"My captain," Ivan Rodrigo Torrez, his friend and second-in-command, stepped from the dense growth of the forest, "the Indians have disappeared." Torrez removed his helmet; his long black hair fell free as sweat poured from his face and beard. "One minute, we were watching them from a clearing about a half a league from here, and the next minute, they fell back into the jungle and were gone. Our trail into this valley was so obvious, they must know where we are." He took a breath and looked around him as he loosened his armor. "I expect them to double back this way, so I placed the men in an excellent position for ambush, but thus far they haven't come."
Padilla patted his old friend on the shoulder. "That is just as well; I can't do this any longer." He lowered his hand and looked around at the darkened area under the thick canopy of trees. "I just feel like resting here for a month before returning and reporting this horrible thing we have done." He pulled the front collar of his armor away from his soaked tunic. "Maybe I'll swim out to the only spot here that has sunlight hitting it and remain there until the Lord pulls me under." He looked at the magnificent waterfall and then back toward the center of the large lagoon and the bright dapples of sunlight that lit the blue waters and made them sparkle.
"I, like most of the men, feel like cutting Suarez's throat for bringing this evil to our doorstep," Torrez said angrily.
"I can't think on that now, my old friend, I am weary to my very bones. Besides, in the end, it is I who will be judged for this debacle, not Suarez."
"Surely Commander Pizarro will not blame you for the actions of this maniac?"
"Pizarro is not an ordinary man and he has little or no patience for incompetence. I can assure you I will be judged harshly for losing his nephew and a chance at finding the Indians' source of gold. For my failure, the Sincaro will be extinct or enslaved by this time next year," he sighed. "I had the arrogance to believe I could do this another way; I am but a fool."
Loud laughter once again sprang up from the beach area. As both officers turned and walked toward their men, another round of raucous howling came from the lagoon. Upon entering the small clearing they saw Suarez hold something in the air as the other soldiers hooted loudly, several even patting each other on their backs. As they looked closer at the strange object the soldier was tossing into the air, they saw it resembled a small monkey. Then Padilla realized it was the same creature he had spied looking at him from the bush only moments before. The captain could clearly see the small animal and its remarkable resemblance to their chattering companions that lived in the trees. In his diary he had listed many different varieties of monkey and other strange animal life, but this was unlike anything he had ever witnessed before in his many travels. On this expedition he had become quite knowledgeable about the far-ranging species that inhabited this new continent, thus the animal that Suarez held in his hands so casually was something he knew to be very special.
"Captain, we have a captive; this little clown tried to steal my satchel with the last of our bread," Rondo Cordoba, the quartermaster, said while gesturing toward the small creature Suarez was toying with.
Padilla and Torrez joined the men to take a look at the creature up close. It was a monkey, or what a monkey would look like without so much as a hair on its body. The facial features were close to that of a man, except for the lips. They framed many sharp teeth and were thick, the upper lip much larger than the bottom one, and the ears were but small holes in the sides of its head. The tail was slick as a taskmaster's whip and it swung back and forth quickly. Padilla surmised that the animal was agitated at being thrown into the air by Suarez. He saw small protrusions of skin like a spiny sail that flared outward down its back every time it was tossed upward.
"Stop tormenting that creature, you ignorant fool!" Torrez commanded loudly.
Suarez stopped, looked angrily for a moment at his captain and then at Torrez, and, without removing his eyes from the two men, arrogantly tossed the small animal into the air again. He caught it and then concentrated his stare on the captain in a silent challenge. Padilla drew his sword and pointed it at the larger man's throat, pressing the blade enough that blood was soon collecting on its steel surface. His eyes were locked on Suarez's and a ghost of a smile touched his lips. He would enjoy sliding his sharp blade into the throat of the very reason for their current predicament, no matter if they needed all the men they could get at that moment.
"As you can see, you fatherless child, our captain is of ill humor today," Torrez said, smiling, as he watched Padilla and a seemingly unshaken Suarez.
Suarez ignored the sword and the neck wound, still holding the animal tightly. He quickly changed his grip to hold the creature by its throat. It made choking sounds; its tail was now jittering in small movements that were more of a spasm than a swing.
Padilla pressed the blade farther into the man's neck, and the arrogance that had been there a moment earlier was replaced by a worried frown, as Suarez just then noticed there was no laughter from the men around him. He saw there was only expressions of anticipation for his seemingly imminent death.
All this time, the animal's eyes never left those of Padilla. It was if the small creature knew it was the subject of the standoff and was awaiting the captain's next move. While the sword remained in place, Suarez slowly lowered the creature to the white sand that made up the small beach and the monkeylike animal scurried not toward the jungle or the water, but behind the captain. The beast jumped up and down and spat at Suarez, and jabbered as if cursing the large soldier. As Suarez straightened up, Padilla did not withdraw but pushed the gleaming sword forward, bringing a more satisfying flow of blood to the blade, where it rolled slowly down the shiny surface and dripped onto the few feet of pure white sand.
"We may need this fool, Captain," Ivan Torrez said loudly so all could hear. "We may still have him up on charges upon our return, but we need his strength to fight, or to flee from this place, and, God willing, he may even redeem himself at some point in this nightmare." He placed his hand on the captain's arm as he gave Suarez a withering look.
Without dropping his gaze, Padilla slowly lowered the sword and just as slowly wiped the blood from its tip onto the red sleeve of the big man. Then he slowly slid the weapon back into the ornate scabbard at his side.
The hairless monkey was still holding onto the captain's leg and hissing at Suarez. Padilla reached down and, using both hands, gently picked up the animal and looked it over. It was breathing through its small nostrils and open mouth, but it also had what looked like the gills of a fish right where the small neck joined the head, three rows of soft skin arranged along its jawline, flaring and then closing as they, too, sought life-sustaining air. There were finlike features along its forearms and a small spiny dorsal fin, again like that of a fish, on its back, traveling the length of its spine.
"This is the most amazing animal I have ever seen in all of our travels," Padilla said softly, as the large black eyes of the creature blinked, not with eyelids like his own, but with a set of clear membranes.
"I think it looks like my mother-in-law," Torrez joked as he slapped the captain on the back, in an attempt to lighten the darkened mood.
The men laughed; Padilla smiled also, even as he chanced a wary eye toward Suarez.
"Captain, look!" one of the men shouted.
Padilla lowered the small creature and looked at the spot his men were pointing toward in the calm waters of the lagoon, where another of the monkeylike species stood holding a struggling fish in both its clawed hands. The first animal scurried up to the newcomer, waddling bowlegged on its paddle-like feet, and started jabbering loudly. The second creature looked across and then tossed the fish in an underhanded throw toward the group of Spaniards; it landed on the sand and flopped around, then lay still. Small claw marks were evident on the smooth skin of the large catfish.
As the soldiers watched in amazement, another and then another of the animals tentatively stood up and waddled from the water, to toss more flopping fis
h onto the small shoreline. The men nervously laughed.
"Maybe it's an offering?" Rondo ventured to no one in particular.
"Gather the fish, men, we will not waste this gift brought by our new friends," Padilla ordered. "Collect them all so we can also feed the men who are guarding the perimeter."
As the men moved forward to collect the offered bounty, they failed to notice as large bubbles appeared in the middle of the lagoon to slowly circle under the sunlight, then vanish after a moment. Nor did they hear the sudden silence that filled the trees around them as the birds grew momentarily still in their high nests and roosts, but they did see the small creatures glance at one another as they chattered back and forth and headed with apparent deliberation back toward the water. The first one, the one Padilla had saved from the murderous Suarez, was looking back as it retreated from the newcomers to its beautiful world. To the men who were watching the strange exodus, it seemed as if this animal was saddened at leaving.
Padilla turned away from the lagoon and was amazed at the horde of fish that had accumulated on the sand; he counted over ten species of varying types. But just one particularly caught his eye, and he bent over to examine it. He called Torrez over to see this wonder. The fish had huge scales and very strange fins on its lower belly, and a thick and powerful-looking tail. These most unusual fins looked as if they had small feetlike appendages on the very tips. The mouth was huge and filled with lethal-looking teeth; the jaw jutted far forward unlike that of any fish he had ever seen, almost like a barracuda's, only far more pronounced. As the two officers examined the strange fish, which was lying on its side, its eye seemed to roll and look at them and, as it did, its mouth snapped open and closed. They quickly straightened up and looked at the men, who were starting to build fires for cooking and to guard against the coming night. Padilla once again bent down toward the large fish. He thought he saw something on its blackened, coarse scales; he reached down and lightly rubbed them. The fish moved momentarily and then lay still. Padilla held his fingers close to his face and rubbed them together, as small gold flakes gently fell to the tips of his worn boots.
* * *
Padilla lay under one of the many ancient and beautiful trees that permeated the area, their massive roots projecting from the earth like a giant's arms ripping through the fabric of a blouse. He held his booted feet close to their small fire, to dry the thick leather as best he could. His diary was in his hands and he had just finished recording the observations of this eventful day. His last entry written before he closed the small book declared that the battle with the Sincaro was due to his own negligence.
He had considered not recording evidence of gold found lodged in the scales of the fish. But he had never omitted anything from his observations and would not start now. Pizarro would be amazed to read about a source of gold that was so abundant it was actually brought to the surface on the backs of fish. The captain shook his head at the thought as he placed the diary back into his tunic.
Torrez lay beside Padilla, playing with one of the strange monkeylike animals.
"What do you make of them, my captain?" the lieutenant asked, holding out a small piece of bacon for the visitor who sat on his chest, its tail swinging back and forth like that of a happy puppy. Its little claws finally stabbed the small piece of meat and popped it into its mouth. Smiling and jabbering softly at the man, its mouth worked frantically, along with the small gills.
"I think they are an offshoot or very close relative of the monkey, just one that happens to live in the water, surely not a design that God had intended," said Padilla, then he laughed. "But who knows the mind of God, but God himself?" He watched Torrez and the animal for a moment. "What is truly amazing is the fact that you can see their small gills moving like that of a fish, but then you notice that the rise and fall of its breathing is light, almost as if it is taking air through both systems. It must be difficult for them to live out of the water for such long periods of time."
"We need such devices, my captain, for breathing onboard those stinking vessels of ours."
"Yes, if our friend Rondo over there gets a belly full of beans and pork fat, the whole ship is in danger of choking to death or exploding like a musket," Padilla joked.
The two men were silent a moment as they listened to the comforting sound of the men as the soldiers spoke among themselves, talking of things other than death and this accursed mission. Then Padilla placed his diary in his belt pouch and looked over at his friend.
"When we entered the water in the outer valley, the stone monoliths, what did you think of them?"
"I was hoping that subject would not have arisen after the sun went down, if at all," Torrez said as he gently laid the small creature upon the ground and watched a moment as it scurried away. "As for what I thought at the time? They scared me." He glanced over at Padilla and he could make out the captain's eyes on him. "You know me, I fear no man or, for that matter, anything I have come across before. But those carvings gave me chills as I looked upon them, even as I ridiculed our men for the same reason."
"The watchers of this valley, gods of the lagoon, that's what I called them in my diary. They were very old carvings, I suspect even older than some of the Incan dwellings we found in Peru."
"The age isn't what concerned me, my captain, it was the forms themselves. I would hate to run into one of those while bathing, I'll tell you."
Padilla laughed loudly and was about to comment when a shrill, piercing scream ripped through the night around them. The small creatures who had been playing in the sand screeched at the noise and shot off for the water, making little splashes as they dove for the safety of the lagoon. Padilla and Torrez were up in a second, Ivan with his sword drawn.
"What is it?" Padilla called to his men as they entered the circle of light cast by the fire. The soldiers were angry, yelling as they pointed forward toward the small shoreline.
One man stood apart from the others, holding the limp and obviously lifeless body of one of the little creatures. He clutched it by its broken neck and it dangled, almost formless, in the firelight.
"You bloody bastard!" one of his men yelled. "Why did you have to do that?"
The soldier who was standing and facing everyone was none other than Suarez. The huge man stood his ground and stared back at the others, almost daring them to make a move toward him. He wore no armor and his scarlet shirt glimmered in the firelight as if with blood.
"What is happening here?" Padilla asked, knowing all too well the answer to his question.
One of the soldiers stepped forward, a boy of only twenty, pointing out to where the big man stood.
"That bastard did that for no other reason than a lust for killing."
"He bit me, and I will kill anything I wish, man or animal," Suarez said, still looking at the group rather than at his superior officer, shaking the lifeless body of the harmless creature.
"The man is mad, my captain; we must put him down as we would a dog with the foaming sickness," Torrez hissed, stepping closer to Suarez and forgetting his earlier words of restraint. His sword was pointing straight at the big man's chest.
"He bit you by accident; you're the one that pulled the bread away and allowed his teeth to strike your fingers instead," another man said as the others shouted agreement.
"Suarez, you have caused enough trouble and it ends here, now, tonight," Padilla stated flatly and without emotion. He reached over and made his lieutenant lower his sword. "This will be my responsibility; you will stand down, my friend."
"You must not go into armed combat, my captain; we cannot risk losing you. I will do it."
Suarez tossed the dead creature onto the sand, backed up three paces to the water's edge, and slowly drew his sword.
"I will make quick work of anyone that comes for me," he said, slicing the blade through the air.
The rest of the soldiers placed hands on swords or pistols, demonstrating their willingness to dispatch Suarez. They would make sure he brou
ght them no more ill will.
"Stand down, all you men," Padilla said as he advanced, drawing his own thin blade, not removing his eyes from Suarez. "This is your captain's duty."
Suddenly, small explosions of water erupted from the lagoon as dozens of the small creatures burst through to the surface, some clearing the water by two and three feet. They hurriedly swam to the far side of the lagoon, and before the men knew what they were looking at, the fast and agile animals were all scrambling up trees and large bushes on the opposite shore. They jabbered back toward the water they had just exited and then grew suddenly quiet. That was when the men noticed the animal sounds in the deep night had ceased, as if the entire jungle had grown mute while the two Spaniards faced each other.
Suarez had backed farther into the water as he waited for the advance of Padilla. But he had turned at the small creatures' noisy flight from the lagoon.
"Rondo, take five men and follow the shoreline and see what you can see. Something has frightened them," Torrez ordered.
Rondo pointed to five men. They broke free from the group and started to slowly walk down the slim shoreline, buckling their armor and drawing their swords as they did so. Rondo cocked his two pistols and then placed himself at the head of the small band of Spaniards. They walked cautiously, and then they disappeared around some bushes at the turn in the lagoon.
Padilla was as calm as the night around them as he advanced on Suarez. He slowly brought his sword up toward the other man's barrel chest. Suarez smiled and moved deeper into the water while moving his own sword in a slow, deliberate arc, parting the lagoon's surface with a swish of the blade. When he saw how much anger etched the face of Padilla, he backed deeper into the dark water.
The remaining men in camp froze when they heard the large man shout out in terror as he was grabbed from beneath the water. His legs were jerked out from under him so hard that in one moment he was screaming, and in the next he had vanished. Suarez surfaced briefly, splashing and in shock, the whites of his eyes showing brightly, then he was quickly pulled into the lagoon before he could utter a second cry of pain or terror at what was happening. He completely disappeared below the rolling surface. Nothing but bubbles and two quick slashes of his shining sword marked his trail to death's door.
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