Chapter 29

Seamus continues his Narrative:

The following new characters appear in this chapter:

Sarah MacKenna, Chandra

Duncan's Sister, Seamus's Wife, 5'-2" tall, 100 pounds plus, 34C-20-30, 18 years old, long lustrous black hair, brown eyes, beautiful

Duncan MacKenna, Oconostota

Chandra's Brother, A & A's Husband, 5'-10" tall, 145 pounds, 16 years old, dark auburn hair, gray eyes, a very handsome young man

I transferred Black Bear, the Ranger Lieutenant, and myself back to the location of the temporary Portal to find that Carl and Dealla had arrived with the rest of the Rangers and the Continentals. Meagan, Maureen, and Cessair were with them also. M & M were just preparing to cast the defensive shell when we arrived. Once it was established, I called all of the Officers to me for a briefing.

Attending were: Lieutenants Matherson and Hendricks from the Continentals, the Lieutenants from both Ranger Platoons, plus my team and Black Bear. I went over what we had seen and heard. Black Bear and the first Ranger Lieutenant filled in further details. I then turned to what I intended to do.

"Here is the plan. The Rangers will move to a position just outside the forest and to their right facing the council building. Carl will be with them and will use the invisibility spell to hide their movements. He will also cast a Prolate Defensive Shell to protect them when they are in place.

"M & M will do the same thing for the Continentals who will be positioned on the left facing the council building.

"Black Bear and his men will remain out of sight at the edge of the forest between the other two forces, but ready to attack.

"I will then go down to challenge the Prophet and his Brother," I finished.

"What are you going to do, Captain O'Connell?" Fredrick asked.

"Use a bit of Magic to unnerve them and then send them and their men on their way back to where they came from," I told him.

"Not good plan," Black Bear insisted. "My warriors mad. Shawanoe break word. Must punish."

"I hate to say this, Chief," I said addressing him by his title. "You will probably have a chance to punish them because they are not likely to listen to me even if I use Magic. That is why the Rangers and Continentals will be in position and ready to fire when they don't listen," I told him. Black Bear just smiled in response.

We needed to hurry then as it was getting late, and we needed to finish this before it became too dark to see well. I pulled my team aside after we lowered the Defensive Shell to allow the others to move out to their positions. Black Bear guided the Continentals and his own people forward. The Rangers had their Lieutenant to guide them.

"Keep your wards around you," I reminded my relatives. "Each section take one of the Mages with you in case there are any injuries. They will be needed in the village later to take care of the injured there." They all moved out to join their respective commands. I transported to the edge of the forest to observe if there had been any changes in the short time since we had been there. I was joined by our allies after a few minutes. Black Bear joined us somewhat later. I could sense the Magic used for the spells and shells on either side of me as they came into existence.

"Soldiers too noisy," Black Bear told me as he joined us. "Rangers better, but no so good as Miami."

"The soldiers aren't used to working like this," I reminded him. But before I could sense that all of our subunits were ready, I sensed a sudden change in the signal coming from the strong Talent in the village. There was alarm and then panic before a grim determination set in on that Talent.

"Trouble!" I shouted, and knew that I couldn't wait for the others to be ready before I did a line-of-sight transfer to the vicinity where I sensed the Talent in trouble.

I materialized there to find a male Indian on top of the female with the Talent that I had sensed. There was a second Indian there watching them struggling on the ground.

Even as I was arriving, I could sense the young woman on the ground use a strange spell and two knives with six inch blades appeared in her hands which were out to the sides of the man on top of her who was raping her. Her arms came up with a knife in each hand, and she plunged both knives into the man's kidneys. He instantly let out an intense howl of anguish and pain that could be heard all over the village and back into the forest.

The one who was watching instantly became more alert and raised the musket that he was holding to fire at the problem. He quickly realized what had happened and was bringing the weapon around to fire at the young woman. I already had both of my power rings active and brought my arms up to unleash bolts of Magic Fire from both rings. The man immediately collapsed in a heap of flames, but the musket went off sending the ball harmlessly into the air as he fell. This coupled with the scream was sure to rouse the other Shawanoes to investigate. They were also sure to be unhappy with the death of two of their number. I didn't realize just how unhappy at the time.

When I looked back at the young woman, she had just finished cutting the throat of the man that she had stabbed, and she was being covered in blood even as she kicked him away from herself. I quickly moved to help her up.

"Are you all right?" I asked in Gaelic, forgetting that she might not understand me.

"Yes, I am all right," she answered back in Gaelic before asking, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"No time for that now!" I told her. "We need to leave here," and I wrapped my wards around both of us before transferring back to the edge of the forest just as the first Shawanoes were arriving on the scene.

We materialized in front of our allies and quickly turned to see what was going on in the village. We could hear many screams of anger as more Shawanoe warriors arrived at the scene. This was followed by questions in loud voices as they began to look out toward the forest for those who had done this.

"What happen?" Black Bear asked in a startled voice.

"I killed the Prophet of the Shawanoe for raping me, and this man killed his Brother, the War Chief Tecumseh," the young woman told him in Gaelic. A look of shock appeared on Black Bear's usually stern face in the late afternoon light at this revelation.

"Both of them?" he asked in amazement.

"Yes!" I assured him, as we saw the Shawanoes start toward the forest with very mad looks on their painted faces. The young woman stepped forward from the trees in her blood stained buckskin dress and addressed the advancing Shawanoes in a strong voice in their language. Black Bear interpreted her words for me.

"Your Prophet is dead. Killed in shame by a Woman of greater Magic. Your War Chief is also dead. Killed by a Man of strong Magic who does not use the white man's guns, but Magic instead. Go home to your lodges. You have followed a false Prophet and a weak Chief," Black Bear translated.

Her speech did not have the suggested effect on the Shawanoes who screamed war cries and charged toward where they could see the young woman.

Carl and M & M waited until the Indians were about sixty yards away before dropping the invisibility spell and then lowering the defensive shells. One hundred muskets and rifles went off nearly together. The Shawanoes had not been expecting this and most of them were mowed down and killed by the first volley. Black Bear led his warriors out of the forest with blood curdling war cries while Carl and M & M brought the shells back up to protect the Rangers and Continentals while they reloaded.

The presence of the Miamis was the final straw, and those few Shawanoes left turned and fled back toward the village with the Miamis after them. They had nearly made it back to the village before they were met with a volley of arrows from the original inhabitants and a few musket shots as well. Less than a hand full escaped and a number of our allies were after them.

I was standing there in amazement. It wasn't until a minute ago that I had put together what had happened and who had died. In our Reality, Tecumseh hadn't come into his full power until around 1805 after his Brother, then known as Tenskwatawa, or the Shawanoe Prophet, had started his religious campaign among the Indians of the Northwest Territory. With the British winning the American War of Independence in this Reality and backing the Indians in their attacks on the Americans, it appeared that Tecumseh and the Prophet were well ahead of where they had been in our Reality. It also now appeared that there would not be a Tippecanoe in this Reality, at least not one involving Tecumseh and the Prophet.

I was brought out of my musings by the arrival of Carl, M & M, and C & D. Those last two were now attending to the young woman that I had rescued who was very unsteady on her feet.

"What have you found, Seamus?" Cessair asked, as they lowered the young woman to the ground to treat her.

"What do you mean?" I asked not understanding her question.

"Her Talent, while very strong, is different than any of ours. She can do White Magic as you can, and while she can also do some Green Magic, her Talent doesn't feel like Ken's or Kell's. Her Green Magic isn't as extensive as ours, but she is still able to do a lot of healing," Cessair told me. I had realized that the young woman had a Talent that was different, but I hadn't realized just how different, and it would turn out that I still didn't know just how different it was.

C & D were cleaning the blood off the young woman with a spell and then began checking her for any other injuries while I stood there in slack jawed astonishment. I was brought back to reality by Carl.

"What do you want done next, Seamus," my younger Brother asked. I blinked for a few seconds while I took in the scene before me. My brain finally kicked back in.

"The Continentals need to be returned to Fort Washington. It will be dark soon and we don't require their help any longer. The Rangers should set up camp away from the village and start patrolling as soon as possible, but they may need to wait until the moon comes up," I told him, and immediately remembered that it was nearly the new moon and would be all but impossible to see tonight.

"Cancel the part about the Rangers," I told him. "Not enough moon light tonight to see by. Just have them make their camp at the far end of the village. An open shell would be a good idea to protect them once they are settled," I told him. "There will be a lot of things to be taken care of before it gets too dark to see." The young woman had been revived by this time and was smiling at my Sisters.

"Who are all of you?" she asked in perfect Gaelic with a slight Ulster accent.

"We are the O'Connells. Well, at least part of the O'Connells. We have a number of other relatives with us in this Reality," Dealla told her.

"And can all of you do the things that my rescuer did?" she asked.

"Yes, most of us," Meagan answered.

"Some of us are Mages and use Green Magic," Dealla added.

"Who are you?" Maureen asked.

"My Mother, who was Cherokee, named me Chandra.

"And my Father, who was Scot-Irish, named me Sarah MacKenna," she informed my Sisters in a very melodious voice. Black Bear returned shortly after that and had an urgent message for us.

"Need speak Chief village," he told me in an insistent voice.

"Yes, we will all go to the village and speak to the Chief there," I told him before checking around for where all of my team was. Carl was moving the Rangers toward the far end of the village. M & M had just left to move the Continentals back to the Portal and to return them to Fort Washington. It appeared that it would be only Black Bear, C & D, myself, and the young woman, Chandra, who would be going to the village presently.

"Can she move?" I asked Cessair.

"Yes, I can walk," Chandra answered.

"Let us proceed to the village then," I told all of them. The walk was a bit grim, as our allies were very busy scalping the Shawanoes who had fallen close to our formations. A number of Delaware from the village were busy scalping those who fell there.

We were met just outside the village by a delegation of the Delaware. There was an old man, apparently the Chief of the village in the lead. He was accompanied by another older man. Black Bear greeted them, and they conversed for a minute with Black Bear.

"This Chief Tetepachsit, Chief of village. Other, Chief Hockingpompsga, Chief other village on river," Black Bear informed us.

"They bid you and your people welcome," Chandra told us after that. "You and the other people are invited to a feast to be held tonight," she finished.

"Please inform the Chiefs that we will be honored to attend, but we must finish a number of things before it is dark. Our people must set up camp, and a decision needs to be made on what is to be done with all of the Shawanoe bodies," I told her and Black Bear who translated my words. The two Delaware Chiefs conferred for a minute before Chief Tetepachsit spoke in a solemn voice. Black Bear appeared to be having a hard time following what he was saying, and Chandra interpreted his words for us.

"The Shawanoe have broken their word to all. They do not deserve the burial of their ancestors. Let them lie here where they have fallen to be eaten by the creatures of the forest, and let their spirits wander the forest with no rest or the comfort from the Great Spirit," Chandra translated. This was not a good idea. There were entirely too many bodies to allow them to rot out in the open this close to the village. I turned to Chandra.

"Please tell the Chiefs that I understand their anger with the Shawanoe, but it is not good to allow so many dead bodies to remain close to his village. Their presence could sicken his people. Ask him if it would be permissible to burn the bodies," I told her. Chandra translated my words to the Chiefs. They appeared surprised, but had a question in return.

"Where will you get so much wood that will burn?" she translated back.

"We will not require wood to burn them or any help in moving the bodies. We will use our Magic to do these things," I had her tell them. The chiefs were definitely surprised by my words, but they gave us permission to proceed.

"While you do that, we're going into the village. There are a number of injured there," Dealla told me.

"I will go with them. I can help also," Chandra told me before she spoke to the Chiefs again, and all three women entered the village. I turned to Black Bear with a question.

"Will you and your men be at the feast tonight?"

"Yes. Much to celebrate," he told me before leaving to collect his men who were scattered around the area. Carl soon joined me, having taken care of the Rangers, and M & M joined us shortly after that.

"Are the Continentals back home?" I asked my Sisters.

"Yes, Seamus, and we closed the Portal for now," Meagan told me.

"We need to start stacking theses bodies in several piles and then burn them," I told the others.

"How large should the piles be?" Carl asked.

"Fifteen to twenty bodies where there are large numbers. Fewer close to the village where there aren't as many close together," I told him.

"Like Johns Creek!" Carl said in resignation.

"Yes, but M & M will need to help this time so we can be finished before it gets too dark to see well," I told them.

"We'll take the ones near the village," Maureen told us. Carl and I returned to the area nearer the forest and began to move bodies using our Power Rings. There had been something like seventy-five Shawanoes here. Nearly all of them were dead now.

We needed to remove the muskets, powder horns, shot bags and other weapons from the dead before placing the bodies in piles to be burned. The weapons and accoutrements were placed in separate stacks well away from the fires. The local people could do with them what they wished.

Once all of the bodies had been placed, we used Magic Fire from our Power Rings to incinerate them. Many of those in the village had been watching what we did, and we could hear their surprise as fire appeared from our hands to consume the bodies. This had been very visible in the fading daylight. It only required a short time for the Magic Fire to consume the bodies and then vanish as quickly as it had appeared. We walked toward the village when the last of the fires had gone out. We located our Mage Sisters and Chandra in the now near darkness easily by their Talents. They had already finished their work on the injured.

"Your Sisters are very good healers, and they know all of the herbs and other healing plants. Are you sure that you are not Cherokee?" Chandra asked me when we joined them.

"No, we aren't Cherokee. Cessair and Dealla are Mages. They use their Green Magic to grow and take care of all of the plants in addition to healing animals and people," I told her.

"Yes, they showed me the vines and leaves on their arms. They seemed very proud of them," she told me.

"All Mages have the vines and leaves. It is their most distinguishing characteristic," I told her.

"I need to change clothes for the feast," Chandra told me as we walked. "Will you accompany me to my cabin," she asked.

"We're going over to the Rangers' camp," Carl told me as he and our Sisters continued on. Chandra had stopped in front of one of the one room cabins. She opened the door, and I could detect a very weak ward around the small building. It would be sufficient to keep those with no Magic or Talent out, but even a First Level student would be able to pass through it.

"Is this your cabin?" I asked. It seemed well built if a bit small. There was a regular wooden door and a single window that faced east. Not all of the cabins in the village had these refinements.

"Yes. I helped my Brother build it. He is away with many of the other village men hunting. That is why Tecumseh and his men so easily took over the village," she explained as she lit a candle.

"I need to change to a better dress for the celebration tonight," she told me as, totally without modesty or shame, she removed the buckskin dress that she had been wearing. By the light of the candle, I saw a very lovely young woman. She stood about 5'-2" in her moccasins and was a little thin at a bit over one hundred pounds but endowed with large breasts and a 34C-20-30 figure. Her long shiny black hair with an occasional streak of auburn in it would easily come down to below her waist if not braided, as it was now in two braids. She had an oval face with a small nose and a generous, smiling mouth. She saw me looking at her but didn't blush as most women would have.