Tezca had butterflies in his stomach. He didn’t trust Yuma worth a damn, but… Yes, this was the right path.

  “What do we need Jade for?” Tezca asked. “I’m guessing she’ll be more than a nice decoration.”

  “Come here, Luca,” Yuma said, snapping his fingers. The creature jumped out of the water and scurried over. “This is an axolotl.”

  “Hell,” the creature said. “I’m better than a water bottle, but not as good as a well.”

  Yuma rapped the creature on its head with his cane. “Despite all the annoying chatter, they are mystical creatures with diverse and incredible utility. They are the genetic equivalent of the Philosopher’s Stone. Luca here will copy Jade’s divine genotype. We will then transpose that genetic profile onto the populace. It’s relatively harmless, if you care.”

  Tezca furrowed his brow.

  Noting Tezca’s confusion, Yuma said, “Essentially, it allows us to undermine the Granter and her erratic machinations. Any individual with the genetic alteration who happens to become Hallowed will be a Vessel of Jade’s power.”

  That was not what Tezca was confused about, but he un-furrowed his brow to make it look like he understood.

  Yuma continued rambling. “Using Jade’s corpse to boost their power, the Vessel will be capable of generating a powerful and ever-present storm that will ravage these lands for generations. Note that being directly connected to the goddess and constantly flooded with her power will drain the Vessel’s life force despite their Hallowdom. Each one should last about a century. I will give Luca to you, so you can always refresh the gene pool.”

  The axolotl did a little dance.

  Tezca seized on the one thing he’d understood. “What the hell do you need a giant storm for?”

  “You are going to be a guardian, Tezca,” Yuma said. “Jades temple—or should I say your temple—houses a Spike, a Matrix site, and you will serve as an obstacle to any who might seek the Nadir. It is a role of critical importance.”

  “Okay, okay,” Tezca said, nodding. “That does sound exciting. How often do I need to be present in the temple?”

  “Hm? You can go out for walks and such any time you like, but you can never leave.”

  Tezca deflated. “No. No, part of the reason I killed her was because I don’t want to be trapped. I want to be free. I love being in the wild. I can’t spend forever underground.”

  “Relax,” Yuma said with a dismissive wave. “Time starts to fly after the second century, trust me.”

  “B-But what about my dream of trying every food? I need to travel all over the World to try the most exotic things.”

  “I will come up with a way to provide you with whatever you want.”

  “I enjoy the hunt,” Tezca said, his stomach twisting in knots.

  “The hunt?” Yuma said with a scoff. “That’s uncouth. You should become a chef instead. Find the artistry in the culinary. Don’t be a savage.”

  Tezca opened his mouth to argue, but… maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. If he became a better cook, he’d eat better food. He swallowed, licked his lips. Be careful, he told himself. “I’ll need a kitchen with fancy technology. A Kaia stove. And a fully stocked spice cabinet. And wine. Lots and lots of wine. Old World vintage.” He held in a sigh. If he was gonna be trapped, he’d at least be drunk.

  Yuma pointed at him with a wink and a glittery smile. “Old World wine. Now that is couth. I’ve quite a cellar myself.”

  “Oh, can vegans drink wine?” Tezca asked.

  The king didn’t hear, or maybe just ignored the question. He’d taken a metallic device out of his pocket and was tapping on it with his fingers. Then he put it away and brought out a cigar.

  Yuma lit the cigar, took a few puffs, and then passed it to the axolotl. The strange creature sucked down half of it and then belched out a cloud.

  “Dung in the lungs, fun in the sun,” Luca said, passing the cigar to Tezca.

  When Tezca reached out to take it, Yuma snatched it away. “Sorry,” Yuma said with a grimace. “You just look so filthy, you understand? I make Luca brush his teeth. You clearly… don’t.”

  Tezca nodded. “I forgot my toothbrush at home.”

  “Our ride will be here momentarily,” Yuma said, turning away.

  Yuma and the axolotl puffed away in silence, and Tezca finally had a moment to breathe. He tried to tell himself that this didn’t have to be the end. If he could just survive this encounter, he’d be free to… do something. Run away from his prison, if he wanted. But maybe he wouldn’t want to. Ruling over the Malikauans did seem an even more delicious prospect than killing them. He would give this languid life an honest try. But he would not rest on his laurels. He would bide his time and master his magical powers. Then he might have a chance.

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  “Er, King Yuma?” Tezca said.

  “Just Yuma is fine. I’m not some asshole who needs others to kiss his feet with titles.”

  “Could you- If we’re both Hallows, could you teach me about how it works? Is that really my ability? To puke out babies?”

  Yuma tossed his cigar, and the axolotl snatched it out of the air with its giant mouth, swallowing it whole while it was still burning.

  “Hopefully not,” Yuma said. “That would be stupid. Luckily, Nirva is rarely so restrictive. It can evolve and be manipulated. Wishes are fickle and transient things. The Granter enjoys games, but she hates rules.

  “I expect if you take the time to learn, you’ll find yourself capable of much more than puking up infant versions of yourself. But no, I won’t teach you myself. I have not the time nor the desire.”

  Tezca nodded and silence fell again. His mind ran in circles, like stew being stirred in a pot.

  A low rumbling sound transformed into a barrage of sharp, splintering cracks. The jungle shuddered and shook. Chittering animals and screeching birds could be heard panicking.

  Looking into the thick, Tezca glimpsed a metal monstrosity—two of them, actually, one in front of the other. Amidst a cyclone of mud and leaves and bits of wood, the vehicles left broken fields in their wake as they chewed through the jungle and spat it out.

  Tezca backed away as they came closer to the grove. Seeing that Yuma was unperturbed, he tried to keep his cool. Malikau possessed only one powered vehicle, and it was nothing like these. Tezca was reminded of the first spliced creature he’d ever eaten—a turtle mixed with an alligator.

  The hulking trucks had a lumbering way about them. Their armored gray bodies bounced up and down atop six man-sized wheels. Embedded in the treads of one wheel, Tezca saw a torn-up and flattened jaguar corpse, spinning round and round.

  Jungle debris clung to the mud that caked each vehicle. Visible through narrow windows, the drivers sat in elevated cabins. Larger, rectangular-shaped hulls rose behind them, over a story tall. Mounted beneath the cabs and spanning the width of the fronts were angled metal shields with whirring blades attached. Those things devoured trees like they were sticks of celery and spewed out minced earth like meat grinders.

  Tezca clamped his hands over his ears against the high-pitched whining sound that was like a thousand buzzing mosquitoes. Yuma and Luca backed up to where Tezca stood as the trucks entered the grove, halting on the ruined border.

  Yuma waved as the driver of the foremost vehicle opened the door and climbed out. This man also wore a suit—white with thin black stripes. His skin was blue and glowing. He sneered at Tezca as he came to stand before Yuma.

  “Summon the other transports, H’René,” Yuma said. “We need to gather this man’s villagers and bring them to Jade’s temple. About a thousand, he claims.”

  “Mm, yes, sir,” the man named H’René said. His thick foreign accent reminded Tezca that he’d stepped into a larger world.

  “Where are you from, H’René?” Tezca asked. “And what’s the most exotic food from your land?”

  The blue man grimaced so deeply that his thin mustache curled beneath his jawline. He held that face as he turned back to Yuma. “Mmmm? Is he some sort of, mm, idiot, or something, sir?”

  “So it would seem,” Yuma said.

  H’René slapped his thigh. “Fucking Cassandra.”

  Something metal clattered and one of the trucks shifted as footsteps pattered within. A procession of men and women came out from behind the truck. They all wore short shorts and shirts with tropical designs.

  Yuma raised both hands and waved them back. “No, no. I appreciate the enthusiasm, guys and gals, but she’s quite heavy and I don’t want anyone throwing their back out.”

  Without a word, the leader of the tropical gang turned on her heel and the others followed suit. As they climbed back inside the truck, Yuma went over to Jade’s corpse.

  He rolled up his sleeves and picked up the enormous bird effortlessly—even though it was now made of solid crystal. He carried it one-handed, like a waiter carrying a tray. Then, without breaking his stride, he jumped onto the top of the truck and set Jade down on the roof.

  “Do you know the way to your village, Tezca?” he called.

  Tezca gulped and then nodded.

  ***

  Tezca dusted off his hands. “And what’d you say we leave off there? What follows is the butchery, enslavement, and indoctrination of your ancestors, Challe’Jade. So, maybe you’d rather just fill in the blanks yourself. But, as I said, they betrayed and murdered me first, so it was all just good old-fashioned retribution. That’s what makes the World go round.”

  Challe had chewed off half of her finger as Tezca told his story. Her eye twitched. She shook with rage. Beside her, Gwil sat cross-legged with his backward head bowed, his face pointing upward. He was sleeping.

  ‘You see now, daughter? Share my fury, drown yourself in my wrath. This awful, gluttonous, disgusting man cannot be permitted to exist. He is a detriment to the World.’

  Challe looked down and tried to focus on her breathing. You never spoke to me before.

  ‘I was limited by the crucifixion. And my being dead, too. I had to dig my way into your soul.’

  “Rude,” Tezca said, nodding at Gwil. He bobbed his head from side to side. “Anyway, just imagine me and my five clones all sitting together enjoying a fine dinner. Life was good, for a long time. Better than I deserved, perhaps. But I see now how centuries of luxury made me lazy. I lost some of my fire, y’know? I should be roaming the World, crushin’ skulls and chowin’ down. Oh gods, am I having a midlife crisis?”

  “You had Luca this whole time,” Challe said through clenched teeth. She kept her eyes down. “You didn’t need to perform the sacrifices.”

  “That’s true,” Tezca said, nodding. “I’ll be the first to admit, I got swept up by the religious fervor of it all. Funny, considering I’m the one who made it all up. Goes to show how powerful that stuff can be, eh? But you all got so worked up about the sacrifices. It was like a holiday. I couldn’t just take that away.”

  Challe looked up at Tezca, and something inside her snapped.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” she screamed.

  Gwil jolted awake, arms flailing.

  “You did all this—enslaved thousands of people for centuries, all because you wanted to EAT A FUCKING JAGUAR? I’m gonna kill you!”

  Challe stood and reached for Tezca. Then she lost control of her body. All her limbs went stiff, and she floated upward, raised by tendrilous black clouds. The lightning coursed through her veins.

  ‘Yes, daughter. Destroy it all. Leave this profaned temple in ruins. Let my floods wash away the desecration.’