A TAIL OF NINE

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Where There's Smoke ...

The shadows push me forward until the bird-thing is just a memory behind us. After they tug me down so that I'm sitting down on the ground, they pile up on one another. They look like drops of ink building into a puddle. When they're done, all those little shadows are now a single seven-foot tall one. One minute his neck is way too long and his legs are little stumps. The next, his legs lengthen and his head squishes down into his shoulders.

"Osiyo," the shadow man says.

"Thanks," I say, uncertain. This guy saved me ... but can I trust him?

He cocks his head to the side. As he reaches out his hand, his arm gets longer and longer.

"Osiyo," he says. Then he leans forward, pressing into my face. "Siyo. Tohitsu."

Wary, I shake my head.

The smoke man keeps talking. Whatever language this is, it's not like any of the other ones I know.

Just to be safe, I say, "Moshi Moshi?"

"Mah-shee," he says, drawing the word way out.

Without warning, he turns into a swirling mass of smoke and goes through me!

Whoah! Too friendly! WAAAAAY too friendly!

"Hello! I am Kanati of the Cherokee. I am pleased to meet you, Mah-shee. I had to pass through you, so I could speak your language." He adds, "You must be careful of the many dangers within this place."

"Are you one of those dangers?"

Laughing, he booms out, "No! I am a guardian that offers rest and guidance to those of a good heart that seek safety and shelter."

"I thought this place was supposed to be safe," I mutter, thinking of those cannibal flower things. I could take off running, but why bother? He saved me. He doesn't have to explain anything or help me at all. And there's just something about him ... something that makes me feel calm and want to trust him. I'm not about to do everything he tells me to ... but listening to him can't hurt.

Kanati leans over again, his arms propped on his knees as he sits cross-legged in front of me. "One is safe from predators from the outside world. But not from the ones that already dwell here."

"Those flower things ..." I sputter.

"They are the Chichipischekwan and are pitiful creatures."

"Well, they bite hard enough," I say.

He frowns. After going quiet for a while, Kanati adds, "They were once warriors and hunters but died violent, awful deaths."

"They used to be people?"

Kanati, all solemn, nods. "Some were cowards running from death. Some died slowly at the hands of their enemies. Even a good warrior can be turned into something dark and ugly after much pain and fear."

"And the other thing?"

Kanati bows his head in reverence. "Ayvdaqualosgi ... A Thunderer. It is one of a great clan of storm spirits."

"It helped me against those flowers," I say, "so I should thank it."

"The Thunderer wasn't there to save you. It's there to create balance. When too many of the Chichipischekwan, the Death Head Blooms, gather, the Thunderer takes flight to restore the balance. They bring darkness with them."

He hesitates.

It's a really long pause as he inches closer to me. He doesn't get right up in my face, but instead looks like he's staring down a mountain lion.