Some confused conversation began, with Mihuah and Ana heatedly arguing with the castellan and Captain Xicol. Tenamic made a slashing gesture with his staff and that silenced them.
“Very well. Let us do a bit of the ‘detecting’ that Johnny has suggested. Maxaltic appears to seek the Shadow Stone. What can the Order of the Deep tell us about that deadly device? What does your lore suggest? What might be its resting place?”
The abbot made a doubtful gesture with his hands. “We have no particular traditions concerning the Shadow Stone. As far as we know, it lies still in sunken Atlan, amid the ruins of Sulamala, gripped, no doubt, by the skeletal hands of the woman who last wielded its dire might.”
Mihuah slipped from her prayer ring and floated closer to the monk. “And where is Atlan, Abbot Pacqui? If we got there before Maxaltic, we could foil his disturbing plans.”
“You will have to forgive us, Lady Mihuah, but its location was lost long ago. Perhaps the Royal Historian might know.”
He gave a pointed look at Ana, who shook her head. “I am afraid not. Any maps or other guidance to the site were expunged tens of thousands of years ago from the Royal History.”
The Archmage rested his bearded chin atop his staff thoughtfully. “There is a single mention of the ruins in the Jade Grimoire, the compendium of Tapachco’s magic: ‘Southeast lies that shattered land—at the very nadir of the Abyss.’ And, indeed, it goes on to warn strongly against ever venturing close.”
Captain Xicol’s voice shook a bit as he spoke. “As a youngster, I heard stories of that place from my mother. Haunted by ghosts and demons, she warned, swirling up from Amictlan.”
Johnny perked up at this word. “Is that like Mictlan? Because Carol and I saw tons of ancient ruins in the Underworld.”
“It is possible an entrance to that realm can be found there, but Amictlan is what we call the Abyss, the lowest point of the Acapulco Trench. Even if the Jade Grimoire can be trusted, no living siren or triton knows the precise coordinates of that darkest of dark places.”
Abbot Pacqui bent his head as if to pray. “And those stories the captain mentions are not simply told to frighten children, brothers and sisters. The Order of the Deep has encountered fell beings those few times we have ventured south along the trench. Along with kings and queens, we have therefore sought to dissuade merfolk from traveling this way toward the Abyss.”
His fingers absently traced the form of Huixtohcihuatl on his chest. Then he suddenly twitched and looked up, his eyes wide.
“And yet…”
Everyone stared at him, waiting.
Uncurling from his ring, he signaled for the other monks and addressed the company. “You will please excuse us. I must consult the goddess. If you remain for a time, I may be able to provide some small sliver of aid. In the meantime, acolytes will attend to your needs for food and rest.”
He spun and rushed with uncharacteristic haste through a rectangular slot that must have once been a door.
Carol looked first at the princess and then the castellan. “So what do we do now?”
“Now,” said Nalquiza, “we wait. I will send back messengers to the Queen and King with detailed news about these setbacks. It will take them twice as long to return, so I do not anticipate a response for another watch. Gods willing, the abbot will have gleaned whatever knowledge he can by then. Armed with that and guided by royal commands, we will make whatever move seems best.”
~~~
After a simple meal of greens and squid, members of the company were assigned to empty cells; small cabins that still contained a few broken or tarnished artifacts from the humans who had once used them. Carol rested for a while before emerging to look for the others. She found Johnny outside the monastery, playing patolli with guards using weighted pieces.
“Hey, Carol,” he called. “Want to come get your butt kicked by your brother in an ancient board game?”
“Uh, no, I’ll pass. You seen Mihuah anywhere?”
“Said she was going to explore the area. These guys wanted to send someone with her, but she refused an escort.”
“That’s pretty much the way she is. Very independent.”
She watched as Johnny rolled the beans, a slower action than it would be on dry land, and moved his pieces with a triumphant shout.
“Boom!” he said to the young guard across from him. “Three times in a row! Bow before my mad skills, Enehnel.”
The warrior smirked. “You’re definitely mad, boy. I’m guessing your spate of wins comes more from luck than skill, though.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sore loser.”
“Here’s an idea, shapeshifter—why don’t you hunt up a mollusk and transform into something that keeps its mouth shut?”
Carol rolled her eyes. Found someone as snarky as you, huh?
Me and Enehnel are cuates, yo. Even if he doesn’t know it yet.
“I hate to interrupt this witty banter, but I had hoped to speak to you two, Johnny and Carol.”
Archmage Tenamic had approached undetected, and he now gestured at the bulk of the main mast. The twins followed him to its midpoint, using a massive naval gun half-buried in the sand to anchor themselves.
“So, what’s wrong?” Carol asked.
“Nothing in particular. Yet it seems wise to broach the subject of savage magic. From what I hear, you wielded it in Mictlan a few times, but understand that there were no living, sentient beings on hand, no potential accidental casualties.”
“Xolotl warned us that no one could really teach us how to use it. That not even the gods know how.”
“And I would not dare contradict the nagual of Quetzalcoatl himself. Nevertheless, though we may know little of the actual mechanism of savage magic, we grasp the powers it has granted its users.”
A hint of movement drew Carol’s eye. Princess Anamacani was emerging from the monastery. Catching sight of them, she swam in their direction.
“Savage magic seems to manifest more weakly,” Tenamic continued, “in identical nagual twins. Most have been brothers—Hunahpu and Xbalanque, Monster-Slayer and Born-for-Water, Keri and Kame. But there have been sister pairs as well, notably Taiwo and Kehinde, who merged into a single being before leaving the living world.”
Ana had reached them by this point and anchored herself close to Johnny. Carol refrained from dropping a teasing remark into her brother’s mind.
“Cocoah—fraternal nagual twins, especially male-female pairs—are the ones whose abilities inspired true awe. Some could travel from place to place in an instant; others could command the very elements, raining fire and flood down on their enemies; while others learned to reach into the minds of their fellow humans and bend them to their will.”
“It is written,” Ana added, “that Manqu Qhapaq and his sister Mama Uqllu were able to grant others the ability to shapeshift with the touch of their hands. There are even obscure references to the power to undo death and create life where there was none.”
“Correct,” the sorcerer agreed. “The greatest of the nagual twins became Texoxqueh, Savage Mages, virtual gods on earth.”
Johnny gave a wry laugh. “Yeah, well, being a Savage Mage didn’t help Epan, did it?”
Tenamic’s face grew somber. “No, Johnny, it did not. Just as we know some of the powers your predecessors wielded, we also have records of the impact they had on the world.”
“Like what happened to Atlan?” Carol suggested.
“Indeed. The very first naguales of this Fifth Age poured their might into their conflict, which heightened the destructive potential of the Shadow Stone and put the world in peril. But they were not the last.”
“Archmage,” Ana warned, lifting her hand.
“You would have me keep this knowledge from them?”
Carol felt her heart lurch with painful premonition.
Johnny got very serious very fast. “What? Keep what from us?”
The princess reached out and touched his arm. “Nothing, really. Please feel no
alarm. It is only that several sets of shapeshifting fraternal twins also skirted the darkness the way Epan and Quelel did. However, the world is different now, friends. You are different. And from what you have told us, Quetzalcoatl believes in you, trusts you.”
“Right. He does. So we’re not going to join the Dark Side, guys.”
Carol glanced nervously at Johnny, remembering how he had almost lost control of his power in the Underworld.
“You may not need to,” Tenamic said, voicing her deepest worries. “Undisciplined use of unbridled power could cause just as much destruction as deliberate evil acts.”
Carol knew that he was right, that they should be more proactive about their destiny. “Please, Archmage Tenamic—anything at all you can do to teach or train us, to prepare us—we want to do this right.”
“Of course. We can begin by talking about the powers you already possess. Mihuah tells me you dispelled Shadow Magic with song. You are a teocuicani or sacred singer. As fortune would have it, so am I. Specialized techniques exist for using teocuicayotl, sacred song magic. Different songs yield different levels of force, for example. The tune of our childhood are strong, but the ancient hymns mightier still. You will want to use the old songs of your people till you learn to compose your own.”
“My father writes songs,” she interjected. “I used one of his against the Shadow Magic.”
“Excellent. You will likely master composition quickly. Let me teach you a simple merfolk lullaby so we can practice focusing your frequencies.”
“Uh, I know I should probably hone my Green Magic, Carol, but while you prepare for American Idol, maybe Ana and I should go hunt up Mihuah. No matter how tough she thinks she is, it’s dangerous to be just wandering off.”
“Take Enehnel with you.” As a guard. And, uh, chaperon, too.
Will you knock that off? Gah.
~~~
After a few hours of practice, Carol found she could narrow the scope of her song to target small rocks, lifting or cracking them, depending on her frequency. Tenamic showed her strange aquatic scales that dipped in between the normal notes she was used to, and he instructed her on the best subjects for songs of persuasion, subdual, and shattering.
“Such would normally take even an adept student months to learn,” he remarked as they headed into the monastery for the evening meal. “Quite impressive.”
They joined Johnny and Ana, who had returned with Mihuah some time ago.
“This waiting is killing me,” Johnny muttered around a mouthful of seaweed. “I want to get moving, deal with this loser already.”
“We all grow impatient, Johnny,” Mihuah said, “but diplomacy has taught me that most problems require time, reflection and long discussion to resolve.”
“Yeah, I kind of doubt the diplomatic approach is going to do much good with Maxaltic, but hey, we can give it a try.”
Ana appeared about to add something to this argument when the messengers rushed in.
“Where’s Castellan Nalquiza?” asked the senior of the two. “We need to confer with her in private.”
Captain Xicol led them away into the bowels of the ship.
Mihuah smirked. “I believe the Queen has some instructions for the castellan.”
“Where are the reinforcements?” Ana seemed quite frustrated. “If we are to head my brother off or confront him, this small contingent of guards is hardly sufficient.”
“Well, it’s got to take time, no? Putting together their supplies, organizing them, etcetera?”
The princess relented. “True. I should be more trusting, but I have reasons for my doubts, friend.”
A low, rumbly call made the water around them tremble.
“Vespers,” Mihuah observed. “The monks will be coming in to make their evening prayers.”
The twins and their young siren friends moved to the edge of the chamber and watched the members of the Order file in. Grasping one another’s forearms, they arranged themselves in a sphere, chanting low and unintelligibly. Abbot Pacqui appeared and made his way to the center of the sphere. With strong, clear clicks and whistles, he intoned a prayer to the goddess:
Blessed Huixtocihuatl—
When your brothers sought to harm you
With a vast saline flood,
You opened wide your arms to greet
Your precious destiny,
For salt is life, you understood.
Coursing through our veins
Our briny blood retains the charge
Of heaven’s sacred energy.
And in the Deep, brackish flows
Mingle dense and strong.
From here all creatures did arise
When the earth was young,
And here we praise your noble name
Until it meets its end.
There was another wordless song, and the sphere dispersed. Castellan Nalquiza, followed by the scouts and Captain Xicol, entered the chamber.
“Abbot Pacqui,” Nalquiza called. “The royal couple has sent me word. We are to journey toward the Abyss, to stop the prince by whatever means we must.”
“Only to stop him?” Ana demanded. “There were no other instructions?”
Nalquiza paused for a moment. “Princess, I am not certain what you mean to intimate, but those are our orders.”
Carol looked at the abbot. “Did you find whatever information you were looking for? Something that’ll help us?”
He gave a tired nod. “As I have said, I know not where the Abyss lies. However, I do know where you can find an outcast ahuah with vast and ancient knowledge. The goddess has confirmed to me in a vision that this being is key to your reaching Atlan.”
Carol remembered her father’s photos. “An ahuah? A water elemental? One of the tlaloqueh?”
“At one time, yes. But this particular elemental was expelled ages ago from Tlalocan, that watery paradise to which atlacah souls travel upon death. Banished for some unknown wrong, it was condemned to abide here in the Deep.”
Archmage Tenamic traced the runes of his staff with his webbed fingers. “Unpredictable and often dangerous beings, these tlaloqueh. We must be cautious in our approach. Understand that it is ancient and strange, a creature of water and magic from the depths of time. We cannot fathom its motives or predict its behavior.”
“Then perhaps,” opined Ana, “we should wait for the reinforcements my parents are no doubt sending our way.”
“No,” Nalquiza said. “There is no time. We will leave word here as to our destination. Get as much rest as you can, everyone. We leave in half a watch.”
Four hours of sleep. Carol hoped it would be enough.
Chapter Nine
Johnny hated getting up with anything less than eight hours’ sleep—in fact, he preferred a good ten—but his adrenaline kicked in right away when Carol stirred him awake.
“I’m up, I’m up!” he assured her, untangling himself from the webbing the monks used to strap themselves still each night. “Let’s go pump this elemental for info.”
“Johnny, remember what Dad said—these things are like angels. They’re the children of the rain god. Powerful beings.”
“Yeah, I know, and this one might as well be a demon, since it got tossed out of the mermaid heaven or whatever. But we’ve kicked demon butt before, Sis. Just sayin’.”
“Don’t get too cocky, Johnny,” she warned, but he was already swimming away, heading for the monastery entrance. He found the others forming up on the castellan’s commands. The Archmage illuminated their preparations with his staff.
Ana greeted Johnny with a smile. “Three senior monks will be guiding us to the abode of the fallen ahuah, which is apparently carved into the wall of the trench some two thousand rods to the south. Castellan Nalquiza calculates that we should arrive in about three-quarters of a watch.”
“Good. The faster we get there, the closer we’ll be to stopping your brother.”
Carol and Mihuah were the last to join them for a quick breakfas
t of tough seaweed rolls, and then the company set off at a challenging pace that left little energy for conversation.
From time to time, Johnny would refresh himself with savage magic, letting it roll over him from head to tip of tail, revitalizing his transformed flesh. He kept boredom at bay by reaching out to the various plants strung out below him and causing them to grow faster, to twine around each other, to pull themselves up by the roots and replant themselves elsewhere.
From time to time he caught snatches of his sister’s humming and saw she was practicing as well, pushing and rolling and cracking stones as the group rushed along the trench’s edge.
Getting pretty good at that.
Your magic isn’t half-bad, either.
Yeah, I’m trying to make Tenamic green with envy. Get it? ‘Green.’
Oh, lord, Johnny. You never change.
Except for getting taller, huh? That reminds me…I think I can help you grow another several centimeters once we’re back on dry land, chaparrita.
Uh, no thanks. I’ll let my DNA sort that out for me. Only need one giant in the family, anyway.
Aside from brief rest stops, the castellan drove them at an exhausting pace. When they finally halted for lunch, Johnny sidled over to Enehnel, who he’d discovered was pretty approachable. Coming from a family of agricultural workers, the guard was a lot less stuck up and distant than the more aristocratic members of the expedition, and Johnny enjoyed exchanging playful barbs with him.
“So I guess there’s no time for a quick game of patolli, huh?”
“Not only that, Johnny—if the castellan saw us take the board out, she’d be so enraged magma would begin to dribble from her ears. When she’s in this sort of mood, everyone knows to keep away and snap to without complaint.”
“Well, I’m anxious to stop this joker Maxaltic, too, but she’s pretty freaking intense.”
“You’ve got to understand, boy, that her main job is keeping the royal family safe. Now, the prince not only left Tapachco from right under her nose—he also took a platoon of guards with him. So this is not just about obeying the King and Queen. She’s got to redeem herself, you see. To set things right.”
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