The Serpent and the Crown

by Sam Puma

  “Look!” Jankaro shouted and pointed. “There’s someone fighting them! There are humans attacking them from the trees! We have to go back down and help them!”

  Ixtlayo grunted and tried to turn his head around. He seemed to be gesturing at the arrow sticking out of his neck, telling Jankaro to pull it out. Jankaro’s heart sank when Ixtlayo refused to charge back down the hill. He obviously wanted to save his strength to get them back to Caladon. Jankaro pulled out the arrow and threw it to the ground. Ixtlayo continued on over the hill as Jankaro looked back wondering: who were those people? He wanted to help them, but he knew Ixtlayo was right. They needed to get back to Caladon.

  Ixtlayo’s Army

  Ixtlayo pressed on while Jankaro drifted in and out of consciousness. He tried to stay awake but he was weary from his trials. His shoulder ached and he fell off a couple times. His head ached mightily as he came down from the high of the juzi stick and when he hit the ground after the second fall he was slow to get back up.

  “Curse this war,” he grunted and wished there was something he could do to escape the pain. If he could just lie down and sleep. But he knew the Cruxai could still be after them. He hoped the people back at the lake had defeated them. Someday he would return and offer them a gift to show his gratitude.

  He made it up to a seated position and looked around. It was getting late in the day. They must be getting close to Caladon. Where were the scouts? Where was Janesa? He would feel rejuvenated by her presence. He wished she would ride up and greet them. But there was no one around and the area looked unfamiliar. “Ixtlayo are you sure we’re going the right way?”

  Ixtlayo roared an affirmation. He seemed very certain about the direction he was taking. Jankaro dragged himself up to his feet and onto Ixtlayo’s back. He wanted to complain but was sure Ixtlayo wouldn’t stand for it. He had taken far more arrows than Jankaro and was clearly fighting his own pain. He set off jogging east again and Jankaro slapped his own face to keep himself awake. He looked for scouts or any sign of familiar territory but there was nothing but the rolling hills, rivers and scattered copses of trees. The condors circled above and he didn’t like the sight of them. They seemed to follow them as if they were waiting for their death so they could feast on their corpses.

  “This is not the way, Ixtlayo.” He looked far ahead in the distance and saw the terrain flatten out into the vast expanse of the jungle. “Caladon is up north. I want to go home too, but we need to get back and warn them!”

  Ixtlayo growled angrily. He couldn’t be reasoned with. He just kept heading for the jungle. Jankaro worried as he imagined the Cruxai advancing over the gates of Caladon without his sword there to help with the defense. He could hear Orion, Rafael and Titus cursing him as they fought without him. At least they had the yanigo armor. But with all the bridges the Cruxai built there would be no stranding the horde on the other side while they let in a few thousand to be slaughtered. This would be a different fight and the Cruxai were smart enough to learn from their defeat. The anxiety gnawed at him as Ixtlayo pressed on through the scattered palms. A toucan fled in front of them and Jankaro cringed. They were on the fringe of the jungle and making their way in. “Ixtlayo, what are you doing?!” Ixtlayo responded by roaring with increased irritation and pressed onward.

  He stopped at a stream to drink and Jankaro dismounted. When Ixtlayo finished drinking, Jankaro confronted him. He got right up in his face, looked him directly in the eyes and spread his arms wide. “What are you doing?!” He shouted in desperation. “Caladon is THAT way, you cursed coward!” He pointed emphatically and spat the words at Ixtlayo.

  Ixtlayo’s eyes blazed with rage as he roared viciously in Jankaro’s face. “Ixtlayo.” He self-righteously rumbled out his own name as he swatted Jankaro in the chest with his paw and knocked him flying backwards. He landed on his back, bounced, skidded and came to a stop. He was too exhausted to get back up. The vultures circled above him, his head throbbed in agony and his arm felt like it was about to fall off. He rolled on to his side and crawled to the water’s edge. He knelt down and drank the brown water from the stream. Something swam up at him. The crocodile’s jaws lurched open and he was too weak to do anything. But Ixtlayo was not angry enough to watch his friend die. His paw came down on the crocodile’s back and pinned him down. He held it there while Jankaro pushed himself away from the water’s edge. Ixtlayo let it back up and it swam away down the river. He turned and leaned his face down close to Jankaro. He growled his own name softer and gentler this time, and through the haze of his own pain, Jankaro was able to gather the meaning of what the Ashtari wanted to say: trust me. He was asking Jankaro to mount up again and let him lead the way. Jankaro knew his only other option was to walk back to Caladon and that would take more than a week. The mounted Cruxai would find him and kill him before he arrived.

  As crazy as it seemed, he knew his only choice was to mount Ixtlayo and ride him into the jungle. He was curious where this was going to lead, and that gave him the strength to get back up. He had to let go of the Galdeans and the war and just be the man who rode the Ashtari. He realized it wasn’t such a bad thing to be, and it was what he always wanted from the very beginning of his journey. His headache receded as he stood up and climbed back up onto Ixtlayo’s back. “Okay. You lead the way.”

  Ixtlayo sighed, exhausted from the emotional struggle. He trotted through the river and no crocodile was big enough to bother him. He made it across the last patch of open space and into the dense jungle, his kingdom.

  It was shady and cool under the canopy. All was quiet save the crunching sounds of the plants smashed under Ixtlayo’s immense weight. Jankaro felt a calm come over him. He wondered how far he was from Olaya. He wished his people could see him now. They would be shocked and so proud. He wished Chesta and his monkey family could see him too. He would bring them along for a ride on Ixtlayo’s back.

  Ixtlayo stopped. He looked around, listened and smelled the air. He grunted and knelt down, indicating he wanted Jankaro to dismount. Jankaro suddenly felt vulnerable as he slid to the ground. Ixtlayo took a few more steps forward and stopped. He was listening for something. “Ixtlayo, what…” Jankaro wanted to know what he was hearing, but Ixtlayo turned and hissed at him as if to shut him up.

  Jankaro was anxious but he collected himself and watched as Ixtlayo sat back on his hind legs and took a series of deep breaths with his eyes closed. He remained still as a soft, rumbling growl dragged from his throat. He repeated it on every exhalation, louder each time. The yanigo armor stretched and creaked from the pressure produced by his deepening breaths. He continued with the deep inhales and rumbling growls while he stretched out his jaws as wide as he could. He moved his lower jaw side to side and all around, getting it nice and loose. He stuck his tongue out as far as it would go and stretched it out in all directions as his drool dribbled to the ground. Small birds perched on his head and back but he was oblivious to their touch.

  Jankaro watched, wondering what Ixltayo was up to. He tilted his head back, angled his mouth straight up, opened his jaws as wide as they would go and held them there. He continued breathing slow and deep with the same rumbling sound. Jankaro heard a loud pop and cringed as Ixtlayo’s lower jaw dislocated and opened far wider than any cat’s jaw was meant to open. Ixtlayo’s next breath was the deepest of them all, and the yanigo armor started to split and crack from the tension of his expanded ribcage.

  He held his breath for a moment, and there was complete stillness and silence all around, as all life in the jungle paused to listen. His breath came out slowly and with it came a sound like a human voice singing a song and holding a note. It grew louder and raspier and turned into a drawn out roar. It was so loud it hurt Jankaro’s ears. He roared louder and louder and the roar was etched with a tremendous pain that brought Jankaro to his knees. He wept as he felt the suffering of many beings booming out from Ixtlayo and filling up the entire forest. He curl
ed up in a ball on the ground, closed his eyes and covered his ears. Ixtlayo was releasing his pain and doing what he needed to do to get ready for the battle ahead. Was that it? Jankaro couldn’t hold a thought. He remembered the early days of his childhood and seeing the grief in the men’s eyes. He didn’t know the reason for it back then, but now he knew, and he wept all the more.

  The roar continued and Jankaro was aghast to see the images that passed through his mind’s eye. The horde brought Caladon to the ground and headed for the jungle. They swept through the jungle, killed everyone and everything, cut down the trees, polluted all the rivers and turned it into a wasteland. Ixtlayo’s roar gradually receded and rumbled to a halt. All was silent once again as the sunlight faded.

  Ixtlayo’s jaw popped back into place and he stood. He took a step to his right, wobbled, tried to catch himself by lurching to his left, but his eyes rolled around in his head, he lost control and collapsed. Jankaro reached out his hand but that was all he could do. He still felt like a disturbed infant, haunted by the images and curled up in a little ball.

  Jankaro awoke the next morning to the lapping sound of a rough tongue licking his left cheek. He opened his eyes and a deep worry settled over him. Caladon was soon to be under siege and he was lying down in the jungle being licked by a… kodkod.

  “What the…” He gently pushed the small cat back from his face. He had seen them before but they would never let him get within twenty feet of them. They were afraid of humans and always ran away, even when he offered them treats. He always tried to convey that he meant no harm but it never worked, he could never get close. But here was a little spotted kodkod staring up at him expectantly, awaiting his response. He stood up and noticed the ache in his shoulder had receded, although it was a struggle to lift his arm.

  He looked around for Ixltayo and saw him lying on the ground, having a similar experience with a jaguar. A jolt of fear shot up Jankaro’s spine when he saw the cat was about twice his size. But he calmed himself as he fingered his sword and reminded himself of the warrior he had become. A jaguar didn’t particularly concern him. But as he looked around he saw something that did. He was surrounded by jaguars. There must have been at least fifty of them pacing around Ixtlayo. Some growled impatiently and others wrestled with each other. Jankaro turned around and there was one right behind him. He jumped back and drew his sword, making crashing sounds in the underbrush. The jaguar hissed at him. They stared each other down while others gathered around. It rumbled at him and held its face in a threatening expression as its eyes gleamed with rage. Jankaro sweated as the other jaguars closed in around him. Their low growls filled his ears and his kodkod friend was nowhere to be found.

  Ixtlayo lurched up from his slumber and roared. The jaguars scrambled in all directions as Ixtlayo trotted to Jankaro’s side. He knelt down next to him and Jankaro didn’t hesitate to climb onto his back. Ixtlayo stood and roared again. The jaguars stopped their scrambling and formed a circle around Ixtlayo.

  He roared again and the jungle sprang to life all around them. Jaguars came trotting in from all directions and circled Ixtlayo. There were 500 of them, gathered to await the command of Ixtlayo. He roared again and 500 pumas circled in behind the jaguars. He roared again and over 1000 ocelots, cloud leopards, kodkods and various other small cats crowded in around him. Jankaro smiled and patted Ixtlayo on the back of his head. “So this is your army.”

  Ixtlayo reared up on his hind legs and Jankaro held tight. He roared and trotted off, crashing through the trees as he made his way north. The other cats scrambled out of his way and fell in behind him. Jankaro, Ixtlayo and 2000 other cats began their march to Caladon.

  Ixtlayo was on the move, and the other cats had a hard time keeping up. The smaller ones lagged far behind. Jankaro grinned as he recognized what Ixtlayo had done. They were bringing a whole new dimension to the battle.

  After an hour of marching at a quick trot, Ixtlayo paused to catch his breath and let his army catch up. It took the jaguars and pumas a few minutes to reach him, but the smaller cats continued to trail behind, far off into the distance. Jankaro was brimming with anticipation and hoped Caladon was close. He hoped they would arrive in time to help defend the mighty city. He knew he would likely be criticized harshly by Titus if they were to arrive after the battle had begun. He didn’t want to think of what would happen if he arrived after the battle was over. He snatched his mind away from the dark thoughts and imagined victory. He knew that Ixtlayo would kill some Jurugas, and he hoped that they would kill them all. Once that was through, the Galdean army could ride out with the jaguars and chase down the broken fragments of the Cruxai horde in the open field. Ixtlayo rumbled and embarked again. The tired cats struggled to keep up with him and the smaller ones trailed far behind as they trekked through the day.

  After sunset, Ixtlayo slowed to a halt in a shallow valley and crept slowly towards the top of the hill ahead. The wind howled in his face and Jankaro picked up the smell of the horde. When the jaguars caught up they growled and grunted in disgust. They must have seen the same images of the jungle’s destruction transmitted by Ixtlayo, and they were ready to fight the Cruxai.

  Ixtlayo waited for another hour for most of his army to arrive and cluster in the valley and catch their breath. Jankaro was anxious to charge in and join the battle, but he knew that he was not the one in command. Ixtlayo was biding his time to make his charge with his army at full strength.

  When his army of cats had gathered and caught their breath, Ixtlayo strode up to the top of the hill. Jankaro saw Caladon in the distance, and the battle was already raging. The glowing bodies of the Cruxai horde stretched back from the gates, waiting for their moment to join in the battle.

  “If we attack them from the rear, we might not slow down their march in time to be any help. If we attack from the front, we might get hit with Galdean arrows.”

  Ixtlayo grunted, sharing Jankaro’s concern as the cold wind whipped across his face.

  Jankaro surveyed the jaguars, pumas, ocelots and other cats by the starlight and wished it was day. He wondered what kind of magic Ixtlayo had used to sway them, but perhaps it wasn’t magic at all. Perhaps he just cried. The image of his jaw popping out of place made Jankaro wince in pain. After all the running and arrows that Ixtlayo had suffered through over the past two days, he still carried himself with a strength beyond any creature that Jankaro had ever encountered. On the journey from the jungle his stomach rumbled with hunger, but he pushed aside his own needs as he stayed focused on the mission.

  Jankaro pulled the bow from his shoulder. It was one he had taken from a fallen Cruxai, and had likely been taken from a fallen Galdean. He had a collection of various arrows that he had scavenged along the way. He couldn’t remember. Was it the same sword sheathed by his side? In the Cruxai world he fought like them, taking whatever was there and using it. He looked down and saw the little kodkod who had licked his face staring up and him. It growled resolutely in a high-pitched voice. He was saddened by thoughts of how the little one might fare in the fight. He looked at the jaguars and many of them were bigger than Orion. They would tear apart the common Cruxai and hairies but would have no defense against the blades and the spit of the Juruga.

  Jankaro felt the presence of a spirit in the wind as a pleasant buzzing sensation stirred in his forehead. “Victory,” whispered the voice of the jaguar man. He was reminded of the spirit doctors in the chamber, the smells of the smoke and perfumes and the look of confidence in the jaguar man’s eyes. He could hear his mother softly singing the same tune he had heard then. His grandfathers joined in, turning it into a marching tune. It galvanized his courage and his chest filled with warmth.

  “Sing,” said the jaguar man.

  “Sing,” Anhael’s voice whispered in his mind.

  “Sing,” Oranos whispered from afar.

  Jankaro opened his mouth and sang aloud, chanting along with a chorus o
f ancestors within. He sang louder and the jaguars stirred all around him. They roared and grumbled and scratched the ground. Ixtlayo threw his head back, let out a loud roar, and started down the hill. Jankaro felt the killer instinct radiating off him, but he held back from a charge as they were still a ways off and he wanted the other cats to keep up. He trotted slowly, metering out his rage with frequent grunts and growls. Jankaro squinted ahead at the battle, trying to get a sense of what was going on.

  The battle was lit by flames that spanned the chasm between the horde and the front wall of Caladon. The Cruxai propped their giant wooden bridges on the wall and charged up and over to cross the chasm. But the Galdeans countered by setting fire to the bridges, and the glow of burning Cruxai bodies lit up the chasm as they fell to the river far below. Jankaro was alarmed by the contrast in numbers. The 200 soldiers that lined the top of the wall were met by a horde of thousands that stretched back down the road, up and over the hills and out of sight. He knew that they had more soldiers reserved for when the Cruxai penetrated, but it was still a shocking contrast.

  “Sing,” the jaguar man reminded him from within, and he kept up with the song. He noticed they were nearly within range of any archers who might see them and open fire. As they approached in darkness, they retained the element of surprise; the entire horde kept its attention focused on the gates of Caladon. He wondered if any Galdeans on the wall would notice the glowing cluster of cats approaching from the south, and whether they would recognize the familiar glow of him and Ixtlayo.

  Ixtlayo roared loud and fierce as he charged the front of the Cruxai ranks. He ran slow enough so the jaguars running at full speed could keep pace with him. The rest of the cats charged in behind. Jankaro’s song turned into a battle cry as he fired arrows at the nearest Cruxai. A Juruga finally took notice of the army of cats coming their way and turned his unit to face them. Ixtlayo charged forward, growling all the way. Jankaro dropped his bow and pulled his sword. He faintly heard his name shouted from the top of the wall as Ixtlayo leapt forward to pounce on the Juruga.