Smoke and Stone

by Michael R. Fletcher

  “We have to go,” Efra sobbed into Nuru’s hair.

  Nuru nodded and detached herself. For a moment they stood holding each other’s hands, seeing the pain in the others’ eyes and knowing it.

  Finally, collecting their meagre belongings in silence, scraps of stale food, Nuru’s precious carving tools and paints, they left.

  The world was empty.

  Exiting the tenement with Efra at her side, Nuru stopped to watch the horizon burn. She saw desperate Growers gather around ash-clogged wells. She knew the future, saw it clearly. With less food making it to the heart of Bastion, the Birds would come in force. They’d work the Growers harder than ever, desperate to feed the city.

  The nahual were wrong, the gods weren’t the heart of Bastion. Neither were the priests. The Growers were the heart of the Last City.

  Smoking Mirror had no idea what he’d set in motion. He had no idea what he’d done when he chose Efra. Nuru couldn’t imagine why he wanted Mother Death back in the city.

  We’re going to bring it all down.

  AKACHI – HEART’S MIRROR

  Worlds beyond count surround us, their realities brushing against ours, sometimes leaking through. A properly trained nahualli, with the right combination of perception-altering narcotics, can not only see through the veil separating worlds, but also summon aid from alternate realities. There are allies to be found in the smoke, in the mushroom, in the thinning of the veil. But dangerous creatures also exist beyond the veil. Evil spirits, demons, pale souls cast from the wall that were too strong to die. The wall is our protection. That veil is our shield.

  —The Book of Bastion

  Akachi woke on the altar in his church. His sacrificial dagger still lay upon his chest. Letting his head fall to one side, he looked out of the corner of his eye. Blood stained the runnels beneath him.

  My blood.

  “We all feed the gods,” he whispered.

  He would cut himself, let the gods have his blood and the dagger have his soul.

  Soon, he promised Yejide, we’ll be together.

  Staring at the dagger, he realized he couldn’t do it, couldn’t bring himself to take his own life. He was a coward. Shame broke him and he cried.

  Akachi summoned the last of his strength. A need to escape his failures, to flee his humiliation, drove him. An insatiable hunger built in his gut, poisoned his veins. He had no numbing erlaxatu to take away his pain, no zoriontasuna to drown him in blissful euphoria. The only narcotic left in his possession was…

  Broken fingers fumbled at the pouch of jainkoei around his neck. It took several attempts before he managed to work it open. The fungus was meant to be mixed with other narcotics, not taken in its pure form. He didn’t care.

  One last time I want to feel the will of Cloud Serpent. There was more than enough to brain-burn a dozen priests. He ate it all and wheezed bloody laughter. Corpses can’t be brain-burnt.

  The jainkoei opened him to the will of the gods. They shone their light upon him, within him.

  I failed you. Failed Yejide. Failed my father.

  A snake coiled its way up the altar, slid up his legs. Akachi admired its beauty. Glowing bands of lustrous red, white, and black coloured it. The creature’s eyes were green like the most perfect jade. The head rose above him, stared down.

  Cloud Serpent.

  His god had come. He sobbed in gratitude at this last, undeserved gift.

  They died because of me. Yejide. Nafari. All of them. All my fault.

  The god weaved back and forth, hypnotic.

  So perfect. So beautiful.

  “Mother Death poisoned you.” Cloud Serpent spoke into Akachi’s soul. “The stone of self-destruction ate at you. No more. You are perfect. You are cleansed.” The god’s words seared his spirit, burned away his pain. “The detritus of your life is gone. Your time of youth and distraction is finished. From this day forth, you serve one purpose: mine.”

  I’m dying.

  The viper struck, sank fangs into his neck, and reared back to examine him with eyes cold and ancient.

  “The Heart’s Mirror is dead,” said Cloud Serpent. “Assassinated. Father Death has fallen. The pantheon has no leader. The Loa have a new god, Face Painted with Bells, and she is loose within Bastion’s walls. The gods war. We are riven by discord.”

  Smoking Mirror, the girls.

  “Smoking Mirror has chosen his Heart,” said Cloud Serpent. “She is chaos. She will bring about the fall of Bastion, utter ruin. Humanity will die.”

  Akachi struggled to form words, managed only a dry croak.

  “You,” said Cloud Serpent, “are my Heart.”

  “What does that mean?” Akachi managed.

  “The gods dare not war directly. We act through our worshippers. Each god has chosen a Heart. You are mine.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  The god’s venom coursed through Akachi’s blood, set his veins afire, burnt his heart to ash. The poison seared away even his ability to feel pain. It left Akachi empty, pure.

  “The god whose Heart is the last standing shall rule the pantheon. Hunt the scarred girl. Cut out her heart, bleed her on the altar. Hunt the sorcerer who bears Mother Death. Throw her from the wall, once again banishing The Lady.”

  Pieces fell together, clicked into place like the tightest puzzle. Cloud Serpent chose him. Smoking Mirror chose Efra as his Heart, and Mother Death had no doubt chosen the street sorcerer. Each god had chosen a Heart, a representative.

  They’re playing with us. It’s a game.

  A game with world-changing results. They played to see who would rule the pantheon and humanity were but pieces on the board.

  Cloud Serpent chose me.

  If the Lord of the Hunt rose to rule the pantheon, Akachi would become the next Heart’s Mirror. He’d be immortal. He’d have access to the Gods’ Ring. Anything and everything would become possible. He could have Yejide back.

  “It shall be as you command,” said Akachi.

  Akachi woke sprawled across the altar. Cloud Serpent was gone. The hall was empty, still. His sacrificial dagger, smoky with souls, lay upon his chest. Though the weight remained, no longer did it feel evil. It wasn’t empty, the obsidian still held countless souls. Only the stain had been removed.

  Or I’m so stained I can no longer feel it.

  Raising his right hand, he found it whole, healed. His left remained maimed, fingers little more than stumps. His wounds, all of them, were closed. Opening his robes, he saw the scars where Mother Death impaled him.

  The gods warred.

  Cloud Serpent chose me.

  Would his father be proud?

  He realized he no longer cared. It felt like the god reached in, and scooped some of Akachi out.

  My god tells me what I may feel.

  His father expected great things of his son. His first memories were of being told that someday, if he worked hard and was the best, he’d be High Priest of Cloud Serpent. Over the intervening years his father looked less and less proud, spoke of Akachi’s position in the priesthood increasingly rarely.

  But the Heart’s Mirror was beyond the High Priest. No mortal but the Heart ever entered the inner-most ring of Bastion. If Akachi succeeded, if he survived to the end, Cloud Serpent would rule the pantheon. According to the Book of Bastion, The Lord of the Hunt hadn’t held that position in over seventeen thousand years. Akachi couldn’t imagine living in the Gods’ Ring, being the voice for all the gods, passing down their judgement upon all humanity.

  I will be so much more than you, father.

  Sitting, he surveyed his church. Signs of life were littered everywhere. Items dropped by the Hummingbird Guard looked like they expected to be taken up again at any moment.

  So much death. And for what?

  Akachi knew the answer: Gods fed off blood and worship. The entire city was an altar, collecting blood and funnelling it to the heart. It was no mistake. Akachi saw careful thought in every gutter, in the shaped floo
rs of every home, in the perfection of design.

  The gods want Bastion to bleed and so she shall.

  Cloud Serpent wanted Akachi to be the blade that shed her blood and so he would.

  Casting out the sorcerer would once again banish Mother Death. For now, she remained bound to the woman’s flesh. That wouldn’t last forever. Eventually she’d have the strength to free herself.

  What must it be like to be ridden by your god?

  Akachi imagined surrendering all control and responsibility.

  Examining his robes, he found them crusted with blood and ash. They stunk of sweat and death and smoke. He stuck a finger through the hole where Mother Death stabbed him.

  That was real.

  The massive dose of narcotics he’d been on left his memories tenuous, hastily drawn charcoal sketches, still-scenes instead of continuity.

  The amethyst poisoned me against myself.

  And yet because of that stone he’d been willing to ingest suicidal amounts of narcotics. Because of that stone he saw his god. Because of that stone he still lived.

  The Loa failed. They made him stronger than ever.

  His mangled hand caught his attention. He wriggled the stumps. They will pay.

  They would all pay. As Cloud Serpent demanded.

  The gods saved us. We owe them everything.

  Jumoke, the acolyte, entered the hall. Approaching the altar, he bowed low. “Are you hungry, Pastor?” he asked as if nothing had happened.

  He wasn’t.

  “Fetch me clean robes,” said Akachi. “I hunt a god.”

  GLOSSARY – THE GODS OF BASTION

  Cloud Serpent (Lord of the Hunt): God of the hunt. As no one leaves Bastion, all hunting happens within the city. The most common prey are escaped criminals or fleeing debtors. His priests wear robes with thick bands of red, white, and black.

  Feathered Serpent (Father Wind, Lord of Storms, Bringer of Knowledge): God of wind and sand storms. His priests wear masks that look like bone skulls eroded by sand and wind.

  Her Skirt is Stars (Mother Life, Goddess of the Stars, Skirt of Snakes, Grandmother): Gave birth to moon and stars. Goddess of childbirth and women who die during it. Her nahual run the crèches where Grower children are raised. They wear the spines of snakes woven into their hair and clothes. Their vestments vary in colour, but always match the colouring of some deadly viper, depending on their particular sect.

  Lord of the Root (The Healer, Lord of Wine): God of doctors, medicine, narcotics, herbs and hallucinogenics.

  Lord of the Vanguard: (Lord of the Nose, Nose Lord) God of merchants, commerce, and trade. Primarily worshipped in the Bankers’ Ring.

  Precious Feather: (The Maiden, Mother of Flowers) Goddess of pleasure, indulgence, sex, female sexual power, and protector of young mothers. Her priests are strictly female and wear robes cut to show off and accent their beauty.

  Sin Eater: (Mother Sin, Mother Purity, She Who Devours the Filth, The Four Sisters, Goddess of Dirt) Goddess of filth, guilt, cleansing, sin, purification, steam baths, midwives, and adulterers. She takes confessions and purifies or punishes. Her priests are always immaculately clean. Never dirty or sweaty, they bathe many times a day. They wear robes of flawless white.

  Smoking Mirror (Father Discord, The Obsidian Lord, God of storms, God of Strife, Lord of the Night Sky, Enemy of Both Sides, We Are His Slaves, He by Whom We Live, Lord of the Near and Far, Father of the Night Wind, Lord of the Tenth Day, The Flayed One, The Jaguar God): He is associated with a wide range of concepts, including the night sky, the night winds, the north, the earth, obsidian, discord, jaguars, and strife. His priests wear black.

  Southern Hummingbird (Father War, The Left Hand, The Dart Hurler, Father Terror): God of war. His priests are the Hummingbird Guard.

  The Lady: (Mother Death, Lady of the Dead, The Queen of Bastion, The Falcon, The Great Mother, Nephthys, Nebthet, Mother of the Universe, Kālarātri, The Black One, The Destroyer, The Lady of the House) Cast from the city after the creation of Bastion she has lived in the Bloody Desert for over twenty-five thousand years, devouring those souls thrown from the Sand Wall. She is the eldest of gods, betrayed by her husband, The Lord.

  The Lord (Father Death, The Lord of the House): God of death. His priests wear long cloaks of owl feathers. Current ruler of the pantheon.

  The Provider: God of fertility and water, and lightning.

  GLOSSARY – NAHUALLI (SORCERERS)

  Huateteo (Spirit Guides): Have the power to bring people together or tear them apart. Utilizing aspects of the pactonal art of dream walking, they can move people’s souls into one of the neighbouring realities. Different realities have different rules. Some are conducive to unity and time spent in such will bind a group into a tight knit unit. Some are darker and subtly weaken the bonds of society. A powerful Huateteo can, given time and the right narcotics, alter people’s personalities, plant goals and ideas.

  Nagual (shape shifter): Has the power to transform either spiritually or physically into an animal form. Nagual can completely become the animal, or take on aspects or characteristics of the animal.

  Otochin (Fetish Magic): Fetish magic is the creation of charms and wards. They can offer protection, imbue characteristics (strength, charisma, quickness, etc.), or be curses.

  Pactonal (Dream Walking): Allows the practitioner to enter or control the dreams of others. This can be used to send messages, nightmares, or threats. A powerful nahualli can kill someone in their dreams and the victim’s spirit will die, leaving the body a living shell. Since it is common knowledge that the gods speak through people’s dreams, this is particularly powerful/dangerous.

  Peyollotl (Totemic Magic): The sorcerer must hand carve totems of various creatures and study them while taking drugs. They imagine (and later hallucinate) the creature coming to life. The more powerful the sorcerer, the more they can control their hallucination. Truly powerful nahualli, like those in Bastion’s earliest days, can cause their totems to grow to immense size and do all kinds of fantastic things like breathe fire.

  Tecuhtli (Death Magic): Practised only by worshippers of The Lord (Father Death) and The Lady (Mother Death). There is great power and energy in death. The dead are ritually burned at the local temple so that an evil street sorcerer doesn’t steal body parts. Curses, poisons, summoning and binding evil spirits, raising and talking to the dead are all aspects of death magic.

  Tezcat (Divination): By taking the right mix of drugs (and with the right training) it’s possible to see flashes of the future, the past, or even elsewhere in the present.

  GLOSSARY – SORCEROUS NARCOTICS

  Aldatu: A powerful hallucinogenic most commonly used by Nagual as it aids in shapeshifting. Mushroom.

  Ameslari: A strong hallucinogenic. A trained user can enter the dreams of another, if that person is also asleep. Fungus grown in dark basements. Must be eaten.

  Arrazoia: Improves logical thought

  Ausardia: Increases confidence and bravery.

  Bihurtu: Most commonly used by Peyollotl (totemic magic). A poisonous residue scraped off the backs of a large, black frog. Bihurtu connects the sorcerer with the world of spirit animals, allowing the nahualli to channel aspects (strength, speed, armour, etc.) of various animals.

  Egia: Reduces inhibitions and makes it difficult to lie.

  Epelak: Cured petals from the epelak flower are used to open the third eye, found in the centre of the palm of a sorcerer’s right hand.

  Erlaxatu: A relaxing euphoria that numbs the user to the hurts of the world and leaves a peaceful feeling. Smoked.

  Etorkizun: Milky sap from a tree. Mixed with your own blood, this is used by tezcat in divination magic.

  Foku: Sharpens all senses. Edible seeds. Improves retention.

  Gorgoratzen: Allows user to recall even ‘forgotten’ events in great detail. Any memories made while under its influence will be incredibly sharp.

  Jainkoei: Opens the soul to the will of the gods.

&n
bsp; Jakitun: Makes user physically aware of their surroundings. Increased physical aptitude, balance, proprioception.

  Kognizioa: Makes the user smarter, better able to focus on problem solving.

  Pizgarri: User feels sharp and alert and very awake. Helps with concentration.

  Zoriontasuna: A euphoric. Common street drug (4th ring), mostly used as an escape from reality. A trained user can cause those around him to feel some of his high. It calms crowds, makes people mellow and happy. A leafed plant that is smoked.

  GLOSSARY – LOA SORCERY

  Agate: Curses and protections.

  Alexandrite: Causes obsessive and compulsive behaviour, can make the subject delusional.

  Amethyst: The stone of self-destruction.

  Angelite: Abort unborn children and kill the sick and elderly.

  Astrophyllite: The stone of torment. Drive the subject insane with nightmares.

  Diamond: Create blindness, physical or spiritual, confusion, and disorientation.

  Diopside, Star: The stone of truth.

  Emerald: Drive subject insane with greed and selfishness.

  Flint: Stone of Conflict.

  Fossilized Shark Teeth: The stone of curses

  Garnet: Stores many forms of energy. It can store wounds the sorcerer suffers. Those wounds can later be given to a subject. It can also steal health or strength or intelligence from a helpless subject. The sorcerer can use what the stone steals, burning through the energy. The subject doesn’t recover lost energy unless the sorcerer returns it to them.

  Goshenite: Stone of Unmasking.

  Hematite: Mother Death’s stone. Like obsidian it can store souls.

  Hyraceum: Stone of Domination.

  Kunzite: Stone of Distraction.

  Kyanite: Knife of the Mind.

  Meteorites: Increase the intensity and effects of other stones

  Obsidian: Obsidian is used by tecuhtli in their death magic. This is the one kind of crystal magic not forbidden to the nahualli, though they don’t think of it as such. The soul of anyone killed by obsidian will be stored inside the stone. The more souls inside the stone the more powerful it becomes. If enough souls are stored in the stone it begins to stain local reality, infecting anyone nearby. The obsidian swords of the Turquoise Serpents, Southern Hummingbird’s elite, carry thousands of souls and are unbreakable. The sacrificial daggers used by the nahual are always obsidian. They are regularly returned to the Gods’ Ring at the centre of Bastion to be drained of souls. Those souls are then cleansed and made ready to be reborn.