by Sharon Sala
Evan woke up with the sun in his eyes and his body aching.
Adam was leaning over him crying. The first things that went through his mind were that Adam was covered in blood and that he hardly ever cried.
“What’s wrong?” Evan asked, and then gasped when he tried to inhale. “My chest hurts. My stomach hurts too.”
Adam covered his face with his hands and began to sob. He couldn’t talk for the relief flooding through him.
Believing that Adam needed him, Evan managed to sit up but then he saw the python and screamed. It took a few seconds for him to realize it was dead. His focus shifted to the gaping wounds on the snake and the countless insects feeding from the blood.
“That’s why I hurt,” Evan whispered, and managed to get to his hands and knees, then crawled to Adam. “You saved my life, didn’t you?”
Still sobbing, Adam tried to pull himself together.
“Thank you. You are the bravest brother, ever,” Evan said.
Adam began wiping at the tears on his face. He had cried long enough. It was time to get back to business.
“Evan, do you think you can stand?”
“I don’t know. It hurts to breathe.”
He stood up and reached for his brother’s hand.
Evan looked up to grasp it, then saw beyond his brother’s shoulder to the jungle above.
“Look, Adam! It’s the green orchids. They’re just higher up than we thought.”
“Of course,” Adam cried. “I am such a dummy. When we spirit walk, we aren’t actually walking. We just move. We must have been moving higher off the ground and didn’t know it.”
He helped Evan get up, brushing away the ants and mosquitoes from his back and legs.
“Move your legs,” he ordered.
Evan took a step, but it hurt to breathe and move at the same time.
Adam knew Evan had internal injuries, but if they stopped, the worry would be moot. Bazat would kill them.
“We go slowly until you can do better, but we have to keep moving,” Adam said.
Evan grabbed hold of his brother’s arm to steady himself. “So now do you know which way to go?”
“Yes. That way to the waterfall and then we’re almost there.”
They moved slow at first, and then as they progressed from steps to a stride, began to cover more ground, but Adam could tell his brother was in trouble. He was bent nearly double, trying to walk and breathe at the same time, but it wasn’t happening. Adam was so afraid of what he had done to him by giving him CPR, but if he hadn’t, Evan would be lying dead beside the python.
Another hour passed as the pushed through the jungle. Sweat was pouring from Evan’s hair into his eyes, but he was too weak to complain about the sting. Then suddenly he staggered and would have fallen but for Adam.
Adam slid his arm beneath Evan’s shoulders, shifting the weight onto him instead, and they kept on going, putting one foot in front of the other. Adam was so tired that he didn’t realize he’d been hearing the rush of water, until Evan spoke.
“I hear water. Can I have a drink?”
Adam’s heart skipped a beat. The waterfall! They were almost there!
“Yes, brother, you can have a drink. Just a little bit farther.”
They came out of the jungle into a small clearing. About thirty-five feet above them, a small waterfall gushed out from between rocks, forming a pool at the base that fed the stream beyond.
A mist hung halfway between the trees and the ground from the constant spray of water. Flowering vines abounded as did large green and red parrots, squawking at the arrival of strangers.
The boys gasped at the beauty of the sight.
“Look, Adam! A rainbow. That’s a good sign, right?”
“Looks like it to me,” Adam said. “Just a little bit farther and we can get a drink.”
At that same moment they took a step, they saw movement to their right. Adam yanked them to a stop as a jaguar padded out of the jungle to get a drink.
They held their breaths, afraid to move, afraid to blink. Adam felt the weight of his knife against his thigh, but against a jaguar, this would be a far different fight.
The big cat had massive claws and huge fangs that curved downward on the outside of its mouth. It was fully capable of snapping the backs of their necks with one bite.
Suddenly, it stopped, lifting its head as to sniff the air.
Adam groaned inwardly. They must be upwind.
They watched in horror as the cat slowly turned its head until it was looking straight at them.
Don’t move, Evan.
Even if I wanted to, I can’t.
The cat’s ears went back. Its tail began to twitch. When it fell into a crouch and began to stalk them, Adam sent a last ditch message to Layla. Even if she didn’t get here in time, at least she would know what happened.
***
Cayetano stopped when they reached a stream. He wanted Singing Bird to rest, but she would not sit down. She dropped by the bank to drink and the moment her hand went in the water, she saw a waterfall, and then she saw the boys.
Cayetano was crouched in the middle of the water, drinking from the cup he’d made of his hand. The other warriors were scattered up and down through the stream, refreshing themselves as well when she suddenly sprang to her feet.
“Cayetano! Is there a waterfall that feeds this stream? We need to find it.”
One of the warriors pointed. “That way. Not far,” he said.
“The boys are there and they are in danger.”
Cayetano leaped toward her, grabbing her by the hand as the others followed. They were running without caution now, feeling the urgency of the mission without understanding the need. Weapons were out. Their stride was long. They heard the rush of water only seconds before they heard the screams.
Layla dashed forward, pulling away from the warriors as she ran. When they reached the clearing, she saw that they were on one side, and the two boys were on the other side of the water. One was sitting, and the other was in a crouched position in front of him with a knife held in his hand.
Then she saw the jaguar.
Cayetano leaped past her, dashing into the water in an all-out sprint to get the boys before the cat did, with the warriors right behind him.
She didn’t hesitate. She notched an arrow into the bow and launched it just as the cat leaped. There was a moment of deja’vu as she flashed on the cougar during the Last Walk. She’d had Windwalker’s magic to guide her arrows there, but in here, Windwalker didn’t exist.
Cayetano was only steps away from the boys when the big cat left the ground.
“Now!” he shouted, and his men drew back to throw their spears when a flash of movement caught the corner of his eye. When he looked again, the cat was on the ground with an arrow through its heart.
He turned abruptly. Singing Bird was on the other side of the water, her bow hanging loosely in her hands. He grinned, then lifted his spear and sent a cry of jubilation into the air. His warriors followed suit as she jumped into the water.
She came running, bypassing the men to get to the cat and pushed it with the toe of her boot. It was lifeless. She pulled out the arrow, wiped it on the grass, and dropped it back into her quiver as ran to the boys.
They had collapsed into a heap on the ground; visibly trembling, and covered in blood. She began scanning their bodies for wounds. From the amount of blood, it could be serious.
“Which one of you did the big snake get?”
“You do see with your mind, just like we do,” Adam said softly, and then pointed at his brother. “He’s Evan. I’m Adam. The snake got him.”
Cayetano knelt beside her, still struggling with the knowledge that not only had Singing Bird been right about them running away, but they had been real children after all, and not evil spirits trying to tr
ick them.
“How did you get away from the snake?” he asked.
“I killed it with my knife,” Adam said. “It was very big, larger around than my body.”
Layla translated.
The warriors murmured to each other. A python was something to always be avoided, and for a young boy to kill such a snake was quite a feat.
“We need to go,” Adam said. “I think Bazat is very close.”
Layla translated again, and the thought of facing the man again made Cayetano’s flesh crawl. He’d killed him once. He couldn’t let history repeat itself. None of this was going to work unless it began with change.
He looked at his men. “We carry the boys.”
Adam heard the thought and shook his head. “I will walk, but my brother can’t.”
“It will be all right. I will get you both to safety,” Layla said.
Adam eyed her curiously as she helped him up.
“Are you a magic woman, like Madame ReeRee?” he whispered.
She shifted her bow to the other hand as Cayetano led them across the water.
“I don’t know what I am,” she said. “I am a different woman here than what I was before. All I know is that whatever we do from this time forward, we have to make better choices. Do you understand?”
Adam nodded. “I can see your thoughts. So can Evan.”
Her eyes widened.
“I wanted to tell you now, so you would not think we were deceiving you.”
She thought about what he’d said, trying to imagine how all of that would work into what needed to happen, and at the same time, he answered for her.
“We will never betray you, Layla Birdsong. We owe you our lives. When we hear trouble, you will be the first to know.”
She eyed him curiously and then thought of Yuma, yet another boy without a home.
“How do you feel about wolves?” she asked.
“I have never actually seen one because they were not native to the island where we lived. I’ve read about them. I know that they are very loyal, and that they mate for life.”
“Yes, those are true facts, I think. How would you and Evan feel about letting just one small boy into your very special world?”
He thought, and saw a boy with brown skin and a sad face.
“I think Yuma will like us,” Adam said.
Layla was surprised. She hadn’t said Yuma’s name, and yet he’d known. So they could read thoughts.
“I think he will like you, too. He belongs to the wolf clan, as do Cayetano and I. It’s for people who are alone in the world.”
He nodded. “We have always been alone. We would fit there.”
“So, we will talk to Yuma. I will let him be the one to invite you into the clan. It is his right, since he was the first.”
She glanced over her shoulder as they hurried away. One day she would come face to face with this Bazat, but not today.
Chapter Seventeen
It was one of Bazat’s scouts who first found the python. He led them to the site, pointing to the tracks and the blood trails leading off into the jungle.
Bazat saw the tracks, but was more concerned about how the snake had died. He lost count of the stab wounds as he circled the mutilated corpse. It was surprising that either one of the boys would have been strong enough to do this. It made him wonder if there was more to his Little War-Gods than he’d first thought.
But, a dead snake was a dead snake. It had nothing to tell them about where the boys had gone, so they followed the blood trail, although the farther they went, the fainter it became. When they began hearing the far-off rumblings of thunder, they knew it was going to rain, and when it rained, the trail would be gone.
“Run!” Bazat screamed, and they began to move faster, desperate to catch up. They had been helpful to his domination and he wanted them back.
He and his men were almost at the waterfall when the first drops of rain began to fall, hitting the leaves above their heads in loud, heavy plops.
He pushed to the front of the pack, his chest burning, his legs nearly numb. They had run for a very long time and still no sight of the boys. He didn’t understand it. Someone had to have helped them, but who?
The drops turned into a downpour, blinding their vision, plastering their hair to their bodies, and still Bazat pushed them, convinced he would see them just beyond the next trees, just over the next fallen log.
Then they reached the waterfall and saw the jaguar’s body. More big magic! More unanswered questions. The jaguar was a mighty hunter, and those boys had appeared weak and useless as warriors. Bazat would not believe they had killed that jaguar themselves, yet it was dead like the python and the Little War-Gods were gone.
His warriors were of the opinion the hunt was cursed. They kept finding dead animals, each one more dangerous than the other. Two normal children would never have been able to kill the great python, or take down the mighty jaguar. The boys must truly be Gods, and it was bad luck to anger the Gods. They should not be chasing them.
Bazat heard but ignored them. He was too busy trying to read the signs around the big cat’s carcass. The grass had been flattened all around it, but the rain could be responsible for that. Plants had folded up their leaves for protection against the storm while the water rushed ever faster in the stream before them.
He was beginning to believe the Little War-Gods had put a curse on Zotz that led to the old Shaman’s death, just so they would have time to escape. They had fallen out of the sky into his midst without explanation, and they had disappeared in similar suspicious circumstances.
“We cannot fight the Gods,” he announced. “They cursed the Shaman and he died. They are gone from us as quickly as they came. We must go back and make sacrifices to purify our city from the evil they have caused.”
The warriors went with him, but their hearts were heavy, fearing they would become sacrifices for their failure to find the missing boys.
When Bazat got back to the palace and realized they had taken the crystal, he accepted their absence as final. It must have been where they kept their powers, and now that they had it back, he was helpless to fight them.
***
It was almost dark by the time Layla and Cayetano got back to Naaki Chava with the twins. They went into the palace the same way they had left, wanting to control the time when the boys’ presence would be announced.
Layla knew she could easily slip them into the general population as part of the New Ones. They had come in such great numbers, it was impossible to identify them all. And the fact that they would be living in the palace would not be questioned. Cayetano and Singing Bird could do as they wished in that respect. But she was concerned about the Shamans, and so was Cayetano. They would know the truth, both about the boys’ powers and the reason they had suddenly appeared. It remained to be seen as how they would accept it.
They left the boys with servants who were cleaning the blood from their bodies, while Cayetano sent a guard to bring the healer, Little Mouse, to the palace, then they headed for their quarters.
Yuma was sitting in their room with Acat at his side when Cayetano and Layla entered. He leaped up and ran to them with arms outstretched.
He had been crying.
“I am sorry, Singing Bird. He would not be happy. I think he was afraid you would not come back.”
“It’s all right,” Layla said, and picked Yuma up and carried him with her to a stool so they could sit. She was so tired she could hardly think, but the boy’s needs had to come first.
He was trembling and hiding his face in the curve of her neck. She motioned to Cayetano to go get the boys. He nodded once then left the room.
“I’m sorry you were worried,” she said. “But I think you will be happy for why we were gone. Would you like to know?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
/> “Then sit here on my knee and we will talk.” She wiped the tears from his eyes and then settled him against her shoulder. “We have been in the jungle looking for two boys who were lost. Like you, they came into this place just before our old earth died. Today, we learned where they were and went to get them.”
“Did you take them to their parents?” he asked.
“No. They are like you. They don’t have any parents.”
He got very still, absorbing this information, and Layla could almost hear the questions in his head.
“They will stay here in the palace with us, like you do. They are older, so it will be like having two big brothers. Would you like that?”
“Maybe, if they liked me,” Yuma whispered. “Sometimes older boys don’t like little kids.”
“These boys will like you,” Layla said. “You know why?”
He shook his head.
“Because they never had a family. They were born, but they never knew a mother or a father. They were orphans for all their lives.”
“I had a mother and a father,” Yuma said. “I don’t really remember much about my mother. She died when I was four. But I always had my daddy until…”
He couldn’t say the words and it didn’t matter. Layla kept talking while watching the door. They’d be here at any moment and she wanted to prepare the way.
“I told them about our clan, and that only lobos could belong. But I also told them that you would be the one who would invite them in, because you were the first.”
Yuma’s eyes grew wide. The thought of having any kind of power was intriguing.
“If I didn’t like them, then they wouldn’t belong?” he asked.
She nodded. “But I hope that isn’t so, because they are very sad. One of the brothers was hurt and the other one saved his life. I think bravery is a good thing. You were the bravest boy I ever knew, going on the Last Walk all alone. And now we have two more brave boys.”
“I will probably like them just fine,” Yuma said.
She hid a smile. “I’m sure that is so. Their names are Adam and Evan and they are twins. I wonder if you’ll be able to tell them apart.”
