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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 210 |
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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.)
THE PULL HOMEWARD YOU HONESTLY THINK even all your medicine and weapons combined would be enough to fend off that creature when she gets here? You'd do better getting headed east--and preparing yourselves--because this is definitely going to get messy. Everyone in the camp looked around themselves, confused by the voice which seemed to come from everywhere. Marten, standing atop the glass bolt, put his hands to his ears. "WOW! Is that Manabozho? I sure hope so else I might need to see a sky-chiatrist!" "Where is he?" Niskigwun looked skyward, frowning. "He talked just like that when he..." He trailed off and his stare dropped to the northern horizon just as everyone else's did the same. Several tiny shapes had appeared and as they came closer they resolved into Peepaukawiss, Singing Cedars, the okis, and Manabozho, who was in the lead, glowing blue. His eyes were dark and bottomless like they'd been before, but as soon as he stepped up toward the glass bolt, they shifted to bright blue, then back to normal as the glow died away. He looked around at everybody as if he'd just shown up at a surprise party that wasn't much of a surprise. "Well?" he said, and waved his arms. "I think this is the last place any of you will want to be, soon enough. You feel that thing beneath the earth?" He gestured at the hole near the bolt. "That's Charmian coming back with something unpleasant. They're going to be heading straight east after Megissogwun, so we should probably get a head start to meet them there." "You mean she made it?" Stick-In-The-Dirt took a step forward. "With--her?" "What's this about?" Singing Cedars asked, frowning himself. "Long story." Manabozho crossed his arms. "Maybe somebody else will take the time to tell it, but until then, east! Come on now. You know she hates when we dawdle." He turned and started walking east, stopping after several paces to wave again. "Come on already!! Am I going to have to start glowing and doing weird things again--?" Everyone responded by hurriedly gathering their belongings and moving out. Manabozho stepped back amongst them to shoo them along, taking a moment to look the glass bolt up and down and furrow his brow, poking it with a finger. "What in Gitchi's name is this supposed to be...?" "Marten said Megissogwun is barely moving," Niskigwun said, picking up his spear. "Is it true? He's not making very good progress?" "Not really. Not that it matters much, seeing as his Lynxes are apparently on the move with or without him. Mishupishu is still under the ground and promised to keep his ears open, but I don't know when we'll next run into him. Anyway there's nothing we can do about that right now. All we can do is head east and wait for her there. This is her chance now." An odd look flickered across his face--something much like disappointment, or guilt perhaps--but he turned away before Niskigwun could figure out what it was. "He's easy to sense," he added over his shoulder. "That fool GeeBee is keeping him distracted, not that it's needed much, what with all I did to him." He puffed up a bit again and strode a bit faster. Niskigwun started after him, the others close behind. Singing Cedars jogged up beside Stick-In-The-Dirt and Moon Wolf, panting, "Is anyone willing to explain to me exactly what she's planning on doing this time...?" "It's a very long story," Stick-In-The-Dirt murmured, but started telling it to him just the same. All sorts of unpleasant looks flitted across the Onondaga's face throughout the tale, and by the end he was grimacing and looked ready to pull out his own braids. "Of course she would come up with something like THAT while I'm away! What sort of big brother am I letting her get into such a mess?" "Wait--you are her brother?" Stick-In-The-Dirt got a pensive look. "Does that mean then that you're my son, too--?" "Hold on," Singing Cedars said, furrowing his brow. "You mean you're her father--?" "Times like these I'm glad I'm British," Thomas said from the corner of his mouth to anyone who might be listening. "Well, you're going to be my son-in-law," Stick-In-The-Dirt said matter-of-factly. "Wait a minute!" exclaimed Singing Cedars. "Now you mean he's my brother-in-law--?" "Definitely glad to be British," Lieutenant Barrington said this time, as Thomas blushed horribly and the other two commenced talking animatedly, Manabozho still waving everybody along. "Thank goodness," Charmian exclaimed when she recognized the dim silhouette of the giant roots framing the tunnel ahead. The splintery wooden tunnel hadn't seemed nearly this long on the way to the Tree; maybe she was just getting sick of crawling around. She squeezed between them and into the section of tunnel that lay beyond, the part she and Winter Born had dug out earlier. Then into the tunnel Marten had dug; the bits of Weaver web and crystal were still embedded in the walls, so she knew this was the right place, and let out a sigh of relief. She slowed to a stop to wait for the others to catch up, taking the chance also to catch her breath and wipe some stray dirt and roots from her hair. She wondered how horrendous she must look by now. "Charmian," Winter Born's voice came from further back in the tunnel than she'd thought she'd be. "I think something's wrong!" She glanced over her shoulder, fingers itching to call up fire as she wondered what Ocryana would be doing now. She couldn't believe how childish the demon actually was, when all this time she'd invested so much in being so scared of her; since they'd freed her she'd done little more than act like a spoiled, petulant brat. She seriously wondered now if all that terror had been worth it, and had to keep reminding herself of exactly what Ocryana had done; maybe all that time spent locked away had made her lose her edge. Then this thought had made her worry that maybe the demon wouldn't have it in her to take on Megissogwun, and she'd been alternating between these thoughts all the way along the tunnel. When Ocryana and Megissogwun met, would Ocryana just end up throwing a big temper tantrum before getting blasted to smithereens? She couldn't see Winter Born at first, until there was a bit of commotion and the girl came crawling along on hands and knees, panting and mussed. She pointed back at a dark shape behind her. "She stopped moving," she said. "I tried to get her to keep going, but she growled at me, and you said not to get her mad yet..." "What's her problem now?" Charmian muttered, turning and crawling back with her. "What is it?" she snapped as they drew close. "Did you get a splinter in your big toe or something? I've already said we don't have time to dawdle around down here..." She trailed off when no snarky comments were forthcoming; Ocryana was crouched low and slumped against the wall, breathing heavily, and Charmian paused only momentarily to decide whether it was a trick before approaching; the demon's medicine seemed to be wavering. The two of them bent before her to peer in her face and look her over; her eyes were almost shut, but she wasn't sleeping, that Charmian could tell. Charmian frowned. "What is it?" she said again. "Like you've...never had...to catch your breath before?" Ocryana said weakly, one eye opening a sliver wider to give her a sullen look. "Catch my breath? It's a tunnel. I know you've been through worse, like that stuff Winter Born pulled on you! So what's the big issue now...?" Charmian's frown grew and she reached out to gingerly poke at her. Ocryana's muzzle wrinkled and she growled deep in her throat but did little other than that. Charmian saw her medicine flicker a bit brighter before wavering again; it took her a moment to realize what struck her as strange about it. It looked almost like it was pulling backward, trying to slough off from the demon's back as if to draw itself away into the tunnel behind. Of course it succeeded at doing no such thing, but that was what it looked like, at least. "Holy crap," Charmian whispered, crawling right up to her to peer behind her, since she took up too much of the tunnel for her to pass by. "What is it?" Winter Born asked. "Her power." Charmian squinted to see better. The reddish glow tugged, Ocryana grimaced and shuddered a little, then it relented and she relaxed again. "I think it's...trying to go back to Manitou Island, with or without her. It's true then. The Ocryxes are connected to the Island." "Why didn't it do this in the Fairy Realm? That's not the Island, is it?" "Well, no, but they're connected, from what I can tell. And the wooden tunnel was connected to the Sky Tree, maybe even part of its roots. When we passed out of that we passed away from the Island. Now..." She looked back toward Ocryana's face. "Do you think you can make it? Or should we take you back?" The demon made an awful face and started trying to push herself up; the other two had to scurry back from her to avoid getting hit. "You think...I'd come all this way in your miserable company...just to turn back? And have you lock me up again? You forget your promises that fast? It's nothing." She came toward them and they both gasped and wedged themselves against the tunnel wall as she passed. "Like you said. I've dealt with far worse than this." They both watched her as she faded into the dimness, then followed. "I don't know," Winter Born said doubtfully. "She doesn't seem nearly as scary as I thought she would. You really think she's strong enough? I mean, Mother and Father told me the stories, but I pictured something way different..." "She's changed a little," Charmian admitted, "but it's still Ocryana. Don't let your guard down. We don't really have the option to send her back and think of something else." She didn't say aloud what else she was thinking--And I can't believe I feel BAD for bringing her here, what with how she's been acting! How sappy am I? They eventually caught up with her, seeing how slowly she was moving, as if every bone in her body ached; every time her medicine tugged backwards she would tense up and shudder or even halt completely, yet she always resumed her slow trudge forward. Charmian bit her lip at how listless her wings and tail were, and again hoped this plan had been worth it. They crawled in silence for what seemed like quite a long while, Ocryana's shivering growing more frequent and pronounced the further they went. At last she came to a stop once more and lifted her head a little as if to sniff. The other two looked at each other, then Charmian edged forward. "Now what? Is it getting worse?" In response Ocryana took in a deep breath. "Air," she said. "Fresh air. I'm sick unto death of caves and tunnels and rock and dirt!" And she shuffled along, more quickly than before, shrugging off the way the medicine still tugged at her as if she'd caught a second wind. "We must be close!" Winter Born whispered excitedly, hurrying after her. "Don't worry," she said when Charmian did the same. "I'll keep an eye on her. I bet the others are going to be really surprised, though!" I wonder if maybe I should've clarified this plan a bit more for everybody, Charmian thought, making a face. She called up fire now as it had grown so dark but the others had moved on too far ahead. She picked up her pace as much as she could, at last hearing Winter Born scuffling along, and managed to catch up. Winter Born was gasping for breath the same as she was. "I didn't think--she'd move--so fast now!" Winter Born exclaimed. "I can still hear her, but--" "If she pops up into the camp she's going to freak everybody out. Let's at least try to slow her down a little!" "I'll try." Winter Born scampered along as fast as a crab and again disappeared; Charmian let out an irritated noise and followed. She didn't see what happened, but a moment later Winter Born let out a yelp and there was then the sound of shattering glass. Charmian blinked. Glass--? She picked up her pace, then--"Ow!"--jerked her hand up and looked at it in the firelight. Her palm was bleeding, a tiny shard of glass embedded in it. Feeling a bit queasy, she carefully pulled it out and tossed it aside, examining the ground, which was now covered with a fine powder of glass fragments. She looked up and now saw Winter Born just ahead, arms over her head and glass dusting her shoulders. "What the heck just happened?" Charmian asked. "I--" Winter Born yelped again and ducked even lower when more glass descended, then behind her, Ocryana fell back into the tunnel with a thud. The demon shook her head, snarled, and shot upwards--yet more glass fragments and scraping sounds, then a light appeared above from where the hole must be. Charmian recalled now how the lip of the hole had been melted by the lightning into a surface of black glass. "Guess Ocryxes aren't like geckos," she said, removing her pack and using it to sweep most of the glass aside. "Come on. Looks like they're going to end up surprised whether we like it or not." This time Winter Born made a face. They managed to avoid getting cut crawling along the ground, though making their way up through the tunnel mouth was another story; Ocryana's exit had broken the surface up into an unpleasant mess of spikes and jags, and there was no way to get out without scraping against them. "Typical," Charmian muttered, searching for a safe way out. "It's wider than it was before," she said at last. "Ocryana must've done that to fit out. Look. I'll grab on here, and hold on, and you can climb out over me." "Huh?" Winter Born furrowed her brow. "But--that means you'll get all cut up! I don't want that!" "It's just some glass. It's not that bad." When Winter Born's lip started to stick out she added, "Look, I've been hit in the head numerous times, nearly drowned, my ankle* broken, had voodoo done on me, God knows what else, you really think a few cuts will be so bad? Better me than you since you're the one who's going to be keeping an eye on her. So come on--over you go." She pushed herself up into the entrance before Winter Born could protest further, seeking out the tamest-looking hunks of glass and grasping them in her hands; that wasn't so bad, but then she had to press herself low so Winter Born would be able to fit past her, and the feeling of the jags of glass pressing against her chest and belly made her grimace. She was glad Winter Born couldn't see the look on her face, else she might never have convinced her to get out. "Okay," Winter Born said reluctantly, moving forward. Charmian felt her put her hands on her shoulders and pull herself up; she winced and bit off a cry when she felt a shard of glass poke into her ribs, and it was all she could do to remain silent as the little girl climbed over her, more glass cutting into her extended arms and legs. "I'm out!" she heard Winter Born exclaim from above; then, "Oh no! Your arms!" She opened her eyes and blinked away the tears when Winter Born grasped her hand, and hated the anguished look on her face. "You're bleeding all over! Come on, come out! I know Stick could fix you up!" "Speaking of...how's everybody taking it?" Charmian hissed between her teeth as she carefully picked her way over the glass, pausing once or twice to remove a sliver that insisted on accompanying her. "Well..." Winter Born turned her head and looked aside, brow furrowing again. "I don't know." "Huh...?" Charmian at last cleared the broken glass and collapsed in the loose soil beside it. "Ugh that is so the last time I do that! What do you mean, you don't..." She trailed off and blinked again, then looked around herself in a complete circle. The camp was gone. Empty, at least. An eerie feeling of deja vu* descended on her when she thought of the Cree* camp in the north seemingly vanishing, and she immediately thought of Mishosha*, but that couldn't have happened again as Kenu's glass bolt still stood where they'd left it. And she could see the small firepit* they'd built earlier, as well as other vague signs of habitation. But nobody had said a word to her about bailing out before she'd gone. That didn't seem like them. "What happened?" she asked the air, dread seeping into her breast. "I think they left," Winter Born said; Charmian ground her teeth, trying very hard not to snap at her, when she pointed at the ground. "There's tracks heading that way, see?" Charmian looked but didn't see anything. She felt her ears growing warm when Winter Born must have realized this, for she scurried over to a small patch of bare earth and made an imaginary outline of a footprint. "Here's one, see? It looks like the strange tall moccasins that red man wears, he must've put them back on because they were hurting his feet earlier. And here's X'aaru's print! And here..." "Hold on...I feel something." Charmian furrowed her brow and squinted at the air. "Holy crap, I see something, too." She wandered over into a patch of tall grass nearer the bolt and stooped down, seeing a faint glow on the ground. "Whose prints are these?" she asked, though she had a strong suspicion whose they were. Winter Born hurried back to her and stooped down as well. "They look like Manabozho's," she said in surprise. "You mean he came back? He's awake again?" "Looks that way. There's a bit of a glow around them like when he turned into Michibou. I wonder if that means something bad happened." She looked eastward, in the direction of the other prints, and frowned with worry. Something hit the ground with an enormous thud some distance behind them and they both yelped and jumped, whirling around. Ocryana stood stretching her wings, which looked like they'd lost a few feathers; there were several gouges to her arms and legs as well. "If you're looking for the rest of your company, they've headed east, obviously. I take it this is something you didn't plan them to do. Perhaps we're a bit late?" "No, we're not late," Charmian retorted. "They must've had a reason. I'm guessing they're going on ahead to wait for us. Crap!" Her eyes widened. "That means right after Megissogwun! Hurry up, we have to get going!" "Ocryana maybe can catch up with them, but we never will!" Winter Born protested as they started jogging. "It doesn't matter as long as we get there. There's got to be a way to call up some help around here!" Charmian halted and whistled, paused, then shook her head. "That's manitou talk...I'm not looking for manitous, I'm looking for whatever the heck it is they have here!" She shut her eyes and concentrated, trying to sense out any spirits that might be nearby; she sensed the rest of their group in the distance, feeling a bit stupid that she hadn't even thought to try that before, then located a small group of the strange local spirits to the north. She sent out a message to them, hoping they'd be inclined to listen; it took a moment, then she felt a few drifting in their direction, and dared to ask them to come as quickly as they could before opening her eyes again and turning to Ocryana. "You heard her. Get going. But if you try anything, you're going to regret it." Ocryana's eyes rolled skyward. "I see you haven't been working on your threats any since we last met, either. You're lucky I just happen to feel like stretching my wings a bit more." She spread them wide and launched herself into the air, the earth tearing open beneath her clawed feet as she shot upwards, sailed overhead, and then zoomed east, wings beating hard. They both watched her go, then, after a brief pause, Winter Born turned around, stuck her hands in her armpits, and bobbed her elbows while making an awful face. "'I just happen to feel like stretching my wings a bit more!'" She stuck out her tongue. "I know Mother and Father would never want me saying such things, but--what a whiner!" Charmian couldn't quite keep herself from smirking at this, though she knew it wasn't wise. "Funny, you took the words right from my mouth. I have to keep reminding myself why she scared me so much!" She glanced north, at last seeing several bizhiki-looking spirits headed their way. "Oh, good. I'll ask if they can give us a ride there. That way you won't be too far from Ocryana just in case she decides to do something nasty, like bitch about something else." Winter Born at least had the sense of mind to cover her mouth to try to hide her giggle. Charmian mentally explained the situation as best she could to the spirits, making sure to toss out a mention of Mishibizhiki's earlier assistance, and it wasn't long before they were upon the buffaloes' backs, following the tracks east. By the time they'd been traveling a few hours, many of those in the larger group had grown long irritated by Manabozho's constant prodding and prompting; he spent the entire trip hopping and capering around the edges of the group, his wolves accompanying him, waving his arms and gesturing eastward and tossing out all sorts of comments that were obviously meant to be encouraging but just had the effect of being annoying. "Come on now! What are we, snails or warriors? Even a snail carries his shield with him! And eventually gets where he's going! Can you drag your feet a little more? Gitchi forbid you get a cramp in your leg or something. Hey! You! I thought you were supposed to be so powerful--" He gasped and dodged a fireball that sailed straight at his head, so it ended up exploding somewhere in the distance, starting a grass fire that Mani ended up trotting off to put out. Moon Wolf made an awful face and shook a fist at Manabozho, who did a series of cartwheels around the group before turning into a rabbit and racing off ahead. "Oaf! If we didn't need him I'd burn his head off!" "He does tend to get a mite irksome after a while," Thomas agreed. "Not all of us are okis like you!" Singing Cedars called out after the rabbit. "Try keeping that in mind!" He turned to the others. "So now instead of running away from that monster, we're running toward him? Does anyone even have any idea where he is, exactly? Just so we don't go running right into him..." "Not that far ahead," Little Wind said; his fireball hovered far over his head and he looked up at it as he walked, not even paying attention to where he stepped. His eyes were glassy. "The Wendigo is making an awful ruckus. The cave is barely moving." "If he's in such poor shape then why can't we just take him out and get it over with?" Lieutenant Barrington asked. He too wasn't paying much attention to where he was going, instead apparently sketching something on a piece of paper. "It's not that simple." The rabbit came bouncing back and with a poof changed into Manabozho, who started walking backwards. "I would've done exactly that if I'd been strong enough, but I wasn't. He's weak but he's still nearly indestructible. As things stand now, he's just hampered. If you break three of a dog's legs he's still got his teeth to bite with, and they're still sharp, no matter how badly he might have to limp along." He shot a dark scowl westward. "If my so-called father had bothered doing the job right in the first place...it makes me wonder if even he didn't have it in him, to not bother finishing him off when he had the chance. I've always heard the tale told that he just considered it not worth the trouble of killing him, but by now I think otherwise. I think he really couldn't kill him." "So what makes us stand any greater chance?" Baptiste asked, darting a nervous look around. "My father was just one manitou, and a STUPID one at that." Manabozho raised his voice and made sure to face west when he said the word stupid. "Too full of himself to do things the right way. None of us might be strong enough to do the job on our own, but all together, we're something. And do you know Charmian? She's the least full-of-herself person I know. She might come up with stupid plans but at least she gives them all she's got and doesn't do some...what phrase would she use...half-assed job of it." He waved. "Now come on! Enough dawdling! Are we men or are we earthworms--?" "This makes me wonder something as well," Singing Cedars said as Manabozho went hopping off ahead again. Thomas cocked his head toward him. "And what might that be?" "Well..." The Onondaga shrugged. "I don't know as much about all this as you people do, granted, but doesn't his heart seem a bit more in this than it was before? Now that this West Wind has failed us and left all the hard work in our hands? What if that was the point all along?" "What do you mean by that?" Stick-In-The-Dirt asked. "Exactly what I said. We've all been assuming the West Wind refused to help us, but what if that's just it? What if him refusing to help us helped us even more than if he'd stepped forward? After all, take a look at him." He nodded toward Manabozho, still cartwheeling around the group and shouting out challenges, ignoring the threatening gestures Moon Wolf and several of the others made at him. "This is the liveliest I've seen him since...whatever that was he did at the mountains.* And I doubt he even would have done what that was he did if the West Wind had shown up." "You think Kabeyun's refusal to show just strengthened his resolve?" Stick-In-The-Dirt said thoughtfully. "If that's the case, then was it just a fluke, or was it done intentionally?" Niskigwun asked. Singing Cedars shrugged. "Like I said, I don't know as much about all this as you do. You all keep talking about what a lout the West Wind is and how he'd never stick his neck out for any of us. So maybe it wasn't intended. But then again..." Another shrug, and a look heavenward. "Who knows?" He let out a startled squawk when a bird zoomed down to land right on his face, and a split second later feathers went flying every which way when it was hurled to the ground. Marten appeared, clutching at his head and making an awful face. "What'd you do THAT for?!" he yelled. Thomas and Niskigwun had to restrain Singing Cedars, who shook a fist at him. "For LANDING ON MY FACE, that's what!" He spat out another feather or two. "Who in their right mind..." "Well, YOU'RE the one who decided to look up at the last minute when I was just going to land on your head all impressive looking and stuff!" Marten hopped to his feet and straightened himself out. "Anyway--just wanted to tell you guys that we're just about on top of Megissogoon's cave, which is right over that way, and if you know what's best for you--" "Duck!!" Little Wind shouted, his fireball dropping down into his arms, and he hit the ground. Most of the others followed suit without thinking, though a few of them cast startled looks around before ending up bowled over by a gale of freezing wind which whipped across the ground, making even those crouching low start shaking and chattering. "Well well well!" a voice called out from overhead, and with a loud thump Augwak landed in front of them, spreading out his arms and grinning widely. "How lovely! An AUDIENCE to watch me finish this shrinking weasel off once and for all!" |