The Fire Keeper

by J. C. Cervantes

  We made the steep climb up the nine terraces, which Ixtab told us represented each of the nine layers of the underworld. At least until she “finished the new upper level.”

  Then she said, more to herself than us, “Heaven gets thirteen layers, so surely the underworld is worthy of one more.”

  We finally reached the top. Sheer white drapes hung in neat rows across the temple’s ten-foot opening. The curtains parted as we approached. We found ourselves in the most luxurious room/temple/penthouse I’d ever seen. The light pink walls looked like they had been hand-plastered in a swirling pattern. Along the gold-trimmed ceiling were jaguar heads carved out of jade and other gemstones I didn’t recognize. There were ornate chairs with thick-fringed pillows and granite tables with scrolled feet.

  Hondo let out a low whistle as he looked around. Brooks twisted a stray curl, acting totally uninterested, but I could tell she was impressed, too. Quinn just stood at attention like the trained warrior she was. And Ren nosed around with her face way too close to all the delicate statues, which were probably worth millions of dollars.

  Ixtab looked my uncle and me up and down and huffed. Then she spoke into a bracelet. “Get Itzel up to my private chamber immediately.”

  Hondo, Brooks, and I exchanged glances. A second later an old woman walked in. She was wearing a raggedy dress that looked pretty much like a burlap chile sack. She was nothing but gray and ash tones and looked like a sketch that hadn’t been completely filled in.

  “Get some decent clothes for our guests,” Ixtab ordered. “Something that isn’t going to drive my demons mad with hunger.”

  “But that’s what these clothes were supposed to prevent,” I said.

  Ixtab raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “Clementino is an amateur. I don’t know why Quinn bothers with him. Everyone knows bone dust only lasts so long, and surely she realized you’d be here longer than thirty minutes.”

  Quinn didn’t so much as flinch. Me? I was having a mini heart attack, worried that Ixtab was onto us and picturing our heads on tonight’s dinner menu.

  Ixtab glanced back at Itzel. “They look preposterous, and I can’t take that wretched hot-dog smell.”

  Seriously? She lived in pus-smelling Xib’alb’a! Of course, she probably never visited the lowest level of the underworld.

  Itzel huffed. “First it was the demon-soldier uniforms. Now you expect my creations to cover these…these…” She shuddered like Ixtab was asking her to drain Blood River with a straw. “I am the world’s best designer. I have influenced the most artistic minds in history. I am not about to outfit these putrid humans, who, no matter what, will end up on every worst-dressed list. No.” She shook her head. “I will not have my name associated with such trash.”

  Ixtab sighed. “Would you rather fit the giants?”

  Itzel eyed each of us with beady eyes. “I have a good mind to stuff you in paisley.”

  “Something discreet,” Ixtab said.

  “Yeah,” Hondo said. “I definitely don’t do paisley.”

  “Fine,” Itzel crabbed. “Polka dots it is.” Then she huffed and stomped off.

  Brooks looked at me and shrugged. I only hoped Itzel had better taste than what she was wearing.

  “Now, Zane,” Ixtab said, “why are you here?”

  I had to proceed cautiously. Ixtab was cunning and had pulled off the greatest Maya con of all time by duping the gods into thinking I was dead. It would be too easy to walk into a trap, so I had to be on guard. I unfolded bits and pieces of what had happened at Cab’s. Ixtab listened without a single emotion on her face. Not even a twitch. Was she breathing? “So…uh…” I hated that my voice trembled. “I need to know who made the mud person and why they’d want to map me or—”

  “I’ve never heard of mapping.” She glanced at her watch, frowned, and tapped the screen. “Sounds preposterous.”

  “We think they were trying to steal Zane’s powers,” Ren said.

  “Doubtful.” Ixtab tapped a finger along her sculpted chin. “The better question is how they penetrated my shadow magic.”

  The magic that imprisoned us on the island, you mean? I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t afford to (a) make her mad or (b) give her any clue that I was planning to rescue my dad. “So, if the mud freak wasn’t there to steal my powers,” I said, “why was it there?”

  “That is quite inconsequential right now.” Ixtab’s face reddened. “How dare anyone defy me and touch my magic! I’ve spread myself too thin, doing renovations on nine levels of the underworld simultaneously. Nine! And we’re adding a tenth level! Did I mention that I’m also expected to manage the souls, feed the demons, train…” She took a deep breath. “When I find whoever did this…” she said with a growl. Her honey-streaked hair began to shift to blue demon status, but just as quickly she got her temper back under control. “I will have to do some investigating. It could be just a rogue group. We get those from time to time. Lesser gods are always annoyed about something. But not to worry—they never succeed.”

  “But how did they know I was alive?”

  Ixtab’s expression gave away nothing, but I could tell she was doing some deep goddess thinking. “Don’t touch that!” she barked at Ren, who was stroking the head of a tiny golden crocodile statue.

  Ren jerked her hand back.

  Ixtab scowled as she circled the girl, studying her carefully. “Small for a child of a great Maya god. And yet so much…”

  “So much what?” I asked.

  “I will ask the questions,” Ixtab said. “Tell me, Renata…Where did you come from, and how is it that your skin buzzes with so much magic? Before you speak”—Ixtab held up a perfectly manicured finger with shiny black polish—“I should be fair and tell you that a single lie equals a two-year swim in Blood River. Two lies? Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that bloody mess.”

  I was for sure going to be sick.

  Ren looked from me to Brooks to Hondo. “Uh…Texas,” she managed.

  “Texas,” Ixtab repeated. “Ah, yes…‘Remember the Alamo.’ Such a terrible siege! I am so good at inspiring revenge, which is the only reason the Texans eventually won the war. Nakon will tell you otherwise, but we all know what an exaggerator he is.”

  “Er, but…” Ren faltered. “Aren’t you…like, from Mexico?”

  Ixtab waved her hand through the air. “I am from wherever the power is. Now, Renata from Texas, it is no coincidence that you appeared on the island the night before this wicked perpetrator appeared, so perhaps you have the answers.”

  “That’s what I said!” Ren beamed. Then her face fell. “Wait. I don’t have any answers….”

  “Then prove to me that you’re not cloaked in magic and you really are a godborn.” Before anyone could blink, Ixtab closed the six-foot gap between her and Ren and grabbed hold of her hand.

  Ixtab’s face was unreadable, but it was clear they were using telepathy. I was dying to know what they were saying. There was some nodding, a few gasps, and then Ixtab withdrew and blinked several times in astonishment. She turned to me with laser focus.

  “Well?” I asked Ren. “Is she your mom?”

  Ren looked away and shook her head.

  “You…” Ixtab hissed at me. “This is your fault. You’re the reason…YOU put out a call to godborns?”

  Note to godborns: If/when you put together a team for a quest, make sure you tell the members to keep their big fat mouths shut!

  “My fault?” I could feel my cheeks reddening. “You told her?” I said to Ren.

  “No! She…It kind of fell out of my brain.”

  Crap! What else dribbled out?

  Ixtab drew closer to me. But no way was I going to let her intimidate me, not for another second. Nope. I had a lot to say. And it sounded like…“I, uh…I had to be sure!”

  “Who gave you the right to use the magic of Itzam-yée’ on such a stupid and reckless idea?” Uh-oh. Ixtab’s eyes burned with blue flames. “Do you have any idea what you’ve do
ne, Zane?”

  “Yeah, I found a way to call to the godborns! Now maybe you can find other survivors.”

  “No, Zane.” Ixtab stepped so close I could see her perfect pores. “You made the godborns visible to the gods.”

  How could one nugget of truth cause such a massive shock wave? In that moment, Ms. Cab’s words came crashing down on me: Magic is so mercurial. One can never fully gauge its temperament or understand its logic.

  “You mean…the magic in the paper…it betrayed me?” I cried.

  Ixtab scowled, and I could swear her eyes flashed in Ren’s direction before she said, “This is why we need to reopen SHIHOM!”

  “Shy…huh?”

  “The Shaman Institute of Higher-Order Magic!”

  “I’d for sure go to that school.” Ren’s whole face lit up.

  “How was I supposed to know—?”

  Ixtab cut me off. “Imbeciles like you need to learn to respect magic’s properties.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You need to understand that a wild beast lives at the center of all magic and it cannot be tamed. Not by gods. Not by anyone.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t get the almighty Maya training, okay?” I felt sick. If there were more godborns out there, and they were visible to the gods, they’d be murdered in their sleep. And it would be my fault. How did things go from bad to worse to the universe is collapsing in three, two, one so fast?

  Ren gasped. “That’s what those little flying things were, Zane. The night I was attacked, before I came to the island. The gods—they must’ve sent them.”

  Ixtab rolled her eyes. “If the gods were aware of your pathetic existence, I’d know about it. But there is no doubt that someone picked up on your energy. The magic spinning around a newly awakened godborn is powerful. Someone is willing to go to great lengths to find you.”

  If they found Ren, then…I seriously didn’t want to follow my mind to the conclusion that was begging to be heard. But I couldn’t get the image of the message out of my mind. Help us. Before it’s too late. “I think…” I swallowed hard. “I think they already have. And other godborns, too.”

  Ixtab glared at me with her scorching sapphire eyes and said slowly, “You’re absolutely correct. For once.”

  This was definitely one time I didn’t want to be right. I would’ve much rather she said something like Oh, no, Zane. Those mud freaks are all liars. Can’t trust a thing they say. But it wasn’t like I could trust her, either. I wanted to ask Ixtab why she’d told me all those months ago that no other godborns had survived. Had she lied to me then, or had she really been in the dark?

  Brooks beat me to the punch. “How do you know all this?”

  Ixtab flashed an annoyed look. “I am the goddess of the underworld. I trained the greatest Maya army of the dead. I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

  “Aliens,” Ren whispered to me with a confident nod.

  Ixtab said to Quinn, “Take the others downstairs. I need to talk to Zane alone.”

  “No!” Brooks shouted.

  “I don’t have much time…” I started saying to Ixtab.

  “You came all this way,” Ixtab purred while glaring at Brooks. “We will take as long as necessary to get to the bottom of this.”

  Heat crawled up my spine and neck, tingling my scalp. I had to get out of there, and soon, to reach my dad before he was moved. But I also wanted to find out about the godborns. I figured I owed them at least that much.

  I grabbed hold of Brooks’s hand. Go. I’ll meet you back here in thirty minutes. Then we’ll get to the gateway.

  Brooks released my hand just as Quinn took her by the arm. Quinn whispered something in her ear that somehow settled Brooks down enough to follow. Okay, she stomp-followed. Ren was right behind both of them, glancing over her shoulder at me with worried eyes.

  Hondo lifted his chin and looked at me defiantly. “Do you want me to stay?”

  “Do you want me to burn you into a pile of ash?” Ixtab said.

  “I’m not leaving Zane alone.”

  “It’s cool,” I told my uncle. “I’ll meet up with you…later.” He didn’t move an inch. “Really,” I said. “It’s okay.”

  Reluctantly, he headed out, but he kept looking back until he disappeared down the steps.

  After they were gone, Ixtab took me up an elevator that led to a rooftop patio. Golden vines grew across smooth jade trellises, and at the far end was a square arch. Beyond it was a pool of murky water that floated five feet above the ground, in midair. Steam rose from it in spirals. For a second, I thought I could hear faint whispers coming from the water.

  “Whoa!” I breathed. “That’s—”

  “A scrying pool,” Ixtab said, leading me past it to the roof’s edge. “Souls live inside the sacred waters and help me see things.” Ixtab paced, her gaze on the floor. “Two days ago, I received news that kids—certain kids who had magic swirling all about them—had been abducted. Of course, I thought nothing of it, chalked it up to a magician’s prank. I mean, who cares about a bunch of snot-nosed brats? I had no idea we were talking about godborns until I learned about your call to them just now.”

  “Abducted?” I needed to sit down for this. Maybe even lie down. But I did neither. I was too stunned to move.

  “That’s not the point,” she said. “The point is that they were all taken under the same circumstances—in their beds while they slept. Absolutely vile.” Ixtab shook her head. “At least take them with their eyes wide open!”

  “Could it be more mud people? And if someone is rounding up godborns, why not take me?”

  “No one could take you past the shadow magic around Holbox, even if they wanted to.”

  A terrible dread pressed in on me, and before I could stop the words, they burst out. “That island…it’s a prison?” I quickly added the question mark so she wouldn’t know I had already figured out her scheme to lock me up forever.

  “It saved your life, didn’t it?” Ixtab tugged on her bracelets. “You know nothing of prison. That island is a sanctuary. Did you think I could risk you waltzing off and getting caught by the gods? How long do you think it would take them to realize that it was I who had shielded you, kept you alive? And as much as I marginally respect you, I am not about to give up my queendom and my life for you. So, yes, I put some security measures in place. And look, your life has been spared by that so-called prison. How about some gratitude?”

  She had a point. A terrible, logical point. Ixtab didn’t owe me anything, and she’d already saved me once. Now, more than ever, I knew she’d never lift the shadow magic. I had to get to Pus River and fast. “You could’ve told me.”

  She lowered her voice, and I thought I heard a note of gloom in it. “Sometimes knowledge brings nothing but despair, Zane.”

  She ushered me to the pool and removed her gold watch. Staring at it, she frowned, tossed it onto a lounge chair, and spoke into one of her bracelets. “Note to self: Call the timekeeper for watch repair.” She gave me a syrupy smile. “Now, where were we? Oh, yes.” She dipped her hand into the water. It hissed, and black steam curled into the air.

  Images appeared like I was watching a movie.

  First was the girl. About my age, with caramel-colored cropped hair, brown skin, and hooded, suspicious eyes. She walked down a littered school hallway with her head partway down but her gaze turned up.

  “She seems mad.” Or scared. I knew the look. I’d seen plenty of kids at my old school walking the halls on guard, like they were waiting for a brick to fall on their head. Or maybe a bully to jump them. It’s no way for anyone to have to live.

  The scene changed to a different one, of the same girl in bed, a green comforter pulled to her chin. Winged shadows raced across the walls. I felt a scream building inside of me, like I wanted to warn her. But then a large swollen hand reached for her. She woke up wide-eyed, her cry stifled.

  The girl vanished, only to be replaced by a boy walking outside. He looked maybe fourteen or fifteen, with
a sharp chin and small green eyes. His bleached hair was cut close to his head and a scar ran across his chin. He wore a bomber jacket as he cruised down a city street. The wind pounded him, and winged shadows followed. Were those the flying creatures Ren had told me about?

  In the next scene, I saw that boy in bed, tossing and turning when the same hand appeared in the frame. A beefy arm hooked around the kid’s neck. But this guy didn’t scream. He fought back, punching and kicking like a madman.

  That’s when I saw something else.

  “Hang on!” I shouted.

  With the wave of her hand, Ixtab froze the image. “What is it?”

  “Look! There’s a gold cuff on the kidnapper’s wrist, and—”

  “Lots of people wear cuffs, Zane.”

  “The mud monster that attacked me had that same bracelet!” I stepped closer, wishing I’d taken a better look at Ms. Cab’s. “Can you make it bigger?”

  Ixtab flicked her wrist and the picture magnified. I now saw that the bracelet was engraved with the image of a creature with big googly eyes. Its lower jaw was missing, and it had a knife-like tongue. And all over its upper body were gaping mouths filled with sharp teeth. Its clothing from the waist down was made of crossed bones and skulls. Chills ran up my legs. “It…it looks like a monster.”

  Ixtab ran her slender finger along her chin, and smoke curled from her eyes as she whispered, “Tlaltecuhtli.”

  “Tlahl-tek-oot-lee? Who the heck’s that?”

  “The Mexica earth goddess, whose name means the one who gives and devours life.”

  My mind was spinning. “What’s meh-shee-ka?”

  “You might be more familiar with the term Aztec, which means someone from Aztlán, but the Mexica never called themselves Aztec.” She sighed.

  Sure, I’d heard of Aztec (Mexica) gods, but I’d never given them much thought. “And where’s Aztlán?”