CHAPTER SIXTEEN BLADE DANCE
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BLADE DANCE
“Let us put our minds together
and see what life we can make for our children.”
Sitting Bull
7:00 PM
June 16th
Pine Ridge Reservation
The firepit was crackling as the last of the dinner dishes were cleared away.
Tension still lingered between the two groups, but it had diminished greatly over the last few hours.
Greyeagle sat with Sarah holding his hand on his left.
Kade sat to his right with Raven beside him. A strange mirror image.
The Makhótaneo’o were scattered out beside Kade while the Hotamétaneo’o were seated to Greyeagle’s left.
The Makhótaneo’o sat tensely, as if expecting the peace to fracture at any time.
The Hotamétaneo’o were wary, but relaxed, taking their cue from Greyeagle.
Cassie sat in front of Mika, leaning back against him, his arms draped around her.
With the firelight the only source of illumination, the deep shadows around them felt like a curtain of night, and the rest of the world didn’t seem to exist, if only for a brief moment. Mika was astounded by how different Greyeagle and Kade were, despite being identical twins.
Greyeagle was relaxed and held Sarah’s hand, kissing it occasionally. Kade was tense, like he expected someone to attack him at any moment. Then, there was the hair. Greyeagle’s braid hung to the middle of his back. Kade’s reached below his belt.
Kade also wore a hair-pipe necklace with bear claws hanging from the bottom. He wore no obvious weapons, but everyone knew that he didn’t need them. Kade still radiated danger, despite the uneasy alliance they’d found.
“So, now that we’ve eaten and put our differences aside,” Kade said, smiling dangerously. “I’d like to hear everything you know about the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso.”
“Grandfather,” Greyeagle said. “If you’d tell them everything you told us.”
Jay nodded and stood, then stepped closer to the fire. After a moment, he began speaking. He told of the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso and the story of the First Winter. He spoke clearly, and his words enthralled them all, Makhótaneo’o and Hotamétaneo’o alike. When he finished, he turned and nodded at Mason.
“Is this the same as the story told to you by your grandfather?” asked Jay.
“Yes and more,” Mason said. “Thank you for sharing your knowledge, elder.”
“Yes, grandfather,” said Kade. “Thank you.”
Jay smiled at Kade and bowed his head.
“And it is good to have you at my fire once more, grandson,” Jay said. “Truly, you have been missed.”
Kade glanced at Greyeagle, and he just shrugged as if to say, “I told you so.”
Black Fox nodded at the Mohawk Twins, and they got up and slipped away from the fire.
“Where are they going?” asked Kade.
“You’ll see, my son,” Black Fox said, smiling softly.
Moments later, they returned with drums and flutes. Mika took one of the drums and Black Fox took a flute.
“What are the drums for?” asked Kade.
“I want to have a sing,” Black Fox said. “To thank the ancestors for this night. I hope it is the first of many.”
“A sing?” Kade said. “Alright. But don’t you think we should be preparing for the next attack? I mean, surely there are better things we can focus on besides a sing.”
“I am also asking our ancestors for their guidance,” Jay said. “So, in a way, we are doing something about the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso. Just not in the way you think.”
Kade frowned.
“A sing will not help against them, old man,” Kade said sharply.
“Kade,” Raven said. “You said you wanted to fight for our way of life. This is our way of life. This is important. Don’t lose sight of what it is to be Native in your thirst for war.”
Kade froze and slowly turned toward Raven. They could all feel the air change as Kade’s anger rose to the surface. Raven shrank back from him a few inches, and they all knew this wasn’t the first time she’d felt scared of him.
“She’s right,” Greyeagle said. “Maybe a sing is just what you need, brother. Maybe an Inipi, as well.”
Kade looked back and forth between Raven and Greyeagle, his anger radiating from him in waves. Then, he took a deep breath and slowly let it out. As he relaxed, everyone around the fire let out the breath they’d been quietly holding.
“You could be right,” Kade said. “Both of you. I’ll join the sing, on one condition.”
“What’s that?” asked Greyeagle.
“We dance, too,” Kade said. “The old way. Not the crap we put on at powwows for the tourists. The old dance. The old magic.”
“I can do that,” Jay said. “Jason, will you get my parfleche?”
“Of course, grandfather,” Jason said, getting up and slipping away from the fire.
Once he returned, Jay began adding sacred herbs and leaves to the fire. He reached for the deep magic. The Old Tobacco. As he cast it into the fire, the entire pit was tinged with green. The smoke curled into the night sky and smelled slightly sweet and acrid, faintly burning their noses.
Mika began playing the drum first, a slow and powerful beat. Then Black Fox joined with the flute. The Mohawk Twins joined in as Jay began chanting. Soon, they all took up the chant. Jay began dancing in place, and Jason kept time with the drums by slapping himself on the chest.
Sarah was the first to begin dancing. She held out her hand, and Greyeagle joined her.
One by one, the Hotamétaneo’o joined in.
Soon, Raven felt the music take her, and she joined, holding her hand out to Kade.
He took it reluctantly, then joined her.
Then the others slipped into the dance circle and began following the steps Jay set.
As they danced around the circle, a wind came up and made the flames dance. Very subtly, Kade began to shift the dance. He wasn’t calling on the magic of the Hotamétaneo’o. He was reaching for something older. He was slowly guiding them into a darkened version of the Hunter’s Dance.
Jay sensed what he was doing and began dancing a counterpoint, changing the rhythm yet again. Caught up in the power of the moment, the others continued to dance, subtly shifting their dance steps with either Kade or Jay. Greyeagle felt the power washing over them. There was a struggle with him.
Jay’s way promised community and protection, while Kade called upon the power of the hunt. The creatures inside them all couldn’t help but react to the call of the hunt. It was pure and strong. But it was also not the way of the Hotamétaneo’o.
They danced for hours, the tone going one way, then the other.
They sweated and stayed supremely focused on the steps.
Somewhere in the darkness, they could sense other dancers.
Not of this world, but of the world just beyond ours.
Ancestors, both good and bad. They all heard the call. They all joined the dance.
As they continued to dance, Greyeagle felt himself wanting to give in to the hunt.
His steps faltered, and for a moment, he danced with Kade.
Sarah had joined him as well. Kodiak wasn’t immune to the call, either.
He momentarily joined Kade’s dance. Then, when Greyeagle shifted back to Jay’s steps, both Sarah and Kodiak joined him.
Then, a subtle shift happened. First, it was Mason. His steps faltered, and when he recovered, he was dancing with the Hotamétaneo’o. Aiyana was next. She seemed to move without pausing, called into the rhythm of Jay’s dance. Then, Raven’s steps shifted. Slowly at first, then more rapidly.
Kade frowned but knew that he couldn’t fight the power of the old magic. Their hearts went where the magic called to them the strongest. Even he felt the power of the Hotamétaneo’o. He wanted to give in to the power of Jay’s dance, but he resisted. Now was not the time.
Tala and Leah never switched their pace, but Greyeagle sensed their hesitation.
They were both dedicated to the ways of the Makhótaneo’o, but a seed had been planted.
Tashunka never faltered. He felt his duty was to Kade, and there was no doubt in that.
However, if Kade’s steps faltered, Tashunka’s would too.
Jonah Red Cloud remained constant. He was Makhótaneo’o no matter how Kade went.
He refused to be dissuaded from his path.
Evan was the only one on the fence. He moved between both dances easily, but he was loyal to Kade, not the Makhótaneo’o. Kade knew he could easily see Evan becoming Hotamétaneo’o. He could lose most of the pack if he weren’t careful.
Greyeagle shifted his position in the line and danced backward to face Kade. At first, they stared at each other like adversaries. Kade let his anger flow, but he wasn’t angry at Greyeagle. He was angry that his plan to bring them to his side failed. In fact, it almost backfired on him.
Then the shift took him. Kade grunted in pain as he began to change. All around the fire, everyone shifted, including Jay. But as the change took them all, there was no violence. No battle. Only the changing of the forms. In either form, they were still who they were except for Kade.
As he shifted into the Epicyon Haydeni, the bone-crushing dog of the Miocene, he towered over Greyeagle at just over fourteen feet tall. Greyeagle looked up at his brother and felt something shift inside him. Old Wolf was answering the challenge.
Greyeagle smiled as the shift took him. He roared in exhilaration as Old Wolf returned.
He shifted and soon found himself standing nearly nose to nose with Kade.
Kade stepped back, surprised by the power that Old Wolf brought when Greyeagle shifted.
He was almost thirteen feet tall and nearly matched Kade for muscle mass.
That’s when Kade realized. Old Wolf wasn’t just any wolf spirit. He was the first Dire Wolf.
Kade began to take a combat stance, but Greyeagle kept dancing. Kade’s expression changed, and he fell into step with his brother. Neither were dancing with Jay or with the other Makhótaneo’o. They were dancing the warrior’s dance that they’d danced when they’d earned their names.
Kade didn’t fight it, this time. It wasn’t an admission, but it was more than just a dance. It was Greyeagle showing him that they were still brothers. Still the same, despite their differences.
As the dance reached a crescendo, everyone dropped to their knees, exhausted and covered in sweat. One by one, they all shifted back. Even Kade. As they crouched near the fire, breathing heavily, Kade reached out and placed his hand on Greyeagle’s shoulder.
“Now we can work together,” Kade said. “Now we’re equals.”
“We always were,” Greyeagle responded.
In that moment, Kade finally understood. He never had to prove anything to Greyeagle, and it shook his entire worldview.