Page 75 of Corvus and the Broken God

The next cavern let in no light, but I had become better at listening to my other senses, only hitting my snout once when I didn’t dive soon enough. I found another cavern, leading away from the cave-in, and then another one. Slowly, I worked my way around the rubble until the water became clear again.

About that time, my pebble changed course, and the pull to turn back switched directions, sending me to my left. Now that I was back on some sort of trail, I had fewer mishaps, but the smallest amount of light was welcome. I was getting tired, both physically and of the darkness. The thought of losing the rest of the light when the sun set scared me almost as much as the possibility that I might have to swim down a few levels. He could be down there, I realized. That might be a fear I would need to conquer.

I came up for air in another open-air cave. Tilting my head, I examined the sky, which was darkening fast. Looking around, I spotted a nice dry ledge where I could camp out until sunrise, but before I could figure out a way to get up onto the bank, I heard a loud roar.

My Monster was nearby, and he was furious. I smiled, showing off all my new teeth, and then I dove back down into the water.

The corridor I took was long. I was almost out of breath when I broke the surface. Confirming there was an angry bat god in the dark cavern, I switched forms, not bothering with clothes this time. I pulled myself out of the water in time to see him grab one of the frightened divers and hold him up in the air. Whatever language he was speaking, I could see from the look on the men’s faces, his threats were as cruel as they were pointless. A discarded diver’s lamp provided the only light in the large space, casting us all in eerie shadows.

“Well, at least they left you company,” I said before he could do any permanent damage to the poor man, who was more a victim than my lover.

“Where did you come from?” he said, still yelling. “Jesus Christ, Corvus. Where are your clothes?” Then he yelled some more at the men, who looked away from me while still keeping an eye on his terrible form.

“Let them know we mean them no harm.”

He dropped the man, who probably thought he was about to be eaten by an ancient being, and stomped over to me. Camazotz was taller than I was used to seeing him, dwarfing me more than usual. Instead of the anger I had braced myself for, he leaned down and pulled my wings forward until they wrapped around me, covering me like a dress. I watched in surprise, both at his gentle touch and the fact that I had wings, thinking I had only reached for my human form. Then he reached up to the top of my head and tapped something a few inches above me.

“Cute horns. I’m a fan.”

I had to be blushing. The horns had definitely not been intentional, but my happiness to see him overwhelmed me, so I parted the front of my wing dress to free my arms, which I threw around his waist. My stomach growled, reminding me it had been a long, grueling day.

He pulled me to him, holding me close for several heartbeats. When he released me, he was visibly calmer.

“Tell them I’ll lead them out first thing tomorrow, but it’s too dark now to make the swim.”

“How about I kill them, and we have a nice hot supper?”

“Hard pass. Please, just tell them.”

“No.”

I put my hands on my hips, unconcerned about my nakedness. “Tell them. Otherwise, I won’t get you out of here.”

He cocked his head and studied me. “They will only give us up once they get back.”

“We’ll be long gone by then. I promise. The entrance where they brought you in has been destroyed, and I’ll be dropping them somewhere far from any roads. It will take them a lot longer to get back than it will for us to be gone.”

“How are you planning to get us out of here?” He used air quotes for the last five words, which would’ve been funny on any other day.

“I’ll tell you as soon as you reassure them we mean them no harm and will be rescuing them tomorrow. And you better be telling the truth. They don’t deserve to die for doing something they’re getting paid barely anything for. They are powerless,” I added, appealing to the side I thought my Monster might understand. “They don’t deserve to die simply because Chaac is an asshole.”

This seemed to resonate finally. He turned to the divers and explained something in words that did not sound like Spanish. The men watched him closely, and by their obvious relief, I could see whatever he told them made them feel better. They retreated to another part of the cave, taking their light with them and asking no questions.

No longer alone, I welcomed the darkness and found a place against the wall to sit down. The stone was cold and hard, but the cavern smelled cleaner than most of the others I’d seen so far, probably because it was a completely closed system. No bats could fly in and out of here, no insects or birds chirped high above us. Our enemies had chosen it well, but they hadn’t counted on his secret weapon. Me.

I shifted, trying to find the least uncomfortable spot, but it wasn’t easy. Once I settled, I felt the top of my head for my horns. About three inches long and two inches wide, the ends were sharp and pointed diagonally up with a slight curve out of my hair.

“Unexpected,” said Camazotz, joining me in the dim light.

“I hope you didn’t tell them we’d wait ‘til morning to eat them,” I said, unwilling to address the appearance of the horns and what that could possibly mean.

“That would have been a fine idea. At least then you wouldn’t have to deal with rescuing them tomorrow.” He sat down next to me, scooting close until we sat side by side. “So, tell me, what happened?”

I let out a big sigh. Where to begin?

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah. I snuck into the house and saw them take you down. Your wife,” I cleared my throat and gave him a look which he ignored, “caught me in a net. She thought you had sent in an imposter and snuck in as a sparrow.”