by JR Green
Meanwhile, in the Panther’s absence, Great-horned Serpent seized his opportunity. He tempted the people. Though he was Great-horned Owl’s totem, he had always been careful not to take on the character of the snake god. But there were those among the people, having been deeply affected by life in the underworld, that easily succumbed to the influences of the Serpent. To Great-horned Owl’s horror, they took on the character of Great-horned Serpent. Soon after their fall, they separated from the people.
In the meantime, as the world spun out of control, the Panther’s brother in the sky began to doubt his resolve. Was it a mistake to loose the god? The Maulsa had tinkered where they shouldn’t, but the effects of Underwater Panther’s contribution was sweeping around the globe. Finally, Meteor Man-being decided to stop it. Maulsa was beaten back severely and inevitably must be doomed. When Meteor Man-being confronted him, the Panther was furious at the interruption. They battled for many days, but Meteor Man-being eventually prevailed.
Underwater Panther was beaten by his brother. He tucked his tail and returned to the underworld. He was exhausted.
Once again, the world was nearly empty of people, but another hundred generations would pass before the world would be habitable again.
As the days wore on, the ones who were tempted became more and more of a threat to the people. The Panther eventually had to intervene. He put them down, restricted them, hurt them. For this, they blamed Mintikwa’s people. They grew to hate them long before they were able to leave the underworld.
Finally, the day grew close when the people could leave. Even the Panther grew anxious for them to go so that he might return to sleep.
The day that they emerged was a joyous occasion beyond all measure. The land was empty. The effects of the Maulsa were evident but had at least begun to fade. The scars were there, and the earth was still healing. The forests were changed. Most plants and animals that the people were familiar with were gone. Some remained, however. New ones had appeared. And they had their seeds to begin to cultivate.
The people were traumatized as well. They had witnessed many of the Maulsa ways. Sleepily, Underwater Panther warned Great-horned Owl about Maulsa ideas.
“Forget you saw them,” he said to Great-horned Owl. “Tell your people not to speak of what you have witnessed. Let it fade from this world.”
The Panther yawned and closed his eyes.
“It is done,” Underwater Panther said. “I have sheltered your people. Now I must sleep. I will do so for many generations. I have delivered your people into a new world, as promised. When I awaken, I will ask for payment.” Sleepily with a single orb, the Great Panther eyed Great-horned Owl. “There will be a reckoning,” he said.
At this, Great-horned Owl shuddered. He backed away fearfully, letting the beast rest.
So many seasons in the underworld had dulled their senses, their connectivity to earth, to the sensuality of the soil, to the air and water, to the animals, and to the spirits of the land. They had witnessed their diminishment and, with them, a piece of themselves.
The vision ended abruptly. Mintikwa gasped upon his return to reality. His chest heaved. His heart raced. Tears streaked down his face. The vision had strained his mind. He struggled to maintain consciousness. The images imparted to him from the vision continued to flash before his mind. The first thought that came to Mintikwa was about this reckoning. What was the payment? Also, Mintikwa suspected that the information he had just gained was impartial because his view seemed independent of the Panther. It included things that Mintikwa supposed Underwater Panther might not want him to know.
“When did you wake up?” Mintikwa asked after he had recovered.
“Just this past spring,” the Panther replied.
Mintikwa thought of his vision of the water bubble panther and how it spoke to him in the river and again in the sweat lodge. Underwater Panther had communicated to him even then about his awakening.
Was the Panther the reason the animals were behaving so strangely? Then it dawned on him. He was only indirectly responsible. His awakening had stirred the Serpent, who had enjoyed reign over the manitou for the past five generations, and the Soulless. Then it struck him. Mintikwa finally put the last piece of the puzzle together. Their attacker, the Dark One’s skin! It was the same as Great-horned Serpent when he saw it on the ridge. The Soulless were the ones who were tempted by the Serpent and had taken on his character. The Soulless were once part of the people!
Mintikwa had a feeling that the Great-Horned Serpent did not want him to know this. That is why he tried to steer him home; that’s why he tried to kill him above the river. The snake grew desperate to keep him away from Underwater Panther and the knowledge he would impart to Mintikwa.
Something occurred to Mintikwa, one more question for the Panther.
“How long were we in the underworld?” he asked.
The Panther seemed to hesitate, in a way that Mintikwa had never seen him do before. He seemed reluctant to say.
Mintikwa waited patiently. Finally, Underwater Panther said, “Forty years.”
Mintikwa knew immediately that wasn’t the whole truth. “No,” he challenged. “That’s how many it seemed to us. What I mean is how long was it to our brothers whom we left behind?” Mintikwa pressed. “How many years passed in the world above?”
The Panther remained silent.
“How many?” Mintikwa asked again, more boldly now.
“Three thousand years,” he said finally.
“Three thousand?” Mintikwa gasped. “How could that be?”
For the first time in his life, Mintikwa pondered his place in the present, in the context of the past. Where did he belong? He considered the ramifications of what he just witnessed in the vision. Had the Maulsa never come, or if Panther hadn’t saved his people, he would have died ages ago. He thought of his ancestors. He felt a prickly feeling in his scalp that quickly filled his spine. Suddenly he felt somehow, at the same time, an ancestor of his people and a descendant. Where did he belong in the lineage of his brethren? The stories he heard since birth placed the significant events of his life and those of his people at solid points in the breadth of time. Now Mintikwa felt as if he had been ripped out of the world and thrown into the next age. Or was it a past age? His mind reeled at the revelation.
His legs buckled. He went down on his knees. Mintikwa doubled over, and his stomach heaved. His fasting and his vision seeking had drawn everything out of him. Mintikwa put his head in his hands and wept.
“I must share something with you now,” the Panther said. “As you were immersed in your vision, I was contemplating what you imparted to me about Maulsa and their markings. Given their renewed interest in this place, I believe they are looking for answers. And they know more about what happened to them than I ever imagined was possible. I am afraid they are on the rise again.”
Mintikwa thought of Willow’s concern that the Soulless might be fighting a new enemy. Could that enemy be Maulsa?
He continued, “They may already have rebuilt a city, somewhere toward the east. All in my absence while I slept. They have reacquired some of their lost power, which has enabled them to trace the source of what brought ruin upon them. That source is here. The secret to the power I wielded against them is in that building. I fear that they are a threat once again. We have much to do.”
Mintikwa was beyond exhausted. “What you are saying is far beyond me,” he said. “What can I do in the face of such power?”
“You can be my eyes and ears a little longer,” Underwater Panther said.
“What does that mean?” Mintikwa asked suspiciously.
“I will see what you see,” the Panther said. “Hear what you hear.”
“How is that possible?” Mintikwa asked.
“To do this, we must enter an accord with each other,” the Panther said. “Come closer.”
“It’s time for me to go home,” Mintikwa said.
“I promise you will be on the river and on
your way home before sunset,” the Panther said.
He was too exhausted to protest, Mintikwa realized. He took a step toward Underwater Panther.
“I assure you. You will not be harmed.”
Mintikwa shook his head. “I was okay becoming your spy for a day, but I’m afraid to do this for you.”
“I require nothing of you,” the Panther assured him. “In fact, you will take a bit of me with you.”
Mintikwa considered.
“As you know,” the Panther continued. “My presence has been absent from the world above for hundreds of years. I had to draw myself up around you to provide a safe space for you.”
“Why do you care so much about us?” Mintikwa asked, still suspicious of the Great Cat.
“You are the cord between the old world and the new, a world that now is little more than a dream. It shines like a distant star against a cold black sky. Again Maulsa threatens that cord.”
“What is this cord? What is it about us that is so important?”
“Your people are the last vestige of a way of life that once covered the globe, a way of life that is the extension of our living earth. Remember the dreaming? It runs deep, but Maulsa nearly snuffed it out with their ill-conceived notions. You are all that is left. You are prospering, that is good, but you are still fragile and are again threatened by Maulsa. They are powerful, but no longer will my presence be hidden. With your help, the old way will be amplified by my power. Together we will be a force to reckon with. This is all that I ask of you. Together we will ensure that the cord remains sound.”
“How will we do that?”
“The markings that you carved into the sand spoke of a powerful talisman of the fifth world. Soon the Maulsa will be searching for it. We need to find it before they do.”
“Why do they want this talisman?” Mintikwa asked. “You say it’s from the fifth world.”
“It holds the potential to restore their former power.”
Mintikwa shook his head. “How would I ever find it?” he asked.
“It is hidden in a ruined city to the east of your home. Another, greater Maulsa city.”
After all that he had been through over the past few days, what the Panther was asking seemed an impossible task for Mintikwa to even think of undertaking. He only wanted to go home, eat, and sleep for a week. Maybe two. He knew there was no way he could visit yet another town of the last age. Not any time soon. But still, the words of the Panther intrigued him.
“It must be far,” Mintikwa said. “No one among us has ever spoken of a ruined city to the east.”
The Panther nodded. “It is far.”
“How would I ever find it?”
“Oh, it is a simple matter, finding it, really,” the Panther declared. “Follow the river south until you reach the confluence of White River. Follow it northeast. In six or seven days, you will come upon the city.”
Mintikwa shook his head. “That’s too far,” he said. “No wonder I’ve never heard of this city. One is sure to run into Soulless, following the river south of Sugar Maple Tree Creek.”
“Your great-grandfather carried it for a time,” the Panther offered.
Mintikwa gasped. “What?”
“Oh, does that interest you?” the Panther said.
It did indeed. “Great-horned Owl knew of this talisman?” he asked. Mintikwa hadn’t even mentioned that he was a descendant. The god must have sensed it anyway.
The Panther nodded. “Your great-grandfather has much to do with this talisman. I can see that it is time for you to rest. Past time,” the Panther said. “And you have earned it. That is for certain. So we will talk about this talisman later. However, again, there is one last thing that I must ask of you before you go home.”
The Panther had spoken of some sort of an accord between them. “Did you say I will take a piece of you?”
“A token,” the Panther said. “You can carry it in your sacred pouch.”
Mintikwa’s curiosity grew. And he was inspired by the Panther’s words. He waded into the water and approached him.
“Closer still.”
“How?” Mintikwa asked with trepidation. “I’m as close as I can get.”
“You can come closer,” he said. “I have seen you dive.”
The Panther’s powers must still be potent, Mintikwa thought, at least to a degree. Otherwise, how would he know about his diving? True, Mintikwa’s activities were primarily underwater. He imagined that Underwater Panther’s influence extended more easily, though weakened, as long as it was underwater. Mintikwa’s spine tingled at the thought that the god had been watching him in the river. For how long? Perhaps ever since he awoke.
Mintikwa took a breath and sunk beneath the surface.
He moved close to the Panther’s broadside.
Pierce my side.
Mintikwa gasped. Suddenly, it was as if the Great Cat was in his head. He had spoken, but it was somehow through his thoughts. Mintikwa hesitated.
Do it, the god commanded. Before I lose my resolve.
Mintikwa obeyed. He took in his hands the arrow Willow gave him, gripped it tightly, reared back, and plunged the tip into the beast’s side. The arrowhead pierced the Panther, and he growled sharply but did not move away.
Now pull it out.
Mintikwa pulled on the arrow, but it was stuck fast. The Panther bellowed in pain and shifted. Mintikwa set his feet against the beast’s side, one on each side of the arrow. He grabbed the arrow and pushed off with his legs. The bolt slipped free.
The god’s blood oozed out. It was not red but rather a deep purple. It had an odd consistency. It entered the water like maple syrup. Mintikwa scooped up a glob of the syrupy blood, enough to fill his palm.
The arrow had dislodged a scale from the Panther’s side. It lay askew against the others. Suddenly, it fell off. The scale was copper in color. It shimmered as it fell into the depths.
You have lost a scale!
Retrieve it, the god said.
Mintikwa dove down to the riverbed. It was deep. The water turned cold. He found it in the murky water resting in the sand. Mintikwa brought it back to the surface.
Underwater Panther emerged.
Mintikwa held the copper scale before the Panther, offering it back to him.
The Panther shook his head. “You keep it,” he told Mintikwa.
“Are you sure? It came off with the arrow.”
“It wasn’t my intention, but we’ll take it as a sign. It is yours now. Keep it as part of this covenant. You and I, we are bound together. Keep this between you and me until I tell you it is okay to share. There will be some among your people who would covet what is rightfully yours. They would steal it from you. Before you do anything else, make a pouch from the skin of an otter, place the covenant within, and do not take it out until I tell you.”
Mintikwa had a terrible thought. Did the Panther need his blood too? “You’re not going to do that to me, are you?” he asked. “Is this a blood oath?”
The thought of a god’s blood coursing through his veins was unnerving.
The Panther shook his head, laughing. “No, Mintikwa,” he said. “We won’t mingle my blood with yours. Probably not such a good idea. It will be quite enough to keep it close to you.”
Mintikwa breathed a sigh of relief, but then he had another thought. “Am I to take you as a totem?” Mintikwa asked, disbelieving. It was, after all, the reason why he was here. But this Panther was a god of the underworld. Mintikwa knew he was not a good totem to have at all.
“Yes,” the Panther said. “I am your totem. And because it is so, I will say my secret name. Hold it in your heart. Do not speak of it to anyone.”
The Great Cat ducked underwater again.
Mintikwa thought of his mother and her advice. He took a moment to quiet his mind so that his heart could speak. He thought of Underwater Panther.
Is this spirit of the underworld the right totem for me?
Mintikwa looked across the
river. The waters pulsed, then rippled and then tossed about under the influence of a great force from below. Countless whirlpools spun up across the surface from one bank of the river to the other. He could hear them swirling and sucking at the air.
This must be the spirit for me, Mintikwa thought.
The Panther growled, and the waters trembled. Just a moment before, the Great Cat was communicating with mere thoughts. Now he was communicating audibly again. But why underwater? Mintikwa could only hear a low rumble and gurgling from the whirlpools. How could he hear anything when the Panther’s head was underwater? Then he remembered what the river sounded like from under its surface. Several seasons ago, he found that the river was full of sounds, at times more clear than those in the air. He meant for Mintikwa to hear from under the surface. Mintikwa took a deep breath and then sunk into the depths.
He heard a chorus of sounds. Rocks popped and clicked as rapids rushed over them. Fish jumped and splashed. Rain struck the placid surface. Other sounds were very human, like songs sung at a ceremony. Mintikwa remembered his vision of the singer and dancers as the water drum began to play during the sweat lodge ceremony. Was this amalgam of tones and voices the secret name of the god?
