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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 194 |
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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.)
BACKUP PLAN "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. She saw Manabozho's spine stiffen, Megissogwun's fingers crooked just inches from her face, but, bizarrely, there was no blood upon them. She had enough time to blink, noticing the blue glow still rippling over both Manabozho and Megissogwun, and a split-second memory of seeing Manabozho passing like mist through the rubble flitted through her head. Then she saw something in Megissogwun's outspread hand and her heart clenched in her chest. Without thinking, she lunged upward and grabbed onto Megissogwun's hand as hard as she could. Winter Born was nearest them but some distance back closer to the others; Charmian dimly heard her gasp, saw her eyes go wide, saw everyone else's eyes go wide in disbelief. Megissogwun started to pull his arm back through Manabozho's chest--Manabozho simply stood between the two of them like a butterfly stuck on a pin--but Charmian refused to let go. She knew she stood no chance of keeping hold of him, so did the next best thing, and sank her teeth into his finger. She gnawed and bit as hard as she could until she felt his fingers go loose, and only then did she release him, and he pulled away. She collapsed back into the rubble; Manabozho swayed, then fell against her with a thud, knocking the breath from her again. She had to push him sideways a bit as he was totally limp; Megissogwun still stood where they'd left him, blood and dust mingling on his arms and legs and blue fire smoldering in his eyes, but he didn't attack them again. Instead he stared at them with his teeth bared, his shoulders hunched slightly forward and his breath rasping in his throat. "Our deal," Megissogwun grated, his words coming out harsh and exhausted, "is completed." He slowly drew his bitten hand toward himself and Charmian saw the wince that flickered across his face; blood was pooling around his feet and she could see his medicine wavering. He lifted his hand skyward, then cast it down toward the ground; she clutched at Manabozho but no attack hit them. Instead, she thought she felt something rumble deep in the earth, then Mishupishu raised his head from the tunnel entrance beyond the rubble field and let out a terrible shrilling noise before vanishing again. Charmian winced herself, expecting something more, yet all that Megissogwun did was turn himself about and start limping through the rocks. He stopped and put his hand out against thin air; it rippled as if with heat, and then Charmian realized what it was. His traveling cave! With Turtle! "Manabozho!" she hissed in his ear, then, realizing that he wouldn't wake up, started trying to get to her feet. Megissogwun had already stepped within the shimmering mass of air, however, and vanished from sight. She tried throwing out her net even as she shoved Manabozho aside and staggered up, gasping for breath. "Puka!" She jerked her hand and Peepaukawiss came running, leaping over the boulders effortlessly. He reached them and dropped to his knees beside Manabozho, wringing his hands and whimpering. "Baby Brother!" Charmian pressed what she was holding into his hands as the others started drawing nearer. Puka's whimpering grew when he saw the little glowing amber-colored stone that he held. "Put it to his chest and hold it there," Charmian ordered, taking his hands and pressing them to Manabozho's chest, and they started glowing. She whirled toward the others next, several of them having made their way almost to her group by now. "Little Wind!" she shouted. "Can you sense him?" Little Wind hurled his fireball up into the air as if he were tossing a shot put. It sailed up over their heads, slowed to a stop for a few seconds, then came zooming back down into his hands. "He's leaving!" Little Wind exclaimed. "He's pulling further away. Heading east. He's not even trying to hide himself!" "He has no reason to," Charmian said, glancing at Puka and Manabozho--the glow had disappeared with Manabozho's spirit stone, and his eyes had gone shut and the color had returned to his face, but he was still unconscious. She started making her way back out of the rubble field, ignoring the questioning looks that Thomas and several of the others cast her. She tripped and stumbled on the way out, catching herself with her hands and jogging toward the small opening in the ground. Kenu crouched beside it on hands and knees, staring downward; when she drew close he lifted his head, eyes wide and worried. "Something's wrong with Mishupishu! He won't come back out!" Charmian dropped down beside the hole as well. Water still sloshed around in it, and she could see Mishupishu's eyes glowing up at her, but he kept his head submerged. She put her hand down in the water to touch him. "Mishu? What is it? What just happened?" Bubbles escaped the Lynx's nose. He tentatively inched upward so only the front of his mouth came clear of the water. "Awful...awful!" he whispered harshly, terror in his eyes. Charmian rubbed his face and Kenu reached in to touch him as well. "What was it?" she asked again, trying to calm him. Mishupishu's eyes darted wildly from side to side. "He's calling them," he hissed. "The noise deep in the earth! The Lynxes! I can feel them moving...scores of them...hundreds of them...thousands! All moving! So many Lynxes!" He retreated again, and this time refused to come back out, even when Kenu splashed at him. Charmian got to her feet, the others coming her way. "What is it?" Thomas asked, brow furrowing. "I thought it was all good and done with!" "No," Singing Cedars said; when Thomas looked at him he did nothing but stare at Charmian. "It's not done with," he said. "I can tell just by looking at her." "What became of him?" Moon Wolf asked. "When he disappeared like that--" "He seemed so beaten!" Baptiste exclaimed. "I mean, when a mountain falls atop you--what on earth does it take--?" Something stronger than that, Charmian thought, but left it unspoken. "Mani! Get Manabozho!" she shouted; the manitou whistled and obliged, letting Puka help him atop his back. She started walking, then started jogging; Winter Born joined her, but then something landed in front of them, cutting them off. Niskigwun held up his arms to stop them; Moon Wolf and Stick-In-The-Dirt appeared, panting already. "What's going on?" Moon Wolf demanded. "We have to go east!" Charmian insisted, trying to dodge her way around Niskigwun. When he refused to let her past, she turned to the medicine men. "He returned to his traveling cave. He's calling the Lynxes. He just said our deal is completed. He's going back to destroy the Island!" Stick-In-The-Dirt's face went pale. "You plan to cut him off or stop him?" Moon Wolf snapped. "If that didn't just kill him, then what makes you think YOU stand any chance--?" "I'll think of something!" She wrenched Niskigwun's arm aside, though he wasn't trying very hard anymore, her news shocked him so much. She started jogging. "But I'll do it while we move! Back EAST!" What can I think of? she quailed as she went, hearing noises of movement behind her. If that didn't stop him, then what can I possibly think of that will...? I don't CARE if I can't think of anything! Doing ANYTHING is better than doing nothing! I beat Ocryana--I helped beat Chakenapok--there has to be a way to beat THIS! She forced herself to stop thinking, as the logical part of her brain--the part that knew she had no more ideas, that knew she stood no chance after how Manabozho had failed--was starting to win out. "How do we beat him back east?" Thomas asked, catching up with her and also panting hard. "If he has the means to travel now like we know he does--" "He's weak," Charmian said, just as Little Wind spoke up. "He's not moving very quickly. My fireball can still sense him." "I don't know that he's got it in him after all that to move fast," Charmian added. "Manabozho didn't defeat him--but he weakened him. He gave us a chance, at least. If we can find a way to beat him back there..." Little Wind abruptly halted, nearly falling over, letting out a startled cry; Charmian did the same, jerking to a stop so fast that she too almost fell. She expected to see that something had happened to him, but he merely grabbed his fireball when it came down and clasped it tightly, eyes going wide. "He stopped!!" Instantly everyone was looking around as if to see him. Charmian's net easily picked him up--he was far away, yet not hugely far away--but as Little Wind had said, he was no longer moving. "Is he dead?" Lieutenant Barrington asked. Charmian shook her head. "If he were, we wouldn't sense him. Why would he just stop? Is he going to come back?" She looked to Little Wind, but he was staring at something else. She turned to look in that direction and spotted Mishosha staring back at them, hands in his sleeves. "Something distracting you?" he asked in that neutral voice. Charmian glanced at Little Wind but the look on his face remained the same. "What are you doing?" she asked the older wabano suspiciously. "The blood he took,"* Little Wind murmured; when Charmian clenched her fists, Mishosha removed one hand from his sleeve and sighed. Charmian's heart skipped a beat on seeing the doll he held, and she lifted her hand so flames appeared. "What are you doing? If you even THINK about calling him back here--" "As much as I hate to say it, that giant dullard's medicine is too strong for someone like me to take on directly," Mishosha said, narrowing his eyes at her. "Even in his weakened state. At first it was amusing letting you think I could make him do whatever I wish, but now it's just getting irritating. I can, however, make things a little more difficult for him...recall how much fun it was when I had you?" Charmian winced remembering the throbbing pain she'd felt in her head, and the way that Moon Wolf had reacted as well. "You're slowing him down?" she asked stupidly. "Well," Mishosha said, tucking the doll away again, "I was trying to, but seeing how interested you are in mindless chatter, any time I might manage to buy you seems to be rapidly slipping away..." Charmian jerked her hand again. "Move!" Everyone started jogging eastward now, Mishupishu disappearing somewhere down in the water tunnel. Charmian pulled herself atop Mani's back and rode with the unconscious Manabozho, pressing herself over the manitou's furry neck and gnawing on her lip furiously. Red Land One thinking of something new? Mani asked her privately. "I'm out of ideas," Charmian murmured. "I thought Manabozho would do it! If he can't and if Kabeyun won't then what is there?" Well...start thinking crazy, Mani said; when she looked down at him he flicked an ear. Think of the Island, he said. And think of no Island. If out of ideas, start thinking crazy. Crazy ideas better than no ideas, right? Charmian prepared to protest that there was no point to a crazy idea--if something was truly crazy and stupid then what was the point wasting time thinking of it?--when just such a crazy idea flitted through her head at right that moment. At any other time she would have promptly shaken it off, but it stuck, and her eyes grew. She glanced back at the others--staring at Black Elk Horn for a moment--then turned back to Mani. "How crazy does an idea have to be before you say no way?" When Island is in trouble, Mani replied, no idea is too crazy to say yes. Isn't that what I've been saying all along? Charmian's mind told her. That I'd do anything for the Island? Well--doesn't that include doing STUPID things to save the Island...? "I might need your help on this, Mani," she said to him, then twisted in her seat--having to lean past Manabozho--and shouted, "Mishosha! We need to stop for a bit. Make sure you keep Megissomoron stalled for a while." "This type of medicine only goes so far," Mishosha replied, giving her an annoyed look. "Especially with a lout like him. He'll eventually either grow used to it, or figure out what's going on and then will come back...you enjoy this thought?" "Just shut up and do it already!" Charmian climbed down from Mani's back and waved at the others to come near. "I have a proposition. For the next time we face Megissogwun, because hopefully we will, before he reaches the Island. That's the only time we'll get to take care of him for good." "But we just tried that and it didn't work," Remy said, glancing up at the unconscious Manabozho. "You have an idea?" Singing Cedars asked. "Kind of," Charmian said. "But it's a stupid one." "Well--does it really matter?" Niskigwun asked, flaring his wings. "ANYTHING is better than nothing!" "Yeah," Charmian agreed, "but not all of you are going to think that. Winter Born?" She turned to look at the girl standing several paces in front of her. "Do you think you have it in you?" Winter Born looked ready to reply--evidently having had something in mind before Charmian spoke--then her mouth snapped shut and she blinked, eyes growing. They shifted from side to side a bit before coming back to look at Charmian again, and a hand crept up to press to her breast, her ears growing red. "Yes, you," Charmian said. There was a second or two of silence, then a voice snapped, "What?"--right on cue. Black Elk Horn stormed forward, fists clenched and teeth bared; when he stopped beside his daughter she lowered her head and shrank back a little. "You drag her along into this mess," he hissed, "and put her life in danger--and even try trading her away--and now this? You claim you care about the Island? You claim you care about us? When you do all these things and now this to her--?" "Well, look!" Charmian retorted. "She's still here, isn't she? You think I didn't want to smack myself every time I dragged her into something? I want to smack myself right now! But if there's just the slightest chance--" She almost cut herself off seeing the livid look enter his eyes, knowing he was about to start ranting and railing. She didn't get to, as somebody else cut her off instead. "Take a look at the kid already. You honestly think she needs any more coddling?" This time Black Elk Horn's mouth snapped shut. Charmian saw a flush enter his face, and he turned his head to glare at Barrington. "Well," Barrington said, leaning on his gun, "do you? I've seen her crawl into a giant's chest cavity with blood dripping all over, and knock out a bunch of whirlwinds, and do who knows what else...not to mention that she has no idea what's best for herself and never keeps her mouth shut..." Charmian's eyes shifted to look at Winter Born and saw the comical shade of red that her face went, her lower lip sticking out "...and it's pretty obvious no matter what you say about it, THIS one here's going to make a huge fuss--" now Charmian found herself the focus of attention "--so why do you even keep bothering? I'd rather get the feeling you think she's a weakling or something for how you fret over her so much." Now Black Elk Horn went positively scarlet, and Charmian saw how Francois and Baptiste fiddled a bit with their guns. "I want to do it," a small voice suddenly said, and like that the building tension snapped and broke; everyone looked at Winter Born, who peered back at them timidly, fingers twisting at the fringe on her dress top. "Winter Born..." Black Elk Horn trailed off, then knelt down in front of her and started talking in a low voice as if nobody else were there. "Why do you pull yourself into this? We have to get back home. To our tribe and your mother. You'd put yourself in danger rather than do that? What have I been teaching you?" "You've taught me good things," Winter Born insisted, still fiddling with her dress and avoiding his eyes. "But you didn't teach me a lot of things, too. Mother taught me a bunch of things, and so has Charmian, and I've learned a lot just coming along. I know you don't like the kind of medicine Mother uses but what am I supposed to do with it? It's not ever going away, just like this white hair of mine, no matter how much I pretend it's not there, is it? I know you wanted me to be different, but I'm not, so can't I use what I have?" Charmian noticed how her voice started to crack a little, her eyes growing wet. Even more, she noticed the stricken look Black Elk Horn got, and even if she'd wanted to speak, she wouldn't have been able to, it surprised her so much. Black Elk Horn started, "I never once said..." "I know you didn't," Winter Born hastily cut in. "And I know you'd never mean anything mean by it! That's why I always went along with it, because I don't want to get you mad at me. I always just wanted to make you and Mother proud." She stopped and took a breath. "But if it's the only thing I have, and it helps the Island...I know you don't like it...but doesn't that make it worth something? If Grandfather were here," she added, as if just realizing it, "and he could fix this all up in a snap, wouldn't you want him to?" Grandfather...? Charmian thought, perplexed, before it struck her. Oh. She's talking about Ocryx. "I'm getting old enough now," Winter Born said after a pause. "I'm going to look for my vision soon. If I were just a year or two older, would you still tell me to stop?" Black Elk Horn said nothing, just stared at her. Charmian could tell he was trying to keep his expression guarded but wasn't entirely succeeding. She rolled Winter Born's argument over in her head. I've been wondering that too. Does he plan to keep her under his wing forever? No wonder Moon Wolf told me I have to start thinking on my own... Mishosha coughed, making Charmian and Winter Born jump a little. "This is all nice and mushy and such," he said, "but I can tell that that boor is getting antsy to get moving again." Charmian bit her lip and looked back to Winter Born, who met her eyes, then glanced at her father. The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Finally Charmian saw Black Elk Horn's eyes harden and his jaw set, and he turned to look at her, his sudden attention startling her. "Have you taught her anything useful?" he said sharply. Charmian blinked, feeling the heat rise in her face. "You saw what she did to those stupid whirlwinds," she blurted out at last. "And I don't know what the hell Barrington meant by crawling into somebody's chest* but I don't doubt it for a minute! I didn't even have to teach her anything, except how to focus. Whatever power she has, it's been there all along." Winter Born's eyes were wide and Charmian could practically feel her surprise and pleasure. She glanced at Black Elk Horn when he rose, putting a hand on her shoulder and turning her to face Charmian. "Well," he said in a voice just as skeptical and grudging as ever, "stop milling around and do something--useful!" Charmian nearly bit off her own tongue, but Winter Born hurried forward, grasping her arm. "I'm ready to try something! Anything for the Island!" Charmian wanted to ask her if she was sure, then mentally slapped herself--what was all that trouble they'd just gone through, after all? "How far ahead is he?" she called out to Little Wind, who pointed east. "My fireball says there's a small gorge that way. He seems to have stopped in it, with his cave. He's much easier to find than before." Charmian put two fingers to her mouth and whistled, making the others wince, then blushed and just waved. "Kenu! We could use a hand. Or a wing." Kenu trotted toward them. "How can I assist my human friends?" he asked hopefully. "We're going to all be heading east but Winter Born and I need to get there faster. You heard Little Wind. Do you think you can carry us to that gorge?" Kenu held up a hand and also stuck up his nose. "Speak no further! The mighty Kenu hardly needs to be asked to grant such small assistance!" He started glowing, and they backed away as he grew and shifted shape. He lowered himself and spread out a wing. "Hop right on and I'll have us there in two beats of an Animiki's wing!" I do hope that's a GOOD thing, Charmian thought, as she and Winter Born climbed atop his back. Several of the others crowded around, looking anxious, but Charmian knew there wasn't room enough for them all. "Just follow us," she called down as Kenu rose upright. "It's not that far." "Maybe we'll be done by the time you catch up!" Winter Born added, and Charmian winced to herself but said nothing to discourage her. "You're sure you can do without us all, ma chère?" Francois asked. No, Charmian thought, but said aloud, "Pretty sure. But X'aaru, I think you should tag along." The demon's own eyes grew and he got the same "Who, me?" look that Winter Born had had. "As backup," Charmian said, then to him privately, To cheer her on. It'd be good for her to have family present. But what about... X'aaru peered at Black Elk Horn, then left the thought unfinished. He nodded and came forward, though his tail did slink between his legs a little. Charmian tapped Kenu and he spread his wings, everyone backing away. "See you there!" Winter Born called out, as the Animiki started running, then flapping, his wings letting out a thunderous boom as he rose into the sky and headed east. |