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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 216 |
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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.)
EVEN MATCH MEGISSOGWUN TOOK IN a breath and an instant later the ground around Ocryana's feet burst open and great geysers of water engulfed her so she was lost from sight. Charmian's own breath came out in a whoosh. "Why the hell did she give HIM the choice to go first!!" she growled in frustration. "What sort of stupid--" Megissogwun tilted his head back to look upwards. The others did the same. Charmian saw nothing but the cascading water for a moment, but then something dark emerged from the top, and just as she'd made her entrance, Ocryana did the same again*, balancing atop the crest of the water as if on a surfboard. "That's your big impressive beginning?" she called down to them. "When it's pretty obvious water is my element?" She let out a scoffing noise. "I admit I'm pretty disappointed. I was hoping it would hurt at least a little bit." "I understand the same principles you do," Megissogwun called back, and swung his hand through the air, then clenched his fist. The spraying water followed the motion and wrapped around Ocryana like a rope--she had time to let out a startled wheeze before it came sailing downward and swung her at the earth, which she struck with a tremendous thud, the water splattering all around her. Charmian bit her lip in anxiety. "Water controls water," she murmured. "The very same elements one has the most power over are the same ones that can end up being their greatest weakness," Moon Wolf said. "This could go either way. She was foolish to think he wouldn't have noticed the way she came in."* Megissogwun stood and watched as Ocryana groggily pushed herself up, squinting and blinking as if dizzy. "I do hope that fulfilled your expectations and hurt just a little," he said. Ocryana snorted water from her nose and rubbed at one eye. "A tiny bit amusing...but still not that much. At least, not as amusing as this." Megissogwun braced himself, but she was already gone. The others glanced around in confusion--Charmian wanted to grab Peepaukawiss and demand to know where she'd disappeared to, when this time the ground behind Megissogwun tore open and the demon shot out from it, wrapped her arms around him, and dragged him back down with her. Charmian caught just the briefest startled look on his face before he vanished; at any other time it would have made her laugh, but now she just pulled on her hair in frustration. "I thought you told them to stay in the circle!" she yelled at Manabozho, pointing at the great glowing ring on the ground. Manabozho shrugged helplessly. "I did! And...they are!" He made a face. "I should have been clearer and told them to stay aboveground..." Charmian hurried toward the ring. "I won't go in it!" she snapped when Thomas and Moon Wolf attempted to restrain her. "I'm not THAT stupid!" She halted at the edge and craned her neck forward, but the hole in the ground was too far away to see into, so she ended up hopping in place like she had to go. "Ooooooooh what the heck are they DOING down there?! When are they coming back up?" "Well," Walks-On-The-Shore started, counting off on one finger, "firstly there is a creature known as a bird, then there is a creature known as a bee--" He wisely dodged a blow that Singing Cedars aimed at him. An awful noise came from the holes left in the ground where Ocryana had first been attacked and where water still sloshed about. A moment later, a large black head emerged and Mishupishu started yelling, whiskers quivering. "Ah! Oh! AHH! OW!! OW!! Make them stop!!" He humped his neck and slithered partway from the hole so his tiny forelegs grasped onto the ground, and gave an awful grimace. "Ah! Ow! My tail!" "Mishu!" Charmian hurried toward him, careful to remain outside the circle. "What's going on? What are they doing?" "Ah! Ouch!" He squinched his eyes shut and showed all his teeth. "I don't know! The tunnel's too small for me to look back, and it's all damaged now, all I know is he came falling down in it and she was with him and now they AH!--OW!--MY TAIL!!" His eyes goggled open and he opened his mouth particularly wide; Charmian knew to turn and throw her arms over her head, when the loudest, most horrific bellow she'd ever heard came from his mouth--it wasn't even a bellow, unless cats could bellow; it was more like a scream, but even that wasn't the right word. She was again reminded of fingernails running down the world's largest blackboard* and thought that her hair would fall out, it was so awful. When she dared to peer back, Mishupishu used his head to batter another hole in the ground several yards away, then plunged into it, his long black body sliding across the ruined ground between the two. Charmian took in a breath to see the bloody spot on his tail where one of his spines had been before he disappeared, the water sloshing violently. Ocryana shot out from the hole she and Megissogwun had been in, having to beat her wings hard just to ascend as she was sopping wet; she landed some distance away and Megissogwun appeared next, dragging himself up from the water with a choking wheeze. His eyes were as wide as Mishupishu's, glowing brilliant blue; Mishupishu's spine jutted through his shoulder and Charmian grimaced and shivered. "I guess I'm a little better underwater than you thought," Ocryana jeered. Megissogwun's lips curled back to show his teeth. He grasped the spine and with obvious effort yanked it loose; Charmian heard two thuds and glanced back to see that both Peepaukawiss and Stick-In-The-Dirt had fainted. She couldn't blame them; it was difficult just to remain standing, herself. The big manitou turned the spine about so its sharp end pointed toward Ocryana and Charmian saw that his hand shook. "You might...learn...to keep your boasting down...until things are actually over," he gasped, and hurled the spine faster than Charmian would have thought possible. It arced right at Ocryana, who merely spun in a circle and batted it aside with her tail as if she were playing badminton.* "That's the best threat you have? One could argue--" A huge hunk of earth--obviously torn up from the ground--slammed into her and knocked her flat to the ground. Charmian hadn't even seen it coming, and it was apparent Ocryana hadn't either. Megissogwun pulled himself from the water, his feathers and clothing limp and dripping, and picked up two more hunks of rock and soil in his hands, lifting them as someone might lift ten-pound weights and hurling them after the other one. Dirt and stone started piling atop Ocryana as Megissogwun tore up yet more and more of the ground and flung it at her. "So you do water so easily?" he yelled, eyes flashing. "So I'll try not-water. Whatever it takes to shut your disgusting mouth. Why these vermin insist on continuing to try, I have no idea." He turned to the water sloshing muddily behind him. "And in case you wish to act like a gopher and try that lovely trick again--" He blasted the ground, and the earth started caving in; an odd lattice pattern* of sunken areas formed around him and Charmian blinked in confusion. "OH!" There was a little boom of thunder when Kenu hopped up and down, hands to his face. "He's caving in the tunnels!! Mishu!" He went running, but Moon Wolf grabbed him and hauled him back and up before he could enter the circle. "The Lynx just dug into his own tunnel," he snapped. "It doesn't look like it's sunken in yet. If he needs to find a way out of there, he'll have to do it himself." Kenu's lip quivered and his eyes filled with tears; Charmian looked toward the hole Mishupishu had gouged in the ground, also unconvinced, but it was true, the latticework pattern didn't seem to have spread in that direction yet. She let out a breath and hoped he knew where to go in case it started caving in. Megissogwun took a step back and his foot squelched in the mud; he held his hands out toward the mound of earth where Ocryana was buried and Charmian and everyone else stumbled when something seemed to pulse through the air almost like a shockwave. The earth mound appeared to grow smaller, until she realized that it had merely compacted itself more tightly, and her heart crowded up into her throat. Megissogwun continued staring at the mound, hands raised, for a moment or two, then let out his breath, muscles relaxing and arms lowering. He looked ready to collapse, but instead slowly turned to face the others, the glow in his eyes flickering and his breath coming hard. "I'm not certain...what good you thought this would accomplish, but perhaps you've done yourself a favor. I'm inclined to kill you all now instantly rather than draw it out or make you suffer. Since that seems to be what you prefer--" The muddy ground beneath his feet quivered, then opened up under him. Everyone was treated to a near-exact repeat of what had just happened earlier as Megissogwun's eyes went wide and he vanished into the earth. This time, however, the mud flew up into the air and then came back down, piling atop the hole he'd left; at first it only splattered and squelched, but then harder, drier* earth began piling atop it, first filling in the hole and then forming another mound that just kept growing. The first mound shimmered, then crumbled apart. Ocryana stood and shook the dirt from her wings and fur, wrinkling her muzzle in distaste and even stopping to toss a hunk of dried mud from her foot. She glanced at the newly formed mound and made a clucking noise with her tongue. "Like I was saying, one could argue that you yourself should learn to keep your mouth shut until it's all over with. I can't believe you're so willing to keep making yourself look like a fool, but then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by now!" "What...what the heck?" Charmian murmured, bewildered. "How did she do that? Ocryxes have wind and water medicine! Not earth medicine! That's why Megissogwun used that attack, isn't it? How come she can control earth now--?" Moon Wolf shook his head, looking just as perplexed. "I'm...I'm not sure. It makes no sense." Everyone fell silent; the second mound had started trembling. Ocryana cocked an ear. "Oh? What's that?" She approached the mound and tilted her head as if listening to it. "You mean you're still alive? Well that's a pity, I guess I'll just have to try something else. You look pretty impressed so far," she called out to Charmian, making her jump. "Why don't I just show you what else I can do?" She flapped her wings and rose above the mound, hovering in place for a moment or so before doing a sort of backflip so her tail swung through the air. Charmian gasped and yelped when there was a bright flash; a gout of fire sliced down at the mound and struck it, and the next thing she knew, Ocryana was busily tossing all sorts of fire so the earth started steaming and then smoking and smoldering, the rocks within it glowing red hot. Charmian couldn't believe it. Ocryana had never had any power over fire before. "I think I see," Moon Wolf said in such a small, thin voice that she had to look at him to make sure he was all right. "What?" she asked, brow furrowing. "You mean how she got these powers? What the heck happened?" "When she was imprisoned. It took all of the elements to do it--water, wind, earth, fire. I don't understand how, but...it seems like she took some of that medicine in herself. Like it soaked in or something. It kept her prisoner, but she also took something from it. It's the only thing that makes sense. We're the ones who gave her this power." The blood drained from Charmian's face. "Then--if that's how, does that mean she--" Ocryana did another flip and sailed up and away from the now-hardened mound of earth just as a great crack formed in its side. It broke open and started crumbling away; a second* time Megissogwun came dragging himself out of the ground, this time with tendrils of smoke rising from him. The brilliant blue was back in his eyes and his teeth ground so hard that Charmian wondered if he'd used them to break open the mound. His fingers gouged into two of the red-hot rocks and crushed them into tiny pieces. "I am getting seriously tired...of your reluctance to just DIE!" "The same goes here," Ocryana replied. "How many times do I have to squash you before you get the point, little bug?" This comment just seemed to enrage him further, if that were even possible; he shakily stood up, letting out a furious snarl, and hurled the fragments of glowing stone at her. Ocryana easily swept them aside, and this time thought to dodge the full-sized boulder that sailed at her immediately afterward. She landed some distance away, still within the circle, and the two of them faced each other across the wrecked earth; Megissogwun was bloody and trembling and gasping for breath, whereas Ocryana looked none the worse for wear whatsoever. "Amazing," Charmian murmured. "Scary is more like it," Thomas murmured back. "Have you thought how difficult it's going to be to keep her in check again whenever we get back home--?" "So," Megissogwun panted. "You know water medicine, and wind medicine, and earth and fire medicine. Strange, for a minor being to show such talent. Still, stranger things have happened." "Like you getting your tail whipped?" Ocryana cut in. "Oh, I wouldn't find that too strange." Megissogwun let out a weak snort. "There are some skills I doubt you possess, however. Certainly, you seem good enough at tossing coward attacks. But how are you for fighting hand to hand? Or is that too much to expect from a simpering bitch like you?" Ocryana narrowed her eyes and smiled, teeth glinting. "Oh how petty. Looks like the little girl was right. It's bad enough for you to get beaten but to get beaten by a female? How would you ever live that down a second time? Ah, that's right, you won't live down anything, but still, it's an amusing thought. Almost worth keeping you alive, just to see you blush in humiliation. Almost." "You certainly spout empty words just as much as the rest of your kind," Megissogwun said. "HEY!" Turtle waved a fist. "YOU'RE the one who uses big stupid words!" "And here I thought this scrap--" Ocryana jerked her head toward Charmian "--annoyed you so much because she's just that, annoying. Goodness, it must be terribly galling to be you. Beaten down by women left and right." Charmian chewed her lip when Megissogwun's eyes started glowing dangerously again. "And spouting so many big words. Do big words make up for something conspicuously little?" "Charmian, what does..." Winter Born started to ask, then gave a slow nod. "Ohhhhh." Charmian blushed and made a face. "Are you two going to get this over with or just stand yakking at each other?" she shouted. "Hear that?" Ocryana nodded toward Charmian, not taking her eyes off Megissogwun. "The dinky little scrap is getting antsy. I could probably cut you down with words alone, they seem to get under your skin so much, but I believe you just issued a threat. My two hands are just fine for fighting with, thank you very much. How are yours?" "More than enough," Megissogwun said. "But let's just try it out and see." He glowed brilliant blue for a second, then Charmian saw just a bright line between him and Ocryana, and had to blink. That was why she missed when he struck--Ocryana's head spun to the side and she stumbled backwards, catching herself with her tail. She stopped and shook her head dizzily; Megissogwun reappeared some distance behind her, at the near edge of the circle, and Charmian and Winter Born both jumped. "For God's SAKE is everyone high on espresso or something today?!" Charmian yelled. "Well, I'm a tiny bit impressed," Ocryana said, rubbing at her cheek. "You have no qualms hitting women. You have any qualms with them hitting back--?" She repeated Megissogwun's gesture--this time Charmian kept her eyes open. There was nothing more than a vague blur in the air, then Megissogwun stumbled forward, nearly losing his balance. He made a face and put a hand to the back of his head; Ocryana landed behind him with her tail twitching and the two of them turned to face each other. Charmian expected them to toss out a few more snarky comments, but instead they both ran at each other*--Ocryana flailed her tail through the air and Megissogwun blocked it, then he swung at her and she deflected it with her wing. There were a few more tries like this, with neither of them landing any blows; Ocryana seemed amused, but Megissogwun just seemed irritated. "We seem to be even!" the demon exclaimed, dodging another blow and missing one of her own. "How's that for surprising? Except that you seem rather worn out whereas I'm just getting started. Go on, keep it up. I think I almost felt something that time. A few more minutes of this and I should be good and warmed up. Come on, I'm a little out of shape and need the exercise. Why aren't you trying that hard--?" Megissogwun let out an infuriated snarl and swung at her harder than before, again missing when she dodged aside with a laugh. He didn't rush after her this time, instead clenching his fists and planting his feet hard against the ground, giving her a glare that surely would have dropped her dead if looks could kill. Ocryana landed on one foot, balancing with her tail, and made a clucking noise again. "Oh, come on now, why are you so easily offended? I thought an inferior being like me wasn't even worth your time." Megissogwun ground his teeth--they actually let out a grinding sound--then stood straight, taking in a breath and letting it out. He loosened his fists and the malevolent glare that had been rising around him dimmed somewhat; Charmian furrowed her brow, unable to understand it. "Like I said, your kind seems to depend on empty words a bit much," he said. "Actions prove a bit more difficult to handle. So you deal well with every sort of elemental medicine I toss at you, and so you can take a few blows. Very well. I will simply have to find something else to try on you." "What else is there...?" Charmian whispered, not expecting an answer. "She knows every kind of medicine there is!" Winter Born exclaimed in awe. "She just said that they're equal--didn't she? But she's in a lot better shape than he is. She'll have him beaten for sure!" She bounced up and down a little bit. "I can't wait to get back home!" Megissogwun shut his eyes and seemed to relax. Ocryana stared at him for a moment with a suspicious frown, then rolled her own eyes. "I do hope you're doing this for their benefit," she said, flicking her tail at the others, "because I'm not too interested anymore. I know I said this isn't about who's the most creative, but you're getting boring. Especially now that I know you can't do much with every sort of medicine that's known..." Physical blows, earth, air, fire, water, Charmian thought, racking her brain. What else is there? There're only two other things I can think of--neither Ocryana nor Megissogwun is dead, so they can't use any sort of ghost medicine. That leaves just one thing. But they can't... She blinked again. Something was different about the great glowing ring surrounding the two of them. She could have sworn that for the briefest second, it didn't look like a glowing ring at all, but like a ring of stone, and the mud and sloshing water within it were pure water, and the piles of debris were no longer broken earth but yet more stone, arranged in ornate patterns upon which Megissogwun and Ocryana stood. But that made no sense. The image lasted only an instant and then was gone, and she couldn't figure out why it had seemed so familiar. That wasn't the weirdest thing, though. As soon as that had gone, she was certain that glowing bands appeared, shimmering indistinctly in the air around Ocryana, but then they were gone as well--however, this time Ocryana seemed to notice the odd image too, for she took an abrupt step back as if to get away from them, glancing around herself in confusion. "What..." Charmian got out, before her voice faded just as the strange images had. Her mouth remained open, she was so stupefied. The grass around them wasn't right. The ground was intact now, untouched, and there were trees off to all sides. Winter Born sucked in a startled breath; Charmian whirled around to look the other way, telling herself it couldn't be what it looked like, yet the woods just behind her were just as she remembered them. They were standing in the great field, back on Manitou Island. |