In The Hands Of The Gods

On their way back, Aamoo suggested that they stop and rest at the snowslide, as one last attempt to search for Jiiga'e.

The first thing that Aamoo did was to look for the ferrets Bizikaw had left behind for Jiiga'e in case he managed to find his way out of the compacted snow. But as they dug for the ferrets, they found that everything still remained intact. The three dead ferrets laid cold with rigor mortis, covered in dirt.

Aamoo finally decided to give up the search for Jiiga'e. "May your soul rest peacefully with the ancestors." As Aamoo whispered out loud a little prayer for Jiiga'e, Bizikaw drops his head and lowers his eyes to give Jiiga'e his silent prayer

"Aamoo, we rest here tonight. We can head out again tomorrow morning."

"Bizikaw, we have to hurry. Jeko and Niiganii. They are waiting on us."

"How would you know they're waiting on us? We left when they were still conscious!" Bizikaw barked, "They don't care about us. They probably think we're dead. Jeko, he… he tried to kill me! He tied me up for that beastly hog to attack me. I could have died." his voice began to tremble," I should have died. I don't understand why the moon goddess blessed me last night, but I wanted to die. I was ready for it." Bizikaw backhand swipes the salty tears stinging his cold dry cheeks.

Aamoo wanted to speak to cheer up his friend, but he held his tongue. Sometimes, things are better left unsaid.

*

The early morning chirping of the birds wake Aamoo into high alert, up onto his all fours and growling at nothing.

"Oh, haha" Aamoo laughed at himself, just birdies. Aamoo continues his usual morning routine with the cleaning and grooming of himself.

By the time he was done with himself, he finally got up to go wake Bizikaw.

"Hey, Bizikaw, time to go."

Bizikaw didn't respond.

"Hey, Bizikaw! Time to wake up and go. We can't waste anymore daylight." Aamoo shouted.

Still, Bizikaw doesn't respond.

"Bizi!" Aamoo shouted as he jumped onto Bizikaw. "GET UP!"

Bizikaw barely budged.

"Bizi, you better not be messing with me! This is not the time to jest!" Aamoo shouted as he shook Bizikaw with his snout. Yet, Bizikaw doesn't respond.

"No, no no no no… I can't continue this journey home alone. All my friends, dead!" Panic begins to set in to Aamoo. "How am I going to be the lone survivor of us?" he thought to himself.

Quickly, Aamoo feels around for a pulse, but is met with only the cold flesh of Bizikaw skin as rigor mortis has set in.

Concussion.

Aamoo knew that a concussion was likely but he never thought that this would render Bizikaw into a sleep that he will never wake from.

"Bizikaw, may you find peace with the ancestors." He prayed. The afternoon, Aamoo spent his time digging a hole into the snowy ground to lay Bizikaw in. Next to Bizikaw's wooden headstone, was another headstone carved, "Jiiga'e, somewhere beneath the snow with my brother Bizikaw."

Afterwards, Aamoo began his long walk back to the Ma'iingan.

*

The dark orange sky was just introducing the dusk of night when Niigani was awakened by a putrid odor. She could barely make out anything in front of her as she sat inside the deepest point of the fissured Earth.

Niigani sniffed the air and gags, "What is that smell?" she thought as she choked on the mucus in her throat.

An agonizing groan echoed up the hole, coming from Jeko who was just a few feet away.

"Jeko? Is that you? How's your wounds?" Niigani asked, already knowing the truth as it lingered in the air surrounding them, suffocating them.

"Uhhhhh" Jeko groaned again, "I'm dying." he finally was able to utter, gargling in his own blood. "Niigani, save me. Please?"

Niigani stays her distance and just watches.

"Please, Niiganii, please?" Jeko continues to plead with every ounce of what is left of his life.

But Niiganii doesn't move.

After a long while, as Jeko lay dying with light spasm jolting his body, Niigani finally says, "No. You need to die so that I may live."

When night time befall them again it was as though the forest surrounding them were dead; all was still and silent.

Jeko's body jerked up into a loud flapping spasm as he screamed in complete terror. His voice echoed up the fissure, scaring away any life that could possibly be on ground level.

His body thuds onto the ground and convulses uncontrollably, as he took his last breath and joined the silent.

Niigani watched, until Jeko took his dying breath before pushing his corpse all further away from her. On her side of the hole, she starts to consume one of the hares facing her back to Jeko.

About four in the morning, a voice called down to Niigani.

"Hello?" The raspy dry voice asked.

Excited that maybe Aamoo and Bizikaw had returned, Niigani shot straight up onto her paws and howled.

"I'm down here!" she called up.

Dirt from above dropped down onto Niigani's head and face. She shakes off the specs of dust irritating in her eyes and nose and then hears a very loud thud right in front of her.

Niigani couldn't believe her eyes when she finally opened them. Her only savior was laying on the ground before her.

"What are you doing? How are we going to get out of here you idiot?!?" She yelled.

The wolf slowly rises off the ground, its eyes staring right at Niigani.

"Hungry, so hungry. Must eat. Hungry." it groaned.

Horrified, Niigani runs towards Jeko's corpse, ducking down underneath him and pulling his dead body above her.

The hungry stricken and hysterical wolf has gone crazy from going days without food or water, nearly at the brink of death. Seeing that, Niigani darted across to the other side, but it followed her towards Jeko's body. In no time, the hysterical wolf began to consume Jeko's corpse, as Niigani slowly made a smooth escape.

She tried her best to climb up a small ledge protruding from the wall of the fissured earth, just to get out of sight of the deranged, Jiiga'e. How in the hell did he ever get out of that snow, Niigani will never know.

Niigani listened as Jiiga'e chewed through Jeko's flesh and bones. The crunch of cannibalism sends shocks of nausea and terror through Niigani's limped body, but her stomach growls from her own hunger pains.

"Once he finishes Jeko, then what? Am I next? Will my old bones crunch and shatter or will it be more rubbery like cartilage?" Niigani thought.

*

"The traitors have been captured. We found them near the north east borders by the snow mountains. It seemed like they had been there for a while." Tek announced loudly. The drumming and celebratory dances stop and all eyes turn to our direction.

"It seems you are as wise and you are powerful, my alpha." Gimiti's soft voice choked out.

After a long pause, Tek's voice finally let out a slow statement. "It's about Niigani."

It has been seven days since Ma'iingan's battle. Everyone has calmed down and made up for their differences. Some families broke apart and some families reunited. Overall, everyone was working on rebuilding the Ma'iingan with the new alliances.

"What about Niigani?" Giken interrupted Tek. "What about my mother?"

"You will have to see for yourself, Beta." Tek said. "A lot could happen in seven days."

"And where are the rest of Manji-Manidoo's followers?" I asked.

"Aamoo has come back seeking, bashanzhe. He claims that he has come back knowing we may offer execution for his sins. Aamoo is the lone survivor… well, the only sane one that is." Gimtimis replied.

"It was Aamoo that led us to find the rest of Manji-Manidoo's follower's bodies."

"Bodies?" Giken repeated in a whisper of disbelief. "What happened to them?"

"Karma." Tek answered wryly, "They got exactly what they deserved. A taste of what this sacred land can do."

"Where is Aamoo now?" I asked Tek and Gimtimi.

"Infirmary." They both said and then stared at one another.

I turned towards Giken and lowered my voice, "Giken, I will accompany Tek and Gimtimi in the infirmary. I need you to bring a few followers with you to retrieve all the bodies. Bring followers who were part of the group that revisited the places Aamoo had told them where the bodies lies. And~"

"Alpha," Gimtimi interupted, "We have retrieved all of them already… well, most of their bodies."

"What? What do you mean most?" I asked angrily. " Either we've retrieved them or we haven't."

"That's the thing…" Tek mumbled trying to get the right words out, "You'll have to see it for yourselves. Please, Alpha, Beta, come with us."

"To the infirmary?" Giken asked.

"Yes! Where else would we bring you? To the defecating grounds?" Gimtimi spit from frustration.

They led us to the infirmary where a large cage was built to house a captured wolf. Inside we see Niigani pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself like a wild animal.

"Mother?" the word slipped off his breath, as he gazed upon a disheveled and psychotic Niigani. "What is wrong with her?" Giken said, not realizing he was shouting at Tek.

"Waabigwan tribe have encountered numerous illnesses like this one. Unfortunately, there is no cure."

"What is it?" I asked placing a hand on Giken as a gentle reminder that he needed to remain calm and collected.

Tek's eyes darted from me to Giken and then back to me.

"It is the illness of the Apakwaanaajiinhs, and it is incurable."

"Apakwaanaajiinh… bats…" I murmured to myself. I glanced over to Giken, his face white as snow.

"Mother's karma is too much to bear in one lifetime. This is but a small weight for however many lifetime there is to come of her repentance." Giken closed his eyes and followed up with a prayer. "May your soul be cleansed so you can join the ancestors."

I study the crazy half-wolf half-woman, Niigani, as foam collects around her mouth with each snarl. Her growling continues along with her speech. It sounded like she was chanting.

"Has anyone tried to feed her?" I asked.

"Yes," Gimtimi answered. "Upon finding, umm…" her eyes shift side to side, contemplating if she should tell me or not.

"Spit it out!" I demanded with frustration.

"We tried to give her water, but she freaked out. It's like she's possessed by the water-fearing aadisookaan, demon spirit, ." Tek said, " and that's when I knew it was apakwaannaanjinh. We've seen this before in our tribe. It spreads and it kills… but those infected will suffer for many days before death finally squeezes its palm on their breath."

Tek's eyes drifted away into the distance as though she was remembering it all; all that her tribe had endured of apakwaannaanjinh, as if it was repeating right before her eyes.

Gimtimi puts a hand on Tek's shoulder, sympathizing with her pain, then she turns to me and asks, "Alpha, what should we do with Niiganii?"

I threw a glance at Giken, and it was as though our hearts connected.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment of silence, not knowing that by the time I opened them again, that I would be holding Niigani's fate.