by Peter Glenn
Who was I kidding? That theory was a little out there. It had obviously been magic. Were there real-life aliens out there? Maybe. But magic would have worked just as well back then.
Isaiah found a place to park not far from the main housing area. We got out of the car and started walking around. Allie had told us that we’d “know the area we were supposed to be in” when we found it.
Some help that was.
But Isaiah still had the ball, so it’s not like she could run off on us or anything.
There was a large stone structure in front of the row of houses that looked like it was barely still standing. Just a few stones packed on top of each other in several spots and a large dirt floor in the middle. I wondered what kind of rituals they would have performed in a large building like that and what it would have looked like back in its heyday.
On the other side of the housing area was another structure that looked like it had seen better days. What was left of the crumbling walls gave off the appearance of giant tombstones, standing guard over ancient kings. I almost felt like there were eyes or faces carved into them that were slowly watching us.
Of course, that was probably just my nerves getting to me. I had been chased by a fossil the night before...
There was plenty more to explore, but this was as good a spot to start looking for the jaguar as any. The three of us fanned out and started walking about. My eyes wandered quite a bit. This place was even more amazing than the last ruin had been. Slowly, we made our way over to the staircase that led up to the guard house.
“Race you to the top?” Isaiah offered with a sly grin.
I felt a pit form in the bottom of my stomach as memories of yesterday’s race returned to me. “No thanks. Maybe next time.”
“I’ll race you,” Allie said, sounding full of spunk.
“No, it’s okay,” Isaiah told her, holding out a hand to keep her from running up the stairs without us.
“Why not?” She planted her hands firmly on her hips and stood as tall as she could. “Afraid to lose to a woman, are you?”
Isaiah shook his head and laughed a little. “No, no, it’s nothing like that, I promise.” He glanced over at me. “Just a bit of an inside joke is all.”
Allie looked deflated, but she nodded. “Suit yourself.”
I looked over at Isaiah, but the mirth was gone from his eyes. The moment had passed.
Darn girl. Even took the wind out of an inside joke. I’d be glad when this hunt was over, and I could go back to LaLuna. Now there was a woman worthy of my time and attention. Not this little hussy. Even if she was kind of spunky.
We climbed the stone steps without further comments from anyone. At the top, I inspected the inside of the guard house. I was going to call it that even if it had a different purpose, so guard house it was.
But there was nothing in there. The inside was relatively empty. Not even any writing on the walls or anything like that to set it apart from any of the other domiciles. Sad.
Definitely not the right place, then.
Of course, if our little guide had just told us where to go in this giant place, it would have saved the hassle of walking up here. But no. She was still being all dodgy about it. I had half a mind to smack her upside the head, but I kept it to myself.
We made our way back down the steps and started exploring the rest of the ruin. Like I said, it was a pretty big place, and it was also fairly deserted. I wasn’t sure if it was just less popular than the other ruins, or if we were too early for most of the tourists to come by, but I was glad for it. Fewer people to interrupt us that way.
Plus, if the hunt for the artifact got hairy, there would be fewer innocent people potentially getting caught in the crossfire. It was a win-win.
On our way outside of the main area, we passed by what I assumed was an aqueduct. Or at least had been one at some point. It was defunct now, with the water only flowing by part of the city, but at one point it had no doubt served the entire town with precious water.
And here I’d thought the Romans were the only ancient civilization with an aqueduct. Live and learn, and all that.
Next up, we came across a few stone statues. These suckers were massive, easily as tall as I was, and bigger around. These were all heads of people. One of them looked like it was wearing some sort of helmet, while another looked like it could be one of those famed werejaguars that Margarita had spoken of.
Whatever they were, they were certainly something special to look at.
Finally, we came to one of the last parts of the main area of the complex. There were two large, sloped walls along the side of a blank field, and another sheer wall in the back. Each of the walls had a little outcropping on top of them where it looked like someone could stand or sit and look down at all the people who were in the middle of the field.
At a couple of spots throughout, there were small, stone hoops set into the sides of the walls with highly decorative patterns all along the sides of them.
Suddenly, everything became very clear. The reason for the ball. Where the Jade Jaguar lay hidden. And why no one had managed to find it yet. We were in the middle of an ancient Mesoamerican ball court. The Death Ball game that they supposedly played way back in the day, where the losing team got sacrificed.
Didn’t that sound like a fun way to spend the day?
“Here we are,” Allie said. She held out her arms to encompass the field. “Anyone up for a game?”
I frowned at her. “You can’t be suggesting we actually play a game of Death Ball, are you?”
She patted me lightly on the arm, and I recoiled from her touch. She really needed to be less physical. “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” she said with a smirk. “Why, you afraid of losing to a girl again?”
My cheeks burned a bright crimson. “Come on, you know that’s not what I meant.”
“Uh huh,” she taunted. “You’re just afraid of losing.”
“Well, I mean technically, the loser got killed, so it’s not exactly a bad thing to be afraid of, but that’s not it. I just… is the whole puzzle really as easy as playing a ball game?”
Allie stepped forward and turned around to face me, her hands clasped together behind her back. “Well, it’s not quite that easy. You have to have the right ball, for one.”
Her eyes trailed to over where Isaiah was standing, holding the rubber ball we’d gone to great lengths to take. She meant that one. Which made sense. If it were as simple as tossing any ball through the hoops, someone would have done it on accident by now.
But something was nagging at me. There was more to the story. I could feel it.
“And?” I asked.
“And what?” She reached forward with one finger and booped me on the nose. “That’s it. Get the right ball and put it through the right hoop, and the door to the chamber should open. Then the real fun begins.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Even if it did need the right ball, it still sounded a little too easy.
I walked over to where Isaiah was standing. “So you’re saying,” I called over my shoulder to Allie, “that all I have to do is take this ball…” I made a beckoning motion, and Isaiah handed the thing over to me easy enough. “And put it through one of these hoops.” I walked over to where the closest hoop was. It was a little higher in the air than I was. “And that’s all I have to do?”
Allie grinned so broad I thought her cheeks would crack. “Well, if you don’t believe me, why don’t you try it out yourself and find out?”
Something was still bugging the crap out of me about this whole thing, but with an opening like that, I was pretty much stuck. Now I had to actually go through with it, or I’d look like a fool, and I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of her.
“Fine,” I grumbled. I took a few steps up the slanted wall until I was close enough that I could push the ball through the hole. “I’ll do it. But if I get zapped to another dimension or something, it’s all your fault!”
Winked, of all things. Why was she winking? I totally had no interest in her like that. She really needed to stop with her little games.
But whatever. I had an artifact to find, and the sooner I found it, the sooner we could drop her off somewhere and be rid of her.
I heaved the ball up, placing it on the rim of the hole on my side, then I pushed it through. It landed on the slanted wall with a slight thud and rolled down, coming to a stop at the bottom, where it sat perfectly still. Apparently, I was right, and it wasn’t overly bouncy. Good to know.
I stood there and waited for a moment, but nothing happened. No giant portals opened, no rumbling of the ground underneath me, no magical glow overtook the hole I’d pushed the ball through.
Nothing.
“That’s it?” I said to Allie, scrunching my nose. “Where’s the magic? Where’s the giant portal?”
Allie nudged her chin toward where the ball lay in the grass and dirt. I followed her gaze. There was something there that I hadn’t seen before. Something... dark.
A shadowy figure rose up from the ground at the location of the ball, hissing as it took form. The thing looked mostly human, if a little on the short side, but it was wearing some sort of headdress made out of a jaguar’s head, complete with shadowy fangs in the mouth. Either that, or it had a second head that was a jaguar. I was leaning the first option but couldn’t really be certain.
The shadowy figure stooped down and picked up the ball off the ground. Then it looked up at me expectantly.
All at once, I understood the rest of the puzzle. It wasn’t enough to simply push a ball through a hole. That just summoned the guardian. Now I’d have to beat it at its own game, and it was starting with control of the ball.
Great. Just what I needed. I wasn’t even that good at regular basketball. Death Ball might really be the death of me.
“And I suppose I’m the only one that can play now, because I’m the one who pushed the ball through the hoop?” I spat down at Allie.
She just smirked up at me in response and shrugged again.
I was so going to make her pay for all this later. I didn’t know how, but it was happening.
The shadowy half-jaguar figure inclined its heads in my direction. Then it started to move, heading toward the hoop on the other side of the ball court.
“Wait!” I cried after it. But it was too late. The game had started.
Shadow Jaguar bounded over the field with what I could only describe as a spring in its step. The beast was so fast, I wasn’t sure I had a chance of catching it even if I wanted to.
I ran after it anyway. There was no way I was losing this game and my life. Even if it was just to show up little miss Allie. That was victory enough for me.
Shadow Jaguar practically zig-zagged across the field. Its movements didn’t look natural, and for the life of me I couldn’t understand why it didn’t just run in a straight line. But whatever. It was better for me this way.
I skitted across the field, heading straight for the thing. My legs were starting to burn and ache from the exertion already. One of these days, I really did have to hit up the gym.
But it was no use. Shadow Jaguar got to his hoop in plenty of time. He raised one of his arms and tossed the ball through the hoop. I heard some sort of dinging noise in the background as it did so.
The ground shuddered beneath my foot, and I moved out of the way as a small hole opened up where I had been standing just a moment prior.
So the game really could be deadly, then. Good to know. I’d have to stay on my toes.
Behind me, I heard a shuddering noise, and I spun to find what I could only describe as a spectral scoreboard lit up behind me. There were two numbers on it, one in green and one in red. Both were a number one. Well, the Olmec symbol for a one. I’d done a little reading up on Olmec symbols on the way down and could recognize a few of the basic ones.
Good. Apparently, that first little goal of mine had counted in my favor. At least my opponent wasn’t starting out already ahead. It was a small miracle, but I’d take it. Maybe the game was too hard otherwise.
Part of me wondered which score was mine, the green or the red, but it didn’t really matter. Besides, I’d find out soon enough.
Shadow Jaguar looked down at the ball, then up at me. It seemed to want me to take it up. I stepped closer, moving a little slowly. It felt like a trap, and I’d already been fooled once today. Was the demon thingy really letting me have the ball back, or was this part of an elaborate ruse? I reached forward slowly and put one finger on the ball. Shadow Jaguar still didn’t move an inch.
Feeling a little more certain of myself, I put my whole hand on the ball. Shadow Jaguar nodded, but still didn’t move. I picked it up fully, holding onto it with both hands.
Then I ran for the goal on my side of the field. About halfway through my run, the ball disappeared from my hands. I only noticed because the familiar weight of it was gone all of a sudden. I spun around, freaking, only to see Shadow Jaguar running back to his goal.
Shadow Jaguar flung the ball through his hoop again, then sat there completely still like it had the first time.
The ghostly red “one” on the scoreboard changed to a “two”. Well, at least I knew which score was mine now.
I waited for a second to see if the ground would open up underneath me again, but nothing happened, so I went back over to where the ball lay. This time, it had rolled down the slanted wall and was lying considerably closer to where I currently was.
“Any suggestions?” I asked Allie, and Isaiah, who were both just standing along the sidelines looking confused by the whole thing.
Isaiah shrugged. “Try not to die?”
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes and scowled at him. Like that was helpful.
I grabbed the ball again, moving faster this time, and bolted for the hoop on my side of the court. I was determined to outpace the demon thingy following me. I made it about two thirds of the way there before I felt a dark presence behind me, looming over me. The Shadow Jaguar.
I spun and rolled out of the way right as Shadow Jaguar zoomed through the air where I’d just been, hands grasping for the ball that was no longer there. I’d evaded the beast!
Pushing myself up to my feet, I ran the rest of the way and practically threw the ball through the hoop. The hoop was quite a bit bigger than the ball was, so it wasn’t really that hard. I was worried Shadow Jaguar would try and grab the ball out of the air, but he didn’t. Whether it was luck or some unspoken rule of the game, I couldn’t be certain.
The ball flew through the air, aimed true. It hit the top of the hoop but managed to fall through it and onto the other side. That dinging noise came again, and this time the green score went from one to two.
At least we were caught up again. But how long did the game last? Three points? Five? I had no way to know.
The ball rolled to the bottom of the slanted wall, and I chased after it, determined not to touch it. I didn’t want to break some unknown rule, so I tried to act much like the shadow demon had.
Shadow Jaguar stooped to pick up the ball, and I was on him just as quick. I lunged forward, throwing my entire body at him, but I passed right through his form and landed on the ground with a loud thud, scraping my jaw in the process.
That’s right, kids. Shadows are incorporeal. I mean, I knew that, but I figured since it could hold onto the ball and all, maybe things would be different. Nope.
Stars swam in my eyes, and I thought I would be sick for a second, but I fought to get back up and chase my opponent. Not that it mattered. He got to his goal with ease and slammed the ball through the hole for a third point.
This time, the ground shook again, and I narrowly missed falling to my death as I scrambled away from another hole that appeared in the ground. The hole sealed itself up just like the previous one had a moment later. At least I wouldn’t have to dodge it on the way back.
&n
bsp; I went over to the ball slowly, conserving my energy. As soon as I was close enough, I snatched it up and bolted for my goal again, zooming across the small yard.
Holding the ball in the crook of one arm, I ran forward. When that same dark presence from before came back, I lunged and used my free arm to push me off the ground and vault into the air, performing a flip before I landed back on my feet.
The maneuver looked awesome, and I managed to evade Shadow Jaguar’s grasp one more time. Hey, all those karate lessons had to be good for something, right?
As I flung the ball through my hoop, I cheered a bit for myself as the green number flipped to a three, tying the game once more. I still didn’t know how many points I needed, but at least I was keeping up with my enemy. Of course, I’d have to pass him eventually somehow...
Shadow Jaguar was there in the blink of an eye, grasping at the ball. I let it get its hands around the thing, then I lunged for it again, this time aiming straight for the ball instead of the creature.
One of my hands wrapped around the ball, but it wasn’t enough to jostle it loose. Shadow Jaguar had a supernatural grip on the darn thing.
Panting from the exertion, I ran after Shadow Jaguar and almost caught up to it. The demon gave me a sinister glare as it smashed the ball through its hoop once more. Now the red team had four points, and I felt like it wouldn’t need much more.
All right, it was time for a different plan. I was keeping up with the creature, but I needed to get ahead of it, or I was positive I’d die on its next turn. I didn’t know why I felt that way, just that I did.
A strange thought hit me just then, and I decided to run with it.
I grabbed the ball again, making a beeline for my hoop. This was the easy part. I crossed the field faster than I would have thought possible. I was making incredible speed this time. Was Isaiah secretly helping me by boosting my abilities? If so, I could only hope the demon didn’t have a way to find out. The last thing I needed was to be caught cheating, even if I hadn’t instigated it.
Running up the wall, I backflipped at the last second out of the way of the dark presence that came toward me again, tossing the ball through the hoop in the same motion. A ghostly green number four greeted me for my efforts.