Chapter 9: The Gathering of Bones
Eagle Flying Bye, called upon the Great Spirit of Devil Lake to help him in his quest. An eagle’s feather floated softly, ever so lightly, at his feet. Wiyohpiyata was one of the four cardinal directions—a mysterious realm, home to spirits like the Winged One, who commanded thunder and lightning. He had to prepare himself; first he would follow the direction of the feather.
He took a train to New Mexico—specifically, to the Gila River, which silently lapped the shores of eternity, near a great burial mound. He cleaned a spot on the north side of the great river, brought branches of soft leaves from the red ash trees, and made himself a bed. He would begin to gather his strength. He faced the east and pointed his sacred jeweled arrow to the left, to ward off evil. A power animal, the eagle soared high above him, keeping an ever-watchful eye over his resting body.
A lone wolf spied the sleeping medicine man, tucked his paws beneath his chest, and lay down at the banks of the great Gila River to keep vigil. Soon it would be daybreak, and Eagle Flying By would enter a different realm to find the courage he was seeking.
Eagle Flying By recited his rendition of a Lakota battle prayer: “Today is a good day to die. I do not fear dying. Nor will I allow this great battle to worry me. It is something for which I have been preparing myself since the days of my youth. For I have known since the time of my birth that my true inheritance in this world would be a death befitting whatever, and whoever, it was that I was called to become. My dream has always been to die a warrior’s death, my life ending by the swiftness of an arrow or a fatal blow from an act of war. And yet, I must admit, a peaceful end would also be a good way to die; surrounded by those I love within the comfort and warmth of my lodge, listening to the sounds of their grief, while the medicine men sing prayers and anoint my body to help my spirit to climb to that higher plain, is also a good way to die. But to have my life end, knowing that my courageous deeds might change the world for the better, is still the best end that I could wish for. That is why I do not fear my death.”
He listened intently as the great warrior spirit of Geronimo beckoned him: “Go east, old man.” Eagle Flying Bye immediately realized where he must go to gather up the strength to do battle. He first must receive the blessing of the great warrior chief. The ancestral home of the Apache having blessed him, he turned his face toward the east coast of Turtle Island, preparing for the hardship that would lie ahead.
Birthing the Lucifer star Page 19
