CHAPTER FIVE DARKNESS RISING
CHAPTER FIVE
DARKNESS RISING
“It is in the darkness of
their eyes that men get lost.”
Black Elk
9:00 AM
June 13th
Pine Ridge Reservation
Greyeagle awoke to someone shaking his foot. He opened his eyes and felt like his head was going to explode. Pain lanced through him, and he felt nauseous. He couldn’t see out of his left eye.
“Wake up, dude,” said a voice.
Greyeagle’s head was swimming, and he tried to focus enough to see who was talking to him.
“Look, man, you can’t sleep it off here,” the man said. “This is a memorial. Show some respect, dude.”
Greyeagle’s vision finally came into focus.
He still couldn’t see out of his left eye, but he was in the front seat of the Charger, lying down.
A guy was leaning in the open driver’s side door, shaking his leg.
He was young, maybe in his late teens. He was Lakota, with long black hair hanging loose past his shoulders.
“Dude, are you alright?” he asked. “How much did you drink last night, man?”
“Where am I?” asked Greyeagle, trying to recall what had happened.
“You’re in the parking lot of the Wounded Knee Memorial, dude,” the man said. “You really picked a bad place to pass out. Wicked disrespectful, bruh. This is a sacred place.”
“I wasn’t drinking,” Greyeagle said. “I was knocked out.”
“Did someone rob you?” he asked.
“What’s your name?” asked Greyeagle.
“Chaska Red Elk,” he said. “Who are you?”
“William Greyeagle,” Greyeagle replied.
“Look, man, I don’t care what you’re into,” Chaska said, “you just can’t do it here, alright. People come here to pay their respects and to listen to their ancestors, not see some dude passed out in the parking lot.”
“I wasn’t passed out,” Greyeagle said. “I was knocked out. There’s a difference.”
“Tomato cantaloupe,” said Chaska. “I don’t care, and I don’t judge.
I just want you to wake up and get out of here before my boss gets here, and he’s due any minute, bruh.
So, do me a solid and wake up and move on.
No judgments or explanations needed. I mean, I’ve been known to hit the sacred herb myself, but this isn’t the time or the place. Got me?”
“Got it,” Greyeagle said. “Sorry, kid.”
“Don’t be sorry, man,” Chaska said. “Like I said, no judgments from me. Just next time, sleep it off on the side of the road or in a field. Not here.”
Greyeagle nodded and sat up. His headache spiked, and he winced as he slid his legs beneath the steering wheel and started patting his pockets for the keys.
He hit his left front pocket and heard paper crumple.
He fished it out and found a folded note.
Chaska waved at him and walked away to start getting out landscaping equipment from the back of a truck.
Greyeagle watched him for a moment, then slowly unfolded the note. It was in Kade’s handwriting and got right to the point. It read:
“Will, you never could take a punch. Looks like I’m still the tougher of the two of us.
Keep that in mind. I could’ve killed you easily, if I’d wanted to.
I let you live, but don’t force my hand.
If you won’t join me, then stay out of my way.
Otherwise, I think you know how this will end.
If you change your mind and decide to join me, you’re always welcome, but I chose this path and won’t leave it. – Kade.”
“Shit,” muttered Greyeagle.
He found his keys under the visor and fired up the engine, letting it warm up for a few minutes before backing out of the parking space.
He put it in gear and headed out of the parking lot.
Chaska waved at him, and he waved back. As he pulled off the gravel road and onto the highway, he saw a beat-up old truck pulling a trailer with two big riding mowers on it. Likely Chaska’s supervisor.
Greyeagle reached into the glovebox while he was driving and fished out a bottle of acetaminophen, then swallowed a thousand milligrams dry.
He recapped the bottle and tossed it back into the glovebox, then went back to watching the road.
He’d only been driving for about fifteen minutes when he saw a familiar vehicle coming toward him. It was the Bison.
He flashed his lights at them and pulled over to the side of the road. Mika was behind the wheel, and Sarah was in the passenger seat. Kodiak was in the back. Greyeagle could see a mixture of concern and anger on Sarah’s face. He was in trouble, and he knew it.
Mika stopped in front of the Charger, and Greyeagle climbed out. Sarah was out of the Bison in a flash and sprinted to him. First, she hugged him tightly, then she stepped back.
“That was incredibly stupid of you,” she said angrily.
“I know,” he replied.
“What happened to your eye?” she asked.
“Kade,” Greyeagle said without going into details.
“Dude, you’ve got one hell of a shiner,” said Mika. “He must’ve clocked you good.”
“He hits harder than he did when we were kids,” Greyeagle said.
“No shit, brother,” Mika said. “Why aren’t you healing?”
“I have no idea,” Greyeagle replied. “My head is killing me.”
“I take it from the black eye,” said Sarah, “that the meeting didn’t go well.”
“No, it didn’t,” Greyeagle replied, handing her the note. “He knocked me out with one punch, and I woke up in the Charger. I feel like I was kicked in the head by a horse.”
She read it quickly, then looked back up at him.
“You shouldn’t have gone alone,” Sarah said, handing the note to Mika.
Mika read it, then handed it to Kodiak.
“You should have taken me with you,” Kodiak rumbled. “He would not have gotten away with striking you.”
“I only saw what he shifted into for a moment,” Greyeagle said, “but I think it might be more than we can handle. I don’t know what it was, but it’s no wolf.
It’s some type of canine, but not lupine.
It was bigger, more powerful. Incredibly fast. Highly volatile.
Kade has rapid mood swings. Whatever he is now, I’m not sure if he controls it or if it controls him. ”
“Were you able to reach him at all?” asked Sarah.
“I thought so, for a moment,” Greyeagle said.
“But I don’t think I got through to him.
Not really. I thought telling him about Black Fox would at least pierce his armor.
He said that it only made sense that someone would resist being Oolonga-Doglalla.
But he chose what he is and didn’t want to give it up. ”
“Then this is far more dangerous than we initially thought,” Sarah said. “We need to tell Grandfather. Perhaps he will know what to do next.”
“I’m afraid the next move won’t be our decision,” Greyeagle said. “Kade will make the next move.”
“Maybe we can find them first,” suggested Mika.
“Kade has been four steps ahead of us this entire time,” Greyeagle said. “We won’t get close until he wants us to.”
“Agreed,” Kodiak said. “Yet we must learn all we can so we can defeat them.”
“Did you meet the rest of his pack?” asked Sarah.
“They were there,” Greyeagle said, “but I only met one. Her name was Raven Long Shadow. She’s Apache and Navajo.”
“Kade’s mate?” asked Sarah.
“He never used that word,” Greyeagle said. “But she was clearly submissive to him. She was afraid of him, that’s for certain, but I don’t think she likes it. She didn’t say anything. It was just a feeling I got when he snarled at her for not obeying him without question.”
“Then that might be their Achilles Heel,” Sarah said. “Maybe controlling a pack through fear instead of loyalty might be the crack in their armor that we can exploit.”
“Are they like him?” asked Mika. “Do they turn into that canine-what’s-it thing?”
“I never saw any of them transform,” Greyeagle replied. “Maybe. It would make sense, but I hope not. If they are, all we’ll accomplish by breaking their pack apart will be creating a bunch of individual enemies.”
“But if we can get them to join us,” Sarah said. “Could they be redeemed?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Greyeagle said.
“We know one thing,” Mika said.
“What’s that?” asked Greyeagle.
“If he knocked you out with one punch,” Mika said, “then we’d be stupid to try and go toe to toe with him. I’ve seen you take a hit from an Elder Vampire and keep coming.”
“He hit me before I could call upon Old Wolf,” Greyeagle said. “I’m not sure he could’ve done it if I’d been expecting it. Then again, in human form, he moved so fast I could barely track it. I shudder to think what he’d be like in whatever form it is that he takes.”
“We better figure out a way to put them down, and fast,” Mika said. “Before he decides we need to go.”
“No, we have to find a way to stop them,” Greyeagle said. “I won’t give up on finding a way to save him. He’s still my brother.”
“Will, you might have to accept the fact that the brother you knew is gone,” Sarah said, putting her hand on his cheek.
“I know,” he replied, closing his eyes, “but I can’t just give up hope.”
“We’ll do everything we can to try to save him,” Sarah assured him.
“But if we can’t,” Mika added, “we’d better hope we can figure out how to stop them. We’ve faced a lot of things together, brother, but we’ve never faced anything like the Makhótaneo’o. They’re us, gone bad.”
“That’s the thing,” Greyeagle said. “There was a time in my life when I nearly followed the same path. When I lost Sarah, I almost fell to the darkness.[2] I was right on the brink. This isn’t just about me stopping my brother. This is about me facing the darkness in myself.”
Sarah squeezed his hand gently.
“Alright,” Sarah said. “Let’s go see Grandfather.
Maybe together we can figure this out. Will, you don’t have to face this alone.
We’re all behind you, so stop being stupid and going off on your own.
Our strength is our unity. We’re together because we choose to be, because we’re a family.
Kade’s pack fears him. Eventually, even a frightened dog will bite you. ”
Greyeagle nodded.
“I’ll ride with you,” she said. “Mika, let’s get moving. The others need to hear this.”
“Follow me,” Mika said, heading for the Bison.
Kodiak stood there for a moment, staring at Greyeagle.