Qayset smiled, cutting off the fish’s head. “Why?”
“Because when gods angry, gods destroy.”
“That what you think. What witches think. Not what I think.” She halved the fish, ripped out the skeleton, and laid it flat on the rock to dry in the sun.
“You have no stories about gods? You have no…sacrifice?”
“No, same as you,” she muttered, heading back to the water with her spear to hunt for more.
It was true the Gogepe did not invent names and histories for the gods the way that the Petzuhallpa did, and the only sacrifices were self-inflicted and usually by the Rhagepe. Still, the pull he felt towards the gods was not something recent. The existence of his people was dependent on the gods. Whatever visions the gods sent the Rhagepe would filter down and affect all of them. People who ignored or insulted the gods would either be abandoned or punished. That was the entire reason he was in the Grey Mist.
“What about Ilotz’ai? Are your gods same for Petzuhallpa?”
She was quiet for a moment as her eyes followed something beneath the water. “Gods have no names. Have no stories. The jungle is god, and we…” She threw the spear into the water once more, this time frowning, having missed. “We only crawl on god’s back. You say you speak for god. You say god angry. Maybe god is, but nothing you do can change this.”
He’d stopped asking her questions after that. He hated to think that she was right. The Rhagepe had told him he would speak for the Goddess of Rebirth. But did the Goddess of Rebirth even care that he’d been sent on her behalf? The gods were angry and had decided to send a flood to wash them away. The gods never said they’d change their minds even if the Whisperers could convince everyone under the sun to follow the old ways. He didn’t want to think about all of that, so instead he stopped asking for her help and started going on his own, focusing instead on the next phase of their journey.
From here the journey would be by ship, first west along the Nupemo River into the Great Sea, which they called the Nupe, and then heading north along the shore. After the misery of the jungle, Sha’di couldn’t believe that he’d no longer have to help cut through thick foliage or clamber over large roots. No longer would he sleep on the damp ground and be surrounded by the dark trees, so full of dangers. Maybe it was because he was still recovering from his sickness, but he felt relief and happiness.
Their ship was being made ready, and in a few days they would be able to leave. Sha’di felt like his journey was nearing its end. He turned from the lake and made his way back to the village surrounding the Setzi’ikimopa pyramid. He followed the rather wide river, watching the fishermen out on their small dinghies, while children splashed in the shallows and women came down to fill water pitchers.
He could see the top of the pyramid jutting out of the trees. This pyramid was taller than the ones he had seen so far and looked very different. Tenok had told him the lands of the Petzuhallpa were split into three different parts, and that distinction was clear from the look of their pyramids. They had left behind the lands of the Nuktatl, who live atop their pyramids, an encircling ramp being the only way to the top. Now, they were in the lands of the Achaw-na-huitl. Here they built tall, step-pyramids, a set of steep stairs ascending the four sides. And atop the step-pyramids, instead of the lord’s home, was a temple—a temple where the human sacrifices were carried out.
He caught sight of Belam near the docks, standing next to their ship. It was a long and narrow ship with just enough width for two men to sit side-by-side. In the middle, was an awning thatched together with vines and dried leaves. To drive the ship were twenty short oars.
Belam saw him and waved, and he returned the gesture as he turned towards the pyramid. Belam had been put in charge of hiring men to help take them north. The stout man had been so busy he’d barely spoken to him since recovering, but he wanted to find Qayset. She still hadn’t decided if she would stay with them, likely not wanting to leave the jungle where she felt secure. She claimed it was because the hunting was better in the jungle than up north in the open fields.
Most of the homes in the village were the familiar thatch huts, but the huitls lived in stone houses that looked like miniature step-pyramids, painted in amethyst and sapphire stripes. He was sharing one with Tenok, and although Qayset had been given a place to stay, she was normally in Sha’di’s room. One of the few times they had managed to speak, Belam had teased that Qayset had taken a liking to him, but Sha’di couldn’t help but notice she was always distracted whenever they were alone, with her eye on the door, as though she was hoping someone else would enter the room.
He found Tenok, Qayset, and Xupama in the front room of their small pyramid. Xupama wore his usual flustered and annoyed face, but Tenok had a solemn look. He couldn’t see Qayset’s expression since her back was towards him.
“So, that’s your decision?” Tenok asked, nodding his head thoughtfully.
Sha’di made a sharp intake of breath, feeling as though he’d just tripped and was falling. Nnenne squawked uncomfortably by his ear. The other’s turned around, surprised by the sudden intrusion. Qayset looked troubled and tired. Her eyes were dark and bloodshot from lack of sleep. He felt a pang of guilt, knowing that was because she’d had so many sleepless nights caring for him. Sometimes, he still woke up gasping for breath, and Qayset would be at his side, forcing a cup of some god-awful concoction down his throat until he was choking on that as well. It was terrible, but afterwards, he could breathe, and sleep, and dream…
“What you decide?” Sha’di managed to ask, trying to appear calm but his voice sounded strangely high pitched.
“It shouldn’t be her decision to make.” As Xupama spoke the feathers on his impressively high headdress shuddered. “The Ilotz’ai have no place in the retinue of a huitl.”
“Unless that person has saved our lives,” Tenok gave a sideways glance up at the tall man, who immediately tightened his mouth and looked like he might start to sulk. With a softer face, Tenok turned back to Qayset, smiling. “Without your knowledge of the jungle, we’d never have made it this far.”
“I would be dead,” Sha’di smiled, but what he thought was a light-hearted remark just made Tenok frown and Qayset look more troubled.
“I know jungle plants and jungle medicine. The field is strange to me; my people not go there. I no help in that place,” Qayset shook her head.
“It’s not your medicines we need; it’s your spear,” Tenok frowned. There was something troubling him, something other than the loss of his brother or the dangers of the journey. There was something he was keeping to himself.
“Her spear?” Xupama sneered. “What makes her better with a weapon than any of our men? If it wasn’t for this reckless woman’s spear—”
Tenok’s head whipped around, slapping Xupama with such a hateful look even Sha’di felt like he’d done something wrong. Everyone knew what he was going to say. They’d all heard Xupama mutter it under his breath or outright scream it to her face. No one blamed Tanuk’s death on Qayset, save for Xupama.
“We do not know what course our lives would have taken if Qayset hadn’t been hunting that day,” Tenok’s voice was shrill, his face becoming dark. “All we can know is that when that jaguar came across us, it was Qayset who killed it before it could claim anyone else. She’s never owed us anything, but she has been our guide, our hunter, and our healer. If I could I would have her by my side for the rest of my life!”
The silence was crushing. Sha’di felt a strange light-headedness, and Qayset suddenly couldn’t take her eyes off the floor. Her lips curled up into the faintest shadow of a smile. Something dark passed over Xupama’s face.
“Whatever my huitl wants,” he said, bowing exaggeratingly low, and quietly slinking out of the room.
“He oversteps his place too often,” Tenok muttered, watching him go. He sighed and looked slightly embarrassed by his outburst. “The truth is…Well, the Achaw-na-huitl and the Nuktatl have never been on goo
d terms, and with everything that’s been happening with the Ellpe, things have been a little tense. I need more people I can trust, and I trust you. Once we reach Chipetzuha, my father can pay you whate—”
“I will go,” she said softly.
Tenok’s face instantly lit up, like clouds parting for the sun. “Really?”
She nodded again, and finally looked up, her smile making her sharp features look all the more stunning. “I know jungle too well; maybe it time to learn new places.”
Sha’di sat in the front hall of their shared home. A tiny firepit in the centre burned. Belam and the three other warriors who had chosen not to return to Chultunyu lay around it snoring softly. He held a cup Qayset had given him to help him sleep, but he just swirled it in his hand rather than drink it.
“Belam, why Petzuhallpa hate Ilotz’ai?” Sha’di asked as he stared at the dying fire in the centre of the small room. Belam was closest to him, his back to the Whisperer, obviously trying to sleep even if he wasn’t successful. Sha’di didn’t want to sleep. Maybe he had slept too long when he was sick. Maybe he was just nervous for their journey to continue the next day.
Belam sighed, opening his eyes and turning towards the Whisperer, clearly annoyed. “What are you talking about?”
“How Xupama is to Qayset. The things he say—” Xupama’s dislike of Qayset just because she was one of the Ilotz’ai made him think that Qayset must feel uncomfortable in the presence of so many Petzuhallpa. There were few tribes among the Whisperers that fought, but they did exist. Bitter rivalries often formed, and when the Rhagepe could not find peace between them, there were often fights to the death over wells or oases.
“Oh, don’t compare us to Xupama, please,” Belam rolled his eyes, shifting onto his side to see Sha’di better. I’ve never met a man more confused about who he is and what he wants. He hates everything because he doesn’t understand anything.”
Sha’di caressed Nnenne, who was curled up in the nook of his arm. “So… your people are friends?”
“Friends? With the Ilotz’ai?” Belam frowned. “To be honest. Before meeting Qayset, I thought the Ilotz’ai were probably just a legend. Don’t go into the jungle alone, or the Ilotz’ai with get you, my mother always used to say. We share the same land, but we don’t share any bond.”
“How two people share same land but not know?”
Belam laughed. “Have you forgotten the jungle already? A thousand people could be living along the same stream and never meet.”
“But I—”
Belam groaned, closing his eyes. “Go-man, for the love of your gods and mine. Let me sleep.”
“Yes, sorry…I—” but he stopped himself, listening to Belam’s breathing, which had become deeper. Sha’di fell asleep wondering why the Ilotz’ai had decided to separate themselves from the Petzuhallpa. Wondered if they had run away out of fear, or if they had simply preferred to wander the wilds.
It was a hazy morning, the mist thick and warm as broth. The four seats under the awning were given to Tenok, Xupama, Qayset, and Sha’di. Sha’di felt awkward and kept offering to take one of the oars, but Tenok flatly refused.
“If you come as an emissary for the gods, you must be treated as one,” he said with a mischievous smile. Sha’di wondered when Tenok had found his smile again. Was it before he recovered, or was it when Qayset had emerged once more from the jungle?
Though swift and wide, the river was calm. They moved fast along the water, and soon the pyramid was out of sight. Sha’di had expected that once they left the village, the thatch houses and simple wooden quays along the shore would disappear, but the presence of man was at every bend of the river. There was not a single edge of the river that was not inhabited by some hut or gathering of people who waved at them as they worked.
The four seats faced each other. Tenok and Xupama facing forward, while he and Qayset were moving backwards. Xupama had his arms crossed, frowning as he stared at the riverside. Sha’di felt an overwhelming urge to kick the man in the shins and berate him for not being in awe of everything around them.
“It is so…beautiful,” he remarked instead.
Tenok smiled, but it seemed to be just a polite gesture. Qayset, however, looked at him, her eyebrows raised ever so slightly.
“Beautiful? What is beautiful?”
He couldn’t tell if she was angry or maybe trying to tease him. There was a playfulness to her eyes, her angular features and the bone piercings scattered about her face always made her look slightly angry though.
“Well…” Sha’di looked around, motioning towards the trees, the houses, and numerous people. “The river. Everything. In desert, life is…not much… uh, very little.”
“Scarce,” Xupama corrected without looking away from the passing shore.
“Ah,” Qayset nodded knowingly. “Only man from desert think water beautiful.”
“You don’t?” Sha’di asked defensively.
“The river is dangerous place. The people dangerous. The water dangerous.”
Tenok chuckled softly.
“People, maybe I understand,” Sha’di frowned. “How water dangerous? Water life—”
“The water is dangerous,” Tenok finally interjected. “I know in the desert you have very little of it, and what you do have you must dig for, but here…Well, you’ve seen the rains, the streams. The lake and the river. And yes, water is life. Where there is water, life is endless. And much of that life…is dangerous.”
“Dark things in dark waters,” Qayset said with narrowed eyes. She reminded him of the Rhagepe, telling ghost stories to keep the children from acting naughty: Be good or the nnamra’shi will eat you! Don’t be selfish or you’ll end up trapped in yourself too! And on, and on…
“Is not so dark…” he said, looking down at the waters. But the river was very dark. The river moved swiftly, so dirt and other things were churned up. He couldn’t see the bottom nor anything swimming beneath the surface. He had the inkling that if he stuck his arm into the water up to his shoulder, he would lose sight of his hand.
“If you’re so afraid of the river, you shouldn’t have come,” Xupama sneered.
Qayset turned towards the man slowly. “Afraid? No, there is no afraid. Only… aware. Dark things exist, and I know…they are, dangerous.”
When the sky began to darken, they looked for an open dock and found one next to a house with a large woman who insisted on preparing a great feast for them. No matter how much they ate, the food never ended, and when they finally fell asleep curled up on the deck of the boat, Sha’di had a content smile on his face.
He thought he was awake, but knew he must be dreaming. He couldn’t explain how he came to this conclusion, or how it was that he could see himself lying on the boat. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t make a sound. He could only look at his still form, sleeping between Belam and Tenok. A mesh cloth was hanging over each figure to keep mosquitoes from biting. The night was black, moonless, the stars blocked out by the clouds. The river had become a terrifying pit of darkness, in which the boat floated.
Sha’di focused on the darkness surrounding them, feeling something dangerous within its waters. The boat and the people around him disappeared, and then he was alone with the sound of water. There was a splash, and then he saw a ripple cut through the gentle waves. There was something in there.
His legs wouldn’t move. He wanted to turn and run, but he was detached from the world around him. It’s just a dream! he reminded himself, and he closed his eyes tightly to make it go away. He was like a child, burying his head beneath his cloak to make the dark things go away.
He woke again, in earnest this time, a strange gurgling noise echoing around him. He pulled the mesh veil off his face, having become tangled in it, and saw the grotesque figure at the bow of the ship. It seemed like just a mound of flesh, and it wasn’t until the clouds parted ever so slightly to allow a sliver of the starlight through that Sha’di could see it was a man lying prone—one of the men
Belam had hired to join them, his eyes bulging out of his head, his mouth open in a silent scream. Something thick and black had coiled itself around his body, and it was squeezing the life out of him.
Sha’di forgot the word for snake in his own tongue as well as theirs. He had never seen one so large, and the terror of realizing that it existed chilled him. A garbled noise somewhere between a scream and a genuine attempt to warn of the danger struggled from his throat.
Belam was the closest to the danger, and that was probably what woke him up. He looked around confused for a moment, beginning to yawn. Then he saw the giant snake strangling the man only an arm’s reach away.
Belam was immediately on his feet, screaming a word Sha’di couldn’t understand. He had a knife in his hand, and he lunged at the snake, pushing the knife in until the blade had disappeared into its glistening flesh. The snake reacted immediately, it’s long tail jerked out of the water and grabbed Belam, curling around his waist. Belam began to struggle, but with a sickening realization Sha’di could see that Belam wasn’t strong enough to fight its grip, and his screams were beginning to sound like the horrible gurgling choking noise that had woken him.
Sha’di regained some of his senses. He had to do something. He jumped over an oar and stumbled over to Belam’s side, grabbing hold of the snake and pulling. The snake was so thick Sha’di couldn’t even get his hands around it completely, and the wetness from the river and its writhing made it impossible to get a proper grip. He tried punching and scratching the thing, he even leaned over and bit it, but the snake only coiled tighter around Belam.
There was a sudden terrible hissing noise and Sha’di looked up to see the open jaws of the snake, wide enough to bite his face off. The snake lunged at him, and Sha’di felt frozen by its cold, topaz gaze. Then there was a woosh and a thump and the snake’s head was gone. Sha’di blinked, and then saw the spear that was now imbedded into the side of the boat, having passed effortlessly through the snake’s open jaw, pinning it to the deck.
Pekari -The Azure Fish Page 14