eight

nineish i think It’s a girl! She shouldn’t have any power! Why would you listen to her?” The man yelled. The men holding his arms jumped back as he burned them and the man jumped on me. I had the earth engulf him. “They listen to me because I’m wiser than most people my age. They know I know power and the modern world better than any of them. Do not doubt my power or my wisdom.” I told him with his his head sticking out of the earth his eyes wide. “How would you be wise? You’re a girl! You don’t know the ways of a tribe!” He yelled at me, not bothered by the earth that had him in a stranglehold. The earth spat him out and he came up to me. He took a step into my personal space expecting me to back down. I stood my ground like the stubborn high school fighter I was. Girls confronting each other wasn’t abnormal in my school and this didn’t bother me any more than they bothered me. His eyes got wide and he stepped so close that his chest touched mine. It started to get uncomfortable but I still held my ground. His eyes narrowed. He grabbed me by the neck and forced me to my knees. I made myself insubstantial. He gasped as the coldness of my spirit engulfed his hand. I was standing next to him the next instant. “I’m not a normal girl and I’m no ordinary protector. Don’t every try something stupid with me.” I said. He grabbed me and when I tried to become insubstancial I couldn’t. His spirit was trapping mine. The fear I’d known so recently engulfed me but then I thought straight. I showed him my pain, the pain of your spirit ripping to pieces. He crumpled instantly. They all stared in wonder. He looked up at me with fear. “I know that pain so thoroughly, I’ve lived in it. I’m no ordinary girl.” I said to him. He stood and grabbed me again. I tried to force the memory upon him and he blocked it. I couldn’t think of anything else I could do so I tried to burn him. He didn’t seem effected by it. He tried to burn me and it didn’t bother me at all. The heat felt nice actually. When I relaxed under the heat he dropped me. He stared at me with curiosity. “What did you do to my men?” He asked me. “I put them to sleep,” I said simply. “How?” He asked me getting closer. “I used the power of spirit,” I answered. “How can you even use spirit like that? It’s the same power a shaman shows.” He said. “Well that would make sense being that I’m a shaman.” I said. The anger that flared in his eyes as he tried to attack me was shocking. “Why does everybody take this so badly?” I asked Rya, dodging his angry onslaught with ease. “It’s been a man’s role since the very beginning. Nobody has ever challanged that and it enfuriates most of our people because women have always been looked down upon. Think of the goth kids winning the prom king and queen or becoming head of student council.” She said. They all stared at her. “Ouch! That would be bad. Seriously, they’d turn the entire school black, though black is awesome, there is a limit to how much of it you can wear in one normal week.” I said and grinned at her. The man kept coming at me. I stopped him with a blow to the chest with all of earth’s power. He flew fifty feet back and crumpled, unsoncsious. “So that’s why they have such an issue with it?” I asked her. “Pretty much,” She answered me. “Huh,” I said walking over to him. I healed him quickly and called his spirit back into consciousness. “No! Don’t do that!” A bunch of the elders yelled at me. He woke up before I could ask them why and he got his hands around my throat in less than a second. I called the elements to me and I couldn’t control my body anymore. I felt every memory of a hundred lives flow into me and every minute of the last a thousand years control me. I looked and saw my tattoos and my streak glowing with a magnificent glory and I looked at him to see true fear. “Do not attack me or I will kill you.” I said, and a hundred voices accompanied mine. Each a new woman’s who had passed away long before me. I came back down to the earth, the power of air had driven me away from gravity’s pull and I walked up to him. My tattoos were still glowing with power but I controlled myself again. He took a step back as my power washed over him. His eyes were wide and his body afraid. “I am a shaman and a protector, they listen to me for a reason,” I said to him. I calmed myself. My tattoos stopped glowing. I took away my tattoos and my streak and made myself look average. “This is who I was,” I said. I put tem back on. “This is who I am. Do not question it.” I said. I walked away then. I felt the shock and the respect of the people following me down to the lake. I took off my dress and my leggings and dove in. The water assaulted my senses with such a cool touch that I gasped. I let the joy and calm of this gift wash away my fear and my anger and my pain. I floated there for a long time. I heard a splash as Sam came in too. I grinned and dove. He followed me under and we splashed each other when we came back up. I heard somebody clear their throat. I looked toward the noise and the man stood on the edge of the water. “Hi,” I greeted him. He looked surprised that I was so casual but he didn’t let it distract him. “Why didn’t you kill me?” He asked. “I don’t really want to kill anybody. I honestly don’t want death on my hands but I will kill if I have to to protect my people.” I said. His brow furrowed. “I don’t’ want to hurt anybody. I will, but I won’t like it.” I said. He nodded. “So, do you plan on trying to drown anybody today?” I asked him. His eyes got wide and he shook his head. “I came to talk.” He said looking wierdly awkward. “Uhh…” I looked around for where I’d left my clothes. They were hanging in the top branch of a tree now. Sam laughed at my expression.