The Fire Keeper

by J. C. Cervantes

  The gods began shouting. Insults zoomed, faces reddened, spit flew. They pounded their fists. There might have been some lightning and bursts of fire, too.

  With a wave of her hands, Ixtab commanded everyone’s attention. “It is time we come together in peace, without secrets, without grudges, without hate. Only then can we defeat our enemies.” That sounded crazy coming from the queen of secrets.

  My head was ringing.

  Pacific lifted her chin and her hard gaze, and she spoke so softly everyone had to shut up to hear her. “I will never hide again. Not from you, not from anyone. So if you want to kill me,” she said, “do so knowing that you are destroying a tremendous power that could help vanquish your foes.”

  Oh wow. That was a pretty good line.

  The gods, shocked into silence, stared hard at Pacific. At first, I thought maybe they were deciding how they might kill Hurakan or Kukuulkaan for their betrayal. But then I saw that they were processing Pacific’s value—to them, to their futures. They couldn’t afford to imprison, kill, or punish any more gods.

  I knew the moment the gods had decided the goddess would live, because a calm fell over the room. Pacific stepped closer to the table as she answered the questions that began to fly at her.

  Hurakan stood and came over to me, letting them have at it. “I am sure the gods will do the right thing. They will claim their children and grant them their full birthright of godly powers. It’s in their best interests, after all.”

  “But won’t that make the godborns more valuable? I mean, as sacrifices?”

  “To leave them without any defenses would be worse,” he said.

  Ah-Puch joined us, still shaking his head over the room decor. “Where are all the cobwebs?”

  “Nice last-minute swoop before the ax came down,” Hurakan said to Ah-Puch.

  “If only I’d had time to rip off the twins’ heads,” Ah-Puch said. “I was tempted. Very tempted, but a deal is a deal.” Then his eyes met mine and it was like a thousand words passed between us. But the only ones that mattered were these: we’re good.

  I nodded. We were more than good.

  “A new treaty will be signed today,” Itzamna said as everyone finally quieted down. “We will work together to defeat our enemies. Ah-Puch and Hurakan and Pacific shall live. We will need their strength as we will need the godborns’. Those who choose not to join us will be exiled. Now, let us vote.”

  That was my cue to leave.

  The godborns were waiting in the hall outside, along with Hondo, Rosie, Ren, and Brooks, who all hung back. Louie, Serena, and Marco walked straight toward me like they might knock me off my feet.

  “We wanted to say thanks,” Serena said.

  “I don’t,” Marco said. “It’s your fault we’re in this”—he glanced around—“hellhole.”

  Coming to my defense, Louie said, “He could have left us on top of that pyramid.” He looked around skittishly like he was waiting for someone or something to jump out and attack him.

  Brooks stepped forward and stared hard at Marco. “Would you rather live a lie?”

  “I’d rather live, period,” Marco said.

  “Then say thank you.” Her eyes flashed yellow, a warning that forced Marco to inch back.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Marco’s right. But so are you, Brooks.” I turned to the godborns. “My magic called to you guys, but I didn’t know that would mean putting your lives at risk. I thought you’d rather know who you really are.”

  “I would,” Serena said, keeping her eyes on the door to the conference room.

  Louie raised his hand. “Me too. Also, do you know if they have any food around here?”

  The other godborns nodded silently. I didn’t blame them for being so quiet. I mean, they had been abducted, caged, and informed they were godborns, and they were now standing in the underworld waiting to meet their godly mom or dad.

  Hondo rubbed his hands together. “You think they’d let me teach at that school Ixtab mentioned? The Shaman Institute of Higher-Order Magic? It needs a new name, but I could teach the godborns some moves and meditations. Stuff like that.”

  Ren nodded enthusiastically. “Your meditations definitely helped me with the shadows.” The godborns flocked to Ren as she explained her take on how to control magic, using the “visualization” techniques Hondo had taught her.

  Marco lifted his chin and motioned me to the side, away from the group. Brooks kept her hawk eyes on us. “I hope you fight better than you write. This doesn’t sound like it’s over.”

  “Where are you from?” I asked.

  “Don’t try to distract me. I know what’s up.”

  “You’re right. Camazotz and the twins…they’ll be back. But maybe, if we’re lucky, it’ll be a hundred years from now and it’ll be a problem for the gods to worry about.”

  “I’m not stupid.” He gave me a slight nod, backing away. “But you’ll find that out in the Tree.”

  Tree?

  Ren hurried over. “Do you think my mom is in there with the gods?”

  Just then, the doors—very grandes, by the way—flew open, and the godborns were summoned. I peeked into the room to see that even more gods and goddesses had arrived since I’d stepped out. I wanted to stick around to see who belonged to whom, but I wasn’t allowed inside.

  While we waited in the hallway, Hondo and Rosie played fetch with a bone that looked like it had come from a large animal. Or a…Never mind.

  Brooks kept pressing her ear to the wooden door. “How thick is this? I can’t hear anything!”

  “I think that’s the point,” I said.

  “You’re such a killjoy, Obispo.”

  A few minutes later, Hurakan emerged. He asked Brooks to excuse us and took me out to a small bone garden. (Yes, bone garden. Like spines that grew out of the ground in tall columns, and rib cages that lined the walkways. Did I mention the stepping-stones made of skulls?)

  “They all signed the treaty,” he said, sitting on a bench made of what looked like femurs.

  Three reddish moons hung low, casting a pinkish glow over everything.

  “Why did so many gods lie about breaking the Sacred Oath?” I asked, taking a seat next to him. “And almost let you die for something they did, too?”

  “The gods are not easily understood, Zane. Perhaps they believed that by condemning me, they could erase their own guilt. Self-righteousness is always blind.”

  It sounded like some pretty twisted logic, but whatever. “So, what happens now?” I asked.

  He stretched his long legs in front of him. “Ixchel, the moon goddess, has agreed to oversee the Shaman Institute of Higher-Order Magic. We will train you all, teach you how to control and use your powers. Determine your strengths.”

  I wanted to be happy. My dad and the godborns were all alive. We were going to get the training we needed. The gods had made a truce. But I knew deep down that the only reason for the peace between the gods and their kids was the threat of war.

  “And you,” Hurakan said, “you will help train the godborns.”

  I froze. Me? A trainer? Of other kids? I didn’t even like school. I mean, not in the traditional sense. I’d been taking online classes because Mom had said that even if I am a godborn I still needed an education.

  “You look stunned,” Hurakan said.

  “I, uh…yeah.” I pushed my shoulders back. “Why not? Sounds good.” I knew Hurakan wasn’t asking my permission, and you know what? The more I thought about it, the cooler it sounded. I mean, I did know a whole heck of a lot about the gods and their tricky ways.

  “Then we’re all set.”

  “What about Pacific?” I asked. “Does she get to come out of hiding now?”

  “All debts have been erased, all grievances buried.” Hurakan’s mouth turned up, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a smile. “She has been reunited with her daughter, Ren.”

  “I knew it!” I froze. “But wait…If Pacific’s been in hiding, how…?”


  Hurakan folded his arms across his chest. “She was angry and wanted to get back at the gods, so she had an affair with a Mexica brujo. When she gave birth, she left Ren with him, knowing she couldn’t hide her in the ocean.”

  “She abandoned her.”

  “She protected her. Like I…” Was that a tremble I heard in his voice? “Like I tried to protect you.”

  “You told me to run.” The words weren’t planned, but I’d been carrying them around for a while. “If I’d listened to you, people would have been hurt.”

  Hurakan clasped his hands, hesitating. “I wanted you to be safe. It isn’t in my nature to care about the others. I’m not made that way, Zane.”

  Right. I had to remember that the gods weren’t humans. They didn’t have thoughts and feelings like ours. It made me even more grateful for my mom’s big heart. I’d inherited some awesome powers from my dad, but the stuff she had taught me was just as important.

  “And the gods…do they know?” I took a quick breath. “I mean, about Ren being part Mexica?”

  Hurakan stared out across the garden. “She is very powerful. They may see her as a threat someday, but for now she is safe.”

  “Someday? Do you mean when war breaks out?”

  “We must find the twins and Ixkik’, and Zotz, and anyone else who is a traitor. We must put an end to their plans.”

  “You think there are more helping them?”

  “The Maya have a lot of enemies.”

  My stomach turned.

  He cast a side-glance my way. “You and the fire are one now. I can sense it.”

  I stared down at my hands. The last few times I’d called on the fire, it had felt so natural, like breathing. Ah-Puch had been right—I just needed to surrender to it.

  Hurakan stood and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Your power will continue to grow, son.”

  My heart stalled, as in went kaput in the middle of the garden path. Did he just call me son? My face got all hot and buzzy. “Ah-Puch…he helped me. I mean, to understand the fire.”

  Hurakan scratched his chin and nodded thoughtfully. “Enemies who become friends, friends who become enemies.”

  Was the god of death my friend? “Does he want hell back?” I asked. Even though it had been part of our deal that he wouldn’t try to reclaim the underworld, you never know with Maya gods.

  “He and Ixtab came to an agreement,” he said. “She will continue as goddess of the underworld, and he will get his own layer of hell, one without her fingerprints all over it.” His mouth turned up into an almost smile. “He’s also going to teach at SHIHOM.”

  I almost busted up. “The god of death…a teacher?”

  Hurakan told me that the training school would be set up near Itzamna’s tree, mostly because it would be a safe place, guarded by the oldest and strongest Maya magic. So that’s what Marco had meant when he’d said But you’ll find that out in the Tree.

  “You mean the tree of Itzam-yée’,” I said.

  “Same thing. Itzam-yée’ is the god-bird version of Itzamna.”

  How come old Itzamna hadn’t mentioned that little detail? My mind raced back to the messenger bird with the anvil-shaped head. Nah, couldn’t be. Could it?

  My dad stood and turned to me. “You defied me. You chose your own path. You put yourself and others in danger.”

  My eyes met his. “And I’d do it again.”

  “Worst of all, you gave my jade to Ah-Puch!” This time Hurakan really did smile. (Okay, it was small, but it was something.) He looked like he might say Thank you or Good job, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “I have to go.”

  “Where?”

  Patting my shoulder, he said, “There’s someone I need to see.”

  I knew my dad was going to see my mom, and something about that felt right. Who knew what would happen, but I bet they had some stuff to work out.

  We didn’t stay in the underworld long, only long enough for the reunions. Turns out Nakon, god of war, is Marco’s dad. Big surprise. Serena’s mom is Ixchel, the moon goddess; and Louie’s dad is Chaac, the mighty rain god. Ren was so happy to meet Pacific she couldn’t stop talking about it in the magical cab ride all the way back to Isla Holbox.

  I worried my family would have to leave the island since Bird and Jordan knew where we were, but Hurakan said the twins wouldn’t be foolish enough to come back. The island would be too protected now (as in godly protection), and the risk would be too great for them. No, our enemies’ attention would be on a counterstrike, on gaining access to power.

  The godborns got to go back to their homes, too. They were each given a golden jaguar charm to protect and shield them, and act as an instant (better than speed-dial) call button to their godly parent. The cops were given all sorts of excuses for the godborns’ abductions—everything from cross-country joyrides to “I hit my head and got amnesia.”

  * * *

  Quinn was waiting for us on the beach.

  Hondo smiled so big I thought his face would split open. “You’re here to welcome the heroes home,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes and said, “I’m not here for you. I’m here for my sister.”

  “I don’t care why you’re here,” he said. “As long as you’re here.”

  I was shocked. Cool dude had left the building! And guess what? Quinn smiled. Okay, it was only half of one, but still, it was something.

  She told us that the spectators at the execution had been sent home after they were told that the gods had changed their minds, and if anyone had a problem with it, they could file a complaint in one of the six fatal houses of the underworld.

  “At least they each got a free bobblehead,” Quinn said.

  “I bet no one files a complaint,” Hondo muttered to me.

  * * *

  Mom was hyperexcited to see me—after she chewed me up and down for leaving on such a dangerous quest.

  “I had to save him!” I argued once we were alone in my room.

  “You could have been killed.”

  “But I wasn’t.”

  She hugged me again, even tighter this time, then pulled back and pointed to my bed where a box sat, along with a manila envelope.

  “Who are they from?”

  “No idea. I’ll call for some pizza. You must be starving.”

  “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “Did he come here? To see you?”

  I knew the answer before she said anything, because her whole face lit up. “Yes, he came to see me, and also to deliver this.” She reached into my top dresser drawer and pulled out something—something I never thought I’d see again.

  I blinked in astonishment. “Is that…?”

  She held up Fuego—perfectly restored, shining, blue-glowing Fuego! I patted the pocket where I’d been keeping the jade handle. It was empty. How in the heck had Hurakan snatched it? So my dad was a pickpocket, too?

  I grabbed the cane/spear from her, smiling so wide my cheeks hurt, turning it in my hands like glass that would break if I held it too tight.

  “Hurakan did say to be careful,” Mom said. “This is the two-point-oh version, whatever that means.”

  After Mom left my room, I inspected Fuego. It looked the same but felt different, like the power that pulsed in it was greater, stronger. I wondered if the letter-opener feature was still a thing. The second I tried it out—poof! the cane disappeared. I looked around frantically, patting my chest, my jean pockets. Nothing. And then I noticed the back of my hand: there was a quarter-size tattoo of a jaguar profile, black with golden eyes.

  “Fuego?”

  With a single thought, the cane appeared back in my hand and the tattoo was gone. “Okay, then,” I exhaled slowly, and smiled. “Totally better than a letter opener. Thanks, Dad.”

  I couldn’t wait to try out Fuego’s power, but I needed a wide-open space so I didn’t incinerate anything.

  Quickly, I opened the box on my bed and found six gold-wrapped chocolate bars and a stack of plain w
hite paper with a note that read:

  Zane,

  A deal is a deal. This is storytelling paper. A story isn’t over until it’s been told. And don’t try and skimp on the details—the paper won’t let you. But it will allow you to make the words your own. Make them count.

  See you in the Tree,

  Itzamna.

  P.S. The bars are from Ixkakaw. She said every writer needs divine chocolate.

  Great! While everyone else was going to be learning warfare and other cool stuff, I was going to be taking writing lessons. Ugh!

  * * *

  Before dinner, I found Quinn walking the shore alone. I still had a big unanswered question for her. I didn’t think she would give me a straight answer, her being a spy and all, but I had to try.

  “You said the Sparkstriker sent you undercover to the underworld,” I said. “Why?”

  Quinn tossed a twig into the oncoming waves, and just when I thought she was going to say, That’s none of your business, Obispo, she said, “The Sparkstriker saw something evil in her lightning pool, something that scared her. I’ve never seen her frightened. She said the seeds of this evil could only be discovered in the underworld.”

  “What do you mean, ‘seeds’?”

  “She didn’t tell me, just said to keep my eyes open. But maybe it was Camazotz, since he’s from there, or…”

  “Or maybe Ixtab has more secrets we don’t know about.”

  Quinn let out a light laugh. “Oh, you can bet on that. Come on. I’m starving!”

  * * *

  We all sat on the back patio—Mom, Hondo, Brooks, Quinn, Ren, Ren’s abuelo, and me—telling stories over pepperoni pizza. I watched as Brooks and Quinn spoke to each other in low whispers, and wished I knew what they were saying. Mostly because Brooks’s face was filled with worry—but about what?

  Pacific even showed up to say hi to Ren’s abuelo, who, by the way, looked too young to be someone’s grandfather. He must have had some powerful anti-wrinkle magic in him.