CHAPTER TWO OLD GHOSTS #2
“A pack of werewolves running loose on the Rez won’t be good for any of us,” Mika said, “but at least we know how to stop them.”
“Still,” Greyeagle said. “Only the strongest of werewolves can control themselves once they shift. This was controlled and dangerously intelligent. We found David bitten and tied to a tree. Werewolves wouldn’t have done that.”
“That isn’t good,” Cassie said, frowning.
“It’s worse than that,” Greyeagle added.
“How could it be worse?” asked Jay.
“I recognized one of the scents,” Greyeagle said, his tone growing darker.
“Who was it?” asked Sarah.
“It was Kade,” Greyeagle said, looking directly at Jay and Black Fox.
Most of the Hotamétaneo’o looked confused. Jay and Black Fox both looked stunned.
“Alright, who the fuck is Kade?” asked Mika.
“My brother,” Greyeagle replied. “My twin brother.”
“What?” asked Mika. “I didn’t know you had a brother, let alone a twin.”
“Neither did I,” Sarah added.
“We do not speak of him,” Jay said.
“Why?” asked Sarah.
“Kade and I were young when we lost our parents,” Greyeagle explained. “We thought they were killed by a drunk driver.”
“I thought it better to tell the boys that than to tell them they fell to darkness,” Jay said. “I was afraid of how they would react. I intended to tell them once they were grown.”
“So, you lied,” said Black Fox angrily.
“Would you prefer that I told them the darkness took you and could not be trusted around them?” asked Jay.
“Well…” Black Fox said. “No. That would have been much worse.”
“We both took it hard,” Greyeagle said. “Kade took it worse than I did.”
“I tried to teach the boys the ways of the Hotamétaneo’o,” Jay said.
“To show them the right path. To give them something else to focus on. However, I did not want to reveal too much too soon. If they were to learn to shift too early, I feared they might follow the same path as Black Fox and my Macha. Or go searching for them and become corrupted. I could not bear that thought. I could not lose them, too.”
Black Fox stared at Jay for a long moment before nodding as he released a deep sigh.
“You did the right thing, Jay,” Black Fox said. “As painful as that is to admit, you were protecting my sons. For that, I cannot fault you. In fact, I am grateful for what you did.”
“Well, by the time we were eighteen,” Greyeagle explained, “we were drifting apart. Kade was distant, even from me. When I told him I was going to join the Army, he snapped at me. Said I was selling out our heritage to serve in the white man’s military and fight their wars.”
“Kade’s heart was turning to hatred,” Jay said. “No matter how hard I tried to show him the right way, there was little left in the boy but anger.”
“Kade and I fought,” Greyeagle said. “He won. He was always a better fighter than me. I tried to convince him to join the Army with me. That we could learn a lot of good skills and use them to help our people. Kade wanted no part of it.”
“Then the unthinkable happened,” Jay said.
“Right here on the Rez. Kade lost his temper and killed a schoolteacher and the tribal officer who responded to the call. He said she was whitewashing our culture by teaching the white man’s history.
The officer merely tried to restrain him.
He committed two heinous crimes and seemed to show no remorse. In fact, he seemed proud of it.”
“Did you see this yourselves?” asked Sarah.
“No, it was told to us by two witnesses,” Jay replied. “We never saw Kade again after the incident.”
“When they came for him,” Greyeagle added, “Kade ran. There was a manhunt, and he fought the FBI team they sent after him. He killed three before they got him. He was wounded many times and fell from a cliff into the White River. We never found his body.”
“We believed he was killed,” Jay said. “Despite the lack of a body. He was stricken from the rolls of the tribe because of his actions. We also buried his name and history, refusing to speak of it. As far as the Lakota were concerned, it was as if he never existed.”
“But he lives,” said Kodiak. “How can that be if he wasn’t Hotamétaneo’o then?”
“Well, I do not know, but I have my suspicions,” replied Jay. “The only one who can tell us for certain is Kade.”
“Then we have to find him,” Greyeagle said. “And if he’s behind the killings of the two campers and now possibly David Walks Far, he has to be stopped.”
“Do you think he can be reached like you did with me?” asked Black Fox.
“I don’t know,” replied Greyeagle. “We’ll have to figure out how he’s alive and how he can shift. After that, I don’t know.”
“I will contact a few of the other elders I know,” Jay said. “I will see if they agree with my thoughts.”
“What are you thinking?” asked Greyeagle.
“Not now,” Jay said. “If I am wrong, I do not wish to say the name. It is forbidden even to say, for fear of bringing their evil back.”
Greyeagle frowned but didn’t argue. He didn’t like the sound of that.
“Maybe together we can reach him,” Black Fox said to Greyeagle.
“Maybe,” Greyeagle said. “I hope so. But we might have to accept that it’s too late to bring him back. If this is a werewolf curse, then I don’t know if there’s a way to break it.”
“Especially if he chose this willingly,” Jay added. “You and Macha fell to temptation, Black Fox. If Kade chose this, it will be much harder to bring him back. If we can at all.”
“I still want to try,” Black Fox said adamantly.
“I do too,” Greyeagle added.
“And we will,” Jay assured them. “But if he has a pack, as you said, we may have bigger problems to deal with.”
“Like stopping them before they kill again,” Mika said. “Will thinks there’s eight to ten in the pack.”
“We can match that,” Sarah said. “There’s plenty of us.”
“We cannot simply go after them,” said Jay. “That would be a mistake. We need to learn everything we can before we confront them. If they can change, tracking them will be difficult. Maybe impossible if they use vehicles.”
“He’s right,” Greyeagle added.
“Here’s a thought,” said Mika. “What if they’re Hotamétaneo’o, like us?”
“Then why did they kill the campers and attack David?” asked Greyeagle. “Whatever they are, they’re nothing like us. Besides, you felt their presence at the campground. It was evil, like the Oolonga-Doglalla or werewolves. They can’t be Hotamétaneo’o and radiate that kind of evil.”
“Maybe they can,” Jay said.
“What are you talking about, Jay?” asked Black Fox.
“I should not say,” Jay replied. “Again, this is forbidden magic. It is a dark path from which there is no return.”
“Grandfather,” said Greyeagle. “I don’t care what the others have to say. If you know something, you need to share it with us. We deserve to know.”
Jay stood there for a moment, thinking. Finally, he sighed deeply and began speaking.
“There is another warrior society, older than the Hotamétaneo’o,” Jay explained. “But they were wiped out long ago. Until now, I have had no reason to doubt that. But what you told me today has me questioning that.”
“You never told me that,” Greyeagle said.
“I dared not,” Jay said. “Much like the Navajo do not speak of a certain creature, we did not speak of this society for fear of bringing its evil back to the world. It is not taught, even to the elders. I remember it because I was young when the last of them died out. Now, I’m not so sure.”
“Perhaps Kade rediscovered the old magic,” suggested Black Fox. “And brought this other society back.”
“It is possible,” Jay said.
“What is this society?” asked Greyeagle.
Jay frowned and paused.
“You might as well tell us, Jay,” Black Fox said. “We are past worrying about calling it back. I fear it is already here.”
“They were called the Makhótaneo’o,” said Jay. “Those who devour. They called on spirits older and darker than Wolf. Which spirit, I do not know.”
“So, they might be a twisted version of us,” Mika said, “but darker and still having the ability to shift forms.”
“Yes,” answered Jay.
“This does not bode well for us,” Black Fox said. “But, at least, if we can reach him, he will be able to return to being human.”
“Tell us everything you know about them,” Greyeagle said.
“Alright,” began Jay. “Where to begin? Among the Cheyenne and the Lakota, the warrior societies served as the backbone of the people. They were not simply fighters, but keepers of order, men who stood between chaos and balance. Among these, the Dog Soldiers, known among the tribes as the Hotamétaneo’o, were the most feared and respected.
They did not retreat. They did not falter.
Their oath was to the people, the land, and the spirits that watched over both. ”
Jay paused before continuing.