by Dani Hoots
Movement began all around me. I glanced around to find figures surrounding me, all cast in shadows. They were laughing, taunting me—saying that I would lead my people into their graves, that it was because of me that they were going to die. That was what the stench was, the death of my people. I shut my eyes, trying to make it all go away, but it was no use. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make the image go away. The figures kept bellowing out a laugh.
“You will never survive!”
When I woke with a start, drops of sweat were rolling off my skin. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. Why were the spirits tormenting me like this? Why wouldn’t they send any direct answers to my most persistent questions? Instead, they only played on my fears. Why would they not bless us, had we not been sending enough sacrifices that pleased them?
I took a deep breath, trying to forget the nightmare I had just experienced, but it was beyond difficult. My heart pounded in my chest, as if trying to escape. My arms and legs felt jittery, as if they wanted to get up and move, not go back to the dream world. I wondered what was worse, the dreams or the reality that we would be attacking our enemies soon. I figured the latter, as it was reality. The dream world couldn’t actually hurt my tribe, whereas the strangers could.
As I lay there, unable to fall back asleep, I heard a noise come from outside the hut. It was rare for someone to be walking around in such darkness. With fear overwhelming my thoughts, I got up to make sure it wasn’t one of the strangers from afar, sneaking up on me to kill me or anyone in my tribe.
I wrapped myself in a robe and quickly snuck outside my hut. There didn’t seem to be anyone wandering around where I thought I had heard the noise. I glanced around, the waxing moon lighting up the rocks and trees that surrounded the tribe’s huts. Shadows swam back and forth as a gust of wind rippled through the trees. I kept my eye out for anything that didn’t follow the choreography that nature seemed to follow, when dancing around me. The stars glowed brightly, outlining the great milky sky splattered across the darkness. It was magnificent and I didn’t want this beauty to be destroyed by bloodshed that I knew was coming in the following days.
“Apachita, are you okay?” a voice out of nowhere came.
I jumped and placed my hand on my chest. “Micos, you startled me. What are you doing out so late?”
He shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep and I wanted to make sure there was nothing out here. I have this fear of the strangers attacking while we sleep. I can’t get it out of my head.”
I placed my hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry, none of the strangers know how to navigate the forest at night like we do. There are too many creatures that would attack before they had the chance to reach us. Don’t worry about it, the spirits will keep us safe.”
Micos let out a small sigh as he looked all around. His short hair was a mess, as he had probably been rolling around in his sleep, restless.
“I guess you are right, Apachita. I should probably head back. What got you up this late at night?”
“Thought I heard something, but I guess it was just you.”
“Oh,” he said. “Sorry for waking you, I didn’t mean to—”
I held up my palm. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Now, head back to your hut.”
He nodded and did as I had ordered. I let out a deep breath as I took in the night one last time before I would head back to my own hut. Flashing in the corner of my eye, I noticed movement nearby. It wasn’t Micos as he had walked off the other way. I quickly turned to find the source of it jumping towards the shadows.
I followed it, watching carefully as it snuck through the darkness. It didn’t move quite like a man, but it also didn’t move like any animal that I had ever seen before. It was fluid in motion, like a snake, but it was large, with two legs and large arms, almost like a pair of outstretched wings. It ran quickly away from me and I could barely keep up with it. But I kept after it; I had to know what it was. Why was it skulking around our camp at such an obscene time of the night?
The creature led me deeper and deeper into the wilderness beyond my camp. I could barely make out most of the plant life, as bushes and twigs scratched me as I ran past them. When the creature noticed me falling behind, it always seemed to slow down, as if it wanted me to catch up with it. That was the only reason I pressed on, because it wanted me to keep going. It wanted me to follow it.
Maybe it was a message from the spirits.
My heart began to race in hopes that this was true. Could it be something to help me protect my tribe? I didn’t know what to think and I began to have hope once again, though worry was still there, pressing against the back of my mind. What if this wasn’t help, but a diversion?
I didn’t know how much time had passed or how far I had traveled before I found myself at a clearing. I glanced around, finding that the creature was nowhere to be seen. But there was a camp laying there in front of me. Even worse, it was a camp full of those strangers.
And they had one of the neighboring tribe’s members.
I crouched down and examined what they were doing. I could hear them talk, but none of it made sense to me as they seemed to be talking in a strange way. They approached the tribe member, one I recognized but had no idea as to their name. The more I focused on him, the more I realized what state he was in. Blood ran down his face as his wrists and ankles were tied against a tree. He couldn’t move, couldn’t resist the torture they were giving him. There were deep lacerations on his torso, as if they had taken a knife to it. His clothes, or at least what was left of them, were soaked with his crimson blood.
Two of the strangers had swords pointed at their prisoner. They yelled strange, vulgar things down at him, and then stabbed him when he wouldn’t respond. I couldn’t understand their actions at all, why would they do such a thing? They were the intruders, they had no right to hurt those who lived here, those who owned the land they seemed so eager to destroy. The tribe member yelled out in pain, pleading with them to stop, but the strangers wouldn’t listen, they just yelled at him even more. One of them punched the prisoner.
I couldn’t watch any longer as they beat the man—I didn’t want to think about what they could do to my own tribe. A tear began to form in my eye as I hurried off, quietly as I could, back towards the camp. I was a strong leader, but after seeing that kind of barbarism, I couldn’t help but feel emotional. That person could have been one of my own people. I wouldn’t allow it, though. I would fight these monsters.
“It’s not pleasant, is it?” a gruesome whisper breathed into my ear.
Stopping dead in my tracks, I searched around, thinking that the strangers may have followed me. I honestly thought it was the end for me.
“Who are you? What do you want?” I called out.
Something jumped down from the trees with a loud thump. As it straightened up, I saw how much larger than me it was. It was the size of two men put together, its legs bent at strange angles, its arms wide as it spread them out. I saw that I had been right to think they were wings. The moonlight shined on its face and I stepped back in horror. I knew exactly what it was.
“You... You’re—”
It let out a deep thunderous laugh. “It took you this long to figure it out, huh?”
I spun around and started to sprint towards the tribe out of sheer terror. I had to find the protection of my own people; I had to get away from this shapeshifter, this peuchen. It was such a vile creature, one I would never want to go against on my own. It had killed hundreds of people, according to the machi before me. I had never seen it before today, and I didn’t ever want to see it again. It could disguise itself as anything, and it tricked me into following it out here where there was no one to help. I tried to get to my camp where it could easily be outnumbered by my tribespeople, if I called upon them to assist me.
The creature was faster than me, though. It quickly jumped in front of me and stopped me in my tracks. I knew it was probably no use to try and run away at this poin
t, but I had to try. I wouldn’t admit defeat, not to a dark creature such as this one.
“Do not be afraid, I didn’t bring you out here to harm you,” the peuchen’s voice was gargled, raspy even. I hadn’t ever heard of one speaking before, only letting out a high-pitch scream before it devoured its victim.
“What do you want then?” I whispered as it stepped closer to me, forcing me to move back away from it only to find a large tree behind me. I had been cornered. If it wanted to kill me, this was its chance.
Its dark red eyes stared at me, its face now only inches from mine. It breathed heavily, reeking of death. I tried not to breathe as I didn’t want to take in its stench. Black matted fur covered the creature’s whole body; some areas were clumped with dirt and blood. Fangs stuck out of its mouth, and I tried not to shake in fear.
“Why, I have come to help you, of course.”
I let out a laugh, not believing such a thing, although my hands were still shaking. “Ha, help from you? I don’t believe it; your kind would never help humans. You hunt us, you kill whenever it pleases you. I would never believe a word from such a dark creature as you.”
It lifted up its clawed wing, its tiny furred fingers tracing my skin. “Oh my dear Apachita, you really don’t understand, do you?”
“Don’t understand what? What are you talking about?” I insisted.
“You say that we kill as we please. That is not the case. Don’t you see how the world works? There has to be darkness where there is also light. The world would be in chaos if there wasn’t. You may call me a dark creature, but in order for your civilization to survive, we must counter it. We must be there to keep things in order. Where there is light, there will always be darkness.”
I fidgeted as the creature kept touching my skin, in the same manner that a hungry person might caress his last meal. It made me want to throw up. “I don’t see what that has to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you. These strangers that have come, they don’t understand the balance of things. They don’t see that there needs to be equal amounts of light and dark. They destroy everything without even a thought as to the consequences. They hurt those who haven’t harmed them just because they can.”
“Is that why you brought me out here? So I could witness it for myself?”
The peuchen nodded. “My kind cannot survive if those foul people stay. And neither can yours.”
“So what are you trying to say?” I asked slowly. I still wasn’t sure what the creature wanted, or at least I didn’t believe what it was saying. It seemed like it wanted me to help them, to form some kind of alliance. But could I trust it? Why would it ever ask for a human’s help? It seemed impossible.
“I am saying that we need your help to keep the balance how it is. We need you to destroy the strangers before it is too late.”
I shook my head. “I can’t. The spirits have told me that this will be my death and that we will not survive. I will try to fight them, but I am afraid that we will not be successful.”
“The spirits know nothing of the power of darkness,” it retorted. “They do not understand the power that we possess.”
Was that true? That they could go behind the spirits’ back and succeed in defeating the strangers? I wanted to believe it, but evil’s best friend was deceit. “Then why don’t you destroy the strangers by yourself? If you are so powerful.”
“I am afraid it isn’t that easy. We lost our leader to one of your people, but that doesn’t mean his spirit isn’t with us. He just needs a vessel...” the peuchen grabbed my arm.
“No!” I tried to pull my arm back, but the creature’s grip was too strong. So that was all it wanted, someone to use as a vessel for their leader. “I will not be some dark creature’s vessel. I will not let you use me like that!”
“But think of how powerful you will be,” it whispered into my ear. “Think of what you could do with a peuchen’s abilities. You can shape-shift into any creature you please, have the power of the night at your hands. Everything would obey your command. You could defeat the strangers and keep your tribe safe. All you need to do is agree—”
“No!” I yelled back. “I will not turn my back on what I believe to help you!”
The peuchen threw my arm down and hissed. “Then you will die at the hands of these strangers. You and every member of your tribe. You will not survive and the emotional torture of seeing this preventable tragedy play out will only make you wish you sought out our help earlier.”
It was right, though, about the bitter truth that my tribe was going to suffer—that it was going to be destroyed if I didn’t give in. If I said yes, my people could survive, and everything would be alright. There would be a creature inside of me, though, a dark, potentially restless creature stirring in me. Would the spirits forgive me if I agreed to it? If I died, would they let me into their world? Or would I be stuck roaming this world forever?
But was it worth it for the safety of my people? What would the machi before me have done in a situation like this?
The peuchen started to walk off, slowly, as if it knew that I would change my mind any minute. Quite honestly, I didn’t really have any real decision to make, for only one decision was slightly less bad than the other.
“Wait,” I called after it.
It turned to face me. “Yes?”
“Will you guarantee that my tribe will survive? Will you promise that we will defeat the strangers if I give my life to your leader?”
The creature grinned widely. “I promise that everything will turn out for the better.”
I stepped up to the peuchen, staring straight into its eyes, not showing any fear. “Then fine. I will become the vessel.”
Without a word, the peuchen licked its lips and wrapped its wings around me tightly, making it so I could hardly move or breath. My lungs burned as I tried to take in air but nothing was coming. It sunk its long fangs into my neck and I tried to scream out in pain, but I found that my voice was gone. Everything started to get hazy as the creature kept its fangs lodged deep in my neck; when finally, it all went dark.
When I woke up, I found myself back in my bed.
I felt strange as I glanced around, groggy from the severe lack of any real sleep. The sun had just risen and I could hear some of my people walking around outside my hut. I rubbed my neck, as it felt stiff. Then the memories came back to me.
The peuchen.
I touched my neck where it had bit me, but there was no wound. I couldn’t believe it, how could it harm me that much, even when there was no sign of it? I could still feel it, like a phantom, the bite that had ended everything.
Or was it just a dream? I didn’t remember how I ended up back at camp, so maybe it was just a dream, a dream the spirits gave me, warning me of the things that could happen if I wasn’t careful. I didn’t know and I honestly couldn’t tell if it was reality or had just been a nightmare. I also didn’t remember coming back to bed after running into Micos the night before. Everything felt so strange, I didn’t know what to do.
“Apachita, are you awake?” I heard Killa’s voice coming from outside the hut.
“Yes,” I said as I got up and grabbed some clothes. “I will be out in just a moment.”
If I had really run into the peuchen, things would be different, I would know for a fact. I wouldn’t have felt this groggy, nor would I still have this body. It had to have all been a dream. I took a couple of deep breaths after I changed into new clothes and stepped outside.
Both Inti and Killa were outside waiting for me. They seemed eager to start the day, to help in any way they could to talk to the spirits and ready our tribe for battle.
“What do you want us to do?” Inti asked, flipping her straight hair back out of her eyes.
I looked back and forth between them, wondering what exactly they could do. There really wasn’t much other than prayer and readying the weapons. I gave them a list of incense and herbs that they could use while praying for the safet
y of the tribe. They both nodded, and went on their way to retrieve those things and to pray for the rest of the day.
I looked around for Micos, wondering if he was preparing the people for battle. He was in charge of the military, as his father had been before him. His father, who had just passed away earlier in the year, had been alive when the strangers first appeared twenty years before. He had witnessed the destruction they had caused, and watched as some of the neighboring tribes’ men had been captured and forced on the strange craft. He knew that we would have to fight the strangers someday, and had been preparing for it ever since.
Micos definitely followed in his father’s footsteps, as the moment his father passed, he showed the courage and strength to lead our people not only in preparing to be warriors, but in hunting as well. Some of the hunts Micos led were the most prosperous we have ever had since I became the machi of the tribe. I was very impressed by him and found that he was one of the most trusted people I knew, apart from Inti and Killa.
I found him talking to a group of men, showing them the fastest way to attach a spearhead to a piece of wood. I waited for him to finish, intrigued at how much he had learned from his father. Once he was done and the others were practicing, he came over to me.
“Apachita, is there something you wanted to talk to me about?” he asked.
“Yes, I wanted to let you know that I will be in my hut, praying to the spirits for guidance against the outsiders. You are my head military leader and you are given permission to develop the plan of attack. I don’t want to be bothered as I meditate, but if you have anything you need desperately, please let me know,” I said.
“Understood. Thank you for trusting me just as you had trusted my father. It means a lot, as some think I am too young to lead the warriors.”
