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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 207 |
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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.)
CRACKS MANABOZHO SAT STRAIGHT up atop Singing Cedars's oki, and Peepaukawiss let out a horrific scream. He screamed as he'd been busy painting intricate floral designs all over Manabozho's face when he'd awakened, so of course that was rather startling, not that it took much to startle Peepaukawiss. Puka went tumbling head over heels while Singing Cedars and the other oki stood, staring at Manabozho, who just sat where he was, blinking and confused looking. "You're awake...?" Singing Cedars asked, not sure if he remembered Manabozho's name or if he could pronounce it properly. Manabozho said nothing for a moment, just stared off into space. He then looked upward, then east, then furrowed his brow. "She's...what's she doing?" He pushed himself off the oki and nearly fell over, wobbling a bit before regaining his footing. He still stared east in silence; Singing Cedars and the okis joined him but saw nothing except the endless plain. "Has she lost her head...?" Manabozho murmured. "Who?" Singing Cedars asked, perplexed. Puka joined them, grumbling and dusting himself off. "What are we looking for?" he asked, shielding his eyes. They all stared for a moment more, then started to peer at Manabozho as if he'd hit his head. Puka reached out to touch his forehead and feel for a fever and ended up yelping and squirming when Manabozho simply grasped his wrist and twisted it, not paying him any attention other than that. Singing Cedars stopped worrying that he might have lost his memory or some such, though his behavior was still puzzling. Manabozho frowned. "She's that desperate?" The frown faded into a look of uncertainty. "She doubts me that much...?" "What does it matter?" Singing Cedars cut in, still not sure what he was talking about but guessing at who he meant. "I thought we were all aiming for the same thing, right? Whoever gets it done and however it gets done?" Manabozho pursed his lips. "She could've at least told me first!" He turned about, scouring the ground, then spotted the waterhole near where Singing Cedars had built a small fire for them to rest by. Striding over to it, he knelt down, reached in, and a moment later was pulling Mishupishu's head up by one thick whisker. The Lynx wriggled and mewed in protest until Manabozho let him go. "What's going on down there? What's the state of things?" "I've been trying to keep as quiet as I can," Mishupishu said, "so none of them sense me! I know they'd come straight for me if they did! They're all heading east--every single one of them--I've never known so many Lynxes to gather all at once. I'd never even known there were so many Lynxes in the world! I must surely be the only one NOT going with them!" "How long until they reach there?" "I hear them whispering as they swim. A few are already there, but something's been holding them off, an Animiki or something. The rest are on their way. Some will reach there in days. Some in weeks. It doesn't matter. They're all going." He sank into the water again, only his nostrils and mouth poking out. "It's all over! I should have stayed in my lake. We did this for nothing!" Manabozho pushed himself back up, looking grim but resolved. "If she's willing to go with such a crazy plan," he said, "then it's not all over, not yet. I didn't defeat him..." his resolve seemed to waver now, and his step slowed "...but I slowed him down...didn't I?" "Of course you did," Singing Cedars said, surprised that he even had to say it. "Of course I did." Manabozho stood still for a moment, indecisive, then drew himself up. "Of course I did!" He jerked a hand at them and started walking southward. "Because that's what I planned on doing all along! What better way for her to learn to fight her own battles...?" Singing Cedars rolled his eyes but picked up his few belongings and made sure to douse the fire, grateful just to be heading out of this place. He left his okis to convince the Lynx to follow them, only half paying attention as Puka hurried after his brother, calling out to make certain he was all right. Manabozho didn't even pay any attention to him, but that seemed to be normal, based on what Singing Cedars had seen of them so far. "Baby Brother! You're sure you're in shape to move--? I'm willing to carry you upon my shoulders, just like when you were little, if I have to!" "Of course I would have preferred getting rid of him on my own," Manabozho rambled distractedly, "but I know she'd feel rather useless if I didn't at least make it look like she did some of the heavy work, so out of the kindness of my heart...what's this all over my face?" He halted and rubbed at his cheeks. Singing Cedars whistled at his okis when they caught up and they whistled back, then Manabozho grabbed Puka by the arm and swung him through the air so he hit the ground with an awful noise, and then kept on walking while Puka struggled dizzily to push himself up. Singing Cedars sighed and rolled his eyes again, waving at one of the okis to go help him. "I'm glad I haven't any siblings," he muttered, though the comment just made him think of Charmian, and he bit his lip, wondering how and what she was doing right now. The clouds hung lower over Manitou Island than they had previously. Tal Natha had insisted on flying away from Fort Holmes to look around, leaving Red Bird and the other two demons behind, and after watching him fly out of sight, she'd clambered to the top of the fort and waved strenuously at the sky, making gesturing motions. Ishkode-Aanakwad watched her for a few moments before realizing she was signaling* him; puzzled, he drew closer so the clouds hovered directly over the fort and he was looking straight down into her eyes though she didn't seem to notice this. The two demons at her sides growled and bristled and she responded by lightly thumping them both on the nose. "Oh! You two! Stop that!" She waved again at the Animiki. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I wanted to talk to you! Are you up in there? Can you understand me?" Ishkode-Aanakwad would have rolled his eyes had they not been made of cloud. Of course I can understand you, he said in her head, as speaking aloud wouldn't have been a wise idea. She jumped anyway, putting a hand to her head as if startled. "Oh!" She waved again. "Do you think you could come down here?" If I settle any lower, I'll blanket the Island. "I didn't mean that, I mean could you come down here? You know--you?" Ishkode flickered and the other Animiki around him rumbled in amusement. He zapped the nearest one with a tiny bolt so it shied away, then concentrated and descended to the ground. After a moment he stood in human form, dusting himself and looking quite flustered. "There is a reason why you need to see me in--" He cut himself off with a short but undignified yelp; Red Bird had hurried toward him and grasped his arm, leaning close as if to take him into confidence. "I didn't want to ask you while he was still here because--well--" she waved at the twin demons still grumbling nearby "--you see how they are. But that's just it. I'm not sure how much you know about this place, but there aren't that many Ocryxes, and the ones there are..." "I was told there are eight who look as he does and one is locked away." Ishkode frowned. "Is that what that was all about? When he said someone is awake? Is it the eighth one of your kind?" Red Bird nodded. "A female named Ocryana. She...the human you know, the one with hair sort of like mine, Charmian, she's the one who locked her away, a long time ago. She would have destroyed the Island, otherwise. She's been asleep ever since. But if Tal Natha says she's awake..." She looked northwest as the demon had earlier, and Ishkode found himself doing the same. "I can't imagine how it could be true," she said. "But he wouldn't lie about that...do you see something?" Ishkode had started squinting, staring at something without even realizing it. "You don't see it?" he asked; when she shook her head, he said, "Animiki have sight superior to humans'..." "I'm only half human," Red Bird said, and Ishkode felt his ears grow warm, though she merely seemed to be correcting a mistake and not pointing out an offense. "...And many other creatures', so perhaps that's why you do not see. There are several small shapes flying about to the west. I believe one is the demon who just left here." "Tal Natha? Who's he with?" "I could not say, but it looks like two others of his kind." "Two others?" Her brow furrowed and she chewed on her thumbnail. "Oh! It must be Father and Shadow Water! They live to the west--but usually stay under the lake...and I can hardly imagine Father coming out to greet Tal Natha...what did you say they were doing?" "They appear to be searching for something. As your companion just was." He squinted again. "One has broken away and headed more northward...now they're returning. I take it they've found nothing." Red Bird was nibbling on her lip now. "Why would he act like that if it's nothing...?" she murmured. "It can't possibly mean anything...she can't break free on her own, I know it, and nobody would be foolish enough to break her free themselves...so what's upsetting them all?" She shielded her eyes and stared westward pensively as if to try to see them herself. "I can't feel anything...why aren't I able...?" Ishkode abruptly turned his head to glance northeast and the air sparked and rippled around him, making her gasp and take a step back. "What is it?" she asked, taking his arm; if he hadn't been so distracted he would have been surprised that she could even stand touching him right now, what with the charge surrounding him. "What's over there? Is it another Lynx?*" "No." Ishkode's frown grew into almost a scowl; he hated not knowing what he was dealing with. "I'm not certain what it is, but it's powerful...and it seems to be coming closer." "Closer? Can you see it?" "No...it feels like it's..." Underground--? He fittingly lowered his stare toward the distant treetops. He didn't exactly see anything at first, but sensed, on some other, Animiki level, a shift in the air like that just before lightning strikes, though this was not lightning and he had no clue what it was. It had seemed powerful before; now as it drew closer, there was such a surge in its medicine that he grew alarmed and the other clouds hovering nearby rumbled and flashed in response, preparing themselves for attack. From the corner of his eye he saw the three tiny shapes to the west freeze in place; when he felt Red Bird's grip on his arm tighten, his peripheral vision shifted to her, and her wide-eyed stare, also focused on the northeast, told him she'd at last sensed it too. "It can't be," she whispered, and he felt the air prickling around her as well. Neither of them got to say anything more. A brilliant bolt of white light--as searing as any lightning bolt, but arrow straight, and shooting up into the sky rather than down from the clouds--erupted far in the northeast, from the middle of the woods. A booming thrum struck Ishkode's ears and made him wince, wishing he were back in his cloud form, though the way the clouds boomed in response, shifting dangerously, made it clear that it had the same effect on them. The very air seemed to be vibrating and his vision went blurry--something he wasn't used to--so he had to blink and shake his head. He opened his eyes just in time to see something tiny and dark appear in the midst of the beam of light, as if riding on it, before wheeling to the side and soaring off over the Island proper. One of the three shapes to the west quickly descended and disappeared from sight; the other two remained, as if to challenge whatever was headed their way, but it remained far above them and didn't even slow down as it spun about toward the south* end of the Island and started heading back. It flew directly over Ishkode's and Red Bird's position and he could hear it cackling gleefully, wings beating hard and tail swinging from side to side--then it was gone, heading back toward the now dying beam of light still shooting into the sky. It flew upward, then plunged down into this, vanishing into the trees, and then the beam itself abruptly died, taking the thrumming noise and the charge in the air with it. Immediately the Island was plunged into dead silence; only after a few moments had passed did birds start to tentatively sing again, then things appeared to be back to normal. The charge around Ishkode slowly died down as well and he stared pensively toward where the beam of light had been. He wanted to ask what that had been about, but it was clear everyone else knew just as little as he did. He lifted his arm and had to gently pry Red Bird's fingers from it, as her nails were starting to gouge into the skin. She didn't even notice as he did so and they both stared northeast together. He surreptitiously waved one of his men ahead to go check it out and part of the cloudbank separated; it returned a moment or so later, relaying its message to him, and he frowned but nodded so it rejoined the others. "The spirits here report that something came out of the earth," he said, "but then went back down into it. There were two others waiting for it, and they followed it into the ground. Two young girls." Red Bird let out a slow, shaky breath and the charge that had been around her died away at last. Ishkode hadn't even noticed until now that her eyes had been glowing, but now they returned to normal. "She's behind it...?" she whispered, seeming confused and unsteady; he had to reach out a hand to steady her, pulling away only when the other two demons crept close on both sides of her. "But...why would she..." She trailed off, then shut her eyes and shook her head, the anxiety on her face shifting into resolve. "No...if she's doing it, then she knows what she's doing. No matter how senseless it might seem. I have to believe she knows what she's doing." Ishkode frowned but said nothing. Red Bird opened her eyes and continued staring to the northeast, rubbing at Dakh and Sikt Natha's ruffs as if to take strength from them. "I just hope that whatever it is, she does it soon." Charmian and Winter Born stared down into the Northeast Crack for a moment or two in silence. They glanced up at each other across it, then clambered back in, careful to pick out decent foot- and handholds to avoid tumbling to the bottom. Viewed from outside, the Northeast Crack was just as unimpressive looking as Crack-in-the-Island, and it was just about as unimpressive inside as well. The entryway from it to the spaces under the Island was different. Charmian had experienced it in reverse, coming up from under the Island to the outside, so the effect was minimized now as she knew what to expect, but she was still awed. Like Crack-in-the-Island, this crack grew deeper the further it went, until the sky was nothing but a leaf-studded sliver overhead; it then developed a sort of overhang, a jagged hunk of limestone blocking out the view, then opened up again, yet on the other side of this it seemed like a completely different place. In the small space past the overhang, with the opening leading down into the Island, the bumpy brecciated walls and ground gave way to moss so luxuriant it was like stepping inside an emerald. If they hadn't been scrambling after Ocryana as she'd raced for the surface, Charmian and Winter Born would have halted to gape at it in wonder the first time around. Now, as it was, they had only a few seconds to let their eyes rove over the scenery, the moss- and fern-draped overhangs, the trickles of water descending from the walls to flow into a tiny pool at the bottom, which they had to splash through to reach the cavelike opening under the Island. Charmian allowed herself the tiny luxury of digging her feet into the spongy bottom, wishing that she were barefoot like Winter Born now was, before they plunged into the blackness of the tunnel again. "I didn't know there were such green places anywhere!" Winter Born exclaimed in awe. "I didn't know there were such green places on the Island," Charmian agreed, glancing wistfully over her shoulder before bumping her other one and deciding to concentrate on where she was going. She called up fire and fumed to herself to see that Winter Born had apparently memorized the tunnel on the way up and didn't seem to need any assistance making her way back through. "Can you see Ocryana?" "No, but I can hear her. She's not going as fast as she was before." She disappeared from sight, moving more quickly, so Charmian had to hurry up to catch up with her as well. She let out a cry when her fire at last picked out two vague shapes ahead, Ocryana stalking along with her wings hunched close to her back, Winter Born reaching out and grasping onto the demon's tail and giving it a yank. She briefly wondered if her own hair went white at that moment. Ocryana halted and glanced back over her shoulder, muzzle wrinkling. "You value your hand, little runt?" "Charmian wants you to slow down and keep in sight!" Winter Born insisted, looking back at Charmian. "Isn't that right--?" She deflated a bit, seeing the look on Charmian's face. "Um...it isn't...?" Charmian gaped at them a moment before waving at her frantically to let the demon go. Winter Born dropped Ocryana's tail and Ocryana glared at her a second or so longer before turning and shuffling along. Winter Born stood fiddling her fingers as Charmian caught up and grasped her arm, the two of them following a respectful distance behind. "Look, I realize we have to keep her under our thumb and all, but we don't have to go out of our way to antagonize her when we don't absolutely have to, okay? Honestly I'm surprised she even came back down here." "Sorry," Winter Born murmured meekly. "I just thought if she got too far ahead..." She trailed off and let out a sigh. "It's okay," Charmian said, feeling a sting of guilt. "I know what you meant. I just...she really scares the crap out of me and I think it'd be best if we just bothered her as little as possible and get this over with. The less we irritate her, the better." "She really scares you?" Winter Born looked up at her curiously and Charmian was grateful it was so dim as her ears grew hot. "But you locked her away so easily. And it's so obvious she's scared of you." "It wasn't that easy, trust me! There was a minute I thought everybody had actually bailed out on me. And...wait, what do you mean, she's scared of me--?" Winter Born didn't get to answer. Ocryana had slowed to a stop, so they did the same, staring at her apprehensively; she at last looked back at them again, seeming a bit irked. "Would you have any idea what this is?" she asked, flicking her tail and taking a step aside so they could see ahead of her. Charmian and Winter Born peered into the tunnel. Something glowing stood some distance ahead, pale and translucent against the darkness of the stone walls; Charmian had to squint to try to make it out, but Winter Born seemed to see it better. "Oh!" She tugged on Charmian's arm. "He's wearing two feathers on his head just like Manabozho!" "Two feathers--?" Charmian frowned and stepped past Ocryana, squeezing against the wall as much as she could; the demon's muzzle wrinkled again, this time in amusement, and she even snapped at Charmian when she passed, making her gasp and leap ahead. Charmian paused long enough to shake a fist at her when she chuckled before turning to look at the glowing shape, which was now obviously a man. He smiled at Charmian and she gasped again, trying to throw her arms around him but meeting only air. After a brief feeling of disconcertion she had to settle for holding her hands out as if to shake his, and he responded by mimicking the gesture, though again she felt nothing but cool air. "Chibiabos! I can't believe it! I hope you're doing okay!" "I am doing well," Chibiabos said, smiling from ear to ear. "Well...as well as can be expected." He gestured at the tunnel walls and she could tell it was meant as a joke, though she still felt another sting to realize she was talking to his lost spirit. "Chakenapok sent me. He said that since you had taken such a roundabout way to reach the Island's surface from the Sky Tree, I should show you a shorter way back. Apparently time is of the essence right now." "Kind of," Charmian said, biting her lip. "Thanks, Chibiabos. You know a shortcut, then?" "You realize you are traveling near the East Bluff at the moment. The Fairy Arch itself stands further south.* Just as passing through the arch aboveground leads one to the Fairy Realm, there is such a passage beneath it as well. It should take you to about the same place. You can continue on to the Sky Tree from there. I will show you the way." He turned to take a step, saw Ocryana again, paused and frowned at her, then resumed walking. Charmian and Winter Born followed, the demon behind them, and Charmian was relieved to see that Winter Born was keeping a close eye on her. "Some time back, I told Chakenapok," Chibiabos murmured to Charmian as if in confidence, "I had a sort of vision of things to come. I saw a glowing web which broke and knew it had something to do with you." He peered over his shoulder. "I take it this has come to pass. I find this situation strange...but I am glad that you've survived it unscathed." So far, the annoying voice in Charmian's head said, and she blushed a little. "Yeah, well...it wasn't quite the way I wanted to resolve things...but I guess we'll see." They walked in silence the rest of the way, even though Charmian would have preferred talking for once, getting to know how Chibiabos had been doing; for some reason chattering didn't seem appropriate at the moment. So instead she examined the walls and ceiling as they walked, noticing how the ubiquitous crystals had started to appear again here and there until her fire was no longer needed. She didn't think she'd ever get used to the labyrinth of tunnels and caves under the Island; it seemed like she discovered some new area every time she arrived. It's like there's a whole other world down here that I know barely anything about, she thought, shivering a little. As if in response, Chibiabos slowed his step and stopped to stare at the wall for a moment before resuming. "What is it?" Charmian asked. "Oh...nothing, I suppose. I could swear at times that I feel something on the other side, but of course, there is nothing there but more rock. Perhaps I've spent too long living in a cave." He smiled again. "It was probably only the demon who lives not far from here, the one with the pup. Every so often one of them will wander to Scott's Cave and we'll talk; they have been rather good company, whenever we meet." (*check if khi knows of him) "That's sweet," Charmian said, when a protrusion of crystal from the side of the tunnel where it bent at an angle ahead made her slow her step. "Oh...wow." Winter Born hurried forward as well, taking in a breath as she placed her hands against it. Where the bend in the wall should have been on the right, there was instead a huge slab of rough crystal with its near face wide and smooth enough for them to see themselves in it. It was a sort of orangish-pink in color, the rougher parts paler, and even Charmian couldn't stop herself from running her fingers over the glassy, slightly pocked surface. Dim light glowed within, brightening and fading here and there as if fireflies were trapped inside it. "This is the base of the Fairy Arch," Chibiabos said, gesturing at the ceiling. "Above, it turns into limestone. Over here you'll see the opening." He went around the corner and they followed him; the righthand wall was here deeply recessed as if gouged out long ago, the hunk of crystal disappearing back within it, and Charmian and Winter Born leaned far forward to look curiously at the crystal-stubbled breccia before them. There was no opening to be seen, just another face of crystal, perhaps part of the same hunk they'd just seen, set back behind the limestone like some glass door, nearly obscured in the darkness. When Charmian frowned skeptically, Chibiabos touched it and it lit up like the other hunk, glowing and fading, this time in different colors. They were muted enough that the effect was awing rather than tacky, and Charmian wished that Christmas displays back home could be so enchanting. "I'm guessing we just walk through it," she said. "You do, but you have to do it just so," Chibiabos said. When she looked at him he shrugged. "I have no other way to explain. I'm certain you can find it out on your own." Charmian sighed and bit her lip. "I do wish something would come easy just once..." "Maybe it's a lot like with the Tree?" Winter Born suggested; she stepped before the crystal face, touched it, then crossed her eyes and walked into it. Charmian felt stupid that she was even surprised when Winter Born disappeared, and sighed again, this time rolling her eyes. "Interesting," Chibiabos said, tilting his head. Winter Born came back through, toddling a bit dizzily before shaking it off and then waving excitedly. "Come on! It's right near the other opening, only there's no big annoying fall!* The Sky Tree's not that far away!" "Well, this time I'll go through first," Charmian said, "and then Ocryana, and then you. Remember you're supposed to be keeping an eye on her!" Winter Born blushed and ducked her head again. "Oh...sorry. Eep--!" She jumped aside when Ocryana came around the hunk of crystal jutting from the wall and walked right through Chibiabos, who blinked and even got a bit of color as if affronted. "And this is the mite you put in charge of me? Imagine all the things I could have done the moment she stepped through there, if only I'd been inclined to." Charmian was forced aside now as she pushed her way toward the crystal face. "How about I go through first...then neither of you has to worry about a thing? Except this Tree or whatever it is you speak of on the other side." And she passed through the crystal without even having to try--Charmian had no idea if she crossed her eyes or what--leaving the rest of them staring after the space she'd left, dumbfounded. It took Charmian a second to regain her senses and she grimaced, grasping Winter Born's arm and hauling her forward. "Go on, go on!" she urged; the girl hurried through the crystal and disappeared. "Sorry to leave so abruptly," she apologized to Chibiabos, but he merely nodded and gestured her to go through. "I realize you have very important things to do. We can talk more once you're done! For I know you'll be returning to the Island whether you absolutely have to or not." He smiled widely when she blushed. "Yes, I believe everyone knows that. Whatever your plan is, I hope that it works." "Thanks, Chibiabos," Charmian said, not wanting to say goodbye, and gave a brief wave before turning to the crystal and crossing her eyes; as with the opening into the Sky Tree*, she now saw two crystal faces which looked about the same, yet one was different somehow, and she moved toward that one. She felt the glassy surface against her fingers for only a fraction of a second before her hand slipped through, as if pressing through water, and she followed it, fighting the urge to shut her eyes as the foggy flickerings of multicolored light around her were so mesmerizing. Another fraction of a second later, she was through. Chibiabos stared at the crystal face as it went dark again. There was just enough light that he could see a bit of his reflection set back in the wall--part of his face and arm--and he looked at this in silence for a few moments. He heard the noise before he saw the addition to the reflection, a harsh grinding sound making the feathers on his head twirl like the ears of a rabbit. He turned to look at the tunnel wall directly behind him and found a fresh crack where one hadn't been previously. A trickle of water ran down from it to patter against the ground. Chibiabos stared at this now, then reached out his hand to touch it. The water stopped trickling when it touched his fingers, drawing back within the stone, and the width of the crack lessened as much as he could make it with his limited powers, but even as it did so, he heard other noises, deep creakings and groanings, coming from far beneath and within the Island, and he paused to listen to them, saying nothing but frowning pensively. |