La Noche de la Chankla: Moonfire
Chapter 24
Since the place of intersecting lines in the desert had been destroyed by the raging waters of the enemy and Two Legs were likely wandering the sands in the night, there was nowhere else to conduct the protection spell other than Luna’s backyard. The brujas, clad in their white ceremonial gowns and chanklas, marked off the sacred circle with salt upon the extended concrete patio, and connected the points of the triangle. Mary did not prefer the square configuration, and chose, instead, to take the center, the focal point, allowing her to better reach out to the Oaxaca cofradía.
Although the area had entered the dog days of summer, the breeze nearing midnight was ice cold. Frost had descended upon the picnic table and wisps of yellow grass. The mists of Niflheim were extending their influence, the worlds merging, and the brujas, seeing their breath as they took up their positions, knew that their spell must work. The moonstones glowed at the points of the triangle, as Mary shook an Ayoyote stick and burned a special sahumerio known only to the Oaxacans, one not found in the desert of the Southwestern US. It smelled of fresh wood and pine needles.
Javier watched the ritual through the plate glass of the back door, with Hueso beside him, shivering and whining. Although Luna would have normally made sure that her nieto was asleep before engaging in magic, Mary had counseled her that they needed his sight, and Luna had allowed him to watch. He was fascinated, glued to all the motions of the brujas.
To the rhythm of the Ayoyote stick, Mary began to chant. Her words were not Spanish, nor were they Latin, and, although the other brujas should not have been able to understand them, they could. Mary was calling the Oaxaca coven, and, as they listened they began to hear others chanting with her. The words came to them, and they joined in the intonation.
From the glass door, Javi’s eyes grew wide, as he started to see faint outlines of other people, like ghosts, surrounding the circle, dancing around it. But he knew instinctively that they were not ghosts, and that they were friends. He watched as the piedras de luna grew bright enough to to cast his abuela and tías into silhouette, like a fire surrounded by the dancing fantasmas. Then he saw something else.
Outside of the circle, in the sand between the patio and the driveway that was the backyard, something rose from the earth, something large, the size of a car, and the boy knew that it was not their friend. It turned its head and looked at him, its eyes red fire. Drool dripped from its jowls, as its mouth curled in rage. The boy knew this beast — Garmr. It was the hound of Surtr, who had killed the young woman whose eyes Javier had borrowed. Frozen with fear, the boy pissed himself. Hueso ran under the couch, crying. But Garmr was not there for the boy, and retrained his malevolent gaze onto the circle … and the brujas.
Garmr charged. Tasked with ending the brujas’ spell, it crashed headlong into the magic circle, intent upon disrupting it. The brujas felt the jolt and fell to their sides, but the magic of the circle held. But, to Javi’s eyes, if were as if they could not see their foe … and his abuela was in danger. He fought, fought the grip of paralysis as hard as he could and slid the door open, exposing himself to the blood-thirsty monster. And he shouted …
“Abuela!!!!! Mary!!!! GARMR!!!”
The beast, hearing the boy’s shouting, once again turned its attention to Javier and crouched with intent to devour him. But the brujas had heard the warning. Luna had heard him. Mary had heard him. And as Garmr prepared to lunge at the boy and tear him apart, seemingly conceiving that the brujas would abandon the circle to protect him, Luna shouted.
“Javier! Run!”
He did not have to be told twice and ran for his room to hide under the covers, while, at the same time, Mary reached into the pouch she was holding and flung dust from it outside the circle, shouting something that was unintelligible to the others. It covered Surtr’s minion, and the beast’s advantage was lost. They brujas could see the giant hound of Surtr, stolen from Hel, and they trembled.
As the beast had lost sight of its young prey, its wrath returned to the circle. It charged again, headlong into the invisible wall of moonstone-blanched fire. But Mary was now ready for it, and, as it came close, she ran toward it, to the edge of the circle and clubbed the beast in the skull with the Ayoyote stick. Garmr fell into the earth from which it had come, not dead, but banished. Mary watched the sand close upon the beast, and, without waiting, returned to the spell. The Oaxacan connection was still present, and the combined power of the brujas and the coven worked to complete the incantation, as the moon smiled upon them.
“Luna,” someone whispered from shadows of the side of the house. “Luuunnnnaaaa,” it called, in a voice marked by a patronizing tone and followed by an almost hysterical snickering. Emerging from the dark, the form of Enrique appeared in the light of the moonstones. His face was distorted, dog-like, and his eyes glowed a dim red. “Luna … the master is waiting for you and Javier. It’s time to give up.”
“Luna!” Mary snapped, as she saw the bruja’s face turn to despair, seeing her friend under the power of the evil, her concern jeopardizing the triangle. “It’s trying to stop the spell! Your friend cannot be helped right now. Focus, bruja!”
Trying to make herself deaf to the taunts of Surtr’s stolen minion, she returned to the chant, but Enrique’s distorted voice kept penetrating her mind.
“Luuuunnnnaaa! LUNA! … You have lost. Garmr will tear open Javier’s big barriga! Eat his guts! Luuuunnnnaaaa ! Stop your futile fighting. Leave. Run!”
“Luna! Do not listen!” Luz warned.
But Luna could not stop the voice. She could not maintain her focus on the spell. The light of the moonstones began to wane. All seemed lost. Mary looked at her with pity and understanding, knowing that few brujas could resist such distress, but also aware that, if the spell failed, Surtr and Garmr would return to take advantage before anything else could be done. But as Luna closed her eyes and felt that she could not bear it anymore, Enrique’s voice ceased to mock her. And, upon opening her eyes once more, she saw a spirit, with its hand upon Enrique’s head, forcing out the malevolence. It was not the spirit of her mother. It was Sergio Harkness.
Enrique’s face returned to its natural state, and he fell to the ground … still breathing. The dim, flesh-torn spirit sought out Luna’s eyes and nodded to her … before it blended into the scrim of the cold desert night and was no more. Luna nodded in return, her resolve returned to her, and she began the chant of the native words more forcefully than before. The moonstones glared brilliant, and the brujas, aided by power of the Oaxaca coven, completed the spell. The light of the stones coalesced into a ball around them and then shot out around the town, where it receded into a soft glow before fading, permeating the ground.
Taking a deep breath and looking around at the brujas with a smile, Mary said, “It is done!” before she collapsed to the ground.
“Mary!” Xochitl cried.
The three woman ran to old curandera and carried her inside to the couch. Mary lived still, still took breath. However, she had expended more energy than she should have, and her powers were depleted. She had fallen into a deep sleep, and the brujas knew that she would need days of rest. Javier, from under his covers, having seen Garmr fall back into the earth, came into the living room, where he said hello to Mary as if she were looking at him.
“She is asleep, Mijo,” Luna told him.
“No she isn’t,” Javier answered, looking confused. “She told me hello back. She’s looking at me right now.”
The gift of sight had allowed the boy to see Mary’s spirit, which he could communicate with as if she were conscious. The truth of it dawned upon the brujas, and they were glad for it.
“Enrique!” Luna gasped, as she ran back to the yard to look after her friend. Luz and Xochitl followed her, as Javier talked to Mary. Enrique was still out cold on the freezing ground, and they, will more difficulty, carried him inside as they had Mary, placing him in a chair and trying to rouse him.
“Enrique?” Luna called to him, as she patted his face.
He opened his eyes. “I guess you get to mock me now, eh Luna?” He cracked a tired smile.
“You knew?” she asked.
“Sí, pero I could not control it. I’m sorry.” he answered. “The spirit … it told me how to remove it in my head.”
Luna placed her hand on Enrique’s and whispered,“Thank you, Sergio,” while looking into the air.
