“Greetings from Piasa and the Powers of the Underworld,” Night Shadow Star’s voice rang out. “He and I hold you to our bargain.” She passed Blue Heron without even a glance and strode into the sacred and inviolate space between Morning Star and the sacred fire.
The room might have been a charnel house at midnight, so thick had the silence become. Blue Heron doubted people were even breathing. The recorders appeared frozen, beads forgotten in their fingers; the warriors in the rear stood in awed amazement.
Morning Star alone seemed unfazed. “Where is your brother, Night Shadow Star? Walking Smoke’s chaos has taken us far enough down the path of destruction. He has had his chance, and it failed.”
Blue Heron watched Night Shadow Star cock her hip, her right hand resting on the head of the war club. “Speak his name no more, great Lord. That man is gone, the mere uttering of his name unseemly.”
“He is dead?”
“He is defeated. At least for the time being. But to call him dead? That may be a matter of definitions.” Her smile was a grim thing. “It took all of my resolve to keep from killing my brother when I had the chance, but Piasa kept whispering into my ear to wait, to hold, and finally, to deliver him to the river. That, I was able to do. And when the time was right, I capsized the canoe and dragged my twisted brother down to the depths.”
She took a deep breath, head back, eyes closed. “And what I saw there…?”
As the pause stretched, Morning Star asked, “Yes?”
She opened her eyes, meeting Morning Star’s stare. “My brother believed himself to be the Wild One. Like the stories of old, he wanted to unleash chaos and remake the world by resurrecting Piasa inside himself. My task was to deliver him to the Underworld Lord for punishment. Which I did.”
She hesitated, as if searching for words. “I saw the Piasa dart up from the depths. As he did his presence filled the river with a remarkable iridescent blue light. Piasa fixed on my brother as he sought to choke the life out of me. In that half a heartbeat, before Piasa could seize my brother and devour him, the Thunderbirds struck. Four bolts of lightning flashed down and boiled the water around us.”
People gasped, and Blue Heron raised a hand to her throat. It made perfect sense that the great Spirit birds would have taken the opportunity to strike when their old adversary was so close to the surface and vulnerable.
“My souls were stunned. The world went away. When I could see again,” Night Shadow Star continued, “he was gone.”
“Piasa or your brother?”
“Both. I floated limply, tumbling, alone. Everything was black. I could hear the rain hissing on the river’s surface. My lungs ached, desperate to breathe. For all I knew, I might have been dead.” She shifted, as if reliving the experience. “And then a hand reached down, grabbed me by the hair, and rudely pulled me from the river and back into this world.”
“But you didn’t see your brother die?”
“To Piasa’s disgust, the Thunderbirds struck an instant before Piasa could wreak his vengeance. Did the lightning kill my brother? Perhaps his body tumbles along the sandy river bottom disturbing only the clams and moss. He had, after all, threatened the Sky World by seeking to unleash the Powers of the Underworld. Or perhaps the Thunderbirds took him for their own reasons.”
Or perhaps—Blue Heron felt a shiver run through her—he is really the incarnation of the Thrown Away Boy, and his Power rescued him at the last moment.
Were that the case, eventually he’d be back, perpetually in conflict with his brother. And to her horror, it meant that Walking Smoke was more than just a twisted witch, but that his Power might be even more dangerous than anyone had anticipated.
He might still be alive?
She instinctively ran her fingers over the newly formed scar on her throat. An icy chill had settled between her souls.
Morning Star sat silently for a moment. Was that a look of wistfulness that reflected from his dark eyes? Did she see the faintest quiver of his lips? Perhaps Chunkey Boy’s memories of better days played somewhere between the living god’s souls?
Blue Heron sighed.
Night Shadow Star stated, “The threat posed by my brother is over for the time being. Piasa ensures me that Power between the worlds has been restored to balance.”
Morning Star said, “Convey our gratitude to the Piasa. He has saved us the construction of a square and the trouble of disposing of your brother’s remains. You may go, Lady Night Shadow Star.”
“We are not finished here, great Lord. You and I had an agreement the night I saved your life: I forgave the debt of your life; in return the perpetrator was mine to hunt.”