Mihuah’s pulse had quickened, nausea spreading through her belly. “But…no! You and I are betrothed, Maxaltic! Why would she choose to dilute the blood of the House of Napotza?”
“Because she hungers for power, as well you know.”
A low moan had escaped Mihuah’s lips. Then the prince had kissed her.
“Soft, beloved. I have merely explained my mother’s plans. I shall see myself damned before I marry anyone other than you, Mihuah. As much as I, too, wish to ensure the ascendency of Tapachco in these seas, the Queen’s path is not the only one available to us.”
Getting her emotions in check, letting the diplomat in her take control, Mihuah had asked, “What do you mean?”
“Recently an elemental appeared to me, my love, and showed me how I might not only raise Tapachco to the greatness of millennia past, but also dominate the Five Nations and the entire world. Humanity has grown dangerous, it told me. At any moment, our fragile freedom from their corrosive ways could end. Yet I have been chosen, the Lord of Water announced, by the gods themselves to wield the might of the Shadow Stone.”
Mihuah had found herself unable to speak, instead simply shaking her head unbelievingly.
“It is no myth, beloved. I had that wench, my sister, perform a Retelling to confirm the elemental’s words. And though believed lost, that fell device is within reach. My distant cousin Celic, once Royal Historian and monk, has walked among human beings for several years now, searching. He will be my guide, opening a passage way for the army that the Lords of Water will help me to assemble.”
Drawing her close to him, Maxaltic had enfolded Mihuah into a warm embrace, his forehead pressed against her own.
“But I cannot be followed, beloved. The Royal Guard and the court sorcerers must be somehow distracted, drawn off after a red herring.”
It had taken a moment for Mihuah to understand.
“Me. You wish me to aid you in this distraction.” Her heart fluttering madly in her chest, she had squeezed him closer. “Very well, my love. Tell me what I must do.”
~~~
Carol shook herself free of that specific memory as all the rest rushed into her awareness. Bringing forward her features and voice, she turned to the others.
“She was in cahoots with him from the beginning. Her job was to keep us off his trail while Celic tricked Dad and his friends into opening up the apiyaztli in El Chanal.”
A look of shocked understanding crossed Johnny’s face. “Oh, crap. Don Cecilio, the old dude who told the archaeologists about the tunnels!”
“Yes. Celic, in human form. Mihuah also knew we were coming because Celic spun a half-truth for the Little People. All she had to do was come along for the ride, nudging us in the right direction if we got off the false track.”
Anamacani looked as if she might die of sorrow. “Oh, dear cousin, how could you? Carol, did she truly attempt to kill us?”
There was no more hiding from reality. Carol had little desire to soften the blow.
“Yes, she did. In his years searching for the stone, Celic had come across the waystation and explored it pretty thoroughly. That knowledge was passed to Maxaltic, who told Mihuah what she needed to do to make sure we didn’t foil his plans.”
Ana crumpled in despair. Johnny reached for her, tried to give her a little comfort while keeping the staff pointed at the traitor.
There’s no time for this, Carol shot at him.
I know. I know.
“Twins.”
They both looked over at Jabalí, who had called to them softly in his harsh tongue. No longer was he squeezing his head in agony. Instead, he tapped a webbed finger against his temple.
“I remember now. Other things. The Shadow Stone lies in the depths of the pool where I taught those children how to swim, so long ago. Jabalí Lagoon. Not far from the temple at El Chanal. There we hid it, and for ages it was guarded by sentinels loyal to the Lord of Creation. I was the last. A century ago a Lord of Water arrived and strove with me, trying to wrest the device away. I nearly succumbed, Carol and Johnny. Yet some powerful being aided me, dispelling the elemental. Sadly, my mind was shattered. I no longer knew who I was or what I did. I emerged into the sun and air, I spent a few weeks among the humans, and then—forgive me, friends—I abandoned the stone.”
Carol felt despair, thick like shadow magic, curl itself around her heart.
“All this time, it was sitting right there. We left Dad in the hands of the enemy, Johnny, and dragged ourselves off to the bottom of the ocean for nothing.”
Releasing Ana, her brother grabbed her in a shuddering hug.
“Don’t give up, Carol. We still have the apiyaztli.”
“You don’t get it, do you? Elementals just came through it. The thing leads to Tlalocan. It won’t do us any good, Johnny. We’ve lost.”
Mihuah, eyes still warily glancing at the staff, gave a disgusted laugh. Johnny cocked his head at her menacingly, and she fell silent.
“No,” he said. “That’s what Tezcatlipoca wants us to think. But Xolotl promised, Carol. So we’re going to try, do you hear me?”
She heard him, alright. She also heard the echo of another, darker voice.
Are you ready, child? It is now your turn. Let us see how far you can be bent, Carolina.
Chapter Nineteen
Things couldn’t get much uglier. Johnny had Jabalí seize Mihuah, and they left the chamber to meet up with Marshal Cenaman, who had a hard time believing that the siren she had watched over as a child could betray their trust so completely. She even seemed to doubt the word of the princess. But when Mihuah finally spoke, there was no avoiding the truth.
“Enough of your insipid prattling. I did what was necessary to preserve the prince and the realm.”
Cenaman, clearly heart-broken, remanded her into the custody of one of her captains, who bound her and led her out of the temple to be held under guard along with Tenamic until they could return to Tapachco and stand trial for their treachery.
The marshal looked over the miserable civilians. “I must call together my command staff. If you cannot find a passageway out of Atlan, we must devise some other strategy."
She swam away, leaving them with a small squad of guards.
“Carol,” Johnny called. “Ana. Jabalí. Come on.”
They swam into the inner sanctum. Ana looked dejectedly up at the statue of the goddess.
“I cannot bear much more,” she whispered, as if in prayer.
Carol had withdrawn into herself and said nothing. Only Jabalí radiated any form of positive energy, almost jittering with excitement.
“Touch the mirror again, Johnny,” the tlacamichin urged.
“I don’t know, dude. Last time I did that, I freaking conjured up a trio of angry elementals. There’s got to be another way.”
He thought back to his vision of Xolotl, recalling the massive dog’s final words as he had faded away. A surge of hope brought a smile to his lips. He wheeled to regard his sister.
“Carol, look at me.”
Her despondent eyes came up to meet his.
“Remember the Well of Souls in Mictlan? Remember the song that only you could hear?”
His sister’s lips began to tremble.
“Sing, Carol. Sing it for me, please.”
Hugging her arms against her chest, she hesitated a moment as if searching inside herself for the melody or for the strength to push despair away.
Then she opened her mouth, and the most beautiful music Johnny had ever heard came streaming out, wordless yet filled with promise; unearthly harmonies in a voice that blended human girl, siren, tlacamichin, goddess.
The song worked its magic on them all. Johnny felt his anger and fear drop away, replaced by a sure courage and replenished love. Ana turned to stare at Carol, her face lit up by wonder and relief. The guards who had followed them straightened their dejected backs, glancing at each other with renewed purpose.
And Jabalí spun around, excited beyond stil
lness, crying, “I remember who I am! I know my name! By the beloved goddess I KNOW MY NAME!”
The water above the mirror had begun to roil and spin. Suddenly inspired, Johnny called, “Say it, Jabalí! Say your name!”
“Rikar Tzaaq, Johnny. I am Rikar Tzaaq. ‘Precious scale.’ So did my hatch father name me two centuries ago.”
Johnny reached out to the mirror with savage magic as his sister’s song swelled louder and louder.
We need a path to the lagoon where Rikar Tzaaq once guarded the Shadow Stone. Someone, please. This is the hour of our greatest need.
“I hear you, Juan Ángel Garza. And I hear you as well, Carolina Garza. I had not hoped to hear the Hymn of Duality again until my long days had come to an end.”
Surging from the surface of the mirror came the most beautiful woman Johnny had ever seen, a looming giant of a siren with human features, her tail obscured by the shimmering green skirt that seemed to flow forever in streams of living emerald.
It was Matlalcueyeh, the goddess of the sea, crowned with writhing blue electric eels. Around her neck hung a coral yoke studded with glowing aquamarine gems, bright against a blouse the hue of deep ocean water.
Ana and the guards immediately bowed their heads. Rikar Tzaaq laughed with ecstatic delight. Johnny and Carol, who had stood in the presence of gods before, looked up at Matlalcueyeh expectantly.
“I see the lingering doubt in your souls, my children. Fear not. Your parents are alive. As they are both near water, I am able to sense them. Indeed, I have tarried in my appearance here precisely because I strove to succor them, sending the Encante to the side of each.”
Johnny thought back to his vision. “The Encante? Are those the pink dolphins Xolotl showed me?”
“Yes, Juan Ángel. They are the least numerous of the Blessed Creatures, wise river dwellers able to assume human form when needed, but their fealty to me is undying and strong. For the better part of a century, they have aided me by keeping a silent vigil over the Shadow Stone.”
Carol, clearly calmed and comforted by the song she had sung, nonetheless shook her head in confusion at this news.
“Wait—if you knew where it was, why didn’t anyone tell us? Why did we have to go through this horror?”
“Ah, child. Keeping it hidden from some required keeping it hidden from all. When a group of tlacamichimeh called out to me centuries ago, entreating my aid as they sought to foil the dark plans of Tezcatlipoca, I found I could not refuse, not only because of the suffering Tezcatlipoca caused me during the Fourth Age of this world, but also because their design was noble and good. So we spirited the device to a distant lagoon, and I enshrouded it with all the magic I could muster. Afterward, I could not risk revealing its location to other gods for fear my husband would learn what I had done and report to the loathsome Lord of Chaos.”
Rikar Tzaaq approached her, webbed hands clasped before him. “Mother of the Seas, for your many boons I offer thanks on behalf of my people. But, though my memory has been restored, I do not fully comprehend what happened to make me abandon my post.”
“Rest assured it was no fault of yours, my child. A century ago, one of Tlaloc’s elemental children chanced to follow me as I traveled to ensure your good health and the Shadow Stone’s safety. That Lord of Water attacked, nearly destroying you before I could imprison him. For decades Tlaloc searched for his lost son. When he finally discovered and freed him not many years ago, my husband and his dark master began this sinister plot you have found yourselves caught up in. Since then, I have been carefully watched, until Juan Ángel’s touch on the emerald mirror drew my guards away.”
Carol nodded, but didn’t seem completely convinced. “That explains why you didn’t say anything, but I find it hard to believe that Quetzalcoatl couldn’t see the stone. Why would he let the Little People believe Celic’s lie?”
Johnny reached out, touched her arm. “Sis, you already know that he wants us to make our own decisions and stuff. The whole free will thing. Annoying, yeah, but…”
Matlalcueyeh floated free of the mirror, reduced her size to move closer to the twins.
“I cannot speak for my elder brother, but it is true that he learned long ago the price of meddling too closely with the affairs of the Blessed Creatures. I suspect that, if he knowingly allowed you to be deceived, it was to bring you here. You have destroyed the Apixqueh, releasing me from Tlaloc’s control. Thus have I returned to this temple after long millennia, ready to give you a most precious gift.”
The goddess extended a glowing hand and touched Johnny’s chest. He could sense a bit of her divinity detach itself and cling to the cloak of Huitzilopochtli. She turned to Carol and did the same.
“You need to use apiyaztli to travel to your parents. This is easily done. Unlike the smoking mirrors you have used, our tunnels are not limited to one exit point. Fix the destination in your mind. See it clearly. Then step into the eddy above the mirror, and you will be drawn to it.”
Johnny grinned. “A snap, huh? But I think I hear a catch coming…”
“Indeed. Sacred tunnels pass through the realms of gods. The path you will access with this mirror, for instance, cuts through Tlalocan. If you had attempted to use that apiyaztli, you would have been seized by my husband or one of his sons.”
“Not good, I’m guessing.” Johnny felt his natural sarcasm returning. It was good to be more or less back to normal.
“No. But now I have marked you both with my sigil. You will not be sensed as you make your way through Tlalocan.”
You hear that, Carol? Stealth mode, baby.
Ha. Can you give me a little more time to recover before you start with your corny jokes?
A smile lit up the face of the goddess so brightly that they had to avert their eyes.
“Humor is the path to joy, which reminds us of our love.”
“Oops. She can read our minds, Sis.”
Carol gave a weak laugh. “Well, she is a goddess, doofus.”
“Lovely, children. Lovely. Now it is time for you to depart. I am afraid that a difficult choice lies before you. Your father and the Encante, at this very moment, are assailed by Maxaltic and his forces. Meanwhile, my husband has learned of my escape. He has sent some of his sons against your mother and the men aboard that ship.”
Johnny turned to Carol. “Where do we go first?”
She bit her lip. “Well, the Shadow Stone is the most dangerous thing we’ve got to deal with.”
“Yeah, but I’ve already seen what’s going to happen to Mom. She won’t last long.”
Pulling nervously at her braids, Carol groaned. “If we go to her, how do we get to Jabalí Lagoon? There’s no emerald mirror on the Estela de Mar.”
Matlalcueyeh made a calming gesture.
“The mirrors merely stabilize the sacred tunnels, children. Gods can create their own passageways, though these swiftly fade. To surround your mother, the tlaloqueh have opened such a temporary apiyaztli. It may be that, upon rescuing your mother, you could gain access to it before it disappears.”
“How?” Johnny asked. “If there’s no mirror, how do we see it?”
“You must see through the eyes of your tonal. The sacred tunnel will be resplendent with teotl.”
Carol gritted her teeth. “There’s no guarantee that we’ll get Mom quick enough to use the elemental’s passageway. I don’t know, Johnny. It means risking the lives of everyone.”
He frowned in irritation. “I’m not leaving Mom to fend for herself, Carol. If you want to go to Dad first, well…maybe we should split up. You take the guards and go to Jabalí Lagoon. I’ll go get Mom and meet you there.”
She nodded. “Okay, then. That might work.”
“Sadly, you cannot take more than one other person with you, twins.” Matlalcueyeh gestured at the glittering eddy. “It is time. Take whomever you choose by both hands and enter the mirror. I will tend to the needs of the merfolk who remain.”
Carol asked Rikar Tzaaq, “Will you
come with me?”
The tlacamichin’s froggy lips spread in a smile. “Yes, Carol.”
Johnny was about to say something, but his sister took the fish-man’s webbed hands in hers and dove toward the emerald without another word.
“Okay,” he muttered to himself, picturing his mother, running up and down the deck of the Estela de Mar in jaguar form. “Here goes nothing.”
A hand fell on his shoulder.
“Hold.”
It was Ana. Her fingers found his, and her left palm enfolding his right, which gripped Tenamic’s staff. Wild electric blue dreads danced around them both as she pulled him close, pressing her forehead against his.
“You will not leave without me, Johnny Garza. I must stand with you against my brother and the forces that would destroy both our peoples.”
Swallowing hard as he looked deeply into her eyes, his chest tightening with unexpected emotions, he managed to mutter, “Alrighty, then.”
And he pulled the beautiful siren with him into the unknown.
Chapter Twenty
The membrane between worlds stretched and tore, sending Carol and Rikar Tzaaq hurtling through a tube of translucent green energy. Their passage took them soaring through misty skies above a watery landscape, something akin to a bayou or rain forest, veined with rivers and dotted with lakes. On the horizon a lush, green mountain rose impossibly high, its summit wreathed in clouds that allowed only a glimpse of a massive jade palace.
Tlalocan. One of the four possible destinations of the dead in the old religion.
Thunder rumbled, muffled by distance or the apiyaztli. Skeins of lightning webbed the clouds. Carol thought she saw the green, blue and yellow glow of elementals moving here and there in the sky and in the water.
“Let us pray we are not detected,” Rikar Tzaaq breathed.
“Right? That’d be a big mess for everyone.”
She closed her eyes to better focus on the face of her father, on the water and trees that had surrounded Maxaltic in the obsidian mirror earlier. The tunnel appeared to dip, perhaps to climb, maybe to twist in a direction her mind was unable to understand.
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