Mr. Ek
At the top of La Lucha escarpment, I followed the Rio Bravo river, climbed Yalbac Mountain, and ran all the way to Pitipan waterfall. A rainbow arched above the falls, created by the mist.
Assessing the speed of the water, I carefully approached the base. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I never would have spotted the lip along the rock that was just wide enough to walk on. Scooting with my back against the wet rock, I inched forward along the narrow path as it disappeared behind the waterfall.
Back to the rock, front only inches from the rushing water, I scooted forward. Almost exactly half way across, I fell backward right onto my ass with a solid ooof.
Dark, menacing eyes stared from behind long machete blades.
“Haper?” a familiar voice echoed from the back of the cave.
“Mr. Ek?”
Blades dropped with recognition. Relief flooded faces and they rushed forward, a cacophony of questions and greetings. My family. The people of San Pedro.
“Did you come from the village?”
“Is everything okay?”
“It’s Harper!”
“Where is your mother?”
“Who gave you that bruise?”
Mr. Ek moved forward with his hands held up, “Everyone give Harper room to breathe.” He reached down and helped me up then pulled me in for a gentle hug. He looked older, grey streaks in his black hair, papery skin hanging loosely from his long face.
“Are you okay?” He stared deep into my eyes.
“I’m okay. A lot has happened.”
“It was bound to eventually.” The look of intense sorrow that crossed his face brought tears to my eyes yet again.
Blinking them away, I tried to explain but Mr. Ek shushed me.
“Come to the back and we can talk. But first, have they found the village?”
“They did. It’s…gone.”
A collective gasp spread across the cave.
Mr. Ek’s face fell even more. “Come to the back.”
He lead me back along a dark tunnel. A momentary flash to the tunnels in Virginia made me shudder, but we quickly emerged into a wide open cavern. Sunlight streamed in through natural openings far above. A canopy of white rock and tendrils of brilliant green roots hung down like mobiles. At the center of the chamber was a perfectly still, perfectly round pool of turquoise water lit by a shaft of sunlight as though the gods were reaching down from the heavens to bless that single spot with intense beauty.
Along the walls, hundreds of nooks were carved into the rock. Each nook was filled with books. Tens of thousands of books.
“Your library. You’re a Gnomon.” My voice was flat.
Mr. Ek nodded. “And you’ve come for this. He held up the jade disk. It looked exactly as I remembered. Lustrous green, carved with glyphs.
For some reason I expected there to be a trial, or a maze, or maybe another underground river to navigate.
“What is this place?” I asked. Rather than touch the disk, I moved to the nearest stack of books that weren’t books at all. They were Maya codices, ancient Maya books written on folding amate paper. According to Maya scholars, only five such books remained. When the Spanish arrived in the Yucatan in 1511, they systematically destroyed all ancient Maya knowledge, including burning thousands of codices.
But I ran my hands over the shelf in front of me, counting a least forty codices.
“Are these?”
Ek’s smile knocked twenty years off his face. He glowed with joy. “They are.”
“You watch over a library of thousands of ancient Maya books? This would…change the world!”
“It would. Though these aren’t all Maya. There are Aztec, even Olmec and a few Inca documents here. However, my job isn’t to change the world. My job is to protect it.”
“But…”
Ek interrupted me, “We don’t have time to dwell on my library. Though I am glad you got to see it. I had always planned to show you one day. Sadly, current events have forced my hand on many things. We have more important things to discuss.”
He handed me the disk. It lit up like the sun and another gasp rolled through the villagers that had gathered behind us.
“They have my mom.”
“I know.” Ek put his hand over mine, together we held the disk that sparkled like a star.
“They want me to trade this to them in exchange for her freedom.”
“I know.”
“What should I do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Great, do you at least understand this?” I gestured to the glowing rock.
“I think I understand. How much do you know about your father’s past?”
“Not a single thing. Who would have told me that? Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” I was angry. “Maybe this all could have been avoided if I’d known.”
“I’m sorry Harper. We were going to tell you eventually, but there are rules I must abide by.”
“Just like Mr. Silver. So, my dad was a Sun warrior.”
“Just so. He is…descended from Pythia, the most powerful Solaris Oracle to have ever lived.”
“Uh…Oracle?”
“Yes, it is very rare, but occasionally there is a special Anima collective that manifests, usually in a young girl, called an Oracle. She had unusual powers that can unite Lunates and Solaris. She wields both and exerts great influence over the direction of mankind. However, the last great Oracle sided with the Solaris, and so, during the last great war between the factions, the Lunates hunted your ancestors. Attempted to destroy them entirely. The Solaris responded with a violence rarely seen. I don’t know all the details, but the Solaris…they tried to wipe out the Lunates.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, all of them. It was…genocide.” Mr. Ek paled. “Your father’s family is descended from that last Oracle. She was called Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi.”
“Wait, I’ve heard of her.”
“You have, I made certain you read about her.” He gave me a sly smile. “She was a Greek Oracle that advised kings, married a sun god, dictated the future of the great empires of her time.”
“Okay, so my dad is descended from some famous Oracle. So I’ve got this Sun Oracle’s blood.”
“Not blood. That’s not how it works. You have some of Pythia’s Anima, the Oracle of Delphi.”
I realized something that made my blood run cold. “Mr. Ek…I’ve been hearing…voices. Crying. Seeing things...”
His eyebrows flew up.
“Am I going crazy? Wasn’t Pythia insane?”
“No Harper, she wasn’t at all. Neither are you. I suspect you are hearing the voices of those calling out to you for help. They might not even know it.”
“So, you think I’m hearing something that is really happening?”
“I would imagine that you’re seeing and hearing real events that are happening far away, or maybe even happening in the future.”
“I saw bloody implements in the shed at school. Was that real?”
“I don’t know. Maybe not. It’s possible you were having a vision. Just as with the voices, if you are an Oracle you will be able to see things that are far away, even in the future. Or just occasionally have visions of important objects.”
“So I’m hearing voices and having visions, and this doesn’t sound crazy to you?”
“Not at all, Harper. I’m a Gnomon. I’ve known about this my whole life.”
I thought for a few minutes. “But, so what? So what if I can hear voices? And if Pythia was married to a sun god, why would I trigger a moon relic?”
“Few know the true history of Pythia.”
“That’s exactly what Selene said to me.”
“Ah, you’ve met Selene…” he frowned. “She was right. Pythia was descended from a long line of great Oracles, but they were not Solaris, they were Lunates. As a young girl, Pythia fell in love with Apollo, the sun god. To test her love, he demanded that she change sides, from Moon to Sun. And so she did. T
he children of Pythia and Apollo begat one of the most powerful Solaris lines in existence. But few remember that she was a Lunate first. Pythia means ‘to rot,’ she spoke in “lunatic’ voices. She spoke the voice of chaos, rot, the power of blood. A Lunate to the end.”
“Pythia just decided to become a Solaris. Can you switch sides like that?”
“No. No one had been able to do such a thing, before or since. Many doubted that it happened, which is why it was eventually forgotten, written off as a myth. But I know it to be true. To be honest, I’m not sure what you are.”
“Uh, wait, sun god. You’re saying I’m a descendant of Apollo, the sun god?”
“It’s complicated. I don’t have time to explain everything. The important thing for you to know is that an Oracle’s power isn’t just in her visions. It’s her voice. Oracles can speak the first words, they have the power to command others.
“It won’t be long before Selene discovers this place. I’m not sure of her intentions, but I need to prepare to defend my library. You need to decide what your next step is.”
“I don’t know what to do, Mr. Ek.”
“You will figure it out.”
“You don’t have any advice? I’m just on my own?”
“That’s right, Harper. You need to remember my lessons and listen to your heart.”
I pulled out the pouch Mr. Ek had given me the night we left San Pedro. The Jade disk slid in, a perfect fit. I said, “I know, I know. Remember who I am.”
Mr. Ek laughed. “I have faith in your Harper. Before you go, your father left this for you.”
He handed me a note and my world narrowed to just ink on paper.
I gently pulled opened the envelope and unfolded the paper. In unfamiliar handwriting, it said,
“My dear little Wren.” Tears sprung up in my eyes like a fountain.
The note continued, “I’ve asked Orlando Ek to watch over this note until he thought it was time for you to read it. I fear that, if you are reading this, things have gone wrong and I am sorry I’m not at your side. Before I go on, I must first say how full of sorrow I am that I had to leave you and your mom. Leaving you both was the single most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do, but we needed to protect you and my presence put you in danger.”
“But know that you were, are, and have always been, the light of my life. Though we are apart, you will never be distant from my heart. I love you and your mom more than anything in this world.”
A tear rolled off my chin and fell on the paper. “Dammit,” I swiped it off, trying not to tear the delicate pages.
Before I could read on, I wondered why mom had never talked about him. If this was true, if he really loved us so much, why hadn’t she told me more about him? I always assumed that he had left us. Or at least that they had been unhappy together. But this was telling a very different story.
“I can’t explain everything here, but I will say that your mom and I have angered some very powerful people. I spent my life fighting the Lunates, and will continue to do so. But lately, things have grown complicated. My own people have done terrible things and I no longer know who to trust. Other than your own mother and Mr. Ek, question everything and everyone. Listen to your own heart because those who claim to be on my side have betrayed me.
“When the time is right, we will be able to be together again. Until that day, be true to who you are, Harper Dae. If you remember that, everything will work out in the end.
“All the Love in my Heart, Dad.”
I folded the note back into the envelope then tucked it next to the jade disk in the pouch around my neck.
With tears in my eyes I spent a few minutes hugging and saying farewells to my friends. For Mr. Ek I had no words, just tears and kisses.
I headed back to the village, plotting my long trip back to Virginia. “Screw stealth,” I muttered to myself as I stomped through the jungle toward my mother.
The Jungle
I planned to hitchhike back to San Ignacio and reverse my route back to Belize City, but this time I was buying a freaking car, then, hell, I might just buy a plane when I got to the airport. And a pilot. Could I do that?
San Pedro was still smoldering, but all was quiet. Beginning up the path toward the road, I heard a noise. I shrunk into the shadows as it approached.
At first I couldn’t make it out, but a voice quickly became clear. “Ouch, son of a…god damned thorns…ouch..ouch.”
I stopped forward. “Raf?”
He stumbled into view. “Oh, thank god.”
“Raf, we’re not even three miles from the road. When did all this happen?” I gestured to his entire body.
Streaks of blood trickled from scratches on his cheek. Sweat soaked his clothes head to toe. One doc martin was split open along its side. His bare arms were covered with red welts. The pointer finger on his left hand was swollen like a sausage. Blood soaked the cuff of his left leg.
“Harper, this place is trying to kill me! You didn’t tell me it was alive!”
His wild-eyes, purple hair, and the fact that he was wearing doc martins in the jungle was too much. My entire body shook and I tried to keep it in, but the laughter burst forth like a tidal wave from my lips. I fell to my knees and laughed until I was eventually crying and hiccuping with giggles.
Raf knelt next to me, watching at first, a little pissed off at my reaction. “Hey,” he said, “I even stole my dad’s pistol to come help you!” He patted a vague gun shape under his soaked t-shirt. My laughing went on so long he eventually smiled, then began laughing as well. Together we laughed and cried until we had nothing left.
Catching his breath, Raf shook my arm. “Stop…stop laughing, Harper. This is serious. My mom’s almost here. Barely beat her. We need to run.”
His words slammed my laughter off like a vault door.
“Listen. I heard her talking about you. She’s on a rampage, talking about slaughtering everyone, including you. I…I couldn’t let her kill you, or a whole village of people.”
“I’m really sorry Raf. I’m sorry I wasn’t more supportive. I can’t imagine…” I trailed off, unsure what to say.
“No, I’m sorry. You were right about her. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
It is impossible to remain in a heightened state of panic for hours at a time. The constant worry about my mom, the fear and anger toward Selene, had almost become background noise. But Raf’s arrival pushed me to a whole new level of panic. If Selene was hot on our tail, how would we get away? She could just take the disk from me here, how could I possibly stop her? We needed to get back and I needed to figure out a plan to save my mom.
The answer came to me in a flash and I literally face palmed. Abe’s plane!
As the crow flies, the Mennonite village was actually the closest settlement to San Pedro. A barely used path ran almost directly there, less that two miles away.
“This way Raf, I have a plan!”
Above the droning cicada song, we heard shouts and people crashing toward us.
Grabbing his arm, I dragged Raf into the underbrush. He stayed close on my heels as I pulled out my machete. The brush was too thick to move through and we needed to head east where we would eventually cross the path to the Mennonite village. In Belize, children are handed a machete as soon as they can walk. Though I didn’t start until I was six, over the years I had learned to think of a machete as an extension of my own arm.
Flicking my wrist left and right, I easily carved us a path that I hoped wouldn’t be too obvious. Selene and her thugs passed where we turned off.
“Think we’ve lost them but not for long.”
“I think they have dogs!” Raf was right. An animal bayed right at the entrance to our escape route.
“Not dogs. Wolves!” I couldn’t believe it. Selene was going to hunt us like animals.
We broke free of the underbrush onto the path to Stan Creek just as it began to descend the drop off called Devil’s Toe. Running in a panic, I tripped over m
y own feet and crashed to my knees. The side of Devil’s Toe was nothing but loose gravelly rocks. I was going fast enough when I fell that I skidded down the hillside on my knees. Raf managed to stay on his feet but was crashing out of control behind me.
We hit the bottom in a heap and helped each other up. I momentarily noted that, even after sliding over sharp rocks all the way down a hill, my leather knee patches were in perfect shape. Not a tear in sight. “Good pants!” I muttered to myself as we continues our wild sprint toward the Mennonites.
The wolves were too fast. I glanced over my shoulder to see them closing in. Selene’s silver wolves were going to catch us, tear us to shreds.
We had to escape the only direction they couldn’t follow, up into the treetops. To our right hung a tangle of water vines. Thick and sturdy, water vines are what most Americans picture Tarzan swinging from. I stabbed my finger upward. Raf nodded and we began to climb.
The vines crept up a massive Cebia tree that leaned gently toward a limestone outcropping jutting up from the ground. We scrambled up into the canopy. The tree branches criss-crossed in the air under the lush green roof arcing above them. Among the boughs of the tall trees, we moved from tree to tree, balancing on thick limbs.
The wolves leapt against the tree trunks in a frenzy because they couldn’t continue their pursuit.
Crawling among the branches, we leapt from tree to tree and eventually reached the low cliff. We were about to jump when a soft chuff chuff sound made me freeze.
The barking wolves was a scary sound, but that chuff was something few survived to describe.
Seeing my pale face, Raf froze next to me. “What?”
I was afraid to speak, but Raf followed my eyes to the jaguar laying on a branch less than five feet from us. Golden eyes stared into mine like lambent suns. Her fur was solid black, shining in the moonlight. Head larger than my torso, paws the size of my head, claws extended, carving grooves in the tree she grasped like a toy.
She crouched, agitated by our appearance, made worse by the wolves frantic baying. Then I noticed the cub asleep in the nook of the tree behind her. Great, a mama jaguar. The most dangerous kind.
“No…sudden…moves…” I said under my breath. “No eye contact.”
Jade Moon (Celestial War Book 1) Page 15