Seal was unbound and standing in a familiar place. Her skin glowed, and she bore no wounds or fatigue from her recent torture. To her surprise, Perdita had traveled with her, crumpled at her feet. The Paleskin glowed with a shadowy light. Perdita, unaware of her surroundings, let rage take her. She lunged at Seal, grabbing the girl by her throat. A giant hoof kicked her away from Seal.
The oversized white bison calf towered above them. The beast lithely twisted inside of the giant white tent to face the evil woman. Seal stood next to her protector and looked down upon Perdita.
A voice filled their heads with a deep bass and soft, melodic tone wrapped around one another. Perdita appeared pained by the intrusion on her mind.
“I greet you again, Cecile Kipp of the Lakota. You who are the Storyteller. You who have summoned me. I accept your call.” The bison bowed deeply and Seal greeted the magnificent animal in return. “And you! Wicked and vile schemer, this is what you wanted, is it not? She has called me. Do you think you can destroy me?”
The Bison Calf could see the Paleskin’s deeds in a long trail, like a ribbon floating from her. They were all black deeds. Over a century of dark acts of murder, betrayal, lying, enslavement, and abominations against not just the Bison Calf’s people, but different peoples across the world. As she looked further along the dark ribbon, the very end turned white.
This Paleskin was not always evil. She had been a woman once, from a distant land that had believed in a just God. She had been devout and faithful and had helped the poor and those in need. She had once cooked for them and nursed them. She had cleaned them and set them on better paths. Then a great evil corrupted her soul, against her will, and this monster took over.
The immense Bison Calf felt pity for the woman that had once been human. But the Paleskin’s current thoughts were now only on how to kill and take power.
The voice filled their heads again, “Paleskin, you were told by Black Snake, that the storyteller could free you. I can tell you he spoke true. But like you, Black Snake is a cunning liar and not to be trusted. You will be set free, but not in the way you envisioned.” The Bison Calf looked at Seal, “Storyteller, tell this one the story of her defeat. Let her be freed of conceit and be humbled by your words.”
The Bison Calf stepped back. “Tell her, Storyteller.”
Perdita tried to interrupt but found herself paralyzed, stuck in place.
Cecile began…
“My father told me two stories of the Lady of Light. This is the second of them. The Lady of Light promised to one day save my people and free them in their time of need. To call her, they needed to perform seven tasks.
I did not realize my place until I was deep on the path. It started with my sister. She died in my arms in an accident, and she left her doll behind. The one you hoped to make your pet. She started my journey when I asked my mom to fix the doll after we lost my sister. She placed a lock of my sister’s hair inside, along with a packet of sweet grass and sacred tobacco. I kept my sister and her memory with me physically, every day.
The Bison Calf nodded. “Go on, storyteller, you have it right enough.”
Perdita struggled against her paralysis and felt it slipping when the Calf’s attention turned to the girl.
“The next task is coming of age. I came into my womanhood the night the ground opened, and I arrived here.”
Seal looked again to the white Calf. It remained motionless, eyes unblinking.
“The third required having a vision. I arrived and dreamed about the white Bison Calf and I met her. I knew then that my father’s stories were more than myths. When I met the one you call The Hollow one, Pavel, I knew my trial for what it was and I knew the danger of coming to you.”
At hearing Pavel’s name, Perdita found strength building within her. Her hatred of him helped loosen the invisible bonds holding her.
“The fourth was when I met my ancestors and we had a meal together.”
“The fifth, after your monsters betrayed me and you captured me, came when I let Beth go. It was a blessing to spend more time with her, but I had to set her spirit free. She flew into the sky, released to find her own peace.”
Perdita regained full control of her arms and legs.
“I had to trick your blind sister into fulfilling the sixth task, cleaning in your bathouse. As I washed myself, I said a prayer to the Lady of Light and burned the sweet grass hidden in my sister’s doll. This isn’t exactly how the rites are performed, but I suspect intent is enough.”
The great Bison Calf nodded her assent. “If you are in the middle of a storm in the wilderness without your tent, you find another way to make shelter.”
Seal continued, “I set the sixth task, the dance of my people in motion. I freed a woman and told her the first story of the Lady of Light and sent her to teach others. That is why the crowd danced while you forced me to complete your ceremony. But you unwittingly helped me to fulfill the final remaining trial, my people’s throwing of the ball.
When Pavel described your Spiritseeker to me, I knew the role it could play. I hoped to steal it and fulfill the throwing in different circumstances, but your monster’s betrayal killed that hope. I had to throw the ball four times, west first, and then in each of the other directions. Each time you brought it back to me helped me complete the final trial to call the Lady of Light. But not in the way you wanted.” Seal said with finality.
“You lie,” Perdita’s screamed. Her rage overpowered the remaining invisible hold exerted on her. “We outnumber your kind. Your Lady of Light cannot save them. There will be nothing left.”
Perdita sprang forward. Her fingers, pointed like daggers, thrusting forward to impale Seal under her chin. The evil Sister moved faster than Seal could follow. She could not hope to dodge.
But the giant white Bison Calf proved quicker. She charged from a standstill to full speed with two steps. The giant broad head bowled into Perdita.
Perdita’s arms cracked first, breaking into useless pieces. The rest of her body followed. The collision hurled her backwards through the doors of the tent. The dark spirit of Perdita flew across the sacrificial hunting ground. She sailed over her army and the dancing people before disappearing into the distance.
“Thank you for saving me,” Seal said.
“There was some good in her. She could have saved herself. She chose her own path and failed. But this is not over. The final ritual is not complete. Return to your body. Take strength. Finish the story.”
Seal nodded. She felt herself slipping through the ground, the same sensation she experienced when she first came here. The white, blinding vision faded to gray.
She was back in her body, still bound to the cottonwood tree. The body of Perdita lay at her feet, buckled into an empty husk. But Two of the Sisters and hundreds of Paleskins remained. She had to find the Spiritseeker before they did. She had to complete the final task.