by Jim Stein
Dawa heard the comment and quivered with tension like an over-taut string. I thought he might fly into a rage. Instead, he clacked his jaw plates twice and regarded the scene surrounding us.
“The Ant People had lived in pain and subjugation too long. Their spirits were as broken as their bodies. The twin gods had always seen the good in this race and thought it time they too ascend to the fourth world. To do so would ease their suffering and bring healing.
“But the reeds that had saved the others were long gone, lost in the floods. My god Palöngawhoya of the south resolved to find a way through the world veil and allow his people entrance. But Sotuknang’s will kept the worlds apart. It would take great magic to break through.
“So crafty Pöqanghoya of the north devised a plan. He and his brother would steal Lifebringer, Sotuknang’s medicine shield. The great god had no need for it, but the power within would be enough to break through the worlds. The twins easily retrieved Lifebringer from its hiding place, for Sotuknang had all but forgotten the shield. But despite the spells they wrought upon it, the gods’ magic could not turn such a tool into the destructive force needed to pierce the world veil.
“‘It is over,’ said the god of the north. ‘Our people must stay in the third world, and we must tend it until the end of time.’ But our southern god could not bear this answer, for his heart was soft and the Ants deserved to move on. He devised a way for the shield to seek magic of the Earth. Rather than trying to force through the veil, the healing power pulled at spells used in the fourth world. Every strand it found created a link between worlds and slowly began to draw them together despite the veil.
“Where the worlds crossed, a great turbulence arose, spinning the power of the shield and Earth magic into the vortex and creating a doorway. Alas, it is a doorway that is flawed, for the powers rage uncontrollably, feeding off one another, draining the shield’s power, and raising havoc in all the realms. My god was heartbroken over what he had wrought. Always an agent of chaos, his brother delighted and sent the unworthy through to test the portal and prepare the lands beyond for the Ant People.”
He finished and let out a huge sigh, as though relieved of a great burden.
“Well, you didn’t read all that in the walls.” Manny broke the stunned silence.
“No, but it is the way of things,” Dawa replied.
“Well we’re still no closer—” I broke off when the walls hummed and the floor lurched.
“We’re dropping,” Pete said.
I’d ridden the elevator in Mom’s hospital and recognized the sensation. A glance back confirmed the main chamber was gone, replaced by a blank wall that slid upward as we descended. We stopped with a barely audible clank, and a low-roofed chamber replaced the domed one above.
I led our group out into the dimly lit room. The rock wall matched those above, and in the center of the room a ceremonial shield stood proudly on its stone pedestal. The staff vibrated, flared, and went dark.
“I thought it’d be bigger,” Pete said.
The medicine shield measured a little over a foot across and was roughly round. Hide stretched like a drumhead across a white hoop fashioned of wood, or perhaps bone. The surface had been divided into quadrants, but rather than painted animals, the sun and moon occupied the upper sections and a mountain and lake the lower. Turquoise arrows set on wedges of color separated each quadrant and pointed to a blue-green circle in the middle.
The workmanship was beautiful, but hardly what I would consider godly. The artifact didn’t glow, or speak to us, or do anything besides sit on its display.
“That’s it?” Dwain popped the last of a handful of rainbow sweets into his mouth and danced forward to examine the shield. “Nothing special. I would think—yow!” His exclamation came as he raised a hand to touch the edge of the shield. “I take it all back. This thing is loaded!”
He touched the edge of the hoop again, smiled, frowned, and then smiled again. I cautiously reached my hand out and felt nothing—until my fingers brushed the surface. Dwain’s reaction didn’t do the overwhelming jolt of sensation justice.
Unbelievable power roiled within the confines of the artifact. I’d touched some potent magic since discovering my powers. Hell, I chilled with gods half the time, but those had been static shocks from scuffing my feet on the carpet of the supernatural as compared to grabbing the live electrical wire that was this little gem.
All beings and magic objects had a residual signature I could sense and see if I opened my Sight. The shield held its incredible energy close, sealing it away from casual observation. I never would have suspected it to be anything but an interesting piece of craftsmanship. The hole the shield left in my senses reminded me of the absence caused by Tokpela.
“We need Lifebringer to make things right.” I shoved both hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for that power again.
“I suspected this was your goal.” Dawa looked neither angry nor pleased. If anything, the Ant leader looked tired.
“Yet you helped us.”
“I simply explained our history so that you might understand. I did not realize entrance to this chamber required understanding nor that the shield was here. What will you do with it?”
“Come on, you know your brother’s plan is jacked right?” Quinn interjected. “Muuyaw and his god are so focused on getting out of here that they refuse to see it just won’t work. They don’t care how many people get hurt or killed. Worlds are dying, including the one you want. What good is following the chosen ones if it means destroying them, destroying us?”
“It is a question I have asked often of late.”
I slipped off my jacket, wrapped it around the shield, and tucked the arrangement under my arm. Touching the thing didn’t hurt, but I couldn’t afford to be distracted until I knew how the Ant was going to play this. Dawa simply stepped aside, giving me access to the elevator.
“You won’t try to stop us?” Quinn asked.
“He’s tired of the bloodshed,” I answered for the Ant leader. “This plan with the shield and vortex has strayed too far from the way.”
“I am…we are no longer deserving.” Dawa’s voice was a quiet whisper.
“Ed, we need to talk about the shield.” Dwain tugged on my shirt, but I couldn’t spare time for him because Manny blocked my path.
“Why take it anywhere?” The road manager asked. “Light it up right here and be done with it.”
“There might be a better way. We need to study the shield and piece together a plan.”
“I distinctly recall you talking about how your god buddies said the vortex will cause total annihilation.”
That was true, yet Koko had never specifically said to destroy the shield, only that it called out in pain for having been twisted from its purpose. How did you heal the healer? The secret hid in the swirling power. I’d wanted to recoil from the sheer magnitude of that energy. But the underlying pain and desire, that need to be whole again, rode beneath the surface, drawing me back to try and put things right.
“For the gods’ sake, Ed.” Manny’s voice dropped to a harsh whisper. “They killed my people. We can’t risk letting something this dangerous loose. I’d destroy it myself if I had my powers.”
I was suddenly glad of the Ant’s block on Manny, because the desperate ebony glint in his eyes said he’d do anything to crush the twin gods’ plan. And I didn’t think it had anything to do with saving more people—this was revenge, pure and simple. But he had no clue what we were dealing with.
“It’s a moot point. I doubt we can destroy this thing.” I unwrapped the edge of the shield and held it out. “Touch it.”
He reached out, and a flash of panic had me worried he’d grab the shield and run. But Manny simply placed his hand on the exposed edge. His eyes grew wide, but I’d honestly thought there’d be a bigger reaction. After a long moment, he reluctantly pulled his hand away, and I rewrapped the shield.
“Damn it!” He went from pleading to pis
sed. “My fire wouldn’t make a dent. Hell, it wouldn’t even touch it. There’s a void around the thing.”
“Like Tokpela, right?”
Manny cocked his head. “Yeah, similar.”
“Maybe something upstairs can help us figure this out. And we can pump Dawa for more information while he’s in such a sharing mood.”
For the moment we were in agreement, but it was a tenuous truce. Manny wanted swift, decisive payback. I couldn’t comprehend what the man had lost, but did understand his need for justice. I shivered at the thought of what I might do if everything I loved were wiped out.
For now, we moved in the same direction—a direction that was suddenly blocked by an irate sprite with murder in his eyes. Dwain glared up at us with hands on hips and his lower lip pushed out, making me think fondly of Pina’s tirades. My smile fled when he laid into us.
“If you two don’t stop ignoring me, you’ll only wish the shield could heal because I will whip your big dumb butts. The gods have ignored us sprites for eons, but I won’t take it from a couple of overgrown…” He floundered trying to come up with a good word. “Well, I just won’t take it. Got that?”
“Listen, we weren’t—”
“I asked if you understood.” That killer look was back in his eyes, but vanished when Manny and I both nodded. “Good, because I know what to do about the shield.”
28. Reunited
“W
HAT ARE you thinking?” I asked Dwain as the elevator rose.
The images on the walls changed to show the vortex from the other side. Trolls and demons camped on the surrounding plains. A shimmering river in the background would be the one skirting the Ant village and the jagged line of towers along the distant mountains the city ruins we now occupied. A lumbering shape strode along the foothills, leaving an impossibly long shadow under the setting sun. The moon had risen higher in the sky and waxed to nearly full.
“Would you stop admiring the picture for a minute?” Dwain’s rebuke pulled my attention back. “The shield’s power is contained behind a barrier.”
“Yeah, like a layer of nothing. That’s going to make it hard to manipulate.”
“Nope, that’s where you’re wrong.” Dwain’s dark curls flopped as he shook his head. “The energy’s in constant motion, but doesn’t just churn in a circle. A thread of magic still quests out to your world. That’s the line it uses to fish for Earth magic and feed the vortex.”
The floor jerked as the elevator reached the main floor, and we all piled out. Depictions of third world history still ringed the room, and Max sat obediently at the entrance, tail wagging in greeting—except he looked off to the far side of the domed chamber.
Three people studied the scene showing Ants stuffing people into transport reeds. I recognized the platinum blond hair cascading over the shoulders of the girl in the middle.
“Anna?” I tucked the shield under my arm and strode toward the trio.
“Oh for crying out loud.” Dwain had every right to be frustrated, but what on earth would have brought the Bright into this world, and why in the hell were Charles and—my god, was that Rhonda?
“Ed!”
Anna ran over on tiptoes and wrapped me in a hug that had me clearing my throat. I didn’t know where to put my free hand and ended up resting it on her shoulder. She trembled, and the protective instinct I’d harbored since meeting the young woman leapt forth like a snarling wolf looking for a target. Two readily presented themselves as I wrapped an arm around Anna and squared off against the adults.
“Are you two insane, bringing her through the portal? You know what she went through. If the creatures here got hold of her…” I let the implications sink in and gave them my best glare, which did little to impress either.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Charles said in that oh-so-superior tone he liked to use. “She got it in her head to come see you. I’m just along to help.”
“Yeah right.” I felt Anna stiffen, but swept my gaze from the drummer to Rhonda. “What’s your story?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” She looked over my shoulder to Manny as if hunting for support before focusing on me again. “Keep up the attitude and we’re going to have a problem.”
“Ed, it really was me,” Anna said before I could press for better answers. “It’s about the shield. You can’t destroy it until you’re back at the portal or you’ll all be trapped.” She glanced around at the others and sucked in a little gasp when she saw Dawa. “I know Koko told you it was okay, but now they think the vortex will collapse immediately.”
“They’re fricking gods. You’d think they could get a message through.”
The thought of my all-powerful father risking Anna to deliver a message had me seething. Not to mention he’d never actually told me how to deal with the shield. I looked to Charles and Rhonda, feeling a bit sheepish as they nodded in unison, then scowled at each other.
“He did try to get through,” Quinn said, reminding me of the failed true dream.
“Okay, but we aren’t going to burn the shield anyway. It’s too powerful to destroy.” Anna’s crestfallen look had me scrambling for something more. “But I appreciate the warning.” Lame! “It hadn’t occurred to me we wouldn’t have time to get home. We’ll have to make sure we don’t mess with it too much before we’re back at the portal. Any solution will have the same problem. Dwain has some ideas.”
My stumbling back-assward words mollified her, and the smile that had fueled me though hard days on the road returned. At the mention of his name, Dwain straightened, puffed out his chest, and strode up with Ralph in tow.
“Sounds like you’re all finally ready to hear—”
“Haahhh-roooff!”
“Maxie!” Anna exclaimed. “He’s back!”
“Now, the dog?” Dwain huffed and crossed both arms over his chest.
Anna rushed to the doorway. Max must have wandered off for the three to enter without seeing him. He let out a happy growl with his front feet splayed and covered the girl with big sloppy kisses as soon as she stepped outside. You would have thought her face was smeared with peanut butter. The rest of us filtered out while the two finished their mutual lovefest.
“So what’s your great idea, Dwain?” Anna sat against Max’s side, stroked the long fur of his shoulders with one hand, and wiped at her eyes with the other.
Dwain glared around the group, daring one of us to interrupt. When no one did, he sat down to talk to the girl, pointedly ignoring the rest of us.
“We can leverage that flow of magic the shield needs. The gods mucked around, but couldn’t change its basic nature. The magic flows strong through the shield, but now instead of taking in sickness and pain and sending out healing energy, it’s sucking up those spells, ripping them through the veil and pumping the extra energy back into the vortex.
“I feel other energies being pulled in too. The shield no longer just seeks out Earth magic. It pulls at the life forces all around, like it’s trying to drain everything.”
“You got an awful lot of information with a brief touch.” I wasn’t jealous at all, even though I’d held the thing for a solid two minutes and didn’t catch any of those nuances. But then again, I was no master healer. “So what can we do about it?”
“You cannot undo the works of a god,” Dawa said.
“More like redo.” Dwain held his right fist up to illustrate. “Here’s the shield. It’s sucking in all this energy from fourth world spells, the third world, you name it. Its normal function would be to push that back into something or someone that needs healing.”
His left hand walked through the air a few steps, suffered some sort of massive stroke, and fell over. Dwain pumped healing energy from the shield with wiggling fingers and brought the other hand back from the brink of death so that it danced around kicking its pinky and thumb out with the sheer joy of being alive. We waited, but it just wouldn’t stop dancing.
“Um, Dwain. The shield?” I p
rompted.
“Oh, sorry. So with a little nudging, I should be able to get the shield to send power away from the vortex and back into the land.” The miraculously cured hand spread out to encompass the landscape around us, then pointed at Dawa. “Maybe even into your people.”
“It can’t be that simple.” Though I wished it was.
“There’s an enchantment on the original mechanism to fool the shield into thinking it’s still doing good. But old artifacts gain awareness. It knows something’s wrong. The tricky part will be shifting the incoming power to the new source. I’ll have to be neck deep in there and really don’t want to become its next meal. The third world is a big place. We need a few anchor points where the shield can start drawing off negative energy to purify. If that works it ought to naturally gravitate to the new source and finish the shift on its own.”
“Brother!” Muuyaw stormed across the open rock to confront Dawa.
We’d been too focused on Dwain’s puppet show to noticed Muuyaw come over the rise. The Ant looked disheveled and near delirium. If he’d been climbing the hills all day trying to catch up, he was probably at the end of his strength. But fervor gave him plenty of energy and righteous indignation.
“First you release these prisoners, now you bring them to the sacred ruins? Such treachery cannot be tolerated. You and your god have always been weak.”
“There is hope in this.” Dawa took a step back at his brother’s intensity. “A chance to bring healing back to our people, to our land. Listen to—”
“I’ll listen to nothing from interlopers who would defile our ways.”
“But if we can return Lifebringer to its rightful function, there is no need to leave.”
“I will not stay in this wretched place!” Muuyaw whirled on Dawa who shrank back. “Eons we have been trapped here, alone and cast out. I will not allow—”
He cut off mid-sentence, and it took me a moment to realize Muuyaw stared at my side. My jacket had slipped to expose the sun and moon painted on the shield under my arm. The Ant’s face turned white, then purple-red. I honestly thought he might have a heart attack and drop over dead—I should be so lucky.