“Pretty little Livvy, the young lightning shaman,” Carmen screamed in her face. “Steal clients behind my back? Think you’re better than me? Where’s your power now?” She stood up straight and waved her arms at the surroundings. “Where’s your–”
Carmen lurched backward as Marduk’s spear thudded into her chest. Livvy watched in horror as its momentum carried her backward, impaling her on the ground.
Tiamat screeched in the distance and the snake went slack. Livvy shoved at it frantically, squirming on the ground to get away from it. It slowly slithered away from her and moved toward Carmen.
As she rolled to her knees, Livvy looked up to see Marduk thundering toward Carmen, the horses running at full gallop as he urged them on. In moments, as the chariot swept by, he grabbed the spear and jerked it upward, retrieving it.
As Livvy stood, though, she found herself bathed in a blinding white circle of light. The eye of Tiamat was on her. She felt the heat in her chest and was clutching at it and stumbling, not sure which way to move and not able to see.
As her legs started to buckle beneath her, she felt herself being lifted up from behind. An arm encircled her chest, went under her arms, and yanked her off the ground. She landed on something solid and the light disappeared. She was in the chariot, riding with Marduk.
In the real world, SK was moving toward Carmen.
“She’s not breathing,” he said to Joel.
They both rushed over. Joel felt for a pulse at her neck.
“No pulse,” he said, going for his cart.
He retrieved the defibrillator, switched it on, and removed the paddles. He rolled up Carmen’s shirt and set them down. He shocked her and she convulsed.
SK moved over to Livvy and checked the other shamans quickly. He stared down hard at Livvy, seeing her chest rise and fall, the pace of it quickening.
“Still no pulse,” said Joel. He tried the paddles again. “Still no good,” he said, tossing them aside. “Chest compressions,” he said, and started CPR.
SK came over, taking out his phone.
“Call 911?” he asked.
“No,” said Joel, after doing the puffs. “No, I’ve got it.”
“But…”
“I’ve got it,” he said, compressing her chest.
Then he did more puffs.
“If you call, this whole thing will be over,” said Joel, breathing hard. “Besides, all they’re going to do is exactly what I’m doing.”
As SK watched, Joel tried over and over again, puffs and compressions, checking his watch.
“Come on,” Joel grunted, as he looked at Carmen’s face during compressions. “Come on!”
“What can I do to help?” asked SK, almost pleading.
“Nothing,” said Joel quickly, as he switched from compressions back to puffing.
SK looked at his phone. Maybe he should call 911 anyway.
He checked Livvy again and was about to make the call, when Joel stopped, wiping sweat off his forehead and breathing hard. Carmen wasn’t moving.
“That’s it,” he exhaled, as he shook his head and sat back on his heels. “She’s gone.”
Even before the doctor said it, they knew. Min’s mother sobbed uncontrollably, her husband clutching her around the shoulders as he cried as well.
The EEG was conclusive, a flat line.
“I’m afraid she’s brain dead,” said the doctor, as he turned off the machine. “I’m very sorry.”
Hand over his mouth, eyes overflowing with tears, Min’s brother watched from across the bed, behind the doctor, as his mother bent low, clutching her daughter over the metal railing. The ventilator at the head of the bed sucked upward and then down, audible even over the crying, upward and then down. The nurse at the foot of the bed dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and sniffed.
“I know this is difficult,” said the doctor. “But it’s time to consider withdrawing life support.” He looked at Sam, having already learned that he was the interpreter. “I don’t suppose she had a medical directive.”
“No,” said Sam, wiping the tears from his eyes and cheeks. Of course she didn’t have a medical directive. She was too young–much too young. He looked down at his sister’s face.
“Then, it’ll be up to your parents,” said the doctor. “It would just be a matter of removing the ventilator.”
Suddenly, Sam remembered Livvy’s words. Don’t let them remove the breathing tube, she’d said. He looked at the ventilator and then at his sobbing parents, who were oblivious to the conversation. I’ll do my best, he had said to Livvy. He stared hard at Min’s face.
“Will you tell them?” asked the doctor, as he turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know this is hard, but they need to know.”
He looked at his parents, his mouth suddenly sticky dry, and nodded.
“Just,” he started and paused. “Can you just give us a few minutes?”
“Of course.”
The doctor motioned to the nurse and they left the room.
A few minutes, he thought, stepping next to the bed. He took in a long shaky breath. That might be all that Min had left. A few minutes because he didn’t need to ask his parents about the ventilator. He already knew what they would say.
“Nice friends you’ve got,” shouted Marduk over the rumbling of the chariot wheels and horse hooves, as they left Carmen behind.
“I can’t believe it,” yelled Livvy, as she struggled to make sense of what had just happened. She watched Carmen’s body recede behind them, until Tiamat’s screech brought her head back around. She fought to stay upright in the lurching chariot, gripping the edges, even though Marduk only held the reins.
“Don’t look back,” he shouted. “Only forward.”
He wheeled the chariot to the left, putting distance between them and Tiamat as Livvy sloshed to the right and nearly tumbled out. As he spun the chariot back in the opposite direction, Livvy saw that Alvina, Ursula, Wan-li, and the Nahual had surrounded Tiamat. She was turning from one to another as they laid down their attacks.
Marduk slowed the chariot.
“Time for a whirlwind. Letting you off here,” he said, giving her a nudge.
She jumped down to the ground as he spurred the horses back on. Looking up to the sky, she reached up her hand.
“Whirlwind,” she said.
The darkness of the clouds massed together above her, spiraling in on itself. It wound tighter and tighter until the funnel started to descend. Slowly it stretched itself downward, directly over Tiamat. Its tip elongated, seeking out its target. Livvy could see the funnel distinctly now but so could Tiamat.
She hunkered down, drawing in her wings, although the wind tried to lift them. The light of her eye winked in and out as she blinked against the debris in the wind. She had not yet seen Livvy. As Livvy shielded her face from the wind and the rising dust storm, she realized that the other shaman’s attacks had been rendered ineffective.
The vacuum that the funnel was creating had left little air for Alvina to create a pressure surge or for the Nahual to create a sound. Ursula’s heat balls were fizzling almost immediately in the growing gale. Only Wan-li and her tiger were able to do anything, unaffected by the howling wind.
Livvy kept her hand in the air. The tip of the funnel was almost on top of Tiamat. The light of the eye landed on the ground nearby as Tiamat sought out the source of the whirlwind.
“Come on, Marduk,” Livvy said, although she knew he couldn’t hear her.
She leaned into the wind to keep from being blown over. The circle of light moved closer to her but she didn’t move. She kept her arm raised. The light blinked out briefly but then was back, almost on her this time.
Suddenly, Wan-li stepped into the light and it began to blaze more brightly. Quickly, she moved through it and the circle followed her. She shifted away from Livvy, drawing the deadly heat with her, the tiger moving alongside. But then, in a burst of light, she disappeared.
Livvy blinked and th
e tiger came to a sudden stop, swiveling its head from side to side. What had happened? Had Wan-li been burned? Had she gone into a coma?
In the real world, SK had been so focused on Livvy that he hadn’t realized what Joel was doing. It had sounded like he was putting his equipment and supplies back in place after trying to resuscitate Carmen. But, when SK looked up, Joel was inserting a needle into Wan-li’s neck.
“Hey,” yelled SK, moving toward him. “What are you doing?”
Joel hastily removed the needle and stood up. He pointed it at SK, squirted out a small stream of clear liquid, and smirked. Then his face twisted into a sneer of such hate that it bordered on a grimace of pain.
“Come here, you little runt,” Joel growled.
With Wan-li and the tiger gone, Livvy stood alone. The wind had built up to a fury and was creating a dust storm at ground level that was picking up small pebbles. Above the brown cloud, she could see Tiamat’s head rising. The wind grabbed at her wings, trying to lift her up, but somehow she managed to resist it.
There was no way Livvy could see the other shamans. Had they also disappeared? What had happened to Wan-li?
SK managed to put space between himself and Joel, still trying to understand what he had seen. What had Joel been doing? He tried to see if Wan-li was all right but Joel was stepping over her.
“Don’t even bother,” Joel said. “No need to worry about her anymore.” He held the needle forward like a knife. “No need to worry about any of them, especially your precious Livvy.”
SK turned to run as Joel leapt at him. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Not so fast, little man,” Joel sneered. “I’ve got something for you.”
There wasn’t time for Livvy to think about Wan-li and the others as the searing heat of the eye found her. She had no choice but to keep the wind up. It was whipping ferociously now. The light was hot and she closed her eyes, trying desperately to raise enough wind to dislodge Tiamat but her chest was starting to ache. The heat inside rose quickly. The whirlwind couldn’t stop Tiamat. Livvy started to tremble and realized that she wasn’t going to make it. She knew that Marduk would be looking for his opportunity and wouldn’t see her through the thickening brown haze. This is it, she thought, as the heat seemed about to consume her. Slowly, she closed her eyes and a series of faces flashed through her mind–Min, Indra, SK, her mother.
Suddenly, the light stopped and she opened her eyes to slits as the heat in her chest released. It was the kachina. The glow of the light of Tiamat’s eye was a halo around him. He was shielding her with the great round headdress, looking at her, waiting. She stretched her hand higher and then thrust up the second one. With both hands reaching toward the sky, she threw her head back, abandoned all other thoughts but one, and then screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Lightning!”
Her vision went white as the lightning exploded directly on top of her hands.
Impossibly, she didn’t die. Instead, she felt the energy rush through her with a power that made her skin crackle and her teeth buzz. The ground under her feet started to sizzle as she opened her eyes and lowered her gaze to Tiamat. She left one hand above her, still channeling the lightning strike, and thrust the other directly at Tiamat.
SK saw the sparks beginning to jump in the outlets. Thin bright blue tendrils were snaking out, trying to connect with one another along the wall. He spun away from Joel and lurched toward the fireplace. He grabbed the poker and whirled back toward Joel, who stopped.
“You think you’re gonna hurt me with that?” he said, laughing.
The ends of the long blue sparks were starting to dance behind Joel. SK knew he’d need to get rid of the poker soon.
“Seriously, you little midget, you’re funny,” Joel said, advancing again. “But I’m done with this.”
“Done with what, big man?” said SK, backing away. “What exactly are you done with?”
Joel stopped. The radiant blue electricity was beginning to arc behind him.
“With all this,” he yelled, gesturing around to the shamans on the floor. “This stupidity!”
“Why are you–,” started SK.
“Because of my mother!” he screamed, white spittle flying. “My mother, Carmen!”
He thrust the needle toward the covered body as his lower lip started to quiver.
“My mother,” he said, more to himself than SK, as he glared at the body.
“Well it’s over now!” he continued. “No more lies, no more pretending.”
He swung his face back to SK, his eyes bulging and glassy.
“You,” Joel sneered. “And people like you. She suffered because of you.”
The blue electricity in the room was starting to take on a life of its own. The air was crackling with ozone. SK could feel it starting to lift his hair. It was now or never.
“And you, big man–or should I say mama’s boy?” taunted SK, hefting the poker. “You done crying?”
Joel tossed his head back and barked a piercing, staccato laugh, before lowering his gaze to SK. The red-faced grimace was back as he took a step forward. The blazing white ends of two thick blue threads of electricity were snaking close to each other, almost over his head.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” Joel snarled.
“Me, too. Here,” said SK, tossing the poker at Joel’s face. “I picked it out just for you.”
As Joel caught the poker, two electric bolts vaulted to each end of it. As they connected, Joel went stiff and shuddered. Smoke came from his hand and the needle in his other hand exploded. There was a loud hissing sound and, as quickly as the electricity had leapt out, it evaporated. Joel collapsed where he stood, crashing to the floor with the poker welded to his hand.
SK ran over to Livvy. She seemed to be all right. He glanced around. Everybody seemed unharmed, and Wan-li was still breathing.
Tiamat’s screech rocked the underworld as the lightning found her belly. Behind the kachina Livvy could see Tiamat’s front paws flailing as the light of her eye swept around like a crazy beacon in the dusty atmosphere. The kachina turned around to see Tiamat but as he did, she bucked to the side and sank into the dark dust cloud. Livvy dropped her hand. The funnel cloud retreated into the sky.
There was a great thudding sound in the distance but the dust had yet to settle. Livvy headed in the direction of that last sound and Ursula quickly joined her, heading the same way. Cautious at first, they picked up speed as the brown billows dissipated.
Tiamat’s giant body loomed in front of them, lying on its side, but Marduk was nowhere in sight. As the wind died down completely, an eerie silence took over and they found themselves looking at the back of her neck. They moved left, around the top of her enormous head and eventually circled around the front.
There stood Marduk, spear in hand, gaping at Tiamat. The lightning looked as though it had struck her in the heart. He took off his helmet but didn’t look at the approaching shamans. Alvina and the Nahual appeared from the opposite direction, accompanied by their spirit helpers.
Shamans, spirit helpers, and Marduk all stood in silence for a moment and stared at the massive wound.
“Did we do it?” asked Livvy.
Slowly, the shamans shifted their focus to her and then to Marduk.
“No,” said Marduk, shaking his head. “Not we–you.”
He dropped his helmet on the ground and then the spear, unable to stop staring at Tiamat. They watched in silence as he solemnly approached her. Even as the elation of victory had started to well inside her, Livvy realized that the moment meant something entirely different to Marduk.
“She was a powerful opponent once,” he said, looking down her length. “A mighty god, in an age of mighty gods.” He smiled weakly. “Look at us now.”
As Livvy watched, he touched her beak.
“I never thought it would end like this,” he said, as he patted her. “No, I surely did not.”
Finally, he drew in a deep breath, turned arou
nd and strode past them, not bothering to pick up the helmet or spear. He stepped up into the chariot and turned to look at them. His bluster and anger were gone and Livvy began to sense what lay underneath. He had feared this battle, needed their help, but he had feared this outcome just as much.
“Well,” said Marduk, running a hand over his bald head. “So much for the old gods.”
Livvy looked back at Tiamat’s lifeless mound. Stunned, she looked down at her hands. Is that what had happened? Had she just killed an ancient god? She looked up to the other shamans. Ursula, Alvina, and the Nahual had come together, arms around shoulders and waists, hugging as though they were about to celebrate. Like Livvy, though, they had sensed that this was not the time or place, and their faces were somber.
Marduk picked up the reins and the horses gave a preparatory shake of their manes.
“Where are you going?” asked Livvy.
“Back to my garden,” he said, in a voice that seemed…small.
“We couldn’t have done this without you,” she said.
He looked at the others, then at Tiamat, and then back to Livvy.
“But you did,” he said, raising the reins. “You did do it without me.”
With that, he slapped the reins down and the chariot rumbled off.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
AS THEY LEFT through the middleworld, the soul traffic was enormous, rushing in every direction. As anxious as they were to learn what had happened to Wan-li, they lingered for a few moments enjoying the sight of the spirit helpers and the ancestors who had been scarce.
Back in the real world, Wan-li was waiting with SK. Immediately there were hugs all around. Livvy hugged each one as they crowded around her.
“We did it,” Livvy said.
“You did it, dear,” said Alvina.
“Wan-li!” said Livvy, as Wan-li stepped forward and hugged her. “What happened?”
Shaman, Healer, Heretic (Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman) Page 29
