--?" The furrow returned. "You mean you'll call off the snow and cold?"
The North Wind nodded. "It has grown tedious here anyway," he said. "Your success, if it were to come, would be a welcome leave from this dull place."
Charmian let out a breath. "And what if we lose?" she asked. "I suppose you'll kill off everybody in the tribe down there--and all of us too--?"
Kabebonikka's nose wrinkled just slightly. "I hardly have use for such petty little activities," he said, as if annoyed. "Killing people is rather boring." The amused look returned to his eyes. "No...even if you or any in your party are killed, I will call back my ice and Wendigoes, and any of you who remain will be directed to my elder brother. Just as you wished."
Charmian just stared at him. Something's wrong, a little voice in her head said, and she frowned a little, tense and confused. "And what do you get?" she asked.
"Just one small thing," Kabebonikka replied, smiling. "Should you not succeed, your little winter girl will remain here with me."
No comments:
Post a Comment