Echo Soul Seekers

eighteen

Daire

A hard blast of spray pummels my face well before I’ve actually reached it.

That’s the sort of power the waterfall wields.

From where I float, it looks scary, foreboding, and huge—an ominous deluge thick as a highway. Leaving no doubt of its ability to crush me or transform me.

It could go either way.

I glimpse the place where Paloma and Chay track me from the shore. Despite the fairly short distance between us, they seem worlds away. Like two miniature figures looking on from the sidelines, waiting to see if I’ll live or die. Though it’s not long before the current accelerates. The swiftly churning waters warning I’m soon to be delivered.

The constant drumming of water crashing onto itself vibrates my insides, while outside, the river’s icy embrace leaves my flesh deadened and numb. Making for a predicament so miserable, so unbearable, it requires every ounce of my resolve to ignore the instinctive urge to scramble for shore. To trust in the magick Paloma’s taught me, the ancient Seeker traditions, and the elements to see me safely through.

There’s really no choice. No point in fighting my destiny.

Refusing to do this, refusing to complete my training, would end my life as surely as it did Django’s. And somehow I feel like I’m doing this for both of us. Desperate to succeed where he failed. And while I may not survive this particular test, while it may plunk me into a horrible premature death, there’s still a small chance I’ll get through. And it’s that thought I cling to.

I close my eyes tightly, focus hard on my goal, and tuck my chin to my chest.

Driven closer—

The spray blasts my cheeks like pounding fists.

Almost there—

Django—Paloma—please forgive me! I’m not cut out for this—I can’t do this!

I’m under.

The water hammering so hard, it drives at my shoulders, pushing me down—and then down farther still. Plunging me into depths that surpass all reasonable limits, causing my lungs to swell so large, I’m sure they’ll soon burst. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it. The water’s rendered me powerless, helpless—dissolving my strength until all that remains is my will.

My will to live.

My will to see this thing through.

My will to kill Cade—claim my birthright as a Seeker—and not die like my father.

Though, as it turns out, will alone isn’t enough.

It’s evanescent.

Fleeting.

No match against nature.

It just doesn’t cut it.

Doesn’t keep me from sinking. Arms flailing, legs kicking, unable to save myself from crashing hard against the bed of rocks far below, as slick, slippery, unknown things slither and skate all around me.

My limbs turned useless and weak, my lungs inflated far beyond capacity—I struggle to gather whatever strength I have left, and strive once again to swim for the surface.

But, in the end, it’s no more than a death dance: Frantic, pathetic, not nearly enough to save me.

Django was lucky—by the time he saw it coming, it was already too late.

But this—this is horrible, made even more excruciating by the crystal clear awareness of the finality that awaits me.

The rocks turning first soft, and then spongy, until they completely give way and I descend even farther. Delivered to a place that’s no longer dark—where I’m no longer alone. Free of all the pain and suffering that plagued me mere seconds ago. Left to gaze upon a beautiful, luminescent figure that floats just before me. Emanating an energy so warm, so brilliant, so loving and healing, I no longer mourn what I lost.

I’m just grateful to orbit its presence.

Grateful this descent wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared.

I linger. Floating slow circles around this wonderful, radiant being. An entity so glorious it’s hard to comprehend.

My body strengthened, healed by the sheer purity of its innate power and goodness, I struggle to hold onto the feeling, never wanting it to end. But with no more than a slight shake of its head, and an upward tilt of its finger, I’m off and soaring again.

Rising. Churning. Thrusting through the waters so quickly, there’s no time to protest before I burst free.

Free of the water.

Free of the current.

Left gasping and squinting through water-clogged eyes. Surprised to find myself in a calm, cool place on the waterfall’s other side.

No longer menacing. No longer threatening. This inside view allows for a whole new perspective.

It’s still shiny, slick, and gleaming, for sure—but from where I now float, it appears far more glorious than ominous. A brilliant cascade of crystalline waters glinting silver under the belly of a late-morning moon. The sound somehow muted—no longer the crashing crescendo I once found so deafening.

I reach for my pouch, relieved to find it survived the journey as well. Pressing the wet buckskin to my lips, I say, “Now what?”

Though I wasn’t really expecting an answer, the silence that greets me encourages me to go silent too.

I silence my body. My mind. Forcing myself to grow quiet and still and see what the water reveals.

I have no idea how long I remain like that—with my body no longer cold, my skin no longer numb, time seems inconsequential at best. All I know is that at some point my pulse begins to quicken, my heart begins to thrum, until I can actually feel the raw power of the waterfall’s energy becoming one with my own.

It surges inside me.

Merges with the very life force that drives me.

Its message coming faintly at first, though it’s not long before it begins to ring clear. Rising into a beautiful harmony that wells up from the depths, until the sound of the watersong swells in my head.

I am comfort

I am death

I both take life and sustain it

I’m the lull and sway on a hot summer’s day

I’m the hardened crust of a hard winter’s spell

I’m adapting

Ever-changing

My attachments nonexisting

Follow my lead when you find yourself resisting.

The song repeats. Playing over and over until I’m singing right along with it. And once the lyrics are lodged in my head and etched on my heart, I find my way back. The once-raging waterfall slowing to a trickle—allowing me safe passage before it returns to full force.

Paloma and Chay meet me at the shore, warming me with a large heavy blanket she wraps snugly around me. Her hands moving over my shoulders and back, her voice thick with pride, she says, “Nieta, you made it!”

I gather my hair into my fist, squeezing large droplets of water onto the ground, along with a beautiful stone that glints up from below. Its color reminding me of Dace’s eyes.

“A gift from the water.” Paloma stoops to retrieve it, displaying it on the center of her palm as I gaze upon it in wonder. “An aquamarine—a water stone. This goes in your pouch, nieta.”

She drops it beside the other talismans as I look between her and Chay, asking, “What’s next?” Feeling more than ready to handle it, whatever it is. Sure it couldn’t be any worse than the feat I just survived—okay, barely survived, but still.

Chay looks to Paloma. “I’ll leave that to you,” he says, giving her a brief kiss good-bye as he heads for his truck, and Paloma directs me to her Jeep, where I change back into the clothes I arrived in.

“Fire is next.” She shields me with the blanket as she goes on to explain, “It’s the last remaining element, and some would say, the most dangerous. We don’t normally endure two trials in one day, but then again, these aren’t normal circumstances, are they?”

“I’m ready.” My voice is determined, as I allow her to weave my hair into a long braid that falls down my back much like hers. “Whatever it takes, I’ll do it. Just tell me where to begin.”