by Gin Eborn
Disoriented. Faces. Human-ish faces superimposed over another face I couldn’t quite make out. Blurry echoes of energy meshed together somehow. My eyes blinked trying to force a shift in my vision. Applause erupted. A few of them actually stood.
Did I just see a tail?
My eyes burrowed into their eyes. No one—not a single one—looked away. Thomas hung behind me as I shifted in a full 360. His heart had a beat and his breath radiated hot death stink all over my neck. I figured it must take a while for a dead person to breathe out all that decay. But I was happy for him. A heartbeat. And if he had one, maybe when the time was right, I could give him a proper death for all the shit he did in his first life.
The amphitheater was mounds of mossy stones and dirt sculpted into seating that tiered up four and five levels high in a semicircle. A tree anchored the back curves and must’ve provided shade to spectators on warm sunny days. I knew it’s leaves, but couldn’t place the name. A stone path, manicured with precision, led out to a storybook town. It reminded me of pictures I’d seen of old shires in England. Homes nestled together with flower boxes at each windowsill. Ivy vines rising up bricked walls with rose bushes holding the space below. Beyond the town were meadows and curvy mountain ranges. All very picturesque and grotesquely confusing. How could we all live on one Earth and yet have such significant disparity? It was all a little too perfect.
I listened deeper and didn’t hear one bird. Not one rustle of an animal in leaves or in the grass. No bees. If the land of Alphazia was supposed to be the land of my animal brothers, my insect compadres, then where were they? Yet there I was with just these—beings. Thomas must’ve felt my unease as he wedged his body even deeper into my back.
“It’s behind you.” An uninvited male voice invaded my head.
I turned and gasped. It was the same. Exactly the same. The rocks leading up to Stoney Cliffs. I was home, but not home.
Fisher is not here.
The memory made me sick.
“Magpie. Welcome.” What looked like a man walked toward me, his silver hair peeking out from under a hooded cloak. “I am Blue Eagle.” His voice pulled me into an instinctual bow, and gave me a prime opportunity to see if he really had legs.
At that exact moment, Thomas fell into me, my knees buckled, and we slammed forward into our host. My face was hot as I got back on my feet. The reaction in the crowd didn’t go unnoticed. Heads shifted to neighbors and mouths whispered what I assumed were horrible things.
“Blue Eagle. I’m relieved to be here. Alive. Oh, my—friend, Thomas.” The staccato voice was new for me and not something I wanted to actually keep in my repertoire. And then “Hello” fell out of my mouth. I bowed my head again and glanced around the crowd. The faces, fanciful and adorned with paintings and sparkles, unlike anything I’d seen. It was so unnatural, I wanted to laugh at the absurdity. We ran in filth and fear on my side, and they dressed themselves up like some kind of Regys bullshit ‘have-it-alls.’ A life outside of human contamination? I was expecting earthy. Tribal. Fuck, more Calypso. Not that.
But really, where are the birds?
And the lights around the arena—glowing orbs on sticks. Too much like the Underworld.
Are you feeding on chandy, too?
Blue Eagle caught my attention. “Maggie, welcome to Elder Village and to this, our Fire Council.”
Ah, you’re an Elder tree. Beautiful and poisonous.
“Those here, each come from the different clans as representatives, if you will, to welcome you.” Aldon had told me Blue Eagle would meet me, but I was not expecting the forced pageantry.
“Can you hear me? Can you?” The voice came again to me.
“Yes. Where are you?” Blue Eagle’s voice became a background irritant.
“I’m glad you’re here, but not everyone is.”
“Why? And why do you all look like humans?”
I was met with silence.
Perhaps I was too blunt, but at that point subtlety seemed a waste of time. I had a job to do and being there only heightened the pressure I felt inside to get the damn thing finished. There was no time for the fucking distractions, although the beauty of the place did interfere with my focus. Intoxicating somehow. Each breath made me woozy.
“Please, Maggie and Thomas, please sit.” Blue Eagle motioned to two empty stones. Thomas yanked my shirt and pulled me down. I held my impatience. If this was their way, I could play the game, but I couldn’t stop the rising anger that their world had somehow been spared the full climate collapse in my world. Thomas tucked his fingers under my thigh.
Blue Eagle continued, “We all remember the days when two-leggeds were with us here at Fire Council. In this very spot. And now, this night, we are once again reunited.” The people clapped sounding more like a sneeze than a celebration. “It is my honor tonight to light our fires once again. To honor the old ways and the light that is forever showing us the way home.”
“Be careful,” the voice was there again. “The bird skull can’t protect you here.”
“How do you know about my pendant?”
“I made it, of course. It came from our fires.”
“You are as old as Aldon?” I didn’t mean to mention her. It just happened.
“We all are.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“But how can that be?”
“You know, you aren’t what I imagined you would be. I think many here are surprised. The old Creation Dreamers were a bit more—“
“Refined?”
“Rigid. You are—softer.”
“Don’t think me too soft.” I glanced in every direction looking for whoever I was talking to. “I’m stronger than you could ever imagine.” Combat 101. Find a way to be bigger than you are. If the skull could not protect me, I needed to know if any of my Calypso magic could.
“I meant no offense. You are unexpected, that’s all. The others were often in solitude and somehow hardened. They held, well, a stiff boundary. Like a ring of power no one could cross.”
Blue Eagle crossed his forearms and snapped his fingers. The center ground of the theater opened, as a cauldron rose up already filled with fire. Compared to the Alphazian glamour witches, the cauldron looked out of place, but for me, it was perfection. Ancient. Black iron charred with eons of use and ceremonial offerings, it nestled into three large stones. So securely held, nothing even rattled as the cauldron magically moved into place.
“And into this flame we make this offering.” Blue Eagle seemed oblivious to my psychic conversation. He lifted his arm to drop some kind of plant into the fire as an arrow whizzed by my head and plunged into Blue Eagle’s shoulder. The crowd erupted as several representatives ran to his side, and someone knocked me down.
“Who did this?” I asked.
“I can’t say. We’ll get you to shelter. Don’t be afraid. Many want to hurt you. Many want to worship you. Some would just like to get to know you.”
“Which are you?”
Silence.
Blue Eagle was surrounded by representatives. I saw him breathe and speak. Thomas enmeshed his entire body around my legs and feet.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Thomas, you’re okay.” I shoved him away.
“Come with me.” A woman draped herself around my shoulders. As tall as I was, her appearance undeniably alluring. All in white, including her hair, which was thick and pulled tight around her head, sweeping completely to one side, then down across her shoulder and onto her back. She had streaks of blue over her eyes and her skin glowed. Literally.
“I’m Lola. And you are safe with me.” It wasn’t the mystery voice from before. “We have a place for you here in the Village. I will take you, but we should indeed go now.” As we reached the edge of the theater she lifted a staff from its holder. Its light pierced the darkening night with rays of turquoise. Her gait was rushed as she led me down the cobbled path into town.
We reached a stone-sided dwelling; ochre and tan with a blue fron
t door. The home itself was round with curved windows and red geraniums flowering at each sill. Those were Mom’s favorite flowers. So many memories of her planting in the spring as soon as winter was done. Geraniums were always by the front door. Red, for protection and energy, right next to the rosemary.
Inside was the warmth and light of fire. “So here is fruit and some bread for you. The ladies of our Village thought you may enjoy these. And some good wine.” She touched my face, searching me. “Forgive me, I have not been around a two-legged for so long.”
“Human. We are called humans now. But, actually, I’m Calypso. Only half-human.”
Lola curled her lip. I wondered if I’d made a mistake telling her the truth.
“What are you?” I asked. “Other than quite old.”
“Honestly, you will have to do a bit better than this if you are to be the Creation Dreamer for both our worlds.” My face flushed as I looked down. Her voice was a bit rancid. “I can not imagine our world is anything like yours. Nor, I suspect, is your world anything like ours. So do keep up and do not let your eyes deceive you.” She grinned as she stroked my hair, inspecting each strand, and stopping only when she saw the medicine pouch cord around my neck. “What medicine did you bring with you?” She was so provocative, it was impossible not to answer her.
“Oh, just a double-pointed crystal.” She didn’t need to know more. They knew to put the geraniums out front and appear as humans, but they had no idea about my medicine or my feeding habits.
She made the mistake of touching the pouch. It seared her flesh the moment her fingers grazed the deer skin. Not the best way to start my relationship-building in a new world, but it did make her let go, and at least that part of my Caly medicine worked.
Instead of meeting me with anger, she smiled. “So very interesting. I’ve always wondered what you would be like. The new Creation Dreamer. Fulfillment of the prophecy. And so this is who you are.” She curved around me, taking in every feature.
“Does everyone here know of the prophecy as well?”
“Of course. And how have the two-leggeds—sorry, humans—faired in their new reality? From the looks of you, it has been, perhaps, not so much as they expected.”
I pushed the brown nest of hair out of eyes. “We’ve made a few regrettable decisions, I think—as a species. Yes, that’s true. But that’s why I’m here. I will dream a new reality into existence and all of this will be over.”
She spun her head around and peered into my eyes, “You think everyone wants this to be over?” She waved her hand in front of me as much to stop herself, I think, as to keep me quiet.
In my ignorance, there had been an innocence and an arrogance, and both shattered. My people lived in such desperation for help, but the Alphazians did not. And I held the energy of their betrayer. The two-leggeds ripped the veil. Not me, obviously, but I was the face of their life’s disruption. They were all alive to see it.
“We will be fast friends you and I, I think. Yes, I think so.” She turned before I could say another word, and was out the door and back down to the arena. I watched her through my window. Someone indistinguishable waited for her in the darkness. She placed her staff back in its place, glanced at me, and smiled as she and her companion vanished in the darkness. For a moment, the sound of birds’ wings filled the air, overtaking my dwelling. And then they were gone. That was the moment I understood.
“Thomas, did you hear that?” I didn’t even need to look around the room to know he wasn’t there. “Shit, Thomas, where did you go?”
I searched the landscape hoping to catch a glimpse of him running behind buildings and squealing. Instead, I saw two beings standing guard at my door with rather large sabers. I wondered if it was to keep me in or someone else out. Nothing was as I expected, and someone, or something was doing a kick-ass job of keeping me distracted and detained. While I held a deepened sense of urgency to find the Dream Lodge, with guards at the door and Thomas nowhere in sight, I had no choice but to wait.
The fire crackled and for the first time since I left the sacred meeting tree and my Caly sisters, I realized how tired I was. The dwelling was really quite cared for with a bed, lots of pillows, and a stack of clean clothes perfectly placed at the foot of the bed. To the other side—a water fountain that flowed from ceiling to floor. Peaceful. Better than anything I had back home.
The sounds of the water took me back to my last night with Fisher. I could feel him filling me. The taste of the salty water on his skin. Every trace of his body shining in the moonlight.
“What I wouldn’t give to hear your voice again. To have your body waiting in this bed for me.” It helped to speak to him as if he were there. The tears were unstoppable even though I reminded myself I couldn’t afford to get lost in the memory. The what-ifs strangled me. The only way to bring him home was to create the world I wanted—a new world order that included houseboats and ocean trips and ease. I had to keep moving forward.
Lola was right. The wine was indeed good as I settled in for the night.
“Maggie. Maggie. Maggie.” My hand grabbed Thomas’s neck with rabid instinct as he strangled out one more “Maggie?”
“Do not keep this up, Thomas. I’m in a comfortable bed, and there is a warm fire and flowing water. And I left food for you.” I dropped my hand.
“I already ate that. Listen to me. We can not stay here. Not. I am saying not.”
I sat up on my elbow. “What is this about?” He was animated like a little boy, quite upset and obviously worried.
“Something is not right here. I don’t like it. And I don’t trust it.”
“Please calm down and tell me what the hell is going on with you.”
“It’s the animals.”
“Did you see a dragon? Please tell me there are dragons here.” Only part of me was joking.
“No, I did not see a dragon.” He squinted at me and shook his head. That was the Thomas I wanted to see. The one who made me think I was an idiot.
I fell back down on the bed and grabbed a pillow to muffle out his mutterings.
“Maggie. The animals—the people we saw at the Fire Council. They are the animals.” I pulled the pillow down to stare at him. “Maggie. Are you hearing me?” He snapped his fingers in my face.
“Yes, actually, I know. All the animals here are shapeshifters. They came to Fire Council last night the way they thought I could relate to them. Probably so they wouldn’t freak me out.”
“Shapeshifters?”
“Oh, come on, don’t be so shocked. Everything here is an illusion created entirely for my pleasure. Designed to be exactly what they thought I wanted.”
He paused and stared at me. “Well, anyway, I went all over this little town. There is no sign of Blue Eagle.” Thomas had not heard a word I’d spoken. “I don’t think he lives here. Not in the Village, anyway. I think even the Village was made for us. They are all animals, right, so no one lives here. I mean, why would they? A bird is going to be up in a nest. And a snake would be—”
“Thomas!”
“Sorry. Forgot.” He threw himself on the bed. “This is—all of it—an illusion. None of this is real.”
“Good job. You’ve nailed it. I can’t believe I hadn’t put any of that together.”
“I know. Honestly, I thought a Creation Dreamer would be a little more insightful.” He really wasn’t joking.
“Well, why don’t you take a peek out that window and tell me what you see.”
“Oh, my gods. There’s a light at the top of that mountain peak.”
“I’m thinking it just might be a fire.”
“Dream Lodge?”
“Don’t know, but that is where I’m headed. Soon. In the meantime, everyone went through a lot of trouble to make sure we were comfortable, and I plan to enjoy it just a little longer.” I sank back down under the pillows. “Best illusion I’ve ever had.”
“Okay. Yeah. That’s good. You sleep. But I am going to keep guard.”
&nb
sp; The morning sun was almost halfway in the sky when I finally stretched in the bed. A good night’s sleep. The sheets—decadent. Sheets that were blue and not dirty white. I didn’t want to move. My arm and leg instinctively reached over to the other side. The emptiness destroyed me in hidden places.
My fingers wove patterns in the space beside me. “It seems I can’t live a day without you.” I whispered, remembering. As long as I could picture Fisher and us together, he was still alive. But eyes deceive. The one thing life had taught me was the heartbreak of impermanence.
Thomas was nowhere to be seen, and I knew he was still lurking about somewhere. In fact, as I looked out across a completely deserted town, no one was to be seen. Even my guards were gone. But there was one new thing; a smell caught my full attention and primal desires. Coffee! Real coffee resting on the table. And a little pitcher that I dipped my finger in. Real cream. I drank the first cup down like a beggar and sipped the second like royalty. No food was left that morning. They had figured it out rather quickly. Almost as fast as me.
I sat at the wall fountain to honor the wisdom of water and its gifts inside me. Breathing in, I floated my fingers through the streams, ready to open a portal and see if could connect back to my world. There was nothing. I felt nothing. I grabbed my crystal from my medicine pouch, bypassing any thought to look at my photo again. Holding it in my left hand, I expanded my lungs to bring the crystal wisdom into my body for guidance. Again, nothing.
My double-pointed crystal was handed down to me through my Calypso lineage. Woman to woman, holding wisdom I had yet to unlock. It was placed in my pouch at birth. When the Regys round-ups started, we all gathered for one lunar cycle of nightly rituals to build protection under the waxing moons and to cast off the Regys under the waning. It worked. Anyone who was not a Calypso couldn’t touch our pouches without a nasty consequence. To lose our medicines, our ties to our family line, would’ve been too deep a loss to bear. Unimaginable. I held my crystal to my forehead and bowed before placing it back in my pouch.