Personal Journal: Kiralau Emberhawk
I was fully prepared to give the battle every ounce of spirit magic that I could muster, even if I burned myself out completely again. So when my father asked me instead to sit and talk my jaw dropped. It was uncharacteristic in the first place, but under these circumstances it was nigh impossible. I stared at him long and hard for a minute but as I watched him return to his seat I realized that he must be serious. I released the air as I made my way to the seat across the desk from him. The temperature in the room began to rise back to normal Kiowa mild winter weather.
The room was still dark save for the glow of the flame in my father’s palm. “You owe me a new light,” he said as we continued staring at each other across the desk in the darkly lit room. It was a joke I knew, but his deep voice was so gruff I couldn’t even force a smile. He cleared his throat, “So Kiralau, we both know that you shouldn’t be here. Tribe custom says you shouldn’t even be alive. So tell me, carefully and in detail, why you are here right now.”
I thought perhaps this would be the only chance I had so I took the opportunity and began from the beginning of the moments that led me here. My father seemed most interested in the parts about Industrial City when I depleted my chakra, nearly died, and got a good chewing out by a True Ancient medicine woman. Then in D.C. the Red Spirit appeared to me, gave me access to the Genesis Energy of Fire and Ice and lastly, told me the Eternal Flame was in danger of falling into the wrong hands. At this Chief Emberhawk stiffened. He motioned for me to continue so I did. When the Red Spirit told me about the Eternal Flame, it took me a little while to decide to come back to Kiowa territory, but finally I decided I had to and Ryan and I journeyed back to the village though I knew I was a dead woman.
When I finished relaying the details, my father nodded. “I accept your story,” he said. “Allow me to relay my side of the story now.” I nodded in return.
“About one year ago, we were attacked by an alliance of non-technolized tribes. They claimed we were poaching on their lands. We fought them off easily enough, but not without a few casualties. Before the month was out another tribe rallied our non-technolized brothers and attacked claiming something else. Within six months we had been attacked by more than as many such alliances and we were beginning to suffer from the losses. Not only that but strangely, our crops began to stop growing and the animals we hunted migrated just outside our lands. The elders began to worry, and so they sent emissaries to other tribes, but those who returned were beaten and said the other tribes would not even allow them into the camps. We were out of options when two people appeared at the gate to the camp. A man and woman, Jasper and Claire they said their names were. They offered us everything we needed for practically nothing. We’ve been living off their gifts for the last several months. It wasn’t until thirty days ago they told us what they wanted from us. To attack the Jeruk, with everything we are capable of. We’ve been preparing for that invasion outwardly, but secretly I knew there had to be another reason why all of this was happening. The Jeruk are no joke. We may be able to win but it would take us months to get there, then months of extremely strategic battle and months to return. It is not a battle I wish to lead my people into. For what purpose could they want to attack the Jeruk anyways. I suppose they could be interested in the tales of their cities of gold. But gold is of little use to slaves or the dead. Then you arrived. At first I thought perhaps you were a part of it, but something in my connection with the Red Spirit told me that wasn’t the case. Now I know why they want all of our men away from the territory for half of a year.”
“Unfortunately I have been unable to go and check on the Flame for worry of being followed and for worry of someone trying to usurp me while I was out. I can assume they haven’t found it since they are still here, however I believe a golden opportunity has presented itself thanks to you and the Red Spirit. Kiralau, I know you can never forgive us but if we can rescue the Flame, return our people to power, perhaps then we can change some things in our society. You don’t know how many times I have wished you were here beside me this last year. You were always brilliant even as a child and I’ve regret that decision every day both as a leader of our people and as a father.”
“I have a plan that I’m sure will work now with your help, if you will give it.”
I took in all of his information. Samupai had relayed most of it already to me, but hearing the defeat in my father’s voice shocked me. I was almost ready to cry by the end of it, but I stopped crying the day these people decided I was no longer worthy of being alive. He was right, I probably never could forgive them, but even if I wasn’t compelled by the Red Spirit, it was clear these people were hurting. My nickname on the airship may be The Angel of Death (I will murder whoever started that!) but the truth is I joined the Godspeeds for this reason exactly. There are desperate people in the world who don’t deserve to be desperate. I was one of those desperate people at one point and I found hope. It’s only right to keep passing that hope on.
I nodded my consent and we began to plan. Oddly, it reminded me almost exactly of when my father first taught me to hunt. I had the bow and arrow in hand but it wasn’t just a matter of shooting he said, you had to outthink the animal, to know how it would react and where it would go. I had used that lesson so many times in my life.
The plan was simple enough. He was going to hold a town meeting which Jasper and Claire would be a part of. He would attempt to keep them at bay as long as possible. It was Ryan and I’s job to sneak out of town before they knew we were here and to find the Eternal Flame. He began to tell me where it was hidden, but I stopped him. I already knew and he laughed heartily when I told him I followed him once when I was a child. I was the only one in history, as far as he was concerned, to know where it was hidden without being a Chieftain. He somehow wasn’t surprised or upset that I already knew, which was really great. I had been wondering how I would tell him I knew where the Eternal Flame was. Once we arrived at the cave I was to speak with the Red Spirit. It would tell me what I should do in order to protect it. He stopped then though and looked me in the eyes. “You must not touch the Flame,” he said earnestly. “There are stories passed from Chieftain to Chieftain of people who believed they could wield it, some who only touched it on accident, who were burned into ashes. The Red Spirit has a pact with the current Chieftains for us to use and move it for the Flames safety. You may have been in line, but I would hate to see what it would do to you now that you have been banished.”
I understood. I couldn’t imagine wielding that much power anyways. I nodded again. The plan seemed easy enough. It would take less than an hour to get there and from that point just do what the Red Spirit said. Jasper and Claire would be busy so I shouldn’t need to worry about them.
“One last thing,” my father said before I left. He got up and came around the desk and to my surprise and shock again, he gave me a small hug. “It brings me joy to see you again Kiralau and thank you from the tribe and from myself for your help in this.”
This time I gave in and gave him a small hug back. Maybe when this was all done I could find a way to be civil again, maybe. With that last sentiment we separated. I quickly passed through the door. I looked around for Ryan and finally spotted him in the least likely of places. Some children had taken a liking to his whip so he was showing them how it worked. He looked more like a rodeo clown with his antics than a hardened Texan war veteran. When he looked over and saw me his smile quickly faded and with a few pats on their heads and sounds of complaints from the children, he replaced his whip on his hip and jogged over to me. I decided not to ask and instead told him we needed to get out of town quickly and quietly. Everything was fine I assured him, but we mustn’t be seen by some people named Jasper and Claire. He understood, like I knew he would, and we quickly began running through the gaps in the houses towards the hidden entrance to the side which was only used in case of heavy attack and evacuation. I, of course, used it so that I could go out and explore as a child.
Fortunately for us we made it out without incident. I watched as families began to make their way to the town meeting hall and knew my father had set his plan in motion. It would take them several minutes to congregate and then I had however long he could stall the strange couple. I increased my pace and Ryan followed my lead.
~———–~————~————~————~————~
Ryan and I actually made it to the entrance ten minutes faster than we had expected. That was great news. I had told him that the Flame was in a cave but when we arrived all that could be seen was one single large boulder surrounded by trees and forest. Ryan came to the obvious conclusion that if the Flame was in a cave then it must be under the stone, he then came to the next obvious conclusion that there was no way he and I could move that boulder. I smiled. The Spirits are unbelievably powerful. I circled around the boulder allowing my hand to slide along the surface of the stone. Before reaching even halfway around the circumference of the stone, my hand fell into nothing. It was a mirage made to look like stone. Ryan shook his head amazed as I drug him into the dark. Inside the stone was a black staircase leading down. I used some of my spirit magic to create light. I wasn’t nearly as precise as my father so my flame came out more like an explosion of fire but it gave us enough light to make it down the stairs.
The bottom of the staircase led us into a huge cavern. There seemed to be hundreds of steps but the realization of how enormous the cavern was and how high the ceiling rose made it feel like we hadn’t taken nearly enough steps to be this deep into the cave. Quickly however our thoughts of the cave and the stairs were erased. At the end of the cavern hovered what looked like a giant ruby burning white with the heat of a thousand suns. Perhaps I am more rational than greedy or power hungry men, but I wouldn’t ever touch something like that. The amount of pure magical radiance was nearly too much and I was at least several hundred feet away. We moved closer to the Flame until we were within arm’s reach of the pedestal. I reached out to the Red Spirit, and instead of hearing directions I only heard a voice say, “You are not alone.” Before I could say anything to Ryan however, he motioned for me to look behind us. My stomach sank. In the shadows of the staircase a man stood staring intently at the Flame. Though I don’t know how it would be possible, we had been followed.
The man was of Oriental descent. I couldn’t be for sure at this distance but he didn’t look Nippon. Perhaps he was from Middle Kingdom or one of the other northern territories. Whoever he was, he shouldn’t be here.
Ryan stepped up and called out for the man to retrace his steps and leave. That we would use force if we must. The man didn’t go back up the stairs. In fact, he stepped forward. He was alone, but showed no signs of worry about being outnumbered. Ryan walked forward and rested his hand on the handle of his whip. The man paused and did possibly the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen. He clasped his hands together like a man praying and let out a maniacal laugh. A hand burst up from the ground within seconds another man stood between the Oriental and Ryan. I had never seen anything quite like that. I wasn’t certain if the man that now stood there was alive or dead or something else. The man’s shoulder however suddenly burst into pieces with a loud crack and the sound of breaking glass. Ryan had as usual shot first and asked questions later, if he ever bothered to ask them at all. His whip had cracked precisely on the man’s shoulder. The arm shattered as it hit the ground. It appeared that it wasn’t a man at all, it was some sort of stone, no, perhaps more like a clay pot. The remaining body was unfazed. Its face remained placid as it raised its arm and began to stomp towards Ryan. With another quick whip crack, the clay man slip apart and fell to pieces on the ground. Ryan barked again at the man. Instead of leaving again however the man only smiled. He was definitely creepy. He again clasped his palms together and five more claymations appeared and were holding swords and spears. They rose from the earth and took one step forward. Immediately five more rose from the ground. Soon at least twenty five clay soldiers stood between the man and Ryan. Ryan looked back at me. “You know I don’t like asking for help, but hey this would probably be a lot easier if you came over here and helped out. You don’t have to of course, I’ll handle it, just, you know, thought I’d mention it.” He smiled and bullets began to rip through the air from weapons I didn’t even know he had.
I stepped up beside him and soon fire ripped through the air. Unfortunately neither my flames nor his bullets were being very effective against the hordes of soldiers. His bullets would punch holes three or four deep but it was only when one of them hit a joint that an appendage would come off, slowing them slightly. My flames were more like wind to them. It wasn’t hot enough to break them so they continued pushing forward against the force of it. I decided to switch to ice. I created ice above them and soon it began to rain chunks of ice. These worked slightly better. The soldiers seemed to be getting thicker with each man that when down. Soon they weren’t breaking anymore but instead the ice was simply bouncing off and leaving cracks. Both Ryan’s bullets and whip were having less effect as well. I could hear him muttering under his breath that he should have brought more weapons.
We both stepped back towards the pedestal. There were now hundreds of soldiers in the cavern with us. All of which were becoming slightly more impervious with every hit. My mind was racing with options, none of which were acceptable. I looked at Ryan and I could see the same thoughts on his face. Our options were running out. My mind began to reel and I heard someone say, “Touch the Eternal Flame.” I shut the voice out and threw another volley of ice at the soldiers. I began to prepare another volley when my vision went suddenly black. I was completely blind. In the darkness I saw a form appear. It was the Red Spirit. “Do I have your attention now?” it asked. “Touch the Eternal Flame. I will protect you and your companion.”
I didn’t have to say anything, it could sense I understood. My vision came back and I was already moving towards the Flame. I yelled for Ryan to get behind the pedestal. He yelled at me to stop, knowing what I was going to do, but he was smart enough to run for cover as he did. The moment I touched the Flame a searing heat erupted in my veins, no, down to the very atoms in my body. I screamed. It was a pain I have never experienced and I’m sure I will never experience again.
What happened next is from Ryan’s perspective. He told me after the fact that I did not actually scream but that it was a high piercing noise that erupted from the Flame, much higher in pitch than a scream. My hair burst white and my eyes were like blue furnaces. I began to glow. In one hand I held the Eternal Flame and with the other I waved it across the air in the direction of the soldiers. A scorching heat filled the room, growing until the air was unbreathable. Ryan said he began to choke but then felt something remove him from the heat like he was in some sort of bubble.
Ryan watched as the soldiers began to not only harden but they began to melt. Soon they were more liquid than solid and their appendages began to splash to the ground. Screaming entered the cavern and the man appeared in the midst of the melting soldiers, clamoring to get out of the scalding liquid. Ryan said he has heard few men scream in such anguish as that man as he too began to melt into the clay pool. Ryan described some sort of Black tendrils that surged from the man into the clay. We decided he must have been a necromancer and his energy was searching the clay for a hold on something to control. Soon though he was covered completely by the clay and the room was silent once again. I closed my hand and immediately the heat left the room. The clay hardened and cooled. I released the stone and it began to float back into its place. As immediately as the heat left the room the searing heat also left my body. It was such a relief I passed out.
When I awoke, we were still in the cave. Ryan was sitting beside me, cleaning one of his guns. I sat up and looked at him. He filled me in on all that had happened. I wasn’t sure I believed all of it, but I couldn’t remember anything after reaching out to touch the stone, so it was possible I supposed. I stood up and once again decided it was time to finish what we started. I spoke out to the Red Spirit. It appeared to me again.
“Thank you for your help,” I said graciously.
“I protected the Eternal Flame, but you are welcome,” it said in a flat monotone voice.
“I understand. Do you know what we are supposed to do in order to protect the Flame? You brought us all the way here but the boulder still seems like a safe hiding spot.”
“The stone will not always be. Now, it must be in the hands of someone who will fight to protect it. Somewhere the people understand its power. But most importantly, somewhere it will be used for good on the day all the keys are together.”
I interrupted here. “What keys are those?”
“You will find out. Until then, the place I have chosen as the new home of the Eternal Flame is with you on your ship.”
I couldn’t believe what it was saying. It wanted me to keep and take care of the Flame? And wasn’t the ship made almost entirely of wood? It seemed like an extremely bad option. But as if it was reading my mind, it conjured a necklace with the jeweled brooch in the shape of the Flame. It was red on the outside, slowly changing to blue and then to white in the very center of the jewel. The necklace fell into my hand. It was warm and certainly wouldn’t be making a campfire out of our ship. It was utterly amazing.
“You are now the Keeper of the Flame. The safety of the world is in your hands.”
With that the Red Spirit disappeared.
“Wait,” I yelled. It rematerialized. “I know you have done a lot, but will you please help the Kiowa. They have been faithful to you and need you now as much as you have needed them today.”
The spirit hovered for a moment, silent. After a minute it spoke. “You are correct. I will speak to Chief Emberhawk and advise him on the Peahan couple.”
For the last time that day I nearly choked. I knew who the Peahan’s were and their names were certainly not Jasper and Claire. They were a devious married couple who had as much money as the Godspeeds but did nothing good whatsoever with that money. Everything fell into place with the attacks, the crops and animals, the tribes being unwilling to assist the Kiowa, and why they wanted the Kiowa to leave the land. The Peahan’s were in control of it all and it was they who were after the Eternal Flame. I wasn’t sure how they knew about it, but obviously their information must have been pretty solid in order to convince them to do this large of a deception against the Kiowa. I can only guess the Oriental man was a part of their group as well. Still it seemed odd that if they had such a powerful individual working for them that they would have gone to all the trouble of getting my people off their land to find and take the Eternal Flame. It was terrible news. The Red Spirit said it would help though. So I turned to Ryan and told him we needed get back to the camp. He was already up and ready to go.
I filled him in on everything the Red Spirit said as we jogged back to the camp. It was strange feeling what I knew was the Eternal Flame around my neck. It was warm but filled me with concern as to how I was going to keep it safe.
When we got closer to the camp the sound of screaming was all that was audible. Ryan and I heard it at the same time and we immediately began to run faster. The main gate was ajar and I suddenly feared the worst. Perhaps it was too late for even the Red Spirit to help them. We entered the camp and we came upon the town center where the meeting hall had been set up. To our surprise there were smiling faces everywhere. It was then we realized it wasn’t screaming at all, but cheers and celebration.
We immediately relaxed. I looked for my father upon the stage and saw him joyous as I had never seen before. When he realized I was there he motioned for me to join him. That was absolutely ridiculous and I never would so I shook my head but gave him a smile.
He quieted the crowd and spoke once more in a more serious tone.
“I have told you that the Red Spirit has assured me that we will remain safe and protected for the next year. That our food will return and everything we lost will be regained. I ask that you hear me with open ears from this point on. The Red Spirit said it will help us because a Kiowa offered her life to protect the Eternal Flame. As many of you know, that Kiowa was none other than my daughter Kiralau Emberhawk. The same Kiralau we banished more than a decade ago. I submit today that if a banished Kiowa is still named a Kiowa by the Red Spirit then perhaps we need to rethink what it means to be a warrior. Today, I welcome Kiralau back as my daughter. It is she who has shown us that a warrior is defined by what they protect and not by their blind loyalty, exemplary skills, or their bravery in battle. I now swear to the Red Spirit and my daughter that I will use my power as Chief to restructure our ideals so that we can be brave not only in fighting but in the way we treat each other as well.”
Red tongues of flame sprung to life and and whirled around my father in a fiery dance. Ever more tongues were added to their number and they wreathed the crowd as their dance grew in intricacy. Glowing flame colored tattoos appeared on the skin of everyone present lending them an otherworldly beauty. It was a Blessing of the Red Spirit. I had never seen one. My father once told me that the last time a Blessing of the Red Spirit took place my grandfather was barely old enough to remember.
The crowd erupted into cheering. My father smiled once again at me and motioned for the drums to begin. Turning to Ryan I found him slack jawed by the sight of the Blessing. I tugged on Ryan’s shirt.
“Time to go already?” he asked smiling. Holding the Eternal Flame in my hand and taking in the sight of the luminous pattern on my skin, I smiled back. It had been enough adventure for one day.
The Good Airship Lollygag 