Race to the Sun

by Rebecca Roanhorse

  I feel a hand clutch my wrist, and I almost jump out of my skin. I look down and Black Jet Girl is awake. Her eyes are penetrating mine, trying to tell me something. She mouths a word at me.

  “Feather?” I ask. I think that’s what she said.

  “What’s that?” one the buzzards squawks. “Did you say ‘feather’?”

  “No. Someone else did,” says his brother.

  Black Jet Girl rolls her eyes at the two birdmen and raises herself a little to talk to me again. “Throw the feather into the fire,” she manages to whisper before she drops back down, looking exhausted.

  “I definitely heard it that time,” says a buzzard.

  “Speak up, whoever’s there! Or we will turn you to stone and then beat on you until you break into a hundred pieces.”

  “A million!”

  “A dozen!”

  “What? A million is more than a dozen.”

  “Is it? Then how ’bout a thousand million?”

  “How ’bout you learn to count?”

  “How ’bout you shut your beak so I can find out who’s come into our new house to steal our prized possession?”

  I can’t take their squabbling anymore. It’s worse than Mac and me on a long trip. Now I know how my dad feels when he tells us to stop it or he’s going to pull the car over this minute.

  “My name is Nizhoni Begay,” I shout, “and I’m here to rescue Black Jet Girl. She is the guardian of this mountain, and you can’t have her.”

  “Oh-ho-ho!” one of the buzzards squawks. “A rescue mission, is it? Who do you think you are that you can take what belongs to us?”

  I inhale deeply, and even though my hands are shaking and my voice doesn’t sound all that steady, I tell them, “I am a monsterslayer.”

  The buzzards stiffen for a second. Then one of them yelps and tries to hide behind the other.

  “Don’t be an idiot,” he says, pushing his brother away. “This Nizhoni person cannot be a real monsterslayer. Where’s her lightning sword? She’s delusional.”

  That’s insulting. But he does have a point.

  The other one peers over his brother’s shoulder. “You’re right! We’d be able to hear the crack of thunder or smell the lightning if she were a real monsterslayer.” He chuckles. “Somebody has lied to her. She’s confused.”

  “Misled.”

  “Duped!”

  “Discomfited!”

  “Stop it!” I shout. “Besides, I don’t even think ‘discomfited’ means what you think it does.”

  They roll their ugly heads on their necks like the world’s grossest bobbleheads. “Discombobulated! Discombobulated!” they screech.

  “I said, stop!” I shout again, but why should they listen to me? They’re right. I don’t have a lightning sword, as cool as that sounds. I don’t even have any protective clothing. Just a black-and-red Isotopes hoodie from school, and that’s not going to stop their sharp talons.

  “Look into our eyes,” one of the creatures croons at me, his voice a singsong. “Don’t be scared, little monsterslayer. If you’re a real monsterslayer, we can’t hurt you.”

  “Yeah,” his companion cackles. He bulges his eyes, as if looking for me. “Monsterslayers are immune to our powers.”

  “So look closer,” the first one warbles, shuffling forward, eyeballs popping out even farther.

  I fight the urge to throw up a little. Eyeballs skeeve me out on the best of days. This bulging thing is taking it to a whole new level.

  “Closer!” the other one says, and I realize they’re both moving around the fire, trying to get near to me.

  My heart speeds up, and I swallow hard. I want to run, but I can’t leave Black Jet Girl in here alone. I’ve got to fight these monsters, but how?

  “Little monsterslayer, where did you go?” says the first one, his eyes so big now they’re practically hanging out of their sockets.

  I clutch Łizhin’s feather. It already woke up Black Jet Girl. I wonder if it has a little bit more ingenuity left. Black Jet Girl said I should throw it in the fire, but that would mean getting rid of my only weapon. Yet I don’t have a lot of choices here, and maybe the guardian knows something I don’t. “Here goes nothing,” I say to myself. I hurl the feather into the flames.

  It explodes into a million tiny salt crystals that pop and sizzle. Hot granules fly everywhere, and I duck my head under my arm to avoid getting hit. But the buzzard brothers are too close to the fire. The salt strikes their protruding eyes and they stumble around, screeching in pain. One flaps his stubby wings, trying to protect his face. But then the grains light on his oily feathers, and he just shrieks louder. The other tries to fly away and bangs into the ceiling. Rocks come loose, crumbling and falling, and the whole little house-in-the-mountain seems to shake.

  “We’ve got to get out of here!” I say to Black Jet Girl, tugging on her arm. “The roof’s going to come down.”

  Black Jet Girl is more awake now, as if the salt in the air revived her, and I’m able to help her to her feet. She leans on my shoulder, I wrap my arm around her, and together we stumble toward the door.

  I hear a terrible rumbling just as we get outside. I look up, and it seems like the whole top of the mountain is slowly sliding off its foundation. It’s heading straight for us!

  “An avalanche!” I shout. “We’ve got to run! Can you manage it?”

  Somehow, she does. We rush down the mountain, trying our best to outpace the stream of dirt and rocks and—whoa, was that a tree that just hurled past us? Okay, a small tree, but still.

  “Faster!” I yell.

  “There!” Black Jet Girl points to one of the claw-shaped rocks that I’d found so scary when I first landed. Now I can see its overhang would make a perfect little shelter. We huddle underneath it as the avalanche passes.

  Once we’re sure it’s over, I peek around the rock. Black Jet Girl’s house is completely covered by a ton of debris, with the buzzards still stuck inside. I can’t even see the door anymore. The chimney that was belching out that awful dark fog is gone, too, crushed by the rubble.

  We both sit in our hiding spot, panting, until Black Jet Girl finally speaks. “Are we safe?”

  I check again, just to make sure. “I don’t think the birdbrains are getting out of there for a while, if ever. But your house was destroyed. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry,” she says. “I’ll just ask the mountain to make me a new home.”

  Oh. Well, that’s handy.

  The air is starting to clear, and now I can see that Łizhin was right—Dibé Nitsaa really is beautiful. The great black claw rocks are towering spires set into the side of the mountain like spikes in a crown. Tall pines and aspens surround us, and with the smoke gone, the breeze smells fresh and earthy. It’s not exactly warm out, but the temperature feels like the refreshing chill that comes in the evening after you’ve played outside all day in the summer.

  “It’s nice here,” I tell Black Jet Girl.

  “Did you mean what you said back there to the bináá’ yee aghání?”

  “The bina who?”

  “The staring-eye creatures.”

  Oh, right. I knew that. Mr. Yazzie told us about the vicious bird monsters.

  “You claimed to be a monsterslayer,” Black Jet Girl says. “Is it true?”

  “Umm…sort of ? I’m working on it. Right now, I’m just Nizhoni. I don’t have any of the weapons or training of a true monsterslayer. My brother, my best friend, and I are trying to get to Spider Woman’s house to ask her for a map of the Glittering World. Once we have that, we’ll follow it to the Sun and get the weapons we need. But we only have a few days.…” With a pang, I think about my dad, praying with all my might that he’s out of that trunk and getting food and water.

  Black Jet Girl smiles, her smooth black skin shining in the waning afternoon light. “Weapons or no, only a brave warrior would not be afraid of the bináá’ yee aghání. You were immune to their powerful stare. Maybe you think you a
re just Nizhoni, but I think you are already becoming more.”

  Her words fill me with warmth—and hope. “Thank you,” I say.

  She sways in place, looking like she’s going to fall over. She must be hungry, and thirsty, too. Who knows how long she was trapped in there with those nasty creatures?

  I dig in my backpack and pull out one of Davery’s cookies. “It’s not much in the way of dinner, but my best friend’s mom made this, and it’s super healthy. I’m happy to share.”

  She takes a bite. “It’s…different.”

  “That it is.” But I guess it must be okay, because she keeps eating it. I’m so hungry that I have one, too. I wash it down with some lukewarm water and then hand her the bottle, which she takes gratefully.

  “Why have you come to Dibé Nitsaa?” she asks me.

  “I was hoping you could help me find the jet that I’m supposed to bring to Spider Woman as a gift. Though it looks like there’s plenty around here to choose from.”

  “Oh, you can’t take just any jet. If it is for Na’ashjéii Asdzáá, it must be the best there is!”

  My stomach sinks. Is this going to be like finding the shell on the White Mountain? I don’t think I’m up for another five-hour search for just the perfect piece of black rock. Why does everything have to be so hard?

  Black Jet Girl coughs.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask. “Are you okay? It’s the cookie, isn’t it?” I knew it was a killer.

  She shakes her head. “I breathed in some of the bináá’ yee aghánís’ awful smoke, and when they froze me, it got stuck in my lungs. I will heal, but it will take time.”

  Time to heal, time to find the jet for Spider Woman. I can almost hear the minutes ticking away. “Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but how much time?”

  “I must sleep now. In the morning, I should be well enough to help you.”

  I chew on my lip, worried. Łizhin promised to return at sunset. But I can’t leave Black Jet Girl here by herself if she’s still impaired. Łizhin said other monsters might come, and what kind of backup guardian would I be if I abandoned her?

  “If you want to sleep, I can keep watch,” I say, making up my mind.

  Black Jet Girl gives me a tired and grateful smile and lies down on a bed of leaves, resting her head on her arms. I push my back against the rock, pull up my knees, and wrap my arms around them. I’m not that tired, so it shouldn’t be hard to stay alert until Łizhin arrives.

  A wave of sadness rolls over me. I miss Davery. If he were here, he would know how to build a makeshift shelter that he’d read about in 101 Survival Tricks, and probably how to whip up a three-course meal out of wet leaves and dirt. Gluten-free, of course. I even miss Mac, who would be telling jokes and drawing funny pictures of the buzzards to cheer us up. And even though I’ve only known him for a day, I miss Mr. Yazzie, too. He’d teach us stories about Navajo history or songs about the Black Mountain that would make us all feel like we were special. Most of all, I miss my dad, who would lecture me about going off on dangerous adventures and then still tuck me into bed with a kiss.

  But none of my companions are here. It’s just me. I sniffle a little bit, feeling sorry for myself.

  “From now on, we’re staying together,” I vow aloud to Mac and Davery, wherever they might be. “And we’re coming to save you, Dad,” I add quietly. “Don’t give up.”

  It’s the last thing I think before I fall asleep.

  I wake to the smell of piñon burning and the sound of a crackling fire. I whip my head up, thinking I’m back in Black Jet Girl’s house with the creepy buzzard brothers, but I quickly realize I’m outside, in the shade of the great rock. The exact same place I fell asleep.

  There’s a small campfire in a hole in the ground about ten feet in front of me, and it’s burning merrily, warming the chilly morning air.

  Whoa! Morning air! I stifle a yawn, stretch my arms, and look around. Sure enough, the sun is barely coming up on the horizon. I slept through the entire night. So much for keeping watch…

  Panic hits me and I scramble to my feet. Where’s Black Jet Girl? Is she in danger again? And if it’s already morning, that means I missed Łizhin!

  “Hello?” I shout. “Black Jet Girl? Łizhin? Is anyone there?”

  I tell myself to calm down. If there’s a campfire, chances are good that I haven’t been left all alone out here. But that logic doesn’t stop my stomach from bunching up with worry.

  “We’re here, Nizhoni,” comes a musical voice from the wooded area beyond our sheltering rock. Black Jet Girl walks toward me, a small black bird perched on her shoulder.

  “Łizhin?” I ask. I rush forward and give her a…uh…pat on the head. “Is that you?”

  The bird flies to the ground. Within seconds, she has expanded back to riding size. “It’s much easier to take a walk through the forest when you aren’t as big as a tree,” she explains. “Black Jet Girl was just telling me about how you defeated the bináá’ yee aghání. I am very proud of you, Nizhoni.”

  “Thanks,” I say, shuffling my feet through the dirt and feeling my face heat up with embarrassment. “Your feather came in handy.”

  “You had the ingenuity to use it,” the bird says with sparkling eyes. “Are you ready to go to Spider Rock and be reunited with your friends? If we leave now, I can have you there before breakfast. Then I’ll return to help Black Jet Girl make sure the mountain is cleansed of monsters. For now.”

  “For now?”

  “The deaths of those two will discourage other attacks, but only temporarily. If you fail to stop Mr. Charles by sunrise the day after tomorrow, there will be more monsters on the sacred mountains than we can fight. The threat is still very real.”

  “And my dad…Do you know where he is?” I ask, almost afraid to hear the answer. “How he is?”

  “His fate depends on your success.”

  “Then we better go!”

  I rush to grab my backpack. I sling it over my shoulders and hurry to Łizhin. She lowers her head to allow me to climb onto her back, and I settle against the warm down of her neck.

  “Wait!” Black Jet Girl says. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  Backpack? Check. Hoodie? Check. Amazing heroic story to tell Davery and Mac? Check, check. “I think I’ve got everything.”

  “The gift for Na’ashjéii Asdzáá,” she says.

  Duh. I almost neglected the most important thing!

  Black Jet Girl reaches up and touches the side of her head. I hadn’t noticed before, but she’s wearing long beaded loop earrings. She pulls one from her earlobe…or disconnects it, I should say, since her whole body, including her clothes and jewelry, is one big piece of animated rock. She winces when she does it.

  I’m sorry for causing her more pain after all she’s been through lately. “Are you sure you’re strong enough to give me a part of yourself ?”

  “I am now, because you allowed me time to rest.” The guardian holds out her earring on an open hand. “Take this to Spider Woman so she may refashion it as she wishes. It’s a part of the mountain, just as I am. A worthy gift for a Holy Person from a warrior.”

  I get the Holy Person part, and at first I think she’s calling herself a warrior, but then I catch on—she means me. I gulp, feeling sort of undeserving but also really proud.

  “It’s important to always give your best,” she explains to me with a soft smile. “Do not hold back, and do not be afraid to sacrifice. The things that mean the most to us often have the most power. If my part of the gift cost me nothing, then it would mean nothing.”

  She shakes her palm, gesturing for me to take the earring. So I do, tucking it into the padded pocket in my backpack along with the white shell from Sisnaajiní. Two down and two to go. I can’t wait to see what Mac and Davery got from their mountains.

  “Thank you,” I whisper to Black Jet Girl. “I mean, ahéhee’,” I add hastily. Got to remember to speak Navajo when I know the right words, and it never hurts to dou
ble up the thank-yous.

  “Come back and visit.” She says it so sadly I’m not sure she really means it. Maybe she thinks I’ll never return, since my first visit wasn’t exactly a relaxing vacation. Or maybe she thinks I’m not going to live long enough to see her again. That’s not terrifying or anything.

  Łizhin pumps her powerful wings and launches us into the sky. I dig my hands into her feathers and hold on tight. I watch Black Jet Girl waving at us until she becomes a tiny speck, and soon the entire mountain fades behind us.

  “How long until we get to Spider Rock?” I shout loud enough to be heard over the wind.

  “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Black Jet Girl, but I have some bad news, Nizhoni.”

  My stomach dives. Mac! Davery! I knew we shouldn’t have split up!

  “What is it?”

  “I’m afraid there’s been an accident.”

  Łizhin won’t say more about what happened, so I spend the entire journey to Spider Rock imagining the worst. What if Mac and Davery had walked right into a monster ambush?

  Up until this point, the land below has been all high mesas—tall, flat-topped mountains sprinkled with sage shrubs, creosote bushes, and cedar trees. But now we’re flying over a lush valley. I can see cornstalks growing in tidy rows near a stream, and the smooth red-rock walls are decorated with drawings. They don’t look like much this high up, but I know they must be petroglyphs. We learned about them last year in Mr. Lee’s social studies class. I really want to get up close and take a better look.

  “Where are we?” I ask Łizhin. “This isn’t the Grand Canyon, is it?”

  “No. This is Canyon de Chelly. We are in Dinétah now, the heart of Navajo Nation.”

  “I’ve only ever been to shimásání’s house,” I explain. “This is beautiful!”

  We swoop down, skimming over the river that cuts through the canyon.

  “Whoa, what is that?” I ask. In front of us is the tallest, skinniest rock I’ve ever seen. It’s standing all by itself in the middle of the canyon, looking like the Empire State Building but made from red rock.

  “That is our destination—Spider Rock. It marks the home of Na’ashjéii Asdzáá.”