In the noonday heat the rawhide thongs had dried and lost their stretch. Soon it was Cern's arms and legs that had begun to stretch painfully. But the thongs cooperated when he suggested they ought to be a bit longer. 

Apparently Begay had done the same thing, he showed no signs of discomfort.

The thirst, though, was something else. Cern's body had never been quite so parched before. His favored woodland haunts had presented their own survival issues, but not this one. He tried dreaming he was there, but the relief was not real and didn't last for long. He looked over at Begay to see how he was doing. Begay was as calm as ever.

"What's your trick, Begay?" he asked, voice as dry as his throat. "How do you handle the thirst?"

Begay did not respond right away. Cern studied him for a moment to make sure he was really okay, then relaxed as best he could, and waited.  Finally, Begay spoke.

"I have heard that in the old days, when these lands were claimed by Mexico, the Dons had rules about water rights that were fairer than the rules the Anglos know. But the Dons' rules applied only to the Hopi in their pueblos, not to the Navajo on the open range. 

"The Dons made sure their rules were written into the agreement when the Anglos took over. The Anglos didn't care, they mostly make up rules as they go along, to serve their own needs. They too ignore the needs of the Navajo, and argue only among themselves as they build their dams and reservoirs where the water once ran unhindered.

"But the Diné do not mind. They know that water does not belong to the Anglos, nor the Spanish Dons. Water is free. Water is where you find it. Water is everywhere."

"Everywhere? Seems to be pretty scarce here."

"Scarce? True, it does not leap out of the ground, but it is there. Surely you can sense it, as you sense that Dema is coming, and I sense Juan."

Cern understood what Begay was telling him. He reached out again to the deep biosphere, as he had the night before, and followed the tendrils of life that stretch ever hopefully from that hidden realm toward the surface, following the water. 

 Water. As he became attuned to its tenuous presence, he recalled how in Romania he had helped Dema draw upon its presence there to give Avram the semblance of a body. As there, so here, he was able to summon it to himself, even out of the earth beneath him. Not a lot, but enough to moisten the membranes of his mouth and nose a bit, enough to offset the parching heat of the air that he must breathe. Relieved, he turned his head and smiled at Begay. Begay nodded back.

Some while later, as Cern was quietly contemplating ways that the local water rights laws might be restructured, he heard the noise of an engine growing in the distance, and twisted his neck to look down the trail that had brought them here. A cloud of dust confirmed that a vehicle was approaching, but it was still too far off to make it out.

"Looks like you were right, Begay. Arthur lost his patience."

"I don't think it is Arthur."

"Who then? Dema's coming, but she must still be miles away."

"Juan. And he brings friends."

The guards came out of the trailer to get their own look at the approaching dust cloud. There were three of them, all armed with rifles. 

Along with the engine noise the sound of Apache war whoops could now be heard. The guards ran back inside the trailer. Windows slid open and rifle barrels poked out of them. 

An ancient faded blue pickup truck appeared out of the dust cloud, three or four bow-wielding Apaches standing in the back. It was still well out of rifle range, but shots were fired and the pickup veered off the road to approach the trailer from the end, where there were no windows.

Cern could see that Juan was driving. He did not slow down at all, but sped by one side of the trailer. When a rifle barrel appeared at a window, a flurry of arrows immediately flew in the opening, and the rifle disappeared. Whoops of victory came from the boys in the truck. 

Juan went straight on by, far enough to get up good speed for a repeat performance on the other side of the trailer. By the third time around no rifle barrels appeared. Juan dropped a warrior outside each open window, bows at the ready.

Begay and Cern shed their tethers and stood up to greet Juan. 

Joe sang out, "Yo the trailer! Come out now and surrender and we won't take your scalps!" 

Begay repeated this in Navajo, and for good measure Juan did the same in Spanish. 

Shortly the door opened and the first one came out with his hands on his head. The other two followed, but couldn't raise their arms because they had arrows in them. The warriors bound them all with the rawhide thongs that Cern and Begay no longer needed.

One of the guards looked at Begay and said. "Don't think this is over. We called Arthur and he's on his way."

Sure enough, another cloud of dust had appeared in the distance. Soon the black Hummer rolled up and Arthur climbed out, along with four more men. These men were big, with the look of trained mercenaries, and they carried AR's.

"Drop your bows, boys, fun's over," Arthur called.

Cern was grinning. "Not so fast. If you don't mind, Arthur, I'll just amble inside and find my pants. There's a lady coming."

Arthur scowled, "Imbecile! Do you still think to try your mental tricks on me! Did a night in the desert teach you nothing? I am immune to your feeble powers. Take them boys! Bind them as before!"

But there wasn't time for that. One of his men pointed at another dust cloud coming down the trail and Arthur looked back to see a red Jeep Wrangler pull up behind his Hummer. Its dust cloud grew and hovered over it ominously. 

What got out was less a lady than a towering apparition. She was white, pale as death, wearing only a skimpy black snake-skin sheath. The cloud of white hair around her head did not hide her scowling face. Her yellow eyes seemed to glow with their own light.

Arthur growled, "Take her!" and the four men leveled their weapons. But the apparition raised a hand, and all the weapons misfired.

"Why didn't I think of that?" said Cern in pure admiration.

The four men dropped their useless rifles, piled into the Hummer and spun away, leaving Arthur stranded as the Lamia approached him.

"I hear you are fond of skinning people alive and drinking their blood." 

 Her voice was a deep raspy whisper.

Arthur cowered, but did not stand still. He dropped to all fours and the desert dream intensified as he turned himself into a puma. 

"Is that your best trick?" The Lamia shifted into the form of a black panther. A much bigger one.

Arthur became a desert antelope and began to run. The panther looked at Cern and nodded toward the runner. 

He nodded back, became a stag and gave chase.

The antelope was fast, and Cern could not keep pace. But then he felt the Lamia's power coursing through him. His stag dream deepened and in a few strides he was beyond the antelope. He turned and began herding it back toward the group by the trailer.

Arthur became himself again. 

So did Cern, except that his stag horns were still in full display and he wore leather breeches. 

Arthur's eyes widened for an instant, as if in sudden recognition of the horned man who stood before him. But his bravado returned. "You! But you have no power over me!"

In the next instant, where Arthur had stood there were two of him, then four, then six.

The Lamia stepped forward, but as she did the skinwalker's dream expanded, the desert dust rose up until it darkened the sky, and his six forms grew until they towered over the small group by the trailer. Streaks of heat lightning played above like spirits of the desert dead.

"You have no power over me!" his voice deepened and echoed until it boomed like thunder and became the voice of the desert wind. 

 "Come on, Arthur," said Cern, "Do you think we're all from Kansas? Joe, is your bow handy?" 

Joe handed his bow to Begay, along with a quiver of arrows. 

Begay took out a handful of arrows and rubbed the flint arrowheads with his fingers as he carried the weapon to Cern. 

As Cern took the weapon into his hands, his form too expanded, growing visibly in power. The lightning dancing in the clouds above began to play around his antlers, and flashes blazed into the sky, dissipating the darkness. 

All the Arthurs suddenly seemed to realize what was in store for them. They returned to normal size and began to run. Almost casually, Cern leveled the bow and let fly three arrows, then three more. Five of the Arthurs simply vanished when they were struck. The remaining one stumbled to his knees. 

Cern released the shaman dream, and the scene returned to normal.

"There is only one way to stop a skinwalker, and that is with bone ash," Begay said. He showed Cern the little bag he had palmed in his hand. 

"He will live, but he will no longer be a skinwalker. Just another Navajo. And not a very good one."

Cern handed the bow back to Joe, and walked toward the Lamia.

"Good shooting," she said. "Where'd you learn that?"

"From the Apaches." He waved to the little band of warriors, who were looking a bit awe-struck. 

"It seemed like the best way to handle all his doppelgangers."

She nodded. "That was a good trick too. But I've got one like it."

In an instant the Lamia was Dema. On one side of her stood Naga. On the other side was Kore.

Dema looked back and forth between them. "Where's Sedna?"