The Raven and the Witch Hunter Omnibus

BIG BEAR CHAPTER 5

BIG BEAR CHAPTER 5

Vanessa flew down, reluctantly transforming back to her human form, as the entrance looked too narrow for her to enter as a raven. The width of her wings alone made her larger as a bird than she was as a woman. She was grateful that part of her magic involved her clothes transforming with her, as the thought of being naked in subzero temperatures wasn't appealing. Still, she was unhappy that she couldn’t remain in her raven form, where she knew she'd be stronger. Sadly, raven claws and wings were only effective as part of an aerial attack, which likely wouldn’t be an option inside a small cave.

Moving as silently as she could, she winced at the faint sound of a leaf crunching underfoot. Hoping against hope that nothing had heard her, Vanessa belatedly used the air to provide a cushion against the ground and any other hidden noisemakers under the snow, then floated through the crack into the cave.

At first, she couldn't see anything in the darkness. Then a faint glow became noticeable from the narrow path. Cautiously, she moved toward the light. Peering around an unexpected corner into a surprisingly large chamber, she was shocked to see the interior was at least twenty feet high in the middle and as large in diameter as the average living room. When she examined the walls more closely, she could tell that they had been roughly carved into their current shape by an unnatural force. Marks resembling those made by a chisel were visible in several places and she knew that someone, or something, had created this space through painstakingly hard work.

As her gaze traveled around the dim interior, she saw Emma Jane. She was sitting calmly in front of the only light source, a small fire, with her legs crossed as if she was mediating. Vanessa's mouth dropped open, then she began to fume.

What the heck? Why did she leave me alone to hang out while she chills in a hidden cave?

Vanessa was ready to storm over and give Emma Jane a piece of her mind when she noticed that something was off about Emma Jane's relaxed pose. She was sitting with her back toward Vanessa, so she couldn't see Emma Jane's face, but the way her hair had fallen in front of her was wrong. Normally when Emma Jane mediated, her hair hung straight down her back with her face pointed up toward the Great Spirit. This time, her head was down as though she was asleep or perhaps looking at something on the floor. Consequently, her hair cascaded over her shoulders in a way Vanessa knew the usually fastidious Emma Jane detested.

Vanessa paused with her foot poised to step inside the main cave. She pulled back to rethink her first impulse, which was to barge in and start shouting in anger and relief. Something odd was happening, after all. She took a longer, more precise look at the area, searching for anything that might be important. She'd already noticed the walls, but as she looked at them again she could now make out several old paintings. They were similar to those she'd seen depicted in an old National Geographic magazine article on cave men. These could have been mirror images based on the colors and shapes she saw flickering in the firelight in front of her.

She noticed a small indent in the cave wall just below the drawings, in which there was a collection of metal objects. They appeared to be everyday metal tools, like hammers and chisels, and were stacked neatly together, as though placed there for ease of use. She couldn't make out what they all were from where she was standing, but one stood out in a particularly unpleasant way. It looked dangerous, with an edge that caused her to swallow hard. She recalled the time she'd encountered cannibals in the cave in Scotland. Praying this wouldn’t be a repeat of that awful and disgusting experience, she forced her gaze elsewhere.

A faint noise from the other side of the chamber startled her and she drew back, barely allowing herself to peer into the gloom within the cave, not wanting to be caught if something or someone had brought Emma Jane there. Vanessa spotted another passageway she hadn't initially noticed. The opening lay across from Emma Jane and was where the faint sound was coming from. At first, Vanessa wasn't sure what she was seeing in the semi-darkness and retreated further to rub her eyes. Positive her mind was playing tricks on her, she turned to look again. Nope, she'd seen it correctly the first time.

Standing in the passageway was an imposing figure. While at first glance, Vanessa thought it was wearing a fur coat, when she looked again it was crystal clear that, with the exception of the face, the creature was completely covered in real fur. Whatever it was, it most certainly was not human. The creature's face had a blue tinge, while the fur was mostly white, except for a few dark patches marred by grime. Its hands were dark brown and featured large claws, resembling those of a bear. Within the grasp of these enormous hands was a strangely modern appearing blue bucket containing snow and ice. Vanessa couldn't see any ears, but the hair on the creature's head was long and shaggy and could have easily obscured them.

Damn it!

Vanessa pulled back all the way and leaned on the rock wall. Where was Cat when she needed her? Or her other friends? Growling inwardly with frustration, Vanessa wished she had her whole team with her to deal with the threat. But as she didn't, she knew she had to come up with a plan.

The first problem was that Emma Jane seemed to be out of the picture completely. Whatever this creature was, it had been able to incapacitate her somehow. That meant it was most likely dangerous, because there was no way Emma Jane would be sitting with her hair on her face while something resembling Harry, from Harry and the Henderson's, walked around. Either Emma Jane was unconscious or under some kind of mind control. Both options were frightening, since Emma Jane was the one who had all the experience with fighting and hunting.

Mentally running through her own list of abilities, Vanessa tried to determine the best plan of attack. She could control air, which meant she could extinguish the fire or make it larger, or even cause a small tornado inside the chamber. But all of those things could potentially hurt Emma Jane in addition to the creature. Vanessa could turn into a raven, but not until she was in the center of the cave near the fire where the ceiling was higher. That option could trap her without an exit, however, as the hallway already felt tight when she was in her human form. Vanessa spiraled into doubt and fear, then shook her head.

Nope, not going down that path. I've faced worse and that's my woman in there. I'm going to go in, personality blazing, and wing it. Figuratively and literally, if need be.

Her plan made, such as it was, Vanessa stepped into the chamber and waited. It didn't take long for the creature to notice her. It lifted its head and looked directly at her. Vanessa approached slowly, keeping the fire between herself and the creature while simultaneously inching closer to Emma Jane. Maybe she'd be able to wake her up so she could help get them out of here, but Vanessa wanted to make sure that Emma Jane was still breathing first. The thought had crossed her mind and once there, it was almost all she could think about.

To her relief, when she was finally in position in front of Emma Jane, she saw her breathing deeply, as though she was sleeping. No blood or obvious injuries were visible, so after a quick scan of Emma Jane’s body, Vanessa turned her attention back to the creature on the other side of the fire.

The fur-clad beast tilted its head, seeming confused by the presence of a stranger in its home, but then its mouth curled into a snarl and Vanessa's initial suspicions were confirmed. Not a welcoming and friendly host, that’s for sure. She took a nervous half-step backward, but was unprepared by the speed with which the creature lunged at her. Vanessa flew up, using the air to move a few feet away from the beast, grateful she'd recently recharged in her raven form before entering the cave.

Yellow teeth bared, resembling those of a sabre tooth tiger, the creature growled. The sound reverberated through the cave and fear shot through Vanessa like shards of ice, piercing her and leaving her weaker. Shaking her head, Vanessa refocused, realizing during the few seconds of weakness that she'd dropped much lower than she'd intended. A flash of understanding about the cause of Emma Jane’s stillness in the middle of a developing battle field struck her, so Vanessa did the only thing that made sense to her. She plugged her ears.

The instant she did so, she felt stronger again. Something in the noise emitted by the beast affected her ability to concentrate and she was positive that was why Emma Jane was under the monster's spell. Vanessa looked around, remaining out of reach of the creature while keeping her ears plugged and floating as high as she could within the confines of the cave’s environment. She didn't transform, since her hearing was better as a raven and that would only help strengthen the creature’s ability to control her through sound. Instead, she searched for a way to wake Emma Jane. As soon as Vanessa had covered her ears she'd regained control, so if she could rouse Emma Jane and tell her to cover her ears, maybe they'd be able to get out in one piece.

Vanessa spotted the bucket the creature had dropped on the chamber floor when he'd first seen her. She flew through the air, narrowly avoiding another lunge from the creature and threw it right in Emma Jane's face. Her plan worked immediately. Emma Jane leapt to her feet with a gasp, hyperventilating for a second before she recovered a full awareness of her surroundings.

"Cover your ears!" Vanessa shouted, as the beast opened its mouth again.

Emma Jane quickly plugged her ears without question and the creature howled. The noise echoed around the chamber, although not completely without effect as Vanessa had hoped. To her horror, Vanessa felt herself once again losing control of her element, feeling almost as drained as when she'd first kissed Emma Jane. She knew then that plugging her ears wasn't going to work for long. Luckily, Emma Jane was now awake and pissed off. Vanessa had never seen her so angry, even when Emma Jane had been attacked in the bathroom at a nightclub, which had been the first time Vanessa had seen her in action. Conserving her energy, Vanessa floated down to stand with Emma Jane.

"Now what?" asked Vanessa.

She shouted as she kept her ears plugged and the furry giant in view. It looked angry, but was watching them for their next move.

"Now I must defeat him," Emma Jane replied. "He tried to trap me here, destroying any potential for me to allow him to go free. I saw him from the trail and followed him at first. I've heard varying tales through the years of the sásq’ets, so I wasn't sure if it was a creature for good or evil. The legends differ, depending on which story you hear and which group tells them. It's been described as everything from a peaceful creature that eats plants to a man-eating demon."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "So which is it? I mean, so far we're both alive, but why were you sitting there in a trance?"

Emma Jane's face took on a cold, hard look, one Vanessa had seen before during a hunt. "At first, I wasn't sure. But now that we’re here and my mind is clear, the spirit I saw within the fur of the animal is one that's become twisted and dark. This creature is every bit as evil as any wendigo. I must kill it before we leave here, otherwise people will begin to go missing in the canyon and surrounding area."

Vanessa nodded, deferring to Emma Jane's skill at gauging evil, but wondered why the creature wasn't attacking yet. Then she noticed its hands. At first, she'd thought it was clenching and unclenching them, but as she watched, she realized the creature appeared to be drawing small patterns in the air. She felt ripples of power spread around the cave, creating a disturbance. The feeling of bad magic moving though the air prickled against her skin.

"Emma Jane, you need to move, now. He's doing something to the air that’s not normal. It’s making my skin feel tight."

Emma Jane nodded and approached the beast, pulling out a silver knife Vanessa had never seen her use before. She began to dance around the creature. It stopped moving its hands and Vanessa felt the pressure on her body ease, but watched with trepidation as the creature instead began to mirror Emma Jane’s movements.

Vanessa had never seen two animals square off before, but couldn't help but think how much Emma Jane resembled a fierce and beautiful panther as she danced around the beast. They moved in sync, as though they were performing capoeira or a tango in which they were trying to kill each other. When Vanessa and Emma Jane had taken on the witch together only a few weeks earlier, Vanessa had felt like she was watching Emma Jane dominate an MMA fight, with kicks, lunges, and punches. This fight, in the cold, shadowy cave, was more sinuous and so smooth that Vanessa nearly missed the moment when Emma Jane spotted an opening. Like lightening, the hunter dove toward the center of the beast, which towered almost two feet above her small but muscular figure. The creature reached out its large arms, attempting to scoop Emma Jane into its grip, but instead Emma Jane slipped through, coming up underneath and into its guard.

Vanessa caught her breath, filled with dread that Emma Jane had made a deadly mistake. She watched with surprise as Emma Jane began to glow, becoming so bright that Vanessa had to squint and put a hand up to cover her eyes. Just as quickly, the light faded away and she watched as Emma Jane stepped back from the now motionless creature. Her knife was raised and the blade was covered with dark blood that dripped down her arm. Vanessa paused in her celebration at the victory as the look on Emma Jane's face caused her to worry about the shape of her girlfriend's soul.