No guards.
As she neared the door, breathing grew difficult. Her lungs tried to suck in air and push it out at the same time, leaving her light-headed and blurry-eyed. Her feet didn't need oxygen, and carried her all the way to the threshold, not pausing for a moment when she thought she should have hesitated, and continuing outside.
On the other end of the island, on the bough at the top of the tree straight ahead from the palace, fires blazed at the temple on the summit of Serpent Mountain. A scream tore through the night. Was that what Iqiohr needed the obsidian knife for? Sacrifices? So the lack of guards wasn’t a test. They were all at the ceremony.
She turned to the right and took four steps toward a path that led away from the main street, each happening a little faster, a little easier, but came to an abrupt halt, catching sight of four red eyes in the darkness. Two ebony shapes detached themselves from the shadows and stalked toward her. Ahuizotls. She’d never seen them here before. They guarded the lake, not the street. One was the biggest she’d seen, the other only slightly smaller.
Or maybe they seemed much bigger because she’d never encountered them alone before. She should have at least tried to read The Book of Thoth. The ability to see gods here held no appeal, but it would be convenient to speak to animals right now. Had she read enough? Did it matter that Norrix had read it aloud to her?
Heat seared her eyes at the reminder of her fleeting happiness, and she blinked. Well, it couldn’t hurt to try, could it?
“Um, hi. Hello.”
The ahuizotls stopped their approach mere feet from her and sat. They didn’t act aggressively or force her backward, but the path was definitely blocked.
“I’m just out for a walk. No need to pay any attention to me.” She shuffled a step sideways, intending to circle around the smaller ahuizotl.
Their heads swiveled to follow her movements, but they didn’t stir otherwise, watching her with what she would have called curiosity or amusement.
Myth tried to make her voice steady. “I’m going to find my daughter.” She was, no matter what. “You could probably eat me, but I hope you let me by.”
The ahuizotls stood and turned sideways, leaving a way between them open.
Maybe they understood her. “You’ll let me go?”
Could they roll their eyes? There was definitely a sense of condescension coming from the beasts. Maybe she was communicating with them. She walked through the gap and they turned to pace alongside her.
Fable, are you awake?
Yes, Nantli.
I'm coming for you, little one.
To see me?
Yes. Is there a window? Can you tell me what is outside the house?
I see trees and flowers.
Not helpful.
Is Tizoc with you right now?
No, Nantli.
Myth followed the pull to Fable as she chattered on about funny stories and yummy food. A wave of unexpected gratitude towards Tizoc and his mother swept through Myth. They were able to give Fable things Myth had no power to offer. She owned nothing. Had no way to provide any material luxuries even though she longed to shower Fable with everything good.
You can when you get to Ashana. Surely Clio could find a job for Myth. Since her name started with the letter M, maybe she could get a job in the pub with the mad maenads. How hard could it be to not take orders?
The most direct route to Fable led straight to the front door of a large house. Myth stood among thick tree trunks and studied the residence. Two guards at the door. She could hardly walk up to them and demand they produce Fable. The largest ahuizotl moved in front of her, using her blocky head to nudge Myth to the side of the residence.
“Okay. I’ll try your way.”
An ahuizotl on each side to keep her on course, Myth picked her way through the dark trees around the house to the back. Her link to Fable led to a window ten feet overhead.
Fable, if you're still alone, open the window.
Okay, Nantli.
Above her, the slatted wooden shutters parted and Fable leaned out. Myth’s entire body and soul relaxed at the sight of her. Always grateful for the telepathic gift that connected them, nothing replaced being able to set eyes on her daughter, or holding her close.
Fable’s eyes lit up. She beamed a bright smile and waved a small hand.
Myth held her arms up as far as she could reach. “Jump and I'll catch up you.”
With a dubious look at the ahuizotls who had moved to flank Myth, Fable climbed onto the sill and paused, small legs dangling over the edge.
“They helped me find you. It’s okay.”
Fable looked backward once, then threw herself out so eagerly Myth staggered as she caught the little girl.
“Hello, tlazotli amoxtli.” Myth hugged Fable tight.
I am not a little book! Fable scowled.
Myth breathed in the scent of Fable’s hair. Apples? Was that Norrix’s influence? A twinge of guilt slithered through her before she squashed it. She focused on her daughter. “That’s right. You want to be a big book.”
A breeze caught the open shutters and clapped them against the house. Myth froze. The guards! They’d come looking.
Setting Fable down, Myth crouched to unlace her sandal enough to remove the key to her room in Ashana. She scooped Fable back up, clutched the key in a death grip, and ran for the cover of the trees, the ahuizotls silent dark shadows beside her. They had to get to a barge and across the lake, but if anyone tried to stop her, she was ready. If there was no choice, she’d turn the key wherever she was.
As Myth rounded the corner toward the side of the house, a tall shape loomed in front of her. She bit back a gasp as the man gave a startled shout. The ahuizotls lunged past Myth and hit the guard with their raccoon paws, taking him to the ground. The largest slapped the hand on her tail over their prey’s mouth, cutting off his shout.
The man’s eyes bulged, and he gurgled. Water poured out of his nose as he struggled against the weight of the paws holding him down. Iqiohr used this as a punishment in his throne room, so she knew what came next. Pressing Fable’s head close so she couldn’t see, Myth turned away.
Rapid footsteps approached, and she turned back around, ready to run. The ahuizotls exchanged a look. At the slightest tilt of the largest one’s head, the other loped to the corner. No sooner had the guard come into view than the ahuizotl silently took him down.
Why they were helping her, Myth didn’t question. When their work finished, the largest chuffed and used her blocky head to nudge Myth onto the trail toward the front of the house. Right. Time to go.
Another scream tore through the night. Fable trembled.
So much death everywhere. “Don’t listen.” The words were meaningless since there was no way to block out the sound. She just had to hope the noise would stop. How many sacrifices would there be?
Norrix.
He would be one of them if he was found. If Iqiohr and his men remained at the pyramid, she could free Norrix and the three of them could escape. She reined those thoughts in. Happiness was a currency she couldn’t afford.
The ahuizotls bounded into the palace with no hesitation. Myth followed and hurried as fast as she dared through the white halls to the stairs leading below ground. Fable in one arm, Myth picked up the same torch she’d left behind and headed for the cell where she’d left Norrix. The bolts clicked, and the door opened. “Norrix?”
Silence and a musty smell that wrinkled her nose greeted her. The torchlight reflected rock walls shimmering with damp, but no tall, muscled, curly-haired man. She extended the torch farther. Empty except for a few skins ahuizotls left behind. Lake water pooled on the floor. Had he left that way? Or been discovered and imprisoned somewhere else? Taken to the temple?
No. There weren't any guards here, and there would have been an uproar if an intruder had been discovered. He must have gone out through the water. Could vampires swim? They weren’t supposed to go in the sun, but he had.
&nb
sp; But the dead people. Wait a second. Had she locked Norrix in with ahuizotls? Was he dead? Her heart twisted into a knot and acid burned up her throat. Myth blinked in the flickering torchlight, focusing on the dead people. They weren’t wearing black, and Norrix could talk to animals, couldn't he? He’d read the book twice! Maybe that’s why the ahuizotls were helping her. She faced them. “The man who was in here. Did you... help him? Is that why you're helping me?”
The ahuizotls wagged their tails and offered toothy grins. That seemed like a yes. So, Norrix escaped. But what could she do now? “Do you know where he is? Can you take me to him, or bring him here?”
The largest one’s shoulders moved in what Myth imagined was a shrug. “Will you keep helping me? I have to get my daughter somewhere safe and find Norrix.”
They parted to allow Myth out of the cell and fell into step beside her. Taking that as yes, or at least that they wouldn’t hinder her, she headed out the front door and made her way to the side of the palace.
Halfway down the length of the palace, the ahuizotls swiveled their ears, then moved ahead of Myth and blocked the way.
Not now! They were so close. One more corner and they’d be near the docks. Maybe the ahuizotls were reverting to guarding the lake now that Myth was approaching the water.
“I need a barge,” Myth whispered. “We can’t swim like you.” She could hide Fable on the other side of the lake with Norrix’s key, so she could get away if anyone found her. Then Myth would be free to come back and find Norrix.
The creatures would not be dissuaded. They took two steps back as she moved forward, but before she’d reached the turn to the beach, they stopped. The largest shook her head and tried to shove Myth back the way they’d come. She dug her heels in, refusing to yield her hard won progress. Who knew if she'd ever get another chance?
The smaller ahuizotl took a step backward, and white flared in his red eyes. He jumped forward, shaking his head.
That white flash. Iqiohr’s magic? Some sort of boundary the ahuizotls couldn’t pass? Maybe that’s what kept them locked at the back of the palace rather than the freedom they had now. She couldn't expect them to volunteer to be trapped again.
“We can go by ourselves from here. Thank you for getting us this far. Please help Norrix, if you can.”
Fable extended a small hand and touched the ahuizotls’ noses with gentle pats before they vanished into the darkness.
Myth crept forward and rounded the final corner. A thick fog, even moreso than usual, hung over the lake, making it hard to see even inches from the dock over the water, but a single raft was moored to an anchor.
A lone soldier stepped forward, cutting off their escape.
Own it. Clio's voice echoed in Myth’s head. She swallowed, shifted Fable on her hip and lifted her chin. Hoping she looked more confident than she felt, she walked forward. He shocked her by reaching out for her arm.
Myth jerked back, half turning to shelter Fable from the man’s hand. “Touch me and Iqiohr will cut off your fingers, if not your hand.”
“Esne, it’s ironic you invoke my name for protection even as you are planning to abandon my hospitality.” The mist drifted away, revealing Iqiohr and ten of his men on rafts alongside the dock.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
NORRIX
NORRIX OPENED HIS EYES. He lay sprawled face down atop a warm, scaly, golden surface. “Mush?” His hand flew to his throat, the voice coming out of it deeper than he expected.
Apparently it startled Mush too, because the dragon whipped his head around on his long neck, jammed his nose into Norrix’s shoulder, and sniffed.
He gripped the dragon’s back with his arms and legs. Limbs that were much longer than he expected. “It’s me! It’s me. Don’t push me off.”
Satisfied, Nabu’s golden dragon gave Norrix a slobbery lick on the face and turned forward. Mush lay flat on his belly in a fog of black clouds, wings tucked away. On the other side of those clouds was the sun. Norrix felt that imminent death crawl over his skin. Fortunately, Mush didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave their shelter.
Sitting up, Norrix looked down to take in the rest of his new body. There was a lot more than there used to be. Over six feet of it, clad in black clothes made of a material he’d never felt before. Soft like silk, but sturdy like burlap. Boots laced onto his big feet. His feet were huge! And his muscles! He flexed his arms and legs, reveling in his new strength. “I lived.”
“Of course you lived.” Zax, dressed in her typical grey tunic, pants, black boots, and with the addition of a grey hooded cloak, rode astride a winged lion that marched through the clouds to stop alongside Mush. ”Well, after you died.”
Norrix stared at the lion, his mind slipping. Sharur, the talking mace she wielded, turned into a winged lion. He was Ninurta’s weapon before. The Smasher of Thousands. They killed demons, and a six-headed ram, and the Palm Tree King and a seven-headed serpent and —
He pressed the heel of one palm to the bridge of his nose and pushed. “My head doesn’t feel like it’s going to explode anymore, but I don't feel... Right.” At least the memories were only of one thing this time, not scattered.
“Ouch!” She jumped and shifted her arms, her cloak opening to reveal the baby she cradled. His tiny fists flailed, punching her in the chest. “Bastian and I know a little about living with jumbled memories.” Zax gave him a rueful smile. “They’re not fun, but it’s not so bad after you figure out a way to deal with them. Think of this as a sort of band aid until a permanent solution falls right into your lap. Nabu was naughty, sending you through Ashana to so many other places. Give that god a key and he takes a universe.”
“Nope,” Bastian’s disembodied voice said. “Inches and miles.”
“Whatever. The point is, Nabu wasn’t supposed to do that.”
“You can fix me.”
Zax shook her head. “Maybe. Bastian and I don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to fixing memories. How I remember something will differ from how you remember it, which differs from how Bastian remembers it, and we remember it three hundred different ways, each. Some of that always leaks through when we influence memories and never ends well. It’s too much for a mind to reconcile. Usually, we have to start everything over. So, for you, this is the next best thing. A memory so big you can always come back to it. Something you can use as a starting point to line everything else up. Over time, you’ll learn how to do it yourself, so you can have more than one anchor.”
Three hundred times? “How is it possible to remember something three hundred different ways?”
“You live it.” Zax sighed, and while her appearance didn’t change, she suddenly looked old and exhausted. “Over and over again, until all the pieces line up.” She shook off her solemness and winked. “You think you’ve seen it all. Ha.”
What pieces? “What do you —”
“Shhh. Pull up your hood and put on your gloves. The show is about to start.”
As Norrix obeyed her orders, the threat of the sun on the other side of the clouds lessened as he covered his exposed skin, but only slightly — like rather than imminent, he might have two seconds before he burned. In front of Mush, the foggy curtain of clouds parted to reveal Norden gods battling with Albion gods, shaking the world with sword blows and lightning strikes. The Albions struck from two ships and the shallows, while the Nordens waged war from the beach.
Norrix’s Witness powers surged to the front of his mind. “I thought these pantheons were at peace. As much as two pantheons can ever be at peace.”
She spoke in a singsong voice as she bounced the baby and narrowly dodged a tiny fist to her nose. “Well, you see, the magician king Math fab Mathonwy thought a virgin girl should always hold his feet. Who wants that job, right? So, this poor girl Goewin had to hold Math’s ugly, stinky feet except for when he’s at war.”
Norrix chuckled. “So you started one?”
“Me?” Zax put a hand to her chest and blinke
d rapidly.
“Stop,” Bastian’s disembodied voice said. “You can’t pull off innocent no matter how hard you pretend. You just look like you have something in your eye.”
“Fine.” Zax huffed. “I maaaay have suggested to a few valkyries that the kingdom of Gwynedd was a nice place for a vacation. They maaaay have taken offense to seeing a woman being forced to hold a man’s feet. There were probably some insults.”
Below them, an Albion god stretched a giant arm from the sea and dragged a Norden god under the surface. The water roiled as they fought. “And that escalated to this?”
“Well, as soon as Math decided to go to war, he left Goewin unattended and two of his nephews tried to rape her. The valkyries prevented it, but there were definitely a lot of impolite thoughts after that. Then Math got his friends, and the valkyries got their friends...” Zax waved an arm in the battle’s direction. “And here we are.”
“But after this is over, won’t Math just go home and find a new woman to hold his feet?”
“That would defeat the whole purpose of this, wouldn’t it?”
“So... what? You’re going to take his feet?”
Zax smirked. “Sure. Let’s go with that.”
The Norden god flew out of the ocean to land ashore. Clothing bedraggled, long blonde hair plastered to his head, he bellowed, raised his hammer, and struck the ground. The shock wave from the impact ripped one ship to splinters and sent the other spinning into the air, top over bottom. The mast broke off when the boat landed upside down and people tumbled into the ocean.
On the beach, the trembling earth shook hard enough to bring the Norden gods to their knees. Cracks radiated from a hundred foot crater, splintering and tearing through the beach to the cliffs. One by one, the entire section of the coast plunged into the sea.
The earthquake went on for long moments, the water level rising. A wave formed, a mile high, ten times as wide and still growing as it raced over the surface of the sea towards Albion.
“You could save them.”
“You think I haven’t tried? They’ve had the prophecy warning this flood would happen for a thousand years. We even sent reminders. But no one listened. I guess the rhyme wasn’t right. No one listens if the rhyme doesn't work.”
Myth's Legend: Norrix Page 24
