Previously: Jacob eyes flashed to Nessie. A low growl was heard and Jacob quickly looked away. I wondered briefly where the growl came from and what that whole ordeal was about. "That is how the magic came to us, but it is not the end of the story. . . ." Jacob motioned for his father to take over but Jacob never stopped his wall to wall pacing. It was making me even more nervous. I wish he'd stop.
Chapter Six: Between Scary Stories & The Third Wife's Sacrifice
"That was the story of the spirit warriors. This is the story of the third wife's sacrifice. Many years after Taha Aki gave up his spirit wolf, when he was an old man, trouble began in the north, with the Makahs. Several young women of their tribe had disappeared, and they blamed it on the neighboring wolves, who they feared and mistrusted. The wolf-men could still read each other's thoughts while in their wolf forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms. They knew that none of their number was to blame. Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but there was too much fear. Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands. He was no longer a warrior to lead his people. He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began. Taha Wi led the five other wolves in his pack on a search through the mountains, looking for any evidence of the missing Makahs. They came across something they had never encountered before - a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain."
Jacob shuddered and sniffed as his father said that.
"They did not know what creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it. They found faint traces of human scent, and human blood, along the trail. They were sure this was the enemy they were searching for. The journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent half the pack, the younger ones, back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki. Taha Wi and his two brothers did not return. The younger brothers searched for their elders, but found only silence. Taha Aki mourned for his sons. He wished to avenge his sons' death, but he was old. He went to the Makah chief in his mourning clothes and told him everything that had happened. The Makah chief believed his grief, and tensions ended between the tribes."
Billy paused and took a long drink from his glass.
I focused on watching his Adams apple bob up and down.
"A year later, two Makah maidens disappeared from their homes on the same night. The Makahs called on the Quileute wolves at once, who found the same sweet stink all through the Makah village. The wolves went on the hunt again. Only one came back. He was Yaha Uta, the oldest son of Taka Aki's third wife, and the youngest in the pack. He brought something with him that had never been seen in all the days of the Quileutes - a strange, cold, stony corpse that he carried in pieces."
Nessie whimpered quietly and leaned closer into Bella's chest.
Bella wrapped her arms tightly around the little girl.
Edward whispered something softly to her and Bella rubbed her hair, humming very, very low.
"All who were of Taha Aki's blood, even those who had never been wolves, could smell the piercing smell of the dead creature. This was the enemy of the Makahs. Yaha Uta described what had happened: he and his brothers had found the creature, who looked like a man but was hard as a granite rock, with the two Makah daughters. One girl was already dead, white and bloodless on the ground. The other was in the creature's arms, his mouth at her throat. She may have been alive when they came upon the hideous scene, but the creature quickly snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless body to the ground when they approached. His white lips were covered in her blood, and his eyes glowed red."
I shuddered and leaned further into the couch.
Charlie looked up at Edward and then over at Jacob.
"Calm down Charlie you're going to give yourself a heart attack. Everything is fine." Jacob said softly, sounding so much older than he was.
"Yaha Uta described the fierce strength and speed of the creature. One of his brothers quickly became a victim when he underestimated that strength. The creature ripped him apart like a doll."
Nessie whimpered again and Bella walked over to Jacob.
She said something to Jacob and then he and Nessie went outside.
"Is she okay Bells?" Charlie asked, completely concerned.
Bella sighed.
"Yeah she will be okay; Jake took her for a run until Billy is finished. I will explain more later."
Charlie nodded and Bella returned next to her husband and nodded to Billy.
"Yaha Uta and his other brother were more wary. They worked together, coming at the creature from the sides, outmaneuvering it. They had to reach the very limits of their wolf strength and speed, something that had never been tested before. The creature was hard as stone and cold as ice. They found that only their teeth could damage it. They began to rip small pieces of the creature apart while it fought them. But the creature learned quickly, and soon was matching their maneuvers. It got its hands on Yaha Uta's brother. Yaha Uta found an opening on the creature's throat, and he lunged. His teeth tore the head off the creature, but the hands continued to mangle his brother. Yaha Uta ripped the creature into unrecognizable chunks, tearing pieces apart in a desperate attempt to save his brother. He was too late, but, in the end, the creature was destroyed. Or so they thought. Yaha Uta laid the reeking remains out to be examined by the elders. One severed hand lay beside a piece of the creature's granite arm. The two pieces touched when the elders poked them with sticks, and the hand reached out towards the arm piece, trying to reassemble itself. Horrified, the elders set fire to the remains."
This time Edward and Bella shuddered; Bella leaned into her husband.
What is going on here?
"A great cloud of choking, vile smoke polluted the air. When there was nothing but ashes, they separated the ashes into many small bags and spread them far and wide - some in the ocean, some in the forest, and some in the cliff caverns. Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck, so he would be warned if the creature ever tried to put himself together again."
Billy paused and pulled out a leather thong from around his neck.
Hanging from the end was a small bag, blackened with age.
Charlie and I gasped.
Could that be the bag from the story?!
Bella looked unsettled.
Edward rubbed Bella's shoulders looking at the small bag in disgust.
"They called it The Cold One, the Blood Drinker, and lived in fear that it was not alone. They only had one wolf protector left, young Yaha Uta. They did not have long to wait. The creature had a mate, another blood drinker, who came to the Quileutes seeking revenge."
Bella and Edward grimaced.
Edward pulled Bella to sit on his lap.
"The stories say that the Cold Woman was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever seen. She looked like the goddess of the dawn when she entered the village that morning; the sun was shining for once, and it glittered off her white skin and lit the golden hair that flowed down to her knees. Her face was magical in its beauty, her eyes black in her white face. Some fell to their knees to worship her."
Charlie's huge eyes were now staring at Bella and Edward and then to Billy and Sue.
"She asked something in a high, piercing voice, in a language no one had ever heard. The people were dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer her. There was none of Taha Aki's blood among the witnesses but one small boy. He clung to his mother and screamed that the smell was hurting his nose. One of the elders, on his way to council, heard the boy and realized what had come among them. He yelled for the people to run. She killed him first. There were twenty witnesses to the Cold Woman's approach. Two survived, only because she grew distracted by the blood, and paused to sate her thirst. They ran to Taha Aki, who sat in counsel with the other elders, his sons, and his third wife. Yaha Uta transformed into his spirit wolf as soon as he heard the news. He went to destroy the blood drinker alone. Taha Aki, his third wife, his sons, and his elders followed behind him. At first they could not find the creature, only the evidence of her attack. Bodies lay broken, a few drained of blood, strewn across the road where she'd appeared. Then they heard the screams and hurried to the harbor. A handful of the Quileutes had run to the ships for refuge. She swam after them like a shark, and broke the bow of their boat with her incredible strength. When the ship sank, she caught those trying to swim away and broke them, too."
Charlie and my eyes were basically the same size.
I felt like I couldn't breathe properly.
Sue yawned.
Most likely she heard this tale many times in the past.
"She saw the great wolf on the shore, and she forgot the fleeing swimmers. She swam so fast she was a blur and came, dripping and glorious, to stand before Yaha Uta. She pointed at him with one white finger and asked another incomprehensible question. Yaha Uta waited. It was a close fight. She was not the warrior her mate had been. But Yaha Uta was alone - there was no one to distract her fury from him. When Yaha Uta lost, Taha Aki screamed in defiance. He limped forward and shifted into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf. The wolf was old, but this was Taha Aki the Spirit Man, and his rage made him strong. The fight began again. Taha Aki's third wife had just seen her son die before her. Now her husband fought, and she had no hope that he could win. She'd heard every word the witnesses to the slaughter had told the council. She'd heard the story of Yaha Uta's first victory, and knew that his brother's diversion had saved him."
Edward shivered and buried his face in Bella's neck.
"The third wife grabbed a knife from the belt of one of the sons who stood beside her. They were all young sons, not yet men, and she knew they would die when their father failed. The third wife ran toward the Cold Woman with the dagger raised high. The Cold Woman smiled, barely distracted from her fight with the old wolf. She had no fear of the weak human woman or the knife that would not even scratch her skin, and she was about to deliver the death blow to Taha Aki. And then the third wife did something the Cold Woman did not expect. She fell to her knees at the blood drinker's feet and plunged the knife into her own heart."
Bella rubbed the back of Edward's neck, talking to him softly.
"Blood spurted through the third wife's fingers and splashed against the Cold Woman. The blood drinker could not resist the lure of the fresh blood leaving the third wife's body. Instinctively, she turned to the dying woman, for one second entirely consumed by thirst. Taha Aki's teeth closed around her neck. That was not the end of the fight, but Taha Aki was not alone now. Watching their mother die, two young sons felt such rage that they sprang forth as their spirit wolves, though they were not yet men. With their father, they finished the creature. Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe. He never changed back to a man again. He lay for one day beside the body of the third wife, growling whenever anyone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned."
Billy paused and took another drink of water.
"Trouble with the cold ones was rare from that time on. Taha Aki's sons guarded the tribe until their sons were old enough to take their places. There were never more than three wolves at a time. It was enough. Occasionally a blood drinker would come through these lands, but they were taken by surprise, not expecting the wolves. Sometimes a wolf would die, but never were they decimated again like that first time. They'd learned how to fight the cold ones, and they passed the knowledge on, wolf mind to wolf mind, spirit to spirit, father to son. Time passed, and the descendants of Taha Aki no longer became wolves when they reached manhood. Only in a great while, if a cold one was near, would the wolves return. The cold ones always came in ones and twos, and the pack stayed small."
Jacob then walked back in, led by a rather happy Nessie and shook his hair out.
Melted snow was flying everywhere.
"Jacob would you like to continue."
Billy resaid the few sentences and Jacob nodded.
"A bigger coven came, and our great-grandfathers prepared to fight them off. But the leader spoke to Ephraim Black as if he were a man, and promised not to harm the Quileutes."
Jacob picked up his pacing and looked towards my daughter and her husband.
He then looked at me and Charlie, smiling softly.
"His strange yellow eyes gave some proof to his claim that they were not the same as other blood drinkers."
Charlie and I were stunned silent.
"The wolves were outnumbered; there was no need for the cold ones to offer a treaty when they could have won the fight. Ephraim accepted. They've stayed true to their side, though their presence does tend to draw in others. And their numbers have forced a larger pack than the tribe has ever seen. Except, of course, in Taha Aki's time. And so the sons and one daughter of our tribe again carry the burden and sometimes joy and share the sacrifice their fathers endured before them."
Jacob smiled and looked over at Nessie, Bella and Edward.
"Well Jacob, while they talk about the legend, will you drive me home?"
Edward tossed Jacob a set of keys and Jacob nodded as he and his father left the house.
Surprise
…
Renesmee of course knew exactly what Billy described and she is still frightened over seeing Irina being shred to pieces.
…
"It's okay; there is nothing for you to fear any more. You are safe and loved." Edward said to Nessie.
…
Bella hummed in agreement and then started to hum Renesmee's version of her lullaby.
…
"Take her outside for some fresh air. Let her run a little just until Billy is finished. I don't want her stressed out." Bella told Jacob.
…
When Edward shivered and buried his face in Bella's neck, he whispered. "I love you."
…
"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have scared you like that. But I had to protect you anyway I could. I love you, Edward. All is fine."
…
When Charlie and Renee were stunned silent Charlie was trying to piece together the facts.
…
"Here Jake." Edward whispered has he tossed Jacob his car keys.
…
A/N: Again the bold/italic is directly from the book or twisted a little by yours truly.
Thank you my lovelies,
~TLG
