Qaletaqa

by Gladden, DelSheree

  “You’re afraid I won’t be able to resist the bond when I meet Melody.” It wasn’t a question. I hated to admit it, but I shared her fear. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her I would never fall victim to fate, but I couldn’t. I felt the pain of Melody’s capture. I shared in her fear. The desire to ease her pain had consumed me.

  “I’m not doubting your strength or your love, Uriah, but I know what a powerful force the Twin Soul bond is,” Claire said. “If you were just another human facing the bond like I was, I would have no doubt that you would be able to smother the bond and walk away like I did. It wouldn’t take you more than a minute. But you’re not just another human, Uriah. You are the Qaletaqa.”

  I tried to shake my head. I didn’t want to admit that my unwanted destiny would have any bearing on the strength of the bond pulling me toward Melody. Memories of Bhawana’s vision attempted to push into my thoughts, but I tamped them down immediately. Kaya and Samantha had to be right. Bhawana just assumed my Twin Soul would be the crowning joy of my life. She couldn’t have known for sure.

  “Claire, whatever I’m meant to do, I’m still the same person I have always been. I won’t give into the bond,” I said.

  “Were you even listening to Harvey?” Claire asked. “Melody is just like you, perfect. You two are Twin Souls. I could have seen that even without everything that’s happened in the past week. You are both amazing people. I don’t know as much about the Qaletaqa as I wish I did, but I know about other Tewa heroes. The stronger the person was, the stronger the Twin Soul bond was for them. You won’t be any different. Your bond to Melody will be the strongest this world has ever seen.”

  “I am not a legend, Claire. I’m not some hero in a story. I control my life, not Fate, or visions, or anything else.” My voice was loud in the small room, but I didn’t care. Everyone else who knew my secret looked at me and saw something more than I really was. I didn’t want to see that in Claire’s eyes as well. “I am the same person I’ve always been,” I said softly.

  “I know,” Claire said, her smile soft and warm. “I know you’re still the same Uriah I have always known, but I’ve never seen you as an ordinary man. You have always seemed like someone stepped out of a legend to me, with your strength and kindness and compassion. I have always known that you were more than the simple rancher you pretended to be. There’s no denying that anymore.”

  “But, I’m not…”

  “You are the Qaletaqa. You can’t hide from that. You can only prepare yourself for what you’re going to face,” Claire said. Her hand came up to my chest, touching me softly, but no longer tempting me to go any further. “You have to accept who you are and stop fighting it. Beating the Matwau and holding on to me are connected. I’m sure of it.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Scrunching her face, Claire hesitated, or maybe struggled to untangle her thoughts. I wasn’t sure which. “I can’t really explain it, Uriah. I just know you can’t do one without the other.”

  Tears that made less sense than what she had just said gathered in her eyes. I didn’t understand where this idea came from, but I believed her. I didn’t want to see her cry, either. Gently, I took Claire’s hand in mine and held it close to my heart. Her head leaned against my chest. My free hand came up to stroke her hair as I cradled her in my arms. Even if destroying the Matwau had nothing do with keeping Claire, I would never leave her again. It was a promise I made to myself, a promise with no exceptions. Claire was my lifeline to the freedom and happiness a forced destiny could never truly bring.

  9: Simple Touch

  I held Claire in my arms until her breathing slowed and her head felt heavy against my chest. Carefully, I scooped her into my arms and carried her to the bed. As I laid her beneath the sheets, her lips turned down in a frown as I drew my warmth away from her. One of her hands reached out for me and I didn’t hesitate to take it.

  Even asleep, she could feel my presence, and I wasn’t about to take that away from her again. Without letting go of her hand, I climbed over her onto the bed and curled my body around hers. I marveled that she had been able to free her mind enough to sleep, but I could imagine that her first night free of the full power of the bond was enough to wash away anything else.

  For me, that danger was still looming in the distance. I closed my eyes and buried my face in Claire’s hair, breathing in the scent. I missed the gentle herbal aroma her hair usually held. The sharp, plain scent of my own shampoo was only a reminder of her pain. Pulling Claire more tightly against me, I begged for sleep to come.

  The blackness of my mind reminded me of the shield I still had in place. I was surprised that it remained intact after the emotional beating I had just taken. A small measure of relief that my thoughts had not been shared spread over my mind. I wished that the shield were capable of barring me from my own mind as effectively as it kept my thoughts inside.

  Dreams of my upcoming fight with the Matwau had plagued me for too many nights already. I learned secrets from them every night, but I was in no mood for another lesson. I wanted and needed a reprieve. Taking another deep breath of the scent of Claire’s hair, I surrendered to sleep with a plea to anyone who would listen that the dreams would pass me by for at least one night.

  The darkness deepened in my mind. I felt my body fall limp as sleep overtook me, but no rest came. The utter stillness of the black void told me I was not in just another dream. I knew that my body lay on the bed next to Claire, but my mind seemed to have been transported somewhere else entirely.

  Just as I began to ponder my lack of physicality, I heard the sound of fabric rustling. I turned, not even aware I could do so, and looked for the sound. It was far away, but I could follow it. So I did. As I took the first step, I realized that although my body had been left behind, I did have the appearance of flesh and bone. I shook off the bizarreness of the dream world and continued searching for the origin of the sound.

  There was no time in this place, but I knew I had been searching for quite a while before I finally spotted a small bit of color ahead of me. Picking up my pace, I hurried toward the color that grew with every step, taking on shape and growing into several colors. At only a few dozen yards away, I recognized the shape the colors had become. It was a woman.

  I stopped, holding my breath and hoping she had not yet seen me. I took a step back, but something alerted her to my presence and she turned. I snapped my eyes closed, fearing the face I might see more than being left alone in the darkness.

  “Uriah?”

  I knew her voice. Even without the agony that had accompanied it before, there was no mistaking the sound. Still, I did not want to look at her. Cool pinpoints touched my body, followed by a wave of ice cold familiarity. The sensation shook me, forcing me to take a step back, breaking the invisible contact.

  “Uriah?” Her voice was pleading.

  I sighed. She was scared and was I standing next to her offering no relief. The desire to comfort her was impossibly strong, but I kept my hands by my sides. I could not leave her wondering. After a long moment I opened my eyes. I couldn’t resist the urge. Melody’s haunted face peered back at me, hopeful I might be able to help her.

  “Melody,” I said. It was not a question as hers had been. I had known it would be her, but facing her for the first time, even though it was not entirely real, was a shocking acknowledgement of everything I had been told. I truly knew her.

  I couldn’t have fathomed what her favorite television show was, or what kind of ice cream she liked to eat. I didn’t know her in that way, but I knew her soul. I knew she was kindhearted and good. I knew she would never let down a friend, or betray a confidence. I knew that in another life she would have been everything I would have ever wanted. But in the life I was leading, she had no place. The differences between Claire and I only made me love her more. She supported me where I was weak, and I hoped I did the same for her. I looked at Melody and faced a stranger, but a stranger I could not deny ha
d some hold over me.

  “Uriah, where are we?” Melody asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. She reached out a trembling hand to me, but I could not take it. I was afraid to touch her. She dropped it, fear lighting up her features. Guilt urged me to take her into my arms, but I forced both of my itching hands into my pockets.

  “I don’t really know where we are,” I said.

  Hearing my voice again brought a myriad of emotions to her face. Desire, recognition, longing, fear. “This is way different from the dreams I usually have,” Melody said after gaining control of her emotions. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Do you?”

  How was I supposed to explain everything to her? I had lied to Harvey in order to keep him safely at home and away from the Matwau. I couldn’t do that to Melody. She deserved to know the truth. I just didn’t know how to tell her without driving her away from me. With my eyes closed, I searched for the strength I needed to begin my tale all over again.

  “Yes, I know exactly what’s happening,” I said.

  Melody’s fear remained, but hope began to push its way into her emerald eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “Where are you right now? In real life, I mean.” I needed to get whatever information I could out of her before I took the risk of scaring her away from me.

  “Um, I’m not sure. I’ve been blindfolded ever since we left the house. This is the first time I’ve been able to see anything,” Melody said. She glanced around with a frown. “I wish there was more to see here.”

  “What about sounds, smells, temperature.” I needed her to give me some clue of where she was. I had enlisted Harvey’s help to search for the location, but I had very little confidence in what he would find. The Matwau wouldn’t choose a well-known location. The most likely place would be somewhere only he would know.

  “Sounds? I haven’t heard very much. He’s been carrying me, so I can’t hear anything besides the wind. I don’t understand how he was able to carry me around so long,” Claire said.

  “We’ll come back to that. What about smells or temperature?” I asked. Frustration began to build as I anticipated getting similar answers.

  “I could smell him, that’s it. He smelled strange, fresh. Even though he had been walking in the sun all day, he smelled clean. He never smelled like sweat.” Melody tilted her head as if this anomaly had just sunk in. Perhaps after the stressful day she’d had, it was the first chance for her to reflect on everything.

  “Temperature?”

  “It was cool. The sun was already down when we left the house,” she said.

  “The temperature didn’t change at all, not even a little bit? Think hard, Melody, it’s important,” I said. I almost reached out to her, like I did when I tried to help Claire concentrate when we were doing homework at my kitchen table. I saw my hand before I actually touched her, and snapped it back. Melody flinched at my quick movement, and then stared at me. She didn’t understand why I refused to touch her. I sighed and shook the frustration away. She would understand in time. But not yet. I looked back at her expectantly.

  “Oh yeah, the temperature,” she said. She closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed as she tried to remember. “When we first left the house it was cool, almost cold. It had been raining off and on all afternoon. The air was humid. It brought goose bumps to my arms. After a while, it didn’t feel so humid anymore. It felt drier. It was still cool, but not as cool as before.”

  My heart rate picked up. Finally, I was getting somewhere. “Was it easier to breathe, like you went down in elevation?”

  Melody’s eyes remained closed. Her voice was calm and even when she spoke. “Yes, it was, but Estes is so high you don’t have to go very far in any direction to go down in elevation.”

  “Do you have any idea about what direction he was taking you?” I asked.

  Melody shook her head and opened her eyes. “No. I’m sorry, Uriah. I just don’t know what else to say. I should have paid more attention. I didn’t know anything like this would happen. I didn’t think anyone would ever find me, especially not like this.”

  I watched as her eyes turned glassy, tears gathering but not falling. My soul yearned to calm her fears. “It’s okay, Melody. You did fine. Thank you for telling me what you remember. Tomorrow, I want you to pay close attention to the details so the next time we meet you can hopefully give me some clues about where you are. Can you do that?”

  Melody nodded. “Will you please tell me what’s going on now?”

  I tried to think of more questions I could ask her, but I knew there was little else she could tell me. I couldn’t stall her any longer. My hesitation brought her fear bubbling back to the surface. She bit the side of her lip to keep it from quivering and clasped her fingers together. Every inch of my skin was trying to jump off of my body to reach Melody and soothe her fears. I quickly trapped my hands in my pockets, digging them down as far as they would go. I had to force my jaw to unclench before I was able to speak.

  “I spoke with your husband earlier tonight. He told me about your dreams,” I said.

  Melody looked surprised at my revelation, but said nothing. She waited patiently for her answers.

  “The man who took you this morning, he’s the same monster from your dreams.”

  Melody started shaking her head back and forth. “No, no, the monster from my dreams had no body, no form. It can’t be the same thing. It was just a dream. This is just a dream, isn’t it?”

  Her eyes were begging me to agree with her, but her trembling lips seemed to know that no such agreement would come. I struggled to find the words that would shatter the world she thought she knew. My silence was answer enough. Tears slid down her cheeks, leaving dark circles on her jeans.

  “I’m not sure what exactly this is,” I said, gesturing at the darkness, “but I don’t think it’s a dream. The dreams you’ve been having, they weren’t really dreams either. Everything you saw really happened, or is about to happen.”

  “You’re real?” Melody asked.

  I nodded. Her hand came up, reaching for me, wanting to confirm my reality. I pulled back instinctively. Melody jerked her hand back in surprise. Hurt lined her features, but she kept her pain to herself. I felt my own mouth turn down in a deep frown. Her pain echoed in my heart and I had to force myself to stay back and keep from telling her everything would be alright.

  “You’re not part of my imagination?” she asked.

  “I’m real. I live in a small town in New Mexico called San Juan, where I raise sheep with my mother. Right now, I am asleep in a hotel with my fiancée, Claire, in Boulder, Colorado. When I wake up in the morning, I’ll keep searching for you until I find you. I won’t let anything happen to you, Melody.”

  “You’re really looking for me?” Her voice matched her quivering chin.

  “I’m going to find you. I promise.”

  Melody seemed to take at least a little comfort in my words. “Why did that monster take me?”

  That was the question she had no doubt been waiting to ask. She deserved an answer. I took a risk and told her everything. Before anything else, I explained the myth of Twin Souls, how the true soul contains both the male and female half. At birth the two halves are split apart, but long to be reunited. Melody drank in the idea, nodding as the truth of it washed over her.

  Melody listened as I told her about Claire, and how devastated we were to find out that we weren’t Twin Souls. I told her about Claire being poisoned by her father, about the race to bring her Twin Soul back in time to save her life. I told her about Claire waking and not wanting her Twin Soul, and about my trip to the Hano Shaxoa for the potion to break the bond forever, and even how it didn’t work.

  Finally, I went back to the one detail I had left out of my story, the Matwau.

  “The creature who took you is called the Matwau. His purpose is to keep Twin Souls from uniting. Our tribe has feared him for centuries, but alongside fear, they had hope. There was a prophecy made that told of a warrior
who would destroy the Matwau. For centuries the Tewa shaman watched for this warrior to arrive,” I said. I paused not really knowing how to continue. How do you tell someone you are a hero out of an Indian legend and that she is wrapped up in your fate just as tightly? Melody’s eyes were eager and I couldn’t face them. Dropping my gaze to my hands, I tried to finish my story.

  “Eighteen years ago, this warrior was born, and now he has been called to fulfill his purpose.” I was about to continue when Melody interrupted me.

  “You? You’re the warrior?”

  “That’s what I’ve been told, and after everything that’s happened, I believe it’s true,” I said.

  “Then what does this have to do with me? Why would that beast take me if he only wanted you?” Melody asked.

  She had dealt with everything else with amazing patience. I hoped she could persevere just a little longer. “When the Matwau couldn’t defeat me, he changed tactics. There were too many things he couldn’t control when he came after me in the desert. Bringing me to a spot he can prepare and control is his only hope of killing me before I can kill him.”

  “But why would he take me?” Melody asked. Her hands were gripping her knees in frustration. “I have nothing to do with this. Why wouldn’t he take Claire instead?”

  “Because Claire isn’t my Twin Soul, you are.”

  The information took a few seconds to sink in, but when it did, Melody’s fingernails dug into her knees. Her eyes lost focus as she stared at nothing. Slowly her head starting shaking back and forth in denial. I said nothing. I let her work through her emotions, knowing she would come to the truth eventually.

  “But, I love Harvey. I married Harvey. You can’t…you can’t be my Twin Soul. This can’t be happening to me. None of this can possibly be real. I want to go home. I just want to go home,” she cried.