The Ancients

Lake Titicaca

Caral moved along the shore of the lake looking for the small animals that lived at its edge. He had snuck away from his guardian once again for he had been forbidden to come to the lake on his own. He was too young, could fall in and drown, or someone could snatch him were just some of the reasons his father had said during each reprimanding. But he was twelve, old enough in his eyes for the other boys of the city were allowed to roam as they please. He knew he was different from them but felt it unfair he was supposed to stay within their residence and its court yards. His father being an advisor to their leader should not put restrictions on him to his way of thinking. There should be more freedom, more encouragement to go exploring, not less.

Atop a large rock, he looked across Lake Titicaca and the ring of mountain tops surrounding it wondering how long it would take to walk all the way around it. It was a large lake; one he couldn’t picture it in its entirety. The day was calm, and the lake’s surface was smooth, reflecting the lighter blue of the sky and the few clouds drifting slowly by, and he imagined walking across it instead of around it, like in some of the stories his grandmother told as they sat around having evening meals. He didn’t understand the uniqueness of the lake, so high in the mountains, or how it was the largest lake in their continent. He just knew of its myths and legends, the scared nature of it, and it always fascinated him to explore its edge or fish in its deep blue waters.

A man waved while slowly rowing his reed boat across the lake, fishing net piled in its front. Caral waved back wondering which of the fisherman was heading out so late in the day. The man was too far out to see clearly, but by the posture and the large hat, he knew it was either Guruvilu or Sinaa.

Caral made his way off the rock and moved along the edge of the lake. He spotted a vizcacha bouncing and running over the rocky shore. It slipped under a rock, only its long bushy tail exposed at the edge of the crevice. He rushed to it where it was trying to hide, determined to capture it. As he came to the rock, bending down with hands stretched out, the tail disappeared as the vizcacha slipped further underneath the rock.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Caral uttered as he bent down to look in the crevice. It was too dark, nothing of the vizcacha visible. He thought of Zuhe, a son of one of the servants, and how he kept a vizcacha as a pet. There had been so many times he had wanted to pet it, to hang out with Zuhe when it was allowed to roam around a courtyard. But there were rules, rules he didn’t understand that forbade him from playing with Zuhe.

Stepping back, he looked at the rock, one nearly as long, as he was high. It was flat, about the thickness of a hand, and he knew it would be far too heavy for him to lift. He stared at it, wishing for some way to lift it, some means of moving it out of the way. There were the pulleys and ropes used in construction, those used to build the temple to Tamusi and an addition to their leaders personal dwelling. He tried to imagine how a pulley would be set up and knew even if he had one, how to properly use it was beyond his understanding. He stared at the rock, feeling angry at how it prevented him from getting to the vizcacha. His heart raced, his vision blurred for a second, then he shuddered, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.

The rock rose.

Caral stared at it, aware it was he, that lifted the rock. He didn’t understand it, nor felt fully in control, but he moved his eyes to the right and watched the rock follow where he looked. He felt a release, something within let go, and the rock dropped heavily on the ground. He looked in time to see the vizcacha take off in a run and he gave pursuit.

Araoche

Men worked along the edge of the rain forest, chopping, and cutting back the vine and trees that tried to encroach on the city. It was backbreaking work, but something a crew of men had to work at constantly. It was a pitfall of building a city within the forest, one constantly changing, new growth sprouting up wherever sunlight could get to the ground.

Smoke rose from the highest stepped mound in the center of the city, swirling and dissipating as it rose higher and higher, and in the market avenue that angled out from the base of it, the people were gathered. They bartered and haggled over the goods. Food from gardens, meat from domesticated animals or from the wild beasts of the forest, and hand made goods. In the hustle of the crowds, a young boy made his way through them, looking back often. He expects to be pursued, one of his mother’s servants come to take him back.

Aroteh was twelve, the son of a seer. His father was Marerewana, the king’s most trusted advisor. His father knew the strongest potions, the elixirs that allowed one to see into the future. Aroteh had heard the other men talk of his father, how he predicted such important events. The storm of two summers ago, the attack from the people of the mountains to the west, and the king’s fifteenth son, born to wife number eight, and how he would be the one to rule the city after his father went to Kipia to rule in the afterlife.

Aroteh rushed across the bridge over one of the canals and past the construction of another stepped mound, this one to the moon goddess, Periboriwa. The top would have the observatory where the seers could follow her path across the nighttime sky. He glanced up at the second level under construction, then turned back to the road ahead and ran.

“Aroteh! Aroteh! Stop. I said stop,” one of the servant girls yelled as she ran after him.

“Leave me alone,” Aroteh yelled over his shoulder.

He ran to the fork in the road where each one cut through a different section of the dwellings for the people of the city. He went right for the road was more crowded promising him a chance of escape. He ran among the taller adults as fast as his twelve-year old legs would carry him, until he came to a seller’s square, with carts along two sides selling vegetables and fruits.

“Aroteh!” the servant girl cried out.

Aroteh knew she was gaining on him, and he circled behind one row of carts and down to a basket seller’s place. Most were open, but along the back were tall baskets with tops hooked to them. He caught the seller busy with a customer and picked the one in the middle to climb in, pulling the top back into place. He sat quietly, looking through the small gaps in the weave of the basket watching for the servant girl. He saw her run past, then come back looking around confused. Then she looked his way, staring at the row of baskets as if she could see inside them. She smiled and moved between two carts and around to the back of the row of baskets.

Aroteh held his breath turning slowly inside the basket watching the girl come around until she stood behind the baskets. He watched her lift the lid of the first and frown. Then she lifted the lid of the next basket and frown again. He realized there was no escaping her unless he could find a secret way out. His imagination ran wild with crazy ideas, of tunnels beneath his basket, then of secret doorways only he could see. Then he imagined another type of secret place. One hidden in plain sight, within the very air. He imagined it, how it could open, no, unfold like a blanket, to a different space.

The servant girl opened the basket next to the one Aroteh had climbed in, seeing it was empty. She glanced down the row, seeing there were only five more to check. She smiled, for she knew Aroteh, how he thought, the little games he liked to play. He was here, she knew it. She just had to find him. She reached for the next basket, lifted its lid, and looked within. She frowned for it too was empty. She grew impatient at this little game Aroteh was playing and she snatched the next four lids off finding each one empty.

Back at the Marerewana dwelling within the main courtyard behind the trees that gave it shade and the bushes that surrounded their trunks, a distortion of space, then a reflection of light. The leaves rustled on plants near it, then Aroteh appeared, crouched down as if still in the basket.

The Shaman Comes

Uaica followed the ancient path up the mountain until he came to a rock outcropping. He stood on it, looking over the valley. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He sensed it, a change happening. One that would spell the doom of the city that was his destination. The weather patterns were changing and soon it would not be possible to live in such a remote, high elevation. It would be a long time before man could do it again.

Back on the path, Uaica used his staff to steady his walk, loose rock littering his way. He moved gingerly, careful with each step while contemplating how he looked to the people he passed. By all appearances a middle-aged man, but the truth was he had lost track of his age an eon ago. He remembered when the people first came to this remote place, found a means of living in it, and he came from time to time to offer his insights and warnings. He found his normal pace, thinking how this time it was different. He had seen the signs many years ago. The position of stars and distance planets that would give him the time to be prepared. Twelve years ago, he sat at his dwelling staring up at the nighttime sky and saw it was time. He knew there was no hurry, for it would take some time before everything would be in place. The boys needed to be old enough to make the journey and start their training.

He crested the next mountain and looked down at the wide valley, and near the other side at the base of the next mountain ridge, the city of Tiwanaku. He could see the smoke of alters and the cooking stalls down in the markets. The wind blew and he believed for a moment he could smell the cooking of meat and vegetables. To his left, the scared lake. It was enormous, lying within a deep valley among the high mountains. He knew it carried secrets, some not meant for men, but a smile came to him as he thought of all the myths associated with the lake. Men always looked for more than was there, impatient to let time and the collection of knowledge eventually give them the answers they sought.

Looking back at the city, he focused on it, stared at the bustling concentration of humanity until he sensed the one, he came in search. He sensed the boy and the power he already possessed. It was a dangerous time, for no one had been able to control the power giving them when at such a young age. He wondered why it appeared so soon in the boys, both only twelve, when it would be better if it had not appeared until they were men, eighteen at least. That had been the way with the eight.

A drink of water from the sheep skin, and Uaica began his descent following the path as it meandered down the mountain. The path followed the contours of the mountain, down through valleys and over lower ridges. He passed a few isolated dwellings and crossed deep gouges where small streams ran over the rocky bottom. It was getting dark by the time he got to the flat plain of the main valley, but he could see the lights from the top of the stepped mounds within the city and he increased his pace on the level ground.

Uaica came into Tiwanaku when it was dark, only the torch lights at dwellings and vendor stalls along the roads lighting the way. He came to the gate of the leader’s compound, the highest pyramid visible over the wall. He moved up the steps where two guards were posted. They began to move toward him to block his way. He waved one hand, just a small gesture, and the guards stepped back into position. They would barely perceive him as he passed and once, he had done so, they would forget they had ever seen him. He was a seer, one who saw things, but also could make others forget what they had seen.

He stepped through the gate and toward the dwelling he was in search. It was one belonging to an advisor. He had not met with Arguara in nearly fifteen years, but he had told him to prepare. There were the signs, the visions of things to come and he told Arguara enough for him to eventually understand. But he knew too much time had passed and Arguara would be forgotten, or would pretend to forget, hoping this day never came. But Uaica understood like time, some events would unfold as set by fate and the gods no matter how much humans tried to prevent them.

Strolling among the dwellings he could hear talking coming from courtyards or through open windows. He tried not to hear it for it was unimportant, just a distraction he did not have time to dwell. He needed to get the boy and continue with his journey. The next destination was far away, one that would take until the end of summer to make, and it was not in a place to be during the raining months.

He held his staff out in front of him when he came to dark section of the compound, the road barely visible in front of him. He waved the staff back and forth with its gold head piece with the emerald eyes. The eyes began to glow, then cast out a green light, and Uaica continued on his way. He knew it looked like some dark magic, smiling at the truth of the chemical mixture that glowed when shook.

It was only a short walk to the door in which he sought. He saw the metal disk by the door, with Arguara stamped into its surface. Below it the symbol for their sun god, which made Uaica smirk, knowing how futile it was to pray to some god. They didn’t listen. Never have, nor will they ever in the future. He knew the truth, that they were no gods, just beings with greater power and more knowledge, which to mankind made them gods.

Three taps of the staff against the door and Uaica waited. He heard voices, then the lock slide behind the door. It swung open enough for a servant to peer around the jamb.

“It is late. No visitors at this hour,” whispered the servant.

“Tell Arguara, Uaica is here to see him. It is about his son.”

The door closed and Uaica waited, knowing it would not be long. He heard someone yell, then someone coming to the door. It swung open, all the way, and Arguara stood in evening robes, hair down around his shoulders.

“Uaica? What brings you here at this hour?”

“Arguara, please. We both know why I’m here.”

Arguara frowned, then stepped back to let Uaica enter his dwelling.

The torches were burned down, the room dim in the late hours of the night. Uaica and Arguara had been talking quietly for a long time, then sat in silence nearly as long, drinking beer. The house was silent, Arguara’s family turned in long ago and the servants sent away. Their conversation was between them, and no one else.

“Uaica, I know what we talked about, but…” Arguara stammered, eyes getting teary. “He’s just a child.”

“I know, but its time.”

“How soon will you leave?” Arguara asked.

“Tomorrow.”

Arguara looked up in shock. “That soon?”

“It’s best. The longer I stay here the harder it’ll be for your family, especially his brother and younger sister. It will be especially hard on her.”

“It’ll be hardest on Ceucy.”

“Of course, a boy’s mother…” said Uaica, leaving the sentence unfinished. “I should get some sleep, so if you could be kind enough to show me where I may bed down.”

“Oh, yes, come this way,” Arguara replied, coming to his feet and leading Uaica to the guest quarters that sat opposite of the family dwelling on the courtyard.

Uaica woke early, requiring only a few hours of sleep. He came out to the courtyard to find the entire family sitting along the table under the portico. Food lay down the center of it and on the plates in front of each person, but he saw only Caral was eating. His sister and mother were crying softly, and the brother looked on the verge of tears.

An empty chair was opposite Caral, and Uaica eased down in it. A plate was passed to him, and he began to eat, slowly, more interested in watching Caral. The boy was like any other twelve-year old boy. Skinny, with his dark hair messed up. But there was something else, a secret the boy had kept from his family, one Uaica sensed. He knew a power had surfaced in the boy. Once they were underway, he would have to get the boy to show him what power he possessed.

After breakfast, Uaica stood outside the front door watching Ceucy hug the boy far too long. She was crying, asking why over and over. He looked at Arguara and an acknowledgment passed between them it was time.

“Ceucy, we have to let him go. I know you don’t fully understand, but…come on dear, let Caral go,” said Arguara as he got his wife to release their youngest son.

“Caral, are you ready to go,” Uaica asked as he watched the boy pick up his pack, the cloth bag made to hang from his shoulders.

“Yes, I’m ready,” Caral replied.

Uaica saw the boy was resolved to his fate, for there were no tears. Before him stood an adventurer, ready to head out into the unknown. Caral stepped out next to him and turned back to everyone.

“Good-bye ma-ma, pa-pa. Brother, take care of sister.”

Caral turned and started down the road, leaving Uaica to catch up.

Uaica walked at his normal pace keeping an eye on Caral to see if he could keep up. He knew most children of this age would eventually lag behind, but he was surprised to find the boy by his side every time he glanced around. He knew the boy had an adventurer’s mind, and it was obvious his family had not kept him within their control as much as they believed. Uaica smiled at the image of the boy sneaking out and going off on his own. It showed a cunning he would need.

They climbed the mountain that jutted out into the lake and walked along its low ridge toward the lake. They passed through a small village until the road curved around a rock outcropping where they were finally concealed from view. There was no sign of habitation around them. Just the dusty, rocky ground and the vivid blue sky above.

“Okay, young man, show me,” said Uaica, stepping off the road and resting on a rock.

“Show you what?” Caral replied, but he grinned; an acknowledgment he knew what was meant of him.

“Don’t be coy with me. I know you have some gift, some power, and I need to know what it is so I can train you.”

“Train me? For what?”

“That is a conversation for another day. Right now, I need to know what you can do. So, stop dawdling and show me.”

Caral looked around, then looked at Uaica, now sitting on the rock. He smiled with a mischievousness that made Uaica sit up. Caral stared at the rock beneath him, and it began to rise, slowly, until it hovered the height of a man from the ground.

Uaica held tight, frowning at the boy’s devious nature, knowing it would cause trouble later, but when he looked around and saw how high the boy was able to levitate the rock with him on it, he began to laugh.

“Okay, put me down.”

“Hang on. I’m not as good at setting things back down.”

“What?” Uaica exclaimed as the rock dropped down causing him to roll off on the ground. He stood, brushing off the dirt, and gave Caral a harsh look. The boy would need a lot of training, and some discipline too.

Uaica led Caral around the scared lake, north along valleys and over mountains until they came to a place they could look out over the great forests to the east. They walked for days, following roads, old paths, and for a short distance in the edge of the forest, paths created by the large animals.

Uaica had explained they were going north to another great city, one within the forest, and there they would pick up another boy. He told how the boy was like him, the same age and possessing some gift, a power that they would have to get him to reveal once away from everyone.

The days were long, hot, and often ended in a rainstorm, making them seek shelter. It slowed their progress but finally, after days within the forest, they came to the clearing where the city sat. Great stepped mounds dominated the skyline and before them the smaller buildings of dwellings and places of trade. They crossed a bridge over a canal that brought them out of the forest and made their way into the busy market.

Caral stumbled and bumped into other people and into things sitting along the edge of the road as Uaica led them through the throng of people. They were halfway along the road of the market when a young boy ran past them. He was young, like Caral, and he grinned at them as he rushed past.

“Aroteh! Aroteh! Come back this instant,” a young woman was yelling as she ran toward them. She stopped a few feet in front, looking around confused and aggravated. She turned to Uaica. “Did you see a little devil of a child run by here?”

Uaica wondered if it were possible, then shuddered at the thought of two such mischievous boys in his care. He turned and pointed toward a stack of rolled up rugs.

“I think the child you seek is hiding behind those rugs,” Uaica answered her, knowing the boy had slipped around behind them.

Uaica and Caral watched the young woman approach the rugs as if stalking some wild animal. She was literally tip toeing through the people moving about until at the rugs. She moved around the far side, then jumped behind them as if to capture the boy. Then she stood up staring at Uaica.

“I thought you said he was here.”

“He was hiding there. I sensed…saw him scoot behind them,” Uaica replied.

“That devil has a way…I’ve never seen a child slip through our grasp as easily as he,” the young woman uttered, aggravation evident in her tone. She turned and continued down the crowded road of the market, looking behind tables and in large jugs.

“That was him,” said Caral, then he turned to continuing walking down the road.

“How do you know?” asked Uaica, knowing he sensed something too, but he was not as confident.

“Just do,” Caral replied.

They moved through the market, crossed another bridge, and came into the open area that separated the market and dwellings of the people from the King’s dwelling and those of his inner circle. It included the seers, and it was the most trusted of the King that Uaica sought.

Caral followed Uaica toward the largest stepped mound, smoke billowing from the structure on top, as he thought of the boy. They were so similar in many ways. The same skin tone, the same black hair, and the same skinny body that concealed its strength and stamina. And he sensed the power, this hidden thing, and he felt dawn to the boy.

Three quick taps of the staff against the large wooden door, and Uaica stepped back to wait. Caral stood by his side, looking at the earthen walled structure with its upper walls made of wood. He looked through the windows of the upper level seeing nothing but darkness within. The bright light of day made the shadows within darker, concealing the interiors from him. He looked down the earthen wall, the way it was layered like the rock of mountains, down to a large gate set within its mass. He knew the gate led to a courtyard for there was no upper level or roof above.

They heard the slide of a bolt, then the door opened to reveal a manservant.

“Yes?” the manservant asked.

“I’m Uaica here to see Marerewana.”

“I’ll see if he is available.”

The door was closed, leaving them standing on the stoop. They waited for what seemed far too long, but then the door swung open again, quickly, all the way, revealing a middle-aged man dressed in fine colorful fabrics. He smiled at first at the sight of Uaica, then he frowned.

“Uaica, please tell me it is not time. It’s too soon.”

“I’m sorry, old friend, but I afraid it is.”

Marerewana slouched and suddenly looked weary. He stepped back motioning Uaica and Caral to come in.

“And who is this? The other boy?” asked Marerewana.

“Yes, it is he.”

“I’m Caral. I’m from Tiwanaku.”

“Tiwanaku? You came all the way from there?” asked Marerewana.

“Yes, and if I may be so bold as to ask, would you have something to eat and drink?” asked Uaica.

“OH, yes, I’m sorry, come on back.”

They were settled around a large dining table. The room had a stair on one side and large doors to a courtyard opposite. Marerewana had sent a servant to the kitchen for food, then he went to a side cabinet pulling out a beer, pouring one for Uaica and one for him. Then he poured a water for Caral, taking the mugs to the table. They sat in silence waiting for the food to arrive.

There was the sound of the front door opening, then being slammed shut, and a short time later the young woman from the market appeared at the door to the dining room.

“I’m sorry sir, but Aroteh has eluded me again.”

“Have you checked his room?” asked Marerewana.

“I saw him slip out this time and gave pursuit. He got away in the market.”

The sound of someone coming down the stair captured everyone’s attention. The feet of a young boy appeared then after a few steps, the young boy from the market appeared. He came down and entered the room, looking over at the young woman.

“Where have you been?” Aroteh asked.

“I saw you. You slipped out through the kitchen,” the young woman replied.

“But I’ve been in my room.”

A heavy sigh came from Marerewana and across the table a chuckle from Uaica.

“It’s okay, Amana, leave us,” said Marerewana, then he turned to his son. “Aroteh, take a seat.”

Aroteh sat at the table next to his father and directly across from Caral. They stared at each other, then grinned.

“I saw you at the…” said Aroteh, stopping himself from admitting he had been in the market.

“And I saw you,” replied Caral, causing Aroteh to put a finger to his mouth desperate for Caral to say no more.

“So, you were at the market,” said Marerewana.

Uaica looked at the young boy across from him. He saw how Aroteh stared at Caral. There was some connection between them. He sensed it. Aroteh was the mirror image of Caral. They could be brothers. When the boys grinned at each other, he knew it would be a bond stronger than that between brothers, and he pushed the idea aside. It was too soon to consider it. The first task was to get Aroteh and head to the north country. It would take days, much longer than the trip from Tiwanaku. It would be the first test for the boys. The long days on foot traveling through so many different environments. He knew the phases of the moon, the seasons some parts of the world experienced, and knew he would bring the boys into a harsh cold environment, arriving in the north country at the beginning of its winter.

The days walking caused Uaica to agree to a stay of a coupe of nights. Caral and he were put in the guest quarters and during the two days they slept in late and hung out in the courtyard or at the dining table. Caral and Aroteh played together and despite warnings to stay close, it was obvious the two boys were slipping out.

Marerewana spent the days with the king trying not to let the situation affect him. But each evening and late into the night, Uaica and he sat at the dining table discussing the boys. He knew what Uaica had seen. The things to come to pass, and how it involved his youngest son and the boy from Tiwanaku. He saw how quickly Aroteh took to Caral, something Aroteh had never done with any of the boys of their community.

Caral followed Aroteh around the city. The first day they explored the stepped mounds, the scared places on top, and some of the other buildings around the complex. The second day they sneaked away and explored the markets, weaving among the people trading wares or shopping for food.

Caral felt drawn to Aroteh, a feeling he didn’t understand, nor did he question it. It was just how he felt, and he followed him, studying his ways, wondering about the gift he kept hidden. Late in the day, the two of them back in the king’s complex, Aroteh led him to a small building used for storage. It sat behind a smaller stepped mound, a place few ever went. He lifted a rug and showed Caral a trap door.

“Where does it go?” asked Caral.

“Inside the mound. Come on, I’ll show you.”

They lifted out the wood panel and Caral followed Aroteh down the ladder to a tunnel. It was narrow and low ceilinged, with torches on the wall. Aroteh lit them as they moved along its length, until they came to a stair that rose upward.

“You have to keep quiet, or someone may hear us,” Aroteh whispered.

“Okay,” Caral whispered in reply.

They climbed the stair until they were in a small room. A door was on the opposite wall and Aroteh put his ear to it.

“I think we’re safe,” said Aroteh as he eased the door open, and looked around the jamb.

Aroteh stepped into a corridor and Caral followed. They moved past several doors, a few with voices coming from within, until they came to a door that looked like all the others, but Caral knew it was something special for the way Aroteh smiled before pushing it open.

Caral stood for a moment, stunned at what he saw. It was treasures like he had never seen before. Elaborately painted vases and jugs, gold masks lining one wall, and clay figurines of wild animals and gods, most the fertility goddess. There was one with a huge phallic and Aroteh touched it, making Caral laugh.

“Is someone in there,” a voice called out from the corridor.

“Oh no. Caral we can’t be caught in here: hide!”

“Where?”

“You have to hide,” Aroteh exclaimed in a forced whisper. “Hide yourself. I can take care of myself.”

Caral looked around the room as they heard someone get closer. There was nowhere a boy could hide. He looked up at the high ceiling and how it was dark, barely visible with the dim light of the torch.

“Caral, hide somewhere,” Aroteh uttered moving to the door prepared to try to hold it closed.

Caral relaxed, nodded toward Aroteh and rose. He rose higher and higher until up against the ceiling appearing to lay on it in defiance of gravity. Aroteh looked up astonished, then smiled. “So, that’s what you can do,” he uttered to himself, then he pictured his room. The space it occupied, and he unfolded the space he stood and before Caral could comprehend what was happening, he was gone.

Uaica paced back and forth, his voice quivering in anger as he lectured Caral about slipping out. It was dangerous, if anyone found out about him, who he was and from where, they would harm him. He rounded on Caral again, who sat scared of the old shaman for the first time.

“Where were you?”

“Just around.”

“Just around? Around where?”

Aroteh sat at the other end of the table. He was quiet, afraid to say anything after the lecture he received from his father. Despite coming down from his room, his father knew he had been with Aroteh.

“Around here, close by.”

“Uaica, I think the boy knows he did wrong,” Marerewana uttered in a calm voice. “You’re leaving tomorrow and…can we just have a nice evening together.”

Uaica looked back at his old friend and nodded his head. He sat next to Caral and leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

“Huitaca! You can bring the food in,” said Marerewana. At the sound of his voice, the rest of his family entered the room. It was obvious they knew the situation, that Aroteh was to leave with Uaica and Caral. They sat and watched the servants lay out platters of food, then a large bowl of soup. They were quiet for long time, until Marerewana asked his two older sons about their day. It seemed to relax everyone to hear the boys talk of their weapons training and studies with Paricaca, the king’s most trusted warrior.

Caral leaned closer to Uaica. “I know Aroteh’s power,” he whispered conspiratorially, smiling up at the old shaman.

Uaica smiled, nodding his head, then motioned for Caral to eat. He knew it had been chancy letting the two boys roam around on their own, but he also knew it was the best chance to find out about the power Aroteh possessed. The boys seemed to keep few secrets from the other, and he wondered if Aroteh knew the power Caral possessed. He looked over at Aroteh and saw him wink at Caral, and he had his answer. After dinner and once back in their room, he would find out what Caral knew.

It was early the next morning when Uaica stood outside, the two boys standing behind him, while he made one final goodbye to Marerewana. The two men hugged knowing it would be the last time they saw each other. The rest of the family stood just inside the door, silently crying.

Uaica stepped back and looked down at the two boys.

“Are you boys ready. It’s going to be a long journey.”

The boys looked up and smiled. “Yes,” they replied in unison.

Uaica led the boys through the city and back into the forest. Keeping the mountains to their left, they followed the roads that kept them heading north. They walked a cycle of the moon, maintaining their northernly direction. It was the first test of the boys, the journey itself. They kept pace and rarely complained. They moved north until the great sea to the west came into sight. A few days another great sea, one the boys were unaware come into view. It spread out to the east and north. Through thick jungle, across rivers and around swamps and lakes, they continued until after half a moon cycle they came to arid lands. They were similar to the ones Caral was familiar. They moved along the edge of it, keeping within zones of vegetation. When the great sea to the east came into view, they followed the curvature of the land. The boys grew stronger, their stamina increasing until they could increase their pace, traveling further during each day. When they found themselves in a storm, the winds howling and rains lashing at them, they moved inland and took shelter. It lasted for over a day, the worst of it the second night. The next morning the sky was clear but all around them lay fallen trees and low areas flooded with sea water.

They assisted the people and stayed among them for another night resting their bodies and feasting on the fish and seafood cooked in vast iron pots. The next morning, just as the sky began to lighten, the three of them set out.

A moon cycle later the boys suddenly realized the land became a great plain. Vast rolling terrain lay out in front of them with wild grasses turning brown. A herd of animals, so massive they turned an area black with their huge muscular bodies, while moving thunderously across the plains.

A couple of days later they came to a small mound in the ground and found the south side held an alcove that was a few steps down. In the alcove there was a door and Uaica held his staff to it. There was the sound of a bolt sliding then the door swung open.

“You’re not the only ones with secrets,” said Uaica looking around at the boys. He knew it was a lie, pretending it was magic when it was simply a magnet that dragged the iron bolt to the side.

“What is this place?” asked Aroteh.

“It’s a way station, a place to rest before the last stage of our journey.”

“Is the last part difficult?” asked Caral, trying to imagine a place more difficult than the forest and swamps, or the deserts.

“In its own way, it is difficult, but not worse than what we have endured so far,” Uaica replied. “But we’ll need to change how we’re dressed. Inside is the items we’ll need.”

Uaica stood to one side and let Aroteh followed by Caral enter the small domain set in the terrain. They were surprised to see the interior was wood, floor, walls, and ceiling, which had large timbers supporting the weight of the earth piled on top. Along one wall hung skins with a table below them holding an assortment of items the boys would soon learn were for cutting and sewing the hides. On the opposite wall was a table with jugs underneath and jars on top. In the back of the space was a platform with hides and blankets spread over it.

“Who built this?” asked Caral as he ran a hand over the fur of one hide.

“A friend,” Uaica answered. “In the jars will be cured meat and preserved vegetables, and there’s water in the jugs below. Let’s eat something then get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”

Uaica sat on the platform watching the boys cleaning up. He looked around the room thinking of the hard work put into it. It had been planned for a very long time and a year ago he had sent word it was time to build it. How they got the timber to this isolated place he didn’t know, but the tribe had assured him it was easily enough accomplished. It was amusing to him how a nomadic people could consider such an endeavor easy. He knew the nearest forest was days away.

He looked at the hides, recognizing the deer, the bison, and one of a great cat. They would make warm clothing to protect them from the winter that would soon be upon them. He felt it in the air. A dry coolness, and the northernly wind that cut across the wide-open landscape. Below the table he saw the treated hides, treated in a way as to make a tough leather, suitable for footwear. They would make two pair for each of them, for there was still a long way to go.

The Northern Empire

Caral followed Uaica’s instructions, working the needle through the thick hide. He worked carefully, for it was to be his outer garment. Across the room, Aroteh was sewing a pair of shoes. He followed the line drawn on the hide by Uaica, bringing the leather into shape. They worked all morning and half the afternoon getting their garments made. Then they strolled out onto the plain until at a high spot and they sat in the grass and stared across the vast landscape.

“We’re going to walk all the way across this?” asked Aroteh?

“Yes,” Uaica replied.

“Where are we going?” asked Caral.

“To an empire of the north. There you’ll get the training you need.”

“Why so far north? Couldn’t we have trained back home?”

“No, we need to get separated from your homes, and there are things we need that are only up there.”

“How long?” asked Aroteh.

“Five, maybe six years,” replied Uaica.

“What?” the boys replied in unison.

“You are young, your bodies not yet reached any kind of maturity. The training needs to start now to develop your stamina and coordination, but the real training starts when you begin to grow into men.”

Aroteh uttered a blasphemy. Uaica turned to prevent the boys from seeing him smile as he pretended not to hear. He knew the two boys were too curious, too adventurous to be held back by superstition or dogma, and there were times such as this, one of them made it abundantly clear. Then he considered their mischievous nature. The times he woke floating above the ground, or Aroteh would grab something and disappear, or move into another place, as he described it. They wrestled around and would go off exploring at every chance. He knew what he had seen, how the two would be close. He didn’t see it clearly, details were never a part of his visions, but he sensed it, something different going on between them, even if they had yet to understand it.

“We’ll continue with our journey in the morning. It is near the time of great winter storms, and we need to be at our destination by then,” said Uaica, climbing to his feet. “Let’s go and eat, then turn in. We should head out at first light.”

For a full cycle of the moon, they walked north, over the vast plains where the great beasts roamed in herds to large to comprehend. Then they came to low mountains with wide expanses between them. Uaica led them around the mountains keeping to the level terrain.

North of the mountains the land leveled out again, with only the occasionally rocky outcrop or cut in the plateaus where a creek or river snaked its way south. Eventually they came to a large river whose waters ran brown and roiling. They followed it upstream, going further and further north. The air grew colder making them tighten their outer garments around their bodies.

It was the middle of the day, the sun in the southern sky with a bright clear light that pushed back against the cold, when Uaica led them through a wood. The path came to a road, and the road led to a clearing where earthen mounds rose high over the land. The mounds were stepped like the ones in Aroteh’s home city. Smoke billowed from the top of the highest one and surrounding them were wooden structures, and out from them the temporary structures made of hides of those who were nomadic.

“Wow, they’re like the one back home,” Aroteh uttered as he stepped out in front of Uaica.

“Yes. The influences of these people is similar to your own. They are all from the same descendants who came from the far west on the other side of the great waters.”

“Is this where we’ll train?” asked Caral coming up next to Uaica.

“Yes. Let’s go, for they should be expecting us.”

Uaica led them through a market, then up to the largest mound. Men were descending a long ramp. The man in the middle of the group wore a headdress of feathers and as he drew near, the gold band with the head of a wolf came could be decerned.

“Xi, old friend, how are you?” asked Uaica as he stepped forward. The boys didn’t understand the language Uaica spoke, and they stood back out of the way.

The men around the leader parted, stepping to the side. The man smiled and came to Uaica where he put a hand on one shoulder.

“Uaica, we’ve been waiting. How was your journey?”

“Long but uneventful.”

“That is good. How are the people of the south?”

“They prosper.”

Xi looked around Uaica at the two boys. He saw the familiar features. The dark skin tone and black hair. Staring up were dark brown eyes that appeared black.

“These are the boys you spoke of?” asked Xi.

“Yes.”

“Well, come, let’s get you settled. You must be weary after such a long journey. When will you want to begin training?”

“Let’s give them a couple of days to rest and adjust, then we can begin.”

Xi moved to the boys and stooped in front of them.

“Xi,” pointing at his chest, then he pointed to one of the boys.

“Caral.”

“Caral,” Xi repeated, then he pointed to the other boy.

“Aroteh.”

“Aroteh,” Xi repeated, then he looked around at Uaica, “his name is close to Aranck’s”

“There is a shared ancient history.”

“Yes. Do you think they’ll have trouble with our language?”

“They are both smart, too smart for their own good at times, so I don’t think it will be a problem.”

Xi smiled, turning to the boys. “You’ve tested old Uaica during the journey?”

Uaica scoffed. “They are mischievous to say the least.”

Xi laughed as he stood. “Good,” he said then turned to one of his advisors. “Achak, take Uaica and the boys to their dwelling and help them get settled. I’ll have Minda and Ohanko take them food. They should rest and get settled down before joining us.”

“Uaica, we’ll have a feast tonight in honor of your arrival.”

“Thanks Xi.”

“The people have been looking forward to your arrival.”

Achak led Uaica and the boys around the mound and past the largest dwellings, some three levels in height. To the rear of them, set out in an open area was a dwelling that appeared to be newly built. He led them to the door and pushed it open revealing a large room with four doors leading to other rooms, two on each side.

“Uaica, that room is the largest sleep chamber and is for you. The room next to it is the food storage, and on this side,” pointing to the opposite wall at the other two doors, “are the rooms for the boys.”

“Thanks, Achak, this is very nice. Thank Xi for me.”

Achak bowed slightly, then left them alone pulling the door closed behind him.

“Okay boys, those two rooms are for you, pick one then get cleaned up and changed. This is my room, and this room is a food pantry, but we’ll be taking most meals with Xi,” said Uaica, and he watched the boys peer into each room, then shrug their shoulders, for the rooms were exactly alike. A small room with a raised platform covered in hides for sleeping, and hanging on the walls from pegs, clean garments like those worn by the people. On the floor of each one was a bowl of water. Steam rose from it.

Caral chose the first room and Aroteh took the second one. They went in, stripped off their garments and began to bath with the warm water. Satisfied they were getting cleaned up Uaica went into his own room and followed suit.

The Awakening

High in the mountains, in a place long forgotten, the earth trembled. It shook the great mountains until rocks broke free and rolled down their sides. The ground split open in the valley and steam rose from it. Suddenly the top of the mountain exploded, shooting rock and debris high into the air. A dark cloud rose quickly, roiling and swirling with the power of its explosion. Then molten rock spewed into the sky and rained down on the valley setting it on fire. The mountain exploded again, violently, tearing itself apart.

The sky darkened, heavy with soot and dust and ash. Animals that survived the initial explosion hid in crevices and caves or they choked to death if caught out in the open. It would take days for the sky to clear, and the cloud would blow across the upper sky for days, raining down its poisons over a vast area.

The destruction appeared complete with no sign of life. But the ancients and seers knew, it was only the cycle of life and within the lifetime of a man the area would return to life. But there was a greater horror awakened. On the mountain there was a place once known as the home of Skudakumooch, the Ghost-Witch. The legend persisted but the source of it, the original location was long forgotten, for it was what the ancients desired when they entombed Wendigo within one of its caves. The old shaman, one of the originals, had become evil as his powers increased, until he became so evil the people said he devoured all that was good. He even devoured human flesh, the ultimate horror.

He had entombed himself, having gone nearly insane with a loneliness he refused to understand. His powers had increased until the others not only shunned him but sought a way to end his life. It was a weakness he vowed, if woken from his long slumber, to find a way to purge it from his mind.

Rock had fallen away from the old cave entrance, and the poisonous air blew into its chambers. It pushed back the stale air, overpowered its musty earthy scent, and warmed the chambers. In the one where water cascaded down flowstones and stalactites connected with stalagmites forming natural pillows around the cavern there was a small open space in the center. In the middle of it, a large stone lay on the floor with symbols carved in its surface. Symbols of warning and evil, but of such a vast age few could read them. The stone was cracked down the middle and a bluish light emanated from within. It grew brighter until the chamber was glowing blue. The split rock began to vibrate, then shake. It began to move apart, then the two halves blew apart, flipping through the air, destroying several of the natural formations as they crashed down.

The blue light diminished, until the cave was once again dark. A fire burst into flame hovering in the air, the source of its fuel an ancient power. It lit the chamber for the one who made it. Without seeming to move, Wendigo rose from his crypt, the place he had been forced into an eon ago, He was withered to nothing but bone and leathery dried skin. He hovered in the air, while slowly turning. His mind, fractured in its thoughts, struggled to remember. The old curses, the power deemed magic slowly returned to him. He finally remembered. The power to restore, to draw from the sun, the air, and the earth. He floated through the caverns until at the mouth of the cave. The sunlight was diminished, the air still filthy with soot and ash, but it was enough to start the process. He drifted out into the valley, down to the mud choked river, following it downstream. He only had to get to clean water, to earth not contaminated and air that was clear, allowing the sun to radiate its power into his withered body.

Far from the mountains, across a great plain, Uaica was watching the two boys taking instruction on the local language. He stood behind them as one of Xi’s advisors repeated phrases and wrote them down on a flat piece of wood with a charcoal stick. Then he felt it. A tremor in the earth. Some disruption in the air. Goosebumps rose on his arms and the hairs stood out. He looked up, then turned to face the far west, then toward the north. He knew the place was there, somewhere in the faraway mountains. He had searched for it for centuries until he finally had to give up. He swore he would forget the place, never mentioning it again. Now, he trembled and grew worried. He had hoped the evil that was coming was some new evil, something created in the future by foolish men. But he knew something had happened. He felt the evil power. Felt it awakening from its long slumber.

Becoming Men

The first snow fell a week after their arrival, then winter set in. The boys had never experienced such weather, and at first it fascinated them. They played in the first snowfall with the other children, but by the time the snow was waist deep, they began to understand the severity of winters in this northern climatic. They studied indoors and when there was a break in the weather they practiced outdoors, honing their skills. Winter eventually gave way to spring, only increasing their time in lessons.

Uaica worked the boys hard, pushed them to learn the local languages from one of the teachers of the tribe, oversaw his own lessons on math, nature, and a deep history of the world no culture had a grasp. And late in the day, just before the evening feast, he trained them to control their powers, push them to the limit to find their capability, knowing one day they would get stronger. He saw it, some means of gaining a strength not seen in the history of man. The catalyst of this change he couldn’t figure out. It was mixed with other images he wasn’t sure the meaning. At times he guessed at them while watching the boys in a moment of play, side by side in some endeavor. They were close, more so than two boys had a right. But he knew to leave it alone. There was something about it that spoke of things between men that had occurred through the ages, even when their culture rejected it.

Despite so many misgivings and not fully understanding the situation, there was the reality he had to acknowledge. The boys had been sleeping together, their small bodies intertwined in sleep, clinging to each other in a manner that seemed almost desperate. At first Uaica discouraged it, but no matter how hard he pushed them to stay in their own rooms, each morning he found them together. It would go on until they were past their thirteenth birthdays, and the start of puberty. Uaica knew the changes that were occurring, but he didn’t realize how it affected the two boys until he realized they no longer slept together.

The local people watched the boys practice their power. It was an understanding most cultures could not abide. But Uaica knew they were safe among this culture, one that didn’t fear the unknown, instead sought to understand it, often incorporating new understandings into their legends and myths. He let them see Caral lift heavier and heavier objects, move them from one place to another, and eventually, over time, set them gently on the ground. The people were awed by the boy’s power, but it was Aroteh that spooked them, popping out of sight in one place then reappearing in another. One day, Uaica sent a warrior off, told him to go to some place a half day’s journey and wait. He had no idea the warrior went north up along the river, then swam out to an island that split it in half. Aroteh was told to find him. Uaica assumed the boy would go to where the warrior waited and let the warrior return in order to confirm his success. What he didn’t expect was Aroteh’s ability to bring the larger man back with him.

The boys turned thirteen, and Uaica saw them struggle with their powers from time to time. The lessons continued until the boys began to converse with the local people and sit among them during the time of storytelling by the elders. When the boys turned fourteen, Uaica saw another change in them. They were going through puberty, Caral growing tall, taller than normal for his people. Aroteh began to fill out, his body reflect the masculine structure it would soon possess.

Caral looked forward to their training. The times they worked hard, learning self-defense tactics and how to attack, how to use the weapons, and exercise their bodies. It tired him, made him so fatigued he couldn’t think of it. Whenever Aroteh and he were alone, he felt drawn to his friend in ways he knew were different. He worried how Uaica would react if he knew. He worried more that Uaica did know in some manner. He saw the looks, the way Uaica would be frowning whenever he had been staring at Aroteh with a longing that made his heart race. He knew what it meant, for he had seen how the two warriors, Tokala and Elsu were always together. They lived in the same small dwelling and Caral knew it had only one platform for sleeping. He wondered about the intimacy of the two warrior’s relationship, then would look at Aroteh, wondering if he could ever have the same.

Aroteh saw Caral’s stares, then the embarrassed moments when caught, and he looked away. He saw the face flush red and saw the hands ball into fist. He wondered if Caral felt the same as he. He tried to not think of it, his growing attraction to him. At times, it seemed to overwhelm him. He felt breathless, and far too often saw Uaica frown after catching him staring at his friend. There were times he wanted to confess to Caral, tell him how he felt, but he saw how they were treated, just two kids despite their powers and he wondered if it was just some fascination with the one person who was the most like himself. Someone familiar that he could talk to about almost anything. Anything but the feelings he felt growing inside.

The moon went through many cycles, and the seasons changed. The boys turned fifteen, then sixteen. They grew taller, more masculine. Their bodies were filling out, more so than other boys their age. They grew skilled with bow and spear, and the sling. They honed their skills at hand-to-hand combat, wrestling much older men, warriors for the tribe. Their frequency of losing lessening with each moon cycle that passed. Caral was cunning, quick to move, using his tall body and long limbs to his advantage. Aroteh grew stronger, more muscular, and overpowered many of the warriors, pinning them to the ground.

Their confidence increased in all manner of things. Fighting, hunting, and learning. They mastered the local languages, and soon were learning one more exotic, the symbols so numerous they had doubts they could ever learn it. But Uaica pushed them, said they needed to know this old language, for the day would come when they would need it, and he continued to teach the symbols, their sounds, and meanings, and how the syntax structure worked.

There was one thing they grew less confident, not more. They began to grow shy around each other, going so far as to avoid being alone together. When they had to wrestle with each other they would separate gasping for breath and fearful someone would notice their aroused state.

Uaica saw it, how they were changing and its affects. He saw the embarrassed looks, and the tugging on cocks when they parted from wrestling. It was obvious what was happening, but he also knew not to interfere. He hoped it would take some time before the two boys fully realized what was going on with them. The local tribe was accepting of such relationships, but not other cultures. They needed time to finish their training and studies, and time to understand themselves. He just hoped they had the time. At night, when the wind blew from the north, he sensed it. An evil lurking in the darkness. He was back, Uaica knew it. And sooner or later so would the world.

A Growing Darkness

Wendigo floated in the river, then hovered in the air. He put on flesh, muscle, and veins materialized eventually opening up for the blood that would sooner or later course through them. His body absorbed what it needed from the environment. It was painful, the worst aspect the waiting for his body to return to its former state. As he waited, impatient in every way, he grew angry, seethed at the idea he had hidden himself away. Flashes of memory came back to him. The explosions of rock, the burning rivers, and the death that succumb to their warring. A face appeared in his consciousness; one he knew. It was there, who this person was to him he couldn’t remember. But he felt it, an animosity he feared would consume his unfinished flesh.

Wendigo tried to use his power, but it only weakened him. There was too much damage, too much to repair in his flesh and bone. But his thoughts were less fragmented. The dark episodes were lessening. He wondered how long it had been since he awoke, then he wondered how long it would be before he could strike out, seeking his revenge against those that abandoned him.

Awareness

The feast was finished, and the people were gathered around, the torches circling groups of them to provide some illumination. Xi stood on a raised platform with Uaica by his side. Down in front sat Caral and Aroteh, now seventeen, boys becoming men. It was a night of celebration of another year in its last quarter. It was fall, the time of final harvest of the crops, the last major kills for meat that was to be cured, as they prepared for the long winter. The half moon hovered over the stepped mound behind Xi and Uaica, a symbol of the passing of time, more important than the movement of the sun.

Everyone knew it was an important night, one where the boys would do a demonstration of their power. For Aroteh, three warriors had left during the full moon, traveling in an unknown direction with instructions to go as far as they could in whatever direction they chose. On this night days later, he was to go to them and if possible, bring at least one of the men back. Caral’s demonstration was more hushed, for he refused to even tell Uaica what he planned. Only Aroteh knew his plan, for he jokingly had suggested it three weeks before.

Xi spoke to the people, of their place in nature and thanked them for the hard work preparing for another winter. The nomadic tribes that lived around the city were already gone, headed southeast to better climates. In the crowd were the full-time residents. Xi finished speaking and stepped to the side, knowing everyone was anxious to see what the two boys could do. He motioned Uaica to step forward.

Uaica was not one for speeches, and he spoke briefly, then call Aroteh to come forward. He knew what the test was for him, having prepared it himself, and he decided to let him go first. Caral had been suspiciously vague about his demonstration refusing Uaica’s suggestion and it worried him.

Aroteh winked at Caral, then climbed the steps to the platform. He moved to the side away from Xi and Uaica, and waited as Uaica described his test. For those in the crowd who knew of the boys’ power there were nods and smiles, for the others looks of disbelief. Aroteh moved toward the front of the platform, waved at the crowd, then simply disappeared.

Uaica looked at the empty spot where Aroteh had stood, remembering the way he had described it. The going into a different space, one that allowed him to see everything around him, but it was fragmented, visible from multiple sides at once, and in each direction, he looked, he saw what was above, below and to each side of him. Then he described how he could see his destination, no matter where it lay, and he moved to it but not with the use of his legs. He merely drifted through space. It seemed to take some time but when he reappeared it was as if he had been gone only for the briefest of time.

Aroteh had not been gone long enough for the crowd to start talking about his disappearance when he reappeared with all three warriors. Uaica was shocked at first, but he looked down and saw Caral grinning and knew there was much the two had been hiding from him. Xi stepped forward, speaking first to the warriors, then to Aroteh. He moved to the front of the platform holding up a hand for silence.

“The warriors made it all the way to Black Mountain,” said Xi.

A murmur went through the crowd, then voices grew louder. The warriors at the side stood and chanted in approval, waving their weapons in the air.

“And now Caral will demonstrate his ability,” said Xi. He stepped back and motioned to Uaica to come forward. Uaica gave a brief description of Caral’s power, the ability to move objects. He avoided using the description Caral used, how he was not moving the object but bending the space around them. It was strange how Caral spoke of it, and how it didn’t matter about the size or the weight of the object, for he could use the object’s size to help bend the area around it. Uaica understood much about the world, how the earth was an orb in space circling the sun and the moon circled the earth. He knew the planets, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and those he knew that had to be even further out, all circling the sun within their own orbits. Yet so many cultures held to the earth being flat, floating over some deep sea, and he refrained from speaking of those things. But with this culture he could talk of it, and more, for they were open to the shape and workings of the natural world. But on the power Caral held, he couldn’t discuss it. It was too strange; too difficult to picture, this bending of space. He felt anxious as Caral came on the stage. It didn’t help that Aroteh laughed as they passed on the steps, or that Caral winked at him when on the platform. It felt like a warning.

Caral waved at the crowd, then turned around facing the great stepped mound behind the stage. He stood still for the longest time. Uaica wondered what he should be looking at. Maybe the ritual structure on top, or maybe it was one of the large rocks that lay to the side of it. One was the size of a large dwelling. It would be a marvelous demonstration of his power. Then he felt it, a change in the air. It felt charged. The pendant he wore around his neck pulled toward the stepped mound and he saw other metals pointing in that direction. A spear flew by, and he saw it sink into the side of the mound.

At first Uaica didn’t understand what he was seeing. He heard the crowd cry out, the chorus of voices as they exclaimed their shock and amazement. He looked at the mound wondering why it seemed taller, then realized the whole mass was rising out of the ground. Higher and higher, until it hovered in the nighttime sky. The bottom was perfectly smooth, and it was held together without damage. It appeared as an alien craft, something from the gods. Something of legend. Uaica knew myths were being created on this night.

Then as easily as it rose the mound settled back into its place, undisturbed, just as it had been before.

Caral turned to the crowd and bowed his head, and when he looked up the crowd erupted into cheers and yells of approval. Xi looked at Uaica with a stunned expression.

“Did you know he could do such a feat?” asked Xi.

“No, I had no idea,” Uaica replied.

The boys were sitting in the main room joking about their demonstrations when Uaica stormed into the room.

“Uh-huh, I think you’re in trouble,” said Aroteh, getting up and moving to the other side of the room as Uaica paced back and forth. Uaica started to speak, stopped, then paced some more. After a long time, he moved in front of Caral.

“You moved the mound far too easily,” Uaica stated.

“You think so?” Caral replied, struggling not to smile.

“How much? How big?”

“I don’t’ know?”

“He parted the waters of that lake to the north,” said Aroteh.

“You’re not helping,” Caral hissed at him.

“What else?” asked Uaica.

“I lifted that rock formation to the west,” Caral finally admitted.

“My god, that is…” Uaica stammered, knowing the rock formation Caral spoke was twice as large as the mound. The demonstration tonight had been nothing to the boy. He paced the room, then looked at Aroteh, aggravated how the boys were still keeping secrets. “Go to bed,” he barked at him, then he turned to see Caral get up to go too. “Not you. Sit back down.”

It was late into the night, to some the early morning hours. The house had finally gotten quiet, Uaica snoring softly in his room. Caral opened his door and looked around the common room, making sure no one was there, then he eased to the door of Aroteh’s room and slipped in as he once did years before. They routinely hung out in the other’s room, but not since they turned thirteen has one of them ventured into the other’s room in the middle of the night.

“Aroteh,” Caral whispered into the dark. “You awake?”

“You know I am. What is it?”

“Can I lay with you…just for a little while.”

Caral’s voice betrayed his anxiety, something he hid from Uaica.

“Yes,” Aroteh replied.

Caral moved into the small room and as he approached the sleeping platform, Aroteh threw back the cover and slid over. He eased down next to him keeping his arms close to his body. He feared touching him, for it was something he wanted to do, and didn’t know if he could stop if he started. Instead, he lay motionless, staring up into the darkness.

“Did you feel it?” Caral finally asked.

“Yes.”

“What…who do you think it was?”

“I thought it might be Uaica , but we’ve been able to block him for over a year now.”

“I wondered about one of the Shaman, maybe Baxoje. He seems the strongest.”

“Not a chance. They’re just meddling in things they don’t fully understand. You know what Uaica said.”

“But who then?”

“Someone who is powerful, but…”

“But what?”

“They seemed to be hurt, not able to stay focused.”

“It’s like they don’t have all their strength. I felt him so close to entering my mind, but then at the last minute, I was able to push back.”

“Should we tell Uaica?”

“What do you think he is training us so hard for? Think about it. He is really worried some great enemy will rise up one day and we have to be ready.”

“I wish he were more specific. I mean, he doesn’t know when, where, or by who.”

“I agree he doesn’t know when or where, but I’m not so sure about him not knowing who.”

“You think we can handle it…when the time comes?”

“I hope so. Did you feel how dark, how evil it felt when he was trying to probe our minds?”

“Yes. It made my brain feel like it was burning, but not with fire, but with extreme cold.”

“Aroteh?”

“Yes?”

“Can I sleep here tonight?”

“Sure,” Aroteh replied. He turned to the wall away from Caral. He feared what he would do in his sleep, imagined waking to find he was embracing him. He heard Caral move around and knew without looking he was facing the door and away from him. It was like they felt the same, but neither knew how to broach the subject.

In the following days, the tension between Caral and Aroteh increased. They avoided eye contact, kept their distance from each other, and when alone they stammered to talk to each other and far too often, fell silent.

Uaica saw it. It was so obvious, even others commented on it. He wondered if he should step in and have them talk it out. He knew the source of it. The human emotion that tore at them. He had endured it long ago, time after time. He endured it until he no longer could take watching someone he loved, grow old and die while he barely aged. He remembered each one despite the time that had passed. So many years it had been since Euthalia, the last woman he loved. There had been women since then, but none he let into his heart. Now he wasn’t sure he knew what love meant, but he recognized it, in all its painful moments. It was unfolding before him. To some it was a forbidden love, but not here, nor had it been thus when he had been husband to Euthalia.

There was something of the visions that troubled him, made him hold back. He knew there was a point when something would happen, some awakening he couldn’t grasp. The boys would transcend what had come before. They would bring something new and powerful, and he sensed it involved more than just learning their gift, exercising it to its full potential. There was something else. Sitting at the entrance to their dwelling, he watched the two boys practice with the spear, most of their throws deadly accurate. He wondered if they would understand it when they made their next great journey. There was one more thing to do, a ritual of sorts, one he had done long ago.

They would leave at summer’s end, traveling in the cooler days of fall. The journey would take them west, to the great sea, and across it. He had planned on traveling by boat, but now knew it wasn’t necessary. Aroteh could easily take the three of them.

Growing Contempt

Wendigo crawled from the river. His flesh was black, and hair sprouted randomly over his head, down his back, arms, and legs. He gasped for every breath and felt along the ground blindly, his eyes only white unseeing orbs. He crawled with the pain of a body not healed. It was shocking how it felt like a fire coursing up his spine, and it seemed to be trying to drive him mad.

He moved up the bank and into the thick underbrush of the forest. He followed some old instinct. Around rock and across a spring that flowed cold across the ground. Then he felt it as he crawled into a dark place. The coolness of the air, the dampness and earthy scent of the ground as he moved deeper into the old cave. He came to a pool of water and slithered across it like a serpent until he came to a rock. It was worn smooth and slick, and he struggled to climb upon it.

Gasping for breath, Wendigo finally reached the top and felt the stone pedestal in its center. He heaved himself upon it and lay on his back. The pain of his trek subsiding he became aware of the shaft of light that shone upon him. It was coming from directly above and it warmed his body. As he absorbed the light, his mind grew dark, angry, with thoughts of revenge. A name came to him. An old acquaintance. The one he considered the betrayer. Uaica. The old Babylonian would pay for what he had done, even if he had to destroy the whole world to get his revenge. It was Uaica who had turned the others against him.

The Short Trip to a Faraway Place

Caral and Aroteh followed Uaica across the vast plains, the northern empire far behind them. They had the morning sun at their back and in the afternoon, the sun shined in their faces. Uaica kept up a fast pace, for he knew Caral and Aroteh could easily keep up. He led them on foot for he needed some time to think. He had seen Caral and Aroteh argue, at times over the pettiest of things. He sensed the turmoil within each and knew he could not let things continue.

When they arrived at the mountain range, he intended to let Aroteh take them to their coastal destination. It would take a mere blink of an eye, but in the meantime, he would watch them, seeking the moment when it was appropriate to broach the subject neither could do on their own. They loved each other, deeply, more than as mere brothers.

Uaica led them to a river that snaked through the plain with stunted trees growing along its banks.

“Let’s camp for the night,” said Uaica as he moved to the bank of the river. “Caral, come catch some fish for our meal.”

Caral stepped up next to Uaica and looked over the swirling waters. He focused on it, then lifted out three large fish, floating them to the bank.

“That’s cheating, you know,” joked Aroteh.

Caral set the fish on the ground then smiled at Aroteh. “If you prefer, I’ll put your fish back in the river and you can catch it yourself. Shall I?” he asked, lifting one fish back into the air.

“No. Since you have it out, let’s not torture it by putting it back.”

The fire burned slowly over a bed of glowing embers. The bones of three fish were tossed into it to be consumed in its heat. Uaica leaned back on his elbows and looked at the two young men he still considered boys. Had it really been nearly six years since he gathered them together from their homelands? It was such a long time to them, but to him it seemed the briefest of time. Just yesterday the two of them were twelve. He knew that Caral was eighteen the next day, and in a half cycle of the moon, Aroteh would be too.

Caral stirred the fire and Aroteh placed more wood on it. The flames licked at the dead wood, then began to consume it. Soon the flames were once again reaching upward and illuminating their little circle.

Uaica reached into his robe and pulled out two necklaces. Xi had them made for him and he held them up in the light, so he could see the stamped image in each gold disk. One was a dragon, its body intertwined within the round face, the head in the middle, mouth open as if ready to strike. The other was a large-winged bird, the wings arching around the upper half of the face and its long tail wrapping around the bottom half.

“What kind of bird is it?” Aroteh asked.

“A feng or to most other cultures, the phoenix,” Uaica replied, then he held the phoenix to Caral and the dragon to Aroteh. “I had these made for each of you.”

Caral looked at Uaica and smiled. “It’s not until tomorrow, you know.”

“You remember?” asked Uaica. “I wasn’t sure if you were able to keep track of time with everything going on.

“I remember. I count the cycles of the moon and know how long it has been since we left Tiwanaku. And I know when we go from the half-moon phase to the next full moon phase, it’ll be Aroteh’s birthday.”

Uaica looked up surprised that Caral would remember Aroteh’s birthday, then he felt foolish for doubting him. Of course, he would know. He glanced over at Aroteh and wondered if he looked red in the face from the light of the campfire, or if it were the fire that burned within.

The next morning, they set out heading west.

The moon was full, and two rabbits turned slowly over the fire, suspended in the air. The smell of grilling meat filled the dry air. They had made good progress. Mountains loomed large to the west. There was a change in the terrain, even in the air. It was an arid place, and the vegetation reflected it. Stunted and sparse, in places the soil visible. Uaica sat on a fallen tree, the trunk rubbed smooth by time, and he sensed by others utilizing for the same purpose. Caral, then Aroteh emerged from the darkness carrying water, all their skins refilled from the nearby creek.

“Come on boys, let’s eat,” said Uaica. The cooked rabbits moved from the fire and to a flat stone Caral had cleaned earlier.

Caral and Aroteh eased down on one side of it as Uaica leaned forward and cut the rabbits into manageable pieces.

They ate while talking about their journey. Uaica kept much from the boys, and they questioned him at length, and the question that arose most often was why were they walking when Aroteh could get them there within a blink of the eye?

Uaica laughed at their persistence, then took another bite before answering.

“This is part of your journey. There is something that needs to occur before we get there,” said Uaica.

“What? Just tell us now and we’ll do it,” Aroteh replied, flustered at the vague answer.

Uaica looked at Aroteh then over to Caral. He saw him stare at Aroteh. It was one of those moments when Caral didn’t think anyone was looking at him. An unguarded moment, and it revealed the truth to Uaica more than any possible confession.

“I’m turning in. You boys make sure the fire is out before calling it a night,” said Uaica.

Caral extinguished the fire, and Aroteh and he sat in the dark until their eyes adjusted. Then they saw clearly within the silvery light. The moon gave everything a surreal appearance, almost magical, if the boys believed in such things. They sat silent for the longest time, with quick glances at the other. There was a longing between them that seemed to take the oxygen from the air. Aroteh thought he would soon gasp for air he sat much longer, and he climbed to his feet and started toward the creek.

“Come on Caral, let’s go down to the creek.”

Aroteh led Caral through the moonlight until they were standing on the bank of the river. The waters looked like dark ink as it swirled by, with broken reflections of the moon.

“You want to swim?” asked Aroteh.

Aroteh was tired, not of their journey, but of the game played between Caral and himself. He felt exhausted with the continuous concealment of how he felt. He had known for some time and based on how Uaica looked at him, he knew too. He slowly turned to Caral, looking at the person he had spent the last six years, one who shared so much with him in ways no one else could understand. Caral stood by his side staring at the waters.

“Caral?” asked Aroteh, wondering if he heard anything he had said.

Caral began to pull at his garments, tossing them on the ground and Aroteh watched him unable to turn away. Caral didn’t stop until he was naked. Aroteh had not seen him like this in some time, and he felt his heart racing as he looked upon the tall lean body. It was more muscular, this he knew, but it was also more masculine, more mature. He looked at the heavy cock hanging over its sac and he swallowed hard, fighting the urge to reach out and hold it.

“Aren’t you going to get undressed,” asked Caral, locking eyes with Aroteh.

“Yes, yes,” Aroteh replied, and he began to pull at his garments. His arms got caught and suddenly he felt Caral helping him. One garment, then another was tugged from his body until he too stood naked. He saw Caral look at his body.

“Let’s go in,” Caral uttered in a low voice, then turned to the river and waded in until the water came up to his chest.

Aroteh followed, feeling the cold-water swirl around his legs, then waist, and finally his chest.

They stood a few feet apart, and stared at the other, feeling the life within their own bodies. The blood pumping through veins, each inhale, then exhale, and their sex. They felt it, both physically and mentally. The word didn’t occur to them, but it was their masculinity. The freedom of their nakedness and how the waters caressed their skin as it swirled around them. It touched them everywhere, no place was sacred. Around their legs and up between them. It floated their cocks away from the bodies and made him partially aroused. It moved around waist and swirled against chests. They floated their arms out feeling the water move between their fingers.

Aroteh stepped closer and their cocks touched. Both grew wide eyed, but neither stepped back.

“I like you,” Aroteh whispered.

Caral stared at the dark shadowed face, unable to see its expression. But he heard the tone. Soft, the words vibrating with a fear he understood.

“I know,” Caral replied.

“Do you like me?”

“Yes,” Caral whispered, then more words poured from within, no longer bottled up by his insecurity. “I like you more than I can admit. I have for a long time. I was sacred…afraid you would…and I worried what others would say.”

“But do you really care what others would think or say?”

Caral moved closer, his cock pushing against Aroteh’s stomach, his hands touching the arms, then sliding up their smooth lengths.

“If you don’t care, then I wouldn’t care either.”

Aroteh closed the distance between them, until chest and stomach were pressed together.

“You know Uaica already suspects,” Aroteh whispered.

“I think he more than suspects,” Caral replied, making the two of them giggle.

Aroteh leaned to Caral and kissed him on the lips. It was a short kiss, gentle, the contact soft and yielding. Caral brought a hand to the back of Aroteh’s neck holding him while he returned the kiss. But he kissed with greater passion, first with lips pressed together, then open mouthed, tongue searching, finding the other. With his other hand he reached between them and took Aroteh’s cock. It flexed in his grasp and as he toyed with it, manipulated it with his fingers, it grew longer, thicker, and pushed against his stomach.

Aroteh took Caral by the hand and led him to shallow waters, only ankle deep, and went to his knees, kissing the flat stomach, the hip, down the abdomen until his nose raked through pubic hair. Then he kissed the elongating cock from flared head down to the base. He felt the shaft harden and fingers dig into his shoulders. Capturing the head in his mouth, he pushed forward taking as much of it as he could.

Caral moaned then cried out gutturally as he shivered with Aroteh’s manipulation. Hands held his hips guiding him to move. Slowly, gently, he pushed cock into Caral’s mouth, then slid it outward. Over and over, the hands guided him, controlled his pace, and he closed his eyes to the sensation. He shuddered, then cried out ‘no’, but it was too late. His cock flexed, then spurt wad after wad into Aroteh’s mouth, quickly filling it.

Caral gasped for breath as Aroteh milked his cock of the last of his load. His cock flexed with the feel of fingers working up its length, then squeezing the head. He shivered and tried to pull back, but Aroteh held his cock in a tight grip, and he didn’t go soft. Instead, he remained rock hard.

Aroteh stood up, his own cock sticking straight out, and when Caral reached for it, it slipped from his grasp, for Aroteh turned and bent at the waist.

“I want to try. I want to feel what it is like,” Aroteh uttered. He had his head down, but he raised up, looking over the left shoulder. “Come on Caral, put it in me, like Elsu does Tokala.”

Caral realized he had not been the only one to spy on the two warriors. To peek into their dwelling and see Elsu move on top of Tokala and sink his cock into him. He had watched them fuck, shocked at how physical the two men were while they did it. At times it seemed as if they were wrestling, and it made him think of all the times Aroteh and he had wrestled, only to get aroused. He looked down at Aroteh, the moonlight shining in his upturned face. He saw the eyes, pleading with him to do it. He moved closer, stroking his wet cock, then he guided it down between the spread ass cheeks and raked it up and down until the crevice was slick.

“Caral! Stop teasing me…please…do it,” Aroteh pleaded, reaching back, and taking Caral in hand. He guided him to his opening and pushed back.

Caral felt the resistance, and he felt the desperate way Aroteh pushed back. He held the narrow waist and pushed, feeling his cock penetrate the tightness. His toes curled as his abdomen pressed against the spread ass. His grip tightened as he pulled outward, then pushed inward again. Over and over, slowly, Caral moved inside of Aroteh, while holding the narrow waist. He plunged into Aroteh’s depths, and felt his past longings surface, ravonious, pushing him to keep going, to move faster increasing his pleasure.

“Faster…do it faster,” Aroteh uttered.

Caral pulled out and stepped back.

“Get on your back,” Caral uttered, picturing Elsu in the same position, legs around Tokala’s waist, the two undulating against each other, kissing and touching as Tokala worked his cock into the depths of Elsu’s hole. He wanted the intimacy of the position and he watched Aroteh ease down and roll to his back.

Aroteh watched Caral move on top of him. He raised his knees up, then slipped each foot around the narrow waist. Cock penetrated him again, then Caral lay heavily on him. He felt lips on his neck, up to his ear then along his jaw. He turned to them and pressed his own to them as cock pushed deep into his body. It was a glorious release, this giving of himself. He took Caral with pleasure, savoring the fullness of every penetration.

“I love you,” Aroteh uttered. He could finally say it, and he clung to Caral feeling the hot body undulate against his own.

“Aroteh…I love you,” Caral whispered in Aroteh’s ear, then he lifted himself up on his hands and began to fuck.

The sound of bodies coming together, the moans and grunts, all floated out over the vast landscape. Caral kept up his pace, working his hips as he pushed into Aroteh. Each thrust, every tug outward, only increased his arousal. Then he felt it, the surge of release, and he jammed into Aroteh’s depth, hammering hips against ass until he came. He shuddered and shook with every ejaculation.

Spent and heaving for breath, Caral slipped out of Aroteh and eased to the ground beside him. He reached over and took Aroteh in hand, felt the way it filled it. It was thick and hard as rock.

“Do me,” uttered Caral, tugging on Aroteh’s cock.

Aroteh moved over Caral, slipped between the long legs and pumped his cock along the side of Caral’s, then he rose and pushed his cock down as Caral raised his legs and lay back. He rubbed his cock over Caral’s ass then pressed against the tight opening. He gasped at the feel of the penetration, the way it squeezed his cock making him shiver. He pushed forward slowly, relishing the sensation of the penetration as his cock bore into Caral’s depths.

“OH, Aroteh…do it…do it…fuck me,” Caral uttered while pushing upward with his hips.

Aroteh hovered over the long lean body, and he fucked. Fucked hard, driving into Caral. Muscle bulged and he felt feverish. His skin grew hot, sweat beading up then trickling down as he exerted himself. When he slowed, desperate to make their fuck last, he lay on Caral and moved slickly over him. He pushed with his hips, sinking into the depths of Caral’s hole over and over. He kissed the long neck, then along the smooth jaw. Finally, he kissed the lips, tugged lightly on the bottom one, and pressed his open mouth to Caral’s.

The need to come increased, and Aroteh couldn’t hold back. He increased his pace, thrust into Caral with greater urgency until he was coming, spurting wad after wad into Caral’s depths.

Uaica woke to find the sky growing lighter. It was daybreak. He lay still for a long time watching the sky change before realizing something was different. He sensed it. The air felt charged in a new way, one not experienced before. He sat up knowing whatever he had been waiting for had happened. It was done. He climbed to his feet and looked at the ashes of the fire from the night before, then the hides laying empty on the other side. A moment of panic, then he realized he was being foolish. He would know instantly if either boy was in duress. He looked across the landscape seeing nothing but a few deer off in the distance. To his right, the short trees that lined the creek. He set out for it, knowing the boys would be there.

He approached the creek quietly, listening out for the boys. He followed the sloping grade down to its bank and when he came to a level area by the creek, he saw them. They lay intertwined with their garments used as cover. Caral held Aroteh close to his chest, who was facing him, head bent toward it. There was the soft even breathing of sleep, and Uaica wondered how long they had been up during the night. He cleared his throat, then did it again. Caral stirred first, opening his eyes, and looking up. He smiled.

“When Aroteh wakes, come on back to the campsite. We’ll prepare something to eat and then make our final journey to the faraway land,” Uaica whispered.

Caral raised his head and in an excited whisper replied, “we’re going to let Aroteh take us the rest of the way?”

“Yes. It’s time to go,” Uaica replied. He turned around and eased back to the campsite wondering if it was really what was required; the two boys sleeping together. It seemed so odd, but he knew the body was never so awake, so sensitive to every touch as it was during sex.

The sun had barely cleared the horizon when they had packed up and stood in a small circle. The fire was extinguished, and the remains of the rabbits laid out for other creatures to scavenge. They held hands, Aroteh requiring a physical connection to what he took with him. Uaica knew Caral had experienced the shift through space before, but he had not. He knew it would only take a blink of an eye for Aroteh to take them to Ch-ien-tang, but he also knew how the two boys described it. The slowing of time, how it seemed to take much longer. He saw the space around them fragment, then in every direction he saw the ground, the sky, and the horizon. It was unnerving and made him feel like he could fall over. Then he saw them move, so rapidly nothing of the terrain was clear, but after a very short time the far distant coast came into view. He recognized the dark blue waters and the rugged coastline no matter how much it appeared fragmented around him. The city came into view with its harbor full of boats and the light of torches lighting some streets. Then he was standing on the beach, waves crashing on the shore, with the city to his left. It was still dark and Uaica knew they would want it for the concealment it afforded them.

Everything came into focus and Caral and Uaica stepped back staggering a couple of steps.

“Is this the right place,” asked Caral.

“Yes,” Uaica replied.

“Wow, look at the size of the city.,” Aroteh exclaimed pointing toward it.

“And it is a small city compared to some of the others in this country,” said Uaica.

“Where do we go from here?” Caral asked.

“Up, into the mountains.”

A Confucius Temple

After three days of hiking, climbing high up in the mountains, Uaica led them to a small temple complex. A wall enclosed the three sides open to the valley, and the shear rock face of the mountain created a natural barricade at the back. The gate was open, and he led them into a courtyard area that was surrounded by small buildings and straight in front, steps led up to the largest, a temple with a tiered roof, it planes curving out to the edge where its timber framing was evident. The roof was covered in round tile, making it appear the heaviest element of the building, something that not only kept out the elements but protected it from other forces.

Uaica led them to the foot of the steps, and he stopped looking up into the shadowed space at front. A man appeared, at first a ghostly imagine emerging from the dark recesses of the porch, but as he came into the light of the early morning, it was obvious he was just a man dressed in white robes.

“Gan Ying,” said Uaica, bowing to the man as he descended the steps.

Gan Ying smiled at Uaica, then came up to him and bowed. “Uaica, it has been far too long. How are you, old friend?”

Aroteh realized he understood the language, one Uaica had forced them to learn. He glanced over at Caral. “It’s the language.”

“I know,” Caral replied.

Gan Ying led them to the right of the temple, through a gate into a smaller courtyard. The rock face of the mountain loomed large to their left and before them were smaller buildings, each with a porch facing the courtyard. Gan Ying went to the building to the far right, the one that sat at the edge of the complex.

“You’ll be in this one,” said Gan Ying, crossing the porch and sliding open the door to the interior. One large room sat in the middle and to each side, up two steps were sliding doors to other rooms. “I’ll let you decide which rooms you desire,” he added, then turned to Uaica and pointing to the back room on the left. “That is the quietest of the rooms,” giving Uaica a smile.

Uaica chuckled, nodding his head. “Thanks for everything.”

“Uaica, there is no need to thank us. We owe you so much. I’ll have someone bring you food, and after you eat, you can get cleaned up at the bath. Uaica, you remember where it is located, I assume?”

“Of course,” Uaica replied.

Gan Ying bowed and stepped back through the door to the porch, turned and strolled away.

“I’ll take the room suggested and you boys take those two rooms,” said Uaica pointing to the two on the opposite side of the central room.

Uaica went to his room, slid the door open and stepped up into it. He started to pull the door closed but hesitated. He watched Caral led Aroteh to the room at the back of the opposite side, and the two of them disappeared into it. He smiled, shaking his head, then closed his own door.

Caral walked across the small room noting the mats rolled up on the floor. A small table sat to one side and along the other, a small two door cabinet. Aroteh looked inside to find robes, blankets, and two pillows. Along the back a pair of sliding doors and Caral slid them open to discover a narrow porch overlooking the valley. He stepped out and realized the porch cantilevered from the side of the building and looking down, saw treetops far below.

Aroteh stepped out and stood next to Caral at the railing.

“Wow, this is some view,” said Aroteh.

“Yes, it is.”

“How long do you think it will be before the food arrives?”

“Not sure. Why?”

Aroteh moved to Caral, kissed him, then leaned back smiling.

“Maybe we have time for a bit of fun?”

Aroteh lay on his stomach on a mat. He lifted his head and moaned as he felt Caral penetrate him. He shuddered as the penetration deepen until he felt Caral against his ass, then the long lean body against his back.

“Caral,” Aroteh whispered as he felt the slow tug outward, then another push into his depths.

Caral fucked slowly until Aroteh loosened to him, then he increased his pace. It had only been a day since their first time, but he felt a hunger, and desire that was almost uncontrollable. He moved on the muscular body and felt the increasing heat between them. His arousal increased until he wanted greater stimulation. He eased up and got on his knees, then he guided Aroteh up on knees and elbows. He pushed his cock down then pushed the head into Aroteh. He watched his cock disappear as he kept pushing until his hips were pressed against the round ass. He held the waist and began to fuck. He fucked with an urgency, faster and faster until their bodies smacked together. He reached down and pulled Aroteh to his knees and hugged him tight to his chest while continuing to piston cock into him.

Their bodies grew hot, slick, where rubbing against each other. There were moans and grunts, and at times soft pleadings escaping from Aroteh. Caral kept up his pace, thrusting into Aroteh’s depths over and over until his cock ached for release. He reached around and took Aroteh in hand. He felt the slick around the head, and he smeared it down the shaft as he stroked him with the same urgency he felt as he pushed his own cock into Aroteh’s depths.

Aroteh shuddered in Caral’s hug, and Caral felt the cock in his hand flex. He knew Aroteh was coming. By every measure it was obvious. Eventually the scent of cum hit his nose. He shoved into Aroteh’s depths and shuddered with his own release.

“Don’t stop…please, Caral, keep going,” Aroteh pleaded.

Caral kept moving within Aroteh. He felt how his cock moved slickly inside him and he stayed hard, aroused to the point his cock ached for it. He stroked the slick cock in his hand and felt Aroteh shiver against his chest.

“Caral…OH…fuck,” Aroteh uttered breathlessly as he moved his hips in rhythm with Caral.

Caral pulled free and moved to his back. He looked up at Aroteh with pleading eyes, then watched the muscular body move over his own. He watched Aroteh hold his cock up and eased down on it. He grabbed at the mat and pushed up with his hips as Aroteh came down. Time and time again, he felt Aroteh bounce off his hips and he watched Aroteh’s cock flop around. It was hard, the head wet and drooling, leaving a wet trail wherever it smacked flesh.

When Caral felt his arousal near the point of release, he sat up and ran hands over Aroteh. The skin was hot and slick, and he raked his hands over it. Aroteh leaned forward and kissed him. He felt a touch, wet and slick, and knew it was Aroteh’s cock moving up and down his chest. When Aroteh threw his head back and cried out, he felt the hot wads of cum rope up his chest, then trickle down his stomach. Tightening his hold, he pushed Aroteh down on his cock and came. As his cock flexed with each ejaculation, he became aware of a greenish glow in the room and realized it was Aroteh and him radiating with it. He felt a surge of energy and soon they were hovering in the air. They spun slowly, then suddenly were hovering in a valley, the mountaintops covered in snow and below a river cascading down rock. Rain fell from the sky and washed over them. They looked up into the rain, then kissed again.

Aroteh knew something was different. He too felt a surge of power. Then he forgot about it, more interested in Caral who held him. There was a heat trapped between them and he sensed their motion. He pictured a valley. A beautiful valley lush with life. Then they were in hovering in it. When the rain fell, he sensed Caral moving them in it. The water was cool against their skin, and it refreshed them while it cleansed their bodies.

Caral took them back to their room and he felt them settle back on the mat. Caral kissed his neck, then giggled in his ear.

“Uaica is coming to the door to get us,” whispered Caral.

Before they could release each other and get dressed, the door slid open and Uaica stepped up into the room.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Uaica stammered, backing back out of the room, and sliding the door closed.

Caral and Aroteh stared at the door and burst into laughter.

The boys were allowed to rest for a few days, then Uaica put them into a training regime. One aspect was a body training, one to help them focus their minds or relax them, clear their heads when the need arises. They also continued combat training, weapons practice, and exercising to strengthen their bodies and increase stamina. For weeks they practiced. The seasons changed, their practices moved from outside to inside when it rained or snowed. They turned nineteen and realized the changes to their bodies and their minds. Their powers seemed better focused, easier to control. Caral picked up a mustard seed and placed it in a small cut, then he lifted the top of a nearby mountain, the break perfectly smooth, hovering it in the air then neatly returned it to its exact position. It seemed size nor weight were an issue.

Aroteh learned to target faraway places with greater accuracy, and his biggest surprise was to be able to move through solid material. He also learned to arrive to a place and hold himself in a state between dimensions spying on the space he was hovering within.

While the boys trained, Uaica took a journey deeper into the mountains. He went to a place where ruins of a small city once existed. He strolled the ruins as images of a past life surfaced. There were two wives, and six children, then 14 grandchildren, and he knew the family continued when he finally slipped away, afraid his slow aging was going to be soon noticed. He sat on a line of stacked stone and pictured the market that sat along the wall. It seemed like only a short time ago as he sat among the ruins, but he knew it had been at least five hundred years since that time.

At a mound of stone, a place that had been a place of ritual, he thought of the one he had done, the one the boys would soon do too. The timelines of what was to come was too great for mere normal humans. He knew the boys were ready, and when he returned, he would confer with Xi about setting everything up.

Arisen

He opened his eyes looking up at the moon through the shaft in the roof of the cave. He is confused for a moment. His fractured mind still repairing itself, but then suddenly remembered.

I’m Wendigo.

Wendigo sat up and looked around the dark cave, his eyes able to see in the darkest of corners. He felt his old anger resurface. His heart rate increased, and he felt his face flush with it. Uaica, old friend,he thinks as he turned and eased off the rock.

“I’ll destroy you yet,” Wendigo uttered as he moved across the space to the tunnel leading to the surface.

He made his way along the tunnel, always taking the right path. It was ingrained in his mind. At the mouth of the cave a large boulder is snugged tightly into it to prevent men from dislodging it. He waved his left hand, a mere gesture, and the boulder rolled out and away from the opening. As he stepped into the fresh night air, he heard it crash down the side of the mountain and splash into the river below.

A deep breath, something he had not done in a very long time, and it made his lungs swell and his mind clear of the fog it had been enveloped ever since the day Uaica betrayed him. He seethed with how it made everyone turn against him, leaving him alone. He imagined various scenarios of revenge, each more horrifying than the last and he began to laugh.

Raising his head and closing his eyes, Wendigo searched for Uaica. Like tenacles of some beasts, he reached out in dark places and places out in the realm of man. It took some time, but he felt him. Felt the strength of the old fool and knew it would not be enough, not this time. He saw a mountain, then a temple clinging to its side. He knew the place. It was where Uaica had gained his greatest power. The slowing of aging. He had been prepared to do it too, but…Uaica ruined everything.

Wendigo searched for Uaica and found him in the temple. Something was wrong, for there was a greater power there, one that seemed to possess two bodies in some manner. He tried to penetrate its mind, but it blocked him, refused to give in to his probing. He swore, for no human mind could keep him out. This was something new, or very old. He wondered what Uaica had brought to life. What dark magic had the old seer tampered with or was it something very old he discovered and released it into the world. He tried to focus on it, but it seemed to move, to shift from one place to another. It was as if it were two beings connected in some manner. But that was impossible.

Wendigo rose from the ground, then moved out over the valley. He headed toward the old city some considered a garden paradise, where he would plot out a way of entrapping Uaica and imprisoning him until his body turned to dust.

Uaica’s Reveal

Xaica moved to the chair next to Xi and eased down it. He looked across the small room, one in the back of the palace far from prying eyes, to Aroteh and Caral. He sensed their strength. It animated from them, and he knew Wendigo would sense it but to what degree he wasn’t sure. Even this close, he struggled to separate them, to see one’s power separate from the other. It was if their power was intertwined, feeding off the other. He sat back and took a slow deep breath. Then he began.

“I was born in the fourth year of King Hammurabi, the ruler of Babylon, and empire of a land you currently do not know. This was…” Uaica hesitated. He looked at Xi who nodded for him to continue. “This was over two thousand years ago.”

“What?” Caral exclaimed, sitting up in shock.

“You’re immortal?” asked Aroteh.

“No, not immortal. I just age slowly. I think I’ve aged about five years or so since I did the ritual.”

“What ritual?” asked Aroteh.

“I grew up in Babylon in a privileged home. My father was a seer and an advisor to the king. I was to follow in his footsteps and was beginning to be consulted when I was fifteen years old. Everything was all planned out, even my marriage to another advisor’s daughter. But she didn’t love me, and it made both of our lives miserable. Then someone betrayed the king, and my father was blamed. It became obvious someone very high up was going to let my father take the fall to protect someone else. Before the king’s men came for my father, he sent us away. My mother, two younger sisters and myself. We went east for there seemed to be rumors of war coming from the west and north and the terrain was harsh. We ended up in another ancient civilization which accepted us into their society.

“Life was good, but when I turned nineteen a plague hit the region, killing so many of the people, including my mother and two sisters. I was left alone in a country that was not my own. I packed up some belongings and headed east once again. I wanted to get away from everything I knew. It took four years, but I eventually arrived here, to this very place.”

Uaica looked up with eyes closed. The boys knew he was reliving that time, seeing it again after so many years. Uaica opened his eyes and looked at them.

“This was not here, of course,” said Uaica, motioning around the room, “but there was a small stone structure at the mouth of a cave, and a small enclave of people living down below in the valley. They had their own religion and kept hidden a secret that this temple now must keep. A secret mere mortal men must never find. One that legend and myth will reverberate through the ages with references to it, vague notions about it, very little based on truth. Even your homeland will suffer by men seeking it there.

“It is a pool of water that has some elements in it. Some elixir that effects any living body that enters it, slowing its aging process.”

Xi claps his hands when Uaica falls silent and a white tiger cub in brought into the room. It is playful, bouncing on its large paws as it is led into the room.

“This cub is five hundred years old,” said Uaica.

“Why are you telling us?” asked Aroteh.

“Because he wants us to get into it,” said Caral before Uaica can reply.

Uaica nods. “Yes, you need to submerge yourselves. You need the slowing of aging, for your time is not yet, but far into the future.”

“How do you know this?” asked Aroteh.

“I saw it.”

“You saw it. And we’re to do this together?” asked Caral.

“Yes. There is something about the two of you, together, that has some affect to the process. I can’t explain, but it is important.”

Outside it was dark, late into the night. Most of the torches of the temple extinguished. There was to no stirring about on this night. Guards were at the entrance and at their posts, otherwise the temple appeared deserted. Behind the main temple, in the nondescript stone structure that was built against the mountain face, they had gathered. Xi and Uaica stood at the door with Caral, Aroteh, and two advisors behind them. Caral and Aroteh were in white robes, loose fitting around their bodies.

Xi unlocked the heavy wood door and pushed it open. He stood to the side letting the guards enter where they lit torches on the walls.

“Let’s go in,” said Xi, leading the others into the building.

Caral and Aroteh entered behind Uaica and saw statues lining each wall. The froze, looking at the last one on the right.

“Yes, its me, now come along,” said Uaica.

At the back of the room, another door already opened by the guards, they continued until going through a tunnel into the mountain. Torches lit its length and they moved along the tunnel, descending steps and following its winding path. They came to a vast cavern, the top so high the torches failed to illuminate it. Most of it was occupied by a pool of water, the waters dark as ink in the cavern.

“Is this it?” asked Caral.

“No,” Xi replied, leading them toward the rear of the cavern.

A stone bridge over the stream that fed the pool, and they entered another tunnel. It was narrower, at times the ceiling so low they had to bend over as they moved through it. It seemed such a long way into the old mountain but after a long descent on worn steps, they came to a small cavern. Xi stood by a low natural stone wall with Uaica coming up next to him.

Caral, then Aroteh stood in front of the men and saw the low wall held a pool of water. It glowed faintly in the torch light, a bluish tint. It appeared to be waist deep and the water was calm, unmoving.

“This is the pool. We’ll leave you alone, then you can disrobe and get into it,” said Uaica.

“That’s it?” asked Aroteh.

“Not exactly,” Uaica replied, giving Xi a knowing glance. “When you get in, I think you’ll know what to do. At some point you’ll need to submerge completely.”

“This is what you did?” asked Caral.

“Yes, only I was alone. I suspect it’ll be much different for the two of you.”

Xi put a hand on Uaica’s shoulder and guided them past Caral and Aroteh, heading back to the tunnel.

“We’ll be waiting back at the entrance,” said Xi.

The boys watched Xi and Uaica go into the tunnel and climb the steps until they were out of sight. Soon not even their torch light or the sound of their footsteps could be sensed. The cavern was quiet, no sound except their own breathing.

Caral looked at the pool and thought of the sacred lake back in his home country and the legends that surrounded it. He knew they were nothing compared to this small pool. He stepped up to the low wall and set his torch into a hole in the low wall, then he let the robe fall from his shoulders. He stood naked by the pool waiting for Aroteh.

Aroteh stepped up beside him and did the same until he stood naked at his side.

“What are we waiting for?” asked Aroteh.

“I don’t know. Some sign or something,” replied Caral.

“Does seem mundane doesn’t it. Just a small pool with a weird blue glow.”

Caral took Aroteh by the hand and together, they stepped over the low wall. The water came up to their waist and felt like any other pool of cool water. They eased down on their knees, letting the water come to their upper chests. Then something began to happen to them.

Aroteh looked at Caral in surprise.

“Do you feel it?” Aroteh asked.

“Yes.”

Their hearts began to race, and they began to grow hot, almost feverish. Their breathing grew labored as if they were exerting themselves. Then they grew aroused, their cocks rising between them, growing longer and longer, until sticking out hard as rock. They felt primitive urges, the need for sex. It was overpowering, and they no longer were concerned about where they found themselves. Aroteh moved first, bringing their bodies together as he kissed Caral. The blue water made them feel slick against each other, and they rubbed and undulated and touched the other, increasing their aroused state.

Caral spun Aroteh around and pushed him to bend over. Hands resting on the low wall, Aroteh looked over his left shoulder waiting. He didn’t have to wait long. Caral moved on him, rubbed cock up and down his ass, then pushed against the tight opening.

“Do it…do it, fuck me,” Aroteh uttered.

Caral pushed harder until be breached the tight opening. He pushed slowly forward, sinking the head of his cock, then the shaft into Aroteh until his hips pressed against the firm around ass.

“Fuck,” Caral cried out as he lay heavily on Aroteh savoring the feel of his cock buried inside him.

Caral worked his hips, moving cock inside Aroteh’s depths, then he rose, held the narrow waist and began to fuck. Faster and faster until the sound of their bodies smacking together echoed in the cavern.

Aroteh rose and leaned back against Caral’s lean body. He felt the heat of it and how it undulated with their fuck. A hand came around and pressed against his chest, then it rubbed upward until holding him by the neck.

“Aroteh,” Caral uttered, then he pulled them backwards, submerging into the blue water. It began to glow brighter, and the water roiled with bubbles as if boiling.

Caral lay on the bottom holding Aroteh to his body and he fucked upward, driving cock into him. They opened their mouths and breathed in the blue waters. There was no sense of drowning, no gasping for breath, for their lungs took the blue waters without protest. They breathed it, deep full breaths, and kept fucking. Their skin began to glow, growing brighter than the water.

Caral pushed Aroteh off of his cock, flipped him over and pushed him to the bottom of the pool. Aroteh held his legs behind the knees, up and spread open, letting Caral move on him. Slipping between the legs Caral penetrated him again.

Aroteh lay back on the smooth bottom and savored the fullness of it. The push into his depths, then the tug outward. He wrapped his legs around Aroteh, then clung to him. He wanted to beg Caral to fuck him harder, to keep up his pace, but the water that let them breathe didn’t give them their voices.

Caral piston his cock inside Aroteh until his body grew rigid and cock ached for release. He shoved into Aroteh’s depths over and over and over, until unable to hold back. He shuddered and jerked and slammed his hips against the upturned ass as his cock shot wad after wad into Aroteh.

Then Aroteh had Caral on the bottom of the pool face down. He moved over him, pushing the legs apart. He rubbed his cock between the ass cheeks Caral held apart. Then he penetrated him, roughly, in one push. Caral shuddered, then pushed upward. Aroteh lay on him and began to fuck. He moved like a serpent, body undulating with the sole purpose of driving cock into Caral’s depths. He thrust forward over and over until he too could not hold back any longer. He jammed his cock all the way into Caral, then hammered his hips against the round ass as his cock ejaculated.

Above the pool the room dimmed, and the waters grew calm again. The blue glow lessened and the two bodies within would have been visible to anyone in the cavern. Suddenly they rose and Caral and Aroteh burst through the surface. They fell back against the low wall heaving for breath.

After a short time, their breathing slowed, they eased down until the water was at their neck, only their heads above it. They moved to each other and kissed lightly, then floated apart enough to enable them to look at the other.

“Do you feel it?” asked Caral.

“Yes; it’s strange. It’s like…I feel calm.”

“And more focused,” Caral added.

Caral looked at Aroteh and smiled. Then they were floating out of the pool and set gently on the stone floor by the low wall.

“More control of our powers too,” said Caral.

They slipped on the robes and started toward the tunnel when Aroteh stopped Caral.

“Wait,” said Aroteh.

“What is it?”

“I know something else about my powers.”

“What?”

“I don’t have to be within the space to create it.”

“What do you mean?”

Aroteh smiled mischievously at Caral, then folded him up into another dimension and placed him in the room where Uaica and Xi were waiting. Then he folded the space around himself and appeared next to Caral.

“You can do it without being in the center of it?” Uaica exclaimed as soon as Aroteh appeared.

“It would seem so,” Aroteh replied.

Uaica looked at Caral who smiled back, and he shook his head.

Over the next few days, the boys practiced with the new aspects of their powers. Caral could not only move an object with the distortion of space, now he could shrink the space crushing the object, or he could expand the space pulling the object apart until it seemed to disappear.

Each evening was a large meal with Xi and his closest advisors, and on days they were to take a break, the boys went exploring the surrounding mountains, or the nearby cities. Aroteh would take them to their outskirts where they could stroll in unnoticed.

Uaica used his free time to continue his historical readings. It was his guilty pleasure. He searched far and wide for any document that gave some insight to a period in man’s past. Xi had kept some of his collection, most of it centered on history of Xi’s country and the Egyptian Empire that had existing not too far in the past. He had Greek and Assyrian and Babylon documents, whether clay tablets, portions of some wall relief, scrolls or, someone’s copy of paintings from murals.

What he sought the most was the history of Babylon, his home country. The wars and looting by the empires that came to power afterward had scattered or destroyed so much it was getting harder to find. He had men searching in every place associated with Babylon in some manner. He had even found some scrolls in the surrounding regions referring to trade and news from travelers from the region.

One afternoon, a courier came to the temple asking for Uaica. He was brought to him where he bowed then held out a cloth wrapped item.

“What is this?” Uaica asked as he took the item.

“Something in which you search,” the man replied.

Uaica laid the item down and pulled the cloth back. He gasped for a clay tablet sat before him in an ancient writing that was familiar for it was Babylonian. His eyes scanned the writing, knowing it to be from the time of his life in the city. He gently traced a finger over the writing, reading how it was a report to the king of events unfolding in Egypt. He quickly realized the tablet was one of series and he looked at the courier.

“Where’s the rest of it?”

“It’s here, in this country. It was brought here long ago, and a collector has it. He can’t read it and is willing to let you see the other tablets if you agree to translate them.”

“Of course, yes, yes, how soon can I see them,” Uaica replied excitedly.

The courier held out a small scroll. Uaica unrolled it and read it quickly, frantically, desperate to know what he must do to see the other tablets. It was directions to follow the courier to the collector’s house and an invitation to come as quickly as possible. He was asked to come alone and not reveal where his home in the mountains was located, for he feared thieves. Uaica rolled the scroll and tied it, then looked at the courier.

“I can be ready to leave shortly. In the meantime, I’ll have food and drink brought for you. You must be famished after such a long journey.”

“Thank you,” the man replied, holding out his hand for the scroll.

Uaica handed him the scroll, then watched him carefully fold the cloth around the tablet.

“I’ll be waiting,” said the man, and he stepped back from the table.

Uaica rushed from the room, going first to Xi, then the boys explaining the situation. He would be gone for one moon cycle, maybe less, and not to worry. He stuffed clothes and a few belongings into a pack and rushed to get back to the courier hoping he had finished eating. He was eager to get on the road.

Aroteh was on the path to the building near the entrance and he stopped Uaica, despite his protestations.

“Uaica, I can take you there.”

“No, no need. The courier knows the way and I have to keep the collector’s location secret if I want to see the scrolls. To show up suddenly…”

“Would invite unwelcomed questions?”

“Yes. Plus, the journey will give me time to think.”

“I don’t like it, this secrecy.”

“It is part of the search for these ancient documents. It is not the first time I had to meet someone in some hidden away place, and it won’t be the last. Don’t worry, I’ll be back before the next cycle of the moon.”

Aroteh nodded, then stepped aside. “Travel safe and hurry back.”

A Deceit

Wendigo wondered if his plan would work. He knew it should, but he had lingering doubts. It seemed too easy. Could he really capture Uaica with such a pitiful scheme and over such a frivolous thing? He laughed as he paced around the room. He went out the sliding doors to the balcony that overlooked the valley below. Nestled along a river was a village where smoke rose from fires. He knew it was from cooking or the blacksmith shop hammering metal into some new form. On the other side of the village along the bank of the river were small fields of rice. He knew it was a staple of the people’s diet. He found it bland. He had a taste for something more succulent. The tender flesh of a young boy or girl. He imagined it; the meat roasted to perfection. He glanced around the room at the two young men on guard and wondered how they would taste. His mouth watered with his imaginings. But he knew they could not be touched, or he would have everyone against him, and it would spoil his plan. He had to abide by some rules if he were to maintain their cooperation.

He looked down at the village then let his eyes move over the side of the mountain as his mind went further out, searching, looking along roads for the travelers. He found them and smiled at how the two men traveled alone. One a courier, just a boy, who was unknown to the region and would be rewarded for his efforts by being a sacrifice. The locals were to be left alone, but this stranger would satisfy his appetite. The other was the old man, Uaica, blinded by his greed for useless knowledge, coming to meet his fate.

Two days later Wendigo stood at a mirror and watched his features change, his hair become straighter, his eyes, cheeks, nose, and jaw change until he looked like a local man in his sixties. He summoned his inner strength and focused it, shrank it down as small as possible. He needed to conceal his identity. Using measures to confuse Uaica’s mind and the change in appearance, he hoped it would buy him the time he needed. Then he headed down to the front reception room to greet his guest. They would soon be at his door.

Wendigo descended the stair and took a seat at a window overlooking the valley just as a knock rang out from the front door. He heard one of the guards answer it, then their approach. He had to focus again, control his breathing, for he was so excited it could give everything away. He had to take Uaica by surprise so there was no time to warn the other. He sensed him, even while he worked to conceal himself. He had felt him in the most powerful way ever since arriving. At times it seemed as if it were two of them, then other times it was only one he sensed. He didn’t understand this power, but he was confident his more cunning nature and knowledge would easily allow him to take care of him, just as he was about to do with the old man. He smiled as Uaica and the courier came into the room and rose to his feet. He looked at the young courier, then moved to greet Uaica.

The courier was invited to rest, a means of keeping him in place and out of sight. Wendigo led Uaica down to the basement, through food storage rooms, a cistern, and to a heavy wood door.

“I keep my collection in here. The temperature is good, and the walls are fixed to prevent water from getting in,” said Wendigo.

“Yes, yes, it is important for the scrolls can be so fragile,” Uaica replied as he watched the door swing open.

A torch was lit, brining the front of the room into light. There were tables down the middle of it and along each wall shelves crowded with ancient finds. With a few more torches lit, the room fully illuminated, Uaica saw the last two tables were covered in tablets. He watched the man he knew as Zhao Guang place the tablet the courier had brought to him on the table in a gap between the others. It completed the row. Now there were three complete rows of tablets and Uaica felt his heart race as he moved to them, eyes scanning one tablet, then the next.

“These are so well preserved. They are…perfect.”

“Thank you. Can I get you something to drink while you look them over?”

“Yes, that would be nice,” Uaica replied, barely registering what was said.

Wendigo poured from a pitcher on a side table, then held the mug out to Uaica. Uaica took a sip, then another, realizing his thirst from traveling most of the day had taken a toll. He moved to the fifth tablet, scanned what was written on it, then stepped back and took a long drink, then another. He wanted to quench his thirst and finish the mug so he could hand it back. The last of the sweet-fermented drink finished, he held out the mug. Before it could be taken from his hand, it dropped breaking on the stone floor.

Uaica realized something was wrong. His vision blurred, then he felt short of breath. He stumbled, then looked at the smiling Zhao Guang. He lost his vision, everything going black, and he fell to the floor. He rolled to his back and tried to breath. He opened his eyes again and saw Wendigo hovering above him, smiling.

“No,” Uaica managed to utter sounding breathless, then he closed his eyes and fell still.

An Emptiness.

Aroteh woke with a start. He sat up breathing hard and covered in sweat. He looks behind him to see Caral leaning against the wall appearing the same.

“He’s gone,” Aroteh utters.

“Yes.”

“You think he’s dead?”

“I don’t know. It didn’t seem like a dying. It was more sudden.”

“I can’t sense him.”

“Nor I.”

“It was a trap…wasn’t it?”

“It would seem so. I can’t even sense that courier. He is gone too, but…”

“He’s dead.”

“We have to go look for him?”

“Where?”

“I know he went further into the mountains, to the north. I followed him for time and when it seemed like the journey was safe…I got distracted and stopped.”

“Maybe Xi will know something.”

“I do sense the other,” said Caral.

“Uaica said we needed to avoid him until we were ready.”

“I know, but Uaica isn’t here.”

“You know he is moving. It feels fast. He’s somewhere to the east.”

“He’s going back. He’s going to Egypt.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“He thinks we’re one person.”

“You sure?” asked Aroteh.

Caral nodded, then took a deep breath. “We need to stay close together. It seems to confuse him and the longer he thinks we’re one person, the better.”

“You think we can find him and get him to take us to Uaica?”

“Or at least reveal where he has put him.”

Deep within a mountain in an ancient land, there exist a cavern. It is inaccessible to man, the shaft a vertical crack in the mountain that descends for a third of the mountain’s height connecting to a narrow passage. The passage descends deeper, so deep the air goes from being cool to warm. The inner turmoil of the earth seems ready to break into it.

There is a boiling pool of water and columns circled the central space and stalagmites and stalactites covered the floor and ceiling in the remaining areas. Toward the back a wall of crystal. It was pure, too pure for nature and within it Uaica was locked away. He was frozen in place and his mind was fragmented, unable to form coherent thoughts.

Uaica had moments of clarity. Brief glimpses of the past. The boys, the temple, an ancient city with its hanging gardens, the pyramids, and a mug held out. Then he saw the smiling face of Wendigo.

The sliding doors to the balcony are open and the sound of the rain drowns out any noise coming from other parts of the building. Uaica’s room has been silent for a full cycle of the moon and Xi has been keeping some distance, aware of the boy’s being distraught over his disappearance.

Aroteh is on his back and Caral hovered over him. They moved slowly against each other, both naked, letting every touch be pure. Skin against skin. Or fingers grazing over it. Lips touched one spot, then another. Cocks, growing erect, slid alongside each other. Legs rubbed against each other as if stroking a building heat. Kisses grew physical, passionate. Fingers dug into firm flesh, grabbing and clinging to the other. Aroteh raised his knees, spreading his legs. He opened himself to Caral. He reached between them and stroked Caral feeling his fingers smear the slick down the shaft. Then he guided him to his opening.

“Caral,” Aroteh whispered.

Caral knew what Aroteh wanted. He felt the tug on his cock. There is also the desperation in the eyes and a pleading in the voice. He felt it too. A gentle push and he felt the tight squeeze. It was almost painful, but the pleasure overwhelmed it, and he pushed again. He saw Aroteh throw his head back, mouth open as if to scream. Nothing came out. Just the sucking in of air and an exhale. He pushed deeper, slowly, until he is pressed against the upturned ass.

Aroteh pushed upward, then clung to the long lean body. He felt the tug outward, then another slow push into his depths. The fullness of it, Caral buried inside him aroused him until his own cock flexed between them.

Caral felt how Aroteh moved beneath him. It was familiar, the way he would undulate his body, movements that increased his arousal. It drove him to increase his pace, and he began to fuck. He thrust his cock into Aroteh, over and over. He would fuck for a long time, his pace unrelenting. His body would ache with his exertions. His skin shine from sweat that formed on it. It would pool into rivulets that rained down on Aroteh.

Aroteh felt the heated body between his legs and within his desperate grasp. The drops of sweat landed on his skin and they seem to transfer more heat to his own body. He arced his back and pushed hard against him. He wanted Caral inside him. He wanted to feel that fullness of every penetration. His own cock rubbed wetly across his stomach.

Caral stood on his knees and grabbed each leg behind the knee. He spread Aroteh, opened him up even more and buried his cock inside of him. He worked his hips until the sound of flesh against flesh echoed in the room. He let go of the right leg and took Aroteh in hand. He stroked the slick cock as he worked his own inside of him. He fucked until his body burned with his exertions and he was gasping for breath. Aroteh’s cock flexed in his hand, and he looked down to see cum rain down on him. Thick wads almost white against the tanned skin. They pooled together and trickled over the sides as the body moved beneath him.

“Aroteh…I’m going to…” Caral uttered, unable to finish, and he shoved into the depths of Aroteh’s body and came.

They lay for a long time letting their bodies cool down. The rain continued to fall, having set in for the day. The air suddenly felt cool against their skin and Caral pulled Aroteh close.

“We have to do something,” said Aroteh.

“I know.”

“We leave at the next full moon.”

“Agree.”

“I think we need to go east to that land of pyramids.”

“I know. That demon is there.”

Sands of Time

Wendigo sat in the ship, the rowers working to the point of fatigue to increase their speed. The sails overhead captured the wind, but Wendigo wanted to increase their speed as he was carried to the south, up the great river Nile. He had a faster means of travel, which he used to arrive in the land, but he wanted to travel up the river to see the folly of man as he prepared to end the last barrier in his pursuit of a new order for this old world. One where humans are reduced to slaves and meat.

Behind Wendigo on the coast was the city of Alexandria with its massive library. He scoffed at the foolishness of man and his attempts to hold on to his past. Their future was going to be so short, and he laughed as he imagined the future he planned for them, when those like him would stop hiding in the shadows. Ahead, the sun shining harshly upon him, and the great pyramids to his right. He looked at the massive stone structures, knowing the secrets that lay hidden within. He had visited the sites when construction was underway on the third one, his curiosity finally getting him to come see for himself.

To most people in the region, they were the site of the greatest mysteries. A place of secrets. But he knew the truth. That place lay further south to a place more ancient hidden away shortly after its construction. It was lost to history, but not to him. They would row upriver for two days. Two days for him to sit back and relax while he plotted. He looked at the man directly in front of him, shoulders and back straining at the oar and he imagined him flayed and cooking over open flame.

It was dark when the boat pulled up to the dock in the town. There were a few men working at the docks, and a few women in the shadows. Wendigo moved to the starboard side of the boat and easily stepped up and off the boat. He looked toward the quiet town, only a few torches pushing away the darkness. He headed into town, cut down a side street and when in complete darkness he rose into the air.

The mountain was bare rock with loose soil in its crevices. It sat to the west of the Nile, and its worn rounded form sat among the other mountains. It was dark, the darkest part of night just before first daybreak. The wind blew gently from the north and the air was dry and warm. Near highest point of the mountain, a light. So small a man would think it an insect, but it grew in size, then appeared as a fractured space. It continued to grow and within became recognizable as two young men. The light flashed brightly, then disappeared, leaving Aroteh and Caral standing on the bare rock.

“He’s close,” Aroteh uttered looking to his south.

“I can feel him too.”

“Let’s end this.”

“I agree. The bastard needs to pay for what he has done, but do you think we can get him to reveal where he hid Uaica?”

“I don’t know. You think we can force him to tell us?”

“I bet he reacts to us as soon as we appear.”

“I think so too, but if we get the chance. If we can catch him off guard, then we have to try.”

“Can you see his location?”

“When I’m in that other space I will be able to do so.”

“Let’s go.”

Caral stepped closer to Aroteh and the space around them shimmered, a sphere forming, then it fragmented. It seemed to divide up space, multiple images of Caral and Aroteh in every point within it. The sphere glowed, grew brighter, then shrank out of sight.

Confrontation

Wendigo stood in the old chamber. It was within the mountain, an old temple constructed by man. It was a place of magic and dark mysteries to them, but he knew it was simply a place of great power by those who knew how to summon it, control it, and use it for their own benefit. He looked at the statues surrounding the room. They were twice as large as those they portray. There was Enki, Inana, We-llu, and Anshar, the one who followed Uaica’s lead. Along the other wall, there was Shamash, Nirah, and his statue. On the last plinth was Uaica and he smiled at the fate left to him.

Reaching down, fingers splayed apart, he ran them through the red pool in the large basin centered in the room. He remembered the ritual from so long ago, the one that separated them from mere men. It was Inana who went first, and he remembered his lust for her and later her rejection.

There had been such a possibility laid out before them, one for the taking, but it was Uaica who ruined everything. He was the one who convinced the others they should leave humans alone, for they were a part of them despite the changes. Wendigo still seethed with anger after so many thousands of years. They could have ruled the world, instead of going into hiding. But it didn’t matter, not in the end.

Inana and Shamash had been the most loyal to Uaica and they had been the ones he destroyed before their powers grew too great. He had rendered them ash in the old empire of those fools to the northeast. Uaica had the others go into hiding, leaving him alone. Now it was Uaica who would exist alone for the rest of time. He would show the others it was time to come out of hiding, and he would lead them in his quest for a new world, one where they were the ones who claimed dominion.

Wendigo cupped his hand and brought some of the red liquid to his mouth. He drank as if dying of thirst. It cooled his inner being, calmed him, and he closed his eyes savoring the moment. Then he felt it, the one who would come to him looking for Uaica. He felt the power of him, how he couldn’t pinpoint the space he occupied. It seemed to exist in one place, then another. It was moving closer, and he thought it impossible, then he saw it, the small dot of light.

The light was small, and it stopped at the front of the chamber and hovered in the air, but it grew quickly and before Wendigo could respond, two young men stood before him. He sensed their power, some ability that was new. It was not derived from the red pool but came from some corruption of his kind with those humans. He looked at the two men and saw Enki in their features.

“No,” Wendigo whispered.

“Where is Uaica?” tallest one asked.

“That is the first thing you say to me. Where is that old fool?” asked Wendigo and he laughed, willing to play along to buy time to examine them, trying to understand their abilities and their weakness, one he already knew: Uaica. “I think introductions are in order. I’m Wendigo.”

“We know who you are,” the tall replied.

“I’m Aroteh, and this is Caral,” the other replied, stepping forward.

Wendigo sensed it, the power within Aroteh. A power beyond his understanding, and he saw the threat to his own wellbeing.

“You fools really should not have come. You should have done like the others and hid, like cowards,” Wendigo exclaimed as he submerged his hands in the pool drawing up its power.

Wendigo created a ball of fire. It circled over his head, gaining size and power. He would obliterate them, turn them to ash like he had done Inana and Shamash. The ball of fire grew larger and circled overhead faster.

“Enough,” Caral uttered, and he warped the space around Wendigo. It increased in gravity making Wendigo feel like he was being crushed. The ball of fire moved faster as it drew closer to Wendigo who grew wide eyed at the realization Caral was pushing it toward him.

The room glowed bright, and the air became so hot it was hard to breath. Caral stepped back and nodded at Aroteh. The space around Wendigo and his ball of fire became a sphere of space, then everything within fragmented. The ball of fire grew brighter within the sphere. Then the sphere grew brighter, then it shrank until it was gone.

The floor radiated heat where Wendigo had stood, but the chamber once again became dark, only torch light illuminated its interior. The red pool glowed softly in front of Caral and Aroteh. They moved down the steps to the main floor and up to it.

“This is where they got their power,” said Aroteh.

“What should we do with it?” Caral asked as he ran a finger along the top edge of the pool not daring to touch the red liquid.

“Nothing, except hid it.”

“What about Uaica?”

“We look for him. I feel like this isn’t over. That there is something else to happen, or someone else out there that will make trouble.”

“Where did you bury that foul being?”

“In the most remote desert on the earth.”

The Secret History

Xi came out to a bright morning sun, the sky clear and vivid blue. He strolled across the courtyard heading to the temple. He had found the note from Aroteh last night laying on the table of their empty room. They were gone, much like Uaica, without a trace. He knew their powers, the ability it gave them, and he wasn’t surprised they went in pursuit of the evil he sensed. It had lingered in the dark places but with Uaica’s disappearance, he knew it had stopped hiding. He worried about what would happen, but this morning he woke feeling refreshed, no longer feeling a threat out in the world. The only threat left to man was his own greed and viciousness.

Xi came to the temple when the earth shook. It was like the trembling in the beginning of an earthquake, but as soon as it started it had stopped. He looked at the temple then the other buildings worried about damage, then the possibility of an earthquake. Everything was fine, no damage was evident. He sighed, pleased it was only a small tremor. Then he thought of how a small tremor could be much worse underground, he took off in a run, circling the temple and rushing to the small building that led to the chamber within the mountain.

Frantic with fear of damage to the chamber, he lit one torch and carried it to light his way. He rushed through the foyer into the tunnel. He navigated his way down the passage until he neared the chamber, then he saw someone sitting on a rock at the entrance to a new chamber, one that had not existed before. He held the torch up and saw it was Aroteh.

“What…what is going on?” asked Xi.

Aroteh looked up and smiled.

“We needed to hide something, and this is the best place we could think of,” said Caral stepping out of the new chamber carrying a torch.

“What is it?” Xi asked as he moved next to Caral and looked into the chamber. He saw the steps down to a main floor dominated by a large basin holding a red liquid that glowed like the blue liquid just below them. Then he saw the statues lining both side walls. All but one was unfamiliar, but the last one on the right he recognized. It was Uaica. He felt it, a sense of loss once again. He stepped into the room staring at Uaica’s likeness.

“Xi, you have to keep this chamber secret, more so than the one below. No one is to go within it. That red pool is a danger to us, and no one can touch it,” said Aroteh.

Xi nodded his head, then looked at Aroteh. “It is the pool Uaica said was the beginning of things. He said it was in a land faraway and no man was to find it.

“That’s right,” said Caral.

“I’ll keep its secret, but what about the one who would use it against us?”

“He is destroyed by his own power,” said Aroteh.

“So, that is why,” said Xi, moving back out of the chamber. He looked at Caral, nodding his head. “Seal it up,” he whispered, then he began to climb the steps.

The winds were ferocious, blowing snow across the white landscape. The temperature dropped until it was the coldest place on earth. The land lay under ice that was over forty million years old and life was nonexistent in its interior. Despite the ice and snow, it was a dry environment with practically no rainfall. It was the earth’s largest desert and harshest climate.

In the darkness that lasted for days, not hours, a light appeared. At first it was small but bright. It grew in size and in brightness. It expanded until it was a large ball of swirling roiling flame. In its center a lone figure fought for escape. It was engulfed in the flames and screamed silently in the night. The ball grew brighter, then exploded. A fireball of unimaginable heat swelled into existence. It expanded at a rapid rate, pushing outward, overpowering the winds of the land. It evaporated the snow beneath it and sent a shockwave over the hard frozen land far beyond its heat. The explosive ball swelled in all directions, but beneath it, driving down through what was once ice, it hit solid rock and bounced upward. Its burning, roiling air surged skyward, up beyond the clouds where it balled up in the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

Slowly, the fierce winds returned and in the bottom of the crater within the ice, water began to pool and freeze. Lying in the bottom was a blackened figure. Its limbs reduced to stumps and the features fried away. The internal organs were charcoal remnants, devoid of life. It could not see, hear, or feel. But as water rose, submerging it, a tiny portion of the brain remained. It sensed its isolation and its own destruction. It slowly came to consciousness, an awareness of its being. It was Wendigo.

It lay in the freezing water, feeling it harden to ice as it tried to remember more. Tried to understand why it was being frozen away in such a desolate place. It pictured someone from long ago, then it pictured two others. Without knowing why, it seethed in anger. Its thoughts grew dark, imagining pain greater than its own. It remembered a word. Its meaning only partially recalled but it knew what it meant to him. He considered it, wondering how long he would have to wait to have it. His revenge.

To be continued.