Keeper of Myths

by Jasmine Richards

  Buzz’s gaze caught on Berchta. She now sat toward the front of the arena, next to several other gods and believers, and she held a clipboard, taking notes every time one of the believers attacked. One god with a headdress made of bone and feathers was studying the action intensely, while the others were just clapping in delight at the action.

  Mrs. Garrison raised her stick, ready to strike again, but Ratatosk was faster. He jumped forward and covered the florist’s eyes with his paws. Theo then leaped over the badger and wrestled the stick away from the florist and threw it to the ground.

  “Leave us alone!” he yelled. “You’re better than this. Wake up, won’t you?”

  Ratatosk had released the florist, and Mrs. Garrison was blinking at Theo. “It is Huitzilopochtli’s will that we do this.” She didn’t sound so sure, though.

  Mr. George, the owner of the local garage, growled and ran at them, his stick held high. Theo ducked low and stuck out his leg, tripping up the older man. Mr. George landed on the earth with a thud, and a few in the audience began to laugh.

  The god in the bone-and-feather headdress stood up. “How dare you laugh at my believers!” he thundered.

  “They’re not very good ones, are they?” the antlered god, Cerunnos, said. “You won’t win the new god with believers like that. Give up now and save your blushes.”

  Huitzilopochtli narrowed his eyes and swept into the arena, his cloak of blue and yellow feathers flying out behind him. His followers immediately knelt in front of him, their heads touching the ground.

  Huitzilopochtli picked up the discarded stick. “There is no truer saying than if you want something done, just do it yourself.” He drew the stick back and threw it at Theo like a spear.

  Time slowed. Buzz’s gaze went to Theo, Ratatosk, and the badger again. He could see that the badger’s whole body was trembling with fatigue, but bravely he was rising up onto two feet. Opening his jaws, he let out a roar so full of fury that the arena went silent.

  A powerful light shone from the badger’s chest and encircled the three of them in a protective shield. As the spear hit the golden orb, it bounced off, whipping through the air and stabbing Huitzilopochtli’s cloak to the ground.

  The god gave a squeak of outrage and tried to pull free, but the spear was embedded deep in the earth and had him trapped. Huitzilopochtli looked at the spear as if not quite believing it, and then, with a roar, he ripped the cloak off his shoulders. He was quite naked beneath, except for a belt of feathers and his tattoos. The arena was no longer silent. Everyone was laughing. Even the believers whose heads were still touching the ground were snorting with mirth.

  The god of war looked more like a plucked chicken than a bird of prey, and he quickly scurried from the arena.

  With a crash, the badger slumped down and stared out at the spectators, his eyes sad and tired. Sighing, his sides heaving, he lay his head on the ground, and the force field around them faded. Ratatosk edged near to the badger’s face and pressed his muzzle to the god’s.

  “Don’t yer go giving up on me.” Buzz lip-read Ratatosk’s words. “Open yer eyes.”

  But the badger’s eyes remained closed. And Buzz wasn’t sure they’d open again.

  “I can’t find them,” a voice said from beside him. Buzz turned to see that Benjy was by his side again. The old man wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself. “I’ve looked everywhere, and I can see no sign of Sam or Amin—”

  “You did this. All of you.” Theo’s voice drowned out Benjy’s words as he hugged the badger and stared out at the audience. His voice cracked with grief. “You have allowed these gods to come to Crowmarsh and play games with us. No more. Wake up. It’s time for you to wake up and see what is happening here.”

  Many in the audience were silent as they looked at Theo. Faces that had been full of fervor and bloodlust were becoming confused.

  Berchta was on her feet. “Don’t you dare listen to this boy. Listen to your gods. For if you don’t, your fate will be the same as his.” A ball of flame appeared at her fingertips, and she hurled it at Theo.

  “No!” Buzz cried even as the goddess’s flaming ball was met by another orb of flame. Both balls extinguished with a hiss.

  Berchta looked up.

  Standing at the top of one of the stairways to the ruins was Sam, with Amin on his shoulder. In his hand, Sam held the cyphon.

  Berchta’s mouth hung open. “What are you doing here? I sent you to the Jade Pavilion.”

  Sam smirked as he and Amin came to the bottom of the staircase and into the amphitheater. “But the equinox is here. Doesn’t the winner want to claim their prize?”

  “I haven’t decided on the winner yet.” Berchta’s fingers grazed her brooch. “And I won’t be rushed.” She tilted her chin. “Still, it probably makes it easier that you are here. It will focus the gods’ minds, and we will cease with this buffoonery.” She crooked a finger at him. “Come and sit by my side. I need to decide what to do with this boy, squirrel, and dead badger.”

  Theo flinched at her words, but Sam did not move a muscle. Amin began to laugh. “It is you who will take orders from us, not the other way round,” he wheezed.

  Berchta peered disdainfully at Amin, almost as if she was only just noticing him. “What are you talking about, you little runt?” She sneered. “I’d actually managed to forget that I’d even left you festering in the Jade Pavilion. I really should have put you out of your misery after your better half abandoned you.”

  Amin’s face twisted with fury. “You know nothing of misery . . . yet. It is time for you, all of you, to be eradicated.” He snatched the bear claw from Sam’s hand. “The cyphon calls you. Return to the beginning. It is your end.”

  Berchta’s eyes went wide. “No, it cannot be.” She threw up a hand as if to shield herself from the claw, and then she threw herself to the floor. There were screams as many of the gods scrambled from their seats. They climbed over one another to get away, a blur of hooves, tails, and scales. Those that could fly took flight. Buzz spotted Zelus carrying away a grateful-looking rainbow serpent.

  The believers watched their gods flee, and those who still seemed to be under their spell were awoken. “What are we doing here?” Buzz heard Mrs. Garrison cry. “I have a delivery of hydrangeas due.” She staggered out of the ruins. “And why on earth am I dressed like this? I look terrible in yellow.”

  Others followed her, and Buzz realized that although the people of Crowmarsh were looking around them as they left, they weren’t really seeing. No one even seemed to notice the giant badger that lay in the middle of the ruins.

  “Buzz, stop gawping,” Benjy said. “The time has come. You must finish planting those discs.” He dropped the cloak on the floor and stepped into it. A moment later he appeared next to Sam.

  “Hello, Amin,” he said. “It’s been a long time.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Age of the Gods

  “You,” Amin snarled. Buzz had never seen so much hate etched onto someone’s face.

  Then it was a clash of bodies. Benjy grabbed at the cyphon. Amin refused to let it go. Sam was caught in the middle.

  “Buzz, give ’em here.” Ratatosk was by his side and reaching into the sack. “Yer need to go and get Theo. He won’t leave Moritasgus, and it ain’t safe for him in the middle of that arena.”

  Buzz looked down at the squirrel. “There’re not many discs left, but you need to plant them. It’s not easy. The ground is really hard.”

  Ratatosk held up a paw. “I’m a squirrel. Burying small, hard, round things is what I do. Now go get Theo.”

  “Sorry, Ratatosk,” Buzz said. “Mary might need some help as well.”

  The squirrel nodded, and Buzz sprinted across the ruins to his friend. “You can’t stay here, Theo.”

  “I’m not leaving him.” Theo laid his head against the badger’s soft pelt. “He saved me so many times. After you left, it was Moritasgus who saved me from that feathered dragon thing, and he trie
d to keep me safe from Berchta as well.”

  “He’d want you to stay safe,” Buzz said gently. “Don’t let his sacrifice be wasted.”

  “Let go!” Buzz suddenly heard Amin roar.

  He turned and saw Benjy yank again at the cyphon. Amin’s tentacles were wrapped tightly around it and he was wrenched off Sam’s shoulder with a wet ripping sound. Sam dropped to the floor like a puppet who’d had its strings cut.

  Mary ran to him and flung one of her arms around his shoulder. Half dragging Sam and half walking him, she got him away from the battling Benjy and Amin. Behind her, Ratatosk continued to plant the last of her discs.

  “Just listen,” Benjy cried as he continued to wrestle with his other half. “The cyphon’s magic won’t work yet. But it will work. You must trust me.”

  “Trust,” Amin snarled. “You abandoned me. You left me for dead.”

  As they continued to tussle for the claw, the sound of cold laughter filled the ruins.

  “I was a fool to think that was a real cyphon, Benjamin. You were just trying to disrupt the equinox. The way you always do.” Berchta rubbed at her brooch. “But enough is enough.” Fire gathered at her fingertips, and then a jet of flame shot out at Benjy and Amin.

  “Benjy, watch out!” Buzz cried.

  Mary’s great-uncle threw up his cloak, ready to disappear, but he was not fast enough. Flame lit up the cloak and engulfed him and Amin.

  Mary and Sam rushed forward and dragged the cloak to the ground. Even as they patted out the flames, Buzz could see that something strange had happened—something he didn’t understand. Berchta looked on, a smile on her lips. When the flames were extinguished, Mary held up the cloak.

  “Benjy’s gone,” she sobbed. “Amin, Benjy, and the cyphon. They’re all gone. They’ve disappeared.”

  “What a pleasant surprise. My magic worked even better than expected.” Berchta dusted off her hands and looked around at them all. “Right, just you lot to tidy away now.” She crooked her finger and Sam, Mary, and Ratatosk were plucked off the ground and dumped next to Buzz, Theo, and the very still badger.

  Berchta strode toward them, staring down at them, her face strangely sad. “And now, time to destroy you all. What a waste. You could have been a great god, Sam. I wanted to change the world.”

  “Tell me what it would have been like,” Sam begged, and so Berchta did. She spoke of a world where mortals lived for their gods again. Where gods got to decide the fates of men and were the puppet masters once more. She went on and on, and Buzz wondered if Sam was trying to delay the goddess. If he was, they were still out of options.

  “It would have been glorious,” Berchta finished.

  “I could still be.” Sam scrambled to his feet, leaving the badger he’d been sitting next to. “It was Amin’s idea to find the cyphon. I can see now that this was wrong. Give me another chance.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Mary said. “You’re betraying us again?”

  Buzz couldn’t say anything at all. Deep down he’d thought it was Amin turning Sam to the darkness. But that isn’t true, he realized. Sam had abandoned them, and Amin wasn’t even there to drip poison in his ear. How can he do this? Buzz wondered, staring at his friend. Sam looked tired, maybe even a little weak, but it was most definitely him making this decision.

  Berchta’s eyes were uncertain. “Don’t think I don’t want to. With your potential, you could have led us into a renaissance. Once you’d learned all there was to learn, it would have been the reign of the gods once more.”

  “It still could be. Let me prove my loyalty to you.” Sam turned to look at Buzz and the others. “Let me destroy them.” He smiled. “Let me blow them up into smithereens.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The Return

  Ratatosk bared his teeth. “Yer a nasty piece of work, young man. Do yer know that?”

  Sam ignored him.

  Berchta’s eyes were pleased, but then her smooth forehead creased with suspicion.

  Sam sighed. “You seem hesitant to give me an answer, Berchta. Are you worried that I’ll do a better job than you when it comes to eradicating them?” He looked down at his hands and wriggled his fingers experimentally. “You’re probably right. I’m a new god, after all. Young. Fresh.”

  “Sam, you don’t mean this,” Buzz said. “It doesn’t matter what happened between us. We’re your friends.”

  Sam did not even bother to look their way.

  “I’ll do anything,” Buzz implored. “Give you anything. Just stop. Please.”

  Sam finally looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “What, you’d even give me issue eight of Captain Phantom?”

  “Yes,” Buzz cried. “Anything.”

  Mary shook her head. “This is crazy. He’s toying with you, Buzz, and I can’t believe you guys are talking about comics at a time like this.”

  “Yes, stop teasing them, Sam,” Berchta said. “It’s mean.” She grinned. “Let’s put them out of their misery, and I’ll do the honors, thank you very much.” She looked thoughtful. “A fire bolt or an ice bolt.”

  “What’s the most powerful?” Sam asked.

  “They’re about the same,” Berchta said. “But an ice bolt is my favorite. You get to keep a souvenir.” A surge of magic left her fingertips.

  Everything slowed down. Buzz watched a flare of white fire come toward them. It was quite beautiful; it had tiny ice crystals in it. He saw Mary hold Ratatosk close. He saw Theo close his eyes and sink farther against the dead badger, but Buzz couldn’t close his eyes. Destruction was racing to meet him, and he couldn’t pull his gaze away. Through the film of his tears he saw Sam turn his head from them and begin to edge backward, as if he couldn’t bear to see what was about to happen or even be close to it.

  Then Buzz felt something. A surge of heat from behind him. He turned. It was Moritasgus. He was standing on his feet, and a golden light poured from the badger’s chest. It was a liquid gold, much more powerful than the light that had protected Theo from Huitzilopochtli’s spear. The gold flowed over them, creating a dome just as Berchta’s ice bolt hit.

  Just like the spear, Berchta’s bolt bounced off the force field and ricocheted straight back at the goddess.

  It hit her. Before she could move an inch or even utter a cry, she was frozen solid.

  Buzz took in a gulp of air. “What just happened?” he asked. “How did it happen?”

  “I don’t care.” Mary was hugging Ratatosk even more tightly. “We’re still here and not a huge block of ice. That’s the important thing.”

  “Help,” the squirrel squeaked. “Get off me, will yer?” But Buzz thought Ratatosk actually looked quite happy in Mary’s embrace.

  “You’re alive.” Theo’s arms were around Moritasgus.

  “Thanks to that young man over there,” the badger said in a deep voice.

  “What young man?” Theo asked. They all followed the badger’s gaze over to where Sam stood watching them a few meters away. He looked nervous.

  “’Ave yer lost yer mind?” Ratatosk cried. “He’s the one that betrayed us.”

  The badger shook his head. “I was as good as dead. Right on the threshold. I could even hear the Great Bear calling me, but then I felt that boy’s hands on me. I heard his voice, and I felt his power as it flooded into me. He told me to protect you all but to wait for the right moment.”

  “He set her up,” Buzz said. His eyes went wide. “Just like Captain Phantom did to Crusher Zero in issue eight.” He ran over to Sam. “You tried to tell me your plan,” he said, stopping just in front of him.

  “Yeah, I saw what happened earlier with that spear. Thought I might get it to work again.” Sam looked down at his feet. “Sorry if I scared you, mate. Sorry for it all. I wasn’t myself when Amin was on my shoulder, but once he was gone, I could see how stupid I’d been.” He ran a hand through his hair, dislodging his jade circlet. “It just felt nice to have someone who would listen to me. Who thought I was good enough.”

/>   Buzz shook his head. “You were always good enough. It was me who messed up. Wanting magic and danger instead of appreciating what I actually had.”

  “Trust me, mate, I get it,” Sam confessed. “It felt amazing to be that powerful, but I feel much better now that I’ve given it all away.”

  “Your power’s gone, then?” Mary asked as she joined them, along with Ratatosk, Theo, and Moritasgus.

  “I’ve got what’s left of it,” the badger said cheerfully. “And that’s not very much at all.”

  Sam shrugged. “I had to give him all of it to bring him back with enough juice for that force field.” He held up a hand, and the badger gave him a high-five. “Nice work, by the way.”

  “Thanks,” the badger said. “It was quite a shield.” His face fell as he looked over Sam’s shoulder. “I’ll try my best to do it again, but there’s not much power left.”

  Buzz followed the badger’s gaze. Coming down the stairs of the arena was El Tunchi. Behind him were Buzz’s mother, sister, and Mary’s grandmother.

  “Oooooooookayyyyyy.” Theo drew out the word. “I’m not gonna lie. I don’t get this. Who’s the green guy, and what is he doing with your families?”

  Buzz swallowed hard. “His name is El Tunchi, and he’s come to take me away. And there’s not a thing we can do to stop him.”

  “Buzz,” El Tunchi said. “It is good to see you again.”

  Sam, Theo, Mary, and Ratatosk all stood in front of Buzz.

  “Well, it’s not good to see you.” Mary glared.

  “You’re not taking him,” Sam added.

  “No way,” Theo continued.

  “No how,” the squirrel finished.

  El Tunchi opened his mouth to reply, but Tia put herself between him and Buzz’s protectors. “Everyone just calm down,” she said. “No one is taking Buzz—at least, if everything goes to plan. But thanks for looking out for my little brother.”

  “Tia, what are you doing here with him?” Buzz asked. “What are any of you doing here with him?”