The Serpent and the Crown

by Sam Puma

  “Well hello there!” Valera said to the bird with a big smile. It raised and lowered its wings, and lifted one foot after the other.

  “Wow! I’ve never seen a bird like this before. All blue!” Jankaro looked it up and down, taking it into memory.

  “He’s looking at you,” said Valera.

  The bird steadied its wings and Jankaro saw that she was right, it was looking directly at him. It lifted one foot, then the other. Jankaro reached out his forearm, and the bird walked out onto his arm.

  He held it up close and gazed into its eyes.

  “Where did you come from?”

  It slowly lifted its wings and lowered them. It turned to look over the sea to the east, then back at him.

  “Long flight, eh? You must be tired.”

  “Looks like he has found a new home.”

  “Wait.” Jankaro said as he slowly moved the bird away from his body. He remembered there was another animal that awaited contact with him. “I’ve got to go out and find Ixtlayo.”

  “Ah, so you do know his name.”Valera smiled a knowing smile and winked at him.

  “I think this one should go with you,” said Jankaro. He reached out his arm and Valera was happy to offer up her own. The blue bird stepped over onto Valera’s arm.

  “What the hell is this?!”

  Jankaro’s exalted moment with Valera and the blue bird was broken by Titus charging up the stairs. He pushed Jankaro in the chest, nearly knocking him over the wall.

  “Get away from my woman!” He seized the blue bird and, over Valera’s cries, grabbed it by the head, snapped its neck, and threw it down.

  Jankaro was enraged.

  “Curse you!”

  He tackled Titus, pinned him on his back on the wall walk and punched him twice in the mouth. Before he could punch him again, Titus pushed him off. They grabbed each other’s arms and grunted as they tumbled over each other and tried to gain control of the fight. Valera yelled at them to stop to no avail. Titus overpowered Jankaro, pinned him down and squeezed his throat.

  “Help!” Valera called out, and tried to pull Titus off. “Titus stop!”

  “Jungle rot! You deserve to die!” Titus growled.

  Anhael arrived with a group of soldiers and pulled him off before he took Jankaro’s life.

  “He’s rotten as a Cruxai, trying to take my woman!” Titus screamed.

  “We were just talking!” Jankaro’s voice was raspy from being choked. “Curse you!” He was gasping for air but still wanted to fight. He leaned toward Titus but there were two soldiers at his sides restraining him. “You didn’t have to kill the bird!”

  Rafael came running up to them. “Separate them.” He went over to his brother. “Come on, let’s cool you off.” Two soldiers restrained Titus and they followed Rafael.

  Oranos arrived and tried to comfort Valera, who was distraught and crying.

  “I’m so sorry, papa.”

  He was not her father, but he held her as if he were. He started to lead her away. Jankaro was breathing heavy, still restrained and trying to calm down. Oranos shot him a stern look as they walked away.

  “It wasn’t Jankaro’s fault, papa. You know how Titus can be sometimes,” she said in between sobs.

  “I know child, I know.”

  He stopped for a moment, turned and spoke to Jankaro. “No war council today. Go ride your beast. We will talk tomorrow.”

  He turned his attention back to Valera and led her away.

  Jankaro’s head hung low with regret. All that was good felt broken. He looked at the dead bird on the wall, and his throat choked with grief. Anhael placed his hand on Jankaro’s back, and it was just the two of them. Anhael’s smoke filled the air, and he sang softly as he caressed the back of Jankaro’s heart.

  “Don’t worry, this will all blow over,” his voice was calm like the fog that gently caressed them.

  Jankaro looked at the bird and his voice quavered as he spoke. “That bird…”

  “I have never seen one like this here,” said Anhael as he knelt down by the bird, folded its wings over its chest and picked it up. “I will show you how to honor him.

  “This is a koori,” Anhael continued as they walked down the steps. “From the islands in the sea. Some call them palika. Rarely seen on the jungle coast. They never come up here in the mountains. So strange that it came up here. Perhaps it wanted to tell you something…” He looked up at Jankaro and raised one eyebrow.

  “I thought I was making a new friend, then I almost got killed. Someone should chain him up.”

  “You should stay away from Valera.”

  “And Titus too.”

  “Now that you are on the war council, he will be unavoidable. Come on, let’s break down this bird.”

  Anhael led Jankaro to the work room. Men were working building the armor and dust was flying everywhere.

  Anhael led him into an attached room where all was quiet.

  “You eat this bird and it gives you strength. You eat too many of these birds and it will make you weak. It is tasty meat, or so I have heard; I have never eaten it… hey! I just had an idea… you can give this to your Ashtari to eat. It will help you win him over. We will save the tail feathers and make a fan.”

  “Well, uh…” Jankaro was still feeling shocked and stunned from the fight as he looked down at the bird.

  “You have an affinity with this bird, like it means something to you.”

  “Affinity, yes. But it’s not clear. Everything happened so fast. It was a link that could have turned into a bond, there was so much more, but Titus destroyed everything. I want to destroy something of his.”

  “Jankaro,” Anhael put his hands on his shoulders and faced him. “You can’t do that. He is the king’s son and that would turn everyone against you. You would be dead before you had the chance to regret it.”

  “I know. I want to do what you suggested. I will keep the tailfeathers and offer the rest to the Ashtari. That way this bird does not die in vain, his sacrifice becomes a gift.”

  “Exactly my friend. I am proud of you.”

  Together they worked on separating the tail feathers from the bird and cleaning them. “Allow me to finish making the fan for you while you are out there with the Ashtari.”

  “Thank you.” Jankaro remembered his time in the dark chamber, and the moment when he watched his grandfather bless the initiatory hunt. He remembered the fan made of macaw tail feathers that his grandfather used to smudge his father and the other hunters. Anhael reminded him of his grandfather: so generous with his guidance and friendship, he felt like family. But Jankaro still hid what he was feeling. He wanted to give the fan to Valera and that would need to remain his secret. He embraced Anhael, put the bird into a sack and started out to meet Ixtlayo.

  “Jankaro, wait. It’s not safe out there. Yesterday you could have been ambushed. The Cruxai always attack at night, but they have scouts that stage ambushes by day. Not that they would want to mess with an Ashtari, but you never know; the element of surprise can be very powerful. Wear your armor and bring your sword and bow and many arrows, just in case.”

  Jankaro was so pent up with emotion, he just wanted to get outside the city and ride away, yelling to the skies while Ixtlayo charged up and down mountainsides. He didn’t want to tame him or bring him back to get civilized. He just wanted to ride him, wild and free, wherever the beast would carry him. The scent of Anhael’s smoke lingered faintly in the air and the sound of his mother’s song touched the back of his mind, and he calmed himself just enough to offer a stoic reply.

  “Thank you. I will.”

  Cruxai were the farthest thing from his mind but he knew Anhael was right. In the end, they were his true enemy and Titus, whether he liked it or not, was his ally. He clenched his jaw while he suited up with his armor and weapons, then headed for t
he front gate. The bow and quiver felt like too much, so he left them behind in favor of a pair of daggers tucked into his boots.

  Jankaro walked for a few minutes through the tall grass over the first two hills. No one was around, but a scout passed by on horseback from time to time. The sun was warm and the wispy clouds softened the heat. The armor was heavy and tight and he wanted to strip it off. His spirit had grown weary from the constant struggles that he had faced. He stopped and watched a condor gliding on a wind current high in the western sky.

  He started walking again and realized it would be a long walk to get back to where he had left Ixtlayo. He wondered if Janesa might come back to offer him a ride again. His thoughts became reality a moment later, when she came riding over a hillside and up to him.

  “A new day and a new tale of your exploits. You okay?”

  He grimaced and looked over her shoulder, squinting up at a condor.

  “I told him I would be back at the same spot today to see if we could ride together again. I think he will come.”

  “Allow me to offer you a ride,” she smiled and gestured up at the horse, letting him know that she didn’t judge him for what he had done.

  He wondered how the story had sounded when it arrived at her ears. He wondered if she might be jealous after hearing about the sweet moment he shared with Valera.

  They were up on the horse riding together, and he couldn’t help but slip into the state he had been in the night before. He stopped noticing the changing scenery around him, forgot about the fight with Titus, and he didn’t even think about his looming encounter with Ixtlayo. He simply took pleasure in being with Janesa, taking in the smell of her hair, his hands on her waist and his chest pressed up against her back. He felt her heart beat and her presence warmed him. She could ride down into the jungle and paddle away in a canoe out into the open sea and he would gladly follow.

  She stopped the horse on the top of a hill.

  “I think it is a little farther,” she said. “You can walk the rest of the way. I don’t want to risk spooking this horse. Her fear is rising, so I know we must be getting close.”

  Jankaro wasn’t ready to dismount just yet, but reluctantly slid down off the horse and smoothed out his crinkled armor.

  “Thank you for the ride.” He smiled up at her, but she seemed cold and detached.

  “There is something I should tell you.” Janesa’s face was serious and she could barely meet his eyes. She scanned the horizon for movement. “I sense that you want me.”

  Jankaro’s mouth dropped open and his breath caught in his throat. “Uh…”

  “I am not available.”

  “Oh.” He felt a burning in his chest as he let the disappointment flow. “You already have someone.”

  “I am not available to any man.”

  Jankaro scrunched up his face and looked perplexed. Janesa dismounted from her horse, keeping one hand on the reigns while she knelt down on one knee and touched the leaves of a small shrub that grew from the rocky hillside.

  “This is my teacher. Anhael gives you plants to help you. This one is helping me. I eat it every day and her spirit comes to me in my dreams.”

  Jankaro was confused. He didn’t see what that had to do with him. “But couldn’t we still…?”

  “No.” She interrupted and stood to face him. “All my attention is devoted to her for this time. For one year, all of my attention, when I am not occupied with service, goes to her. She is teaching me the ways of medicine, so that I might be a better servant to my people. All of my attention goes to her. That is the medicine path of my people, the people of the jungle. Anhael is teaching me these ways. His father was a healer and passed his knowledge to him. I decided to serve in this way and this is what I must do to learn. It is not time for me to be with a man and make a family. If I am still alive in a year, there could be a chance for that.”

  Jankaro saw the dedication in her eyes, and couldn’t bring himself to argue with her.

  “Knowing this about you… it makes you even more beautiful. If the Cruxai had not come and destroyed my village when I was a child, I would have known more about these traditions. I went through so much when I was down there in that chamber. So much changed in me. I went in there as a child and came out a powerful warrior. I know that I have the plants to thank for that. And the people who carry that knowledge of how to use the plants.”

  “Do you remember those plates of food that came through the hole in the bottom of the wall?” Janesa asked. “And the bucket of refuse that came back clean every day? Someone was on the other side, taking care of that for you. I was part of that team, helping you to become what you are now.”

  Janesa mounted her horse again, and Jankaro simply stared at her with a sense of wonder. Titus had tied his insides up in a knot, but looking at her and knowing the gift that she had offered in service to him warmed his heart all over again. He simply stood there and looked up at her while the wind stirred and blew his hair across his brow.

  “I wasn’t sure about you when I first came for you today, but now you look like you are ready to meet him.” She smiled. “I think I smell something.” She scanned the horizon to the north, and the horse stirred. “I’ll be around for a while, patrolling the hillsides and gathering medicine. Some other scouts will be in passing too. Keep an eye out for Cruxai. If you need help, use this.” She handed him a ball of clay. “Strike it on a rock and throw it into the sky.”

  Jankaro felt the heat of his emotions flowing through his body and welcomed the rising winds and darkening clouds as he walked down the next hill. He saw scattered bones of sheep and other creatures. He looked up to the top of the hillside just north of them and saw Ixtlayo standing there looking down at him with his blue stripe blowing in the wind.

  He rumbled a little, then trotted down to meet Jankaro. He slid the last few feet and sent dust and debris up at Jankaro’s face. Jankaro coughed and shielded his eyes. After a moment he reached up to try to touch Ixtlayo’s face, but at the same moment Ixtlayo reached out and nudged Jankaro with his paw, and sent him stumbling to his left. Jankaro recovered and Ixtlayo jogged in a circle around him and reared up on his back legs. He came crashing down with his feet to either side of him. Jankaro ducked and looked up at the lighter, softer fur of Ixtlayo’s chest. Ixtlayo reared back and snorted.

  Jankaro felt heavy with the armor and the burdensome emotions of his heart. He didn’t want to run and leap up onto Ixtlayo’s back like he had before.

  “Will you let me up onto your back?” He called out to the beast.

  But Ixtlayo seemed restless, and continued to move and bounce and growl, and take the occasional swing at Jankaro. It occurred to Jankaro that he was standing in front of a ferocious beast that would kill a man just to pass the time. He wasn’t anywhere near feeling the boldness from the previous day, and didn’t feel like he would be able to mount him.

  From the corner of his eye he saw a condor flying and he remembered the blue bird that he carried in his pack. “Hey! Ixtlayo! I’ve got something for you!”

  He called out with excitement and a flicker of hope came over him. He had lost the chance of making a friend of the blue bird, but Anhael had been right to send it here as an offering. He opened up the bag and softly chanted his mother’s tune as he lay the dead bird gently on the ground. Ixtlayo’s eyes lit up and he stooped over to sniff the bird. He sniffed two times, took the bird into his jaws, chewed it up and swallowed it, feathers and all. By the time he was finished, Jankaro had settled onto his back. He clung to thick hairs of the Ashtari’s blue stripe as Ixtlayo reared up on his hind legs, pawed the air, and roared. Jankaro recognized the conflict brewing inside of Ixtlayo’s heart. His wild Ashtari nature wanted to fling Jankaro to the ground and eat him. But Jankaro was reaching out for him with all the power that the jaguar man and his cohorts had bestowed upon him, and he knew this Ashtari was unique; they
had a bond, and they were meant to be together.

  Ixtlayo roared with such ferocity that Jankaro flew from his seat and clung to the hairs of the Ashtari’s blue stripe. He steadied himself, regained his seat, and roared back with his own battle cry. Ixtlayo lunged forward, and took off sprinting to the west, in the direction of Dorfin, the presumed location of the Cruxai horde. In the blink of an eye, Caladon and all the drama with Titus was far behind. Ixtlayo ran south, east, and north, criss-crossing the countryside, making groups of sheep and other furry creatures scatter as he rampaged up and over hills, across rivers and through forests. There was a smile on Jankaro’s face again as he felt rain crash into his cheeks. He laughed at the surprised look on a monkey’s face as it dropped its fruit and leapt out of the way of Ixtlayo’s shoulder as it crashed into the branch on which he was perched.

  They passed by a ruined settlement by the light of the setting sun. By this time Ixtlyao was tired from the running and stooped down at the river to drink. Jankaro leaned back and turned his head to look at the crumbled stone walls of what once could have been a small Galdean city. There was no sign of life.

  “Ixtlayo, let’s go over there.” Jankaro tried to steer the beast, and to his surprise, the Ashtari obliged. They slowly walked through the town. They found no bodies of Cruxai or Galdeans. He wondered if there had been a battle or if the people had simply fled to Caladon before the Cruxai arrived. It reminded him of what happened to his own village, to his mother and grandparents. His heart was hurting again, and he reached down to touch the hilt of his sword to remind himself there was something he could do to make it stop. He looked down at Ixtlayo’s exposed fur. “If we could just get you into the yanigo armor, we could kill every Juruga together. You and I, I know we could.”

  Ixtlayo rumbled his affirmation. Jankaro recalled the Juruga who slayed him in the underworld, and the Ashtari hide that it had used to trick him. He was sure that there had been Ashtari lost to the Cruxai, and that would help him enlist Ixtlayo.