Kate took the steps up to her apartment two at a time, despite the pain.
Her back, jaw and everything in between felt like they had been stitched together with barbwire and then pulled taunt. But it was her dog’s pain that was important now. One way, she was the most important companion Kate had in her life and she had to do everything she could to save her. Raquel was only a dog and did not ask to get involved in this mess. She was hurt because of Kate. It briefly crossed Kate’s mind that she hadn’t asked to be involved in this either, but it was too late for nitpicking. She bashed in the door and rushed to the table. Without a thought, she cleared the table with a great sweep of her arms, pushing everything onto the kitchen floor. Jewelry, mail, hats and pens landed with a cacophony of fluttering and chings. A coffee mug broke into several pieces splashing the remains of this morning’s vanilla-hazelnut coffee across the refrigerator door.
The masked man in black came in behind her, moving quickly as he could while trying not to jar Rachel more than necessary. He got into the apartment just in time to see Kate rush out of the room through a narrow door. He waited, and after a brief clamor of cabinets being opened and slammed, Kate returned with a stack of towels and a first-aid kit. She tossed the kit on a chair and began laying towels out over the table. When she had covered enough of the table, the man in black laid Raquel down on the terry cloth bedding.
Kate unzipped the red first aid kit looked down on her puppy dog. There was so much blood. In the light, Kate could see the white of bone and the flex of muscles and tendons as short shallow breaths and whimpers of pain worked their way through the her canine companion. It was so much. Too much. How could she do anything with this stupid little first aid kit? It was a good kit-gauze, bandages of different sizes, a tube of antibacterial cream, scissors, etc. It even had a surgical needle and thread and a small booklet on how to handle various emergencies. Kate doubted that patching up your dog after being attacked by a Japanese bird demon on the beach wasn’t in the table of contents. A hot tear ran down her cheek.
“Now is not the time,” the man in black said suddenly, handing Kate a glass of water.
She stared at the glass as if he had handed her an alien artifact. “Not the time for what?”
“Freezing up,” he said flatly. “Your fears are not important. Your dog needs you to focus. Losing your focus now will do more harm to her than good.”
Kate looked from him to the dog and back. His green eyes stared back at her over the defining edge of his mask. The green was streaked with a burst of gold surrounding his pupil and shooting out throughout the iris like solar flares. They were very enchanting and very kind. Kate took a sip of water and wondered what the rest of his face looked like.
“The water is for the dog.” Kate looked at him funny. “To clean the wound…”
“Oh,” she said, and then turned her intention to Raquel. She took one of the towels and wet it. As gently as she could, she began cleaning sand and blood away from the edges of the wound. They were very deep. Too deep.
“We can’t do this,” she said. “We can’t clean these wounds. They are too deep. And it looks like there is too much flesh missing. I don’t know how I could stitch her up. She’ll need skin grafts or something. We need to get her to a vet.”
From the corner of her eyesight she could see the black mask shake. “There is no time. Even if we were to get to an animal hospital in time, it would be too late by the time the vet actually got there.”
“We could call him first. The number is right there on the frig,” Kate said, but even speaking it aloud did not deny the truth of the matter. Her dog was going to die.
“No,” he said. “No normal medicine is going to help her. But then we don’t have to rely on science, do we?”
Kate looked at him. How could he know? Not that it mattered. She didn’t have that kind of power when she was in practice. How could she do it now?
“I don’t have that kind of medicine,” Kate said. “It has been so long since I did any of this, and nothing ever like that.”
“I just watched you take on two different Spirits in one battle,” he said. “You have more than power. You have the favor of the gods. Use it before they change their mind.”
Kate looked at him. She could still feel the Cougar in her, sitting on her shoulder and watching. It was there. The Spirits were there, at least in part. She would need more if she was going to do this. She thrust the glass back into the man in black’s hand and didn’t wait until he had it. She was off into her bedroom before the water hit the floor. She held on to the Spirit of the Cougar as she tore open the closet door, nearly ripping it out of the frame. She dug through a pile of clothes, luggage and shoes until she got to the back of the closet and used her nails to dig open the hidden cubbyhole. Underneath the trapdoor was a large bundle wrapped in a quilt. Kate grabbed the bundle and lifted with such force and speed that she fell back onto her backside (A small voice inside complained that that was the third time she had landed on her butt in the last hour and there would be bruises in the morning, but the voice was very small.) She unwrapped the bundle. Nestled within the handmade quilt, was a small wooden chest.
It was her magic chest. It was magical, although there were various ruins and symbols inscribed upon it for protection and secrecy, but the chest itself was mundane. It was her magic chest because that is where she had locked away all her special magic. All the special magic she put away when Moon Turtle died.
How much had she given up of herself to lock this box? It was not just the artifacts and paraphernalia she had sealed inside. It was part of her. A large part of her life. Since she was a little girl, David Crescent Moon Turtle had been there. At first he appeared as the friendly uncle. Not a relative, but a friend of the family that had taken a special interest in her. He would show up from out of nowhere, with gifts and stories of his adventures. He wore an old army field jacket with faded patches and a worn leather hat with a beaded band and an eagle feather hanging from a leather cord. Most times, he wore deerskin moccasins, but in the summer, he would sometimes have sandals on. He always had an array of amulets, bone chokers, leather and bead pieces and turquoise and silver rings. He told her that every piece was a little bit of magic. When she was seven, she believed in him like she believed in fairies, Santa and Unicorns. As a young pre-teen, she smirked and smiled, pretending to deny her foolish childhood beliefs. As a teenager, she was looking for something to believe in. By the time she was an adult, she believed in fairies, unicorn, Santa and of course David.
Ever since she had met him in the woods that day…the Bear day as she had come to call it, he was always there for her. Sometimes with a funny story that had some boring lesson at the end that wouldn’t be important until later. When she was older, he became her sagely uncle giving her advice on school, boys and life in general. As she grew, his lessons grew in scope and breath. He began teaching her the ways of the forest. At first, she learned to identify the plants and animals by sight, smell, touch and hearing. Later, she learned how to track, hunt, forage and move through the woods without a sound. As she progressed, she learned to not only listen, but also understand and communicate with the plants and animals. He taught her the healing power of herbs along with the basics of first aid.
Then, when it was time, he took her to the world underneath and beyond reality. He taught how to see the spirits of animals and plants; how to heal through the spirit…and how to tap into that magic to fight the dark things of this world and the next. Her world had evolved and grown and he was at the nexus of it. He was her point of reference and spiritual center. Even when she went off to school, seeking to study different ways of thought and knowledge, David was still there when she needed him. As she grew into her own power as a Medicine Woman and demon slayer, he was there as her friend, teacher and lover.
Then he was gone.
She had turned off that part of her life. Despite the truths about life and death she had learned. Despite the philosophy and beliefs he had taught her, she gave it all up. It may not be what he would have wanted, but she could not deal with the grief. She locked away that part of herself and went on with the rest of her life.
She quit the world of magic, moved to the beach, and got a job in an art gallery. Sure, she had retained her knowledge and even a few tricks and minor powers, it was nothing compared to what was in that box. If she opened that box now, even if only out of desperation to save Raquel, there would be no turning back. She could not close it again. It had taken more pain than she had left in her to lock it way. She was strong now. It would not let her go. The Bear was out there looking for her again. The gods had looked her up and were knocking out the door. She remembered the dream of poker with the Gods. Was she ready to give up the cards she was holding to draw a new hand from the deck of Fate?
“Oh, that’s subtle one, Koko,” she whispered her sarcasm into the dark. A hint of flute answered her softly from a long way off.
So, the gods were listening…waiting…but more importantly, so was her dog. Kate put her hand on the latch and flipped it open. She opened the box. Sundown Lover, Medicine Woman and Demon Slayer came out.
The man in black bent over Raquel, trying to clean the wound as best he could when a blinding light came from the bedroom. He crouched down instinctively, his hand going for one of the many hidden pouches of shuriken under his coat. He relaxed only when he saw Kate come out of the room. She had thrown on a vest and a medicine bundle was slung over her shoulder, but those were only minor things, and none of which he first noticed consciously. The golden glow surrounding her was a major attention-grabber. A magical light embraced her, playing with her hair like a strong breeze. She moved with such smoothness that he thought she was levitating for a moment. That is when he realized the truth of the matter. She really had it. No wonder the Circle and the Path sent him here.
She had a long pipe in her hand. The bowl was carved in the image of a bear and the stem was covered in beadwork. Kate walked over to the table and looked down on her dog. Looking into Raquel’s eyes, she knew she had made the right choice…the only choice. She reached into her bag and felt around. It was then she remembered that she had sacrificed the last of her tobacco in honor of David before putting the pipe away.
“I don’t have any tobacco,” she said.
Her voice was ethereal. The man in black wasn’t sure he was talking to him for a moment. “Why do you need it?”
“This isn’t as easy as it looks,” Kate whispered. “I may look like I am full of power right now, but it will fade if I can’t make the link with the Great Spirit for the ritual. The smoke is also a tool for healing.”
The man in black reached into a pocket and pulled out a pack of menthol cigarettes. “Will this work?”
Kate looked down at the pack. Normally, cigarette tobacco would not be used. It had not been blessed or ritually prepared. It had been farmed and processed. But it was still tobacco. With the surge of energy returning to her, she figured she might be able to make it work. Theoretically, she might be able to make the connection with out the tobacco, but she wasn’t willing to divert any more power away from the actual healing than she had to. She took the back, and carefully fished out two cigarettes. She crushed them in her fingers and packed the tobacco into the pipe bowl. She packed it down with her thumb, and then took the Zippo lighter the man in black offered her. She thought about showing off and lighting it magically, but again she needed to conserver her power for the big show. She lifted the pipe high into the air, chanting a prayer to the Great Spirit. She followed that up with likewise gestures to the Four Corners and then finally she called the Spirit of the Bear into her, sucking in a deep toke off the pipe.
I knew you would not forsake me for long, a growling voice called to her.
She smiled, You big softy. I always knew you had heart of gold under all that fur and fang.
The Bear laughed hard. It echoed through the apartment, and seemed to come from everywhere. The man in black cringed for a moment. He didn’t know who was laughing, but he was always concerned when the Gods laughed during a ritual.
Oh, I think I have frightened your boyfriend, the Bear said, a smile in his voice.
Kate looked at the man in black, I don’t think I would call him a boyfriend. We only just met a little bit ago on the beach. He saved me from the Tengu. I haven’t even seen him without his mask.
Reassurance echoed through Kate like a warm blanket. I have. He is not bad for an Oriental.
Kate raised an eyebrow and looked closer at the man in black. He definitely didn’t have Asian eyes. What do you mean? He doesn’t look Asian.
The Bear changed the subject. Later, now we have work to do. With that, the Spirit of the Bear crashed into Kate with the force of a charging Grizzly. Her knees buckled and she nearly fell. She recovered, steadied herself and a low growl escaped her lips. She could smell the blood and it smelled good. It was meat. The Bear was with her, but she knew that was her dog and not a snack. Kate steeled her will and focused her energy. In one long exhalation, Kate released the smoke from her lungs and blew it across Raquel’s gaping wounds. When the smoke was exhausted, she took another hit from the pipe and repeated the process. As the smoke dissipated, she could see no change.
This wasn’t working. How could it not be working? Was the tobacco too weak? Was she doing something wrong? No, she had to have faith. She couldn’t give up now. The Bear was with her. This would work. She drew on the pipe a third time and then handed the pipe off to the man in black. She blew the smoke on to the wounds and this time, she could see the wound close ever so slightly, has if the rising smoke left behind new flesh in its wake. It was working. Kate realized that the first two blows were healing unseen wounds. Got to have faith. But the smoke was going too slow. Raquel was close to the edge. Kate could see the dog’s breaths growing shallower. With her mystic eye, she could see how weak Raquel had become. It was amazing the dog had held on for as long as she did. She was a credit to her species. Kate was not going to let her die. It was not her time. Kate was sure of that.
“Use the rest of the smoke to offer prayers to whatever gods might favor you,” She told the man in black. “We’ll need all the help we can get.”
“How can I help?” he asked. “You are doing all the work. What do you need?”
“Just pray,” she said.
Kate focused inward and remembered what it was to be Sundown Lover. She found that glowing girl buried deep within her and coached her out. The little girl seemed surprised and scared. It had been a long time since she had been called upon. She remembered the first time, when David had named her. She remembered the last time when most of her was locked away in the box. Now the call had come again, and Sundown Lover could since there was a life that needed to be saved. A life very important to her. Sundown Lover reached out, petted Raquel around the scruff of the neck, and then placed her hands just above the wound. It had been a long time since she had healed like this. It was going to hurt.
The aura surrounding Sundown Lover flared brightly and then began to flow along her body down her arms, into her hands and out into the body of the dying dog. The light filled Raquel, escaping through her eyes and streaming out of her ears and the gashes and claw marks in her flesh.
At the same time, the light left Kate, leaving behind shadows that mimicked the wounds on Raquel. The shadows went from grey to black to red, and then began to ooze through her clothing. The man in black saw the blood and looked up at Kate, realizing that she was about to pass out. He slid the pipe onto the table, and grabbed Kate as her knees gave out for good this time. He held her tight, keeping her up as she continued to hold her hands over the dog’s wounds. The light was still streaming from Kate to Raquel, connecting the two. As he held her in place, he could see the wounds close and mend at an amazing pace.
When the final wound closed, the man in black, picked Kate up and carried her over to the couch, laying her down gently. Blood was everywhere. He went back to the table, and grabbed some of the unused towels. He paused for a moment, checked the dog’s pulse and breathing, which were strong and steady, and rushed back to Kate. He knelt beside her and gently rolled her on her side so he could get to the bleeding. He lifted her shirt and wiped up the blood. He was startled to find that there was no wound there. The shadow-wound was still visible and bleeding just as bad as a real one, but her flesh was whole. He had seen several forms of magical healing in the past, but not one quite like this. Many healers had to take the wounds into their own bodies to work their magic, expelling it through various means. The best he could help was to try and keep the blood from getting all over the place.
The man in black moved cautiously around Kate’s apartment. He locked the door and slid the deadbolt home. He went around and checked that all the windows were closed. He checked on Raquel, who was sleeping very soundly on the table. He thought about moving the canine, but he did not want to wake her. She needed her rest, and just in case, he did not want to disturb any lingering spell works.
Kate slept on the couch, but it was far from a sound rest. She mumbled bits of dreams and nightmares and shifted restlessly. Each move caused her to flinch and gasp in pain. The shadow-wound was acting more like a real wound than he was comfortable with. He had scavenged linens and towels from everywhere in the apartment, and had ran a tub of water to soak the bloodied ones. He looked around and surveyed the apartment, still unhappy with what he saw. There was little in the way of physical security. The door was an old simple wooden model, and the windows were old single panes with simple latches. Worse yet, was the mystical precautions were even worse. There had been some attempt at purification and blessing, but they had been done long ago with no thought of upkeep since. Stepping out onto the porch, he lit a cigarette and looked around the neighborhood, scanning both visually and with his zanshin. He focused on the street below and then stretched his senses as far as he could. Nothing. At least nothing that threatened them. He snuffed out his cigarette in a glass astray that hadn’t been used for several months at least. With a last look around, he went back inside.
Kate’s wound had bled more, although the flow had subsided to a slow ooze. He lifted her shirt and wiped it as clean as he could. The shirt was getting in the way and blood saturated the cloth. The black stain had spread over half of the brown cloth. Half the wolves screen-printed on the front had been plotted out. The hem of her jeans had also begun to soak up blood. He looked up her up and down. The only decision was to get rid of the shirt. The blood had slowed but showed no sign of stopping. From what he could feel, her flesh was whole, so there should be no concern of infection. Of course, mystical wounds had their own set of complications, but magical healers usually had inborn defenses. He wandered if there would be any problems with her suddenly reactivating her powers and jumping right back into the heavy stuff.
“Well, in an universe of probabilities, you could only pick you path and hope the Gods didn’t take offence,” he mumbled to himself, deciding to treat the shadow-wound like any other wound. He reached into his coat and pulled out a tanto knife. The Japanese blade’s wavy pattern was rendered black and silver in the dim light. He put the blade to the cloth and hesitated for a moment. How would she feel about waking up half-naked with a strange man in the apartment? He decided to cross that bridge when he came to it. With subtle flick of the wrist and a slick, soft “shhhick,” the shirt fell apart, revealing the soft, pale flesh beneath. He made another pair of quick cuts and then sheaved the knife with an extravagant movement; an added flourish that put a brief smile on his face despite his unappreciative, and admittedly unconscious audience.
Grabbing a towel, he pulled away the remnants of the bloodied shirt and pressed the towel in place over the wound. With one hand, he wadded up the shirt and set it on the growing pile of blood-soiled linens. Gently he lifted her up and tucked the towel under her side. The wound reached from just below her right breast and arced down her side to the top of her hip, vaguely in the shape of Morocco. He ensured the towel was covering the entire wound and then laid her back down.
Kokopelli sat on a worn stool at the corner of Mayfly’s. He wore faded jeans and a pink t-shirt with black letters that read “PINK IS THE NEW BLACK” across the chest. His four ponytails were slicked back and held down by an Atlanta Braves baseball cap. He looked comfortable and even had the feel of a regular. Kate sat down beside him as if it was an everyday thing.
“So, you threw it all away,” he said. It was not a question.
Kate did the shot of tequila that sat in front of her.
“Welcome back,” he smiled.
Kate stared at the empty glass, looked up at him and then punched him square in the face. Kokopelli went flying backwards. The bar stool clattered to the floor catching on the flute in Kokopelli’s hip pocket and sent the instrument flying across the bar. It landed on the green felt of the pool table with a hollow, slightly musical clattering. The chaos continued as the dark skinned Casanova of the Plains landed on a table, crushed it to the ground and sent the four chairs skittering away. Blood flowed down his nose and across his lips. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and started to say something, but Kate was suddenly on top of him, yanking him to his feet with a hand around his throat and another crushing his groin.
“How dare you!” She shouted into his face. “You used my dog to get to me!” She squeezed and Kokopelli’s eyes bulged. “You hurt a defenseless animal. The only thing that means anything in my life! Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now!” Kokopelli tried to speak, but Kate just squeezed harder and it came out as a small squeak. His eyes met hers and all he saw was fire. The power was threatening to burst out of her in a rage he had never seen in a mortal. Her strength only grew as she spun him around and forced him against the bar.
“Look,” Kokopelli tried to stammer out an answer, but Kate would not let him speak. Her hand closed tighter, cutting off his air. He forced his voice into her head. “We didn’t do this. I couldn’t ever do anything like that. Your anger is just, but I am not who you should be mad at.”
Kate shook her head against the words, bashed the rogue against the bar once more and then tossed him over the pool table. Kokopelli smashed against the large plate-glass window with a loud crash. Like a lake when a stone hits the surface, the window rippled and then went still, again. Kokopelli laid there on the bar floor, closely examining what appeared to be a piece of chewed gum that had been worn flat after years of drunken pool-playing. Kate turned back to the bar and found a shot of tequila waiting for her. She picked the lime of the rim, down the shot and sucked the juice from the lime. A deep breath issued forth and she set the empty glass back down. Her hand was shaking and she tried to steady it. Another deep breath and she could control herself now. She tried to ignore Kokopelli as he stood and dusted himself off.
Looking around, she found the TV behind the bar was on. The image that played was not a game or race, but of her living room. She was laying on the couch unconscious with the mysterious man in black kneeling over her. She watched as he reached under his dark coat and pulled out a large Tanto blade. Everything was going in slow motion, as if it were a DVD set to slow-play.
Kokopelli had retrieved his flute and set it on the bar beside her, watching her reaction to the scene.
“What? He saved me and now he is going to kill me?” Kate asked, obviously trying to keep her calm now. “Is that why you brought me here? To let me watch myself get murdered?”
“No, sweetheart,” Kokopelli said. “I just wanted to congratulate you and welcome you back into the fold.”
“Then send me back,” she demanded, anger rising. “I still have some surviving to do tonight.”
“Not yet, just watch,” the god said, nodding toward the screen. Suddenly the slow motion moved switched to normal speed, and the knife moved faster than Kate could follow. In an instant, her shirt was cut to shreds and removed. Kate blushed as she saw herself exposed. The man did not take time to ogle her naked breasts, but immediately placed a towel to her bleeding wound.
“Now, I really am going to have to kill him,” Kate whispered, modesty still overwhelming her. She blushed as the man stood taking away the shreds of her shirt and another towel, this one black with blood. The “camera” followed him as he took them outside and dumped them on the porch. Outside, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He moved to pull down his mask, but the angle turned away from his face.
“Just when I was going to see what my mysterious ninja benefactor looked like,” Kate punched Kokopelli in the shoulder. “Turn the camera back.”
“I can’t,” Kokopelli answered. “Well, I could, but it would take more power than I care to waste for something you can find out on your own. His mask has some very powerful enchantments on it. You are just going to have to pull it off for yourself.” Kate started to complain, but Kokopelli hushed her. “I didn’t drop by to share drinks and play voyeur. The tengu that attacked you was not random, and we did not send it. There are other players joining the game. The attention of the entire demon world is being turned your way.”
“To me?”
“My, my, don’t we have an ego,” Kokopelli chided. “No, Sundown. To the beach.”
Kate looked at him in disbelief. “What, do the Princes of Hell want a new vacation spot? You know, I got a friend who has some condos for sale, I bet I could get Belz-”
“Shush!” Kokopelli shouted. “Don’t say any names here. We are on the boarder of many realms, and unless you want a bar tab that includes your soul, I would stay silent.” Kate took the advice. “No, there are big workings going on at the beach.” Kokopelli produced a remote and changed the channel with an audible click.
The scene looked to be a bedroom that Kate didn’t recognize. Large black dogs were eating the remains of something that Kate could only hope wasn’t human. When one of the dogs raised its head, Kate could see its red eyes glow. In its maw was a thin forearm; the hand at the end was finely manicured and the nails painted purple.
Click. A body lay in an alley somewhere. Blood streamed from empty eye-sockets.
Click. A shapely woman in a white lace teddy and matching thigh-highs and heels gets of a portly man in a velvet lounge chair that could only have been found in a private room in a local strip club. She wipes her face and smiles as she leaves, fangs flashing. The man lies still, except for the slight ooze of blood from his neck. He was still smiling.
Click. A police officer marks off that appears to be two bodies lying prone with their feet touching. It takes a moment to realize that the first body is flat and deflated like an empty balloon while the other is bloody and red with no sign of flesh on it. Kate fights the urge to vomit.
Click and the image returns to the man smoking on her porch.
“Was that necessary?” she asked in soft voice.
Kokopelli looked at her with a touch of sadness or, maybe, pity. “Yes. You have to understand what is going on. Something big is happening. Big and evil. And all the protections that individuals and nations have put up around them are not doing a blasted thing.”
“How could that be?” Kate asked. “The government keeps tabs on everything magical. The U.S. has some of the best spell webs and wizards watching out for just this kind of thing. What about the Order of Saint Christopher or the other secret societies? Even the Rosicrucians and Illuminati wouldn’t want this to happen and upset their political maneuverings!”
Kokopelli just shrugged. Kate’s mind was spinning. Magic had been repressed and regulated to near non-existence in the world. David had taught her some of the real history of the world. From Constantine and the Catholic Church’s efforts to cage the world’s magic for the Empire to the secrets of international magical politics. This should not be able to happen. So much dark energy in one spot should have an entire world of government wizards and cabalist on full alert.
“Something has been able to shroud themselves in the darkness of the Bloody Spot.” Kokopelli paused as Kate remembered her experience there.
“The madness,” Kate said simply. ” I remember the madness and the need. How could anybody harness that force. It would eat them alive.”
“Nothing human could,” Kokopelli admitted. “The Spot is something that is not of this…Well, I don’t know what it is not of, but neither does anyone else. It has existed since the before the Earth. Any mortal who comes in contact with it falls to its call, and does not escape. You only survived because you encountered it in the Dreaming. Even then, it almost got you. If it were not for us–and the Bear, you would have probably never awoken. No human wizard or shaman can detect it by spell or device. We gods know about it, but even we cannot scry it. Nor can we learn any of its history. Most encounters with the Bloody Spot don’t leave any survivors to tell the tale. But there are some clues.”
Kate tried to pay attention, but her eyes kept slipping over to the TV. The man was checking on Raquel, who was still asleep on the table. She looked back to Kokopelli.
“I did some talking to Loki and a few other of the Europeans and they say there are some records of a group of sorcerers that disappeared into the heart of America back before the colonies were established. They had been in the Norse lands before that, seeking knowledge of Erikson and others who had journeyed west. One had even sacrificed to the All Father for direction. It seems they sought for some power that would free them from the restrictive hierarchy of the European guilds and societies. No record of them exists after the landed with the Spanish in Florida. Not even the People have tales of them.”
Kate nodded, already feeling lost. “What am I suppose to be able to do? Shouldn’t you be getting in touch a government shaman or something? They would have more power to bring to bear. I am just one person, and I haven’t used my powers for…too long.”
“Except for tonight,” Kokopelli reminded her.
“Until tonight,” Kate agreed, looking back to the TV, currently focused on her dog, which was no coincidence, she was sure.
“There were five attacks on adepts along the beach,” Kokopelli said. “Overall, they were minor players-witches, enchanters, and black-market peddlers. You were the only one to survive. If were not for your friend, there, you would have probably fallen, too.”
“Why couldn’t you have helped me?” Kate asked.
“We tried, but something kept this hidden until the last moment. Until we could see through your eyes what was happening, we were blind.
“Worse yet, something is preventing us from entering the Strand. I could not even walk across the North Carolina border. I fear that what ever those lost sorcerers did, it let loose something powerful and that has given wings to the power of the Bloody Spot. The Spot does not seem to be sentient, just evil and mad. But whatever has been born from it, however, is another story. And taking control of all the magic in Grand Strand is part of its designs.”
Kate thought about it. She had lived several places throughout the country, but had moved to the beach on a whim. Or was it something that called to her. She knew that for one reason or another she had passed up several job offers that would have paid more but taken her away from the beach. She could never figure out why. But she wanted to stay. She liked her home, and didn’t like the idea of something taking over her home. “What is special about Myrtle Beach?” she asked.
“It is a place of traveling,” Kokopelli said. When Kate looked confused, he continued. “It is not like a place of power, like ley lines intersections or sacred places, although it does have its share of holy places. It is a thin strip of land on the edge of the ocean. However, the Grand Strand is more than a place between land and water. It is a place where there is a thinness in the board of all realities. The edge of the Tao, the Chinese would call it. It touches all.”
Kate understood. A “border” like this, where traveling between planes of existence, where uncommon, but not unknown. Tibet, The Painted Desert, Delphi and several others were popular and powerful places.
“How could nobody know about this? I have been here for years and never heard any stories about it. Surely, the government would have known and protected the region.”
Kokopelli shrugged. “That is a mystery. If the Bloody Spot’s child was born of those sorcerers back before the U.S. was founded, it could have found this spot and protected it long before anyone walked the land. Even the local People did not often journey to this region. Of course, it was just swamp and woodland for generations, even after Europeans claimed the land. “Crow has gone off in search of someone who might know more. White Buffalo Woman seeks commune with the Great Spirit, and Coyote is off to gather aid from other powers and pantheons.”
Kate laughed, “He doesn’t strike me as the diplomat.”
“He will have to do,” Kokopelli said. “I will go do my own recruiting once I am done here. I have some charms that might be of use.”
“Are there some goddesses you haven’t pissed off?”
“There are some who remember me fondly, although a husband or two might still be miffed.”
A look of concern came over Kate’s face. “What I am to do?”
Kokopelli grinned. “Do what you do best. Help people. Of course, this time it will not be a scared girl or a drunk in a bar. It will be everyone in the entire strand…maybe the entire world.”
“Great.”
Kokopelli stood up, slapped some money down on the bar and started to walk to the door. He stopped and turned back to her.
“We cannot help you very much while the Strand is shrouded. I can only tell you to seek out help from within the area.”
Kokopelli hesitated, but finally continued. “Beware the man in black. He is not all that he seems.”
“A masked ninja in a black coat with magical throwing stars is not what he seems?” Kate said. “Big surprise there. Not very original.”
Kokopelli laughed. “Somethings are always that way. But let me give you this. The Circle and the Way are dangerous. They have their own agenda and he serves them, but perhaps, I can help you in some small way.”
Kokopelli rushed up to her, swept her up into his arms and kissed her hard on the mouth. Kate saw stars and immediately felt her blood heat. She began to kiss him back, unable to control herself in the rising passion. Then he was gone.
“Besides, I think you two will be good to each other.”
