“She knew it before that,” I said in defeat.
“Well, the part about her power she did. He father told her about the other prophecy before she left San Juan. That’s how she knew to ask me for the book in the first place.”
My head dropped into my hands. “What other prophecy?”
“Nampeyo prophesied that the Qaletaqa would be granted the help of a chosen shaman, and that shaman would be required to sacrifice her…her power to help you defeat the Matwau.”
“You hesitated,” I said angrily. “You hesitated before you said she would have to sacrifice her power. What else could this cost her, Quaile? What else!” I was yelling, furious, and on the verge of breaking down completely. Please…please don’t say it.
Quaile sighed. “Giving up her power could very well cost Claire her life.”
The phone slipped from my fingers and fell to the seat. I was sure Quaile could hear my sobbing, but I didn’t care. I had fought and bled to save Claire, to keep her, and now this. Now her life might be stolen so I could defeat the Matwau. Shaking all over, I denied the gods, denied anyone who thought Claire’s life was an acceptable sacrifice. I wouldn’t do it. No one else would die because of a choice I made when I was too naïve to understand what I was doing. If I wasn’t strong enough to kill the Matwau on my own, then he would win. I refused to see anyone else die because of my decisions.
Quaile’s voice called out to me from the dropped phone. I picked it up, but not to argue with her. Nothing she could say would change my mind. I knew which side of this battle she would fall on. She had already lied to me and betrayed me multiple times, trying to force me into the path she wanted me to take.
“What about the Twin Soul part?” I asked, forcing aside everything else. “You said I have to give up the bond before I can defeat the Matwau. What did you mean by that? I won’t even be able to get to Melody until after I kill the Matwau.”
“That, I do not know, Uriah. I can only tell you what was said in the origin story of the Matwau. When the Matwau and the gifts to destroy him were created it was said that turning away from the bond would unlock the rest of your power. When that was meant to occur, and how it unlocked the power, I can’t help you. I simply do not know.”
“I don’t understand how to do what Claire did,” I said. “Claire told me about how she had to face Daniel and truly convince him that he didn’t want her. I feel the same as Claire, and Melody doesn’t want the bond any more than I do. Why doesn’t that count?”
“If you really listened to Claire you would understand that it wasn’t that easy.” She sighed. “As much as Claire said she didn’t want the bond to Daniel, a very large part of her did want to be with him. It was only after she realized you might die, and she convinced both herself and Daniel that abandoning the bond was the only way to save you, was she able to truly suppress her link to Daniel. She knew exactly what she was sacrificing, and she turned away.”
“But I know already. So does Melody. We’re ready to sacrifice the bond,” I argued.
“If you were, the bond would already be suppressed.”
Her words hit me hard, but she didn’t let up.
“As much as you want to be with Claire, you know a huge part of your soul wants Melody just as badly. Try, Uriah. Try to deny it.”
My silence was answer enough.
“You must find the one thing that will truly make you forsake Melody. And she must do the same. It’s the only way left to you. But simply suppressing the bond won’t be enough this time. You have to break it completely. You both do.”
“What? How? I thought you said that was impossible.”
“That was before I knew who Claire was, before I found new hope that everything could happen as it was supposed to. Before Claire told me she was the chosen shaman I didn’t believe either of you would have the power it would require to break the bond.”
Power? Getting the power required breaking the bond. And that power had to be given up to defeat the Matwau. How did that leave any power for breaking a bond which had to be broken before the power could be gained in the first place? It seemed like a circle with no beginning and no ending. It didn’t make sense.
“Quaile, I don’t understand. I have to break the bond to get power, but I have to first have the power in order to break the bond? I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“That is because you are looking at the problem through mortal eyes, not through a gods’ eternal, circular perspective. When Claire first asked me how to break the bond I didn’t know how it would work, only that it would. I have searched everything to find an answer for her. Giving and getting happens at the same time, always.
“When you give something up you gain something in return. Give up power to get power. It will be different for Claire than it will be for you, because of the way your power works. Claire must give up her power first, and you must give up the bond first. As you both make your sacrifice the power will flow into you. I know it is a difficult concept to understand, but I have explained it the best I can.”
My head hurt. Deep down, what she was saying resonated with me, as if it was something a deeper part of my mind understood. She was speaking the truth. I would have hours yet to dredge up the understanding from the depths of my soul. What I knew I wouldn’t figure out was how to break the bond when…if, I got the power I needed. When I asked Quaile how to break the bond completely her answer surprised me.
“Sacrifice worthy of the gods notice,” she said.
I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but I couldn’t. I was too scared to mouth the words. What if she meant Claire? Whatever pull I felt toward Melody, Claire was the most precious thing in this world to me. I would die, let others die, before I let her life wink out.
“You must make the sacrifice, taking in the power gained from it as you do. It is the only way to defeat the Matwau,” Quaile said quietly.
“What about…what about what my dad taught me, was supposed to teach me?” I asked.
“I don’t know what you mean. Your father taught you about fighting just like he was meant to do. What more was there supposed to be?”
I was reluctant, but I needed answers, so I told Quaile about Ahiga and what he told me. Even for someone who claimed to believe in the old stories she was shocked by my experience. She kept trying to ask questions. I had to cut her off and for once she didn’t snap at me for doing it. When she stopped talking I told her about finding my dad and not being able to remember.
“What was he supposed to teach me, Quaile? I can’t remember.”
“I…have no idea,” Quaile admitted. “All I knew was that your father was supposed to teach you to fight the Matwau. Whatever knowledge he had about what he was supposed to teach you came straight for the gods. I can’t help you with this.”
“Can’t you unlock my memories, or something?”
“No. A shaman’s power doesn’t work like that. It can heal, see, and hear, but not force. You have to remember on your own,” she said.
“What if I can’t do it in time?”
“Then you will fail.”
If there was one good thing about Quaile, she didn’t sugarcoat things. “I’ll find a way, then.”
“I’m sure you will,” Quaile said, the honest belief in her voice surprising me. “First you must deal with the bond. It will take great strength to cast off a promise bound by gods…”
“Probably about as difficult as killing something made by the gods,” I grumbled.
“But you can do this, Uriah. Whatever I failed to teach you, whatever is locked in your mind, you will make up for it with your natural strength and intelligence. I have always had every faith in you.”
“Do you think it’s really possible, then, to kill the Matwau?”
“Being a shaman makes seeing anything as impossible very difficult. I have seen too many incredible things in my life to say anything is impossible,” Quaile said. “You are not a god, but you are the gods’ warrior, a mortal
blessed with their power. It flows through your veins. It will take a god’s power to kill something like that.”
A god’s power. She said the bond was a promise bound by the gods, by their power.
An idea began forming in my mind, but I felt something that distracted me and sent it flitting away. The bond to Melody felt different. There was no more or less pain and fear than before, but it felt quieter somehow, as if Melody had just fallen asleep. Suddenly I realized I had felt the bond change like this before. At night. Melody was asleep.
I needed to speak to her. The idea Quaile’s words had inspired just a moment ago came back full force and I needed Melody to help me with it. I wasn’t the only one who had been given gifts from the gods. It was time for her to use hers for something other than trying to hold us together. I needed to fall asleep.
“Thank you for the help, Quaile,” I said, suddenly eager to be off the phone.
“Good luck, Uriah,” Quaile said.
“Thank you,” I said honestly. She wasn’t always my favorite person, but she had said what I’d needed to hear right now. Maybe it wasn’t her fault she never saw our powers or the signs she was waiting for. We did a pretty good job of hiding.
“Call me if you need anything else, Uriah,” Quaile said. “I’ll do my best to help.”
“I know you will.” And I actually meant it.
Closing the phone, I steered the truck farther off the road. That quieter level of fear continued to resonate through the bond. Melody was still asleep. Now all I had to do was make myself fall asleep, too. Luckily I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. I had also watched Claire yesterday as she practiced her concentration exercises with Kaya. I didn’t hear the detailed instructions, but the general idea was hard to miss. It seemed very similar to creating the shield around my thoughts. Breathing slowly and deeply, I forced my racing mind into submission.
The strange blackness crept toward me slowly, but eventually it came. As soon as I felt myself come firmly into the blackness, I scanned the empty space for Melody. She sprang up, clearly not expecting me to appear. She opened her mouth about to say something, but she never got the chance.
“Melody,” I said, “I need you to do something for me.”
31: The Trap
My claws had dug multiple sets of fresh holes in the already battered seat, but I considered it repayment for Harvey’s wild driving that kept tossing me back and forth across the seat. The drive that should have taken more than five hours took less than four. I was used to running fast to chase down my prey, but after riding with Harvey and Claire, I never wanted to set paw in a car again. Uriah had urged Harvey to drive fast, but cautioned him to avoid any police. I was not sure what a police was, but it hadn’t take long before I had been hoping one of these police would indeed stop Harvey.
The car finally rolled to a halt when the buildings that made up Taos came into view. Harvey and Claire started speaking with each other. I waited patiently for them to finish. At first my inability to speak directly to either Claire or Harvey caused me no end of frustration. Luckily Claire realized I was being left out of the majority of their conversations, since my being able to hear Claire’s thoughts didn’t always translate to what she was saying, and she began repeating everything to me.
Eventually Claire turned to me, and thought, “We’ve reached Taos, Talon. We can either head up to the ski resort where Uriah will first meet the Matwau’s creatures, or we can go down toward Pueblo de Taos where the final fight will take place. Harvey and I think we should check the ski resort first for any traps, then head down to the pueblo. Does that sound alright to you?”
I nodded my agreement.
Thankful Harvey was finally driving slowly enough for me to move around, I crouched close to the window and watch the landscape. I did not often come this far away from my usual hunting grounds, but the familiarity of it made me feel as if I had not truly left. Only the monstrous mountain ahead of us gave me cause for nervousness.
My eyes were trained for picking out prey in the colorless desert, not amid the green trees and bushes which could hide so much. My skills for tracking and attacking my prey were also more suited to the open desert than the close fitting mountain trees. The mountains made my skin crawl beneath my fur. My body shook in response to the irritating sensation. Uriah was counting on me to be his eyes here. I was going to have to adapt.
Harvey’s climb up the mountain brought new scents into the car. The pungent mountain trees tickled my sensitive nose. The earth smelled different here. As I took in the scents I realized something was missing. Animals. I could not smell the usual birds and rabbits that seemed to exist everywhere else. The mountain smelled still, incomplete. It was waiting.
We rose higher and higher. I began to wonder whether we would ever stop when Claire leaned back and looked at me. “We’re here,” she said. And right on cue, the car came to a jarring stop. Claire and Harvey got out of the car and surveyed the area. Scratching on the window to draw their attention, I reminded them to let me out as well. Claire opened the door with a quick apology. I missed Uriah’s truck. It was easy to simply jump in and out of the truck bed.
Glancing about, I saw several small buildings in a large open area. Uriah had described the sport of skiing to me and told me what to expect at the ski resort, but the whole idea of sliding down the icy mountain on bits of tree branches still baffled me. Claire and Harvey began walking toward the mountain. Jumping in front of them, I blocked their path with a vigorous shake of my head. Scouting was not for them.
“Talon,” Claire said, “we’re coming too. We can help.”
I shook my head again and let out a low growl. My job was to find the traps and protect Claire. And Harvey. Their job was to avoid being killed by a rogue monstrosity.
“Stop it, Talon. We’re coming,” Claire argued.
My snarling sent Harvey back several steps, but Claire held her ground.
Tensing my hind legs, I jumped to the side then swept around to knock Claire’s legs out from under her. She landed in the grass with a thud. Giving her no time to recover, I rounded on her again and planted my front paws on her chest. The breath rushed out of her, but that didn’t stop her from scowling at me. Baring my teeth at her, I waited.
“Fine,” she said angrily.
I wanted to warn her not to follow me, but once again my limited connection with her prevented such a message. My own anger slipped out in a harsh growl. Harvey looked ready to run, but Claire only sulked even more.
“I won’t follow you, either,” she said.
Surprised, but pleased, I released my hold on her and let her sit back up. I held my glare on the pair of them for a few more seconds, just to make sure their promise would be kept, and then leapt into the trees.
The summer sun was filtered through the thick trees, leaving the ground much cooler and speckled with light. The dancing bits of light played with my vision. Every time a breeze rustled a tree the light moved, drawing my attention and distracting me. There was no dancing light in the open desert, and barely any shadows.
Standing very still, I watched the light. I studied the different movements it made, the slight shifting back and forth. I saw how the wind changed the arrangement of dots. Occasionally the light might disappear when branches crossed, but it was a brief loss. Only a large animal or a human would cause the light to change more dramatically than that. As long as Claire kept her promise, and with the animals driven away, the only human-like creature or animal I would see would be either the Matwau or his allies. Having studied the light specks, I could now see someone’s approach.
Feeling somewhat more confident, I began stalking forward, down low as I took in the details of the forest floor. It did not take long to catch the scent of something that didn’t belong. It smelled of decay and corruption. This scent had not accompanied the Matwau when I last faced him, so I assumed it must belong to his creatures instead. The scent was old, at least by a full day. I followed it.
/>
Traveling south around the peaks of the mountains, I drew closer to the desert I knew was waiting below. The faint scent strengthened as I moved toward the desert floor. It became much stronger. I suspected that more of the creatures had been through this area, but the corruption and decay masked any individual scent. Irritation at that fact hovered in the back of my mind. I had no way of knowing whether or not that would make a difference.
I wondered exactly how long I had been traveling as I continued my search. The sun had moved almost a full length across the sky, but I was not sure how that translated to the way the humans gauged time. It was a significant amount of time by my reckoning. Suddenly the scent lost its faded quality and intensified, signaling that some of the creatures were close by. My claws eased out of my paws in preparation, although I had no intention of engaging these creatures if I could help it. Crouching down to the earth, I made my way closer to the stifling smell.
Two of the misshapen animals held their guard in a small clearing. I was careful to stay upwind so they would not catch my scent. I had always been able to connect with other cougars in the same way I spoke with Uriah. Being able to communicate with animals outside my own species had blossomed only after coming in contact with my new friend. When Kaya showed Uriah the vision of his meeting with the Matwau, Uriah told her that he could hear the Matwau’s creatures speaking just as he heard me. I found it odd that I could not do the same.
I watched the grotesque forms that were once true wolves and heard only the rustling crunch of dried pine needles and twigs under their feet. The pair often glanced at each other and moved in ways that suggested they were communicating, but I heard nothing. Annoyed by my limitations, I hoped Uriah hearing the creatures’ thoughts in the vision carried over to reality.
Qaletaqa Page 26