Livvy clutched at her side as she spun away and surged forward. At the end of the plaza, she stopped–or at least that’s what she had intended. Although her speed died, her momentum carried her into a wall. She grunted as the wind was knocked out of her. Without hesitation, she turned to face the plaza. She didn’t dare turn her back on the quills or the sunflower.
Celestino had already returned to the second podium and Tawa was still shaking his rattle. The giant sunflower rose so high that it cast its shadow far off over the tops of the houses.
“Oh gods,” Livvy exhaled as she slid down the wall to her knees.
She gripped her side and felt the warm wetness she knew was blood. She looked down at the red stain–below the last rib and outside the kidney. The same thing must be happening in the back. The vine had missed major organs and arteries but that didn’t make the pain any less. She pressed down from the front and, as she panted, she saw she was wearing the crystal of many colors.
“What the…”
SK again. It had to be. Thank the gods!
But how had he gotten the crystal? She glanced up at the plaza as though it would hold a clue but instead she saw Celestino’s coyote in the distance. It watched her as it trotted and licked its lips.
Wait a minute.
Livvy struggled to her feet.
Where’s Blanca?
CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
“NO, NO, NO,” said SK, as he pressed down with both trembling hands. “Not here.”
The blood stain on her blouse had been immediately apparent.
Think, SK, think.
He was finding that harder and harder to do.
He turned his shaking head left and right, able to see a few feet because of the crystal, but it was pointless. He knew there was no medical kit here. There wasn’t so much as a bandage.
A bandage.
Hold on–a bandage.
He tried to peal off his jacket but found himself fighting with it and then got tangled. He was breathing hard and had to take a break. He tried again and one hand popped loose, almost making him tumble backwards. Finally, he had it off. He used both hands to dig in the front pocket of his pants for the knife.
He would make a bandage, a long strip he could loop around her waist. He’d cut it from the jacket.
The knife tumbled from his clumsy fingers.
If he didn’t cut himself first.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
LIVVY QUICKLY SCANNED the plaza. If the pure white puma had been there, she’d be hard to miss. In the battle with Celestino, she’d lost track of her. If Blanca had been able to help, she would have. Still holding her side, Livvy pushed away from the wall.
As Celestino chanted in front of the second podium, the coyote circled around his feet. Where had the coyote been all this time? Livvy looked back the way it had come.
Without even meaning to surge forward, Livvy instantly stood at the entrance to that street. It was empty. Several small buildings fronted it and there were tiny alleys that branched off. Out of habit, Livvy glanced at the sky, but of course there were no clouds. She didn’t even know if one spirit helper could be used to find another.
“Blanca,” she called, down the street.
No answer.
She started to trot past the buildings, careful not to go too fast lest she miss something.
“Blanca,” she tried again.
Still nothing.
She paused.
Should I even be doing this?
In the plaza, Tawa was keeping rhythm and Celestino was still chanting. In the real world, SK was freezing to death. Time was running out.
She looked down at the blood stain at her waist. If she was going to stop Celestino and get back to SK in time, she needed help. That help was Blanca. She continued up the street and picked up the pace. Up on the left, an open door caught her attention. Livvy stopped in front of it and checked left and right. No other door or window on the street was open.
Why?
When it came to clients lost in the Underworld, they wanted to be found, if only subconsciously. An open door, a flapping curtain, even a vase of red flowers on a windowsill were sometimes clues to their whereabouts.
Was it the same with a spirit helper?
Or is this a trap?
Livvy glanced back at the plaza. That coyote exuded sly. But there weren’t any other options and she needed to make a decision.
She stepped into the dim space. Though the only light came from the doorway behind her, Livvy could see the room was empty. Several ceramic bowls, dishes, and mugs lay against the nearest wall and what seemed like the dust of centuries was thick on the floor. Livvy moved to the side and let the light fall on the dust. There were footprints in the middle of the floor–two sets, one huge and one small. She didn’t know the first thing about animal tracks but it wasn’t hard to guess whose they were. Both tracks led further into the interior, through another door.
“Blanca!” she yelled, as she ran into the next room.
It was empty and even less well lit but in the corner was a stone slab on the floor. It didn’t rest on the dirt though. Its entire border was surrounded by flagstones set into the floor. She rushed over to it and pounded with her fist.
“Blanca!” she yelled.
She put her ear directly on the stone. There was a scratching sound and a slight thump.
In the real world, Livvy couldn’t have lifted a stone a quarter this size. She had tried. But the Multiverse was different. She scrambled off the stone and easily dug her fingers under the chipped edges. Then she lifted. It was heavy but it moved.
She was immediately greeted with Blanca’s roar.
Rather than lift up the slab high enough for Blanca to escape, which she wasn’t sure she could do, Livvy lifted and moved sideways, pushing with her legs as she heaved.
“Hurry,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
She needn’t have said anything. As soon as the stone had moved enough, Blanca leapt. With a lightness that belied her size, she easily vaulted from the bottom of the pit, which was at least twenty feet deep.
Livvy dropped the slab. It crashed off to the side with a cloud of billowing dust. The pit below was lined with flagstones. Whatever its original use had been, it had been turned into a trap. Two large pieces of lumber and a rope lay in the bottom of the pit. Somehow, the slab had been rigged to fall.
“No wonder you weren’t in the plaza,” Livvy said, turning to the big cat.
They obviously had a lot to learn about working together but there was no time for that now. Blanca touched her nose to the blood stain and Livvy quickly rubbed the top of her head.
“Right,” she said. “As you can see, I could really use some help.”
“Well,” came a voice from behind. “I’m glad you asked.”
CHAPTER NINETY
“COCO!” LIVVY EXCLAIMED.
She stood backlit in the doorway. Although Livvy couldn’t see her face, she looked as though she had her arms crossed.
“Where have you been?” Livvy nearly yelled as she stood. “SK is freezing to death on the plateau, Celestino has all the tablets and is placing them around the sunflower, and Tawa is helping him!”
“Then we better hurry!” she said, turned and left.
“What … wait!”
Livvy hurried to catch up as Blanca gave a yowl of consternation. Coco stopped so quickly Livvy almost ran into her. Coco looked squarely at Blanca and pointed a finger at her.
“You, young lady, need to get a hold on that anger. The only thing that’s good for is poison. It’s nobody’s fault but your own you fell for the tricks of the coyote.”
Blanca lowered her ears.
Then Coco pointed her finger at Livvy but paused when she saw the blood stain at Livvy’s waist. Her eyes crinkled a bit and then she shook her finger.
“And you had better figure out how to use both of your spirit helpers without losing one.”
Livvy sputtered. “He’s a god,”
Livvy said gesturing back toward the plaza. “What was I supposed to do? He used the sun.”
Livvy stopped herself. They were wasting time.
At her silence, Coco turned to go but Livvy put a hand on her arm and stopped her. “Coco, please. I’m worried about SK. He’s going to die of hypothermia if he doesn’t get help soon.”
Coco put a hand over hers and leaned close. “My child, if we don’t stop the Fifth World, then you won’t have to worry about SK, yourself, or anybody. First things first.”
She made to turn but Livvy didn’t let go. “I’m not going to save the world,” Livvy said, “only to lose the one reason to keep it going.”
Coco’s eyebrows went up. “Well, well,” she said slowly. “You think you know about love? I have a love too. It’s for this world and all its people. All of them.” She looked Livvy in the eye. “The best way to help your young man is to do your work here.” She put her hand on Livvy’s. “You have to trust me on this. Everything depends on it.”
Livvy clenched her jaw. She couldn’t let SK die. He had thought she’d find allies here but that hadn’t happened. Not even Coco would help until they were done. Then again, if she was right, they’d all die anyway. She looked down at the crystal of many colors. He’d managed to amplify her lightning and also get the crystal to her. She knew he was okay but how long could that last?
“Let’s do this,” Livvy finally said. “And quick.”
The words were hardly out of her mouth and Coco turned to go. “Good!” she said over her shoulder, striding off.
Livvy and Blanca glanced at one another then followed.
“And as to your question about where I’ve been,” said Coco. “Enlisting a bit of help.”
She nodded down the street.
Livvy stopped.
It was the stone-eater. As if he recognized her, he opened his two-plated mouth and crunched down on nothing but air with a loud clattering sound. He slapped the yucca whip in his hand once with ferocity. Livvy remembered the feel of that whip.
“What kind of help is this?”
Coco paused just long enough to grab her hand and tug her along.
“You’ll see.”
Although the kachina made no move toward her as they passed, Livvy kept an eye on the whip.
He shook it at her as he fell into step behind them.
“You cut the rope,” he said, in his deep gravelly voice.
She stared at the lips as they clapped up and down.
“That was good,” he said.
Coco stopped at the edge of the plaza. It looked like Tawa had summoned help too.
“Toho,” Coco said.
It was the kachina that had guarded Tawa at the top of the snowy mountains. Blanca growled. As before, Toho was on one knee, eyes closed, but Livvy knew he was waiting, like a proximity sensor.
Livvy looked to the horizon. Only the smallest white tips of thunderheads peeked over the mountains in the distance. Tawa was successfully keeping her spirit helper at bay.
He shook his rattle, more quickly now, looking up at the flower or the sun, it was impossible to know which. He hadn’t so much as acknowledged their presence. Celestino was busy chanting as he backed away from the third podium, his coyote sitting next to it. Even in the bright sunlight his face was suffused with a dull red glow. He’d placed the third tablet.
Again the giant flower creaked and groaned as it shot up several feet, mounding fresh dirt next to the ever widening stalk as it rose. The sound was deafening and the ground beneath their feet shuddered like a small earthquake. Branches and leaves pushed out further and the shadow of the plant covered nearly half the village. As it finished its climb, the leaves came to rest with a dry rustling sound.
“Get the fourth tablet,” Coco said.
Livvy turned to see who she’d spoken to and found Coco looking directly at her.
“But stay away from the tree,” she warned, looking pointedly at the blood stain at Livvy’s waist. “That was too close.”
Livvy hadn’t realized she was pressing on the wound.
“I think I knew that,” she said.
“What you didn’t know is the flower only attacks when it’s attacked. Leave it alone and it’ll leave you alone.”
When the tree had been hit by the quills, Livvy thought, it had lashed out at the closest thing–me.
But they had a kachina on their side now.
“What about…” Livvy nodded at the stone-eater.
“Owa-ngororo,” Coco said. “No. He has Toho to keep him busy. Are you ready?”
“Ready for what? I tried to get to the tablet before. I–”
“Now or never,” Coco said. “And I do mean never.”
Livvy looked back at the plaza. Celestino was now standing in front of the fourth podium. Tawa stared upward, still shaking his rattle and now stamping his feet, his deer hoof tinklers accenting the faster rhythm. Toho looked like he was asleep. Only the coyote watched them. The moment hung in the air. Although Livvy understood what was at stake and what had to happen, she had no idea what to do.
“Improvise,” Coco added and nudged her from behind.
As soon as Livvy’s foot landed in the plaza, Toho’s eyes snapped open. The coyote stood, curled its black lips, and trotted toward him, never taking its eyes off Livvy. Even Tawa turned his giant head to look at her.
The tablet. Focus on the tablet. It was the only way to end this and get help to SK.
Improvise?
No doubt Celestino anticipated her high speed approach and was ready with volleys of quills.
She took another step into the plaza.
If that’s what he anticipated then that’s exactly what wouldn’t happen.
She took another step. And then another. One foot in front of the next, directly toward the podium. She heard Toho stand with giant leaden footfalls. Blanca snarled somewhere behind her and to the right. Owa-ngororo ground his teeth and the sound of yucca whips sliced through the air. Livvy ignored it all and caught the faintest movement from Celestino. He had flicked a single finger in her direction.
Without missing a step, Livvy spun on her heel, searching for the quills, but continued her advance backwards, to the podium.
Where was the volley?
She turned to face Celestino just in time to see it approaching. It wasn’t a volley, it was one quill and it was tiny. She wasn’t the only one changing tactics. She leaned right and dodged it but, as it sailed by her left ear, she saw the next. It wasn’t one quill. It was a stream of them. Hundreds more followed in its path, which was shifting to follow her.
Still striding steadily forward, she ducked under the stream and leaned left. Behind her, she heard the battle start but she couldn’t look back. It took every ounce of concentration to avoid the quills, which were coming at her like bullets from a machine gun. She ducked under again as she dodged more quickly but the quills followed her lower. Celestino was out of focus in the distance but Livvy could see he was flicking his fingers at a furious rate.
Could he keep that up forever?
She moved steadily towards him, still evading the deadly needles. Wild roars and yelps, along with crashing sounds that shook the earth, grew louder. As Livvy dodged the quills she was aware of her surroundings blurring. She was getting close to Celestino now, only a few yards away. She was moving at a speed that made Celestino move in slow motion. He clutched the tablet in one hand while the quills popped into existence at the tips of the fingers of his other hand. They moved in rapid but timed succession. She stared at them, anticipating the next quills in split seconds as she dodged left, right, down and up. Now she was twisting her body, letting them pass close, in order to prepare for the next. She knew the tiniest scratch could be deadly.
Then, only a couple of yards away, his hand made the strangest motion. As each finger finished its attack, he curled them inward as though he grasped something in midair. As the last finger folded into place, he paused, long enough to inhale.
&nbs
p; Livvy knew what was about to happen.
She rushed him. He flicked all his fingers at once. He had waited to use the volley until she was too close to avoid it. With both her hands moving faster than even she could see, Livvy focused on his hand and reached out. Suddenly, she stood in front of him, their faces nearly touching. Both of them were breathing hard. Sweat was pouring down his temples and he grunted as he tried to jerk away. They both looked down. Protruding between her fingers, wrapped around his hand, were the quills she had frozen in their paths, captured in mid-flight as they’d emerged. Another fraction of a second and they’d have been on their way. The thought of it made her squeeze tighter, pushing them away, and suddenly, there was the sound of cracking bones.
Celestino shrieked in pain. Livvy looked up but not in time. The tablet in his other hand crashed into the side of her head.
The Underworld tilted.
Try as she might to keep her balance, each step only accelerated her toward the ground. She slammed into it, landing on her side, as her vision began to darken. Only Blanca’s screech made her jerk her head up. The scene in the plaza was chaos–especially now that she saw two of everything.
The coyote was darting around, trying to stay out of Blanca’s reach. The powerful muscles of her back and haunches were in constant motion as she neared the smaller animal only to have it bounce away. It seemed as though it could walk on walls to escape. Blanca roared her frustration as Livvy’s view was cut off by the kachinas.
Their green yucca whips flashed through the air. They danced back and forth, then side to side. The stone-eater glanced back at her, its bulging eyes shifting quickly, before it turned back to Toho, who pressed his attack with new energy. The stone-eater was keeping him at bay but just barely.
Livvy pushed into a sitting position only to feel a shooting pain that went from her temple down to her jaw. Although she had to suck in her breath, the pain was welcome. It was clarifying. She stood up but fell over again. Her sense of balance was gone.
Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3 Page 81
