Dream Stalker

by Jenna Kernan

  “Well, well, now. ‘Never been’ don’t mean ‘never will be,’ do it, girl?” Kanka rubbed her nubby chin as she studied Michaela. Her muttered words seemed more for her own benefit than for her guest’s. “Things is about to get real interesting round here.”

  Chapter 19

  K anka lifted something from the coals and offered Michaela what looked distinctly like an upturned tusk of a walrus.

  She hesitated, then accepted the offering, glancing with suspicion at the milky-white fluid within. It was rude to ask what it was, but after the diving whale she wondered if she dared.

  Kanka grinned. “Best to be cautious, but there’s no magic in that cup, just nourishment. Make you strong so you can heal that gash.”

  Michaela could read nothing in her quicksilver eyes as she placed the odd cup to her lips and drank. The warm fluid tasted sweet.

  “Reindeer milk,” said Kanka.

  Well, that didn’t sound too bad.

  “And blood,” she added as an afterthought, making Michaela choke.

  Michaela lowered the nearly empty tusk, feeling queasy. Kanka’s lips twitched in a hint of a smile. Michaela got the distinct impression that she knew exactly what effect her words would have. Next she offered a large wooden bowl filled with a steaming liquid.

  “Ooyuk,” she said. “Seal soup with kelp.”

  “And blood?” asked Michaela, staring warily at the clear broth.

  “Not this time. Just kelp and fermented seal.”

  Michaela was concerned over the fermented part, but her stomach chose this moment to grumble loudly. She tipped the bowl and drank the salty broth, then picked out the generous chunks of meat and ate them one by one. They were chewy and salty, with a tang that she feared was not spice. The meal complete, she waited anxiously for her stomach to rebel, but it seemed content with the unusual meal.

  Michaela wondered why Kanka did not eat. All sorts of odd explanations popped into her head. Perhaps she didn’t eat. She was immortal, after all.

  “Are you hungry, Kanka?”

  “Very.”

  All the tales of witches who ate their guests rose up in her mind. Michaela inched back at the menacing glow in her hostess’s eyes.

  Kanka gazed longingly toward the entrance. “Your bear has made a kill. If he hurries, the blood will still be warm when he returns.”

  She did not ask how Kanka knew. The sorceress was already on her feet, tugging on her thick mukluks over her bare hands.

  “Come, child. He is traveling fast.”

  Michaela pulled on the great heavy parka and thick gloves, drawing up the hood as she followed Kanka out into the cold. The sun was still up, hovering the same distance over the horizon. How could that be? she wondered as she realized it was not in the same place at all. It had moved to the northern sky, as if circling them.

  Her mind furnished the answer. Summer in the far north, the sun never set.

  “There!” Kanka pointed.

  She followed the direction of the sorceress’s arm and saw a brown mass moving closer. After several minutes she could make out Sebastian, running upright with something big slung across his shoulders. As he neared, she recognized it was a huge musk ox. Great snowballs of ice bounced like beads from the carcass’s shaggy coat, and its giant head lolled in time with Sebastian’s running stride.

  “Is it still warm?” Kanka sounded so hopeful, Michaela could not repress a shudder.

  Sebastian dropped the kill at Kanka’s feet and she threw her high gloves to the ground. Michaela gasped as she realized Kanka’s hands had coiled into vicious-looking talons. Her nails were not that long a moment ago.

  The sorceress gave a delighted shriek and pitched forward. Michaela recalled the power with which the sorceress had crushed the vertebra of a whale and staggered back.

  There was a renting sound as she tore into the abdomen with her bare hands, spilling the bloody innards on the blue ice. She tore at the liver, lifting the glistening treasure to her lips.

  Michaela could not stifle a cry of horror as Kanka’s mouth opened unnaturally wide, like a crocodile showing an army of terrible pointed teeth.

  It was too much. Michaela ran back into the shelter made of the bones of whales. Behind her she heard the sound of tearing cartilage and cracking bone.

  Sebastian followed her, catching up and dragging her forward until he held her against his wide, warm chest.

  “No!” she howled.

  His hands dropped away and she scrambled to the fire. He stood there staring at her with a look of such sorrow. Her fear began to melt.

  His face flushed. “I could not leave you to die. I am sorry, Michaela. I never knew you were Niyanoka.”

  She came to her senses then. He was not a savage creature like Kanka. He had a heart and he had a mind. He had done everything, even jeopardizing his life to keep her safe. And she repaid him by running.

  He reached for her, and she stared down at the hands that had stroked her and teased her until she melted in his embrace. Nothing had changed—everything had changed.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he said.

  She stood trembling before him. “I know.”

  “And I will take you to your people. Once you are safe, I will leave you. But don’t look at me like that. I can’t abide it.”

  She dropped her gaze to the green flames as she struggled to hold back her tears. Slowly, she inched closer, looping her arms around his ribs and resting her head on his chest, drawing comfort from the steady drumbeat of his heart. Half-animal, that’s what Kanka had said. Michaela did not understand it, but knew what was in her own heart.

  “I don’t want you to leave me.”

  He grunted. “Because you are afraid. Once you meet your kind, once you feel safe, you will feel differently.” He did not add the rest—that once she met them, she would want him no longer.

  He stood stiffly, resisting the need to hold her until the yearning overtook him. How he wanted her in his world.

  But she was a Spirit Child. Regardless of her feelings, her people would drive him off. It had been so since the war, since his people tried to protect the animals by killing the men. His ancestors had started with the protectors of men and many of her kind were killed.

  Her voice was velvet. “I am afraid, but it’s not the only reason I want you to stay.”

  He drew back, pushing her gently to arm’s length. “Michaela, your people and my people, they do not mix. You have been raised by humans, so you do not understand how things are.”

  “Kanka told me all that and I don’t care.” She stared earnestly up at him, her lovely eyes wide and sincere. “I love you, Sebastian.”

  Oh, his heart was bursting. How he had longed to hear these words from her, but not now when there was no hope.

  “No.” It was impossible. He could not consider it, even for one heartbeat, for if he did…if he did. She did not understand the ways of her people. They would never accept her if she broke their laws. And she needed the Niyanoka to protect her from Nagi. He must think of what was best for her.

  “What do you mean, no? I love you. I know what you are and it makes no difference.”

  He gripped her arms and noted the change. She was no longer under Nagi’s control. Kanka had succeeded in freeing her of the Spirit Wound. There was nothing now that he could do for her, except lead her to her people.

  “It does, little rabbit. You cannot choose one such as me. Your people will not allow it.”

  “Then I won’t go to them.”

  “You must.”

  Her eyes brimmed with tears now. The sight made his stomach constrict. He never meant to cause her pain.

  “Why must I?” she whispered.

  “Because they can teach you how to fight Nagi.”

  “Like they taught my father? Nagi still killed him.”

  Now he understood. She might think this feeling was love, but it was not. He had successfully defended her, and she saw him as her only hope.

  It di
d not make him feel better to know this. Possibly she did not even recognize the truth herself.

  “You don’t love me,” he said, wishing he could pull her close and feel her soft curves mold to him.

  “I do. Why don’t you believe me?”

  “Because I see things you do not.”

  “What can I say to convince you, Sebastian?”

  He shook his head. Humans needed words. An animal proved devotion through deeds. And that was why he would take her to the Niyanoka and then he would give her up.

  Chapter 20

  K anka’s voice rang with satisfaction as she cleared the entrance. “A fine tribute, bear!”

  The old woman rubbed snow on her face to remove the stain of blood. Pink ice fell from her long, pale fingers. Her lips now curled in a natural smile, as benign as any grandmother’s. But Michaela was not fooled. She had seen Kanka eat and would be forever cautious.

  “I left the skull. Excellent horns on that one.”

  Michaela’s eyes widened in astonishment as she realized the sorceress had eaten the entire ox.

  “Time to bring her powers, I think.”

  Sebastian looked glummer than she had ever seen him. Would this transformation change her heart?

  “Wait,” said Michaela. “I don’t want to change.”

  Kanka’s brows rose as she registered surprise. “You choose death?”

  Michaela opened her mouth but found her voice had deserted her.

  Kanka nodded her head in understanding. “Nagi, he try to kill you early, before you had your powers. Might still, but at least this way you have a chance. Strip off that coat and boots.”

  Michaela stared at Sebastian.

  “Do you think he can keep you safe?” She made a dismissive sound through her lips. “Come now.”

  Michaela complied.

  “Lie down by my fire.”

  She didn’t want to. “Can I stand?”

  Kanka laughed. “You can. But when your powers come they’ll knock you to the ground. Best be on the ground already.” She tapped the solid ice with the toe of her boot. “Your choice.”

  Michaela’s heart hammered in terror over what would happen next. Sebastian extended his hand, and she latched on to it with both of hers. He led her to a large fur that looked much like the musk ox she had seen a few moments ago.

  “Lie down, rabbit. I’ll be here.”

  His gentle voice gave her the strength she needed to take her place. She folded onto the fur and then reclined. Sebastian sat at her side as Kanka crept near.

  Kanka lifted a hand and then noted the blood there.

  “Honestly,” she muttered, and thrust her hands into the green flames. There was a hiss as the blood burned to dust and fell away, leaving her flesh untouched. Kanka regarded her hand before turning back to Michaela. “When the powers come, they come all at once. Make you sick, likely. My magic don’t bring the pain. That comes from breaking your father’s magic and the surge of your gifts. Be like the river ice breakup—sudden, violent.” She met Michaela’s eyes. “You’ll see things differently after that.”

  Michaela opened her mouth to protest.

  Kanka glared. “They come in two years, anyway. But you won’t live to see that day.”

  She closed her mouth. Kanka reached into the flames again, delving into her green coals, scooping a handful, then held them over Michaela as if she grasped a handful of potting soil instead of burning embers. Her pewter eyes closed and she began to chant.

  Michaela shrank into the fur in a futile attempt to stop this. Sebastian’s hand pressed her down to the hide and she grasped his wrist, staring up at his taut face and anxious eyes.

  He was afraid. It was all she needed to send her scrambling to escape, but Sebastian was too strong and he held her in place.

  Kanka clapped her hands together, crushing the embers into tiny specks of glowing green light that fell in a meteor shower over Michaela, burning through clothing. Each one landed with a tiny electric shock. She writhed under the assault. The embers smoldered on her skin with an eerie luminosity. A tsunami of nausea threw her back, and she arched as every muscle fiber corded. She thought her tendons would tear from the bones, and she screamed in anguish. Next her body jerked like a rat shaken in the mouth of a terrier. Pinpricks of light exploded before her eyes and she thought she would pass out, but the jolting ceased, settling into an unaccustomed tingling. It was not an unpleasant sensation, this feeling, as if someone swept her skin with a soft hairbrush. She glanced down to see the greenish glow fading.

  She tried to speak, but her voice would not work.

  “Rest,” commanded Kanka.

  Sebastian stroked her forehead, but she could not keep her eyes open. It was as if Kanka’s order could not be disobeyed. She fought, but her traitorous eyelids dropped closed.

  She flowed on gentle waves in a warm sea. Was this real or did she dream? She bobbed along, staring at the blue sky. Gradually, the summer blue changed to gray and then to the crystalline blue of glacial ice. She blinked up at the ceiling of Kanka’s hut, recognizing the crisscrossing jawbones of great whales.

  Had Kanka eaten them whole as well?

  “She’s waking,” said the sorceress.

  Sebastian’s face loomed, his brow etched in concern. Michaela had her powers now, but nothing had changed. She wanted to tell him so but could not speak.

  “Shh. Give yourself a moment to wake.”

  Kanka held a cup to her lips and Sebastian lifted her head. Why couldn’t she lift her own head?

  “Drink.”

  She did, finding it hard to swallow.

  She shifted and had to clench her teeth at the ache in her joints. Someone had draped several heavy hides over her in the time she had been unconscious. This stiffness reminded her of the coma. Her body had failed to obey her commands then, as well. Her heartbeat quickened as possibilities stirred.

  Sebastian eased her to a sitting position.

  “How long have I slept?”

  Sebastian glanced at the sorceress, deferring to her.

  “By your measure of time, one month.”

  “One month!” She threw up her arms. “That’s impossible. I would have died.”

  “You are a Halfling. You can go without food a long time now. And you will live perhaps three hundred years if you are lucky.”

  “Three…” Michaela gripped her forehead with both hands at this bit of information. She looked to Sebastian, recalling he was already one hundred, by Kanka’s account. “How long do you live?”

  “Two to four hundred seasons. It depends.”

  “On what?”

  He looked away.

  Michaela did the math in her head. She might outlive him by as much as two hundred years. That notion hurt her in a place she never felt before. But he might live another three, with her, if she could only convince him to stay.

  “She is well now and stronger even than she knows,” said Kanka. “Take her to her people, bear, and then go back to your wild places.”

  Sebastian stood stiffly. She noted how skinny he looked.

  “Did you wait by me while I slept?” Michaela asked.

  He nodded.

  His devotion warmed her, giving her hope that he might share her feelings, after all. She clasped his hand and felt him tense. The uncertainty grew inside her.

  Kanka drew on her parka and headed outside. Sebastian helped Michaela change back into her old clothing, then guided her as she tottered on unsteady legs. Outside she saw the frozen skull of the musk ox adorning the rib of a whale. She repressed a shiver as she stepped past the evidence of Kanka’s appetite.

  “Move off. Don’t want those blundering birds near my lovely bones.”

  Sebastian lifted his arms and glanced toward the overcast skies.

  “They don’t fly well this far north. Too cold for thunder,” said Kanka.

  The distant crack and boom belied her admonition.

  “Except in the summer,” she amended.


  Michaela gripped Sebastian tight and then remembered her manners. “Thank you, Kanka. I am in your debt.”

  Kanka gave a wolfish smile. “Remember that when I seek payment.”

  Michaela quaked at the possibilities. It was like swearing an oath to the Godfather. Kanka could make any number of offers that she would be unable to refuse.

  “Goodbye, Bear. Remember to follow your instincts.”

  Sebastian glanced from the sky and scowled as if he did not need reminding to do what he had always done.

  The vortex formed above them. This time Michaela anticipated it. Perhaps she would see the Thunderbeings this time.

  They lifted from the ground to the rumble of their mighty hooves. Michaela stared hard into the swirling wind, catching glimpses of long striding legs and powerful arching necks. They were mighty, these steeds of the sky.

  She drew a sigh in admiration and recognized she breathed without difficulty. Sebastian glanced down at her and smiled. She grinned at him in return as they flew in the arms of the Thunderbeings.

  They landed with a thud, as if their hosts wished them to recall they could not fly without their benevolence. Michaela wobbled, but Sebastian held her as he called his thanks to the heavens.

  It was dark here, except for the glow of streetlamps lining the sidewalk. Cars and SUVs were parked closely and the buildings looked like warehouses, with metal gates closed and locked for the night.

  “Where are we?”

  “Seattle.”

  Michaela’s first thought was that she didn’t have her passport. She gave a rueful smile. That was certainly the least of her worries.

  “Why here?”

  “It’s near the House of Spirits, a wine-and-coffee bar.”

  Michaela wrinkled her brow, wondering what the heck coffee bars had to do with Nagi.

  “They have an open microphone on Thursdays for poetry and philosophy.”

  “Is it Thursday?”

  “No idea. The point is, it’s very Niyanoka, discussing stuff like that while they drink flavored coffee out of pretty cups.”