“Isn’t that why you said we had to come here? Back to this… place?” Ixkakaw said, throwing her hands on her hips.
Mat and Dad exchanged a glance. What were they up to?
“He’s not a mere boy,” Mat said.
With a twisted smile, Ixtab stepped forward. “He’s—”
Hurakan silenced her with a glare. He came closer, still staring at me. “He is the prophesied one. He released Ah-Puch.”
A hush fell over the jungle. Ixkakaw, burly dude, and khaki guy (who I guessed was Alom, god of the sky) gasped.
“Those were lies,” Ixkakaw said. “Told by—” She stopped herself.
Nakon popp
ed his knuckles. “Yeah, well, that would make him a god, and that’s not possible, unless…” His face turned red, and I thought smoke might come out of his ears. “Which idiot god broke the Sacred Oath?” he roared.
The silence was so loud my ears started to ring. A brief movement in the trees caught my attention and I saw Jazz muscling Hondo, covering his mouth and pinning him in place. No, Hondo, I thought. This isn’t a fight you can win. Jazz was right to lock him down.
“Oooh,” Ah-Puch said. “This is getting good. Do tell us, Hurakan. Who broke the Sacred Oath?”
Hurakan lifted his chin and clenched his jaw. “Zane Obispo is my son, the son of wind, storms, and fire. He has the blood of a creator and a destroyer, and I claim him as my own.”
My heart skipped so hard I forgot about Puke’s nails digging into me. I forgot about the quest, about becoming a solider of death. I was the son of wind, storms, and fire! Holy smokes, that sounded so…tough!
Hurakan’s voice found me. By claiming you, here in the Old World before the council, I give you full powers.
Full powers? Wait. Is that what Mat meant?
I said you would control fire eventually. Today is that day.
But… why wait? Why now?
You needed to be on sacred ground and I had to claim you in front of the council. It’s the only way for you to defeat Ah-Puch. Do you accept these powers?
Was that a trick question?
Zane!
Okay, okay. Yes.
What happened next is hard to explain, even to imagine—for humans, at least. (Maybe for you gods, too.) Heat exploded inside of me and raced like lava through my muscles, down my nerves, and into my bones. The horrible pain made me want to scream, to fall to the floor and curl into a ball. But I was still paralyzed by Ah-Puch’s grip, so no one could see my torment.
Ixtab shifted her cape back and forth impatiently. Then she shrieked, “Nothing happened!”
Ah-Puch laughed and said to Hurakan, “I didn’t think you had it in you, old friend. Didn’t think you’d give up your own freedom for… a worthless human. And it was all for nothing. Look, the boy didn’t change. He has no dominant power! Maybe your blood isn’t so potent.”
Hurakan narrowed his glare. He tried to come closer, but he couldn’t before red snakes curled around his ankles and wrists and formed chains, shackling him.
With a sigh, Mat shook his head and said to him, “You know the consequences.”
Hurakan didn’t even flinch.
“You are to be sentenced by Old World laws,” Mat said to Hurakan.
I could tell by the look on Mat’s face that his heart wasn’t in his words. He was going through the motions because he had to. But why not stand up to the other gods? Was he trying to protect Pacific?
Alom said, “What about the boy? The law is the law. He has to die.”