The Navajo Legend

Chapter 1

         The Skinwalker is the Navajo legend that a medicine man or a witch have attained the highest level of priesthood in the tribe and have gained supernatural powers by the killing of a close family member. They use their powers for evil by changing shape and appearance to anything of their choice to hurt others. They are seldom caught, but those who manage to track them must call out their name in full and the Skinwalker will either become poisoned or die for the horrible things that they have done.
        The Navajo tribes believe fully in the existence of the skinwalkers that when someone states to have seen one, no one dares to question their story. Instead the chief begins a ritual to cleanse the person who has seen it and then gives them a totem to hide their scent from the skinwalker so it will keep them at bay. It is said that the skinwalkers wear the skins of the animals that they will become. With that being said, the tribes are only allowed to wear two skins, and they are both for ceremonial purposes only. You may be realizing that you have heard of this creature before, but maybe by a different name such as the Wendigo or the yee naaldooshii. All are the same creature, but from different cultures.
         My story begins with a small tribe deep in the Colorado mountains where it is far from any civilization. The chief, Henry Chee Dodge, believes that the time for hunting is falling upon them as they are running out of food and their animals aren't as populated as they used to be in that region. As the warriors begin their hunt for food they check everywhere in their region, but find no sign of buffalo. They decide to hunt whatever they can find that is in the area. One of the chiefs best warriors, Atsa, did not return after the hunt was over. The chief decided to wait a few more days before thinking the unspeakable. Atsa's body was found in the forest pinned to a tree and torn up, the chief saw it and he knew exactly what killed Atsa. The chief gathered everyone at night and told them that a skinwalker was among them. He has never personally seen or dealt with one, so he knew that the tribe would have to seek out help from someone who has been targeted by a skinwalker already. No one has ever heard of someone escaping the grasp of a skinwalker before. The only problem with finding someone like that is that there is no civilization for hundreds of miles. Every night the people of the tribe gathered by the fire praying to the gods to show them the way to civilization. They began to believe that there was no hope in escaping the skinwalkers.
          Henry Chee Dodge began to attempt to regain the tribes hope within each other. One night in the chiefs slumber, Atsa's spirit came unto him and told him of a place that would be safe for the tribe until the skinwalkers were killed. The tribe would have to travel to the plateau where Cayetano led an ambush against the Pueblo tribes. The chief knew that the journey to the plateau would be long and treacherous especially with the creature being on their tail. They had to travel hundreds of miles through the forest where many of his warriors died on the way.