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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/1999502-Lone-Bear
Rated: 18+ · Book · Action/Adventure · #1999502
The Pack battles an entity from another deminison trying to destory the Earth.
There had been a time when the old man walked the trail carrying his son, Joseph, on his back and hardly worked up a sweat. Those days were now only a distant memory. Once again he had to stop to catch his breath. How he wished he had those days to relive. Not so he would be young once more, but so he would never start his son on the path to take his place as the shaman of his people. Joseph’s youthful ambition to learn the ways and magic of his people gladdened his father’s heart in those early days.

If it was in his power to do his life over, he would have smiled at his wife as she held what would be his only child out to him. It had been a long and painful labor, but the boy was beautiful and strong. He would kiss Lone Bear on his forehead, and then smash the child’s head onto the nearest boulder. His wife and family would have hated him. He would be expelled from the tribe and put in prison for the rest of his life. He would have joyfully accepted that price if it would have prevented Lone Bear from working his black magic.

He pushed those thoughts away. The past could not be changed and letting his mind drift away from the task before him would only increase the danger. He would see Joseph again soon, this time his heart dreaded the lessons his son was learning.

It had been eighteen years ago when Joseph began addressing him by his Indian name, Wolf Caller. Joseph would only answer to Lone Bear. That was after Joseph came home from college. What happened there, he never told his father or family, but he had grown to hate the white man.

After a few minutes rest, the old shaman continued his journey. His hair was deep grey, tied into a long ponytail that almost reached his waist. His face was as parched leather, wrinkled with age. The only part of him still young was his eyes. They were fixed on a point far ahead. He shook occasionally, whether from the cold or fear he could not determine.

He tugged his coat closer around him, trying to keep some of the cold north wind away from his skin. He walked until nightfall and made camp. It was early autumn in the Badlands of South Dakota, and the night promised to be a cold one. He pulled wood from his backpack and built a campfire next to a boulder to protect it against the wind. It would be a little fire, but it should be enough. Soon, he had a small blaze going. He rummaged through his backpack, looking at the things he carried with him. He selected a canister of red paint and a short time later, the contents of the jar was on his face and neck. Once he finished applying his paints, the jar was returned to his pack.

That taken care of, he collected a powder from a different container and sprinkled it into the fire. The flame brightened for a few seconds before settling back down. He moved his hands over the flames, pulling the smoke to his face and inhaled deeply several times. Then he began to chant. He felt his prayers being answered when the fire flared again, its heat providing him with a little more warmth.

It was a moonless night. The sky was clear of clouds and the stars sparkled in the black sky. Occasionally a streak of light shot across the sky when a meteor entered the atmosphere. The yipping of coyotes on the trail of a hare was the only sound except for the wind.

He chanted and prayed for another ten minutes before he felt the first change around him. He pushed his mind further, wanting to find the rift being torn between the world of the living and that of the dead and repair it while there was still time. He felt sick in his stomach and knew he was getting close to his son.

Once more he reached out, hoping to persuade Lone Bear to cease calling on the demon he made his servant. He used all of the love he still had for his son, all his passion for his way of life and his people, trying to convey to him how dangerous he was being, not only to himself and his tribe, but to the world. Nothing good could come from the evil spirit he called upon.

As an answer to his pleas, the fire blazed once more and died. In his vision, he saw his son sitting in his cave, over a thousand miles away, using the abilities he taught him. His son saw him and laughed. Then he split open the rift between the worlds. From the rift, a crimson cloud began to flow onto the Earth.

The old man ceased his chanting and opened his eyes. For the first time since he was nine years old a tear fell from his eyes. Joseph was lost to him, his spirit corrupted by the beast he called on. He gathered his courage and stood to leave. He had lost his son, he had to work now at not losing the world.

He started down the trail and an hour later was back at his camp. He moved to his truck, an old wreck that went through two quarts of oil for each one tank of gas. He opened the hood to add oil when it felt like a spider web touched his face. He ran his fingers over his head and when they came away clean, realized it was not the wind bringing the chill to the night. He looked to the sky. The cold in his heart passed the cold of his flesh as he watched the stars. They were going out, one after another.

He knew it was useless to run. He sat down and sang his death song.

****


The cloud continued to advance across the sky, the stars behind it vanishing as it grew. Even in the dark of the night anyone seeing the cloud would have known it was red. When it was where it needed to be, it sank to the ground. The stars reappeared as it moved away. The tip of the cloud touched the earth and stopped. It grew thicker when it continued to come together. By the time thirty seconds passed, the cloud had taken shape as the demon came to the Earth.

It opened its eyes and took in the surroundings. The ground vibrated as it took its first step. The creature was a solid crimson. Its eyes were darkness in the center of a blob that represented a head. The temperature dropped ten degrees when the demon passed by.

The old man was lifted from the ground, dead the instant the demon touched him. Not satisfied with mere death, it ripped the limbs from the body. The head flew fifty feet, splitting open when it smashed into a rock. The monster looked around, seeking more to kill. There were snakes and rats in the area. It moved over them and the creatures died at its passing. The coyotes, feeding on the hare they caught, joined their prey in death. What little vegetation there was wilted away when the cloud moved over it. When there was no life remaining, it turned back to the sky. It started dissipating and by the time five minutes passed, the sky was clear once more. The only evidence of its visit was the mangled body of the medicine man that tried to stop it.

Previous ... -1- 2 ... Next
#36. Chapter Two
ID #821979 entered on December 10, 2015 at 4:25pm
#35. Chapter Three
ID #821980 entered on July 6, 2015 at 3:55pm
#34. Chapter Four
ID #821981 entered on October 3, 2014 at 5:10pm
#33. Chapter Five
ID #821982 entered on July 7, 2014 at 7:45pm
#32. Chapter Six
ID #821983 entered on November 25, 2014 at 2:25pm
#31. Chapter Seven
ID #821984 entered on July 8, 2014 at 3:33pm
#30. Chapter Eight
ID #821985 entered on November 25, 2014 at 2:35pm
#29. Chapter Nine
ID #821986 entered on November 25, 2014 at 2:42pm
#28. Chapter Ten
ID #821987 entered on September 9, 2015 at 6:09pm
#27. Chapter Eleven
ID #821988 entered on July 9, 2014 at 4:43pm
#26. Chapter Twelve
ID #821989 entered on September 10, 2015 at 5:19pm
#25. Chapter Thirteen
ID #821990 entered on July 9, 2014 at 5:40pm
#24. Chapter Fourteen
ID #821991 entered on July 19, 2014 at 12:00pm
#23. Chapter Fifteen
ID #821994 entered on July 9, 2014 at 5:52pm
#22. Chapter Sixteen
ID #821993 entered on July 10, 2014 at 1:06pm
#21. Chapter Seventeen
ID #821995 entered on September 11, 2015 at 4:46pm
#20. Chapter Eighteen
ID #821998 entered on September 11, 2015 at 4:54pm
#19. Chapter Nineteen
ID #821999 entered on July 24, 2014 at 7:54pm
#18. Chapter Twenty
ID #822001 entered on September 11, 2015 at 5:10pm
#17. Chapter Twenty-One
ID #822003 entered on July 24, 2014 at 7:55pm
#16. Chapter Twenty-Two
ID #822004 entered on September 11, 2015 at 5:31pm
#15. Chapter Twenty-Three
ID #822005 entered on July 24, 2014 at 7:56pm
#14. Chapter Twenty-Four
ID #822006 entered on September 17, 2015 at 5:26pm
#13. Chapter Twenty-Five
ID #822007 entered on July 24, 2014 at 7:59pm
#12. Chapter Twenty-Six
ID #822008 entered on July 24, 2014 at 8:00pm

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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/1999502-Lone-Bear