Free City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende

ready to defend himself, but Nadia's calm attitude stopped him in midair.
    "Ah-ee-ah," the girl murmured in a low voice.
    "Ah-ee-ah, ah-ee-ah," a voice replied that to Alex did not sound human but more like a breath of wind.
    The figure stepped forward until it was very close to Nadia. By then, Alex's eyes had adjusted a little to the dark, and by the light of the moon he could see an incredibly ancient man. He looked as if he had lived for centuries, even though he stood very straight and he moved nimbly. He was very small. Alex calculated that he was shorter than his sister Nicole, who was only nine. The man was wearing a brief apron of some plant fiber, and a dozen necklaces of shells, seeds, and boars' teeth covered his chest. His skin, wrinkled like a thousand-year-old elephant, fell in folds over his fragile skeleton. He was carrying a short spear, a walking stick hung with a number of small leather pouches, and a quartz cylinder that clicked like a baby's rattle. Nadia reached up to her hair, pulled out the firefly, and offered it to the man. He accepted it, placing it among his necklaces. Nadia knelt down and signaled Alex to do the same, as a sign of respect. Immediately, the Indian also crouched down so the three were at the same level.
    Borobá gave a leap and landed on the shoulders of the old man, tugging at his ears; his owner batted him away, and the ancient burst out with a happy laugh. As far as Alex could tell, Nadia's friend did not have a tooth in his head, but since there was so little light, he could not be sure. The man and the girl became involved in a long conversation with gestures and sounds in a language as gentle as the breeze, as water, as birds. He supposed they were talking about him, because they pointed to him. At one moment, the man stood and shook his spear, very angry, but she calmed him with long explanations. Finally, the ancient pulled an amulet on a cord from around his neck, a piece of carved bone, and held it to his lips and blew. The sound was that same owl's call they had heard earlier, which Alex recognized because there were many of those birds around his house in northern California. The amazing old man hung the amulet around Nadia's neck, placed his hands on her shoulders in farewell, and disappeared as silently as he had arrived. Alex could have sworn that he did not see him step back; he simply evaporated.
    "That was Walimai," Nadia said quietly in his ear.
    "Walimai?" he asked, impressed by that strange encounter.
    "Shhhh! Don't say it aloud. You must never speak the true name of an Indian; it's taboo. It's even worse to name the dead; that is a much stronger taboo, a terrible insult," Nadia explained.
    "Who is he?"
    "He is a shaman, a very powerful witch man. He speaks through dreams and visions. He can travel to the world of the spirits anytime he wants. He is the only one who knows the road to El Dorado."
    "El Dorado? The city of gold the conquistadors invented? That's a crazy legend!" Alex replied.
    "Walimai has been there many times with his wife. She is always with him."
    "I didn't see her," Alex admitted.
    "She is a spirit. Not everyone can see her."
    "Did you?"
    "Yes. She is young and very beautiful."
    "What did the witch man tell you? What were you two talking about?" Alex asked.
    "He gave me this talisman. With it, I will always be safe. No one—no person, no animal, no ghost—can hurt me. I can also use it to call him; all I have to do is blow and he will come. Up till now, I've not been able to call him, I've had to wait until he came. Walimai says that I am going to need him because there is much danger. Rahakanariwa is walking again; it is
so
creepy, a spirit cannibal-bird. Whenever it appears, there is death and destruction, but I will be protected by the talisman."
    "You are a very weird girl…" Alex sighed. He didn't believe half of what she was saying.
    "Walimai says that foreigners should not go looking for the Beast. He says that several will die. But