“Joel?” said Livvy, getting up from the table.
“Oh, wow,” he said, looking at the assembled group. “I didn’t think…”
“Joel, what are you doing here?” Livvy whispered as she came to the door.
The two Chinese guards looked up and down the hall.
“My shift ended and I just wanted to…”
He stared over her shoulder and saw the Bible verses painted on the wall and that the furniture had been rearranged. Most of the women were looking at him with mild curiosity.
“Be right back,” Livvy said as she stepped into the hallway and pulled the door closed behind her, discharging a couple of sparks to the knob. Joel glanced at the guards.
“Let’s go over here,” said Livvy, heading to the stairwell.
“Who are these people?” said Joel.
“Just some new friends,” she said.
“And that big guy down in front?”
Bruno, thought Livvy.
“Friend of a friend,” she said.
She opened the door to the stairwell. “What are you doing here at this hour?” she asked.
“Well, I was just driving by to see if you were all right. I didn’t really think you’d be up, but I saw the light. Then when I saw that guy downstairs I just thought I’d check on your apartment. He let me in, but then the guys at the door…” He paused, frowning. “Livvy, what’s going on? Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, I think it is. Well, I think it will be.”
“You’d tell me if it wasn’t, right?” he said, taking hold of her arms and looking down into her eyes.
“Definitely,” she said.
“I worry about you,” he said, lifting one of his hands up to the side of her face. “You know that, right?” he said, stepping closer.
She put her hands on his waist but kept her eyes on his as she stepped closer as well.
“Definitely,” she whispered as he slipped a hand behind her back and slowly bent down.
He kissed her softly at first, sweetly. As she kissed him back, he quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Although she was surprised, she didn’t resist. He didn’t seem to want to stop, his hands moving lower on her back.
She managed to squeeze a hand between them and pushed on his chest as she pulled back, sucking in a breath. He didn’t know his own strength. The muscles in his arms rippled, but she felt his grip loosening as she stepped back.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, trying to get hold of himself. “You’re just so–”
“No, that’s okay,” she said. “It’s just that it’s not a great time.”
“Right, I know,” he said, sounding disappointed but letting go of her.
“But I’m glad you stopped by,” she said.
“Me too,” he said, flashing the radiant smile.
She thought for an instant about kissing him again.
“I’ve got to go,” she said. “Everybody’s waiting.”
“All right,” he said, looking down the hallway at the two guards. “Whatever you’re doing, just be careful.”
“I will,” she said, backing up into the hallway. “I’ll see you soon?”
“Not even the guy downstairs could stop me,” he said, beaming.
She laughed a little and went back down the hallway to her apartment, giving him a quick wave before she opened the door.
CHAPTER SIXTY
“YOU ARE CONFIDENT she can do this, yes?” said Wan-li, as SK watched Livvy leave with Joel and close the door. He didn’t seem to hear her.
“SK,” she said.
He turned around. “What?”
“You are confident Livvy can do this, yes?” she said, again.
“She’s got what it takes,” he said, defensively. “And then some.” He waddled over to the coffee table and threw the book down.
“Yes, I do not want the opinion of your testosterone,” she said.
Sunny snickered.
“She can handle herself over there, yes?” asked Wan-li.
He turned to face her. Wan-li saw the anger there, but he held it in check. Alvina was sitting on the end of the couch and was looking at him with a sad smile. Carmen was on the other end of the couch, her head back, eyes closed, and her plump hands folded over her tummy, apparently asleep.
“Yes, she is young and quite pretty–perfectly understandable,” said Wan-li, in a matter of fact tone. “But the young part, it is a worry.”
“She’ll be fine,” he grumbled.
“Oh, of course she will, dear,” said Alvina. “But it is a disturbing pattern.”
SK turned to her. “What pattern?”
“Min, Indra, Livvy,” she replied.
He stared at her, his eyebrows furrowing together, and shook his head.
“The young ones,” Alvina said finally.
Ursula had been staring down into the alley, watching someone push a shopping cart over the bumps and cracks in the street. “Ursula wonders if your judgment has been clouded,” she said, looking over from the window. “You are the Dwarf, the Master of Animals.”
“The Water Baby,” agreed Alvina.
“The Protector of all shamans,” said Wan-li. “We need you to think clearly, no matter how you feel about her.”
SK looked at her, his lips pinching together in a tight line.
“Ooh, pushed a button there,” Sunny chimed in.
“Enough,” said Wan-li, bringing a hush to the room.
Nerves were starting to fray. Slowly, she rose from the floor, stretched, and went over to the table to look the mess over. It was late and they were anxious to get started. Well, everyone but Carmen. Wan-li looked at the woman who seemed to still be asleep. She was the only one doing the sensible thing.
“It does not matter,” said Wan-li, looking back at the goggles as she crossed her arms. “We will know soon enough.” She nodded to herself. “Yes, soon enough.”
Ursula returned her attention to the window while Sunny closed her eyes and assumed a lotus meditation posture.
Alvina got up stiffly from the couch.
“Think I’ll see about some candles,” she said.
As she passed SK, she squeezed his shoulder. The front door opened, and Livvy came back in, smiling.
“He’s a good looking one,” said Sunny, too cheerily.
“I know,” Livvy gushed.
SK went to the front door, yanked it open and was gone, slamming it behind him.
“Where’s he going?” said Livvy.
“Fresh air,” said Wan-li.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
“I THINK THAT’S it,” Livvy said, as she put the soldering iron away and pushed the magnifier aside.
Another forty-five minutes had gone by in complete silence. Something had happened while she’d been out of the room, but she couldn’t tell what. When SK came back, he wouldn’t look at her. He was upset and it bothered her, but she sensed that now was not the time to try and talk about it.
They had all come over to the table, and Livvy stood as they looked down at her creation. Six pairs of goggles were networked together through a central box that still lay open. Inside, a green circuit board had six chips and various other components and was mounted to the box with four screws at the corners. It was rough looking.
“Where did you learn to do this?” asked Ursula, peering into the box.
“I taught myself,” said Livvy. “It’s not really that hard to learn.”
The other shamans watched Wan-li as she picked up her goggles and looked at the wires pouring out of them and leading to the box. She put them back down and looked up, meeting each one of their eyes in turn. Finally, she looked at Livvy, as did everybody else. They were waiting.
“I guess it’s time to give it a try?” Livvy said.
Again, everyone looked at Wan-li, and again, she pointedly looked at Livvy.
“It’s time to give it a try,” Livvy said, with more conviction.
Alvina had already lit several cand
les around the room and now also lit incense. Sunny and Ursula shoved the couch over to the wall to clear space on the floor. As everybody picked up their goggles, Livvy picked up hers and the box. As a group, they moved to the center of the floor and placed their goggles down simultaneously.
“Let’s begin on the path,” said Livvy. “I’ll see you there.”
Without saying a word they rolled out their mats, positioned their pillows, and lay down. SK turned off the lights. It was still dark outside; and the candles and the moonlight were the only illumination now. They were positioned like spokes on a wheel, their heads coming together around the box in the middle.
Livvy was about to ask if there were any questions when she heard Carmen flip the switch on her goggles. No sense in waiting, apparently. Livvy lay down and flipped on the switch and heard the others do the same. In moments, they were on the flip side.
• • • • •
“Did you see that?” said Sunny.
“There was a flash of light when she appeared,” said Ursula.
“Sorry,” said Carmen. “There was a flash of light for all of you.”
“Goodness,” said Alvina, looking around. “So this is really what the Middleworld looks like.”
“Not necessarily,” said Wan-li.
“Is this how it was with Min?” asked Sunny.
Livvy took a look around. Everything had taken on a grayish look, even the clothes that they were wearing.
“Kind of,” she said. “But the colors are more washed out. It all seems to be fading into gray.”
“Ursula sees it too. Very dull.” The dark crimson and bright pink of her robes and head wrap had faded to nearly normal colors.
Livvy reached out a hand to Alvina. The purple flowers on her white frock had faded to a faint lilac color.
“It looks like you can kind of see through people,” she said as her hand neared Alvina. “But you can actually feel them.”
Alvina looked down at Livvy’s hand and said, “Almost, but not really. It doesn’t feel quite real.”
The rest of them tried it as well.
“Yes, interesting,” said Wan-li.
Livvy smiled as she watched them move around. They looked at the sky and the surrounding forest. They scuffed the ground with their shoes and clapped their hands. They moved around and tried shouting and whispering. Eventually, though, they all looked toward the lake. Unlike their clothes, it seemed to have grown darker–a darker black, if that was possible. There were no reflections, no mirror of the sky.
Livvy remembered how she and Min had stood in this same place. She scanned the shoreline looking for her, but Min wasn’t there. No, of course not. It wouldn’t be that easy. She sighed as she turned back to the others, who were all looking at the lake.
“We held hands as we went in,” said Livvy. “I don’t know if we needed to.”
“Did you hold hands on the way out?” asked Ursula.
“Yeah,” said Livvy. “But it didn’t seem to do any good. I couldn’t hang on. Or she couldn’t hang on. I don’t know.”
They all looked back toward the lake. Its deep blackness was unsettling.
As they approached, almost like a chorus line, they instinctively held hands and waded in. Only waist deep, the water began to swirl. Livvy led the way and, as she stepped off the shelf and submerged, she pulled the others over the edge with her.
They landed in a ball of arms and legs in the Underworld as the fountain spewed them out. Eventually, they managed to untangle and stand up.
“Well that could have been more graceful,” said Sunny. Her pastel and white outfit, light skin and blond hair almost made her invisible.
“Hmph. Ursula thought the Middleworld was dull.”
The Underworld appeared not to have changed. Its vast whiteness seemed to stretch outward, the landscape undulating gently.
“This looks the same,” said Livvy. “The hills may not seem like much, but you don’t have to get too far away from the fountain before you can’t see it. It’s kind of a strange thing to say, but it’s easy to get lost here.”
“I’m sure it is, dear,” said Alvina, as she stepped away and went up the first rise.
She stopped on top and looked in each direction. Carmen followed her up the slope and looked around as well.
“Goodness, it’s the same in every direction,” Alvina said.
Suddenly there was a loud animal roar from the distance.
“What’s that?” said Carmen, backing toward the fountain.
“No need to worry,” said Wan-li, stepping forward. “It is Da Hu.”
“Of course,” said Ursula. “Your spirit helper.”
There was another roar, this time much closer, and all eyes turned in that direction. An orange and black Bengal tiger came bounding over a rise in the middle distance. It seemed to be loping but it was covering ground at a fantastic rate. It crested the last hillock, leapt through the air, and landed at Wan-li’s feet. She grabbed it affectionately around the neck and scratched with both hands.
From the backside of the fountain came the blaring crow of a rooster. As they watched, a silky black rooster with a large red comb and a long multi-colored tail came strutting into view.
“Kuh Kuh,” said Ursula, relieved, as she walked down the hill toward it.
The animal strutted over to where she was standing and scratched at the ground there, pecking at nothing.
Something small darted through the air just past Livvy’s head. Then it was gone, even as she turned to see it. Sunny held out her hand and extended an index finger for the tiny hummingbird that had started to hover in front of her. It landed on her finger and made tiny creaking sounds as its tongue flicked in and out, almost too fast to see.
Livvy looked down as something brushed by her foot, and then she jumped backward, nearly toppling over. A rattlesnake, easily six inches in diameter and twenty feet long, slithered by her. It undulated up the hill to where Carmen stood and then coiled itself next to her, shaking its rattle.
An eerie howl filled the air, a lonely and plaintive sound that seemed to echo and come from every direction at once.
“Koyot,” said Alvina, as she turned to search the horizon.
Moving quickly around the small hills instead of going over them, a coyote came trotting around the closest hill and circled around Alvina’s legs. It sniffed in the direction of the tiger, which was busy licking its paws. Alvina crouched down and patted the coyote between the ears.
“Your spirit helper,” said Wan-li, looking at Livvy.
All eyes turned to Livvy.
“It will come, yes?”
“It’s been here all along,” Livvy said, looking up.
The clouds were swirling and boiling directly over their location.
Alvina chuckled. “I thought so, dear,” she said as she gave Livvy a conspiratorial wink. “Only once in a generation, but I thought so.”
“Lightning,” said Sunny, gazing up. She turned an appraising look on Livvy, as her hummingbird looked up. All of the spirit helpers were staring skyward. “Now what?” asked Sunny.
All eyes turned back to Livvy.
“Usually Tiamat shows up and that’s the end of the journey.”
“What does this Tiamat look like?” asked Sunny.
Wan-li’s tiger grumbled.
“You really haven’t been here in a while,” said Ursula, as she brought her hands together in front of her, creating a glow between them.
As Livvy and the others stared, a small ball of flame erupted that Ursula tossed casually to the ground, where it smoked and went out. Livvy knew that all shamans had different spirit helpers and abilities in the Multiverse but it was still thrilling to see. She and Min hadn’t had time to get that far.
“Sorry,” said Carmen. “But what do we do about Tiamat, if she comes?”
“That’s the thing,” said Livvy. “We can’t really do anything. We’ve got to find Marduk. He’s the one who vanquished her in the time before t
ime.”
“And, dear one,” began Alvina. “You know where to find Marduk?”
“No,” said Livvy, shaking her head. “The only thing we know is that he lives in a ziggurat.”
Without a word, each of the shamans and their spirit helpers, including Livvy, walked up the nearest mound and scanned in all directions. Although Livvy was looking for the ziggurat, she also had a small hope that the kachina or Min might appear.
“If there were a ziggurat, we would see it, yes?” said Wan-li.
As she finished the sentence, Wan-li looked to the next mound in the landscape and, with a speed that blurred her motion, she and the tiger were almost instantly on top of it. They moved at an unbelievable pace. As she watched the other shamans, Livvy wondered what powers they possessed.
Suddenly, there was a screech in the distance. Livvy crouched instinctively.
“Sorry!” said Carmen, heading down the hill toward the fountain.
Her snake took off in the opposite direction.
“What’s that?” asked Sunny.
Livvy headed down the slope to the fountain and watched Carmen step in and disappear.
“Tiamat,” yelled Livvy.
The animal helpers scattered as another shriek filled the air, this time much louder. The others didn’t need any convincing, and Sunny followed them without question as she launched her hummingbird into the sky.
As a group, except for Carmen, they entered the fountain.
• • • • •
Back in the real world, SK watched as they each took their goggles off. That didn’t take long. Had something happened? Carmen was the first to arrive and then the others followed shortly after. He had been sitting against the wall but got up.
Carmen took off her goggles and sat up, blinking several times before her eyes focused. She looked around the room and saw SK. He was about to ask if everyone was all right when the rest of them inhaled deeply and started moving, including Livvy. He watched her as she took off the goggles, without sitting up, and rubbed her eyes.
Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3 Page 22