Qaletaqa

by Gladden, DelSheree

  In that moment, I missed my dad more than I had in months. Tears pricked my eyes as I thought about how much less fear I would have right now if I had him by my side. Next to my dad, I felt like I really could do anything. He had always supported me and loved me no matter what decisions I made. As I thought back on the days that had passed since approaching the Elders, I wondered what he would think about everything. No doubt he would not have approved of some of my decisions, but I hoped that overall he would have been proud of me.

  I wanted to settle into memories of my dad and stay there as long as possible, but my mind was too cluttered to allow it. The responsibilities for teaching and preparing me had been broken up and handed out to three people. I already knew Quaile had failed miserably in her responsibilities. It bothered me to think that one of my parents had as well. Was it my mom? Had she kept back the secret of how I could gain help from the gods out of fear of Quaile or my safety? She followed Quaile’s lead in so many other things that I had a hard time believing she wouldn’t have obeyed in this as well.

  But when Quaile had given up the book and its secrets, why wouldn’t my mom tell me what she knew as well? I wanted to believe there was an easy answer only a phone call away. Deep down I didn’t think there was. I had talked to my mom earlier. I told her what I was about to do. She had cried for several long minutes, clearly terrified of my destiny. If she knew, I was sure she would have told me then.

  So that left my dad. If he had the knowledge, I could see him holding it back until he thought I had reached my full potential. I knew I hadn’t been to that point before he died. One of the last times we sparred he had gotten frustrated with me for not being more aggressive. He knew I was strong and talented, but I think he worried I wouldn’t be able to really hurt someone when the time came to defend myself. He was probably right at the time, but I had learned a lot since then.

  It made me angry to think of my mom hiding things from me, but with my dad I couldn’t find fault. If he didn’t think I was ready to learn what he had to teach, I trusted that he was right. Unfortunately his life was cut short. He died before I could show him I was ready to learn that final lesson.

  It wasn’t his fault, but I still felt a shroud of emptiness settle on my shoulders. About to shift my thoughts to something else out of sheer desperation to escape the gloom, I was stopped when another possibility took hold of me.

  The day my dad died he tried to tell me something. I’m sure he had a message for me in his final moments, but I couldn’t remember it. My brain had blocked out everything from the moment I touched the barn door to when Sophia started shaking me several minutes later. What if it was the answer I was looking for? In a dark part of my mind, part of me did not want to rediscover the secret that waited there.

  15: Whatever it Takes

  He glanced at the girl lying on the ground. She glanced up at him every few minutes. The first day with her had been almost enjoyable. The fear that poured off of her heightened his powers. He had not felt more unstoppable than he did when he held her in his arms in centuries. The corner of his lips twitched once before he controlled the telling sign.

  The intense fear no longer radiated from her. The terror of not knowing her fate was still there as an undercurrent, but careful watchfulness had taken over her emotions. She had woken that morning with a changed aura. The Matwau had felt the bond strengthening throughout the night, which was too be expected, but he was surprised by how much it had strengthened.

  Wanting to attribute the unusual pace to something he was familiar with, he searched his vast knowledge as he watched her. There was so much held in his inhuman mind, but no specific answer that would satisfy him. Ignorance infuriated him. He could do nothing else but assume the anomaly was due to her being the Qaletaqa’s Twin Soul. There had been so many surprises already. One more should not be so unexpected.

  Still, he moved far enough away from her that she would not be able to overhear his conversation.

  “He is still following me?” the Matwau asked.

  “Yes,” One, replied. “He is matching every change in direction you take. There is no indication that he has any plans to do anything else but follow the girl’s trail.”

  “Have the others reached the site yet?” the Matwau asked.

  “The first group arrived about an hour ago. The second group followed Uriah until he stopped for the night at a hotel, but they are on their way to the meeting place now.”

  The Matwau ground his teeth. It was exactly as he had asked, but he was beginning to doubt the wisdom of leaving Uriah alone. He may be following like a homeless puppy right now, but the Matwau knew Uriah would be searching for a way to get ahead of his plans. Since he could not possibly prepare for every way Uriah might try to outsmart him, he needed someone to keep an eye on the boy and make sure he did not leap forward in the Matwau’s carefully constructed timetable.

  “When you reach the site, send two of your more capable wolves back to check in on Uriah. I do not want him doing anything unexpected.”

  The Matwau would feel it if Uriah veered away from the trail he was leaving, but what about his companions? He had no way to track them.

  “Have them pay close attention to the others with Uriah as well,” the Matwau commanded.

  “I will send Seven and Three back immediately,” One said.

  “Has the first group begun their preparations yet? I want my instructions followed exactly,” the Matwau reminded.

  “They have finished with the first of the traps, Master, but,” the creature hesitated, “they are having some trouble setting up the meeting site.”

  The Matwau’s sucked a breath deep into his lungs, then hissed back out in a slow, steadying release.

  “What could possibly be so hard about clearing out all the animals in the area? You and your underlings usually drive away the wildlife in an area with your mere presence. Why should this place be any different?” the Matwau asked.

  “There are vermin, beneath the soil,” One said. “They are deep enough that they do not feel our presence. We cannot get to them to drive them out.”

  “Vermin? You mean like mice?” The Matwau debated the significance of this. Mice were normally fairly innocuous, but he wanted no animals present that could aid Uriah.

  “Not mice, Master, prairie dogs.”

  Prairie dogs. They were pests, squirrel-like creatures that dug holes and tunnels all over the region. Farmers hated them, and so did the Matwau. They could pose a problem. They were small, only a foot tall, but one empty field could hold hundreds of the creatures, and with Uriah’s amazing control over wildlife, he could call in thousands if they were his only option. The prairie dogs would have to be neutralized.

  “Unless I am mistaken,” he paused, letting his tone carry how unlikely that was, “but wolves, even ones as twisted as your kind, all have claws. You are capable of digging yourselves. Get rid of them.”

  “But, Master, that will take too long. There may be hundreds of the little rodents. It would be much easier to simply choose another spot. I can send out scouts immediately to find another suitable location. There is no reason-”

  The Matwau’s fist shot out too fast for the creature to track. The matted lump of fur flew across the grove and plowed into a group of saplings, snapping their young trunks in half.

  “Yes, there is a reason!” The Matwau’s clenched fist was back at his side, as if it had never left.

  The girl let out a frightened squeal, but it went barely noticed by his inflamed mind. He did notice her moving further away from him.

  The creature the Matwau had just attacked scrambled to his feet. He hobbled over to his master and was immediately cowering at the Matwau’s feet. The Matwau clenched his fists in frustration, at his outburst and his inept servant. Centuries of practice allowed him to quickly stow away his anger and regain his calm. His next few words came out quiet and almost completely devoid of emotion.

  “There will be no change in location. My f
inal encounter with the Qaletaqa must happen in that valley. I will not accept any substitutes. That valley is too important. Whatever it takes, I do not want a single living creature in that spot when I arrive. Do you understand me?” he asked.

  Not fooled by his master’s cool tone, the creature dipped his head in abject obedience. He was quick to answer. “Yes, yes, Master. Everything will be ready when you arrive, just as you have asked. Whatever it takes.”

  16: Origins

  I wasn’t sure when I pulled away from Uriah and curled up against the door with Quaile’s book. Whenever it was, Uriah hadn’t objected. He was likely too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice. I glanced up at him and wished I could take all of this away from him and bring back the peace of the ranch. The bond, the Matwau, the fear, the pain. If there was a way to give him back the quiet happiness he treasured so much, I would have done it without hesitation. I sighed, knowing the foolishness of such a wish, and got back to figuring out how to give him the one thing I could.

  When I started on the next section I was surprised by the first line. The Qaletaqa should be kept away from the chosen shaman until the time to do battle with the Matwau arrives. I stared at the words in confusion. Why would they want to keep us apart? Shouldn’t we have been training together the whole time? It would have made sense to me if the two people meant to destroy the Matwau had some experience working together before they were thrown into a battle with him. My opinion of shaman wasn’t very high to start with, but I was willing to give them the benefit of doubt this time. I read on.

  The Qaletaqa’s power will far outweigh the chosen shaman’s power, but her presence will affect him greatly. Their powers will antagonize each other because they are not meant to exist in opposition. Only together can they fulfill their purpose, combined in one vessel. The Qaletaqa’s power will be largely internalized, while the shaman’s power is most often directed outward. Because of this the chosen shaman’s power will try to take possession of the Qaletaqa’s power, weakening him when they are in close proximity. This attack on his power will be responded to with pain, a signal to him that he should stay away from the chosen shaman.

  “That’s why,” I whispered in disbelief. We, mostly me, spent hours upon hours trying to figure out why I affected Uriah like I did. Quaile had the answer the whole time. Part of me resented that she could have told us why I hurt Uriah every time we touched, but I believed her when she said she had no idea about the reaction. Why should she have? We never told her. All it would have taken was going to her, asking her, and she would have known who I was right away. Maybe she would have started teaching us.

  “That’s why what?” Uriah asked.

  “That’s why I hurt you when we touch. I was trying to steal your power and your body was trying to warn you, make you stay away from me,” I explained. “In the book, it said…it said that a shaman’s power would siphon away yours, or try to anyway. It didn’t sound like it could actually work.”

  Not yet anyway, not in that direction.

  Uriah looked over at me, startled. “What?”

  I had to bite my tongue, hard. I just said that like we both knew everything I did. My mind raced to figure a way out of what I just said. Telling Uriah that I may die and lose my power and the ability to break his bond to Melody was not going to go over very well. I couldn’t think of any way to take back what I had just said.

  “Shaman?” Uriah’s eyes lit up. He knew right away what I was admitting, that he was right. But the fact that shaman was the one word he latched onto surprised me.

  “Did you hear the rest of what I said?”

  “Yeah,” he said dismissively. “Do you really think you’re a shaman, or going to be one? How does that even work?”

  I expected a slew of questions about the power stealing power thing, not so much the shaman angle. “I don’t know…maybe?”

  Uriah stared at me, his face scrunching as he thought. “But why didn’t I ever feel that from Kaya or Quaile?”

  “I…uh, it sounded like it didn’t happen with everyone, just some shaman. It didn’t say why some people did and some didn’t,” I said hurriedly.

  “Does it say why it happens at all?”

  I hated this. I hated lying to him. “No, not really.”

  “It must mean something,” Uriah said.

  I lost my patience. “Did you even hear the part about me stealing you powers?”

  “Yeah, sorry. I guess that didn’t bother me as much because I already knew that, or at least I supposed that’s what was happening. I guess I already came to grips with the idea.”

  “Wait, when did you figure out I might be stealing your power, and why didn’t you mention that when you were telling me everything else?”

  Sheepishly, Uriah turned back to watch the road. “When I told Kaya about how it hurt to touch you she said it sounded like you were either stealing my power or negating it, since I can’t control you or work so well with animals when we touched. It made sense, even if I didn’t understand why. I always feel weaker around you, like a part of me is being borrowed, so I figured she was right about the stealing. And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to feel bad…or stop touching me.”

  A grin flashed across my mouth at that last part. Stealing his power or not, he would be hard-pressed to get me to stop touching him. He grinned back, probably thinking about what almost happened last night like I was.

  “Anyway, back to you being a shaman,” Uriah said after a few minutes. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

  With nothing else to counter him with, I said, “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

  “Maybe you were right about me having more help than I thought.” He smiled at me with such hope it almost broke my heart. “I’ve got my own personal shaman to help get me through this fight.”

  “I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” I said, fear that he wouldn’t be happy about the kind of aid I was supposed to give him muting my words. “I don’t actually know how to do anything with whatever power I’m supposed to have.”

  “Maybe the book will tell you,” Uriah offered. “But if not, we can call Kaya. I know she’ll be willing to help you.”

  My insides curdled at the idea. What if Kaya figured out what Quaile did? What if she told Uriah? This woman didn’t know me. She would have no reason to keep a secret for me if she felt Uriah should be told. I wasn’t sure I was desperate enough to risk it yet.

  “Let me try reading a little more. If I don’t find anything useful I’ll call Kaya later, okay?”

  Uriah didn’t seem to understand my hesitation, but he nodded and changed lanes to get around a slow moving car. He stayed quiet after that, so I turned my attention back to the book. Every section of historical knowledge had been followed by Quaile’s comments, written much later, after Uriah’s birth. They had been almost as interesting as the centuries old advice. I dove into Quaile’s words, even more intrigued when I realized she was talking about me as well.

  “Uriah has found himself completely besotted with Claire Brant. I alone see it for the devastation it truly is. The girl’s father, Thomas, is an intolerable pain in my side, but he was the one to inform me of this change. He was beside himself, fearful that his daughter would become involved in the Qaletaqa’s path to the Matwau. I was quick to assure him that wasn’t the case, but still he insisted the two be broken up.

  “I was on my way to speak with Uriah’s parents when I happened upon the pair. I was immediately struck by the change in Uriah. He had always been such a serious child, thoughtful and reserved. I found those to be good qualities for the one destined to be the Qaletaqa, but it had been something of a concern to me that he often gave the impression of being unhappy.

  “The honest smile on Uriah’s face as he sat near Claire in a patch of grass next to the ice cream parlor slowed my pace. He seemed so genuinely relaxed and happy. I had never seen such utter contentment on his face. He looked over at Claire, and wore an expression I had only seen on
couples who had been together for decades. He looked at her with clear devotion and love.

  “I knew in that moment it would take much more to break him away from her than a simple conversation with Notah and Lina.

  “I did not know what to do. I knew that eventually Claire would be torn away from him. He would find his Twin Soul and break her heart, and by the look of it, his own heart as well. Most believe that Twin Souls bond and never look back, but there have been a small number of individuals that have fought against it for a time before finally giving in. Their struggle was painful and unrelenting, and even after giving in to the bond they lived their lives with a shade of regret.

  “It is a horrifically painful ordeal to try and battle something as strong as the Twin Soul bond, but I knew Uriah would do just that, and harder than anyone else had ever done before. It made my heart ache to think of the pain this budding relationship would eventually cause the two of them, but I could not bring myself to do anything to stop it.

  “Perhaps the joy they shared until then would be enough to get them through the pain of losing each other forever.

  “I walked away from them, fearing I was making a terrible mistake, but finding myself powerless to do otherwise.”

  I stared at the page. Quaile may not have thought she was doing the right thing, but silently thanked her for not interfering. I couldn’t imagine how different my life would have been had she decided to do something drastic. Just the thought of having never shared so many wonderful moments with Uriah brought up a host of emotions. A tear slid off my cheek and splashed onto the page, instantly ruining a few words and warping the aged paper. I quickly dabbed at the spot with the edge of my shirt and wiped away any other tears.