“Why do you need to see him? He’s slobbery.”
“I’m locked in a room with a pack of them and hoping the one we rescued will put in a good word for me.”
“Is there a Dragă involved?” Alaric laughed, voice full of gleeful amusement. “This seems like something that happens when a Dragă is involved.”
“Yes.”
“Oh! We had twins, then triplets, remember?”
Norrix struggled for patience. “I remember. Will you hurry, please? He seemed to like you.”
“Ha!” Alaric scoffed. “He slobbered on me, you mean. Licked my face! My face! How did you get locked in with a pack of them? Your Dragă did that to you?”
“Yes. And just a couple of days ago, you were wishing for quadruplet Dragăs. I hope your wish comes true. Four times the shenanigans and near-death experiences.”
“Too late.” Alaric mumbled, so low and mournfully, Norrix almost didn't hear the words.
The Fae already found his Dragă? Strygoi magic wasn’t known for her patience, but this was quick work, even for Soră. Stunned, Norrix stammered. “You... you... what do you mean too late?”
“Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.” Alaric’s sullen, downcast tone sounded nothing like his usually playful and irreverent self.
An ahuizotl yawned. At least, that’s how Norrix chose to interpret the showing off of every tooth in its mouth. He could interrogate the Fae later. “Are you walking as you’re talking?”
Stomping footsteps tracked through the phone speaker.. “Yes! No matter what everyone thinks, I’m really not just a pretty face.”
“I have never said your face was pretty.”
The screen went from numeric buttons to a view of Angelic Alaric’s smirking face as the call switched to video. “But it iiiis!” the Fae sing-songed. “Maaaaybe as repayment of this favor, I’ll say you have to tell me how pretty my face is every day.”
Alaric would. Norrix debated death by ahuizotl instead. He glanced at the largest one. Its red eyes gleamed, but he didn't feel animosity, more like pity. “You see what I'm working with.” The ahuizotl chuffed.
“Slobber-beast.” Alaric’s voice echoed in the cavern under the compound. “Phone call for you.” The view rotated as he aimed his phone towards the water.
Norrix slowly turned his back towards the pack of ahuizotls with him, crouched and held his phone up, screen facing them.
The calm surface of the spring in front of Alaric broke as two dark, triangular ears surfaced, swiveling like individual radars.
The ahuizotls with Norrix yipped and the water in front of Alaric erupted as the massive ahuizotl surged from the water. He bounded at Alaric, who, judging by the crazily slewing screen, fell on his ass. Sounds of enthusiastic licking and snuffling carried through the speaker.
“Stop licking the phone, Slobber-Beast. Get your big paws off me! Ugh, this is so gross Not my face!”
The largest ahuizotl nudged Norrix’s hand. “Turn the phone, Alaric. All we can see is the ceiling.”
After a bit more scuffling, the screen showed the ahuizotl, Alaric's palm planted on the broad head to hold him away. “You owe me for this, Witness.”
“Fair enough, Fae.”
The ahuizotls barked and growled back and forth, ending their exchange with whines Norrix didn’t need Thoth's book to understand.
“I know you miss him. Help me get out of here and I’ll bring him back to you.”
NORRIX HATED BEING underwater. The exit from the cell was at the bottom of a flooded tunnel that descended into the lake. It was the only way back to Myth though, so he flailed below surface, an ahuizotl on each side to guide him. They bit his boots when he veered off course. Definitely going to need new shoelaces after this. After an interminable ten minutes of fumbling around, the ahuizotls put their big, blocky heads under Norrix's hands. He curled an arm around the neck of each one and they swam up.
Bright moonlight poured into the lake, illuminating the underwater scene. The bulk of Aztlan formed the rough, black silhouette of a tree overhead. Tangled roots at the base tapered into a massive trunk, which in turn led to seven branches — three on each side and one at the top. A slanted tunnel led from each bough on the surface to a cave on the bottom of the lake, five hundred feet below.
As the ahuizotls carried Norrix higher, cages suspended in the water became distinct from the shadow of the island. Bodies lay at the bottom of each prison. Unable to speak, Norrix released his death grip on one of his new friends and pointed.
Course adjusted, the Iara stirred as Norrix rattled the locks. Cylindrical pieces of metal through a hasp. Eminently simple, unless the whoever was trapped inside had webbed fingers and couldn’t manipulate the bolts. He opened each cage, happy to free prisoners and for the chance to rob the Scorpion Mage of a source of power.
The mermaids moved listlessly. Copper skin had a sickly pallor, their muscles atrophied from being caged too long. Would they be able to swim away? Even their dolphin-like tails hadn’t been spared, showing scars and strips of missing skin. More ahuizotls appeared from below. They allowed the women to hold on and carried them to safety.
His ahuizotls deposited Norrix on a sandy beach at the back of the ostentatious white palace on the roots part of the island. He lay there, doing his best impression of a rock, as strength flowed back into him. Inhaling, he searched for the scent of apples that would lead him to Myth. It was faint with so much water everywhere, but he could track her.
He rolled over, watching for guards. No one seemed to be around. That was good, making it easy for him to get into the palace, but bad because something was going to happen. His Witness powers told him this place was expectant, on the verge of something new. He knew he knew what it was and couldn’t remember. That was not new. With a sigh, he turned to the largest ahuizotl. “Thanks for bringing me this far. I’ll return with your pack mate as soon as I can.”
Norrix stood, expecting the Ahuizotls to go back to dissolving people, but more of them poured onto the beach. They sat and stood, eyes on him, like he was meant to perform a trick. Or maybe they wanted to make sure he lived long enough to get their missing pack member home.
“All right, let’s go.” He made his way to the rear of the palace and tried a door. It opened into a lavish bedroom. The Ahuizotls slinked through ahead of him on their raccoon hands, so quietly Norrix wouldn’t have known they were there if he didn’t have eyes on them. He opened more doors until he found the one leading into a corridor, letting the ahuizotls into the palace proper.
Myth’s apple scent was everywhere. She must have been in all the rooms in the palace recently. Why did Dragăs never make it easy? Inhaling deep, he tried to sort out the most recent trail, but it was impossible. Her scent was thicker upstairs, so she’d been there more often, but he couldn’t tell if it was most recent. Removing his guns from the waterproof pouch, he holstered them, drew knives and darted up the staircase. Surprise and silence were advantages to keep as long as he could.
Here’s hoping my memories don’t betray me at exactly the wrong time.
Apples led him down endless hallways and passages until he spotted two guards outside ornate doors carved with enormous scorpions. Norrix lifted throwing knives, but the ahuizotls were faster. Soundlessly, they lunged past him, raccoon paws landing on the guards’ shoulders and taking them to the floor. The hands on the ends of their tails slapped over the men’s mouths.
Water bubbled from beneath the palms, pouring out of the guards’ noses as the ahuizotls drowned the men on dry land. Bulky bodies held their victims in place as eyes grew sunken, fingernails receded, and bones dissolved. All that was left when the ahuizotls finished in a few quick minutes were empty skins. Norrix rolled them like carpets and stuffed them under a couch in another room. The pack left him, and he figured they could take care of themselves.
Norrix opened the fancy carved doors and slipped into a small throne room. One side of the room held a white throne in the form of a sco
rpion. On the other, books, scrolls, parchments and tablets lined floor to ceiling shelves and a desk. An open door led into a bedroom. Norrix tracked the scent of apples to a closet. A smaller door at the back of the closet led into a tiny room. No, this was a cell. It contained a cot. Myth’s scent saturated the room. This was where the Scorpion Mage imprisoned her, but not her daughter. There was no secondary scent here.
Curling his hands into fists, Norrix tried to channel the rage coursing through him into something he could use. The mage kept Myth in a closet, like she was nothing more than an accessory.
Maybe Norrix could figure out what the mage was up to and ruin his plans before taking Myth and her daughter away from this place.
Crossing back to the desk in the outer room, Norrix scanned through the scrolls and books piled on the desk, the languages slowly translating themselves in his head. It stood to reason having them at hand would indicate their importance. They all had to do with astronomy, eclipses. What was the connection between the black knife and an eclipse? An eclipse that would be happening tomorrow afternoon. He should know. Would know if he could recall everything he’d Witnessed when he liked.
He concentrated on eclipses. His head spun with half-forgotten memories.
Two armies arrayed on an open plain. A war. Overhead, the sky darkened. The armies dispersed.
Two men knelt before a king. Astronomers beheaded when they failed to predict an eclipse.
A ship captain used an eclipse to his advantage when he successfully predicted one, intimidating the natives into feeding his men.
Lygos fell during an eclipse. No, that was wrong. It was Byzantion. No, Constantinople. His mind spun off, trying to order the names with the place and event. Constantinople. It was Constantinople when it fell.
Was Aztlan going to fall? Did the mage need the knife to prevent that? That didn’t seem correct. Cause it to fall? His Witness powers stirred, but it didn’t feel like Aztlan was on the verge of rebellion. When he’d been trapped under the dock, the crowd had cheered for Iqiohr as he led them away.
Norrix blew out a frustrated breath, resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall, and tried to focus on Aztlan. He scanned the books and scrolls as he wracked his faulty memory for everything he’d Witnessed in Aztlan before.
He had to go back to a beginning, start from a fixed point. When was the first time he’d come to Aztlan? He needed a fixed point prior to that.
“No. You may not go to the river.” His mother didn’t even look up from sweeping the floor. Which was already clean, anyway.
“But what is across the river, Anni?” Bored, the small boy followed his mother through the temple complex as she worked. They lived alone. The only time he saw anyone was when people visited the temple, bringing offerings so Anni would talk to the gods. Besides, the only way to go was the river. Steep drop offs surrounded the rest of the hill.
“Nothing you need to worry about.” Anni always said that.
“But —”
She threw her hands in the air. “Don’t start asking me your endless why questions. Go outside. I have work to do.”
She always had work to do. Norrix grumbled and trudged out, wishing he had mud on his feet to leave on the white limestone floor she loved to sweep more than she loved him. “Don’t go out at night. Don’t go across the river. Don’t ask about your father. Don’t ask questions. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.”
Just because Anni didn’t know where his father went didn’t mean Norrix would disappear if he left the temple complex. He stomped through the twenty massive circles of reddish-brown T-shaped stone pillars. At four times his height, they made him feel small and insignificant when his mother already ignored him. And there were so many! More than he could count on his fingers twenty times. He used to spend hours studying the carvings on the columns — bulls, foxes, cranes, lions, lizards, snakes, spiders, gazelles, donkeys and even bears among the sacred symbols only his mother knew how to read.
He kicked a rock on his way down the hill to the Balikh River, walked right up to the edge and put his bare toes in the water.
He was always drawn to the river. Leave the river alone. Don't cross the river. It’s dangerous. How was it dangerous? He didn’t know. She never told him. It was just another don’t.
What was stopping him? Most of the time, every time until now, his mother ignoring him made him feel empty inside. He used to try to see what she saw, but there was never anyone there. Now a fiery anger burned in him. If she thought her invisible gods were so important and he didn’t matter, he would go.
He could cross the Balikh River here. It wasn’t so deep in the dry season and he might only be eight, but knew how to forage for food. Some of the people who came to the temple to make offerings told him how food grew on trees when he asked them where they got it. Well, trees were everywhere. The Bull Mountains were full of oaks and pines. The travelers said so. How hard could it be? Why not go for a couple days? Anni wouldn’t even notice. She was always busy working in the temple.
She always paid attention to gods. Especially one. Anni talked to them, especially the one she loved, like they were real, but no one else could see them. Always to them. They received all her attention, while he, her son, who stood right in front of her, who everyone could see, never deserved any of her attention.
Sometimes she found him by the river. He had to wait all day, or even overnight, but eventually she came to find him, and hugged him close. What did I tell you about the river? It's dangerous! Come away. He liked when she remembered about him. It never lasted long. As soon as they returned to the temple, she talked to her unseen gods, and he was forgotten again.
Norrix swiped a hot tear from his cheek and took a step into the river. The water, colder than he expected, made him shiver, and he almost lost his balance when the rocks underfoot wobbled. This was farther into the river than he’d dared to go before. He looked over his shoulder. If Anni was there, he wouldn’t leave. But the shore was empty. Or maybe one of her stupid invisible gods was there.
The temperature and unsure footing wouldn’t stop him. Resolute, he faced forward, held his arms out for balance, picked up his other foot, and felt with his toes for a stable place to step.
“What do you call this place?”
Norrix let out a startled yelp. An invisible person talked! His ankle twisted on a loose rock as he tried to spin around. He flailed his arms, but fell with a splash. Icy water drenched him as he landed on his rump.
Blinking through the rivulets streaming from his hair, Norrix squinted at the shore, half expecting no one to be there. But a man stood watching him. He didn’t look like one of the visitors though. A funny hat sat on his head — dotted with shiny rocks and he had a long black beard done in braids shiny with oil hanging to his waist.
“Well?”
Well, what? Oh. The man had asked what this place was called.
“Göbekli Tepe.” Norrix stared. Strangers didn’t come here. This place was boring. “Where did you come from? Who are you?”
“You’re the boy who lives here?”
What other boy would he be? “Yes. Norrix.”
“Are you going to sit in the water all day, Norrix? Come here so we can talk.”
Norrix rose to his feet, but didn’t leave the water. The opposite side of the river beckoned. If he went back the two steps he’d taken, maybe he’d never get this far again.
The man waved a hand impatiently. “You can always go back to sitting in the water later.”
Norrix scowled. He was leaving, not sitting in the river doing nothing. “If you want to talk to the gods, you have to go to the temple with an offering and see if the oracle will talk to you. She doesn't talk to me.”
White teeth flashed. “You say gods like you don’t like them.”
Norrix couldn’t feel his feet or stop shivering. Why didn’t this man go away? “They are invisible and don’t talk to me. Only her.”
“Ah. Seeing is believing. Is that right?”
He nodded and stroked his long beard. “Perfect.”
What was perfect? Norrix shrugged. “Who are you?”
“I am Nabu, God of Scribes.”
Norrix opened his mouth, but no words came out. A god? Oh no. He’d been disrespectful. Anni would be angry. Now he definitely had to leave. He took a step back on numb feet and fell again.
Nabu laughed. “Come out of there so we can have a chat. I don’t want to get wet.”
He had to do what a god said, didn’t he? Anni always did. Climbing to his feet, Norrix waded out of the river and stood before Nabu.
“I am looking to hire someone for a special job. Are you interested in hearing more?”
“What’s a job?”
“That’s when you do something for me, and I compensate you for your time and efforts.”
“What would I have to do?”
“I write histories and stories as a hobby, but my duties force me to stay close to home most of the time. So I need someone to go out into the worlds to see interesting events and report back to me.”
“What do you mean write?”
“Oh. I forgot you don’t have writing here yet.” He flashed a white grin from the middle of his black beard. “You’ll have to learn to read and write, but that’s not a problem.”
“Where do they have writing?”
Nabu waved a hand. “Oh, a ton of other worlds. Like this one, but slightly ahead. Writing just isn’t here for your civilization yet.”
“Other worlds? Civilization?”
“There are many other worlds. I could try to explain it all, but I think it would be easier to show you.”
Norrix stared. Nabu said it like other worlds didn’t matter. Norrix hadn’t even seen another village. What would another world be like? Could he go to other worlds too?
Myth's Legend: Norrix Page 22
