The Kuthun (12 page)

‘Better. Healing,’ he says. He begins to shake his medicine stick slowly.

The smoke from the fire starts to build within the tepee and amongst the haze I see shapes taking form. Tendrils of smoke are whipping their way back and forth across the ceiling and through it I can make out the faint outlines of a horse, eagle and bear. Behind them another animal comes walking forward, its pace slow and graceful. As it nears its features become clear and my eyes widen in surprise.

The animal walking towards me is none other than Magi. At least…I think it’s Magi? I watch her walk towards me on a pathway of air, revelling in her beauty. Her amber eyes are sparkling with magic and her coat is throwing off a midnight-black sheen. She looks just the same as she does now but somehow more powerful, more ethereal. My tongue is caught in my throat. I look at Taqôq Wiyon, who is smiling.

‘Yes, yes. You two are one,’ he says, while gently shaking his stick back and forth.

I don’t know what to say. What does he mean? ‘I…I don’t understand,’ I say confused.

‘Look,’ he says pointing to Magi. ‘Look.’

I focus on the vision before me. I see Magi standing underneath a full moon, the light of which makes her appear otherworldly. Across from her stands a woman. I can’t quite make out her features as they aren’t clear, but she is glowing. The colours of her aura are swirling all around her, blowing her long, dark hair away from her face. She is standing beneath the sun, the light engulfs her with its brilliance and she raises her arms to it in worship. The sun and moon move across the sky to one another until they are just touching—like two halves of one whole. The woman reaches out and touches Magi’s head. They both look in my direction, staring into beyond. I see the blood of the woman intertwining with the blood of Magi and my body shudders with understanding. The vision starts to fade.

I stay still, head down, replaying the scene out in my mind. Could it be what I think it means? Am I the woman? Something about it resonates with me on a deep level. I feel the warmth of truth within me.

‘The woman is me?’ He nods. ‘And I am a sun worshipper?’

‘Yes. Ray of Sun,’ he replies.

The meaning of my name
. This is all starting to make more sense. I think back to the vision again. ‘And Magi and I are connected, by blood?’ I ask.

He nods again. ‘Yes. She protect you.’

My hands find their way from my lap to my knees. ‘Wait, what do you mean protect me?’

‘I join you,’ he says, patting his chest and grinning.

My eyes fall to the fire and I take a moment to try and figure out what he means. I think about Magi and our connection; about Mum and Magena; Isabella; and being here in this place. My mind starts to explode with images and facts from my past. Things I hadn’t thought about in such a long time are engulfing my senses. A clear picture starts to form in my mind.
I join you
. Could it be?

‘Let me get this straight. Are you saying that you created a spell that joined the wolf blood to the Cole blood?’ It sounds crazy to my ears but with the unravelling of recent events I’m starting to believe that anything is possible.

He nods and simply says, ‘Yes.’

I can’t believe it. I hadn’t thought about it before but it would make perfect sense. Why didn’t I see it before? I bet if I went back through our history I would find that ever since Isabella came to be here in this place, every Cole woman since then has had a wolf-dog as their companion. But what was his purpose behind doing that?

Taqôq Wiyon is silent. He has closed his eyes and appears to be humming to himself.

‘Why did you do this?’ I ask him curiously.

I wait for him to answer. He takes his time. Slowly his eyes open. ‘When Isabella came, I smoke her spirit. I saw many things. I saw her sacred blood. This mean she must be saved. This mean, she must be protected. And on and on.’ He waves his hand back and forth.

On and on? ‘Oh, you mean forever, as in every Cole woman from then on?’ I say.

He nods and stares into the fire.

I take my time considering this. He must have joined the spirit of Isabella’s baby to that of a wolf when she was born. That’s the only thing I can think of. If the two souls are connected then that would be why when a Cole witch dies, the wolf dies too.

Mum and Magena
,
I remember painfully.

I don’t know why it never occurred to me before but this would explain so many things. Like how Magi always knows when I am in trouble and turns up out of nowhere; or when she gets hurt and I can feel it; or when she can sense danger lurking—like at the school when she wouldn’t get in the car with Uncle Jo. The whole time she was protecting me.

Oh, Mags
.

‘Poison no kill her,’ he says, bringing me back to the present.

‘How did you know about that?’ I ask surprised.

‘I see many things. I know many things,’ he answers humbly.

A thought occurs to me that if that’s true then I need to ask him some more questions. ‘Do you know what is happening to me?’ I ask, not being able to think of any other question more important right now.

Again he takes his time. He blows on the fire, stoking its embers. I wait. His hands have found their way to his neck where he is clasping the chain of bones. His brow furrows in concentration and his eyes roll back into his head, where they are flitting uncontrollably in a trance-like state. He stays like this for a while before he answers. ‘You very powerful. You, The Great One who chosen. You learn fast. You be strong. Find the light. Break the curse.’ His body shudders and then he is still.

I don’t know how to respond. Everything he has just said runs through my mind. My heart is racing. The Great One? The spell in the book said the same thing. Could it have been meaning me? But that’s absurd, I mean, how could it? I am just a sixteen year old girl, with some supernatural ability, that comes from a long line of witches who have been hunted for centuries by a curse that…

I stop myself from continuing. I am trying to talk away what I know to be true. All of this is so surreal. My head is swimming in a vast lake of murkiness, where all around me images of my family, the truth of our survival, and the path I now need to take, are all trying to kick their way to the surface.

I start to feel light-headed.
No
,
not
now
. I can feel my body wanting to teleport. I focus on keeping my energy still. ‘What is the light?’ I quickly ask.

‘The light is sun. The sun is She,’ he answers calmly.

The light is She? What the bloody hell does that mean? I’m getting frustrated with the riddles. ‘Who is She?’ I ask, hoping that this time he can make more sense. My energy is fading.
No
!

Right before I teleport I hear him say, ‘Goddess of Sun.’ I see him smile and nod his head.

I land back in the living room and reach out for the lounge to steady myself. Time travel doesn’t seem to agree with my equilibrium. I sit and look to my right, where Magi is still sleeping peacefully on the chaise and I let out a relieved sigh. The voices of my aunt and uncle flow out from the kitchen.

‘Lil, it’s going to be okay.’ Uncle Jo reassures her. ‘She will be alright. We’ll figure this out and stop it once and for all.’

I hear my aunt sob. ‘But we can’t lose her, Jo. I can’t lose another child. I couldn’t bear it.’

Another child? The thought of my uncle and aunt losing a child pulls at my heart strings. I knew they couldn’t have children, but I hadn’t thought of them losing one either.

‘I know. I won’t let that happen,’ he promises her.

‘Why didn’t you tell me all this, Jo? I know you told me some things, but not this. How could you keep that from me?’ she asks him accusingly.

‘I’m sorry, love. I just didn’t want you to be afraid. I didn’t want you involved unnecessarily.’

‘Unnecessarily! Jo, I am your wife. And I love Ellie just as much as you do. I should have known about this…this Venator or whatever he is.’

I regain my balance and walk quietly into the kitchen. Uncle Jo is sitting across the table from Aunt Lily, his hands wrapped firmly around hers.

She looks up as I enter and wipes away the tears. ‘Ellie,’ she says breathlessly as she walks towards me. She hugs me fiercely and I hug her back, while apologising to my lungs for the absence of air that is being squeezed out of them.

‘I’m okay,’ I say quietly.

She steps back and keeps her hands on my arms. ‘Please don’t disappear like that again.’

Guilt finds its way into my heart. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.’ I look past her to see worry smeared across Uncle Jo’s face. His stubble of a beard is throwing off speckles of grey, giving him a rugged, distinguished look, while his hazel eyes are glistening with tears.

Aunt Lily moves aside and I slowly make my way towards him. He welcomes me into his chest and I feel his big arms wrap themselves around me, making me feel safe and warm. We stay like this for a moment. I can feel relief flooding through him, calming him. He kisses me on the head and whispers, ‘Don’t ever, ever, do that to me again.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper into his chest, taking in his piney scent, not wanting to let go. I feel him relax finally and we gently part.

I look between their faces, feeling uncomfortable with the thought that I put them through more worry. ‘How long was I gone?’ I ask quietly.

‘About one hour,’ he says.

One hour! It felt like I was there longer than that. Maybe time is slower here. I nod. ‘Any change in Magi?’

‘Her breathing has stabilised and the bleeding has stopped,’ Aunt Lily responds, while fiddling with her pearl-studded wedding ring. ‘I’ve been checking on her regularly.’

‘Thank you,’ I say. She smiles faintly and moves towards the kitchen bench where there is fresh dough laid out on the board. She must have been cooking again, it’s like meditation for her. She touches Uncle Jo’s arm as she passes him. His eyes follow her and then turn back to me.

He jerks his head indicating I should follow him and he leads me into the lounge room, hands thrust deep into his pockets. He sits down on the over-sized cream covered sofa that is decorated with large comfy cushions and a beautifully crocheted deep green throw. I sit down next to him and draw my legs up under my chin.

He takes a deep breath. ‘Okay, tell me what happened?’

I begin to tell him about the vision of Magi and how our bloodline was protected by the wolf. I explain what Taqôq Wiyon said about me being The Great One who was chosen; my power; finding the light; and stopping the curse. Finally, I tell him that the light represents the Goddess of the Sun.

His raises an eyebrow at the last part but he doesn’t say anything, he just sits there staring at Magi for a while.

‘Well it makes sense. I mean about Magi,’ he says. ‘Your mum and Magena had the same bond. My mother and her dog too. I always knew something was a little strange about these wolf-dogs that look alike. I just could never quite put my finger on it.’

I can’t believe I missed it myself. ‘Yeah, well now we know,’ I say a little too bluntly.

‘You’re upset?’ he asks.

I stand up quickly and turn on him. ‘Yeah I’m upset! Why wasn’t I told any of this? I mean surely there have been enough Cole women over the years, with enough time to spare, to share this information. Why is it that I’m only finding some of this out now? Surely Mum suspected some of this. She was the most intuitive person I’ve ever known.’ I start pacing out of frustration.

Uncle Jo glances at me and looks away. ‘You’re tired, Ellie. I understand your frustration, believe me. I have spent years trying to figure it all out. Maybe some of those women did too. There must be a reason that these secrets have remained hidden. We’ll figure it out together, I promise.’ He nods his head in the direction of the stairs. ‘Why don’t you head up to bed and get some rest. I’ll watch Magi tonight. We’re safe here in the house. Go on.’

‘In a minute,’ I say, still processing information that I don’t understand. The thought of slinking my way upstairs and burying my face into my pillow while I comatose into a deep sleep appeals to me, but there are still things unanswered. ‘Who is the Goddess of the Sun?’

His eyes wander about the room, finally settling on the picture of me and Mum when we went to Disneyland for my ninth birthday. We are smiling broadly and you can see the big black ears of Goofy behind us. I wait for him to respond.

‘You know how we touched on the possibility of Ancient Egypt being a tie in to our bloodline earlier, but we didn’t have any evidence?’ I nod. ‘Well, I believe now we do,’ he says with mixed emotions.

I sit back down, eager for more information. ‘What do you mean?’

‘The Goddess of the Sun. The Sun is She,’ he says quietly.

‘Yes, I know that part!’ I say exasperated. ‘But who is She?’

He slowly shifts his body towards me. ‘I believe that She, is Isis.’

A chill runs up the nape of my neck, his words have hit a nerve. It takes me a moment to comprehend what he has just said. ‘Isis! As in
the
Isis, the Goddess of Egypt and Mother of Horus!’ I exclaim in disbelief. Unlike economics and art, history is one of my strong points.