James Axler – Demons of Eden

“You said it was here,” J.B. said harshly.

“I said it was in the valley. That is the truth. When the Wolf Soldiers are conquered and we control the cavern, you will have your weight in it.”

“Double cross,” Jak hissed, drawing a knife from inside his jacket.

The Lakota eyed Jak fearlessly. “How is it a double cross? Unless you planned to deceive me and take your reward before fulfilling your end of the bargain.”

Ryan felt a grudging admiration for Joe’s cleverness. Obviously mistrusting their motives, he had set up a method to fight his fight before they could even glimpse the gold.

Jak didn’t put his knife away. “Bullshit. We hear only bullshit since we come with you.”

“Take it easy, Jak,” J.B. said curtly. “If the stuff is here, we can get it after the job is done.”

The wolf whined plaintively, lifting a paw toward Ryan.

“Ignore him,” Joe said.

Ryan ignored Joe instead. He pressed his hand against the crystal point and opened his mind.

Touch-the-Sky lies, One-eye. Not only does my brotherhood barr the way to the cavern, but inside dwell the ghosts of the First People, which not even your weapons can harm.

What do you mean?

Do not listen ! Joe’s thoughts roared. Aloud, he spoke in the rapid-fire Lakota tongue.

Little Mountain stepped into the chamber and looped another braided-leather leash around Blood-sniffer’s throat. He cinched it tight until the wolf gagged for air. Then, with the warrior pricking its wounded leg with a lance point, the creature allowed itself to be led limping from the room. It cast one backward glance toward Ryan.

Resting one hand on the butt of the SIG-Sauer, Ryan said to Joe, “Time for straight tongue between us. You got us here, and now we need all the facts before we do anything else.”

“You shall have the facts,” Joe responded. “But I had to prove some of them first and open your minds to other possibilities.”

With a wry chuckle, Doc said, “You’ve certainly accomplished that, my lad.”

“How can these animals be so intelligent?” Mildred demanded. “It makes no scientific sense.”

“There is more to existence than white man’s science,” Joe said coldly. “It was science that destroyed your world. The laws your people imposed on the world are gone, and the old ones have returned.”

He motioned them out of the crystal chamber, and they followed him back to their quarters. Joe remained standing as the others seated themselves.

“I’ll start from the beginning, the very beginning,” he said, “the story of this valley’s origins and, in some ways, the origins of my people.”

Ryan repressed a wry smile. If he was certain of one fact about Indians, it was they loved to talk as much, if not more, than the most long-winded, full-of-himself baron.

IN THE BEGINNING the First People lived in a world without light or substance. They were a queer folk, part animal, part human, part air, part mineral.

They fought so much among themselves in their dark, formless world that Ah-badt-dadt-deah, He Who Made All Things, took pity upon them. He decided to create a new world for them, one with light and warmth and sensation and substance. So Ah-badt-dadt-deah formed this planet from celestial mud, imbued it with the essence of His sister, Grandmother Earth, and reshaped the First People so they could live upon it. Some of them became rocks, some became trees, some became bears and wolves and buffalo and some He sculpted into the form such as present man, though they were gigantic in stature. Then He released them from their dark world, and they emerged into this one from a cavern, here in the valley of Ti-Ra’-Wa.

In gratitude for their freedom and their great gift, the reshaped First People swore to Ah-badt-dadt-deah that they would always protect His sister. To always remind them of their vow, He placed a tiny piece of the stuff of creation in the cavern, the womb of Grandmother Earth, and charged the First People with keeping it safe, throughout the four circles of existence until the time of purification.

The First People kept this vow and evolved further and learned to live gracefully within the circles. Though they eventually diverged from one another and spread out across the face of Grandmother Earth and formed separate tribes, they were all of the same matter spawned in the Cavern of Creation.