Page 7 of The Watcher

She feared he would capture her and keep her forever. Fear drove her, and she ran faster and faster until she rose in the air and joined the sun.

Every day she rode the sun, her protector, as he passed through the sky, out of reach of the sorcerer.

In despair, for he loved her as well as he could love, the sorcerer walked to the seashore and into the ocean. He shrugged off his human form, became the ugly thing that he truly was, and sank into the depths. He is the Frog God, the most powerful being at the bottom of the ocean.

At the mention of the Frog God, the wind picked up, ruffling the cedars and stirring the meadow grasses. …

For most days and months and years, the Frog God sits in the ocean and watches angrily as the maiden and the sun ride through the sky above him. He dwells in darkness, for without the maiden he cannot become what he had hoped to be. Possessing her, he believed he could become the most powerful god of the land, beloved by all the people who dwell in the longhouses and along the shores of the Pacific. …

As the wind whipped around them, Aidan and Avni shivered, and the kids moved even closer to the fire and to Kateri. …

Years pass. In the dark depths, the Frog God’s desire for the maiden grows. And grows. When his need becomes too great, he heaves his huge body off the ocean floor and leaps, trying to catch the sun. His ascent causes the ocean floor to shake. And when he lands after each unsuccessful attempt, the seas rise and eat the land. …

Kateri could feel his presence, his eyes on her, his ancient anger ever-present. She would not allow him to overpower her, no matter how much her scars burned. Defiantly, she allowed the drumbeat to envelop her again. …

Sometimes, when the Frog God despairs of ever reaching the maiden, he steals onto the land in the night, changes back into his human form, and walks the earth, always searching. Seeking the most beautiful woman in the world. …

One by one, Kateri gazed at the girls, and her eyes were strange, green, otherworldly…

Whenever he is able to find her, he watches her and he entrances her. If she falls in love with his fierce beauty and his practiced charm and walks with him in the forest, the next morning her body is found rolling in the waves.

But sometimes the most beautiful woman in the world is not unguarded. Sometimes she recognizes the Frog God in the deep green eyes of the handsome one. Sometimes she knows the protective incantation of the people to keep him from possessing her. And sometimes there is a man who would save her from the sorcerer and the certain death. When this man appears, the sorcerer fights him, using his age-old knowledge of weapons and tactics. Only the most trained and determined warrior can survive and save the woman from the Frog God’s charms.

But without the protection of the incantation or a great warrior, the beautiful maiden is doomed to become the Frog God’s own, destined to die and join him in the sea forever.

Kateri finished her tale.

Nathan's drumming slowly died away.

Into the tense silence, Lily asked, “What’s the incantation? The one that will protect her from the sorcerer?"

Kateri walked to the log pile and grabbed a log, seemingly at random. She placed it on the fire and watched the flames envelop the wood. She nodded to Nathan.

He took up the drumbeat again, faster, deeper, louder.

Kateri stood near the heat of the fire and recited the incantation in the language of her people, using her knowledge of the old ones.

The teenagers sat entranced, listening closely even though they could not understand a word she said.

When she had finished the protective spell, she glanced at the log and when it began to turn a greenish color, she raised her arms and shouted the final word, the word that would bind the spell to this place.

The fire exploded in high red and blue flames, green sparks shooting far above the fire pit.

Screams erupted from the teenagers, from Marie, from Naira. Even Nathan stopped drumming and gazed at Kateri with admiration.

“Whoa!” Mariah said, holding her hand to her chest. The end of her braid was wet where she had anxiously chewed on it during the story.

“How did you make it do that?” Aidan asked in amazement, flicking his bangs off his forehead for the fiftieth time.

Kateri looked at the group mysteriously. “Old Native American magic.”

They continued to stare at her open-mouthed.

She laughed. “I put chemicals onto the log before I put it in the fire,” she confessed.

“That’s lit,” Bryan said quietly.

"Yes, it lit and…" Okay. That wasn't what he meant. Kateri was beyond keeping up with current slang. It changed much too frequently, and she was from the days when you just said “cool” and moved on with life. Instead, as Naira led the kids in a round of applause, she gave a small bow to the crowd.

---