The Spirit Warrior

by H. K. Varian

  Fiona decided she had to find him and apologize again—and get him to see that she didn’t mean any harm—before they left school. She searched for him in the tide of students rushing for their buses, but didn’t see him anywhere. She ran down to the room where the comic book club met after school, but he wasn’t there either, and no one had seen him.

  Finally, she realized she was about to miss her own ride home and gave up. She got to the bus just as the driver was about to close the doors.

  I’ll call Mack later. Maybe he’ll be feeling better then.

  As usual Fiona sat by herself in the front seat behind the driver. Normally, she used this time to get a head start on her homework, but today, she could only think about Mack.

  He’s getting worse. A month ago Mack would have cracked up if I drenched him with a wave. He’d make some kind of joke and threaten to evaporate the pool with his fire arrows.

  Fiona got all the way home without writing even one sentence of her Celtic mythology report. She got off the bus and noticed that the driveway was empty. Her father wasn’t home yet, so she dug her keys out of her backpack and let herself in the front door.

  I guess I’ll go see if there’s anything to cook for dinner, she thought. I know Dad won’t want spaghetti surprise again.

  Fiona was humming to herself when she entered the kitchen, but stopped short when she saw someone sitting at the kitchen table. She dashed back to the front hall and pulled her cell phone from the front pocket of her backpack.

  “I’m calling the police!” she yelled, reaching for the front door.

  “Please don’t,” the woman said, coming out of the kitchen. “I just want to talk.”

  Fiona’s back was pressed up against the door. She had one hand on the doorknob behind her. In the other she held her phone. She pressed the 9 and then the 1. She was about to dial the third number when the woman stepped into the light. She was drenched from head to toe, wearing a simple cotton dress that was discolored and sandy at the edges. Seaweed was tangled in her long, braided hair.

  “Please,” the woman pleaded. “I’m sorry for barging in, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had to do human things.”

  It suddenly came back to Fiona—with her mother’s enchantments in place, the only magical beings who could enter the house were selkies. As the woman took one more step into the light, Fiona saw her face and recognized the woman. It was Una, one of her mother’s attendants. They’d spoken a few times over the past months, but something about Una was different now. There was a look of desperation in her eyes, and her hands were trembling.

  Fiona had calmed down for a moment, but then her heart quickened again. “What are you doing here? Did my mother send you? Is she all right?” Fiona asked.

  “It’s Sakura,” Una said breathlessly. “She’s here, in Willow Cove. She has your mother.”

  Fiona gasped. “But how?”

  “I don’t know, but she wants our support in exchange for Leana. The selkie council has ruled that only you can conduct the negotiations to get her back,” Una said. “We need you; you’re the only other selkie of royal blood.”

  Fiona remembered her mother telling her that Sakura wanted the selkies to join her in her war against the Changers, but even so, Fiona felt suspicious. The council didn’t take Fiona at all seriously when she met with them at her mother’s side a few months ago. In fact, when Fiona suggested they unite with the Changer nation to battle Auden Ironbound together, they had laughed at her. They brushed off her concerns as those of a naive youngling.

  Why would they suddenly trust and respect me enough to want my help now?

  Almost before Fiona had fully formed that thought, it was drowned out by her fear—no, terror—at the idea of losing her mother. They had been separated for nine years when the selkies split off from the Changer nation. Things had been so bad that Fiona’s mother thought it necessary for Fiona to believe that she was dead to protect her.

  No, I can’t lose my mother again. I only just found her. I’ll face whatever I have to, even the Shadow Fox, to see her again.

  “Take me to them,” Fiona said, digging her selkie cloak out of her backpack and fastening it around her neck.

  “Follow me,” Una said. “And hurry. We’ve no time to lose.”

  Fiona did as she was told. Fiona’s heart was beating much too fast, but she reminded herself that the First Four had assigned guards to her and to the others.

  They’re watching me, Fiona told herself. They’ll step in to protect me if I need help. Just like they did for Darren.

  Una led her out onto the street and beyond the range of her mother’s protection spell. She felt a change in the air as she stepped over the protective boundary. The street and the small patch of woods across the street were free from enchantments.

  How quickly can I get to the protected area on the beach if I need to? Fiona wondered.

  Una was moving farther away from those protections. She was getting more and more agitated, telling Fiona to hurry. At one point she grabbed Fiona’s hand to force her to move faster.

  A man and woman suddenly appeared on the street, stepping out from behind a tree. Una shoved Fiona toward them. The woman grabbed Fiona roughly by the shoulders, her fingernails digging in like sharp talons. Her eyes were strange and glittery.

  “I’ve done what you asked. Now give me my cloak back,” Una demanded.

  The man only smirked at her.

  Una’s voice rose into a frantic scream. “You said the girl for the cloak!”

  They’ve got her selkie cloak, Fiona realized. The worst thing that can ever happen to a selkie is to lose her cloak. To be trapped in her human body forever. How could she have been so careless?

  The man laughed and threw Una her cloak. She grabbed it and tucked the cloak tightly under her arm. “I’m sorry. My magic isn’t powerful enough to fight them. They threatened to burn my cloak if I didn’t do what they said,” she whispered to Fiona before she turned around and ran toward the stairs that led from the cliff to the sea.

  You should have asked my mother for help, Fiona thought, instead of turning on us.

  But Fiona didn’t speak. She was quietly singing the tide song under her breath. Selkie songs couldn’t be rushed. They had to be sung to the rhythm of the waves and the tides. Still, she sang this one as if she was in a choppy, storm-filled, fast-moving sea. She saw the waves getting bigger and more agitated.

  The woman was about to clap Fiona’s wrists and ankles in magical chains when she saw a wave—larger than anything Fiona had ever created before—rear up out of the sea. The woman’s mouth twisted with hatred. “Stop singing,” she demanded. “Or it will be your last.”

  She wouldn’t dare, Fiona told herself. They’re trying to get to my mother through me. Sakura wants the selkies on her side. Harming me would make sure that never happens. She kept singing. The wave ebbed and then flowed again—bigger now.

  In a flash, the man transformed into a nykur, his horse hooves raking the ground impatiently. The woman dug her nails into Fiona’s shoulders and dragged her onto the horse’s back as he set off at a gallop.

  But he couldn’t outrun her wave. It loomed over them like a wall of water. The top of the swell curled over their heads, and there was a moment of hesitation. Fiona smiled. There was no way a nykur and whatever kind of Changer this woman was could outswim a selkie. She sang the last note and transformed just as the tidal wave crashed down on them with a roar, carrying both Changers away. Fiona flicked her tail to get away from them and swam to the top of the whitecaps. As soon as they dispersed, she transformed again, got to her feet, and ran back to the protection of the house.

  Her cell phone forgotten, Fiona ran for the landline in the front hall and dialed the first number she could think of: Gabriella’s. At the same time she double-checked that all the doors in the house were locked.

  “Sakura’s forces tried to kidnap me,” she said when Gabriella finally answered. “My guards weren’t here to h
elp,” Fiona said frantically. “I don’t know what to do!”

  “What happened?” Gabriella asked.

  Fiona told the story as quickly as she could. “My guards weren’t here,” she repeated. “Sakura’s people may have gotten to them first!”

  Fiona heard Gabriella sharing the story with her grandmother.

  “Tía Rosa is already on her way,” Gabriella said. “I’m putting my grandmother on the phone.”

  “Are they still there, Fiona?” Gabriella’s grandmother asked. “Are you safe?”

  “I think I’m safe as long as I don’t leave the house. They washed away in my wave, but they could come back.” Fiona peeked out the window. “There’s an impundulu flying overhead—I think it’s that woman—and she’s creating a storm. Can you come here, please?”

  “Yes, of course,” Gabriella’s grandmother said. “Rosa will be there in seconds. We’ll alert the others and be there as soon as we can.”

  A huge lightning bolt ripped through the sky, aiming for the electrical box on the side of Fiona’s house. Her mother’s protection field seemed to repel it. But it couldn’t repel the bolt that struck the other end of the street, aiming for the power and telephone lines that fed the whole neighborhood.

  “Hurry!” Fiona added. But just as she was saying the word, the phone line went dead. Another stroke of lightning sliced through the sky. It was followed by another and another.

  Chapter 11

  Time Is Up

  Gabriella was just finishing up her latest spirit-walking lesson with her grandmother and her aunt when she received Fiona’s desperate phone call. Tía Rosa was on her way to Fiona’s house before they had even heard the full story. Gabriella and her grandmother hopped into the car to go to the Kimuras’ house.

  On the way, Gabriella tried to communicate telepathically with Mack, but her attempts were rebuffed. Reaching Mr. Kimura was harder; for some reason his mind was closed. She wasn’t able to get through to him.

  When they got to the house, she raced up the front walk and pounded on the door.

  Please be home, she begged silently.

  It seemed to take forever for Mack to answer the door. When he did, and he saw Gabriella, he slammed it in her face.

  Startled, Gabriella stepped back for a moment and then started banging on the door again. “Fiona’s in trouble,” she yelled. “She needs us! Are you seriously going to ignore that because you’re mad at us?”

  When the door opened again, it was Mr. Kimura who greeted her. Mack stood behind him, smirking.

  “Sakura’s people tried to take Fiona,” Gabriella told him. “She held them off for now, but she needs our help.”

  Mr. Kimura closed his eyes for a moment, and Gabriella could tell he was communicating telepathically with other Changers. “We must go,” he said to Gabriella and Mack. “Darren will join us on the way. Changer forms will be fastest.”

  Mr. Kimura and Gabriella transformed immediately. Abuelita did the same. Mack rolled his eyes and took his time, but he did finally transform.

  Why is he being like this? Gabriella wondered. It’s Fiona!

  Mr. Kimura performed a cloaking illusion so that they could run through the streets of Willow Cove without attracting the attention of nonmagical people or Sakura’s forces. Darren joined them as they raced past his home, transforming so that he could fly above them.

  Gabriella was frightened for her friend, but despite her fears and her need to get to Fiona as quickly as possible, Gabriella couldn’t help but notice that the fire around Mack’s paws looked different. It was darker than the bright oranges and yellows she was accustomed to seeing. And the new deep umber color didn’t seem to carry the same heat. She compared it to the bright-white flames that licked at Mr. Kimura’s paws.

  Something’s definitely off, she thought. Even the way the flame is moving is different. Instead of reaching up and out like normal flames, these are sticking closer to Mack’s paws. Has Mr. Kimura noticed?

  There wasn’t time to discuss the finer points of kitsune fire as they raced through town. Finally, they reached Fiona’s house in time to find a massive battle raging on the street and in the small patch of woods that stood between the street and the beach.

  Tía Rosa was doing her best to hold off both the nykur and the impundulu on her own. Gabriella could see that she was having a difficult time, and she was relieved to see Abuelita and Mr. Kimura join the fight.

  Stay back, Mr. Kimura communicated. Keep yourselves safe.

  Darren and Mack stayed where they were, watching the battle, but Gabriella ran in the direction of Fiona’s house. She changed back into her human form.

  “I’ll check on Fiona!” she shouted over her shoulder, but she was repelled by Fiona’s mother’s enchantments. She saw nothing in front of her, but she couldn’t break through the invisible shield. Fiona, we’re here, she said telepathically. We’re here to help.

  Moments later, Fiona ran toward Gabriella, holding her selkie cloak. She and Gabriella joined Darren and Mack, who had already transformed back into their human forms. They watched the battle while Fiona filled them in on what had happened with Una.

  “Wow, Una was ready to turn her back on her queen and just hand you over to Sakura?” Darren asked. “I wouldn’t want to be her the next time she faces your mother and the selkie council.”

  “For selkies, losing their cloak is the very worst thing that can happen to them,” Fiona explained. “Worse than death, even. I feel a little bit sorry for Una, but I don’t think my mother will. Una is probably miles away by now.” She kept her eyes on the battle. “Wow, Gabriella, your aunt and grandmother are amazing fighters.”

  “They are,” Gabriella agreed. She couldn’t help but marvel as she watched her grandmother—yes, her grandmother—fight so artfully. In her human form Abuelita looked like a harmless little old lady who puttered around in the kitchen and complained about sore knees. In her nahual form there was nothing grandmotherly or old about her. Her spotted jaguar pelt shined as she launched a new series of attacks.

  She’s so sleek and powerful.

  Gabriella watched Abuelita launch her body into the air and deflect the nykur with her sharp claws. When he stumbled backward, she narrowed her yellow eyes, and a burst of white energy pushed the enemies back.

  She said nahuals can use spiritual powers to fight. Is that what she’s doing now?

  The nykur seemed to lose control of his legs. Then he came down hard on them. Gabriella heard a crack and thought at least one leg must be broken. Before she could find out, the impundulu, who had been shooting lightning bolts toward them this whole time, swooped down right toward her abuelita.

  “Watch out!” Gabriella yelled.

  Mr. Kimura and Tía Rosa jumped between Abuelita and the impundulu, pushing the lightning bird away.

  Gabriella wanted to cheer for them all, but she was horribly frightened at the same time. She turned to the others to say, “Do you think they’ll be all right?” But before she could get the words out, she realized that something was happening to Mack. Something very, very strange.

  Mack was watching the battle rage on, and he was laughing.

  It wasn’t an ordinary laugh. It was terrifying. Mack watched his grandfather struggle with the impundulu, and he was enjoying himself.

  He’s delusional, Gabriella thought. She transformed back, ready for action.

  Then she noticed that Mack’s eyes had turned jet-black. They were all pupils, with no iris at all. And there were black flames hovering around his hands.

  “Mack!” Gabriella said. “What’s going on?”

  He laughed harder and sent a fireball in her direction. Gabriella had to duck to avoid it.

  “What is wrong with you?” Darren shouted. He grabbed Mack’s arms and tried to hold him still, but Mack shook him off like he was nothing.

  “I . . . don’t . . . know!” Mack shouted in between waves of frenzied laughter. He clutched his stomach. Sooty flames enveloped his arms. “
I . . . can’t . . . stop!”

  Gabriella thought he might throw another fireball, this time at Darren. She changed into her nahual form and pinned Mack to the ground, but he threw her off with a burst of flame.

  Mack transformed. He and Gabriella circled each other, both ready to launch into battle.

  What is happening? Gabriella thought. I don’t want to fight Mack.

  Suddenly, they were joined by the adults. Only then did Gabriella realize that the nykur and impundulu had retreated. She wouldn’t be surprised if they went to get reinforcements.

  We have to stop whatever this is before they come back with more of Sakura’s fighters, she thought. We can’t battle Mack and them at the same time.

  Mr. Kimura, now in his human form, jumped between Mack and Gabriella and knocked his grandson out with a flick of his wrist. In a flash, he caught Mack gently in his arms and laid him on the ground. As he fell, Mack became human again. So did Gabriella.

  “He’s unconscious,” Mr. Kimura said.

  Mack’s breathing was fast and uneven. He seemed to be struggling against something. Gabriella saw pain and fear on his face.

  “Sakura is taking hold of him,” Mr. Kimura said, his voice anguished. He stroked the side of Mack’s face. “He doesn’t have a lot of time left before her dark magic takes over him completely.”

  Abuelita took Gabriella’s hands in hers. “It’s now or never, mija,” she said.

  “Are you sure you’re ready?” Mr. Kimura asked her.

  Gabriella took a deep breath. “I’m as ready as I can be.” She twirled the Ring of Tezcatlipoca on her finger.

  “Darren, we need a force field, in case reinforcements arrive. You’ll need to hold it for as long as you can. Do nothing else. Can you do that?” Mr. Kimura asked.

  Darren nodded, looking a little confused.

  “Gabriella is going to spirit-walk in Mack’s mind,” Mr. Kimura explained.

  Darren raised his hands. His fingertips crackled with electric current. He drew his hands together, and the sparks united, forming a glowing force field. Then he drew an orb in the air, which grew big enough to encircle all of them.