Star People Legacy Smith, T.L. (e book free reading .TXT) 📖

of the creature that came out of that building. Maxa’xak. A tap of another auto-call got my mother. “Who and what is Maxa’xak?”

“They are our blood enemy.” I expected her to put me off, but she kept talking. “You learned the legends of a giant snake rising from the water to eat people. They are destroyers, possessors. For centuries upon centuries the Star People have pursued them, one by one, fulfilling our one true duty. To kill them and protect the People.”

Two days ago I would have laughed. “It’s still a fu…nasty giant snake” I caught myself from swearing. Even several hundred miles away, her tongue-lashing could be as painful as the real thing. “Those guys we ran into yesterday are abducting the illegals and giving them to him. I saw it for myself. What is he, really?”

“You went back? You were supposed to wait for your brothers.” Now mom sounded scared and angry. “Did it see you? Did those men see you?”

“Yes, I… I got away, but they think I’m dead at the bottom of a ravine, next to… my friend.” My voice cracked. “Mom, what’s going on?”

“If they’re with him, they’re not men. Not anymore. Wherever you are, get somewhere safe. Your brothers left Dateland about fifteen minutes ago. Don’t do anything else until they’re with you. Do you hear me, Din’ah?”

So much for skipping the tongue lashing.

“Yes, mom, I hear you.” A part of me was mad. I was nearly thirty, a Marine. I didn’t need them rescuing me, another part of me was relieved they were close. “Mom, why am I glowing?”

“Oh my god, this is happening too fast.” Now she sounded frightened instead of angry.

“Mom!” I yelled at the phone to get her attention as she rambled to herself.

“Okay…” She yelled back at me. “It’s part of your Rising, Din’ah. Your Spirit sensed the danger you’re in and has awakened. Don’t fight it, but don’t go chasing the Maxa’xak until you can fully summon her.” She sounded almost panicked. “Don’t do anything else until I get there. Your father will be here in an hour and we’ll head that way. Don’t reveal yourself to those men!”

I glanced at the time displayed on the phone. Eleven. She’d not get here until four in the morning. Daylight would be around five. “I can’t promise anything, Mom. I have a duty to do something. My friend is still… Mom, coyotes are guarding his body. Rattlesnakes protected me when I climbed into their den. What’s all that?”

She hesitated and I could hear her taking a deep breath. “There’s not time to fully explain, but they recognized you as one of the Star People. They will protect your friend.” She sighed. “I’ll explain everything tomorrow. I love you, Din’ah.”

“No, mom, don’t hang up! I’m tired and I’m… scared. I need to stay awake. It’s at least an hour before Casey finds me.” I reached out, turning the phone volume up. “Tell me all the secrets you’ve been keeping from me.”

She did. “You know the ancient myths of Star People. The Ci’inkwia. Sometimes called Thunderbirds. And of Maxa’xak, the dark horned serpent Spirit. They went by different names too, with many tribes across the country.”

“Ciinkwia. I’ve heard those stories too. But the myths didn’t always describe the Thunderbirds as too nice either. They seemed to arbitrarily kill people.”

“No. Those we killed were humans the Maxa’xak used to serve as hosts for its young. They were no longer alive. The first thing the larvae did was eat into their brains and nervous systems, taking over the bodies. The Ci’inkwia can sensed the monster under human flesh. That’s what happened to you. That ‘ghost’ you saw possessing that man.”

“Jeeters. He’s in charge of the men, or whatever they are.”

“His evil Spirit was strong enough to force the Rising of your Star Spirit, which means it is close to maturity. A new Maxa’xak is almost ready to leave its host.

“Mom, how many of these things are around?”

“How many men did you see?”

“Eight the first time, but there could be more.”

Mom let out a worried groan. “Few larvae actually live to maturity, which is why they’re abducting illegals.”

I counted in my head. “That’s horrific. Casey went out on a call about a truckload of illegals dumped in a stolen truck. It was these same men… monsters. I think there might also be one or two on the base. They knew things they shouldn’t.”

“No. The young can’t be separated by more than thirty miles from the parent. They’re telepathically linked to regulate their growth. Longer than a day of separation the larva starts to consume their host, very quickly. I’m talking zombie-flesh boils and peeling.”

“Zombies.” In my head I saw her shiver. “Guess that’s why you never liked us watching those movies. You saw this happen?”

“When I was a teenager. Up in Chino Valley. My mother’s Spirit warned us of danger. We tracked down a young man and tried to find out where the nest was. He rotted right before my eyes. The larva tried to flee, but my father killed it.”

“You saw all this, with your own eyes.”

“Yes. It triggered my Rising.” She sighed. “We’ve been tracking this one forever, but could never pinpoint the nest. I’m not strong enough to purge a Maxa’xak anymore. Now it will be your job. That is what I need to teach you.”

“And you’ve kept this secret all these years. Why?”

Again there was a pause on the other end of the phone. A sigh. “Would you have believed any of this?”

Hell no! I kept my lips pressed together, my flesh no longer glowed hot, but was still a bit luminescent. “Probably not. So they followed us back to the base.”

“Probably.” She paused for only a second. “These evil Spirits can be persuasive in nature. When that man was warning you, he was trying to influence your human Spirit, not realizing you’re one of us.”

“Wait…” Her words rattled around my tired brain. By now I was near the maintenance road.