Re: Chapter 4.3: The Great Fathers Meet
"Indeed I did." Kang says, taking a sip of tea. "And though that esteemed member of your group has departed, perhaps you will relay the tale to him. I will tell of my battle with the paha wakansica that lair within the sacred Lodge of the Grizzly, the battle with which I secured passage for my iron road through the land of the Sioux. It is a tale that Sir Crazy Horse knows of, though, so I hope I am not causing him boredom with the tale's repetition."
Crazy Horse's face goes even more stone-like. He doesn't answer Kang, who shrugs and begins his story.
"I first came to the Lakota Nations after my purchase of the Chicago and North Western line. Then, the Lakota Nations stood between myself and the sea, and I wished only to be provided a way through. I spoke many times with the wicasas, especially with Sitting Bull. They were not, at first, willing to allow me to build my road, but I kept asking. Then, some years ago, Sitting Bull asked for my assistance. He would provide me with the right of way, he said, if I could find a way to stop the paha wakansica. I agreed, and sent men to the Lodge of the Grizzly. There those men met a terrible fate, and did not return, and so I gathered a group of my most powerful warriors and went to the Lodge myself."
"The land around the Lodge of the Grizzly is strange, and dangerous. The paha wakansica were said to have skin like stones, and bear weapons that can melt the flesh off a man's bones, or freeze the blood in his veins. There were bears with skins like lizards, silver riversnakes with poison bites, tiny dogs on the prairie that could strip the flesh from a man, and devil bats large enough to carry away horses."
"My band of heroes passed through these dangers, though several lives were lost. We entered the Lodge through a great hole in the mountain. In the caverns, we came across a hungry darkness." He pauses briefly and shudders. "I know of many terrible things in this world. The hungry darkness still haunts my dreams. We fought it with fire and with magic, banishing it for a time. We passed into the upper caverns, where we were beset by red insects the size of dogs, with razors for tails." he rolls up one sleeve and points at one of his scars. "I received this there, fighting an insect that was trying to kill one of my men."
"We passed beyond the lair of the insects, and found ourselves in the halls of the paha wakansica themselves. Inside were wonders. The paha wakansicas were once capable of wonders. The halls within gleamed, and there were wonders to behold. But the paha wakansicas had become degraded. Debased. Little more than savage monsters. They came at us, and we fought. A terrible battle came then, and many men and monsters died. In the end, the chief of the paha wacansicas, called Zabrox, surrendered and pleaded for his race. He had a device that could turn his words into our language, and we spoke."
"I learned many things, then, about the paha wakansicas. They were descended from a race of beings more ancient than man, a race that came to the world from beyond the stars. Zabrox's tribe were the only remains of that long-ago people. The Lakota had transgressed in their halls, and they feared the outside world, so they retaliated. So like it is between the Lakota and the White Man, all they wished for was to be left alone."
"I promised to send Zabrox my mightiest warriors, who would guard the gate that lead into the Lodge. My people would keep the paha wakanicas in their world, and the Lakota in ours. This done, I returned to Sitting Bull and told him of this. The mountain devils would not return, so long as my men stand guard. And so it has remained."