Valerie was listening intently. She let out a deep sigh right after the old man finished his speech. “Let me tell you what I think. The gods do this to us because they’re afraid of us. They hate humanity. The gods are jealous because we live such short lives and the little things we do have more meaning than whatever it is that they do. We get to love for a short time, and we get to laugh and be happy for a short time, yeah. But the gods can’t do any of that. All they can do is throw thunderbolts, or cast storms and kill people. They may have all that power, but they can’t love each other the way we do. We don’t need to live forever or have godlike powers to be loved and to love back. We can earn respect from other people just by doing good deeds. No god can say that about themselves. And that’s why I’m going to keep fighting. Because even if my life is short, it’s worth living.”
Paul looked at her and smiled. He clasped her hand and gave her a kiss. “You know what, Val? That’s the best attitude I’ve ever heard anyone proclaim during this whole crisis. The time I’ve spent with you has been as good or even better than I had when I was with Elizabeth. I’ve found the right person in my life. That I know for sure.”
Valerie smiled at him and they both hugged each other for a long time. “We’ll get through this, Paul. Once this is over, I’d love to raise a family with you.”
Paul just smiled and kissed her forehead. He couldn’t wait until this was all over. His old life with Elizabeth had been bliss, but it was now time to turn a new page. Valerie was the one he was waiting for. He knew that now.
As the two of them continued to hug each other, Patrick Gyle and Tara Weiss emerged from the edge of the forest and made their way towards them. Atrahasis immediately noticed as he stood up and looked in their direction with a wry smile on his face. Valerie noticed them as she pulled herself away from Paul and faced the two of them, her right hand on her hip holster. Paul saw the potential for hostility as he gently placed his hand above hers and winked at her a second time.
Gyle strode into the clearing with an air of supreme confidence. “You must be the two people that we were supposed to meet up with,” he said. “I’m Patrick and this here’s Tara.”
Paul blinked a few times as he remembered the conversation he had when he summoned the demon that took them here. He looked at the pale creature with wonderment. “Patrick … Gyle, right?”
Gyle nodded. “Correctamundo. I know the way I look freaks you out, but every gift has a price.”
Paul nodded. “I agree, we were just talking about that.” He looked at the teenage girl. “And you must be Tara, nice to finally meet you both.”
“So you’re supposedly the one who is supposed to help us?” Tara said. Then she pointed to Valerie. “Who is she?”
“Valerie Mendoza, NYPD,” Valerie said. “I heard about you, Tara, you saved my life and I’d like to thank you for it.”
Tara looked confused for a bit. “I did? When?”
“A demon told me you were able to stop some sort of Indian god from being born,” Valerie said. “I was in the museum when a giant worm popped out from under the floor. It nearly killed me before it somehow disappeared. From what a demon told us, there was a boy who helped you. Where is he?”
“His name is Ilya, from Siberia. He got hurt rescuing me and he is being taken care of by the Fey in the faerie realms until he recovers,” Tara said.
Paul could barely contain his giddiness. First he met the oldest man in the world, now they were talking about faeries. It was so much information to process. He could probably spend several lifetimes just talking to these people. Nevertheless, there was a job to do. “I hope he gets better soon then, we’re going to need him. You’ll have to forgive us, but we were trapped in Hell for a time. Could you both maybe give us an update as to what’s going on back on earth?”
“I’ll give you the long and short of it,” Gyle said as a raven landed on top of a nearby shrub. “The Aztecs have broken through the southern borders. Most of Texas has now been absorbed by their empire along with lots of counties in the southwest. They have apparently stopped because they’re busy sacrificing all their captive prisoners to their bloodthirsty gods. As soon as that’s done they’ll be moving north again, and this time there ain’t no military in their way. The US government tried nukes but apparently they couldn’t get them to detonate. The president, the one you rescued from the Kansas separatists, is also possessed by demons.”
Paul said nothing at first. Then he glanced over at the black bird perched on the shrubbery. “You got anything to add?”
Valerie looked at Paul as if he was crazy. “Paul, that’s a bird you’re talking to.”
“I may not have ears, but I can hear him good enough,” the raven said to Valerie as the NYPD detective staggered back in awe.
Paul narrowed his eyes. So his guess was right. “So you are the trickster that everyone’s been talking about. Tell me, since there are trickster gods in just about every culture, are you all one and the same, or a whole bunch of different beings with the same characteristics?”
“I could tell you the truth,” the raven said. “But where’s all the fun in that?”
Tara rolled her eyes. “Don’t bother trying to ask it a direct question like that. You won’t ever get a straight answer.”
Paul smiled at her. There was something sad about Tara’s demeanor, but he felt a kindred spirit when he looked at her. “I get it. That’s why they’re called tricksters after all. They have to live up to their godly reputation,” he said.
Valerie pointed at the raven. “You’re telling me that bird is some sort of … god?”
Tara crossed her arms and looked away. Paul could sense her petulant mood from her body language. Something was bothering her— she seemed to be resenting the trickster. “I think it’s just a talking animal that thinks it’s a god. Even if he is one, he’s probably a pretty weak god since he didn’t raise a finger to help when Ilya got hurt or when I was in danger!” she said.
The raven raised one of its claws up in the air as it stood on one leg. “Well, since I don’t have any fingers, how can I raise one?”
Tara sneered. “Shut up.”
Paul raised his hands up to try and calm everyone down. “Okay everyone, take it easy, this isn’t getting us anywhere. Raven, how do these Aztec gods operate? Have they actually manifested themselves on earth?”
“Sort of,” the raven said. “The Aztec gods channel their power through what you modern day people call avatars. These avatars are ordinary people that are imbued with a portion of their divinity and the Aztec gods see through them and give orders to their subordinates. That’s how their empire is run.”
Gyle stole an angry glance at the black bird. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”
The raven started to preen its left wing with its beak. “You never asked.”
“Okay,” Paul quickly said in order to interrupt a brewing conflict. “So I guess this means that if their avatars are human, they can be killed, thereby disrupting the operations of their empire, am I right?”
“It’s certainly possible. Their avatars are in Tenochtitlan, though in the heart of their empire. Their powers get stronger the closer you get to them. I won’t be able to transport you right into their city, I can only get us to the outskirts. From there, we have to walk to where their avatars reside. They are holed up in their mighty temples, and they are heavily guarded.”
Gyle smiled as the fangs in his mouth became visible. “I can take care of those guards with no problem.”
“The humans will be the least of your problems,” the raven said. “The avatars themselves are pretty powerful, probably as powerful as you, Gyle. Let’s not forget they have the star demons at their side in a mutual alliance.”
Tara didn’t like the sound of that. “Star demons?”
“I think the trickster means the tzitzimitl,” Valerie said. “They are powerful creatures with fangs and claws. The ancient Aztecs even worshipped them as demigods. Female fer
tility goddesses who can be very dangerous to their enemies.”
Paul nodded. “Okay, if these tzitzimitl are allied with them, then is there a way we can either get them to stop allying with the Aztecs or maybe find a way to neutralize them?”
“Well, the current Aztec empire that exists right now is calling itself the Triple Alliance for a reason,” the raven said.
“Big deal,” Paul said. “The ancient Aztec Empire also called itself the Triple Alliance. They were called that because the three Aztec city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan jointly ruled the empire together.”
The raven shook its head rapidly from side to side. “This new Triple Alliance has a very different meaning. It’s an alliance between three gods- Huitzilopochtli, Xipe Totec and Tlaloc. The two avatars of Huitzilopochtli and Xipe Totec are still waiting for the avatar of Tlaloc to manifest itself, but there has been a disruption of some sort. Once the avatar of Tlaloc is born, then this alliance will be invincible against any kind of attack for its power will be too great.”
Valerie’s heart started to jump. It felt just like the museum all over again. “Then we gotta do something! We need to attack quickly before Tlaloc can be reborn!”
“Hold on, Val,” Paul said. “We need to know everything we can as to how Tlaloc’s avatar got delayed and any weaknesses they might have before we go in.”
“El Brujo said something about another shaman who needs to go on his vision quest somewhere in the Old South,” Gyle said. “He said that that shaman holds the key to forcing a great change amongst the Aztecs. We have to wait until that man, whoever he is, assumes the title of shaman.”
Paul rubbed his forehead. “A shaman? Which god is he a shaman to?”
“I think his god is called the Master of Breath, or something,” Gyle said.
Paul nodded. “Okay, that’s Esaugetuh Emissee, he’s a Creek Indian god who was worshiped as their supreme creator. So if this god is using his shaman to effect a great change, then I guess we can assume that at least we have one god on our side, right?”
“Correctamundo,” the raven said. “Hmm, looks like I’m getting the hang of this latest slang now.”
“That’s about all we know,” Gyle said. “The problem is we don’t know when this shaman is supposed to go on his vision quest or when this great change is supposed to happen.”
Valerie sighed. “Oh, that’s just great. So we are going in, half-blind into the lion’s den, and we won’t even know if this shaman is gonna pull his weight or not? This is a very risky operation- all sorts of things could go wrong.”
“I don’t like it either, but I’m guessing we may be running out of time. So that leaves us with no choice but to go ahead,” Gyle said.
Paul looked at Gyle. “You mentioned that the president is possessed by a demon?”
“Yeah, that’s what they told us,” Gyle said to him. “He’s being cared for over at Camp David, but unless someone is able to get that demon out of him, the country is in bad shape.”
Paul turned his attention to the trickster. “You really can’t tell us when this new shaman will be able to use his powers to help us?”
“Nope,” the raven said. “As with what has transpired, you just need to have a little faith that the gods on your side will pull through.”
Valerie shook her head. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. It’s way too risky to execute.”
“You went into that museum without really knowing anything,” the raven said to her. “And yet you were able to succeed.”
“What we did in the museum really didn’t matter much since it was Tara and her other friend who really fixed things in the end,” Valerie said as she pointed to the teenager. “When all was said and done, a lot of cops were killed. For nothing.”
“You were able to prevent that nuke from going off though, Val,” Paul said to her. “So it wasn’t all for nothing.”
Valerie looked away. She didn’t want to argue about it anymore. It brought on too many bad memories for her.
Paul pondered over the whole situation. A few of them were needed to exorcise the demon from the president. Another team needed to be deployed to the Aztec Empire to do battle against their godlike avatars. It would all depend on a mysterious shaman who had yet to reveal himself. There was a very high chance of failure, and they would all be facing certain death.
Atrahasis was quiet for the whole time as he sat listening to the arguments being bandied back and forth. As everyone else stopped talking, he felt that he needed to say something. “As with all things, there are times that one needs to rely on faith,” he said softly as everyone turned to look at him. “One must have trust in one’s fellow man, for only if you believe in each other will you be able to achieve a greater thing than what you would have done if you had acted alone.”
Paul nodded. They had to act. “Okay, here is my suggestion. We split into two teams. One team goes to Camp David to get the president’s demon out of him. The other team needs to head for Tenochtitlan to confront the Aztec avatars.”
Valerie placed her hands on her hips as she looked at him. “Paul, you were able to summon that demon, so it’s only logical that you head to Camp David to see what you can do about the president.”
“I’m the one with the claws, so I’ll be part of the team to head to the Aztecs,” Gyle said softly. No one disagreed.
Paul turned to look at Tara. “Where would you like to go?”
Tara looked away and gave an indifferent shrug. “I dunno and I don’t care.”
“You need to stay safe,” Gyle said to her. “You go with Professor Dane to Camp David.”
Valerie glanced at Gyle. “I’m going with you. I know how to speak Nahuatl and I’m a cop. I can handle myself.”
Paul let out a deep breath as he turned to look at Valerie. “Val, it’s too dangerous. I think you ought to stick with me.”
Valerie smiled as she stood next to him and gave Paul a big hug. “I have to do this, Paul. It makes the most sense for me to go to Tenochtitlan. You know it, and I know it. Don’t worry, I was at the museum before and came out without a scratch, remember?”
Paul bit his lip. He couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not after all they’ve been through. He knew it was a foregone conclusion she would be going to the lands of the Aztecs. She could pass off as an Aztec woman and he figured that as long as she stayed careful, she would hopefully be alright. “Okay, but take care of yourself out there,” he said softly as he kissed her on the forehead. “Please come back to me.”
Valerie smiled as she held out the jade Aztec necklace around her neck. “Don’t you worry, I still have my mama’s protective charm, remember?”
Tara put her hand up. “I think I could probably deal with the president. El Brujo taught me how to control my mind and spirit and all that.”
Paul nodded to her. “Okay, I trust you. Since you were able to sabotage the avatar of Okeus, I’m sure you’re more than capable of handling this.”
“I’ll probably get El Brujo to join me, just in case I need extra help,” Tara said.
“Good idea,” Paul said to her before turning his head to look at Valerie once more. “Looks like I’ll be joining you in Tenochtitlan, Val.”
Valerie smirked at him. “You sure you can handle it? You’re not the physical type, Paul.”
Paul snorted playfully. “Come on, I took on a Wendigo, which is pretty much like an avatar. I’m pretty sure I won’t be a hindrance to you or to Patrick.”
“So that leaves me,” the raven said.
Paul twisted his head slightly as he stared down at the black bird. “Yes, that leaves you. Since trickster gods can change their shape, I’m pretty sure you can too, right?”
“Somewhat,” the raven said. “What is it that you would want me to change into?”
Paul glanced at the others one by one and gave them all a wink before turning to look at the raven one more time. “There’s a being I want you to assume. And one that I’m sure you’ll get a
kick out of.”
The raven gave a loud caw that was almost like a sigh. “Something tells me I’m not gonna like this.”
23. The Serpent of Vision
Alabama
Nobody slept since the attack two nights ago. The Nimrod had been heavily damaged, but the captain had insisted that they would continue on until they sighted the great horned serpent and killed it. The diesel engine that powered the paddlewheel was behaving erratically since it was damaged by the owl-men. The exhaust had begun to belch infrequently and the vibrations were becoming so noisy that anyone near the engines had to cover their ears. Two men had been reassigned to the engine room and they tried their best, but everyone could tell that the pistons were on their last legs. Eight-Ball Jackson was gone. He had either abandoned the ship during the attack, or he was killed and his body was carried off into the night. When the rest of the crew heard about it, there were hushed whispers that they needed to stage a mutiny in order to get the ship turned around and back to the nearest port. But ever since the captain had executed the last one who crossed him, no one dared to try anything. The ship’s first officer, JJ Glanton, still had a small group of loyal friends, and they were the most heavily-armed among the crew. If anyone dared to try an uprising, they would have to get through him first.
Tyrone Gatlin could barely keep his eyes open as he stared out through the ruined front window of the pilot house. The late afternoon was overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain again soon. The air was muggy and droplets of water vapor stuck to his clothes, making him sweat even more. He was constantly making minute adjustments on the ship’s wheel as he maneuvered the Nimrod around the massive trunks of half sunken trees. They were deep in the sunken forest, and the waterways would twist and branch out in many directions. This was his first time in ever piloting a boat, but even he knew that they were hopelessly lost. It was as if the sunken trees had swallowed them up and were never going to let them go. Whatever was in that box that the captain kept locked up in his room was right, the ship was cursed, and they were getting ever closer to their doom.
A World Darkly (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 3) Page 33