by Sharon Sala
“It will never be enough. I can never do enough to show my love and respect. You are my hero.”
Cayetano’s heart soared. He touched her head, and when she bowed it, he smiled. “You are my daughter forever, forever in my heart,” he said softly, then briefly gripped Yuma’s shoulder, acknowledging the sacrifice Yuma had made by putting his body in harm’s way for him. He walked away with his head up and Singing Bird at his side, surrounded by the guards and warriors who’d pledged him their lives.
Tyhen and Yuma left the temple with the twins and went back the same way they’d come, moving quickly through the jungle and into the palace the back way.
The moment they walked in, they felt the absence of life. It was but a portent of what Naaki Chava would be like when everyone was gone.
“Everyone is gone!” Adam said.
“Will they come back?” Yuma asked.
Evan nodded. “Yes. They were just afraid and went down into the city to be with the others. But they heard their chief. They know no other life but to serve him. They will return.”
“Twins, I need you to come with me,” Tyhen said and led the way into her room.
The first thing she did was clean the wound on Yuma’s arm. The bleeding had almost stopped. She went to a shelf near the window and dug through an assortment of small, covered bowls prepared by their healer, Little Mouse. She found what she was looking for and carried it back to Yuma.
“This will make it heal faster,” she said.
He wrinkled his nose. “All of Little Mouse’s medicines have a strange smell.”
“But they work,” Evan said. “Remember when we were still kids and I fell into those bushes with the red flowers and my skin broke out all over?”
“I remember,” Adam said. “You begged me to scratch all the places you could not reach.”
Their laughter was a momentary relief to the tension of what had just happened and a reminder of how intertwined their lives had been. Breaking up this foursome was going to be hard for all of them.
“Wait. Do not leave yet,” Tyhen said and went straight to the trunk where she kept her clothing. Yuma followed.
“What are you looking for?” he asked.
“My little bird necklace. The one my mother wore when she was running from Firewalker.”
Yuma remembered all too well the tiny silver bird that had been hanging around Singing Bird’s neck the night Bazat tried to kill her. He was the one who found it later, and with Singing Bird’s blessing, gave it to Tyhen the night she was born. He was curious as to why she needed it now. She never wore it.
“What will you do with it?”
“Give it to Adam because that is how he and Evan will find us after we are gone.”
Adam was surprised by the ingenuity of her intent. “What made you think of that?”
She rocked back on her heels. “There are many things I have to think of before we leave, and this was only one of them,” she said and continued her search.
“Can’t you find it?” Yuma asked.
“No, and I can’t remember… Oh. I know where it is.” She dug through the clothing and pulled out a tiny cup from her childhood. When she turned it upside down, the necklace fell into her hands.
She stood up and handed it to Adam. “Will this be connection enough for you to find us?”
“Yes.”
She nodded. “Take care of it. I want it back,” she said and began putting the clothes back in the trunk.
Adam kept watching her, fascinated by the changes, all of which had happened after she’d met with the Windwalker.
“You’re very different, you know.”
“So people say,” Tyhen said as she shut the lid and stood up.
Yuma frowned and then slid an arm around her waist.
“She is not different. She is just more.”
Tyhen was surprised by his perception.
“I am enough,” she added, then changed the subject. “So, where will the people go when they leave here?”
Adam glanced at his brother who was unusually quiet. He was afraid of the unknown and not nearly as brave. When Adam gave his brother a mental nudge to draw him back into the conversation, Evan immediately spoke up.
“Even though Cayetano has sent the runners, we have also been spirit walking at night, trying to find a new place, too, but it would take years to carve another Naaki Chava out of this jungle.”
“Our best guess has always been that Naaki Chava is somewhere in what used to be called Middle America, right?” Yuma asked.
The twins nodded.
“So take them South and when you reach the coast of what used to be South America, tell them to start building. They have to regroup somewhere and the strangers will come from those seas. Give them a welcome party they won’t soon forget. The New Ones have been making maps for years. We can ask Johnston if any of the New Ones have ventured far enough to map coast line on the big land,” Yuma said.
Tyhen frowned. “You call this Middle America? Is it big? Will we become lost trying to find your land?”
Yuma shook his head. “No. This land is actually very narrow compared to the lands it connects. As long as we walk north, we will find our way, but after that, tribes will be scattered all over the big land above it.”
She shuddered. . “If I think about it like that, the journey seems impossible. We must take it one day at a time.”
“Agreed,” Yuma said, and slid a hand across her shoulders. He felt the tension in her body and gave her a quick look. But when she smiled at him, he let the worry go for when they were alone.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Yuma opened it. There were two guards in the hall. “Singing Bird says for you to come to her room now.”
“We are ready,” she said and then led the way out.
Chapter Ten
When they walked out, they were shocked by the number of guards moving through the halls.
“What’s going on?” Yuma asked.
“Singing Bird takes no chances on the possibility of a riot,” Adam said.
“They will do nothing,” Tyhen said. “If there are still people who are angry, they will simply slip away in the night like the cowards they are.”
Yuma was of the same opinion, but said nothing because they’d reached their destination. Since they had been summoned, they entered their mother’s private quarters without knocking.
Singing Bird turned to them the moment the door opened and went straight to Yuma. They could still see the anger in her eyes as she cupped his cheek then began checking the wound on his shoulder.
“It will heal,” she said softly.
“It is nothing, Singing Bird.”
She shook her head. “No. It is something! You put yourself in harm’s way for your chief. Ever the warrior, even when you were small, you are both a fierce and faithful man, and a fitting partner for my daughter.”
Yuma glanced quickly at Tyhen, who was smiling. This was more than thanking him for protecting Cayetano. It was Singing Bird’s public acceptance of their union and he was grateful.
“I will protect her with my life,” he said softly.
“And she will love you forever,” Singing Bird said, echoing the vow Yuma made the day Tyhen was born.
There was a sound at the door and then Cayetano entered. Like Singing Bird, he walked straight to Yuma.
“That could have been a spear,” he said.
Yuma lifted his head. “It would have made no difference, my chief.”
Cayetano was struggling with emotions he rarely acknowledged. Before the New Ones, he’d been a man alone, wanting back the life he’d loved and lost. And it had been given to him and more. Thinking about losing two of his children seemed unthinkable. Yuma was another man’s son, and Tyhen was a Windwalker’s daughter, but they were his in every way that counted. There was much pain on his face as he drew a shaky breath.
“Yuma! Tyhen! You are the children of my heart and I do not know how to give you up.
”
Tyhen put her hand on his chest. “We will always be here, my father, and I will see you in my dreams.”
Cayetano hugged her first and then turned and in a rare gesture hugged Yuma as well.
“Enough,” Singing Bird said. “They aren’t gone yet and there is much to discuss. Twins, do we have need to worry about a riot?”
“No, Singing Bird. They are all too afraid of Tyhen.”
Tyhen stood beneath her mother’s gaze without speaking. Finally, Singing Bird spoke.
“Will you tell us, my daughter, how it is that you have gained such power in such a short time?”
Tyhen wouldn’t speak of Windwalker in front of Cayetano.
“It was given to me, Mother, just as my others were. I cannot explain any more than that.”
Singing Bird knew her daughter wasn’t telling everything, but accepted that as her right. “Will your powers keep you safe on the journey?” she asked.
Tyhen nodded.
“Then that is all I can ask,” Singing Bird said. “Today is for Cayetano. We must make decisions for our trip as well.”
“Take them South,” Yuma said. “Remember in the world before Firewalker... remember South America?
Her eyes widened. “Yes! There were many seaports along the coasts. This is a good place to rebuild a city. We will not be a compliant and guileless people again.”
“Where is this place? How far is it from here?” Cayetano asked.
“It’s more of a question of where we are,” Adam said. “This place is in what used to be called Middle America. Yuma said the New Ones have maps. They may know.”
Cayetano was lost again. “Maps?”
“A drawing that leads us from one place to another without getting lost,” Singing Bird said.
Cayetano frowned. “There are such things?”
“Yes. I will speak with Johnston Nantay tomorrow,” Singing Bird said and pointed at Tyhen. “You will come with me.
Then Singing Bird turned to the twins. “We know the sacrifice you make to stay with us and we love and honor you for it.”
“You saved our lives,” Adam said.
“We stay to save yours,” Evan added.
Singing Bird’s eyes were full of tears, but she quickly wiped them away.
“Enough has been said for today. You go now. Do what you will. Make your peace with people. Tell friends good-bye.”
They left under escort and began the walk back to their respective rooms in silence. When they reached Tyhen’s room, they parted company with little more than a look.
Yuma opened the door for Tyhen to go inside, and once they were finally alone, Tyhen let down her guard.
“That hurt my heart,” she said, her eyes welling with unshed tears.
Yuma took her hand and led her to the bed, then sat down beside her, still holding her hand. “I want to tell you something. I’ve never told this to anybody, not even Singing Bird.”
Tyhen threaded her fingers through his and then watched his face intently, sensing this was something meant to help her sadness.
“When I was a little boy, I lived in a part of Oklahoma called Tahlequah. It was green like this place, but different. There were lots of trees and mountains nearby, and the weather changed with every season. It was beautiful to me. I don’t remember much about my mother. She died when I was very young, but my father was everything to me. He made me proud to be Cherokee and he taught me what it meant to be a man. Even though I was just a child, I understood duty. I understood responsibility. We had a happy life and then one day everything changed. My father was watching television one morning when he saw something that frightened him. I saw the look on his face and then I was frightened, too.”
“What is television?” Tyhen asked.
Yuma blinked, then realized what he’d said. “Oh, sorry. It was a way we received messages. Anyway, what he saw was Layla Birdsong fighting for her life and then the Windwalker coming and saving her and taking her away.”
Tyhen gasped. “You saw that?”
“Yes. It was part of the message we received. That day was the end of joy. That day the elders of the tribe called a meeting and everyone came. Those who did not know about the prophecy were told, and others who knew were reminded and sadly, began making plans to leave. There were some who would not believe that it meant the end of time, and they stayed behind. That day, my father sat me down and told me we were going on a journey. He said the journey would be hard, and there would be times when I would be afraid, and there would be times when we would both be afraid, but we had to be strong because it was a very important thing we were about to do.”
Tyhen was mesmerized. Her earliest memories of Yuma were always associated with her and Naaki Chava. There was a part of her that felt left out, that she would never know or understand him as he’d been born. But she listened.
“So we packed our things and the journey began. I did not know it would end the way it did. I only knew that my father said it was a thing to be done, and so I followed because I trusted him. Along the way, he began to get sick. Looking back, I think it was his heart, but I will never know for sure. By the time we got to the reservation where everyone was gathering, he was very weak. We made camp. We waited for Layla Birdsong for two days, then I lost track of time. One morning I woke up and he did not. Some people helped me bury him beside our truck. There was no other place to be. The ground was hard and drying up because Firewalker was coming so close. It was hard to dig a hole big enough to bury him. I slept on top of his grave the last night and heard his spirit in my sleep telling me to be brave, reminding me that I already knew how to be a man, and to follow Layla Birdsong until I breathed no more.”
Tyhen was in tears. All these years and he’d held this story inside him.
He touched her face. “And then she came and we began the journey. We called it the Last Walk. Some people helped me along the way. They shared their water with me until there was no more to share, and when they died, I kept walking because I was afraid to stop. When we neared the end of the walk and the people began to run, I ran with them. But I was small and weak, and one by one they all passed me. It would have been easier to just stop and close my eyes. I would have been dead in minutes. But I’d seen death and I didn’t want it, so I kept running, even when I no longer felt my feet and everyone had run out of my sight. I was alone in a world on fire, but I didn’t quit.”
Tears were streaming down Tyhen’s face. The pain in her chest was immense, like something inside her was breaking. She was holding on to his hand so tight her fingers had gone numb, afraid to let him go.
Yuma paused and closed his eyes, remembering the last sight he’d had of earth before it died.
“By the time I came into a large canyon and saw the portal, the ground was shaking. Mountains were breaking apart and falling down around me, and dust was so thick I could barely see. But the portal was a white, burning light piercing the cloud of dust. I stumbled, then got up and took only a few more steps before everything began to come apart. The last thing I saw was a young woman with long black hair running toward me. Her skin was burned and her lips were cracked and bleeding, but I knew it was Layla Birdsong, and I knew she’d come for me. She’d promised she would leave no one behind, and she kept her promise.”
Tyhen burst into sobs and laid her head on Yuma’s knee, clinging to his legs as he dug his fingers through her hair.
“I was there with my mother and I did not see you then. I should have known.”
“It would have made no difference. Maybe you didn’t see that because it was already the end and you belonged to the beginning. I tell you this, my love, so you will understand that I know how hard it is to leave people you love. And I know how impossible the task you have been given must seem. But our people have already sacrificed much just for the opportunity to go with you on your journey. They want the cycle of violence and hate to end. Whatever sadness you have, know that I cry with you. Whatever loneliness you feel, all
you have to do is look at me, and I will share your pain. You are Windwalker’s daughter, but you are also the other half of my soul, and I will protect you with my life.”
Tyhen sat up, wiping away hot, angry tears from the injustice of what they’d been dealt. When she stood, she was the same fierce young woman who’d challenged the mob at the temple. As she began yanking at her clothing, the air in the room began to shift.
Yuma took a quick breath, instantly aroused by the sight of her smooth skin and soft curves. He stood long enough to remove his clothing, but she was already naked and the air was spinning so fast it was hard to breathe.
The moment he took her in his arms, the wind threw them backward onto the bed. He rolled her beneath him, parted her legs and joined her, and the moment they were one, the wind was gone and the room was still. A flower that had been floating in water only moments earlier dropped down from the ceiling and landed on the bed near her head.
“You are my heart,” he whispered, then brushed a kiss across her lips and began to move.
Tyhen wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper, chasing that blood rush with every move she made. One minute passed into another and another until Tyhen was on the verge of a climax. It was the headiest feeling she’d ever had in her life, and in this bed, their powers were equal. He gave her so much pleasure that she wanted him to feel it, too, so she did.
Yuma was focused on waiting for the signs that would tell him she was there and ready when all thought was wiped from his mind. Breathing ceased as the climax rocked through him, one wave after another going on and on until he thought he was dying, and when it finally began to fade, he collapsed. He came to his senses on top of Tyhen and drew his first shaky breath, wondering if this was how breathing felt to a baby just born.
Tyhen sighed with lustful satisfaction as the tremors of her climax began to ebb. She began combing her fingers through his hair and gently kneading the back of his neck while being cautious of the new wound on his shoulder. She loved the feel of his skin beneath her palms and the hard play of muscles beneath.
