Trail of Lightning

Kai is an attractive young Dinétah man training to be a Medicine Man. Having lost his mother and been abandoned by his father, Kai is close to his grandfather, Tah, who introduces Kai to Maggie. Kai is impressive in his knowledge of monsters, which he first reveals to Maggie when he identifies the tsé naayéé’ at the beginning of the novel, and in his supernatural abilities. At first, Kai claims that his clan power is the ability to heal. This is useful in Maggie’s journey to find the witch that created the tsé naayéé’. When Tah first mentions that his grandson has strong medicine, Maggie thinks, “I don’t relish fighting a witch powerful enough to create monsters without medicine of my own” (37). This skill, and his knowledge of monsters, first prompts Maggie to accept Kai as a potential partner. However, Kai hides his true clan power, the ability to persuade others to do his bidding, for much of the novel. He hides this power because he has foreseen that a monster hunter will kill him, and he initially intends to befriend Maggie in case she is that monster hunter. In addition to these powers, Kai also intends to develop Weather Ways, which involve the ability to control the elements. This exceptionally rare ability would prove incredibly useful in a world ravaged by the Big Water (an apocalyptic flood) and scarred by resource insecurity. By the end of the book, this power also proves to be helpful in Kai and Maggie’s fight against the tsé naayéé’ monsters.

Although Kai’s initial motivations in befriending Maggie are doubtful, his feelings for Maggie become true over the course of the book. Even after the truth is revealed, their bond is too strong to break. Kai’s kindness and loyalty towards Maggie contrast sharply with Maggie’s toxic former relationship with Neizghání. His approach to love, which he believes is “not supposed to try to kill you” (253), proves that despite his betrayal, he is still a far healthier partner for Maggie than Neizghání.

Neizghání is a Dinétah Holy Person, the winged, immortal son of two divinities. Before the start of the novel, Neizghání was Maggie’s mentor, teaching her how to use her clan powers and defeat witches and monsters. To the Diné, Neizghání is a hero, and it is his association with Maggie that makes people confident that she can help them with their monster troubles. However, despite the strong bond Maggie felt for him, Neizghání had no trouble discarding her when he believed her abilities became too tainted, leaving Maggie to suffer in his absence. Maggie remembers that abandonment, thinking, “Neizghání once told me that evil was a sickness. He told me he could see it on people, like a taint […] He told me I had some of that evil in me […] He was gone the next morning” (14-15). Neizghání leaves Maggie with no goodbye, nothing reminiscent of the strong bond they shared, only the cruel idea that she is somehow bad.

When Maggie faces Neizghání for the first time after he abandons her, Neizghání is overly confident that he can attract her back to his side. His excessive pride and arrogance lead Neizghání to believe that Maggie will always be his, no matter what her own feelings are. After the fight, Neizghání even leaves Maggie with a scar. When Maggie looks at this scar, she thinks, “Neizghání has branded me as his property” (255). To Neizghání, Maggie is nothing more than something to possess and use at his convenience. He does not take her seriously. However, this hubristic arrogance leads to Neizghání’s downfall when Maggie manages to trick and trap Neizghání by the end of the novel.

Grandpa Tah is an elderly but well-liked monster expert living in Dinétah lands. Although he is not Maggie’s biological grandfather, he treats her like a granddaughter. At one point Kai tells Maggie about Tah, “You know Tah thought that you hung the moon. Used to brag about you to me, try to convince me you would save our people. He believes you were a hero” (233). Not many in Maggie’s world think so highly of her, and Maggie recognizes even fewer. Tah first introduces Kai to Maggie, and Maggie’s incredibly strong bond with and sense of obligation to Tah leads Maggie to feel protective over Kai. When Maggie and Kai believe Tah to be dead, they are both distraught at the loss of this father figure. At the end of the novel, Maggie is also distraught to think that she might find Tah in her trailer, wondering, “how do I tell him about Kai?” (284). She worries that if Tah is alive, she has betrayed him. The two reunite, however, and decide to await Kai’s return together. To Maggie, this reunion represents the re-establishment of her found family, especially after the multiple betrayals pervading the novel.

Ma’ii, also known as Coyote, is a Diné trickster god who has taken an interest in Maggie. At first, the two have a complicated relationship, acting friendly as long as Maggie recognizes that Coyote only uses her for his own ends. Coyote first came to Maggie in a dream when she was younger, before the Big Water when the Dinétah Holy People could only visit mortals in dreams. Since then, Coyote has acted friendly to her, at times offering her advice, often to Maggie’s displeasure. Although Maggie is aware of Coyote’s trickster nature from the start of their association, she is distraught when Coyote makes his big reveal at the end of the novel that he has manipulated Maggie’s life from the start of her monster-hunting journey. In response, she tells him, “You can’t fuck with people like that. You can’t fuck with me” (267). To Maggie, her whole life is just “some game” that Coyote has been playing, and the manipulations sicken her. Thus, Coyote reveals the extent of his willingness to use others for his own ends, no matter the cost to anyone else.

Grace is a tough bar owner known for hating the police. Since losing her husband during the Big Water, Grace serves as the head of her close-knit family. During Maggie’s first visit to Grace’s trailer, Grace tells Maggie, “everyone needs a mother […] even a hardass like you. But I’m not volunteering for the job” (166). Despite her insistence otherwise, Grace clearly feels some sort of maternal affection for Maggie, which she shows through giving advice and giving Maggie shelter, even if first for a price. However, after Maggie and Kai save Grace’s children from a monster attack, Grace is overwhelmed with gratitude and offers them as much shelter as they require. From that point on, Grace and her family serve as a domestic safe haven for Maggie, providing her a sense of family even if Maggie struggles to recognize it. Grace herself recognizes the hurt that Maggie has experienced and gives motherly advice, although on the surface Grace claims not to be a replacement mother.