The Stone Hogan
Alexandra stopped when she could run no further. She was far from the highway and halfway to the mountains. The land here was flat and hard, with little vegetation. She had run past two lonely houses and nearly run right through a flock of startled sheep. She didn't see the shepherds and didn't look back, hoping she hadn't been seen. But now it was afternoon, and there were no people or dwellings in sight. She sat down to rest her legs and catch her breath, and wished that she had packed more food somewhere along the way. At least she'd had breakfast, thanks to Henry Tsotsie.
Charlie landed on a rock next to her, equally fatigued, and she poured the remainder of her water into her cupped hand and let her familiar drink first, before she swallowed the last mouthful.
–I am in so much trouble,†she said.
–Troublesome,†said Charlie.
Alexandra knew what she was doing wasn't smart. She just couldn't allow herself to be sent back to Central Territory and handed over to her aunt while John Manuelito was still on the loose. No adults took her seriously, and John had threatened her again before he fled. He wasn't going to stop trying to kill her. Let the WJD throw her in prison afterward, or do whatever Henry Tsotsie wanted to do with her. At least if she led the Auror Authority to John and his fellow witches first, then the Dark Convention couldn't hurt her friends and family while coming after her.
There were no signs of pursuit. Alexandra had no idea whether Navajo wizards used brooms, but she thought as long as she didn't use her wand, it would be hard for even a wizard to find her in all this empty desert.
I just have to not use my wand until I find John Manuelito, she thought. She didn't even need to take on John herself - once she was close to him, she could just cast charms until the Dinétah Trace Office noticed and sent Aurors after her. She hoped.
She unfolded the map and the bit of scorched vellum from her pocket and took her Lost Traveler's Compass out of her backpack, relieved that it was not one of the items the Indian Aurors had confiscated. Most of the useless 'gifts' the Generous Ones had given her were gone. The compass was magical, but she didn't think it could be Traced, since brooms and her Seven-League Boots weren't. She made sure she had the compass aligned correctly with the sun and magnetic north, pointed the guiding needle in the direction of her destination, and used its dials to fix the settings as Maximilian had shown her.
The shirt Henry Tsotsie had given her was made of heavy cotton, but it wasn't as thick as the pullover and jacket she had been wearing before the fire, and the robes hardly served as more than a windbreaker. It was chilly and would get chillier after the sun went down, increasing the temptation to use a Warming Spell. Alexandra looked forward to reaching the meeting place of the Navajo witches just so she could warm herself. In the meantime, she decided that the best way to stay warm was to keep moving.
Charlie clucked in protest when she stood up. The raven had been pressed to keep up with her Seven-League Boots, and she felt guilty for tiring her familiar as well.
–Come here, bird-brain,†she said, and took the bird into her arms. Charlie didn't even struggle. She pulled open the wide, loose collar of her robes and tucked Charlie underneath them, then held the raven to her body as she set off across the desert at a moderate walk, rather than resuming her magically-lengthened strides.
It was hours until sundown. After hiking a while longer, Alexandra was almost too tired to continue. The ground was becoming rougher, and she had ascended a rocky slope and come down the other side to find a small river running along its base. The sight of water reminded her how thirsty she was, and she let Charlie out from under her robes before kneeling at the water's edge to drink. Charlie also partook of the water, and even splashed around in it to wash some dust off.
Alexandra shaded her eyes and checked her map and compass again to locate the river and gauge how far she was from her goal. At the speed she could run in her boots, she decided it would take her less than twenty minutes to reach her destination.
She climbed a ways back up the rocky slope and found a depression beneath an overhanging ridge of stone - not quite a cave, but enough shelter to keep the sun and wind off her. With a weary sigh, she sat down and curled up there.
–Keep watch for me, will you, Charlie?†she asked. The raven cawed, and Alexandra closed her eyes.
The fluttering of wings woke her. Alexandra sat up and checked the position of the sun, which was more important than the actual time. It was nearly to the horizon, and the moon was already a bright, visible disc overhead.
Charlie landed next to her. There was something in the bird's beak. Alexandra reached for it, and was rather surprised that the raven allowed it. Usually Charlie was quite possessive of anything collected while out on scavenging missions, whether food or shiny things.
It was a large piece of fried bread. Alexandra sniffed it. It smelled fresh.
–Where did you steal this from, Charlie?†she asked.
–Charlie's a raven,†Charlie said.
–You sure are. I'll bet you ate your fill first, didn't you? While you were supposed to be watching my back?â€
The raven tilted its head, as if to reproach her for scolding the gift.
Alexandra only hesitated a moment before taking a bite of the bread. It tasted oily and heavy, but not bad. The piece Charlie had brought her was only a mouthful, and it made her stomach growl for more, but she pet the bird and said, –Thanks, Charlie.â€
Charlie squawked and took off, flying into the sky as if to resume aerial vigilance. Alexandra stood up, checked her compass one more time, and resumed her great leaping strides across the desert, galloping faster than any horse or antelope.
The sunset was glorious. Far to the west, orange-red clouds inflamed the horizon above the shadows cast across the desert by the distant mountains. A much closer mountain range to the north was all in shadows now, and Alexandra knew there was a valley between here and there, but her goal - the spot John Manuelito had marked on his animal skin map - was just ahead. She had slowed her pace to a brisk walk, which in her Seven-League Boots was faster than her usual sprint. She called Charlie back to her. Though she had seen other ravens in the sky, she worried that somewhere out there were owls that weren't just owls. She also kept a sharp eye out for coyotes and other animals, but aside from some rodents, a fox, and what might have been a deer, she hadn't seen anything other than birds.
They were at a higher altitude now. There was still a desert basin before her, but junipers and piñon pines dotted the rocky landscape around her. The shrubs, trees, and outcroppings of rock cast long shadows that mottled the landscape as far as she could see. Alexandra thought she would be barely visible at any distance, unless her movement caught the eye, so she slowed down even more until she came to a downward slope flattening into that final basin before the mountains to the north. She squinted and shaded her eyes. In the fading sunlight, she saw tiny black figures moving, miles away, and what seemed to be a light in the growing shadows blanketing the desert.
–Stay close to me, Charlie.†She descended the slope and ran across the desert. There really wasn't much to hide her from view other than shadows and juniper stands, but she could barely see those distant figures, so she hoped she likewise remained unnoticed.
Charlie knew when it was time to be silent and did not caw, but flapped along behind her, staying close to the ground.
She was half a mile from the gathering when she slowed abruptly and crouched behind some trees. Charlie landed on her shoulder. Alexandra wished she could fly as Charlie did, or see through Charlie's eyes, but she wouldn't have risked sending her familiar so close even if she could.
From her position, she could see a building: an old one, built round like other Navajo hogans she had seen, but made of stone, not wood or brick or mud. And there was a bus that had just parked some distance from it.
–What the hell?†she muttered. She looked at her compass: it pointed dead ahead. This was the spot. She scanned the desert all around, and the sky, and then brought her eyes back to the building. There were people in front of it, wearing winter clothes like most of the Indians she'd seen, but there was someone wearing robes, too.
People were getting off the bus now. Alexandra counted seven. She could not be sure how many men and how many women, but there were definitely some of each. And more puzzling, a child.
–What the hell?†she repeated, mystified and disturbed.
–Alexandra,†Charlie said. She didn't know if the bird was trying to reassure her, question her, or warn her.
The people from the bus filed into the hogan. The people outside the hogan began walking around it, some moving a considerable distance from it. Alexandra couldn't hear much this far away, but the wind carried their voices to her. It sounded like chanting. One of the men raised his hands and faced north, then turned to repeat the ritual while facing east, then south, then west. He held something in both hands that might have been a wand. The other figures were also making motions that resembled spell gestures.
Alexandra fingered her own wand and wondered what she should do. The people who'd gotten off the bus didn't look like wizards, though it was hard to tell here in the Indian Territories, where it appeared that wizards, for the most part, didn't dress differently than anyone else. If, as she supposed, the Dark Convention was doing something with a group of Muggles, she couldn't just stand by and watch. But she counted at least four adults outside the hogan. None of them looked like John Manuelito, though she wasn't sure at this distance.
A plume of smoke began rising from the center of the hogan. Apparently they had lit a fire inside.
Alexandra had almost resolved to start casting spells and hope for a quick response from the Dinétah Auror Authority when all the people outside gathered in a small huddle, seemed to confer for a bit, and then three of them vanished.
Only one figure was left, and that figure walked in measured paces directly away from the hogan, nearly a quarter of a mile before stopping. The individual had walked in a direction that brought him or her closer to Alexandra's hiding spot, but off at an angle between Alexandra and the bus. Now that the figure was closer, Alexandra could see that it was a woman with long dark hair pulled into a bun. She wore a red and yellow dress beneath a long striped shawl that draped over her shoulders and reached almost to her knees.
The sun was now a tiny bright spot burning its last on the horizon. In minutes, it would drop out of sight. The moon was already reflecting the sun's light onto the desert, but Alexandra knew it would be much harder to pick this woman out of the shadows once the sun set.
–Ssh, Charlie,†Alexandra whispered, and she began to creep between the rocks and scrub, trying to get closer. What exactly she would do, and at what distance, she was not yet sure. She had the vague idea of Stunning the woman and questioning her, but knew it was more likely that she'd be seen and what would follow would be a very quick duel - and hopefully Alexandra hadn't miscalculated and failed to notice another wizard lurking in the shadows.
Charlie sat on her shoulder and made no sound. It was hard going, as Alexandra couldn't rise to her full height, and even stooping made her feel too exposed once she emerged from the brush and grass clinging to the cluster of rocks she'd been hiding in. So she had to either duck-walk, with her knees almost scraping the ground, or get down and crawl.
Rocks and sand dug into the flesh of her palms, her knees hurt, and she was growing cold. Being as cautious as possible, it felt as if she hadn't gotten much closer to the woman at all, who at least had not moved from her sentry position.
Alexandra was reconsidering her plan. If the witch was standing sentry, she must be waiting for something. Would dropping her have the effect of warning some unseen watcher? Alexandra was uncomfortably aware that she had no idea what was going on here. These had to be John Manuelito's friends - Navajo witches, up to no good. But John Manuelito was nowhere in sight. She remembered Henry Tsotsie's remonstrations. What good could Alexandra do? Knock out one witch, then summon the Aurors?
Certainly, she had to do something before they did whatever they were planning to do to the people inside the hogan.
The sun went down, and Alexandra risked rising to her feet and scurrying from juniper to juniper and throwing herself behind a long, low shelf of rock. The woman occasionally looked around, but mostly her attention seemed focused on the hogan. There was a spark in the darkness near her face as she lit a pipe.
Alexandra was still over a hundred yards away when someone Apparated directly behind the woman.
It was a tall, dark figure draped in skins and furs. There seemed to be a mask over his face. The woman whirled, the wizard who had just Apparated pointed a wand, and Alexandra heard him say, very clearly: –Avada Kedavra!â€
There was a green flash of light, and the woman fell to the ground.
Charlie squawked. Alexandra was frozen in shock. The dark figure looked in her direction, and she saw enormous white eyes and a painted, inhuman grin. She lay prone on the ground in deep shadow, with her head just peeking above the rocks. A human being could not have seen her, but she didn't know what sort of senses this being might possess.
The masked face remained turned in her direction for what seemed like a lifetime, and then the figure turned back toward the hogan and began walking forward.
The thought going through Alexandra's mind was: Oh shit oh shit oh shit.
Another figure materialized out of nothingness, a black shadow congealing out of the falling darkness, twenty yards away from the first, and the two of them converged on the hogan together.
Alexandra watched for the space of three more heartbeats. Then she was on her feet and running forward, leaving Charlie behind and covering the distance to the fallen woman in three magically-enhanced steps. She halted while a dozen paces behind the masked killer. He must have heard her, as he was already turning when she knocked him off his feet with a Stunning Charm. The second figure was faster and already had his wand raised when Alexandra turned to him. He muttered a curse which sent an inky black shadow snaking through the air toward her. She almost tried to Block it, and at the last moment conjured fire from her wand instead, fanning it at the dark coils of magic. The inkiness screamed as it burned and gave off a horrible stench, trying unsuccessfully to wrap itself around the flames to reach her. Alexandra had no time to consider what would have happened if she'd attempted an ineffectual Blocking Jinx. She shot a Stunner at her opponent, who deflected the red beam but not the golden stream of magical hornets she unleashed next. They sank into his flesh and stung him all over, and while he cried out and frantically tried to dispel them, she fired another non-dueling-legal hex directly at his chest. It crackled and burned and knocked him flat on his back. Alexandra didn't stop to think before Stunning the man she'd Stunned already, making his unconscious body jump into the air and twitch. Then she cast a Full Body-Bind Spell on him for good measure. She did the same thing to the second wizard.
Charlie flew around her and cried, –Alexandra!â€
Alexandra panted as the initial rush of adrenalin waned, but her heart continued hammering in her chest. –Keep watching, Charlie.†She ran back to the fallen woman.
The middle-aged Indian woman had been holding a wand in one hand and a pipe in the other. Both lay on the ground next to her body. Her empty eyes stared up at the moon. Alexandra checked for a heartbeat or other signs of life, but she knew at a glance that the woman was dead.
She turned about in a circle, scanning the horizon in all directions. No one else Apparated out of the thickening shadows; no one came running. She watched Charlie gliding about, worrying about owls or other predators, but there was no other movement, and while Charlie was in the air the raven could see what she could not.
She turned toward the stone hogan, a quarter of a mile away. Whatever was going on was nothing like she'd assumed - though she'd assumed very little, understanding even less. But if the people inside were Muggles, they needed to be warned. She ran toward the building.
She covered the distance in seconds and skidded to a halt just before flying into the wooden door. Taking a deep breath, with her wand at the ready, she banged on it with her fist.
Startled voices stirred within.
I'm probably interrupting some sacred Indian ritual or something, she thought, but she opened the door.
The people inside were young and old, male and female. There was an old man and a woman almost as old as him, three young-to-middle-aged men, an overweight girl in her late teens, and a boy who couldn't have been older than eight. They were all Indians, all dressed in little more than thin cotton overshirts, and they sat on wooden benches around the perimeter of the hogan in postures indicating extreme discomfort. Alexandra noticed that several bore disfiguring scars - the teen girl turned away from her to hide the right side of her face, which looked as if something had chewed on it and it hadn't healed. The boy just looked at her in surprise, not hiding the three lines raking the width of his forehead. One of the men was missing an arm.
They all stared at her in shock and horror. The only other thing in the room was a fire pit in which low, hot flames burned.
–I'm sorry,†Alexandra said breathlessly, –but you all need to get out of here.â€
–You need to get out of here!†one of the men said. His brow was covered with sweat.
–Listen to me,†Alexandra said. –The - the woman outside? I don't know what's going on, but - she's dead.â€
–Yuhzhee is dead?†Another of the men stood. He, too, was sweating profusely. –How? What happened?†Everyone looked even more horrified.
–A... witch killed her,†Alexandra said. She realized belatedly that she was still holding her wand. She hoped she wouldn't have to spend a lot of time trying to differentiate between herself and a 'Navajo witch.' From the looks the Indians were giving her, it was obvious that the sudden appearance of a belagana girl did not inspire trust, with or without a wand.
–A witch,†said the man who'd stood. He groaned and began to shudder.
–I - uh, more might come,†Alexandra said. –You need to leave.â€
–We... can't.†The man fell to his knees and whimpered.
–Young girl,†said the man missing an arm, –you are the one who needs to leave. Now!â€
Alexandra shook her head. –You don't understand. These people are wizards - Dark wizards! They kill people and they'll kill -†She stopped talking when the one-armed man groaned and rolled his head around. Drool spilled from his mouth and his eyes rolled back in his head. The man on the floor twisted and writhed in pain. The little boy began crying; the old woman put her arms around him and comforted him, though she was grimacing in pain herself.
–Get out of here!†The fat teenage girl screamed, showing her scars again. They were pulsing now, red and livid as if fresh.
–If Yuhzhee Redhorse is dead, who will keep us in?†asked the oldest man. He was the most composed of all of them, though he, too, was beginning to tremble and sweat.
–Keep you in?†A terrible realization pierced Alexandra's confusion and horror, as she watched the group of people before her groaning, sweating, and squirming in pain.
The man who'd fallen to the ground raised his head. His eyes had become different - animalistic - and when he forced words out, his teeth were unnaturally large and sharp.
–We came here... so we wouldn't hurt anyone,†he panted. –Yuhzhee Redhorse and the other medicine men and women... keep us safe...â€
–They keep everyone safe from us,†the old man said. He coughed, except it wasn't a cough - it was something clawing its way out of him, like a beast within forcing itself through his skin. His forehead began collapsing.
–Please, get out of here!†the girl repeated, crying now, and then she shrieked and put her hands to her face as her jaw swelled and stretched.
Alexandra watched, stunned. –You're werewolves.â€
The man on the ground groaned. His groan turned into a growl. He extended a hand toward her, a hand grown hairy and adorned with long, bestial nails. His eyes were black and yellow and feral.
–Run,†he snarled.
Alexandra was already backing out the door. She turned and ran.