Page 8 of Corvus and the Broken God

“The only thing that matters is power. Control the supply and maintain power. Gold, pewter, gemstones, water, oil, stock futures. Throughout the millennia, change has happened slowly. Until recently. The last fifty years have seen leaps in innovation, the last twenty even more. You’ve been asleep while the humans have practically evened the playing field. We need to get ahead of them somehow, or at least be involved in everything. Especially AI. Control the information and control the world.”

“Go, then. Be the king of the ants. I won’t stop you.”

Chaac put his head back and laughed. “You never change. At least you’re predictable.”

Camazotz took a long look at his companion. “How can you stand it? Dealing with the worst of them.”

We both studied Chaac as he drank his whiskey, seemingly unperturbed. He was one of those men who aged well, if he even aged at all, since this sounded like a meeting they held every fifty years. Chaac stood and held out his glass. “Fine, if it means we will make some progress, take this for a moment.” Camazotz took the glass with a smirk. And with a shake, Chaac’s body shimmered for a moment in the firelight before transforming. He grew about a foot in height and half a foot in mass. Clothing melded into some kind of wrapped outfit worn by the ancients. Horns formed on the top of his head, along with two large, leathery wings. His horns curled backwards, more like a ram’s. His skin was a lighter shade of gray.

This sudden transformation didn’t faze me. Why? I wasn’t sure. But I did compare the two creatures as they stood in front of the fireplace like two ancient gods. Camazotz, my original Monster, was larger than his guest. Probably listening to my loud thoughts, he shifted his stance, giving me the full view of his face and wide chest, golden from the light of the flames. He was completely alien and yet strikingly beautiful, like a mako shark. I had been struck by the strange beauty of those creatures one night, watching a program showing how deadly and efficiently they ruled their watery world. They weren’t evil. Just especially good killing machines.

“You shouldn’t write off the human race so easily, you know,” said Chaac, interrupting my musing. “They can do a lot for you.”

“They are selfish, stupid, and cruel, only interested in their measly lives. As if their minutiae mattered, denying till their last breaths that they won’t turn to ash soon enough. Everywhere you look, they are destructive and wasteful. I remember when they built beautiful things, buildings, paintings, sculptures, and tapestries, treasured their belongings, but now they’re only obsessed with humiliating themselves in front of as many people as possible and polluting the world with their small, mean ideas. The landfills are brimming with trash. The mountains are being leveled for their greed, and the oceans are being emptied of life, all for some whim, some trend, some passing appetite. They disgust me. I want nothing to do with them.”

His anger grew the more he spoke, and by the end, he was seething with it. When he finished his rant, he looked right at me.

I fled from the room and the ruin.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Stag

You left? You didn’t wait to hear what the other creature wanted?

Believe me, you wouldn’t have stayed. Anyone in their right mind would have fled the premises.

The Wolf shook his head. You fool. He wanted to scare you. So you wouldn’t know what the Stranger wanted.

He was probably right. I had the same thought when I finally nestled into a spot back in the heart of the plane tree and the relative safety of my fellow crows. Didn’t you tell me yesterday he plans to eat me someday soon, and the icing will be tasting my fear?

The Wolf paced below me, visibly upset.

Look, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. He scares me even when I’m just talking about him. When he’s close enough to kill me, I can’t think straight.

He stopped and looked up at me. Do you think the other Monster is still here?

I shrugged my wings, annoyed that he was annoyed with me. We were supposed to be in this leaky boat together.

Will you check tonight?

Sure.

Why didn’t he check if he was so brave? I knew better than to say it to him though, getting the hang of the mind speak connecting us to Camazotz. I missed my phone and the ability to look up what or who Camazotz was in our cultural histories. And why was I keeping his name a secret? This Wolf was supposed to be my ally against the big bad creature at the top of the hill. I didn’t trust him. Either of them. The beautiful creature paced below me, deep in thought. Morning sun filtered through the summer green leaves. I yawned.

What story do you have for me today?

My question yanked him from his musings. He sat down and looked up at me, twenty feet from his giant mouth laden with white fangs.

You’re going to give me a crick in my neck. Come closer.

You don’t have to look at me to tell me the story. I can hear you just fine from here.

His mouth opened into a grin. At least he had a sense of humor.

Okay, fine. You’ll see soon enough who you can trust. And who you can’t.

I yawned again. Get on with it; the day is wasting. After this, I would try to get some sleep while the Monster, Camazotz, slept too.