Spiritwalkers

By Juliet Sem

A terrifying childhood experience left Maia with many questions regarding her Native American ancestry. After her mother's death and far from everything she knew, Maia learns that as a half-blood member of the Tiwako tribe that she is a spiritwalker, one who can take the shape of animals. When minority women begin disappearing from town and her father is critically injured in an accident, Maia is taken in by the shaman of her tribe. He teachers her to control her newfound ability, but will it be enough to keep her from becoming the next victim?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Juliet Sem
• Release date: Dec 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311861313

Juliet Sem

Juliet Sem began writing as a young teen to alleviate boredom she experienced in school after she wasn't allowed to skip grades. At the time, most of the major female characters in books she read were written as beautiful but useless in conflict. Juliet's first novel, The Tourney, is the result of her desire to write stories featuring strong female characters who are more than just eye candy waiting around for their men to come rescue them. She continues to read and watch fiction and is relieved that strong female lead characters are no longer the exception in books, movies, and TV shows.She lives in Arizona with her husband and cat in addition to caring for several abandoned outdoor cats. Her hobbies include outdoor activities, fiber crafts, reading, games, and ciphers--she designed all the games and writing systems mentioned in her Union series books.

Book preview

Chapter one

Water Serpent stood his ground against his nephew, Fire Serpent.

I will not dishonor my brother's memory by participating in the sacrifice of human beings. Feathered Serpent ended that practice, and Tolla has prospered; the gods themselves approve of his actions! Wearing your father's headdress and carrying his weapon and shield do not give you the right to resume killing people.

There is a drought, which means the gods no longer favor Tolla. We have go to war with Cholu because we need enough food to sustain us through this season, and Cholu refused to help after they found that Feathered Serpent had died. I need all my jaguar warriors to win the battle, and you, Water Serpent, are first a jaguar warrior and secondly a priest. Now perform the sacrifice as I have ordered, change your skin, and come with me and the other jaguar warriors. Prove you are a man before you are too old to go to war.

I will not. I am a spiritwalker, not a skinwalker, as everyone in my family before me and after me have been, even you.

Very well, spiritwalker, Fire Serpent sneered at his uncle. "Stay in Tolla, you woman. When I return, I will decide what to do with you. But don't you ever call me a spiritwalker again, or I'll have your tongue cut out and force fed to you."

Fire Serpent motioned to several of his men, who hurriedly stepped forward at his summons. Shave this false priest and any other jaguar warriors who hide behind the priesthood as an excuse to come with us. Let us leave them here, with the other women, to look after those too young, too old, and too weak to fight.

Water Serpent found himself seized, but he offered no resistance as he was forced to lie down on the sacrificial altar. A man wearing the skin of a jaguar came up to him, brandishing an obsidian knife. He threw back the head of the jaguar skin he had draped over himself to reveal his face. Obsidian Reed grinned down at him. "Hold still, woman, or I may take your scalp with your hair."

Water Serpent felt no anger at Obsidian Reed's jibe. He looked with pity on the man. As I told the others, the Spirit told me that if you go with Fire Serpent to attack Cholu that our people will be scattered soon after. Some will rise again many years from now and while their language and culture will be similar to ours, they will not truly be our people, and they, too, are bound for extinction. Only those who follow the gentle ways of Feathered Serpent will be spared. I tell you true Obsidian Reed. If you stay, your seed will die out completely in the coming great calamity. The Spirit showed me pale men with silver skin and thundering sticks will wipe out the last of those who leave today to sack Cholu.

Just for a moment, Obsidian Reed's resolve faltered. However, Water Serpent knew that what the Spirit showed him would come to pass, and he held little hope for the man's future.

After another few moments of hesitation, Obsidian Reed began to shave. The air was hot and dry, and Water Serpent knew that he would have a sunburn on his head soon after he was shaved if he couldn't apply a fresh layer of soot to his skin. The weather last summer and fall had been hotter and drier than any in memory, and the massive mountains that stored water had gone dry before this year's harvest was ready. The maize, chilies, tomatoes, potatoes, and squash, which were desperately needed by their city were withering in the fields. Even now, the commoner women were having difficulty finding wild edibles, and the younger boys were out with their atlatls, hoping to catch any small game to help fill the cooking pots and stave off starvation. Meanwhile, however, the noble women continued to empty the city's coffers of stored maize. They ate as if there was no impending famine, despite the warnings Water Serpent and the other Spirit Priests had given when the last rainy season had been proven to be so dry.

Obsidian Reed was done with him, and the men released him. Water Serpent got off the altar. He looked down at the mass of hair he had worn as a badge of honor, dreadlocks smeared with soot and tied with a white ribbon, and he felt no regret. If he was unable to sway his nephew away from his quest to conquer their neighbors, he was no longer needed as a Spirit Priest in Tolla. The Spirit had informed him that this would happen, heralding the start of a new life for him and those who would go with him.

Twenty other Spirit Priests lined up after him and silently suffered the same fate; they, too, refused to take human lives.

The last Spirit Priest was Water Serpent's oldest son, Green Serpent, whose hair barely reached his middle back. As he laid down on the altar, Fire Serpent made his move.

Now! He called, brandishing his father's baton. Obsidian Reed stepped away, and the Sacrificial Priest Turquoise Turtle dashed forward, plunging his knife into Green Serpent's chest. Blood sprayed out, and Green Serpent let out a single strangled gasp as he died, his body jerking against the hold the jaguar warriors had on his body. Turquoise Turtle twisted his blade, and Water Serpent heard the sickening crack of his son's chest bones. Handing his knife reverently to a waiting man, Turquoise Turtle pried Green Serpent's chest open with his hands before using his knife to remove his heart.

He turned and presented it to Fire Serpent, who held it aloft and let the blood rain down upon himself.

Water Serpent tensed, ready to spring, but he felt a hand on his arm. He turned to see Parrot Feather, another Spirit Priest, shake his head in silent warning. Parrot Feather was right, it was too late for Green Serpent, and if he responded now, Water Serpent would suffer the same fate, or worse, and the Spirit had told him he was needed to lead their people away from this renewed violence of man against man.

"See how the woman watches her son die and does nothing! She is no jaguar warrior! I, Fire Serpent am! I call on the ancient gods and goddesses. Transform me and all my skinwalkers so that we may go to battle!" He dropped the heart and fell on the ground, writhing.

He wildly flailed his arm at Turquoise Turtle, who smeared himself with blood from Green Serpent's chest. He moved away from the body and dropped next to Fire Serpent.

This action was repeated by every man wearing a jaguar pelt, until two thousand men were laying on the ground.

We must leave now, Water Serpent said, or we will be slaughtered.

What about Green Serpent? We can't leave his body.

We have to. He is with the Spirit, and what is left is just a shell. Let them defile it as they have defiled themselves, for it will seal their fate. We all have foreseen it.

Water Serpent motioned to the others, and they set out at a run through the city. Women, children, and slaves of both sexes scattered before them. Water Serpent dashed past noble women grinding maize, their hair showing the frontal knots they wore as a badge of rank, slaves carrying large orange pottery jars of water, children playing with clay marbles and rubber balls in the many large stone plazas. He dashed past spinners and weavers, busy making yarn and cloth, and peddlers selling all manner of items for a city that Water Serpent saw as already dead. Far behind him he heard the beginning roar of pursuit.

He skidded to a stop as he entered his own temple. A small cadre of the other priest castes confronted him: Scribe Priests, whose job it was to record their history in the elaborate stone carvings that decorated Tolla, Body Priests whose job it was to heal the sick and injured, and Counting Priests whose job it was to keep track of the city's riches blocked their advance. However, none of them were armed. He saw that all the Sacrificial Priests had chosen to go with Fire Serpent, for there were none here.

The Scribe Priest Angry Monkey held up a hand to stay their flight. "Water Serpent, we have heard your words, and we believe in the ways of Feathered Serpent and your vision. We are not jaguar priests, nor are we jaguar warriors or eagle warriors, but we will accompany you, for we, too, follow the gentle ways of the Spirit.

Hide in this secret tunnel and barricade yourself in the room you find. We will come for you when it is safe.

Angry Monkey and the others motioned to a tunnel that Water Serpent had never seen before, and he marveled at how they had called upon the Spirit for the strength needed to move the massive carved block that sealed it.

"Now, take food and water, hit us, and be on your way. I'm sorry we didn't think to fetch any pulque for you."

Water Serpent hesitated.

If we are unscathed, we'll be put to death for collusion, now do as I say!

Water Serpent and the others with him attacked the smaller group of priests, reluctantly pummeling them into seeming submission.

Taking a pair of sacred stone lights and grabbing a heavy jar of water, Water Serpent moved into the tunnel. The other priests were already moving the stone back over the opening in a joint effort, so Water Serpent said an incantation and rubbed the stones together, and they lit up, giving off a pure white light. He handed one stone to the man behind him and made his way down a narrow staircase, ducking several times when the passageway was too short for him to walk through. He reached a narrow opening and turned to place the jar on the steps as he squeezed through into a larger hallway. He retrieved his water jug and waited for the others to join him.

This area of the temple was an ancient one, but the figures on the wall were still brightly painted, protected from the elements and preserved by the dark. He wondered if the Scribe Priests could read the story recorded here, for the glyphs here were ancient and unknown to him.

The others arrived, and with more sacred stone lights dispelling the gloom, they explored the depths of the temple, finally finding a large room.

Water Serpent was dismayed to see that the chamber contained the skeletons of a sacrificed human, wolf, jaguar, puma, serpent, and birds.

Inside the room were forgotten riches of Tolla, ceremonial knives, spear points, carved statues, piles of jewelry, exotic feathers of birds Water Serpent had never seen which had been traded to them from peoples far to the south, and ironically, dozens of jars of dried corn, beans, and a variety of seeds. If Water Serpent and the others had known of this cache, they could have possibly prevented the planned attack on Cholu by easing Tolla's famine worries.

However, the Spirit had not seen fit to reveal them to him until this time, and Water Serpent had to conclude that the food had been provided for their impending journey.

Now that he knew the other priests and their families planned on joining them, he better understood the vision he had received. Tolla would go on after they left, but not for long. It would be conquered and absorbed into another culture, and that culture in turn would be conquered and absorbed into another culture several centuries hence. What the Spirit required of him was that he take his people to a place where they could remain peaceful and hidden, an area that was not the humid and rainy paradise that he knew, but a place that had fewer flowing rivers, strange-looking creatures in addition to many he knew, and no people. It was an area that had wide open vistas, clear blue skies, and sometimes frightening thunderstorms. There were gold rocks in the mountain creeks, and trees without leaves, just narrow green reeds growing from the branches. It was an unfathomable distance from here, and the Spirit informed him it would take many months of walking for them to get there. It was, however, far enough away that what happened in Tolla would never touch him or the people with him again.

He sat and pondered the fate of the rest of his family. His wife and remaining children were at their house, waiting to hear from him. He had deliberately not informed them of his plan to defy Fire Serpent's demand. His younger son, Red Serpent, was still on his cradle board, the child of Water Serpent's second wife; his first had died giving birth to Green Serpent, and his new wife had gifted him with two daughters before Red Serpent had been born, and he had another older daughter from his first wife who was just now of an age to marry.

The others left him to his thoughts as they found the stone that sealed the door and said the necessary incantation to give them the strength to move it. It settled into place with a slight grinding noise.

Water Serpent busied himself while he waited to hear from Angry Monkey. He was confident that he and the other priests would tell Fire Serpent and those with him that they had run through the temple and into the wilderness beyond, and Fire Serpent would take his jaguar warriors and march on Cholu, thinking to take his ire out on their families upon his return, only to find after his months long march in both directions that Water Serpent and the others had done the unthinkable and abandoned civilization entirely. Other matters would intervene, and Fire Serpent would forget about them, until the first calamity was upon their people. However, Water Serpent wasn't certain that Fire Serpent would live that long. The vision had been nonspecific on that matter, and it could very well be that Fire Serpent would not return from Cholu, but his army would return with another leader with an equally brutal mindset even if Fire Serpent did not.

He kept his voice low so it would not carry up any of the ventilation shafts. We need to know what items we can easily take with us. We must take all the food, but we will need trade items, so we should also take the jewelry and feathers. We will encounter other peoples, and after we pass through their towns, some of them will join us, some will stay where they are, and others will come south to join up with the remnants of Tolla to form the next civilization. It is our duty to encourage these migrations. The Spirit desires it.

I have seen it, too, brother, Parrot Feather responded. And I agree. The lighter items we must take with us. There is not much else we need, other than some weapons.

We can make new ones when we arrive at our destination. The Spirit says that we will not need weapons on our journey north.

"Are we to become ixiptlacana while we travel, then?" This came from Gold Eyes, who was the youngest and most inexperienced Spirit Priest among them. He had the visions and had thus been taken into the Spirit Priest's caste, but he had no experience in interpreting them yet. He had had a difficult childhood, being born not with the usual dark brown eyes, but light amber eyes, so that they almost glowed. This unusual feature had made some of the people in the village fear him as being unnatural, but his parents had fiercely protected him, and when he had his first vision, he was finally accepted by the others as being marked from birth to become a priest.

"No, brother, the Spirit has said it will send protectors who will guide us on our way. We must not become ixiptlacana while we travel lest others see us. The protector guides will not enter any towns with us, but will wait for us at the northern ends of them until we are ready to continue our journey."

How will we know when the journey is over? I have seen strange trees, mountains, and animals, but I saw no major landmarks in the vision, Rushing River said.

I believe the guides will not walk any further than we are supposed to go. The Spirit says it's a valley favored by it, for we will find peace there.

Talk subsided as they picked through the goods stored in the room, moving the ones they planned to take closer to the door.

When that was done, they were hungry and ate a meal of cold maize tamales filled with dog meat, chilies, and beans that the other priests had given them, washing them down with water from their jugs. Still hungry, they each ate several handfuls of dried squash seeds from one of the jars.

After sitting for a while, Water Serpent put his head on his knees and allowed himself to sleep. It would probably be well after nightfall when they left Tolla, and he would need his rest if he was to lead his people to safety. The others followed his lead, and they extinguished all but two of the sacred stone lights so they would not wake in complete darkness.

Chapter two

The grinding of the stone door woke them up hours later.

Water Serpent, it's Angry Monkey, his voice announced before he came into view.

Water Serpent lowered his water jug, the only thing that quickly came to his hand as an improvised weapon, with relief.

They are gone?

Marched out an hour after you came down here. We told them you bowled through us, grabbing things as you went, and took off into the jungle. I waited until well after nightfall to make certain Fire Serpent didn't leave anyone behind to surprise you. The other priests and I have checked all around Tolla and have seen no fresh sign other than that made by the army, which has headed south to Cholu.

Did any of the army linger in Tolla before marching on Cholu?

No, your families are safe, Angry Monkey reassured them.

Ignoring the murmurs of relief behind him, Water Serpent got down to business. The Spirit has made it clear that we need to leave Tolla as soon as possible. We need to gather our families and our things and head north before dawn. We want to be well out of Fire Serpent's reach by the time he returns to Tolla.

Where are the guides promised to us? Another priest asked.

The Spirit said they will meet us at the north end of every town we travel through. I assume it will be the same when we leave Tolla.

As they spoke, they picked up the jars of food and made their way up the staircase and back into the main part of the temple. It took them many trips to retrieve everything they planned to take, which they placed outside the temple. Angry Monkey and the other priests carefully sealed the passage when that was done.

As he left the temple for the final time, Water Serpent looked back at it fondly. Its exterior plaster was in good repair, and the murals that decorated it were regularly touched up. The Spirit was pleased with their diligence, and had chosen to save them from Fire Serpent's return to violent ways and the eventual destruction of Tolla. He wondered for a moment what would be left of this magnificent structure in eons to come.

He forgot all about the temple's fate when he got home and found his wife and children safe.

Water Serpent! His wife, Yellow Flower, ran to him, looking him over carefully. You've escaped Fire Serpent and his warriors!

Yes, and now we must all leave Tolla. The Spirit has sent a vision to all Spirit Priests that we cannot ignore. Tolla will fall, and another people will move into it, and it will fall again many years into the future. Everyone left behind will see these two calamities, and most will not survive the second fall.

Yellow Flower nodded. Angry Monkey sent a priest to tell me to prepare the family for travel. I and our children are ready, but your first daughter, Bountiful Sun, has decided to stay. She said she wishes to marry Strong Wolf.

Is she here?

No, she went to see Strong Wolf to give him the news that she accepts his offer of marriage.

She is old enough to decide for herself, Water Serpent said, but his heart was heavy. If Bountiful Sun died in the coming calamity, his wife's blood would die out; she was the only surviving member of her family.

Bountiful Sun came home, embracing Water Serpent briefly. Father, I know you are leaving, and you want me to come with you, but the Spirit came to me after Fire Serpent killed Green Serpent, and gave me a vision. Tolla will fall, rise again, and fall again, but my mother's blood will survive both falls. Far into the future, my mother's blood will meet yours again. They will sit together in strange chairs in a hollow bird that has many eyes and wings that do not flap and drink dark bubbling water from white obsidian cups. They will not know each other, but they will share time. So you must go, my father, but know that our blood will meet again.

Surprised at his daughter's vision, Water Serpent finally nodded assent. Please do not go to Strong Wolf's house until after sunrise. We want to be well on our way before word is sent to Fire Serpent that we have left. If he questions you, tell him I abandoned you and that you denounce me and my ways.

I do not like the return to human sacrifice, but I will do as you say, Bountiful Sun said. She suppressed her tears and turned her back on him, so that she would not watch him leave.

Yellow Flower had awakened the other children with the exception of Red Serpent, who slept strapped to his cradleboard, oblivious.

Do you have every pair of shoes that we own?

Yes, and our knives, and a cooking pot. I had finished weaving some cloth this evening, and I have cut it into ponchos for us to wear so that we will not notice the extra load. It should help prevent chafing of any bundles we strap on as well.

Water Serpent looked around his home one last time. He touched Bountiful Sun's shoulder in a final farewell, and she nodded to him, though she didn't turn around.

Goodbye Bountiful Sun, until our blood meets again, He said. Resolutely, Water Serpent led his wife and younger daughters out into the night.

The city was quiet, though as he passed several houses, he heard the sounds of couples in the throes of passion. Dogs barked in the distance, and nearby a baby woke up and began to cry. Someone began to whistle, and Water Serpent paused to listen. Understanding the message, he turned in the direction he had come from and passed the message on, waiting for and quickly receiving a faint reply. After he had passed that back to the original sender, he made his way to the temple.

He was taken aback when he saw over a thousand people waiting for him with torches. Many were the wives and children of the men who had gone to attack Cholu, and all were heavily laden.

Water Serpent, Gold Eyes motioned him to the group of priests waiting to lead their people away from Tolla. We are waiting only for a few more, and then we are ready to leave. Green Parrot says that the other men are bringing their families because they also abhor human sacrifice, and they would rather come with us to the peaceful place promised in our vision from the Spirit than stay here.

Aren't you Obsidian Reed's wife? Water Serpent pointed to a woman, who nodded.

He is a brute of a man who spends more time with whores than with me and our children. Now that he's gone back to his violent ways, I fear not only for myself, but for our children. I do not want him to follow through with his threat to sell my daughters to the temple to be used as whores and sacrifices.

A murmur arose from the crowd, as others related their stories of abuse, neglect, and threats, and while he knew that their trip north would be even slower than he had anticipated, Water Serpent knew that he couldn't turn away anyone who wanted to accompany them.

Very well. I, Water Serpent, Spirit Priest, pledge myself to all of you. Follow the ways of the Spirit with me, and we shall be known hereafter as Tihuicatlacatl; We Are The Distant People. Our journey will be long, but we must not stop until the Spirit guides no longer get up to travel every day.

Where are the Spirit's guides?

Water Serpent couldn't see who asked that, but he answered. We will find them at the north end of town. Now, we must get started, as we must be as far away from Tolla as possible before daybreak.

Many willing hands seized up the remaining jars of food, and the burdens were hung on backs. Some children complained, but the youngest were all asleep and being carried, so Water Serpent knew that they should make good time.

He turned north and resolutely began walking that way, his wife and children following right behind him.

He heard the noise behind him, a cacophony of sound that was quickly hushed when he said, We must leave quietly, and his order was passed back.

When they reached the border of the town, he saw them. A line of fifty jaguars, two of them black, sat waiting for them.

Water Serpent held up his hand in the universal signal for everyone to stop. He cautiously approached the jaguars, who sat, placidly eyeing him. He had difficulty standing his ground when the one closest to him stood up and walked up to him. However, the large male only rubbed against his leg in a show of affection before turning to walk into the jungle. The other jaguars got to their feet and melted away into the jungle, and Water Serpent knew that they would shadow his group on all sides and keep them safe.

The lead jaguar stopped and turned back to Water Serpent, his ears flattening slightly and lifting again. He turned away, walked a few steps, and looked back again.

He expects us to follow him, so we must trust that these are the guides the Spirit sent.

More confidently, Water Serpent followed the jaguar into the jungle.

When the torches of the city were left behind, the jungle closed in around them, muffling the sounds of their passage. Water Serpent heard the occasional murmur of conversation behind him, but for the most part, their group was silent, knowing that they had a long journey ahead of them.

Several hours later, Water Serpent called a short halt. The jaguar had stopped beside a wide spot in a stream which supported a carpet of edible mushrooms and wild plants. He plucked several mushrooms and gave them to his children to eat, indicating that the others should do so as well. He sat on the ground until the lead jaguar got up and began walking again, looking behind himself several times to make certain Water Serpent and the others were following him.

It was nearly dawn when the jaguar stopped again. Water Serpent saw that the area had adequate water supplies, and he ordered the priests to distribute maize throughout their group so that the women could set it to soaking for gruel. The jaguar climbed a nearby tree and laid down in preparation to sleep.

Water Serpent cut some boughs from some of the trees and had Yellow Flower direct their children to throw their extra cloth over it for makeshift beds under the shade of some trees. When that was done, he saw that the others were copying his actions, and he stretched out on his makeshift bed and was almost