Dead Moon Awakens: A tale of Cherokee myth and Celtic magic (Mystic Gates) (20 page)

“The
Uktena
!” Aishling shrieked. “It’s still
coming!”

“What?” Lance and Kelile wavered briefly, and then
heaved forward with Morrigan in tow.

“Ring that bell, girl,” Kelile said through heavy
breaths.

“It’s gaining on us,” Lance bellowed. “There’s no
way we can outrun it!”

“Good witch. Do that safety thang.”

“Hurry!” Lance gasped.

Darting in front of the others, she used her hands
to block them. “Stop moving!” She stepped away. Inhaling deeply, she raised her
left arm and swung clockwise. As she visualized herself marking a large circle
around them, she hammered her words, “Mother Goddess, let nothing harmful
penetrate the boundary I now draw.”

“It’s almost here!” Kelile shouted.

“Don’t move! Keep us safe in this circle from all
that can harm
and
repel all that would attack!” She made another quick
rotation.

“Creator help us,” Lance muttered.

“The first creates the boundary. The second binds
our safety. The third seals this spell. As I see, as I will, so mote it be!”

The
Uktena
lifted into a strike position,
slammed into the protective circle, and bounced off, emitting an irking
screech.

Aishling collapsed to the ground and crawled next
to Morrigan, whose breathing was barely noticeable. The bite on her neck oozed
with blood and a green, slimy substance; and her neck was bruising black.
Oh
Goddess.

“Heal her, good witch.” Kelile dropped his
backpack and sank next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Can
you?”

She set her bell and obsidian into her lap, slid
off her backpack, and rubbed her hands together. But she couldn’t focus, couldn’t
see the golden light or hear any guiding voices. She couldn’t summon the magick.
Her thoughts were too dark and fearful. Gnawing hopelessness chewed at her
insides. Would Morri die? Would they all die?

“It’s working, Aishling,” Lance uttered. “Your
protective circle is working.”

When she looked into his eyes, he moved them in
the direction of the
Uktena
. The moment she glared at it, it opened its
mouth revealing sword-like fangs and emitted another deafening whirr.

But then, she realized the
Uktena
was
inching its way around the circle, not trying to break through.

Kelile squeezed her shoulders and let go. “I’ll
never make fun of you again, girl. Never.” His breathing slowed and evened out.
“What about the queen? Can you fix her?”

The fact that her protective circle had worked
provided a scrap of hope. “I’ll try.”

“Don’t try. Do.”

After rubbing her hands together again, she laid
the obsidian on Morrigan’s neck. When she looked at Lance, he nodded. She
glanced at Kelile next.

“You can do it, good witch.”

Cuddling the stone with her hands over Morrigan’s
wound, she proceeded with the visualization and healing ritual. When she
finished, she removed her hands and the obsidian. The three of them peered down
at Morrigan’s neck. The bleeding had stopped and the bite marks looked better
than before, but were still prominent. Morrigan remained in a death-like
trance. Yet, her breathing
had
become stronger, steadier. And her pallid
skin was beginning to regain some color.

“We’ve got to get help for her,” Lance said.

“How, man?”

“I’ve got to get out of here and find Redhawk.”

“Okay.” Kelile panted. “I’ll draw that sleazy worm
away while you run for it.”

“No!” Aishling said.

“Have you got a better idea?” Kelile.

“Yes.” Before saying anything else, she stared at
the serpent as it continued slithering around their safety perimeter. “Maybe
the
Uktena
is following the sound of this bell. Though the bell is for
protection, I think it can also summon Otherworld beings. Maybe I summoned it
into our reality.”

“What?” Lance.

“Maybe it’s following the sound of the bell,” she
answered. “What if we throw the bell toward the portal? When the
Uktena
follows it, one of us could make a run for it.”

Lance stared past her. “But what if it’s the bell
that’s helping to keep it away?”

She shrugged, and then noticed something. Sitting
up on her knees, she watched the
Uktena
again. “No, I don’t think the
bell is keeping it away. Look at those drag marks. It’s moving away from us.
Its circles are getting larger, wider. It’s searching for the bell! I don’t
know how I know it, but I know it.”

Lance stood. Seconds later, he squatted. He gazed
at Morrigan, then Kelile, then her. “Okay. Maybe you’re right. She looks a
little better and seems to be breathing better, maybe she can hang in there
until I get back. You two stay with her. And no matter what happens to me when
I leave, stay here.” He watched the
Uktena
. “How far do you think you
can throw that bell, Kelile?”

“I don’t know.”

“You can throw a baseball farther than anyone I
know. Think of it like a baseball.”

Kelile nodded, “Okay. But if that sleazy worm
starts chasin’ you, I’ll run for the bell and ring the hell out of it.”

Lance shook his head. “No, I want you to stay
here.”

“You ain’t my boss. I’ve got your back, brother.
Let’s do this.”

The
Uktena
had moved around the protective
circle and was now on the side closest to the portal. “Okay.” Lance stood and
readied himself to run.

Aishling handed Kelile the bell. “Lance, wait, I …
I …”

“We’ve got to do this now, Aishling,” he
whispered.

“Please, be safe!”

“Ready?” Kelile boomed. “Set.” He threw the bell.
“Go!”

Lance burst away, running in the opposite
direction.

The
Uktena
slithered toward the bell. But
as soon as the bell rolled to a stop and gave one last, resounding clang, the
serpent slowed and changed directions.

After Lance.

“No!” Aishling screamed.

Lance slowed. But before he stopped, Kelile
yelled, “Run! Keep running!”

When the
Uktena
passed their protective
circle, Kelile charged after the bell.

But the serpent was closing in on Lance, and
Kelile hadn’t reached the bell yet. Aishling had to do something. She stepped
out of the circle, gripped the obsidian in her hand as she held it in front of
her, and yelled, “Stop!”

The
Uktena
made a large turn and headed for
her.

Lance halted and began clapping and yelling.

She stepped back into the circle, just before the
Uktena
lunged. Again, it bounced off the protective wall and shrieked.

Lance bounded, picking up speed, racing.

His hasty movements attracted the
Uktena’s
attention
again; it restarted its advance after him.

By then, Kelile had reached the bell.

“Hurry!” Aishling yelled.

“No you don’t, you sleazy, oversized worm!” Kelile
yelled, clanging the bell. He continued clanging it while running back to the
circle.

The
Uktena
sporadically jerked around and
pursued them.

Moments later, Kelile and Aishling huddled next to
Morrigan. Lance had safely gotten away, and the
Uktena
inched its way
around the circle once more.

Nightfall moved in as a thick, black, menacing fog.

Return to Beginning

One’s heart at last may grieve, and
Shadowkin adjourns.

A
ishling
hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but she had. She jerked awake, momentarily
startled by her surroundings. At once, she realized where she was and what had
happened. She bounced up and checked Morrigan who was still unconscious, but
breathing. Kelile was still asleep. She caught her breath and held it.
The
Uktena!
But, it wasn’t there.

“Hey,” Kelile said, stretching. He leisurely
opened his eyes, smiled, but suddenly lurched up and spun around. “Where is
it?”

“I don’t know. Could it be trying to trick us into
coming out of the circle?”

“Girl, you act like that thang has a brain. Maybe
it went back through the gateway.”

“I don’t know, I—”

“What’s that?”

An old, white Ford pickup.

May 16

Lance and Kelile are still asleep. But I’m so
sad and scared that I can’t sleep. I think Morri might die. To the Creator and to
Goddess, to all that is: Please,
please
save Morri!!!!! Please.

Redhawk has hardly spoken. I think he knows
you, Ma. I kind of remember him coming to see you before. He looks at me like
I’m evil or something. I don’t care. At least he’s trying to cure Morri. When
Lance brought him back to us and he saw Morri’s bite, he looked directly at me
and said, “What have you done?” What does that mean? It’s like he blames me for
it.

Maybe it was my fault. I’m the one who took us
there. I didn’t know what I was doing. Oh, how could I?

But Ma, you told me to go there. Didn’t you?

Is it still in our reality? What if it bites
someone else? We haven’t told Redhawk what really happened. We told him a large
snake was hanging off a branch and bit Morri when she walked by. I know he
doesn’t believe us, though. I wouldn’t either. But there was no way we could
tell him the Uktena had bitten her. Everyone thinks it’s just a myth. He’d
think we were lunatics. Isn’t Morri proof, though?

I think Redhawk must be a medicine man. He’s
tried different herbs on her bite. I also heard him chanting in Cherokee. I’m afraid
nothing’s going to work. Yet, the myth says that she should have already been
dead. Us, too, just from looking at it. At least that part of the myth was
wrong. We don’t know what to do. Lance thinks it’s only a matter of hours
before Redhawk calls the police.

I wish I had come here alone. All of this is my
fault. If something happens to Morri, I don’t know if I could stand to live. I
hate what I’ve done to everyone. It’s all my fault.

Lance crouched next to Kelile and Aishling in
Redhawk’s guest bedroom after they had finished eating a late breakfast. Morrigan
still lay on the bed, quiet, unmoving, unconscious. Redhawk was still in his
kitchen. “I can’t believe we lost seven days in the cave,” he whispered. “I
think we’re going to have to tell him the truth, the whole story. I know he
doesn’t believe what we’ve told him already.”

“Man, if we do that, he’ll sure enough turn us
over to the state. And because I’m black, I’ll get blamed for everything and
sent to prison for what happened to the queen. And you two”—he pointed—“will
probably be committed somewhere. No way is he gonna believe us.”

“But, Kelile, the bite marks,” Aishling muttered.
“Aren’t they proof? I mean how many snakes get big enough to make those kinds
of marks?”

“You three,” Redhawk’s voice boomed from behind
Aishling. “Come in here. We’re going to council.”

Redhawk was a towering man with sable hair tied
back by a thin, leather strap. The same leather strapping looped around his
neck, securing a small pouch. The pouch was bracketed by a claw on either side.
Aishling thought they might be bear claws but had only caught glimpses of them.
He also wore a wide silver band on his left arm, a red jewel embedded in its
center. With high cheekbones, dark amber skin, and noble, yet humble mannerisms,
he awed Aishling. She easily could imagine him as a great Cherokee warrior.

He motioned for them to sit on the floor of his
living room as he, too, settled on the floor. Before speaking, he made eye
contact with each of them. His intense brown eyes pierced Aishling’s skin,
triggering goose bumps along her arms. Her heartbeat galloped.

They hadn’t decided yet what else they’d tell him.
What if she said too much? What if she got the others in even more trouble than
they were already in? It didn’t matter.

I just want Morri to live.
She inhaled,
trying to calm her growing nausea.

Redhawk spoke in a quiet, yet commanding tone. “I
took the four of you into my home yesterday, providing you shelter, food, and
safety. I’ve asked nothing in return for my hospitality. I’ve listened to your
story about your friend, Morrigan, and I’ve done what I can for her. I’ve also
given you enough time to decide whether you wish to tell me the truth or not.
Your time is up. If you cannot be honest with me, then I will be unable to
extend my hospitality any longer. I will notify the authorities about you and
let them handle things from here.”

Aishling stopped breathing. Redhawk’s words
provoked a sensation of falling from a high waterfall and hitting the rocks
below. She looked at Lance, searching for a signal, a lead to follow. He stared
at the floor. She glanced at Kelile. Same thing. What should she say?

The truth.

But how? Where would she start? What about Morri? He
said he had done all he could do. Does that mean she’ll get better? Or worse? She
continued hesitating, gawking at Lance and Kelile, avoiding Redhawk’s eyes.

“Sir, the four of us were in a children’s home in
Franklin, like I told you last night,” Lance said. “We ran away together. I had
to find you. You know, like I said. Mom had told me to come to you if something
ever happened to her and Dad. I’ve been trying to contact you, but the state
wouldn’t let me.” Lance stopped. He leaned forward and cupped his stomach.

“I ran away to save my mom from my sorry-ass, abusing
stepfather,” Kelile spoke up, and then pressed his mouth closed.

“I ran away with them because I had to come home
and see if I could find my mother. I couldn’t remember anything about the night
she disappeared, or the fire. You know, we showed you my house yesterday.”
Aishling waited for acknowledgment from him.

He nodded once.

“Morri came with me. We’re
anamchara
, or I
guess it’s something like blood brothers, or sisters. She has an aunt who’s
supposed to get her soon, but she’s not back in the country yet. So, Morri came
with us.”

“We had gotten into trouble when I found you,”
Lance picked up with the conversation. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Put one word in front of the last and talk,”
Redhawk answered.

“Well …”

“Man, I mean, sir,” Kelile said, “all of this is
far-out stuff, stuff Lance and I don’t know anything about. Morrigan and
Aishling—”

“I see,” Redhawk said. He shifted his eyes back to
her.

“Sir,” she whispered, “we didn’t ask for these
things to happen, really.” She cleared her throat and spoke louder. “I guess,
for me, this all started with the fire on
Samhain
, I mean Halloween,
1989. I don’t remember anything about that night except a fireman pulling me
out of the house and telling me they hadn’t found anyone else. Ma had
disappeared. I was put in that children’s home. Apparently, this evil wi … evil
woman had been trying to get something from Ma.” She panted and looked to Lance
for help.

“Just say it, Aishling,” he muttered. “Just say
the truth.”

“Okay. Redhawk, my mother is … or was a Celtic
witch, but she was also a healer, and part Cherokee. She helped people become
whole by bringing pieces of their soul back to them. I remember you came to see
us once. Do you remember her?” She glanced up to see his reaction, but his
face, like a rock, gave nothing away. She stumbled on, “Well, we found out that
another witch, an evil witch, had been after Ma, and that this witch was
probably the one who had started the fire. And, she’s probably the one who
killed Ma.” Her voice cracked when she said this.

After clearing her throat again, she continued,
“We also thought that maybe this witch had caused the death of Lance’s parents,
and Morri’s mother. You see, we discovered that the four of us are connected
somehow. This evil witch has been hounding Kelile’s thoughts for days, telling
him to find the Suti Stone. That’s what the evil witch wanted from Ma.”
Aishling had to take a breath. Was she making any sense?

Redhawk squinted and shook his head once. “Suti
Stone?”

“The
Ulunsuti
,” Lance answered.

Redhawk continued squinting but nodded and looked
back at Aishling.

Her heart flipped. “So we decided to go after the
Suti Stone, or
Ulunsuti
, and to lure the witch to my home. We were going
to turn her in and make her pay.”

Kelile interrupted, shaking his head, “But when we
went into that other dimension, the
Uktena
chased us, you know, like in
the myth. I mean that snake is gigantic. Lance kept tellin’ us he didn’t
believe in the
Ulunsuti
, that it was just a mythological stone.
We
made him come with us, man—sir. Don’t be mad at him. You should adopt him like
his mother wanted,” he finished and gulped.

Redhawk sat back against his couch, crossed his
arms, and closed his eyes.

Moments thudded by. Aishling peered at Kelile and
Lance and shrugged. She hoped he was done asking questions. She couldn’t bring
herself to tell him all of the truth, to tell him the
Uktena
might be
running around somewhere in their reality.

Redhawk’s eyes remained closed, but he spoke,
“Yes, I knew your mother, Aishling.” He opened his eyes again. “Did she ever
tell you she had the
Ulunsuti
?”

“No. I didn’t even know the story until several
nights ago.”
Well, hadn’t remembered the story.

“What made you think you could find it?” His eyes
bored into her again.

“In the Garden of Life and Death, my mother had
told me where to go.”

“How? Where?” Redhawk frowned.

Aishling sensed his impatient energy. “Before we
went to the gateway, Ma’s image appeared to me in our garden. And Ma had also
left me a wish box that had a stone and bell to help me travel into other
dimensions.” She slung her hands in the air. “Look, I know all of this sounds
weird, but it truly happened. And when we were in the cave, the
Uktena
chased us, and that was when it bit Morri. I thought if I kept ringing the bell
we’d be safe, but somehow Morri got bitten. And when we came back here to our
reality, the …”
Oops
. She forced her mouth shut.

She caught Lance staring at her. Did he want her
to tell the rest? Or, was he trying to tell her to keep quiet?

“Sir,” Lance said, “the
Uktena
followed us
out of its reality. Aishling and Kelile don’t know where it is, whether it went
back through the gateway or somewhere else.”

It happened so fast, if Aishling hadn’t been
watching for his reaction she would have missed it. In less than four seconds,
Redhawk’s expression went from normal to a reddened face and bulging eyes, to
wrinkled brows and flared nostrils, and back to normal. Had she detected shock?
Anger? Fear? She had no time to process his reaction.

Lance said, “I know it sounds unbelievable, sir,
but that’s what happened.”

Redhawk nodded and stood. “You kids need to get
some rest. You’re not to leave this house until I decide how we’ll proceed.
Understand,” he said, more as an order than a question.

In unison, the three of them answered, “Yes, sir.”

Aishling’s dreams traumatized her sleep that
night. Again, the
Uktena
chased them, this time biting Kelile. Rousing
herself from the nightmare, she wiped away her dream tears. She kept hearing
Kelile’s screams of agony. Even now as she became more aware of her
surroundings, she still heard his screams. “Oh Goddess!”

Kelile
was
screaming!

She jumped up at the same time Lance did. A
split-second later, Redhawk flipped on the light and rushed into the room. They
crowded around Kelile’s cot as he writhed and moaned.

“What happened?” Redhawk questioned.

“The dreams!” Aishling answered, shaking all over,
tears spilling down her cheeks. “I saw it in my dreams. But can it attack in
your dreams?”

“What?” Lance said.

“The
Uktena
. In my dreams, I saw it bite
him. He was screaming in my dreams. When I woke up he was screaming.”

Redhawk examined Kelile. When he found the bite
below Kelile’s right shoulder, Aishling cried out, “No!”

She shoved past Redhawk and rummaged for her
obsidian stone. “I’ve got to fix this. I’ve got to fix this.” She placed the
stone on his bite and took a deep breath, trying to visualize the golden light.
She burst into sobs.

“Step back.” Redhawk moved her away.

She almost resisted but didn’t have enough fight
in her. He began chanting in Cherokee.

After a few minutes, he told them to leave and go
into the living room.

This was it. The state or police would pick them
up now. First Morri, then Kelile. She looked at Lance and her fear intensified.
Would the
Uktena
strike him next? Isn’t that what had happened in her
dreams? The
Uktena
always bit the others. One-by-one, they had
disappeared. She remembered her amulet. Maybe that would protect him, but would
it make him sick? She removed it from her neck and reached for Lance, who
stared at the unlit fireplace. He flinched when he noticed her.

“It’s all right,” she answered. “This is a
protective amulet. I want you to have it, to wear it.”

He took it and held it in his hands, rubbing it,
then shook his head and handed it back.

“Please, Lance.” He shook his head again and stared
at the fireplace.

Friday, May 17

The pre-dawn hours had dragged as though time
itself was crippled. Redhawk hadn’t said anything else to her or Lance. About
an hour after they had discovered Kelile’s bite, three other Cherokee men
arrived. Aishling noticed they wore similar silver armbands. But each one had a
different colored stone in the center—white, black, blue. One of them carried a
medium-sized drum. Redhawk ushered them into the bedroom where Morrigan and
Kelile lay and closed the door. Then, the drumming and chanting began.

Now, a new day awakened. She watched through the
window as light replaced dark. The drumming and chanting continued. Lance had
fallen asleep. Her eyes drooped, and she was groggy, but she’d been too scared
and worried to sleep or even rest.

Aishling stared at her bell and obsidian, trying
to decide what to do. Was all of this her fault? Could she help Morrigan and
Kelile? Or would she only make things worse if she tried?

She opened her
grimoire
, flipped through
its pages, and closed it.
Would it work this time?
Without looking at
it, she thumbed through its pages as she asked for guidance, and then randomly
opened the book. As before, she had opened to an entry that hadn’t been there. The
title at the top of the new page sucked the air from her lungs.

The Uktena
.