Tough Love
CHAKENAPOK SMILED AND gestured at the cave wall behind him.
"In fact, I think that right here is everything I will ever need."
Charmian stared at the wall but saw only rock. "Oh, really scary! A cave! Like I've never seen one of THOSE before!"
Chakenapok's eyes flared yellow, amused. "No, not the cave," he chided. "More like something a little...closer to home...you might say." He lifted his hand. "Would you like to say hello to an old friend?"
Charmian opened her mouth to demand to know what he was talking about, when he waved, and flames roared up around the cave wall. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the glare of them, but they quickly receded, and it was as if the cave wall opened before them.
It was like being in the cave of Glooskap again--the solid wall, with the image behind it somehow superimposed, and made visible...only instead of the dark looming shape of Malsum the Wolf, this shape was bathed in light--chained in it--and though the features were wolfen, the rest of it wasn't, and it wasn't Malsum.
Charmian's question turned into a scream.
Chakenapok lifted his hand and smiled as if he were an adult giving a child candy. "Well? After all this time...that's all you have to say to her?"
Charmian couldn't speak. Her eyes, wide and panicked, focused directly on the eyes of the shape looming before her, only those eyes were mercifully closed. Short blunt horns rose from the image's head, great black wings hunched behind it, a long serpentine tail winding around its feet. Ocryana hung suspended in a web of glowing bands, a tangle of colored cords of light winding around her wrists and ankles and middle. It looked as if she'd merely been placed there as some sort of bizarre decoration, or as if she were the prisoner of a gigantic spider, except her eyes were closed and her face oddly peaceful as she slept. The bands shimmered in brilliant red, green, yellow, and blue--the colors of fire, earth, air, and water--as well as strange cords with colors that shifted, violet to orange to turquoise and back, every color of the spectrum and more--the colors of ether, the fifth element--as they passed over her and wound around her limbs. Her head hung forward limply, the bands keeping her suspended...but even as Charmian watched...Chakenapok lifted his hand again, and tilted one finger forward.
"I thought you might be interested in seeing how your little experiment is going." He flicked his finger, and one of the numerous bands encircling Ocryana's right shoulder snapped and dissipated, and she slumped forward, just a fraction of an inch...but the reaction in Charmian was immediate, a harsh breath sucking into her throat and her eyes growing even wider.
"You...you couldn't," she whispered. "She'll destroy the Island...!"
Chakenapok's smile grew. "And what would I care? That's your little problem...not mine." He lifted his finger again. "Now where are your manners...don't you wish to say hello?"
Charmian clenched her fists. "YOU WOULDN'T! That's breaking the rules!"
Even as she said it, he was shaking his head. "Remember, Mainlander," he said in an oddly pitying voice. "Remember to learn the rules, before you go out playing. You have your weapons--I have mine." He sneered. "And what better weapon than the very one which nearly did you in so long ago...?"
Charmian took a step back, shaking her head, terror rising in her breast. "You can't! It's not FAIR--!"
"All's fair," he said in response, and flicked his finger--and a band wrapped around Ocryana's neck snapped loose, and her head bobbed forward...
...And the cave vanished--and black icewater gushed in over her, surrounding her, soaking her through, flooding her mouth...
Charmian sat shivering before the fire in the Dupries parlor, the blanket wrapped around her so that only her head and fingers showed, her eyes shadowed and glassy. Moon Wolf sat beside her, staring toward the fire though neither of them really saw it; it crackled and hissed and popped, but neither of them heard it.
"He is in the Borderlands," Moon Wolf said quietly.
Charmian nodded. "I couldn't recognize it," she murmured, "because he's made it all his own. His own little area...between two places. Reality and dream. That's probably how he has power over dreams the way he does. He must have wandered down there from Cave of the Woods, and came across the Gemfields..." She shut her eyes. "It makes perfect sense, now that I think of it. It's the perfect place for him to have learned all about the two of us, and to know about Ocryana and all the dreams. He picked it all up as he went along. It's just like what happened with Ocryana. We were helping him the whole time." She opened her eyes and they glimmered in the flickering light. "Even while I was fighting her...he was watching everything. Maybe not consciously, but he knew. He's followed every move we've made, and now he's using them all against us." She turned her head to look at Moon Wolf, and fear entered her eyes. "He'll do it, too. I know he will--after seeing what he did to Wabasso--I know he'll do it!" Her voice took on a panicked edge; Moon Wolf's eyes shifted just slightly to see Thomas peering in from the dining hall, yet he didn't enter; his look shifted back to Charmian when she leaned toward him. "He'll set her loose, and then there'll be nothing I can do to help the Island!"
"You defeated Ocryana before," Moon Wolf said. "You could do it again. I know that you could."
Charmian shook her head wildly. "I DIDN'T defeat her the last time! Not on my own! I had Ocryx helping me, and Tal Natha, and Manabozho, and Chepi and Augwak--EVERYBODY ELSE helped defeat her!" She waved her hand, nearly dropping her blanket. "There's no WAY I could get them to do that again! The last I knew, Chepi had knocked Ocryx out, and Tal Natha's suspicious of me, and Manabozho's mad at me, and Augwak was trying to KILL me! If he sets Ocryana free, there'll be NOTHING I can do!"
Moon Wolf's eyes grew hard. "You already forget everything you learned! Take a look at how far you've come already. All of this means absolutely nothing now--? You've only grown stronger since your last time here--you can defeat her with or without their help. All you have to do is believe that you can."
Charmian clenched her fists and the blanket slipped down her shoulder. "That's not what I'm afraid of!" she cried, the shrill panic in her voice silencing him and making Thomas's brow furrow. Tears filled Charmian's eyes and started trickling down her face. "Don't you get it? My reflection! Ogimah-Quae showed me! OCRYANA is my reflection now! It's not HER I have to be afraid of--it's ME!"
Moon Wolf blinked in confusion. "You think that--that you would harm the Island--?" he sputtered in disbelief. "What makes you think you would have it in you to do such a thing, after everything you've done--?"
Charmian yanked the blanket back up before she could drop it, and savagely swept her hand across her eyes. "My REFLECTION makes me think so! Remember what happened the last time! I had to become more like Red Bird! Because Red Bird was a part of me--a part of me I didn't even know existed!" Her chest started hitching. "This is the same thing all over again--only it's OCRYANA this time! She's the part of me I didn't know existed! I'm going to end up hurting the Island no matter what I do because I'm going to become like HER!"
Moon Wolf's brow furrowed. "You are nothing like her!" he insisted. "I know this for myself! The two of you are nothing alike!"
Charmian started crying and wiping her eyes. "I am too like her!" she sobbed. "I'm EXACTLY like her! I've noticed it the whole time I've BEEN here!" She gave him a pleading look. "Haven't you seen it? Everyone's afraid of me! They think I'm a wabano! I can see the look in their eyes when they look at me--they think I'm going to hurt them! Even Singing Cedars was afraid of me!" She gestured toward the windows overlooking the porch. "Tal Natha didn't even want me here! Even you get that look in your eyes!" Moon Wolf quickly averted them and she waved at him. "You see? And remember this?" She sat up straight and clasped the blanket closed, holding up her hand; her spirit stone appeared, glowing fiery orange-red, the tendrils of black now forming ugly jagged cracks which pulsed as the light flared. "Remember now? What if it's not like Geezhigo-Quae said--what if Chakenapok didn't do this to me at all? What if it was inside me all along, and all he did was bring it out--?"
"You know this is not true," Moon Wolf scowled. "Your spirit showed no sign of such things the last time you were here. He did it to you."
Charmian shook her head, scowling herself though the tears still streamed from her eyes. "What if I got this way back on the mainland--after I left? I had almost a year there--anything could've happened! I could've changed!" She dropped her hand and the glow vanished. "Justin tried healing me and it didn't work! He healed himself once, and Tal Natha did too, but they're so much stronger than I am! I don't know anything about healing spirits!" Her face screwed up and she stood up abruptly, lifting her hand; it flared brilliant yellow so Moon Wolf flinched back, ducking his head. When he looked up again she was staring at him accusingly. "See? I thought this was such a good thing but all I do is SCARE people! I never wanted people to be scared of me!" She started crying again. "I just wanted to help! All I keep doing is making things worse--and now what if I hurt the Island--?"
Moon Wolf opened his mouth and a voice said, "That's not the Charmian I know." He shut his mouth abruptly, as he hadn't said the words; he glanced toward Thomas, but Thomas was staring off to the side as well. Charmian turned and blinked. Justin stood in the doorway now, arms crossed and a dark look on his face.
Charmian blinked again. "Justin...?"
"That's not the Charmian I know," he said again, in the same acidy voice, and stepped into the room. "The Charmian I know isn't a coward. She isn't a crybaby, and she certainly isn't afraid of a piddling little spirit stone."
Charmian's brow furrowed in confusion; the looks on Moon Wolf's and Thomas's faces were about the same. "Justin!" Charmian protested, taking a step back and huddling in her blanket.
Justin halted in front of the fire and glared at her. "The Charmian I knew never wasted all of her time whining about herself!" he snapped. "She knew when to be upset, and when to shrug it off and take charge. She would pick herself up and move on. The Charmian I knew took on the demon herself!"
Charmian clenched her free fist. "I'm not like that anymore! I'm weak and I'm bad!"
Justin clenched his own fists and they could have sworn that his eyes flashed. "And she NEVER claimed she was something she was not!" He sliced his hand through the air. "The Charmian I knew had more GUTS than that!"
Charmian bared her teeth. "I said I'm NOT LIKE THAT ANYMORE!!"
Justin's face lit up as if he had just caught on fire, and Charmian gasped. It took her a moment to realize that he hadn't, and she let out her breath and looked down. Her chest was glowing, and the glow had spread down into her fist, which flared even brighter than before. She stared at it as if not certain what it was. She opened her fingers, and they still glowed, her skin feeling warm for the first time that day.
She heard Justin let out his breath, and looked up at him again. The expression on his face had changed; he looked like the old Justin she knew, and his mouth even twitched a little once he saw that she was looking.
"That's the Charmian I know," he said quietly, and her vision of him suddenly blurred.
"But I scare people," she murmured. "This--thing I do--it scares people, and I don't want to use it anymore--"
"You don't have to," Justin said.
"But I don't know how to control it! It just happens!"
"Charmian." Thomas stepped into the room and peered at her around Justin. "Take a look at your hand."
She looked down at her hand again to see that it still glowed. She blinked when she realized that it wasn't fire she was seeing...fire didn't look quite like that. She took in a shaky breath as soon as she recognized what it really was. She opened her fingers again, and the light danced along them, quivering and flaring but holding its place. She stared at it as if mesmerized, before clasping her hand shut and shoving it out of sight beneath the blanket. She shook her head furiously.
"It's just a fluke! I've never been able to control it!"
"You did control it!" Thomas insisted. She glanced up at him and he pointed at the porch. "In the medicine man's wigwam. That Iroquois was right there! He could tell you!"
"But--"
"You controlled it when you were fighting Thomas," Moon Wolf said, and that silenced her. He met her eyes. "You called it up out of anger," he said, "and when you had the chance, you let it die. You chose not to use it. You may not remember...but you did exactly this."
Charmian meekly pulled her hand loose and looked at her fingers again. They were no longer glowing, as the power had died away...yet as she stared at them her eyes watered. She bit her lip.
"But even if I can...it doesn't help me. It doesn't bring back Wabasso and it doesn't fight off Chakenapok. And it doesn't stop what's happening to me." She rubbed at her eyes and sniffled. "There isn't anything I can do about it, without defeating Chakenapok. And I can't do that without Wabasso."
Justin moved to stand in front of her, and knelt down so that he looked up into her face. "You said something to me," he said softly. "A long time ago. You said I had the power to heal myself. I doubted you, but you made me prove you right. And you did the exact same thing with Tal Natha, too."
Charmian shook her head. "But...I really can't heal myself," she protested weakly. "Geezhigo said so. If you're right, the darkness isn't part of me, so I can't heal it. I don't have that power."
He lifted one shoulder. "Did I tell you you had to do it that way? You said it yourself. If you defeat Chakenapok, then you heal yourself. So that's what you do."
"I can't do that without Wabasso!" Charmian exclaimed. "And he's dead!"
He shrugged again. "The Charmian I know wouldn't let something like that stop her."
She looked at him as if he were nuts. "You do realize we're talking about a dead person, don't you--?" she said, before Thomas took another step forward and cocked his head to catch her attention.
"You said you went to the Spirit Land yourself," he said. "And you went to the Spirit Road. All you have to do is do it again."
Charmian opened her mouth to protest but nothing came out. She wiped her eyes and let out a shuddery breath.
"You guys are going to just pound it into me until I give in," she mumbled.
Justin's mouth twitched and he nodded. "Pretty much."
Charmian sighed, feeling utterly stupid; she continued rubbing at her eyes, just to avoid looking at anybody. "I really don't know how I'm going to do this."
"It's just like I said," Thomas said. "If you did it before--"
Something thunked against the roof, and they lifted their heads and looked up, falling silent. After a moment nothing more happened, but then there was a smaller thunking sound, and then another thunk from the other end of the house.
Charmian tensed up. "Is it Augwak--?"
"Not unless he's brought friends," Thomas said. They started moving toward the windows, only to hear another thunk and then a scrabbling noise; Singing Cedars ran along the porch, and flung the door open, ducking inside with his hands over his head and a grimace on his face. He blinked and flushed when he saw them staring at him mystified, and meekly rubbed at his head.
"Things are falling," he said, simply.
Charmian's brow furrowed. They went to peer out of the windows and saw nothing different at first, until another thunking noise came and an icicle collapsed into the yard. They gasped and jerked back a little in surprise when a clump of snow descended to the ground.
Charmian's eyes widened and she pointed. "The trees--! Take a look!"
The others followed suit. Across the yard, the trees' branches were sagging more heavily than ever as the snow upon them slowly melted, gobs of slush falling with loud plunking noises. An icicle hanging from the corner of the porch detached itself and shattered into pieces as it struck the railing.
Justin frowned. "Everything's melting--?"
Charmian's face lit up and she turned to Thomas. "Niskigwun--! He got the spirit stones back!" She started for the door, only for Moon Wolf to leap in front of her, spreading out his arms and blocking her way. The oddly panicked look in his eyes confused her until she noticed that her blanket was starting to slip open, and she let out a cry and snatched it around herself, her face going red. She whirled back toward the others, mortified.
"Aremyclothesreadyyet?!"
Justin winced. "I'll go fetch them...you can change upstairs!"
Charmian nodded hastily, huddling in the blanket and wincing herself. Thomas and Singing Cedars respectfully pretended that they hadn't noticed, though she had to wonder if Moon Wolf had seen anything; he and the Iroquois turned and headed outside while Thomas waited in the parlor, Little Dove reappearing with Charmian's clothing folded in a stack in her arms.
"I dried them as best as I could," she murmured with a slightly unhappy look, and lifted up the sleeve of her coat, "but I'm afraid I burned this one, just a little...you can barely notice it..."
"Oh." Charmian took the clothes and looked them over. "Actually...I don't think I'll be needing that one much longer. Thanks anyway." She hurried upstairs and quickly changed in one of the numerous unoccupied rooms, folding up the blanket and running her hand through her scraggly hair and wishing that she had a hairdryer. Then she grimaced at such a stupid thought and made her way back downstairs with the blanket in tow. She passed it off to Little Dove, grabbed her pack and slipped it on, and joined Thomas at the door.
"You'll try to keep yourself from getting maimed this time--?" Justin prompted as she started to head out.
She made a face and blushed. "Um...I'll try. Though by now, it's kind of obvious how long I can keep that promise..."
Justin gave her a hard look, then sighed and rolled his eyes. "I would be surprised if you showed up without an injury, the next time," he admitted, and she stuck her tongue out at him and went out the door. Thomas followed her down the steps, the other two standing in the yard and watching the snow collapse from the trees. When Charmian's feet hit the snow she could feel how wet and slushy it had become, and had to lift and shake them a few times, unused to the feeling.
"We have to go to Fairy Arch," she urged. "If this snow is any indication, I think Niskigwun might be coming through soon, or else we should go to meet him." She took a step, then paused. "Oh." She turned to look at Singing Cedars. "That's right...you don't really know what's going on, do you."
The Iroquois blinked, then his face went red. He looked as if he wanted to duck into the ground and disappear. "I know enough," he retorted.
"Well..." Charmian rubbed at her neck. "What do you know, then--?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Then scowled. "I know that whoever came up with the idea of setting foot on this Island was an idiot! And all of you are more than welcome to keep it!"
Charmian raised an eyebrow. "Somehow I'm not surprised that you'd say that. Where were you before you caught up with us--?"
"Some strange place with giant deer and lots of angry people," Singing Cedars muttered. Charmian stared at him, then looked to Thomas. Thomas lifted a shoulder.
"I had Mani take him to the grove where the others are. I couldn't think of anything else to do!"
"Black Elk Horn is there, isn't he--?" Charmian made a face. "Ugh...I can't stand thinking about that." She looked at Singing Cedars and noticed the bandage still around his shoulder, then waved at the house. "Maybe you'd be best off here right now."
He looked at her in disbelief, then back at the house; Justin and Little Dove were in the doorway, looking at them in puzzlement. "There?" he huffed, looking as if he would rather eat tree lichen.
"Yes, there," Charmian retorted. She poked his shoulder and he bared his teeth at her, and she waved at the door. "He can take care of that. Remember when I first went in there I was--"
She saw the look on his face changing even as she started to talk, and a second later his nose was just an inch or so from hers; she blinked and felt her ears grow warm, but he merely poked her cheek.
"Gone!" He frowned. "That chief hit you there!"
Charmian nodded impatiently and waved at Justin. "Because of him. Now if you want where the chief hit you to go away, you'll stay here, and keep away from Badin Grove. Black Elk Horn won't take very well to an Iroquois being with his people, no matter how badly you're wounded."
Singing Cedars had already grudgingly turned toward the house. "Would you stop calling me that?" he snapped over his shoulder; she glanced at him and he gave her a foul look. "This Eera-koy! I'm getting tired of you calling me that!"
Charmian blinked. "Uh...you mean, you're not an Iroquois...?"
He turned around again and glared at her. "That is not what we call ourselves! That's what you call us! I'm not an Iroquois! I'm an Onondaga!" He turned back around and stomped toward the house, rubbing at his shoulder as he went. Justin gave Charmian an indescribable look before stepping aside and watching him go in, Little Dove giving their visitor an equally odd look as the door closed. Charmian and the others stood in the snow staring after them.
Charmian rubbed at her head and blushed a little. "Sheesh...I'm still getting used to not using the word Sioux." She turned back to the woods and looked at the slush dripping from the trees in even greater amounts. "Fairy Arch," she reminded herself. "To see what Niskigwun intends to do next." They started walking and her feet kept getting stuck in the mucky snow so she had to stop and kick it away every few steps. "Cripes...I never thought I'd say that I liked the snow better..."
Thomas's mouth twitched. "How about I walk ahead, and pave the way a little bit. At the rate it's going it should all be gone by the time we reach there anyway." Charmian nodded and he started off ahead of them, holding out his hand, palm toward the ground; as they watched, the slushy snow iced over with a hard crust, though it was still rough enough that they could walk without slipping and falling. Charmian and Moon Wolf started to do so, Charmian still rubbing at her arms inside her coat despite the growing warmth, and hoping that Niskigwun would be in the proper shape to speak with them when they should reach him.
No comments:
Post a Comment