The throbbing started to slow. It was getting quiet.
Mom?
There was no answer.
SK?
She briefly saw his face.
It’s getting dark.
Then, her vision went painfully white.
Screams and cries rang out all around her. One by one, she felt hands release her as she sank down, her head finally coming to rest on the cool pavement. Her chest heaved in great wheezing breaths. She gasped over and over, desperate to fill her lungs until someone grabbed her arm.
“Livvy, it’s me,” said Min. “Get up.”
The white light! Min!
Livvy tried to reply but only coughed spasmodically.
Chaos had erupted around them. Dominique was shouting, trying to maintain order.
“Tasha,” she screamed. “Tasha now.”
Livvy felt Min’s hands help her to her knees.
“Min,” Livvy managed between coughing fits, trying to find Min’s arms.
Livvy felt her lean close. “I’m right here,” she heard Min say in her ear.
They were both getting jostled by shamans as they stumbled and groped their way.
“Tasha,” Dominique screamed.
Other voices called for her as well.
“Darkness!” screamed a voice over the din of the rest.
As though the white light had been switched off, Livvy’s vision returned.
“Uh oh,” said Min.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
IN THE REAL world, SK finished taping off the gauze he’d wrapped around Livvy’s forearm. She gave no indication that she was aware of the bandaging. As he worked, though, he saw that her breathing was becoming more regular and her heart wasn’t working so hard.
Good. Min must be there now.
• • • • •
The rumbling noise reached them first. Then, the buildings in the plaza shook. Windows shattered and shards of glass fell. The water of the fountain looked as though it was boiling, leaping up in chaotic spouts.
Min jerked Livvy up.
“Let’s go!” she said, pulling Livvy backward.
Livvy turned and ran, limping slightly as she and Min dodged around the other shamans. As the quake intensified, shamans around them teetered and those further away couldn’t keep their balance. They fell to their hands and knees all around them in the plaza.
Min ran in the opposite direction, toward calmer ground, half-supporting, half-dragging Livvy until they were across the plaza and through the revolving glass doors of one of the buildings.
“Min, how did you get here? I mean, how did you find me?”
“An nkondi,” said Min. “But we can get into that later. Tamara can’t keep up the quake forever.”
“Tamara?” said Livvy. “Tamara is with you?”
“She’s in the one of the buildings, for a better view of the plaza.”
The quake was fading.
“If you go now,” said Min, looking out a large window next to the revolving door, “especially at your speed, you can get to the fountain.”
Speed, thought Livvy, remembering Alvina’s words. There could be no speed, not any more. Not if she wanted to be with SK. No matter what he’d said, she wasn’t ready to give up.
“You’ve got to leave through the fountain,” Min said. “But we don’t. Once you’re gone, we’ll meet you back in the real world.”
“I’m not going,” said Livvy.
Min stared at her. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve got to find my mother.”
“Oh, Livvy, no, not–”
“It wasn’t my mother before!” Livvy said. “She didn’t want the conjuring. It was one of Dominique’s shamans.”
Min shook her head, not understanding.
“A chameleon,” said Livvy. “She was impersonating my mom.” Livvy recalled her mother’s nervousness when she’d met Min. Had that already been the chameleon? “Anyway, my real mother is still here but I’ve got to get rid of Dominique.”
They both looked toward the plaza. Dominique was easy to see with her long hair and black leather duster. The other shamans were rallying to her. Various spirit helpers roamed and hovered nearby. The raven circled overhead.
Livvy turned to Min. “I don’t want you to stay,” she said. “You’ve done enough already, you and Tamara. You should go. I have to stay.”
“What? And miss all the fun?” Min sneered.
Livvy stared at her. That didn’t sound like Min.
Min giggled.
“I always wanted to say something like that,” she said.
Livvy couldn’t help but smile at her. “Don’t ever change, Minnie Mouse.”
“I know, right?”
In the plaza, shamans surrounded the fountain. Dominique was pointing at one of the buildings to their left and a small group of four shamans took off at a trot. She was beginning a search.
“There’s fewer now,” said Livvy. “Maybe a third are gone. Some probably ran away and I launched some into the fountain. I think Dominique might have even injured some with an icicle attack.”
“Okay,” said Min, getting serious. “I think someone named Tasha and I need to have a meeting.”
“There’s no way I’ll be able to deal with Dominique if these other shamans are around,” said Livvy. “Luckily, they’ve decided to guard the fountain.”
Livvy watched as the majority of the remaining shamans gathered around it while a handful hung back with Dominique. Whether they were truly guarding it or not she had no idea. But if she could force them into it, they’d be gone.
“You’ll find that shaman who controls darkness,” Livvy said, “and I’ll head toward the fountain. Ready?”
Min nodded in answer.
“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
NICOLE STARED AT the goggles Dominique had left on the kitchen table.
‘Are you finally getting used to those?’
Dominique? She looked around the room.
Dominique was gone.
Nicole stared back down at the goggles.
Buzz?
Without touching the goggles, she collapsed the plastic grocery bag down around them, like a shallow dish. There they sat in their polished black shininess.
Buzz?
She held up a closed hand in front of her and slowly extended the index finger toward the ceiling. Then she bent her wrist, pointed at the power button, and slowly lowered her hand toward the goggles. She watched as the reflection of her hand grew larger and more distorted in the curved black plastic. Her finger finally came to rest on the small rocker switch. She felt its smooth edges.
‘Are you finally getting used to those?’
Dominique? Her finger still on the button, Nicole looked around the room. Dominique was gone.
When she looked back down at the goggles, she accidentally depressed the switch.
Click!
She snatched her hand back, clutching it to her chest.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
She cocked her head and watched as the light from the interior projectors lit the insides of the lenses.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
There was orange there, and red, and yellow. Orange, red, and yellow. Orange, red, and yellow.
She bent down low and peered into them.
Pretty.
She smiled and picked them up.
• • • • •
With Min behind her, Livvy ignored the pain in her left hip and stepped out onto the sidewalk. She reached her hand skyward and focused on a spot over the fountain. “Whirlwind,” she said.
A funnel cloud descended as she strode forward. Min flanked out to her left. The group of four shamans who had been heading to the next building stopped, unsure of what to do. They looked toward Dominique but she was too far away.
Kam swooped down at the group with a sharp cry as Min changed course and headed toward them.
Livvy concentrated on the whirlwind and kept walking toward
the fountain. She’d need to be closer.
Some of the shamans there were holding up their hands against the wind, trying to see what was going on but hadn’t spotted her yet. Livvy looked up to the sky. She expanded her hand, stretching her fingers apart. The funnel cloud continued its ferocious spin and descent, but it widened and became hollow in the middle.
A fireball erupted from the group of shamans that still stood with Dominique, but they were too far away. It smoked and fizzled, hitting the ground short of Livvy. A small pressure wave buffeted her but wasn’t nearly enough to topple her. She continued walking. The shamans around the fountain spotted the funnel cloud.
It stopped descending.
Someone else was using wind.
No, thought Livvy. Not this time. She reached up both her arms, brought her hands together in a loose circle and then quickly lowered them.
The funnel cloud descended with such velocity that it hit the ground with an explosion. Small chunks of asphalt flew upward in a perfect circle around the fountain, obscuring the shamans within like a fence.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dominique’s group running at her with Dominique pointing and yelling. Another fireball erupted.
Livvy constricted the circle of her hands and the funnel cloud contracted to just within the stone rim, sweeping the nearby shamans along with it.
The fireball in her peripheral vision grew larger. Livvy more sensed the fireball to her right than saw it as it blocked out everything with its fiery glow. Dominique’s group was within range. This fireball was not going to peter out. With no time to summon wind or dodge, she turned her back to it and prepared to hit the ground rolling.
Livvy felt the fireball's heat beginning to build as she tightened her hands together and thrust them at the ground, palms down. The funnel cloud narrowed and crashed down into the fountain, sending up a single plume of bright blue water two stories high that then rained back down. The shamans who had been there were gone.
Before she could react, an explosion behind her lifted her off her feet and sent her hurtling forward. She struck the pavement with a grunt, but she got her arm under her head first, saving her from a cracked skull. She rolled completely out of control, watching pavement and cloudy sky swirl past. Another fireball passed by and she finally came to a stop on her back. She tried to sit up.
Gods, what hap–
“Stay down!” someone yelled.
She obeyed. Another fireball shot by only inches above her. Livvy turned her head as best she could and saw a sideways view of the plaza, but even sideways she recognized Ursula and Alvina. They were running towards her.
Livvy watched as Ursula created one fireball after another and leapt over her. She was neutralizing the incoming fireballs with her own. Concussive explosions were detonating where the fireballs met.
Alvina came to a stop and readied a pressure attack, compressing her hands in front of her. “Ursula,” she yelled.
Ursula immediately crouched down as Alvina pushed the pressure wave outward and over the top of her. A sonic boom sounded in the distance and the shamans in front of Dominique were shoved backward into her. They had underestimated how far Alvina’s attack could reach.
Livvy slowly got to her feet behind them, as Ursula glanced back at her. “The fountain,” she yelled.
Livvy shook her head. “No,” she yelled back. “Dominique.”
Livvy frantically searched the plaza and then remembered the raven. It was circling behind the fireball shamans. There she was behind them.
“What is happening?” yelled someone from behind. Livvy whirled to see Tamara running toward them.
“I’ve got to get to Dominique,” she yelled. She turned and pointed at her.
As though she had heard Livvy, Dominique looked at her. Then she looked up at the raven. He circled tightly for a few turns and flew away between the buildings.
“How about a quake?” Livvy yelled, starting to move in the direction of Dominique.
Tamara shook her head. “It starts in front of me,” she yelled. “Best when I am far away.” That’s why she’d been in the building on the other side of the plaza. “But I can try,” Tamara yelled, following Livvy.
Ursula fell in beside them, ready with a fireball between her hands. “No wind,” she yelled to Livvy.
The four of them passed the fountain and headed toward Dominique. Livvy could see Ursula’s spirit helper, the rooster Kuku, hoisting a writhing snake into the air. Alvina’s coyote sprinted ahead on their flank, zigzagging and drawing the attention of the other spirit helpers. A galloping sound from behind made Livvy turn to look.
“Kochon,” yelled Tamara. “He is mine.”
A wild boar rushed by them and toward Dominique’s dwindling group.
Tamara stretched out her hand and the ground began to shudder.
The boar charged, head low. At the last moment, it veered right and picked off the shaman on the end, lifting her in the air as it thrust upward with its tusks.
Despite her shrinking numbers, Dominique wasn’t intimidated. She seemed to be waiting for them.
“Give me some distance,” Livvy yelled and stepped in front of Alvina, Tamara and Ursula.
She raised her hand over her head. “Lightning,” she said.
The bolt seemed to appear out of nowhere, crashing on top of Livvy’s hand. Both Ursula and Tamara cowered away as the sparks rained down.
A few shamans in the periphery of the ranks responded by winking out in flashes of light. Dominique rushed up behind the ones in front of her saying something into the ear of each one in turn. They stood their ground.
Livvy pressed forward, her other arm extended in front of her, aiming at what was left of Dominique’s squad–a half-dozen shamans at most. One of the shamans reached a hand upward as well. A howling wind ripped at their clothes and neutralized all the fire shamans.
“I think Tasha’s gone,” Livvy heard Min yelling from behind.
Livvy glanced back to see that she had joined Alvina, Tamara and Ursula. If Tasha was gone, they could use light.
This is going to work.
She turned back to Dominique. She and her group were backing up over the shuddering pavement, but they were staying together and the wind shaman was keeping up the wind. Every one of them was staring at Livvy and her outstretched arm.
One giant bolt, on the pavement right in front of them, Livvy thought. That’s all it would take.
She pointed at the spot as an explosion rocked the Underworld.
Livvy watched the plaza tilt at a wicked angle. Dominique and her squad were replaced with the blur of buildings flying by and the pavement rushing up. Livvy collided with it and then felt weightless. Then she collided with it again and came to a rest.
Up, she thought, get up, but her body was moving slow. Gods, the pain in her left ear. She turned her head to see what had happened to everybody and felt warm liquid running out of it.
On the ground next to her, Ursula was lying face down.
“Ursula,” Livvy said. She slowly sat up and crawled to her. She carefully turned her over. Ursula groaned at the movement and opened her eyes. Alvina sat up next to Ursula and shook her head to clear it.
Min and Tamara lay tangled together slightly further away. Min started to move which made Tamara suddenly cry out in pain.
Thank the gods, thought Livvy. At least they’re still alive.
Though maybe not for long.
Beyond them, Dominique was approaching with an enormous new group of shamans behind her.
More? Where had they come from?
The raven cawed overhead, its malevolent sound echoing in the sudden silence.
Livvy forced herself to stand. Either she’d have to use lightning and kill them or she and her friends were going to die. Now, there was no choice.
Livvy looked to the sky, wavering in place. The clouds were already churning and swirling. Lightning lit them from within, the power there bursting to be let loose.
&
nbsp; Dizziness made her vision swim but she raised a hand up to that energy.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
IN THE REAL world, Pip heard it before she saw it–a tiny crackling sound.
Once Livvy had thrown her into the fountain, she was done. She would need an excuse ready when Dominique got back, but she was glad to be out of it. There was no way she was going back.
Many of the shamans had returned. They were exhausted, drinking water, panting heavily, and staring into space. To see the Lightning Shaman in person, in the Multiverse, while networked–it had all been too much. One was already putting her goggles in her bag.
Pip looked toward the crackling sound.
It was the network box Mamacita had given them. The reserve squad was hooked up to it. Dominique had taken no chances this time. She had split off some of the best shamans into this separate group as a fallback. From their labored breathing, it seemed as though she’d needed them, but something was wrong.
Pip got up from her mat and approached the sleek black machine. The crackling sound grew louder and then there was a pop. A thin wisp of smoke rose up from under the box.
It was burning!
“Fire!” Pip yelled.
She hit the power button and ran to the wall and unplugged it. The shamans attached to it started to make noises and move. They were returning to the real world–no choice.
Pip checked the box and waved a hand in front of her face to move the smoke, which was pouring out now. Before a fire alarm went off, she dashed to one of the large windows and cranked the glass open. The reserve shamans sat up on their mats and looked around, confused.
Pip went back to the box as the newly returned shamans watched her.
“The box,” she said, pointing at it. “It caught on fire.”
“The one from Mamacita?” someone asked.
Yeah, thought Pip, eyeing it. The one from Mamacita.
Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3 Page 56
