by Tish Thawer
“Wait. You are not going to help them?” Jeremiah asked. “I thought you spent your time fighting for peace across these lands.”
“Fighting for peace, yes. Not for blood.”
Flames made their way under the thick skin of the structure. “Go now, while you still have a chance. If we do not find you again, just know it was a pleasure meeting you all.” Gaby and Ric shifted into their wolf forms and slid out the back opening, blending smoothly into the night.
“Well, isn’t that just great!” Kenna threw her hands in the air.
“Gaby is right. It is not our place to interfere with their history.” Phaedra turned to follow the Kasuns, but stopped and stared at me with her sad eyes. “I have been wandering a long time, and know that love is the only thing that truly can make a difference.” She nodded toward the pink stone still lying in my hand. “Follow your heart, and you will find a way.”
I stared, blankly, as Phaedra pulled her wings in tight and slipped through the back flap, taking flight the moment the night engulfed her.
Thick poles crashed to the ground as fire ate up the sides of the canvas.
“Come on,” Jeremiah yelled, heaving the shaman’s body over his shoulder. “We have to get out of here. The teepee is coming down.”
Left with no other choice, we followed Jeremiah out the back opening and crept into the nearby trees.
Screams of war and shrieks of terror raked through the air, shredding the calm that usually layered this peaceful canyon. Thundering horses stampeded through the village, tromping over burned homes and broken bodies. Blood-coated hatchets and knives flew into soft flesh, only to be yanked out and cast through the air again and again.
Plastered to the ground and hidden in a ditch, Jeremiah, Kenna, and I caught glimpses of the chief and other warriors of the Ute tribe fighting valiantly, slaying numerous Comanche as they defended their homes. But in the end, it was not enough, and we were forced to watch helplessly as the entire tribe was slaughtered.
Kara
The warmth of the morning sun woke me first. We were still alive and safe within the hidden ditch, thanks to our protective cloaking spell. I shivered and reached out to wake Jeremiah and Kenna. “I do not see anyone. I think it is over.”
Jeremiah held up his hand, signaling for me to stay quiet while he rose and evaluated the area. He was no more than ten steps away when Phaedra landed directly in front of him, her white wings spread wide, making for one hell of an entrance. “It is safe. They have all returned to their own territory.”
Jeremiah waved us forward then returned his attention to the angel. “I am surprised you came back. Are you all right?”
“Why?”
“You seemed . . . distraught about what we have to do, and again when you were speaking to Kara about love. Is that why you always seem so sad? Did you lose someone close to you?”
With a huff, she shot into the sky without another word.
“What did you say to her?” I nudged his shoulder.
“Obviously, the wrong thing.” He shook his head. “Come on, we need to get the shaman and finish this.”
“Finish what?” Ric called out from behind us. “Everyone is gone.”
He walked forward to meet Gaby, who was already standing over the shaman’s body where it still lay within the ditch.
I knelt down next to the shaman, easing him awake. “You are right. And that is another problem we have to fix.”
Chapter 13
Kara
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Gaby asked.
“Yes. The angel was right. I have to follow my heart, and I know if we do it this way, balance will be restored.” I smiled at the alpha wolf, then nodded at Jeremiah, signaling we were ready to go.
Taking the shaman by the arm, Jeremiah waited as the rest of us joined him. Kenna, the last to step forward, smiled at me and with a wave of her hand, produced another split in space. Stepping through, we all emerged at the base of the Great Falls, finding Phaedra already waiting atop a giant boulder.
“I am glad you have joined us again.” I smiled.
“I am glad you followed your heart,” she retorted.
Jeremiah cast another sleeping spell upon the shaman, then carefully laid his body near the pond’s edge. Reaching into his pocket, Jeremiah handed me his ruby. “If you are sure.”
“I am.” I held out my hand to Kenna and accepted her amethyst next.
Finally retrieving the rose quartz from my own pocket, I hiked up my skirt and knelt beside the shaman and began. “Ruby, for contentment and peace.” Leaning forward, I placed the red stone on the ground above the shaman’s head. “Amethyst to guard against self-deception.” Reaching across him, I placed the amethyst in his left hand. “And rose quartz . . . for love.” Closing my eyes, I gently pressed the rose quartz into the palm of his right and recast the remembering spell I had used before, this time including the Kasuns and Phaedra.
“Remember now, remember us six, today, tomorrow, and forever be fixed. If time resets, our magic trumps thee, straight from the goddess, so mote it be.”
A snap of magic sealed my words in place, and it was time to prepare for the next phase of my plan.
“Jeremiah, you kneel above him there,” I pointed to the shaman’s head, “and Kenna, you next to his left hand, by your stone.” Kenna nodded and moved into place across from me. The Kasuns shifted into their wolf forms and lay peacefully on the ground next to the pond, just below the shaman’s feet and out of the way, while Phaedra stood still upon the boulder.
With everyone present and all in place, I began the spell that would take us back to the beginning of it all.
“Forged by magic, old and true, reset the time loop again to renew. Activate the spell within, one last time to save our friends.”
Kara
Jeremiah must have woken before either of us girls and set off on the trail this trader had been traveling over for the last few weeks. Lorenzo, Catalina, and Clara Vargas were our names in this lifetime, and . . .
Kenna interrupted my thought as she jumped up, tossing furs and blankets into the air.
“It worked!” she cried out, startling the two large oxen pulling the wagon across the rough terrain.
“Yes, it seems so,” Jeremiah replied from the front, yanking on the reins and pulling us to a stop as Kenna and I both pushed through the opening to join him.
“Do you both remember?” I asked.
“Yes. Everything.” Kenna smiled and relayed the visions spilling into her mind––the same visions I’d had before when the spell previously broke. Celebrations, meals being shared, Jeremiah, me, and herself working the fields in a summer that had yet to come. Friends turned family through native customs, all set against the wild landscape in the box canyon they were all so desperate to protect . . . Everything poured back to her, exactly the same as it had been before.
“Me too,” I added. “It is time to set things right.”
Jeremiah snapped the leathers and released the handbrake, ready to finish our trek to the village.
We rode in silence as the sun crept over the distant mountains. Snow-covered peaks surrounded us again, while the evergreens still strained to reach far into the sky, glistening with a coat of frost in the late spring morning.
“You realize this will be the last time we see this magnificent landscape,” Jeremiah stated as he pulled his jacket further up his neck to combat the chill in the air.
“You never know. Maybe one of our soul journeys will return us here at a later date.” I shrugged, thinking back to what I had seen within my stone.
“Perhaps, but first, we have to finish this and get back to finding Karina,” Kenna added. “I am still upset the memories of her were wiped from our minds by the shaman’s spell.”
“Me, too. His intentions still do not justify his actions, and maybe it was Karina who reached out and helped us to remember in the first place. Regardless, I know this is the right choice.”
“
Are we ready, then?” Jeremiah asked.
Kenna and I nodded in unison and climbed back into the wagon, preparing to once again play our parts. Pulling on the handbrake, Jeremiah guided the oxen around the final turn of the ascending trail. With a hand raised to greet our friends––alive again—he slowly pulled the wagon to a stop.
“Maiku!” The chief spoke directly to me as usual as I peeked my head out the front.
Muttering the language spell once more, I replied on cue, “Hello. We are the Vargas family and were sent with approval to trade with your tribe.”
“I am Chief Aquakawwa. We have been expecting you. Please follow me.” We followed the chief to our familiar structure with tight lips and wide smiles. “Get settled, then come to the main dwelling in the center of our village once the sun begins to set. All here are aware of your visit, and I can assure your safety. You are my welcomed guests,” the chief instructed yet again.
Jeremiah nodded and helped us from the wagon, immediately leading us around the back of the teepee to retrieve the stones.
“It is all exactly the same.” I grinned, pleased everything was going to plan. I bent down and whispered my protection spell again, then unearthed the package from beneath the pile of leaves, gently grabbing it by its edges and dusting off the dirt.
Walking back inside, we sat crossed-legged on the ground with the bundle resting in front of us, just as before. Slowly unwrapping the package, I carefully slid the bone and feather from the twine and pulled back the skin, revealing our stones within.
Again, the ruby pulsed a bright red, the rose quartz shone a beautiful pink, and the amethyst a deep violet.
“Stones of earth, stones of old, rid yourself of your evil goal. Cleansed by the goddess and her servants three, as we will it, so mote it be.”
I signaled Kenna and Jeremiah to join in again, and we repeated the spell two more times.
The familiar energy whipped around the room, yanking the tendrils of tainted magic high into the air. With one last push and pull of our power, the shaman’s spell snapped, breaking the time loop once more.
“All set.” I reached forward, fearlessly gathering the stones, and passed them out to each of us again. “Time for dinner?”
Kenna laughed and reached for a strand of her hair. “Yes, but this time, I am not wearing any of those itchy furs.”
Chapter 14
Kara
Kenna, Jeremiah, and I reached the oversized teepee before the drums even began to sound.
“Are you ready to do this?” Jeremiah asked.
Kenna and I stood resolute, both poised and prepared to face what we knew was coming next, then nodded for him to continue.
Pulling back the entrance flap, Jeremiah entered first, and we followed, this time dressed in our own travel-worn clothes. Chief Aquakawwa dropped a log in the fire pit, then stood to meet us with his brows drawn tight. “Friends, is something wrong? We have only begun to prepare for tonight’s celebration.”
“Cancel the celebration. We have come to warn you.” I stepped forward, holding out my stone for the chief to see.
Jeremiah crossed his hands over his chest. “We know we have been trapped in a time loop, and understand why, but what you do not know, is now that the spell is broken, your entire village is in danger.”
A shift from the back of the teepee drew everyone’s attention before the chief had a chance to respond.
“What is the meaning of this?” the shaman asked, still clueless to the fact that his spell had been altered again.
“They know,” Chief Aquakawwa replied.
“Wait!” I yelled as the shaman moved to run. “The Comanche are coming, poised outside your canyon, and they will wipe out your entire tribe later tonight if you do not let us help you.”
“Help us?” the shaman questioned. “Why would you be willing to do such a thing, after what has been done?”
Kenna released a strand of her hair with a flick, stepping forward with a slight curl to her lip. “Because, despite the fact you siphoned our magic to trap us here, we understand that your intentions were true. Do you not trust our intentions? Perhaps you need a sign from the Great Spirit that we are telling the truth.” Flicking her wrist, Kenna tore open a portal, and out walked Phaedra in all her bright, shining glory.
“The White Woman,” Chief Aquakawwa whispered, dropping to his knees.
“Yes. I am here with a message from the Great Spirit. Trust these witches to aid your tribe, and accept your punishment along their side. Foolish were you to attempt such a feat, now fallen from grace, forever you’ll be.”
I smiled at the angel’s delivery of our pre-planned speech, while Kenna kept her eye on the shaman to make sure he was buying our ruse.
Chief Aquakawwa rose and raced to his shaman’s side. “Listen to their plea, for I will not let you doom the fate of our tribe.”
Accepting his defeat, the shaman lowered himself to his knees. “I will do as the Great Spirit instructs.”
“Now, tell us about the Comanche,” the chief requested. Standing tall over his shaman, the chief listened as Jeremiah described the impending attack, and how we planned to stop it.
Kara
As the sun began to set, the flap of the teepee opened, and the rest of the tribe filtered in. Chief Aquakawwa raised his hands and quieted the gathering crowd.
“There will be no feast tonight, for there is a much more important task at hand. The Comanche have invaded our land, but with our new friends’ warning, we have the time we need to flee the village.”
Shocked gasps and angry voices rose at once.
“Why would we flee?” one of the warriors questioned.
“Because this fight not only affects our tribe, but the lives of others. So if we are to remain here, in the heart of this special place, we need to do things differently this time.”
Jeremiah, Kenna, and I sat against the far wall behind the shaman, blocking any chance of his escape out the back exit. Phaedra had warned us, before she made her dramatic exit through Kenna’s portal, that the shaman still should not be trusted. Sitting quietly while the chief rallied his people to our cause, I rolled the smooth pink stone in my hand.
“We need to hurry,” I whispered to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah stood, knowing better than to question me. “Chief. It is time. Gather your people at the Great Falls and stay hidden until the White Woman appears to you again.” Laying a hand on the chief’s shoulder, Jeremiah leaned in and whispered the last part of his instructions so that only Aquakawwa could hear. “Be sure to not let the shaman out of your sight.”
The chief nodded, then led his frustrated and confused tribe from the village and into the surrounding forest. As the last of the warriors fell from sight, Ric and Gaby Kasun emerged from the trees, clothed again with a flick of Kenna’s wrist.
“You are sure about this?” Ric asked me, while shaking Jeremiah’s hand. Gaby stepped forward and hugged both us girls.
“Yes. This is the way it has to be. Just follow the tribe, and make sure the shaman does not try to escape or cast any more spells. No one can be in the village at the time of the attack,” I explained.
“Except for you, you mean.” Gaby looked deep into my eyes. “And you are sure the illusion will work?”
I didn’t bother replying, but instead, closed my eyes and cast the spell I had previously developed for this exact moment.
“Time will bend, and time will renew. Protected by us, through and through. Cast the illusion to put history in place, all moving forward with the Spirit’s grace.”
Nothing around us changed . . . until we walked outside.
Smoke billowed from the central cooking pit, wafting scents of savory meat and vegetables into the air as families roamed the trails between the teepees. Women and children layered in furs carried plates of food toward the gathering that was supposed to be taking place. Warriors dressed in their celebratory skins practiced the dance they would be performing later tonight. And all of it
was a lie.
“Unbelievable.” Gaby sighed.
I laughed. “Hopefully, it is very believable.”
“Oh, it is,” Ric replied, grabbing Gaby’s hand. “We’ll keep an eye on the shaman and make sure no one ventures back from the falls. Be safe.”
“Thank you.” Jeremiah lifted a hand, then turned to face me. “Do you think we are strong enough without Karina’s magic to aid us?”
“I think we will have to be,” I replied somberly.
“I wonder where she is in this lifetime? Do you think she is close by? Or have we been pulled so far out of time that our family connection has been severed?” Kenna wiped a tear from her cheek.
“I am not sure without doing our locator spells for her, and unfortunately, we simply do not have time.” I patted my sister’s hand. “But, as soon as this is all over, it is the first thing we will do. I promise.”
War cries and the pounding beat of hooves tore through the village, bringing our discussion to an end.
“It is time.” Jeremiah nodded and led us both around the back of the teepee and to the ditch in which we knew we would all be safe.
Watching the attack again was so very difficult. The burning structures were real homes being lost, but thankfully, the tribesmen, women, and children were only figments of reality, created specifically to be destroyed. With history back in line, the tribe would remain hidden in this special box canyon until they moved on by choice, or died out peacefully, for that was the one side effect of my spell. All magic had a price, and the tribe as a whole would still have to pay for the shaman and chief’s deception, regardless of their good intentions. The shaman would be stripped of his magic, and the tribe would no longer be allowed to expand and grow.
“It’s done,” Jeremiah announced as the last Comanche warrior rode away from the village, spelled to never return.