“Tell them to stop!” he screamed.
Livvy stared at him, not even beginning to comprehend.
Stop what? Tell who?
Another child came running through the marsh from the doorway of a building at the edge of the plaza.
“No,” Celestino screamed.
The boy ran as fast as he could, lifting his knees high to try and clear the rushes. In his hand was an axe. Livvy tensed when she realized the child was running toward the shamans but they parted as he approached.
Only Celestino made an attempt to stop him. He lurched forward but the boy changed course and dodged Celestino’s outstretched hands, even as the other shamans dragged him backward. The boy raised the axe high with both hands, the young face grimacing, eyes wide. As he pounded up the mound, he made a beeline for the stalk and brought the axe down. He was going to chop down the sunflower, destroy the ladder to the Fifth World. The ancestors had decided to act.
“Go,” Livvy muttered.
As the blade came down though, a bright green tendril sprouted near the base of the tree. A giant creaking noise, like the splitting of wood, erupted from the monster sunflower. The thousands of small branches and large leaves of the stalk drooped as it surged upward a few inches. The tendril lanced out and shot up, into the chest of the ancestor and out his back, stopping him in mid-step. The axe tumbled to the ground as the stalk came to rest. The leaves trembled in their new positions and the little boy slid off the now stiff tendril and collapsed near the others.
A shadow swept over the plaza. Without looking up, Livvy knew clouds had blotted out the sun. All other gazes moved upward except for Celestino, who looked at her across the marsh.
“It won’t be stopped,” he said.
Livvy became aware of the spirit helpers of the shamans as they edged closer to the group. Celestino’s coyote quickly paced to and fro in the back. Two large birds of prey unruffled their wings on a nearby rooftop.
Just then Blanca bounded in from Livvy’s right and warily eyed the group of shamans as she emitted a low growl.
Livvy took a moment to take in the rest of the plaza.
Are the rest of the ancestors hiding? Have they left? And where is Coco?
Celestino raised up his hands. He held two stone tablets in each one, four altogether.
Livvy took a step forward as thunder rumbled from one side of the plaza to the other. Blanca growled in a low frequency to match. Even at this distance, Livvy recognized the tablet with the lightning. She couldn’t help but stare at it. Somehow Celestino had found it–the tablet she had thought would be the key to her and SK.
SK. He was freezing to death on the plateau. Across from her stood the only people she could ask for help but it was unlikely any of them would listen until they were finished.
Therefore, it was time for them to be finished.
She raised her hand to the sky. Celestino lowered his hands and backed up.
“Lightning!” she yelled.
CHAPTER EIGHTY
ALTHOUGH HE COULDN’T see it, SK knew there must be billows of dust in the air. His eyes stung and he coughed as he waved his hand in front of his face to clear it.
Gods, that had been more like a bomb than thunder. He’d waited nearly a minute as the rocks of the burial chamber groaned and scraped and fell. He expected one of the slabs to crush the two of them any second now. Finally though, it had ended.
He leaned back and heard small pieces of rock that had landed on him fall to the ground. He opened the cell phone still clutched in his hand and swept it toward Livvy’s face. She lay there oblivious, eyes closed, breathing steadily. He put a finger to her jugular, good and strong. She was in the Multiverse.
He moved the light down the rest of her body and stopped.
Rocks. Large ones.
“No,” he muttered.
On hands and knees, he crawled over the nearby debris. The far corner of the burial chamber had completely blown apart. The good news was the wall had opened up. The bad news was some of it had fallen on Liv.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
A BOLT OF writhing electricity crashed down on Livvy’s hand and rained sparks down on the surrounding marsh.
“Stop her,” yelled Celestino. “I need time.”
He quickly turned toward the stone podium.
A young shaman in the middle of the group stepped forward and spread his arms wide. Livvy raised her other arm to discharge lightning. Though a couple of the shamans flinched, she had no intention of aiming at them. Instead, she swung her arm toward the flower.
Suddenly, a giant dust devil roared in from a side street, carrying a wall of dust and debris with it. At first, the other shamans were directly in its path, but as it entered the plaza, it abruptly changed direction and rushed at her.
With a speed that blurred her surroundings, Livvy easily dodged it and moved closer to the center of the marsh. But what she found there was another dust devil, identical to the first. Blanca had kept pace with her and the two of them stood together as the plants around them laid flat in the growing gale.
“Whirlwind,” Livvy said, as she raised her hand.
The clouds above swirled into a funnel and began to descend. She lowered her hand and brought the tip of the funnel down, directly above her. When she looked back to the plaza, the number of whirlwinds had doubled. Only the one shaman had his arms outstretched but the others had separated and begun to fan out. Before she could even blink, the small twisters doubled again. Eight giant dust devils swirled chaotically in the rapidly shrinking plaza. One of the other shamans made a flicking motion with his fingers at one of the dust devils that sent it careening toward her. Then another shaman did the same thing. They worked together.
Time to end this.
She clenched her upraised hand tightly, dropped to one knee, and struck the ground with her fist.
As she clutched Blanca to her side, a column of wind descended around them with such force that the nearby plants were ripped from the ground and sent flying outward. Livvy struggled to shield Blanca as the wind continued to drive down and out. She realized Blanca was leaning into her just as hard. They were propping each other up.
She released her fist and, when the wind stopped, Livvy jumped to her feet. The whirlwinds were gone. The shamans had been blown in every direction–pinned against buildings, hurtled down alleys, thrown through doors. Even Celestino had been flattened against the stalk.
She raised her hand again for lightning just as someone grabbed her from behind.
“No taser this time,” someone said in her ear.
She began to pry his arms away, her strength easily outmatching his. What did he possibly think he’d be able to do?
“Earth,” he said.
They surged into the ground.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
THE LIGHT WENT out again.
“Dammit,” SK muttered.
He needed to do a better job of remembering where the rocks were. The battery on the phone wasn’t going to last. He was lucky it worked at all after he’d been submerged in the stream. Though he hadn’t said anything to Liv, he’d felt relieved when it turned on.
He put it back in his pocket and picked up the last rock he remembered. He used his legs to lift, groaning with the effort, and let the rock fall to his left and away from her. The large slabs had indeed come down in the middle of the room, too heavy to have done much more than fall straight down once their support had given way. So far, most of the rocks on Liv’s legs seemed as though they had tumbled from the pile in the middle of the room.
“Just be all right,” he said between breaths.
He bent down, put out his hands and moved them along the length of her exposed legs. After every rock, he checked for bleeding and felt for broken bones. If there was damage to a major artery, she could bleed out in minutes, but so far so good.
Without using the phone again, he found the next rock. Again, he bent his knees, lifted, and got the rock to tumble off heavily
to the left. As he moved back toward Liv, though, his foot caught on something and he tripped. He pitched forward and came down hard. The stabbing pain in his neck returned and he slowly sat up. The dark was disorienting.
He took out the phone and turned it on. The light wavered erratically and he quickly turned the phone around to check it, only to realize the phone was fine. It was his hands that weren’t. Covered with cuts and bruises, they were shaking.
There was no time to worry about that.
He quickly took stock of where he was, shone the light on Liv, and then turned it off. With a grunt, he got up, but moved more slowly this time. Just a few more rocks to go.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
LIVVY SPUTTERED AT the dirt flying past her face but not for long. Their descent ended with a bone jarring abruptness that felt as though she’d broken her feet.
“Welcome, Lightning Shaman,” said the voice from behind her. “To my world.”
It was that voice again, the shaman whose vulture spirit helper had died. He let her go. As she fell backward she realized he was gone, but her fall stopped as the dirt flowed around her, filling in every empty space. The weight of it packed down tighter and her arms became hard to move. She covered her mouth with a cupped hand and inhaled. A small amount of air came into her lungs before the force of the dirt pushed her hand away. But the air hadn’t been enough. Her lungs were already starting to burn.
She was drowning in dirt.
She kicked furiously and felt some movement. She kept kicking and shoved her hands upward trying to slice through the soil. Then, she cupped her hands and pulled. Again she felt dirt moving past her head and her face but the exertion was taking its toll. The burning in her lungs began to translate to burning in her muscles.
But she had to keep moving.
She kicked and pushed with her feet, thrust upward with her head. Her arms struggled against the weight but she moved them anyway, first one arm and then the other, jabbing upward with rigid hands, then pulling. Her lungs felt like they were going to burst but she didn’t dare open her mouth. Dirt was moving by. Her eyes were still shut.
Where is the surface?
She wanted to breathe, to inhale, to feel her lungs expand. Although her eyes were closed, strange colors began to float, like great neon bubbles. She almost paused to stare at them.
No, keep moving!
Again, she brought one arm up–and felt something. She grabbed it–with no idea what it was–and pulled. It pulled back and Livvy felt earth move past her at greater speed. Her grip started to slip. The pulling paused.
No, don’t stop!
She used one last spurt of energy to grab harder.
The pulling started again but she could no longer hold her breath. Like a diver on an ascent, she slowly blew out, willing herself not to inhale. As dirt continued to move past, she concentrated on the release of pressure. Suddenly, she felt her forearms clear of the ground and let go. She scrambled frantically and her head finally broke the surface. She heaved in a great lungful of air as someone tugged up on the fabric behind her neck and then let go. She pulled at the ground, coughing, still trying to get more air as she clawed her way onto level ground. As her feet finally pulled free, she collapsed and rolled over on her back, feeling plants compress underneath her. She allowed herself a few deep breaths before she sat up and wiped dirt from her face.
Blanca stood barely a foot away, her large green eyes staring into Livvy’s. Livvy realized the giant cat was standing in a depression marked by furrowed claw marks. She must have been digging furiously to have got it so deep. It must have been Blanca who’d tugged on her shirt and Blanca’s paw she had grabbed. She took the white puma’s head in both hands and laid her own on it.
“Good girl,” Livvy whispered, breathing hard.
As she ruffled the fur behind Blanca’s ears, she purred.
Livvy already knew from the proximity of the buildings that she hadn’t surfaced where she’d gone down. Still seated, she turned to get her bearings. She had surfaced at the opposite end of the plaza, at its edge. On the other side, the shamans were all grouped around the base of the enormous sunflower, watching Celestino at the stone pedestal.
He must be assembling the tablets.
She was going to have to make this quick.
“You’ve got my back,” Livvy said to Blanca and stood up.
She thrust her hand to the sky.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
SK SAT DOWN heavily and let his head sink.
Exhaustion was setting in. Whatever energy he’d had left, after nearly drowning in the stream and climbing to the top of the plateau, he’d spent clearing the rockfall.
He reached out a hand to Liv. Even in the complete darkness, he pretty much knew where everything was located. He had to. There was no battery left on the phone.
“You’re all right, Liv,” he said, as he leaned forward and rested a hand on her arm.
At least that’s what he’d intended to say. His lips must be numb because it came out a bit slurred.
He frowned.
It felt like he was forgetting something.
That was crazy. How could you be in the dark, in a burial chamber, and forget something? He shook his head and, as his eyes looked in a different direction, he thought he saw light.
That was the second time.
Earlier he’d decided it was a trick of the retina–an afterimage from the phone, but it had been off for a while now. He closed his eyes, rubbed them, and opened them.
It was gone.
Did I imagine it?
Great. It could be hallucinations, maybe from sensory deprivation. Even with the partial buckling of the burial chamber, there was no moonlight. After he realized the wall had collapsed, he’d thought about going for help but he didn’t know which direction to take and he couldn’t leave Liv. She was in the Multiverse. He reached out and rested his hand on her again.
There!
He stared at his hand. That’s where the light was coming from. Where it rested on her arm, there was a faint and pale purple glow. He put down his other hand. The same thing happened. Suddenly, he recognized the color. Without consciously registering the minute tingling in his fingers, he knew what was happening. She was getting ready to call down lightning in the Multiverse.
Under normal circumstances, he’d have cleared the room of lamps and unplugged everything from the electrical sockets. Electricity would have snaked out of them and crept along the walls. He’d seen it so many times.
Is this what happened when there was no other conduit?
The air around them took on a desiccated feel that made his exposed skin itch. The glow under his hands brightened. He could just make out Liv’s face–quiet, calm, her breathing regular. He resisted the urge to check her pulse. Whatever was happening in the Multiverse, now was not the time to break their connection.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
“LIGHTNING!” LIVVY YELLED.
As soon as the bolt landed on her hand, Livvy raised her other arm and released the energy. It struck the massive trunk dead center and directly above the heads of the gathered shamans.
The crack of energy was deafening.
The explosion sent the men flying back several yards, landing hard among the reeds and out of sight. She dropped her hand and looked at the giant sunflower as the lightning dissipated.
SK, she thought. That had to be him amplifying her power. He was still okay.
She looked up at the stalk. Although she hadn’t known quite what to expect, splintering wood would have been good or the sound of the stalk beginning to creak, maybe even the crackle of flames. Instead, the stalk glowed and the leaves merely quivered.
How does a flower survive a lightning strike?
She raised her hand again. “Lightning!” she yelled.
Again, she channeled the strike, hitting the same spot, and kept it there as she strode forward. As the sparks fell down around them, she and Blanca walked inside a near bubble a
s the blazing, bright purple bolt crackled and exploded on the stalk. But, it still only glowed.
Livvy concentrated, felt the energy pouring in from above and called for more. The lightning widened and grew brighter. She felt the heat in her chest, heard the ground sizzling as she stepped through the soggy reeds of the marsh. Steam rose from around her feet.
In her peripheral vision, the shamans were returning to their feet but they didn’t dare approach. She didn’t spare them a look. Blanca was doing the watching.
Livvy neared the mound, still channeling the writhing strike. She could see the stalk clearly. It hadn’t so much as been scorched. The bodies of the ancestors lay nearby, their arms and legs splayed out, their axes scattered, their faces contorted in pain. On the stone podium, the tablets were stacked up in a pile.
She looked up to the sky and pulled from deep within. Thunder pealed as a brightened wave of energy surged down, traveled through her, and landed on the trunk. Her vision blurred with the vibration of the jolt. Her chest was heaving now and felt as if it might be glowing. But the stalk was unaffected.
Blanca growled behind her.
“You can’t destroy it!” someone yelled over the din, barely audible.
Livvy turned around and let her arms drop.
“You can’t destroy it!” shouted Celestino, a crazy grin spreading over his face. “She can’t destroy it!” he yelled to his followers, pointing at the flower.
As Livvy turned back to confirm what he was saying, she sensed a tendril shoot out toward her. In a fluid blur, she dodged sideways. The tendril speared the space where she’d just been, paused, and then retracted. Its reach was long and it was quick, but no match for her speed.
The sunflower creaked with a low-pitched, groaning sound, shot up several feet, and then stopped as its leaves shuddered in a non-existent wind.
Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3 Page 79
