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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 160 |
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(DISCLAIMER: This part, and all parts hereafter, are works in progress (WIPs) and have not been proofread or checked for plot inconsistencies. I've decided to present them "as is" for now, as there is a significant amount of unfinished material; yet this story has been on hiatus for a long while, I've forgotten certain details, and I have no plans to resume work on it any time soon. Please keep in mind while reading that details may change in the future. Should you spot an inconsistency, however, please feel free to point it out to me for possible correction.)
WIGGLE ROOM THE CLOUDS HUNG unnaturally low over Manitou Island, and seemed to be hovering in place, flashing and rumbling now and then although so far no worse storm had appeared. Tal Natha cast tense looks at them every so often. He glanced back at one mass of cloud which was following him across the Island in vaguely birdlike form, and found that he disliked that even more. He looked around for a decent spot to land in and descended until he landed in a small clearing along the East Bluff and waited for the cloud to do the same. When it sank down over the swaying grass, it glowed brighter and shrank somewhat until it had changed into Ishkode-Aanakwad, who dusted himself off as if merely being here offended him somewhat. Tal Natha bit down his irritation and turned to head south. Perhaps you can ask the rest of your men to wait out over the lake a little, he suggested. Their presence might be upsetting the residents of this Island. Ishkode blinked, then flushed. He looked upward and opened his mouth but Tal Natha couldn't hear whatever came out, if anything. A moment later, though, the clouds were shifting eastward out over the lake, revealing stars here and there. Tal Natha slipped into the trees and the Animiki followed along on an adjacent pathway. You might also consider traveling about in the form you bear now, the demon said, as your other form might startle people. "And yours might not?" Ishkode asked. Tal Natha halted and glared at him so venomously that he shrank back a little. "Well...you mean that it doesn't?" he said after a moment, and Tal Natha realized with some surprise that the question had been sincere. He furrowed his brow and tried to remember what little he'd heard about Animiki in the past. Supposedly they could be rather full of themselves, and insensitive to the situations of others; he figured that much had been amply proven, at least. He took a breath and let it out to try to ease his annoyance, and resumed walking through the trees, Ishkode keeping pace. It does, he answered at last. Which is why Ocryxes do not travel amongst humans that much, if they can help it. "How many of you are there?" There are so far eight* of us who keep this form, though one is locked away beneath the Island. "From the stories we are told when we are little, the wolf demons were not originally inhabitants of this Island. I wonder how it is that you became both its Guardian and its Dreamspinner, if you did not truly belong here." I was born here, Tal Natha said curtly, and this is all that matters. Gitchi Manitou created all of us. He looked at Ishkode directly. While we are being blunt, I should tell you that here on the Island, we also believe in a thing called "tact," and your people would be wise to learn of it. Especially if you do not wish to go making enemies of everyone you question. "Tact--?" Ishkode echoed, then the meaning of Tal Natha's words dawned on him and he flushed again. "I apologize," he said after a long moment. "Things among my people are much different, and we do not believe in mincing words. We are taught from the egg to always be honest, and to avoid superfluous speech." He made a slight face. "Though it sounds like Little Brother Kenu could relearn that lesson somewhat..." Kenu--? "He is one of our number who is currently traveling with your companions in the north. He was the reason why we found them in the first place. His grandfather, a close friend of ours, was killed in a fight with the Lynxes and Kenu has vowed to assist in the defeat of the Pearl Feather who commands them. And so now he travels with humans to achieve this goal, and from the looks of it he has made friends with them himself." Tal Natha felt his irritation fade away. Not too far along this way, he said, earning a look. There is a cave with another of my kind in it. There is a bigger more expansive cave upon the other shore, but she should be more willing to help than the demon of that other cave should be. She earlier was complaining of what might have been Mishupishus attempting to gain access to the Island, but that was quite a while ago and nothing seems to have happened since. Ishkode looked at the trees for a moment. "And so this is genuinely the Turtle Island upon which once resided the Sky Mother...?" he asked after a few moments. Tal Natha nodded. This is what I have heard, at least. That was long before my time. "I was told there were Michinimakinong here." They dwell through a formation known as the "Fairy Arch." I have only ever seen one of them come out upon the Island. Tal Natha looked at him curiously and Ishkode offered a stiff shrug. "The Michinimakinong are considered a sacred people among us," he explained. "As beings created expressly by the Sky Mother to inhabit the new Island that was made to replace the old. Their name even makes it clear that they were meant to be the Island's chosen inhabitants. Before meeting the one in your friends' company, I had not even known that they still existed." They were driven from the Island long before I was born, Tal Natha said. But they are still around. He swayed his tail pensively. You have information about the Pearl Feather, then...? he asked, but all that Ishkode could do was shrug again. "Not much more than what your friends already know," he said, evidently a bit frustrated himself. "But be assured that it has always been the Animiki's duty to protect the Turtle Island. The Pearl Feather was defeated before; he can surely be defeated again." It was the West Wind who defeated him before, from what I hear, Tal Natha interjected, and also from what I hear, he is not too willing to assist again. They both fell silent at this, until the cave opening set low in the ground emerged, and Tal Natha directed Ishkode toward it. The Animiki leaned forward to peer within before giving Tal Natha a skeptical look. "We are used to seeking out Lynxes from the air," he said, and Tal Natha could sense his tension. He pointed with his nose at the cave. I give you my word it is harmless down there, if not the most pleasant for an Animiki. We are used to living in caves. We keep them clean and safe. Khiieta has a pup to take care of, and so she does doubly so. Ishkode got an odd look, but then let out a weary-sounding sigh. He awkwardly sat down on the lip of the cave mouth, legs dangling down inside, then pushed himself off. A startled yelp made Tal Natha cock an ear, and then a faint splash followed it. He forced away any amusement he might have felt, and jumped in himself, flapping his wings as much as he could to break his fall. Below, Ishkode was already out of the pool and standing in a side tunnel, dripping wet and looking quite peeved. He jumped a little when growling noises came, and Khiieta and Tiiku appeared from another tunnel, the pup bristling and snarling. Tal Natha mentally explained what they were doing there, at which the female demon gently nudged Tiiku back into the tunnel and splashed through the pool to brush her way past Ishkode. She was so big that he was practically forced against the cave wall for a moment, and the look of disgust and fright that he got on his face was almost comical. Tal Natha made sure to give him plenty of room to follow her as they made their way down the tunnel to the long cave that lay beyond. "See?" Khiieta said, pointing her nose at the crack in the wall as Ishkode stooped before it and ran his fingers over the jagged edge. "It appeared around the same time that GeeBee was attacked--they say that big manitou did that! The one who sends the strange water-Lynx things! I did a little asking around and I hear that there haven't been Lynxes around here in ages!" She shifted from foot to foot, tail swaying. "Ooohhh! X'aaru and I worked so hard on this cave. And we love this Island so much! Please say these Lynx things aren't going to ruin it...?" Do you sense any nearby...? Tal Natha asked. Ishkode frowned in thought. "I don't know," he admitted after a moment, and when Tal Natha frowned as well he looked at him over his shoulder, face pensive. "I was not lying or exaggerating when I spoke of how acutely we can sense such beings," he said. "This is what bothers me. Either I should sense a Lynx here, or I should not. Instead...I sense that one might be here...or might not." His perplexed look grew. "And this makes no sense to me. Lynxes have no natural ability to shield themselves from others, especially from us." Could they do so if assisted? Perhaps by this Pearl Feather? "Shielding them doesn't sound like something he would do, else he would have done it the first time." Ishkode paused. "I sensed other beings who were following your friends in the north. Two wabanos, and some manitous. A wabano, perhaps, might be powerful and motivated enough to help a Lynx shield itself." You believe he is the one then who sent them here...? "This is the only thing that sounds reasonable." He leaned so far toward the crack, putting his eye up to it, that Khiieta fidgeted nervously until he pulled away. "There is more damage elsewhere?" he asked, and they nodded. "Where is the worst of it? If you know?" He waited a bit impatiently while the two demons turned to silently converse with each other, occasionally gesturing with their noses or flicking their ears. After a moment or two of this they both turned back to him. Until now I had thought that the worst of the cracks was beneath the Devil's Lake, near the west shore, Tal Natha said, but Khiieta says she was told that an even bigger opening had been sensed further to the north, beneath a spring we know as Croghan Water. "I may be led to this Croghan Water?" Of course. Tal Natha's ear tilted to the side. Though I should warn you that there is a spirit there who is...rather odd. Ishkode stood up and brushed the dampness from his hands with a sour look. "I am rather used to odd spirits by now," he said a bit shortly, and started following the demon when he turned for another tunnel. Perhaps, Tal Natha replied as they exited the cave, but you have not met Chakenapok. Khiieta had to occasionally give Tal Natha mental directions on which way to go, as he wasn't familiar with this part of the tunnel and cave system beneath the Island. He furtively glanced at Ishkode now and then to see the miserable look upon the Animiki's face, and wondered if he felt homesick at all. After a long while of walking, however, he started to stand up a little straighter and focus his attention on the tunnel ahead, looking puzzled and even craning his neck as if looking for something. Tal Natha felt it as well. "I sense something," Ishkode said at last. "But it doesn't feel like anything else I've ever sensed." Chakenapok is a lost spirit, Tal Natha said, so perhaps this is why he feels different. He is not quite dead, but he is not alive either. Ishkode's frown returned. "And you often visit with such a being--?" Not often, but he has proven useful so far. He decided not to bother explaining Chakenapok's past history with the Island, and fell silent as the sound of dripping water came from the distance. Ishkode grimaced and rubbed his arms. "Water! No wonder the Lynxes have sought out this place...hideous." Tal Natha ignored the insult and sniffed at the humid air. He made sure his presence was noticeable, and within moments little blue dots began appearing in tunnels off to the sides. Ishkode shrank away from them and began to give off a faint crackle of electricity, but the Shadow Wolves vanished as quickly as they had appeared. They are harmless, Tal Natha said without looking back. They are the true first inhabitants of this Island, the old manitous, whom it is best to respect. The tunnel opened wider and spread out into a huge cave ahead of them, and Tal Natha peered around as he stepped out near the shore of a vast underground lake. He padded his way along this in the direction that he best sensed Chakenapok in, Ishkode reluctantly following. When orange flames appeared out of nowhere, Tal Natha started a bit but quickly calmed himself; Ishkode was another story. He let out a gasp and sparks began snapping around him so violently that the demon edged away lest one catch his fur on fire. That is Chakenapok, he said a bit peevishly, and Ishkode managed to calm himself as the fire died slowly away and left Chakenapok standing and staring at them both. He gave Ishkode an odd frown before turning back to Tal Natha. "An Animiki? Underground?" he said. We were informed of a large crack having opened down here recently, Tal Natha said. Ishkode-Aanakwad here wishes to examine it for any traces of the Underwater Lynxes. Chakenapok's frown grew. "You were with the mainlander's company," he said. Ishkode gave Tal Natha an inquiring look. This is his name for the fire-haired one, Tal Natha explained to him, and Ishkode gave a curt nod. "I was sent south by her to ask after the Turtle Island and seek out any Mishupishus that might try assailing it," he said. Chakenapok stared at him for a moment or two, then held up one hand. Ishkode gasped again and jerked back when a glow appeared at his chest. Tal Natha cocked his head to the side curiously when the image of his spirit stone emerged, flaring brilliant deep red with an occasional swirl of bright yellow. Chakenapok lowered his hand and the glow faded away, though Ishkode was again sparking angrily, his eyes glowing yellow. "WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?" he bellowed so loudly that the cave walls shook, and somewhere in the distance a stone or stalactite fell loose and plunged into the lake. Both Chakenapok and Tal Natha winced. "Seeing if you are worth talking to," Chakenapok replied, and turned to address Tal Natha before Ishkode could get another word in. "If you seek Lynxes, there hasn't been any activity from any since the first incidents. My Wolves only just found this opening not long ago, but it doesn't seem any fresher than the rest. No one has reported any more destruction." Do you sense any Lynxes? Tal Natha asked. Chakenapok's brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to answer, but Tal Natha's eyes shifted surreptitiously toward Ishkode and then back. Chakenapok hesitated, then scowled a little. "No, I have not. But seeing as I've never run into any Lynxes before now, perhaps I couldn't be sure." "Lead me to this crack," Ishkode ordered; this time Chakenapok gave Tal Natha a very livid glare, but turned and stormed off toward the further cave wall. The other two followed, several Shadow Wolves trailing them at a distance. Chakenapok held his hand aloft, flames flickering over his fingers and illuminating the dank tunnel as they walked. No sounds came but the endless dripping and the noise of their footfalls; Ishkode leaned forward and tapped Tal Natha's tail almost hard enough to hurt, and whispered loudly, "How is it that all of you have fallen in league with a lost spirit--? Is there any particular reason why he is lost--?" Tal Natha didn't get the chance to answer, not that he had any idea what to say anyway. "The mainlander and her friends killed me," Chakenapok said without turning around, "and since I had already died and been turned away from the Spirit Road before then, I couldn't exactly head back." He stepped out into a smallish cave and gestured toward the far wall. "The crack is through there." Ishkode had a very odd look on his face following Chakenapok's brief explanation, but stepped into the cave anyway, Tal Natha staying in the tunnel as space was so little. In the far wall yawned another cave, so low and narrow that one couldn't enter without crawling inside almost on their belly; when it became clear that this was exactly what Ishkode would have to do if he wanted to see the crack, he made an awful face but put his hands on the rim and pulled himself inside. Chakenapok and Tal Natha watched curiously as he wriggled over the lumpy breccia, muttering to himself whenever a drop of water spattered against him. "The Wolves were examining the smaller and further caves which I normally don't visit much," Chakenapok explained to Tal Natha, "when one of them found this. I would never have noticed it otherwise. I tell the truth when I say I haven't sensed any Lynxes. I did sense something odd when they first appeared, but nothing since then." He believes that perhaps some sort of medicine is shielding them from us, Tal Natha explained. Do you believe the wabanos who are pursuing Charmian's company could do such a thing? Chakenapok frowned. "I couldn't put it past them. From what I've been able to sense of what's going on, they've been trying everything they know to keep the mainlander and the others from reaching the west. What would be their interest in sending more Lynxes after the Island just yet, though? I thought the Pearl Feather was the one who vowed to destroy the Island, and that only after the mainlander has failed." She will not fail, Tal Natha blurted out. Chakenapok furrowed his brow. "I never meant to imply that she would," he said, somewhat carefully, and the demon blushed a little, averting his eyes. "You mean that the plans to destroy the Island have then changed?" I do not know, Tal Natha said, just as Ishkode's voice came from very far within the narrow cave. "I think--" there was a loud dripping noise and an irritated sputter "--I think that I've found it. There's some sort of crevice in the floor of this cave--such as it is!" Can you determine how deep it is...? Or if it was caused by a Lynx at all? Tal Natha asked. "I'm feeling around in it right now." The other two listened as Ishkode muttered to himself in a disgusted tone. "My hand can't reach the bottom of it," he called back at last. "But there is a faint reek of Lynx back in here. The sides of this opening are sharp--it isn't an old one or this detestable water would have worn it down." After a pause he added, "I'm going to see if I can fit inside it." Chakenapok and Tal Natha both blinked, then glanced at each other in surprise. A moment later the demon jumped when Chakenapok vanished in a plume of fire, the small remainder of which sailed toward the cave and flitted inside like a wabano's fireball. Perplexed, Tal Natha hurried into the bigger cave and stuck his head into the opening, watching Chakenapok fade into the distance and vanish behind an outcropping jutting up from the cave's lumpy floor. Then he just wagged his tail in consternation, looking around at the cave sides and wishing that he could somehow squeeze himself in even though he didn't really wish to. Far back in the cave, where the ceiling came so low that Ishkode was at last forced to press himself as flat as he could and keep his head practically to the floor, the crevice yawned just wide enough for an adult to slip through, though possibly with some scrapes and bruises. The Animiki was still feeling around in it with his hand and looking quite irked when Chakenapok drifted back to join him. The flickering fireball earned an odd look before Ishkode peered into the crack again. "I still cannot tell whether there is a Lynx currently present or not," he groused, "and this irritates me no end!" Do you seriously think it's such a wise idea to head in there on your own? Chakenapok-Fireball asked. If there is a Lynx present--what would prevent it from killing you? Ishkode attempted to puff himself up, then just growled when he found that that was impossible. "I've killed scores of Lynxes in my many campaigns! One alone is simple enough to take on." And without allowing any further argument, he wriggled forward and slipped headfirst into the crack. "What is going on--?" Tal Natha called from back in the bigger cave. Chakenapok-Fireball flickered in annoyance. Apparently, the Animiki's suicide! he returned, and drifted down into the crack after Ishkode. The Animiki was pretty intent on struggling through the narrow crevice, so Chakenapok didn't voice any further misgivings, instead keeping his eye--figuratively speaking--on the opening ahead, as well as lighting the way, since Ishkode didn't seem to have any way to do this. Every so often Ishkode let out an irritated hiss when he scraped an elbow or a knee, until a noise from ahead made him halt abruptly. The two of them fell silent, both to listen to it and to take note of exactly where they were. It took Ishkode a moment to realize, after looking at the way that his hair and necklaces were swinging, that he wasn't so much crawling along on his belly as he was practically clinging to the wall upside down. Only the crack's narrowness and many foot- and handholds were keeping him from plunging downward. "We're heading down," he said aloud, needlessly. He shifted an arm. "Straight down! And what's that noise--? More water? Just when I thought this place was finally drying out a bit..." That's not the same sound as inside my caves, Chakenapok said. "Then what is it--?" Ishkode snapped, and scowled when Chakenapok drifted down into the darkness below, lighting it up. Ishkode fell silent to listen better to the noises, and after another moment or so understanding dawned on his face. "It sounds like waves," he murmured, and crawled down a little further. The tunnel/crack began to level out somewhat until he was climbing down at an angle, but he could see ahead that it must plunge straight down again, and it was from here that the sloshing noise of water was coming. It had an odd rhythm to it, and he wriggled to the edge and peered down into what looked like a small bottomless pool of water. Chakenapok hovered over it for a moment before descending until he nearly touched it, and the two of them could see how the fire lit the water up in a shade of deep green. "Is that what I think it is...?" Ishkode asked in a subdued voice. Chakenapok-Fireball flickered. Odawa-Gami, he said, seeming just as surprised as Ishkode felt. We've climbed right down to the lake. "This lake then goes under the Island as well--?" Ishkode stuck his hand in the water and swirled it around as if to make sure that it was real. "What sort of Island is this then?" The legends say it's a giant turtle. Chakenapok moved slowly over the surface of the rippling water. None of the tunnels I've been in so far, though, lead straight into the lake. Supposedly there is one branching away from the cave of the Weavers, but I've never seen it, and that's always been there. I've explored this cave as best as I could and had my Wolves do the rest and never did they mention seeing this before now! "If I were better at swimming," Ishkode muttered, still swirling the water, "then I would plunge right in myself." He looked up at Chakenapok somewhat skeptically. "If you were to go down, would you fizzle out or anything--?" No, I would not, Chakenapok replied curtly, but neither am I going down there. This was YOUR foolish plan, not mine--so whatever you want to do next, you have to do it yourself! Ishkode scowled again. "Useless spirit," he grumbled, and ignored the ugly color which Chakenapok-Fireball turned in response. He craned his neck forward, then wriggled down a bit more. "Perhaps if the Lynxes have left some sign of their being here," he said half to himself, "I can determine which way they're headed, and figure out from there how best to defeat them..." Chakenapok suppressed a sigh and hovered above the waterhole as the Animiki hooked his feet around some small knobs of rock and edged his way as close to the surface as he could. He managed at last to hang half in, half out of the tunnel, and with a great breath plunged his head under the water. A bubble or two rose to the surface as Chakenapok waited, feeling quite peeved at having gone along with this. "Now what's happening...?" Tal Natha's voice came very faint from beyond the tunnel. Chakenapok didn't bother answering him this time. Instead he waited while Ishkode peered around under the water, every so often having to plunge his hand in to sweep his hair from his face. After a few moments he fell still as if examining something, then tensed, then drew his head out abruptly with a noisy splash. He gasped and sputtered, hair and feathers sopping wet. Well...? Chakenapok said, but flickered in surprise when Ishkode frantically began trying to turn himself around in the tunnel to head back to the cave. He at last managed to do so, only to slip and plunge back into the water up to his waist, clinging onto the rocky edge. He let out a very undignified squawk and began scrabbling at the stone, feet paddling furiously. What is it--? Chakenapok asked, perplexed. Ishkode opened his mouth to try to answer, only he didn't get to. Chakenapok spotted the roiling in the water--not caused by Ishkode's paddling--and flared in alarm. He darted down to the water's surface and saw two great luminous yellow-green spheres coming straight up toward them, a long, black, sinuous shape just barely visible beyond them. I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T SENSE ANY!! he exclaimed, practically bristling with sparks. Ishkode was equally bristling with sparks as he clambered away up the crevice. "I said I COULDN'T sense any!!" He managed to cast a glance over his shoulder. "I can defeat it--but only from a higher vantage point! Down here--my power is useless!!" Chakenapok would have ground his teeth had he had any. I'll keep it busy, he said. Until YOU get where you need to go! But whatever you do, make it QUICK! Ishkode turned and began scrambling again, vanishing from sight. Chakenapok dimmed himself until the Mishupishu's muzzle poked up out of the waterhole, then promptly flared up again and landed on the space between its nostrils. The Lynx let out a startled snarl and disappeared back under the water, shaking its head painfully. Every time it tried poking out a whisker or an eye he would land on it again until it was swimming around madly, teeth bared and eyes flashing with hate. Chakenapok could sense its baleful thoughts, but that still didn't quite prepare him for what happened next, probably because the Lynx hadn't really been planning it anyway. The strange noises from deep in the narrow cave had made Tal Natha nervous, and he was accordingly pacing back and forth, tail swaying and ears folded back. He turned quickly when Ishkode crawled out and stumbled to keep his balance, dripping wet and gasping for breath. He swept his wet hair from his eyes, which were wide and yellow. What is it? Tal Natha demanded, taking a step toward him. Is there a Lynx after all--? "It's beneath the Island," Ishkode coughed. "Just a medium-sized one. I can easily kill it, but I'd have to do so from the lake or else I would end up blasting half of this Island itself apart. Hopefully that fireball-thing is leading it out into Odawa-Gami by now--" Tal Natha's ears shot upright. Ishkode frowned and turned to see the fireball come sailing out of the cave. It grew and shifted until Chakenapok was left standing where it had been, and his eyes were just as wide and yellow as Ishkode's had been. He pointed back at the cave, voice wheezing. "It's--" A horrific CRUNCH cut him off, and the three of them stumbled and staggered when the entire cave shook. Howls rang in the distance, and the noise of bits of rock falling loose here and there could be heard. Ishkode and Tal Natha blanched, when the CRUNCH noise and the shaking came again, and water spurted and began sloshing out of the cave and spattering against the floor. Chakenapok bared his teeth. "It's coming! Straight through!" |