The Dove

by Sharon Sala

  “Fresh water,” he said softly as he offered her the jug.

  She took a big drink, and then stopped in surprise.

  “This is good but strange. It hurts my teeth.”

  He smiled. “This is cold.”

  Her eyes widened. “Like cold and frozen?”

  “Yes. Like cold and frozen.”

  She looked into the water jug in disbelief, thinking surely water like this must look different, too.

  He smiled. Her innocence was childlike, but with a wisdom older than time. She could perform unbelievable, superhuman feats and yet was mesmerized by something as simple as cold water.

  “You have quite an audience,” he whispered as he sat down on the rock beside her.

  “They saw what I did to the crocodile, but they don’t know how it happened. They are curious.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  She shrugged. “Not so much.”

  “They are the New Ones. They would understand the truth,” he said softly.

  She thought about her secret and then realized it no longer mattered who knew and who did not. They were forever separated from the founders of Naaki Chava and would never be with Singing Bird or Cayetano again. Maybe he was right. Maybe truth was the answer.

  And as she was thinking it, she heard Adam and Evan’s voices in her head.

  Truth is always the answer, little sister. We saw you in our camp. We hope to see you again.

  A brief pain of longing for what had been shot through her, but she soon let it go. It had no place in this world.

  She took another drink of the water, but this time didn’t swallow it all at once, and it didn’t cause pain.

  “I like this cold,” she said.

  He smiled and with the tip of his finger lifted a stray piece of her hair from her eyelash.

  The gesture was one he often did without thinking, but she felt the love and intent. He wanted to make love with her. Tonight they would find their place to make that happen.

  Then she felt fingers rubbing the leather on her moccasins and looked down to see a little girl standing at her feet. She had large brown eyes and a wide mouth curled upward in a smile, and as were many of the smaller children on the march, completely naked.

  Tyhen stared. The girl looked familiar.

  “What is your name, little one?”

  “Patsy Two Bears.”

  “You are from Wesley Two Bears’ family?”

  “Grandfather,” she said and then ducked her head.

  Tyhen was wearing moccasins that had belonged to this little girl’s grandmother and wondered if she knew it, too.

  “You wear Gee-Gee’s moccasins,” Patsy whispered.

  “Yes, your grandfather gave them to me. I am proud to wear them.”

  “Grandfather didn’t come with us,” Patsy said.

  Her words were matter-of-fact, but there were tears in her eyes.

  “Yuma, lift her into my lap,” Tyhen said.

  “Okay with you?” he asked.

  The little girl raised her arms, so he picked her up and sat her in Tyhen’s lap.

  The moment Tyhen touched her, she saw Wesley Two Bears death. The shock was sudden and painful, and it was all she could do not to weep. She busied herself with settling the child into a comfortable position until her emotions were under control.

  Silence ensued as the people watched the child settle into Tyhen’s embrace.

  “So, your grandfather didn’t come with you. I know you miss him. My mother didn’t come with me, either, and I am sad.”

  Patsy’s eyes widened. “Why not?”

  “Because she had to go with Chief Cayetano. They took your grandfather and the others to a safe new place to live.”

  “Will they like it?” the little girl asked.

  “I hope so. Will you like your new home when you find it?” Tyhen asked.

  She hesitated, then searched the crowd until she saw the smile on her mother’s face and then nodded.

  Tyhen gave her a quick hug. “Good for you,” she said, then looked out across the crowd. “Patsy Two Bears had questions and came and asked for answers, and I gave them. You have questions but you have not asked.”

  They glanced anxiously at each other, a little guilty that they’d been thinking how to question what they’d seen.

  She let that sink in as she kept talking.

  “I understand your surprise—some would even say shock—at what you saw me do. If it was not for what has happened in Naaki Chava, I would never have spoken this truth because I honor Singing Bird and Cayetano as more than my parents. Like all of you, he was my chief, and Singing Bird was a special woman, marked by the Old Ones. I held them in highest respect and still do. But we are on this long and dangerous journey together, and there should be no secrets. Ask what you will. I will tell you what I know.”

  Now it seemed intrusive to push their little Dove into revealing things that might be personal to her, and so no one spoke.

  Yuma sensed their hesitation and embarrassment and because he knew this needed to come out, he slid off the rock and moved around to face her.

  “If it pleases you, my Dove, I will ask the first question.”

  Tyhen pointed at him. “See this? It takes someone with the courage and daring of an eagle to speak first.”

  Everyone laughed. They already likened Yuma’s daring to the large birds that flew above the clouds, and it seemed fitting that such a bird as an eagle would become the protector for a little dove.

  “So, great eagle, ask me a question.”

  “How did you leap so far and so high, and then come down with such force to kill the crocodile?”

  This was no more than she’d expected. Getting right to the heart of a situation was Yuma’s way.

  “I could do that because of powers given to me by my father before he died.”

  Everyone gasped. Some began to cry as others called out.

  “Cayetano is dead? Is the great Cayetano dead? Did he die when Naaki Chava burned?”

  Tyhen settled Patsy Two Bears a little closer to her heart. “Cayetano is alive and well,” she said loudly.

  “But you said—”

  “I said my father gave me my powers before he died. Cayetano is not my father. I was already in my mother’s belly when you began the Last Walk to escape Firewalker. I saw people begging for water and then running from the white people who wanted to be saved. I saw Layla Birdsong’s grandfather, my great-grandfather, die from the gunshot to his head. I saw the portal open and all of you running with your burned skin and bleeding lips. I saw canyons crumbling and bursting into flames. I saw people dying and saw those who were still alive running toward the Old Ones who held the portal open.”

  Yuma took a breath, willing himself not to cry because he knew what was coming.

  “I also know of an act of great courage. When the world was about to end, Layla Birdsong ran back into it after one who had been left behind, a little boy who would not quit, who refused to die.”

  She put a hand on Yuma’s shoulder. “It was this one, a brave young boy who saved my life even before I was born, a brave man who still protects me today, putting my life above the safety of his own. He is part of the prophecy that guides us all, as am I. I am the Windwalker’s daughter, and he died in my arms, giving me his powers to make sure this quest does not fail.”

  There was an audible gasp from everyone around her as the realization of what she said sank in. They took a single step toward her, pulled to her truth like a magnet.

  They’d watched her grow up and had never known, never imagined she was not Cayetano’s flesh and blood. She’d kept the secret. Singing Bird had kept the secret. They wondered if Cayetano knew. And the moment they thought it, Tyhen spoke.

  “Cayetano knew. He knew and did not care be
cause he was also part of the prophecy. It does not matter how he was involved, but you can be certain he knew everything there was to know and helped all of us make it happen. And now we are here.”

  Patsy Two Bears had been listening quietly, but most of what had been said meant nothing to her because she had never lived before Firewalker. She didn’t understand anything but Naaki Chava. She leaned back in Tyhen’s arms and looked up.

  “Will people still die where we are going?”

  “No one lives forever,” Tyhen said softly.

  “I have one more question,” Yuma asked.

  Tyhen met his gaze and not only knew the words before they came out of his mouth, but she knew why he was asking.

  “Ask me,” Tyhen said.

  Yuma’s heart was pounding. He was afraid he would not be man enough to hear the answer. “You once told me that a Windwalker never dies, yet you said your father died in your arms. Was what you told me untrue?”

  Tyhen felt the fear in his words as physically as she felt her heartbeat. No wonder he was so anxious about letting her out of his sight. He was afraid that she would die through some fault of his own.

  “Help me,” she said as she handed him the child.

  When he put her down, the little girl scampered away, a little excited that she’d been so close to their leader, but happier to be back in her mother’s arms.

  Tyhen stared straight into his eyes, her gaze as steady as her voice. “It is true that Windwalkers cannot die... unless they give away their power. So your real question is will I ever die?”

  He watched her chin tremble and thought she was biting her lip to keep from crying when she surprised him with a smile.

  “I will die one day when I give my powers to our child.”

  Yuma forgot about the people all around them. He was still reeling from the thought of giving her a baby when the rest of what she’d said finally sunk in.

  “You mean, there will always be a Windwalker to lead our people—not just now, but in the centuries to come?”

  “So the prophecy was told to me, and so it will be.”

  Yuma was speechless. He’d grown up thinking he knew exactly how his part would play out, and now he was struggling to find a foothold in what she’d said.

  Tyhen knew he was in shock. She looked up at the people around her who seemed to be in varying stages of the same situation.

  “Does anyone else have a question that needs an answer?”

  A voice came from the crowd. “Tyhen, if you are a Windwalker’s daughter, does that mean you are a god?”

  She laughed, and the joy in her voice rang out across the crowd, making them laugh along with her. When they finally quieted, she shook her head.

  “No, I am not a god. I am like any woman among you. I have my strengths, and I have my weaknesses, but like any woman among you, I have put myself at risk for those I love, which is what I am doing for you.”

  The cheer that went up was so loud it made the birds in the trees take flight and sent the monkeys in the canopy to climbing higher to get away from the noise.

  She stood up on the rock, a tall young woman with the regal being of a queen and let out a war cry.

  Yuma caught her as she jumped down into his arms.

  The New Ones answered back with a cry that echoed from one side of the valley to the other.

  Yuma’s dark eyes mirrored his emotion as he held her firm within his grasp. “It is good. No more secrets to keep.”

  “No more secrets,” she said, even as she thought about the enemy she’d seen they had yet to face.

  All will be revealed in its time.

  She blinked. That sounded like Evan! Were the twins completely tuned in to everything that was going on? What did they know that she didn’t?

  We don’t know anything more than you know and we are not tuned in to everything going on. It’s not our fault you send out such strong signals.

  She sighed. And that was Adam, always making sure to lay the blame at someone else’s feet.

  It’s because we’re never wrong.

  She laughed and Yuma thought she was laughing with him. She’d tell him about the twins later. As for the other, they’d heard enough for one day.

  Once they went inside, Tyhen prowled the layout of the cave for almost an hour before she found a site she liked and set up their bed on the far side of a large boulder with a wall at their back. It was as private as she could devise for some much needed love-making later.

  Once she was through, she began moving throughout the cave, making sure people had what they needed. Yuma was working with several of the younger men, helping the injured ones set up their sleeping tents and bringing fresh water to their fires, while a few of the best hunters left to scavenge for food.

  For the first time since they’d left Naaki Chava, there was a sense of celebration. They had endured great hardships very early, but instead of breaking their spirits, it had pulled them closer together.

  As sundown put the day to bed, they gathered in little groups around their fires to share food and trade their near-death experiences. Later, after their bellies were full and reality had reared its ugly head, they began speaking the names of those they’d lost and said a prayer for their souls. That sapped the last of the good feelings as they made their way to bed.

  After a while, all was quiet. A few guards stood watch at the front, while the rest slept secure inside it. When it began to rain during the night, it only lulled them into a deeper sleep.

  ***

  Tyhen and Yuma had fallen asleep early, but once everyone else had finally given up and gone to bed, they had roused, then turned to each other to make slow, sweet love.

  Tyhen had been the first to wake, and her need for him was already stirring the air inside the cave. She couldn’t let it get out of hand, but she also couldn’t control it. She put a hand on the side of his face, watching as his eyes flew open.

  “What is wrong?” he whispered and then saw her hair floating out around her like a halo.

  Without another word, he rolled her onto her back and slid inside her. The wind stopped turning, and the few who noticed it attributed it to the rain outside.

  Tyhen arched her back as she rose to meet his thrusts. Having him inside her was like holding fire. He made her hot. He made her hurt. He made her burn. Watching the changing expressions on his face as their bodies danced was a joy all on its own. She liked knowing she had the power to give him such pleasure.

  Yuma was so caught up in the feel of being inside her that he didn’t notice her intense regard. His focus was to hang onto his own sanity until he brought her pleasure to a peak, and so the rain came down as they came undone.

  The shift from feeling good to climax came between one breath and the next. Tyhen was looking at the shape of Yuma’s mouth and remembering what it felt like on the nipple of her breast when she suddenly shattered. She closed her eyes to ride it out, letting wave after wave of the intensity roll through her until she was left weak and shaking beneath him.

  Then she rode it all over again when Yuma let go and gave in to the explosion of pleasure that swept through him. When it was over, he collapsed on top of her in a shaking heap, too exhausted to speak.

  Time passed. The guards at the entrance changed shifts. The rain ended. The sounds of the jungle came back to life as daylight hovered in the East.

  She was still wrapped within Yuma’s embrace when the ground beneath them shook so hard it threw her out of his arms. He reached out and grabbed her to keep her from rolling away.

  “It’s happening. Get up!” she cried as she jumped to her feet. She grabbed her shift and pulled it over her head as she ran, with Yuma right behind her.

  People were on their feet, some shouting, others already crying.

  “We are safe! We are safe!” she yelled as she ran toward t
he entrance to the cave. “It’s not here. It’s Naaki Chava. The mountain is dying.”

  ***

  They weren’t the only ones awakened by the noise.

  Little Mouse had made a shelter inside the palace rubble and when the ground began to shake, it rolled her off of her sleeping mat and across the floor before she managed to get to her feet.

  She ran to the window, saw the horror of what had begun, and turned and ran. She ran out the back of the palace into the jungle as the burning rocks began to fall all around her. Twice she fell, and each time she got up, she left a piece of her burning clothing behind.

  She wanted to scream, but that would have taken too much breath. Everywhere she looked, fire was falling. She paused once to look back and saw a running river of fire coming down the mountain and into the rubble of what was once Naaki Chava. She could not outrun that. Where to go? What to do?

  And then she noticed that the fire was running with the flow of the land, which was toward the river, so instead of running away from the mountain, she would take a long way around and run toward it to get to the other side. Fire was still falling from the sky and everything was burning, but the river of fire was going the other way.

  She didn’t call for help. She didn’t tell the fire god that she was Little Mouse, and that she was here running away from his might. She just kept slapping at the fire falling in her hair and ran as she’d never run before.

  ***

  Even though the cave where the New Ones stopped was far below the tops of the tallest trees, they could see a bright red glow in the southern sky.

  There were no words for what Yuma was feeling. They’d come into that place in fire. Now that the city had burned, it was being buried in more fire. Would the cleansing of the past never end?

  Tyhen slipped her fingers through his as people crowded around them, some talking, others, like him, too shocked by what they knew was happening to speak.

  “Oh no! Look! Look!” someone cried.

  Suddenly the sky was awash in burning debris as the volcano began spewing burning rock and molten lava straight up into the air. The ground was shaking beneath their feet and there was a growing tower of smoke and fire silhouetted against the burgeoning dawn.