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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 193 |
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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.)
BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE SOMETHING STARTED GLOWING and sparkling and humming in the center of the Sky Tree's main room. Cheengwun leapt to his feet from where he'd been dozing near the balcony overlooking the landscape below. It was nightfall and the stars were glittering above, yet the Tree's leaves were as dark as ever, Geezhigo-Quae still absent from where she belonged. He'd tried to stay away as long as he could, busying himself with his duties, but when darkness fell and the Tree hadn't changed, Cheengwun had headed back and resolved to stay there until she should return. He'd apparently fallen asleep, but now he was wide awake, gaping at the strange glowing, humming shape taking form in the middle of the room. Geezhigo-Quae wouldn't appear like that. So what was it? An intruder? He drew his spear from its strap over his back and leveled it at the shape, trying not to shake too hard; he wasn't a fighter, never had been, but if it was for the Sky Mother... The humming noise grew louder, forming into the sound of graceful flutes and tinkling cones. Cheengwun's brow furrowed. The sparkles started scattering to the floor in the shapes of stars and birds which fluttered about twittering before fading away...then an unfamiliar man with graying hair, dressed in dazzling quite deerskins, appeared, making a dramatic bow. "Greetings, O Lady of the Skies! I bring you good tidings and...ah...er." He blinked, finding Cheengwun's spear pointed right in his face. "Wh...wh...who are you?" Cheengwun stammered, trying to hold the spear still. "What are you doing in the Sky Tree?" The stranger blinked, then slowly stood. He placed a finger on the speartip and gently nudged it to the side. "I forgive you for not recognizing the mighty Glooskap when you see him, young man, though you'd do well to work on your greetings! No wonder you're passing the night here all by your lonesome. Maybe try something a little more in my style! Geezhigo-Quae knows me, she'll vouch for me stepping in unannounced..." "Grandmother Geezhigo-Quae is not here right now," Cheengwun said. "In her absence I am keeping watch over the Tree. So again, I'd like to know what it is you're doing here!" Glooskap rolled his eyes. "Well, sheesh. Paying a visit, of course! Seriously, you have to work on your people skills. And what do you mean, she's not here? I kind of figured she was always here...though spirits know I've tried to coax her out now and then..." "She is down below," Cheengwun said; when that resulted in a puzzled look, he forced himself to clarify, since he could tell this was obviously a powerful manitou, even if he was unfamiliar with him. "Down deeper within the Tree. She is preoccupied, and I don't know when she'll be back up. You'd best come again some other time." Glooskap frowned, but offered no argument. Instead he stepped past Cheengwun, who protested and tried to stop him without success; he reached the cabochons set in the wall and placed his hand upon one so that it lit up. Cheengwun couldn't understand it. The Tree normally did such things only for Geezhigo-Quae herself. Glooskap stared intently at this for a moment, then pulled his hand away so the glow faded. "That's odd," he murmured. "Seeking a vision? Kind of figured she's so well off in life she doesn't need any more of 'em." He turned back to Cheengwun. "Ah, that's right. The real reason why I came here..." "I thought you just stopped in to visit!" Cheengwun exclaimed. Another eye roll*. "Well, obviously that's the more important of the two reasons, but a man can multitask, can't he? Seeing as you're apparently in charge here now..." he peered around, as if making certain of this "...as woefully unqualified as you may be...I take it you'll have to tell her. I've been keeping track of what's going on in the west--I assume you have no idea what I'm talking about--" "The mainlander and the others!" Cheengwun gasped, and stepped toward him, fists clenching. "Are they all right? Have they met success yet?" Glooskap raised an eyebrow. "Well then, I stand corrected! I have to admit I'm not sure of everything that's going on, but there've been some developments..." He glanced around, then went to sit down on a niche cut from the wall. "May as well settle myself in! I take it I'm going to have to explain it to her myself after all. Ah, feels good to take a load off..." "Come!" Cheengwun urged, hurrying to stand in front of him again. "Out with it. What's happened? If you don't know what's going on, then what made you come here now?" "Cripes! Can't a manitou rest his feet?" Glooskap threw up his hands. "From what my wall would show me, it looks like most if not all of them are all right. A little soggy and smelly I'm betting, but fine. The mountains they were seeking, on the other hand..." "What of them?" Cheengwun asked, a pensive look coming to his face. "Did they not find them? Are there no mountains there after all?" "Well..." Glooskap rubbed his neck and made a face of his own. "I guess you could say that, now." Charmian's mouth slowly fell open, but all the words had fled her. She and the others, just having climbed from Mishupishu's mouth, stared westward silently. The mountains, Kabeyun's western mountains, were no longer there. At least, they could no longer rightfully be called mountains. In their place were vast piles of shattered stone and rubble as far north and south as the eye could see. The mounds of broken rock were tall enough that they couldn't tell what lay on the other side, but they were nowhere near as tall and imposing as the mountains had been. Charmian suddenly realized what the awful booming noises she'd heard when far underground were...no wonder Mishupishu had slammed into the tunnel wall, and the entrance of his escape had been clogged, if an entire mountain range was collapsing. Nobody spoke at first, everyone being too stunned to speak. It was Lieutenant Barrington who at last broke the silence with, "What...what happened to the mountains?" He glanced left and right, then put a hand to his head. "Did we go through another one of those stupid shortcuts...?" "No..." This from Peepaukawiss; they glanced at him and he fiddled his fingers, eyes wide. "I still get the same feeling I got when we were in Father's main room! These are his mountains! At least...they were..." Winter Born's hands crept up to her mouth. "Charmian," she said in a tiny voice, "remember when I broke Kabebonikka's door*? I didn't do this too, did I...?" Charmian slowly shook her head, trying to drag herself out of the shock that numbed her. "Of course not...of course you didn't. You know how to control your power now, so..." She sucked in a breath. "Manabozho said he was going to move us so he could kill Megissogwun. He moved us...so the mountain wouldn't collapse right on top of us! Underground was the safest place he could put us!" "You mean that oaf broke down the mountains?" Barrington exclaimed in disbelief. "Won't Kabeyun be mad?" Winter Born asked now. "I..." Charmian started to say, then trailed off. Something behind her felt funny. She turned to look at the others, who stared back for a moment; Mishosha wasn't up to anything, so it wasn't him. Yet she'd felt a new charge in the air. Then, suddenly, something shot upwards from the ground so fast that it squealed, and she and those nearest it gasped and jumped back. When she looked up, all she could see was something whirling around so rapidly it was nothing but a blur; then a sharp wind snapped against all of them and they held up their arms to shield their faces. The little spinning thing plummeted and hit the ground so hard that it cracked, making Mishupishu duck back into the water; the blur vanished and Augwak threw up his hands and let out a shrill cackle that seemed to echo from horizon to horizon. "AT LAST! AT LAST! FREE FREE FREEEEEE!!" And he shot upwards again, zooming toward the piles of rubble and bouncing off one boulder after another like a giant green pinball. Every time he zoomed back over the group's heads, they had to duck, icy gusts whipping at them each time. Charmian brushed her hair from her eyes and watched the GeeBee spin and leap and soar about maniacally, screaming with glee. "What--" Thomas had to duck again. "What the heck's gotten into him all of a sudden--?" "Niskigwun!" Charmian cried, making a blowing motion at him. The Michinimakinong nodded and hastily dug in his pouch, pulling out a pipe and a tiny crystal. He put the crystal in the pipe and aimed at Augwak--who was spinning in space now, gangly arms flung out like a ghastly pinwheel--and blew. Charmian waited for the GeeBee to vanish in a puff of wind, but instead he halted and one hand shot up, catching the crystal shard before it could hit him. He grinned from ear to ear, showing off all his teeth, and waved one finger at Niskigwun in a tsk-tsk motion. "Naughty naughty! Trying to do that to me again!* Think I haven't learned a few things, you insignificant speck?" And he hurled the crystal at Pakwa, who blinked and then puffed into oblivion. Niskigwun's and Charmian's eyes goggled, but Augwak seemed far too cheery to be angry; he started doing cartwheels and backflips in the air. "Ah, to be myself again! I missed it but I had no idea how GOOD it feels to have back what's rightfully MINE!" His--? Charmian gasped. "His medicine!" she whispered sharply, and whirled to look at the ruined mountains. "Megissogwun stole it from him--the only reason he's even with us! If he has it back, then--" "He's dead?" Stick-In-The-Dirt said, hesitantly, as if fearing it couldn't be true. "He really is?" "You saw Little Brother's power!" Puka cried, clapping his hands together. "Surely that giant moose is gone and out of our hair for good! Right--?" Charmian didn't dare let her heart start soaring; she looked to Mishosha. "Well?" she snapped. "Think he's gone?" "I can't sense him," the wabano said dryly, "but that hardly means anything. A strong manitou can shield himself. If you think all it takes is a bunch of mountains collapsing to destroy him, then you should go back to your little Island and learn a bit more." Charmian gave him the finger. "Go figure YOU'D be all encouraging about it! Moon Wolf--?" She looked to him next. "What do you think? Little Wind?" She glanced at the younger wabano as well. "What's your manitou say?" "He doesn't sense anything," Little Wind said pensively, looking around at the rubble. "I don't sense anything," Moon Wolf echoed, but he didn't seem convinced. "He's shielded himself before."* "Isn't that all the proof you need?" Thomas asked, pointing at Augwak, who'd resumed his aerial cartwheels and whooping. "Why would he give that idiot's power back unless he absolutely had to, or..." "Or unless he's dead." Charmian started walking toward the rubble. "Megissogwun even said Augwak wouldn't be needing it back* because he planned for all of us to end up dead...he wouldn't give it back willingly." She stopped and put her hand against the nearest boulder, feeling its sharp broken edge. "I think maybe he finally did it," she murmured. There was a whistling sound, then Augwak landed atop the boulder with a crash, making her gasp and jump back. His toenails dug into the stone, chipping it; he clenched his fists and shook them at her. "I'm THROUGH with cowering under your disgusting little thumb, you puny annoying fleshling! I got what I wanted, so that's it, I'm done! No more nice GeeBee! I can't believe how humiliating it is just being forced to be in your company!" He shuddered and made an awful face. "Funny," Charmian retorted. "If that's so then why are you still here talking to me? You could've zipped off without a word ten minutes ago! Or better yet, you could've gnawed my head off. Yet all you seem to want to do is keep on talking. Any excuse for that?" Augwak's face flushed red. "I have better things to do than eat a detestable fungus like you! I bet you taste like frog innards! As it turns out I have bigger things on my mind--like teaching those OTHER ungrateful GeeBees a lesson!" He shook his fist again, teeth gnashing, then shot up into the air. "Fortunately for me I know the way. I can head back on my own. WITHOUT your so-called help!" "Hold on!" Charmian whirled around as he started moving through the air. "I thought you were seeing this through to the end! Don't you go bailing out on us now!!" "Take a look, pathetic fleshling!" Augwak waved at the mounds of rubble. "Don't you rather think this is the end? I felt the moment that giant lunk was killed beneath all that mess! And it felt GOOD, might I add! But right now I have more important matters to tend to. I got what I wanted--that's good enough for me!" There was a puff of wind and he vanished, though his disembodied voice came back to her. "Maybe NEXT time we meet I'll see about gnawing your troublesome head off, since you suggested it! Until then, so long!" Icy wind whipped around them all again, then with a whistling howl, it sped off eastward and faded away. Charmian and several of the others stared after it for a moment. She felt her heart thudding so hard her throat hurt, and couldn't believe how furious she felt, though she knew she shouldn't have been too surprised. After all, wasn't that always what Augwak aimed for, only what he himself wanted...? He has his full power back, she thought. He had every chance to bite my head off, literally, but he refuses! All this stuff about having better things to do just sounds like excuses to me...I don't think he could bite my head off... Noise from the piles of rubble drew her attention and she looked back, anxiety flooding her. Several of the larger boulders toward the middle were glowing as if they'd been heated up; then, something rose from them like the lava flowing upward in a lava lamp, glowing itself. The sight made her grimace, it was so bizarre, until the amorphous shape started to take more definite form and she saw Manabozho standing there. The glow around him died a little; he turned to look their way, seeing them staring back, then started walking. Charmian blinked to notice that he wasn't so much clambering over and around the rubble as he was walking right over and through it, as if the rocks were made of mist. His feet seemed to merge with the stone whenever they met, then pulled loose again with each step, like he and the rocks were one and the same. Charmian was reminded of when she'd learned about amoebas in science class, and had to suppress a shudder. Manabozho at last reached the end of the rubble field and stepped down to the ground, one foot coming free of the nearest rock. He shimmered blue all over, and again when Charmian met his eyes, she couldn't stop staring, they were so dark and deep. She felt the waves of dizziness sweep over her again, then the glow faded and Manabozho's eyes shifted to bright blue, then back to normal. The spell was broken; Charmian shook her head and blinked in confusion. "Is everyone all right?" Manabozho asked. "I..." Charmian glanced at the others, who stared back dumbly; even Mishupishu was peeking out of his hole again. "Yeah," she said at last, turning back to him. "Everyone's fine...are you okay?" she asked, worry overtaking her. She stepped toward him to look him over. "You went all--weird on us! And blew up the frigging mountains! Are you okay? Did you get hurt at all--?" Manabozho's eyes grew a little, as if in genuine surprise, then he straightened and took a step back. "Of course I'm all right!" he snapped, making her look up at him again. "Why wouldn't I be? I told you I'd get rid of him, and I did. It wasn't that difficult at all. In fact I probably overdid it just a little..." he peered back at the rubble, brow furrowing as if he couldn't quite believe it himself "...but what better way to make a point? Why you doubted me, I have no idea." He crossed his arms and stuck his nose up--pure old Manabozho. "Typical of you." Charmian started letting out an odd little eeeeee sound and hopping up and down, making him take another step back, apprehensive. She wanted to throw her arms around him, but Winter Born rushed up to the piles of rubble and started pulling away the smaller stones, those being the only ones she could move. "Hold on! Where's Turtle? She was in the cave! Wasn't she--?" Charmian's heart did a flip and Manabozho's face suddenly went stark white. "Turtle!!" they both cried, and turned to the rubble themselves, Charmian and Winter Born struggling with the smaller stones, Manabozho easily lifting and tossing away a few bigger ones. "Before all of you go losing your minds on us," Mishosha's voice called, "why don't you try using them for just a tiny bit?" Charmian halted before she could throw out her back hefting a heavier stone. "Right! If she's here I'll sense her--" Winter Born stopped, holding a rock in her hands. "But you won't sense her if she's d--" Charmian clapped a hand over her mouth, making her drop the rock on her own foot. "OW!!" she yelled around Charmian's hand. Mishosha gazed skyward and tucked his hands in his sleeves. "That's not what I meant..." "I don't sense her!" Charmian cried. "I do!" Manabozho retorted. They both stopped and looked at each other, confused. "Well--how come you can and I can't?" Charmian asked. "I could sense things before you went all Armageddon on the mountains!" "I have no idea what you're-a-gettin'," Manabozho snapped, "but maybe I'm just better at these things! I know I could feel her before they were destroyed. She was nearby..." He trailed off, brow furrowing. "But not nearby...what does that mean?" Mishosha made an awful noise like he was ready to swallow his own tongue. When Charmian looked at him he let out a gusty sigh. "Gitchi knows what that teacher of yours was teaching you this whole time! You saw it yourself when that little brat first showed up. The cave she was in. Funny how you'd never even noticed it or sensed her earlier if she was here the whole time, isn't it--?" "She wasn't here the whole time!" Charmian shot back, then blinked. "She wasn't!" She looked at the rubble. "That cave she was in--we were wondering how Megissogwun gets around--that's how! He doesn't teleport or anything like that, he uses his cave to get around!" She gestured northward. "It must be like Kabebonikka's mountains--or Glooskap's sea caves--or even the Island! Except instead of just staying in one place but different times, it stays in one time but moves from place to place!" "But it was down in there when the mountains fell!" Winter Born said. "Wouldn't it be crushed, too?" Charmian shook her head. "I doubt it...it's not quite the same as all the stuff around it. I can't explain it properly." She started trying to push at a rock. "The big issue is finding it again. It's probably right where Megissogwun left it, but we might not be able to see it at first..." "It's still here," Manabozho said, sounding relieved. "I told you I can feel her somewhere. That explains why she seems so close yet so far away at once. Where was the last place I saw that thing?" He paused to look around, then hoisted himself atop the nearest boulder. "I think it was right over that way. Yes, I remember that hunk of rock, that was part of the ceiling. It should be as easy as getting into that Whiskey-idiot's* lodge once I find it..." Charmian waved at the others, then she and Winter Born clambered atop the rocks as well. "Why don't you change form again?" she panted as she caught up with Manabozho, who was also clambering. "You made everything look so effortless then." "I'm tempted," he muttered, shoving a smaller boulder aside, "but you have no idea how hard that was! I didn't even know I could do that." His brow furrowed again and he glanced at her. "You said I 'went all weird.' What exactly did I do...?" It was Charmian's turn to look perplexed. "You mean you don't remember--?" "Well--" He shrugged, kicked aside another rock. "I remember the important parts! And I remember you kind of staring at me all funny." He frowned and looked at her again, making her blush and turn away. "And I remember rock...lots of rock..." Another kick. "But aside from that...I just know I was..." He trailed off and peered skyward. "Angry isn't the right word. What's that odd word you use? 'Pissed.' I think maybe that's the one." He grimaced. "And then my HEAD just hurt! Like somebody filled it with these boulders. Ugh. I hope I don't have to do that again any time soon." He stopped. "I think this is the area. It's hidden, but there must be a way to get to it. Can't that bat of yours find anything...?" "I doubt it," Charmian said, but tried anyway. "Well, seeing as it just takes you getting supremely pissed off to bring that out, I'll remember to try to stay on your GOOD side! Or your semi-good side. Such as it is. Hey, I think I do sense something around here!" She paused and let her net spread out. "I'm not sure what it is since it's pretty weak...and I don't think I've ever sensed somebody in a different dimension before, but maybe that cave works differently. I think you'll have better luck if you just bother poking around some. Come on, get your hands dirty." "Ingrate," Manabozho grumbled, nudging aside some rocks. "At least I left a pretty big mess," he said; when she gave him an inquiring look, he shrugged loftily. "The least I could do after being stood up like that. If he doesn't want to come to his mountains, then why bother having any." Charmian's mouth twitched. "Well...you said it, not me. Wish I could've gotten a look at all the decorations for myself before you blew it all up, though." "It was nothing that fantastic. Puka could do a better job." He stooped and picked up a boulder, hefting it up over his head as if showing off. "On the other hand--" Cracking noises started coming from behind him and he lowered the rock, turning his head; Charmian leaned sideways to look as well. She wondered if Turtle's hidden cave might show itself when some of the boulders some distance away started trembling and then rising as something slowly pushed up beneath them; but then they cascaded away even more rapidly when whatever was rising jerked upright, and then Charmian found herself staring into eyes flaring like blue coals. The rocks fell from her and Manabozho's hands when Megissogwun shakily stood, bits of rock and dust still falling from him, bruises and gashes lining his arms and legs and torso, his necklaces and feathers tattered and mangled. His arms hung somewhat at his sides and his chest heaved for breath so Charmian could tell he was weak and in pain--yet his eyes were as bright as anything, and his lips were curled back in the most enraged snarl she'd ever seen. Tendrils of power slowly drifted up from him like wisps of steam--nowhere near what he'd had previously, but she could tell it was bad enough. The three of them stood there for a stupefied moment, staring at each other; Charmian couldn't tell if Megissogwun's gasping was more from exhaustion or rage. She got her answer when she saw his hands slowly curl into fists, and Manabozho tensed, taking a step to the side to block her. He suddenly threw up his own hands just as a burst of power glowed around him, but Megissogwun had already flung his own hand outward; an instant later Charmian heard a horrific roaring, then Manabozho slammed into her and they both flew backwards, landing in the rocks. She gasped and bit her tongue to feel her elbows jar on the stone, one of the rough edges slicing her leg, but it was even harder just to breathe--it took her a moment to realize that this was because Manabozho was lying atop her. She grasped his arm when he groaned and lifted his head, shaking it dizzily. "Are...are you all right?" he asked, wincing. "Yeah," Charmian whispered. "I think so, but--look out!!" Manabozho spun himself around, a blue shimmer passing over him--then Charmian screamed when Megissogwun's hand went right through his chest and out his back. |