Lamiak

The Lamiak are presented as a group of uncanny women at the Baztán River, their aquatic, partly animal appearance set against a forceful collective chant. In Amaia’s childbirth vision, they turn the river into the scene of a summons that continues even as the midwife tries to bring her back to the present.

Appearance and Setting

Under a break in the clouded Baztán sky, silver moonlight reveals the Lamiak sitting on projecting rocks beside the water. They strike the surface with duck-like feet and comb their long hair. Their thick red lips and needle-sharp teeth give the gathering a threatening edge: they resemble women, but their bodies and surroundings resist an ordinary human reading.

The River’s Command

The Lamiak call for the river to be cleaned. Their chant begins with the river itself, then returns insistently to the command “Limpia el río,” before narrowing into the repeated words “El río, el río, el río.” The repetition makes the water both the scene of their appearance and the focus of their demand; the vision supplies no further explanation of what the command means.

Amaia’s Vision

Amaia searches desperately for the source of the voices coming from the water. The midwife’s urgent call brings her back to reality, telling her that the delivery is done and that her turn has come. Yet the Lamiak’s voices remain audible to her above the midwife’s, so the interruption does not dispel their presence. Their appearance thus coincides with childbirth, but the scene leaves the relationship between the women, the river, and the command unresolved.