FicWad

Memories of a Snake

Chapter two

Panitzin picked up a tree limb from the ground. It would not work well as a weapon, but it felt better to have least something at hand when the people following them showed themselves.

He glanced at the jungle around them, but there seemed not to be any good hiding places nearby. They had passed many good hiding places since they escaped from the raiders, but Panitzin had grown careless when he thought he had lost the followes by reaching the other side of the river.

"Panitzin, is that really you?" a sort of familiar male voice called out. Panitzin tried to figure out who it could be as he turned towards the voice.

"Acatlotzin! You are here searching after us," Malinal exclaimed. A tall man came walking towards them and when Panitzin heard her he finally connected that it was his childhood friend that he had heard.

"Yes, I have woken up," Panitzin said as they greeted him. Behind Acatlotzin came six other villagers from the tribe. Some of them he could recognize, but a fair deal of them had changed too much in the many years that had passed. One person that he did recognize was Tayauh that ran to Malinal and caught her in a close hug.

"We need to get away from here in case the raiders come looking," Tayauh said. "Let's move homewards, and save all major talk until we have middle day break. Are you fit enough to run?"

Malinal and Panitzin nodded and the group followed Tayauh as he picked up speed. Little talk was possible as they ran, but Panitzin managed to hear some bits. Even through attacks from raiders happened each year the Shingali tribe had always been spared from being attacked by the red ship raiders.

With this in mind the attack towards the foraging party that Malinal directed had been totally unexpected. The shock was massive when the tribe learned that three of the tribe was dead and Malinal and Panitzin had been taken as prisoners.

Tayauh had as the tribes master of the hunt declared that even though their religious beliefs meant they would not fight the attackers as revenge he intended to try to save his wife. Acalotzin had followed since he felt responsible for the mute and defenseless Panitzin, but the others were here since Tayauh had requested them to follow.

Finally they halted in a clearing and the rescue party shared their food with Panitzin and Malinal. Panitzin hesitated about he should act towards the other. He had always considered himself old and resourceful for his age, but suddenly all his former playmates had the advantage of years and years of experience.

"Panitzin, it is amazing that you are well again, I had long given up hope about your recovery and can not express my gratitude enough for that you recovered at this moment and saved my wife. Anything that you ask that is within my power to grant shall be yours," Tayauh said.

"I was mostly saving myself," Panitzin responded.

"That is so very not true. I cowardly hid as I sent you to trick the raiders to follow you," Malinal objected.

"I trust my wife in this. You acted hero from the moment you recovered from your mysterious condition. I am forever in your debt," Tayauh acknowledged.

"He means a reward to get my life back again, but how long would it last before the poisoner decided to try again?" Panitzin thought.

"I have been a living dead for years since I was poisoned. I want to know why I was poisoned and by whom," Panitizen said.

"I am afraid that is not within my power to grant. I don't know who poisoned you and even less why they did it. Maybe the poison was meant for the Jidali guest we had that evening," Tayauh responded.

"What could possibly be the motivation for that? The Shingali tribe is a people of non violence. Poisoning a honored guest that just came to warning us of danger does not make sense," Panitzin said.

"Does it make more sense to poison a child of tribe? You might be the current chiefs only child, but the position is not inherited so you make even less sense as target than the visitor," Tayauh reasoned.

"Then tell me something else," Panitzin said. "What happened with the master of snakes?"

"Master of what?" Tayauh asked.

"I think the priests of the eternal snake was used to be called master of snakes," Malinal said.

"Exactly, my grand father was the master of snakes in the tribe, but I have never heard any explanation what happened to him. Why have nobody told us about his position and what happened to him?" Panitzin asked.

"I have no idea, maybe the elders of the tribe can explain this," Tayauh responded.

"What is the likelihood that they will answer the question they for long have worked to being asked?" Panitzin wondered.

Something about the situation made him uncomfortable. Lots of time in the tribe was spent talking about their current belief in the bullgod Magog, the failure of their old faith and the trials on the escape from the old vilage. Why was there not more examples of how Panitzin's grandfather had failed and been wrong? About half of the tribe must be old enough to have experienced the escape to their current location and none of them had mentioned the shaman besides him losing the vote about the greed prophecy.

He remembered the advice from the outcast shaman Anaconona. Logic was the tool to understand what question you needed to ask.

"When you arrive at the Shingali tribe you can ask the elders what happened to your grandfather. I suspect you might not like the answer, the truth might be shameful," Tayauh said.

"Or perhaps the truth about my grandfather is not shameful on itself. Anaconona's description of my grandfather made him sound like hero. What if the shame is something the tribe did to him or that the truth opens questions about if what the tribes does today is the correct action," Panitzin thought.

"Panitzin, how I have longed to see that frown of you face," Acatlotzin commented. "I have missed seeing your face as you are trying sort something out that you don't agree with. It have been horrible see you work day after day without ever seeming to think a single thought of your own."

"I never understood any topic for questions to be forbidden in our tribe, but is it not true that before I spoke up at the meeting I had never heard a single tribe member discuss the risk of the tribe looking peaceful and harmless might invite violence. At the time I thought my question was very compatible with our faith about the circle of violence and breaking out of it and embracing the path of sacrifice. What if there is a history here about the master of snakes not being perceived as weak but a hero traveling the lands? A direct connection between what I suggested and what used to be true about our tribe," Panitzin thought. He felt that he was on the way of understanding something here.

"Chief Jamru will be so glad when you come home. After you became sick he often talked about how you would have eventually been elected as chief because of how smart you are," Malinal commented.

"Yes, everyone have been missing your smartness," Acatlotzin said.

"The river we moved past, could it be the river Acat that the tribe moved over on the escape from the old village?" Panitzin wondered.

"We are very far from home, almost in the neighborhood of our old village, right?" Panitzin asked.

"Yes, the raiders did probably land on coast close to the location of the old village, what about it?" Tayauh asked.

"I want to travel to the old village and check for clues about what happened with my grandfather. The distance will not be so much greater and I think we might find clues there," Panitzin said.

"Visiting the old village is forbidden since the ground is sacred since the miracle of Magog saved us from the dragon," Tayauh objected.

"I have never heard about such a limitation," Panitzin objected. "When did it come into play?"

"My father ordered it as master of the hunt after you lost your mind. His words is still active," Tayauh replied.

"You are master of the hunt now, why not just change this?" Panitzin asked.

"You are right that I could, but I also made a promise to the chief that I would make one single attempt to save Malinal and no matter the result I would afterwards journey back," Tayauh answered.

"It was Tayauh's grandfather that became granted the gift of the essence of Magog to save the village. Then his son add a rule so that nobody can learn the truth, and his grandson enfore the rule," Panitzin thought. The thought made him uncomfortable, he had always had Tayauh as an idol.

"I want to go the old village and check for clues about what happened to my grandfather," Panitzin stated with a firm voice. He felt that if he backed down now when he was so close the chance would forever be lost.

"Did you not hear about it being forbidden?" Tayauh asked.

"I did," Panitzin said. "I also heard that you had the authority to change that so obviously you can grant me an exception from the rule."

"I refuse to, you must come with me to the village," Tayauh ordered.

"I demand the right to at this movement go to our old village as reward for saving your wife Malinal," Panitzin said.

"This is ridiculous. You must come with me to your family. Think about how glad chief Jamru will be when he learns his son is alright," Tayauh said.

"You did promise me anything," Panitzin reminded.

"Indeed I did, but I meant some reward that you can use to get your life started again. Like tools or hunting equipment so you could do your part of contributing to the tribe," Tayauh said.

"There will be time for that later. If nothing else all the manual labor has made me strong so I think I can survive without some equipment given by you. For now I want to go to our old village," Panitzin said.

"I think Panitzin is right. You promised him anything and his demand will not put the tribe in any danger. Also I know the way to old village even though I have never been there so I can bring him there safely," Acatlotzin said.

"What if Panitzin and you are taken prisoner?" Tayauh objected.

"He just helped me to escape from raiders, I think he is more than able to take care of himself, especially if Acatlotzin aid him. Let them go and you can pray to Magog that they will return swiftly," Malinal said.

Tayauh gave her a long look and then nodded. "I think this is madness, but as master of the hunt I give Panitzin and Acatlotzin the permission to once visit the location our old village. Panitzin do you have any words to your family?"

"Tell them I think my poisoning is connected to my grandfather being the master of snakes. I plan to return to the tribe when I know more," Panitzin said.

They gave him strange stares as they heard his words. Panitzin wondered if he should try to say more, but he could not imagine what. In fact he already regretted his words. Revealing that he suspected a connection with his grand father and his poisoning might in fact make him a bigger target if his suspicion was true.

It looked like they expected him to change his mind at any moment, he did in fact hesitate about it. Was he not just a child in a grown man's body?

The only comfort was Acatlotzin's support. Obviously his old friend thought there was merit to the idea to visit the old village. His old training as hunter under the supervision of Tayauh's father Ecatzin meant he had the skills to survive himself, and Acatlotzin could come with experience and aid.

Looking back at the group Panitzin and Acatlotzin waved and then disappeared into the forest.

*

"This is strange you know," Acatlotzin said as they moved through the forest.

"How do you mean strange?" Panitzin asked.

"I always assumed you and Tiacapan would become a couple when you became older. You two were always smarter than me so it seemed fitting," Acatlotzin said. "I gave up hope about you recovering and then started to date Tiacapan."

"Well, for me just days have passed since that time," Panitzin said. "I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Malinal that I had a crush on is married to Tayauh. If you and Tiacapan found each other who am I to complain. I was much too young to really have serious thoughts about girls."

"I see, about that," Acatlotzin said. "I did not understand your comment about your poisoning being connected to your grandfather. Care to explain?"

"Still, you are with me on this trip even if you did not understand?" Panitzin asked.

"Tiacapan has always been talking about something being kept from us young Shingali members. Your grandfather is one of the things she says they refuse to talk about. She would never had forgiven me if I had not taken the chance and forced Tayauh to allow you this trip. Still, what you hope to learn by the old village is very unclear to me," Acatlotzin said.

"I have some suspicions, but would prefer to keep them for myself until we see if I can find some traces left my grandfather," Panitzin responded.

"Fair enough, asking questions is Tiacapan's work," Acatlotzin said and Panitzin could not help laughing. This mature stranger following him suddenly sounded a lot more like the clumsy Acatlotzin that had followed Panitzin on so many small adventures during his childhood years.

*

The sun was setting a couple of days later. Normally they would have made camp long ago, but there was something in air, the smell of sea. They both felt the urge to continue until the saw the sea.

Far to they left he saw the mountain named the Shingali's bone. It had been a great relief when they finally saw this classical landmark and could adjust their direction so they walked towards the site of the old village. Acatlotzin had never been this close to the old village and for some time they had worried about being lost.

By now they had found a track they followed through the jungle. It looked like the track was used quite often, at least there was no remains that indicated the red ship raiders used this particular path.

Panitzin frowned as he wondered about who used the track. It seemed impossible that it could have stayed open from the previous use of the Shingali tribe. Could it be people from the neighboring tribes that risked visiting the place despite the danger of the dragon? Perhaps people visiting because of the good fishing water outside the village?

They reached a ridge and could finally get the first view of the village. The expected ruins was not there, instead there was a village. They both stared speechless, not only it was a proper village but smoke came from some of the hamlets. Somebody had a cocking fire running.

"What if grandfather really here?" Panitzin wondered. It seemed very unlikely when he remembered how old his father was, his grandfather would be truly ancient if he was still alive.

Carefully they approached the village to get a better view of it without being seen. Their first impression that the whole village was intact, was not quite right. A more careful overview revealed that there actually were a few ruins close to the sea. A couple of hamlets had been burnt down, but for the most part all the hamlets looked like they had been kept in good shape during the many years since the Shingali departure.

"Heard anything that might explain this?" Panitzin asked after a while.

"No, not really," Acatlotzin answered. "I wonder if any of the tribe ever came back here to check the situation. It looks like those hamlets are the original ones and not such that has been rebuilt since our tribe left."

"I wonder if the people here are hostile," Panitzin said.

"Hard to know. Perhaps we can study them from distance and see if they seem to have weapons at hand," Acatlotzin suggested.

"Let's do that," Panitzin agreed.

They left the track and crawled through the bushes until they had a clear view of village. Unfortunately the time it took them meant that the light had turned too feint for them to see details. Vaguely they could see that a number of persons moved around the hamlets and seemed to work quite hard even in the failing light.

"Why do they work so late?" Acatlotzin asked.

"I think there will be rain," Panitzin said. "The clouds over there are moving very quickly and the birds are flying low. There is probably a storm coming."

"Bad luck to be outside indeed," Acatlotzin mumbled.

"Perhaps not, we can use the storm as excuse why we seek shelter in the village," Panitzin mused.

Panitzin's prediction turned correct and within a few hours the storm was over them. Wind and rain haggled them constantly and they were soon wet to the bone. At first they thought about going in when the rain started, but then they decided that if they waited until they were really wet they would have greater chances of favorable reaction.

Finally they crawled out from the bushes and stumbled through the vegetation until they found the track. Frequent lighting bolts illuminated the surroundings, but they both would had preferred the darkness. Being outside in the thunderstorm left them both feeling very nervous and exposed to the raw elements.

It took them much longer than anticipated to reach the village. Panitzin had started to wonder if their vision of the village had just been a mirage when they suddenly was standing by the outer hamlets.

"Anyone here?" Panitzin shouted. "We are two weary travelers seeking protection from the thunderstorm."

For a while nothing happened, but then finally a person stepped out from one of the hamlets. He was covered in some kind of rain gear made of weeds. In his hand he carried some kind of lantern that spread a feeble light. Carefully he approached Panitzin and Acatlotzin.

Panitzin realized that his great height and heavy muscled body must make a pretty frightening appearance in the thunderstorm standing beside the tall Acatlotzin and he tried to make himself look humble and not dangerous.

"I warn you if you have ill intentions, my sons are preparing weapons now as we speak," the man said. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"No need for weapons, we are just friendly travelers that was surprised by the storm," Panitzin said.

"Traveling close to this remote location?" the man asked.

"We are looking for the ruins of the Shingali village that rumor says was destroyed by a dragon," Acatlotzin said.

"A weird thing to be looking for," the man said. "Who are you?"

"I am Panitzin and this is Acatlotzin," Panitzin replied.

"From what tribe?" the man asked.

"You ask mighty many questions to a couple of wet travelers. Who are you yourself and why is you in this village?" Panitzin asked.

"Maybe you are right, I owe you some answers. I am called Camargo and have with my family found refuge in these so called ruins of the Shingali. With more light you would see rumors about ruins is exaggerated," the man said.

"Can we come inside?" Acatlotzin asked. "Clearly we offer very limited threat to your family since we have no weapons beyond the machete at my belt."

"Your friend there looks like he could rip a man apart with his bare hands and you are quite imposing also," Camargo objected.

"If we really had ill intentions then we would use the thunderstorm as cover to attack you. Standing here and talking so your sons can ready your weapons is not a smart battle plan by any account. Why not let us in so we can talk protected from the storm?" Panitzin asked.

"You speak well. If you promise you come in peace I will allow you to share our hamlet tonight," Camargo replied.

"We come in peach and will not cause trouble or harm," Panitzin promised. Acatlotzin joined in with the promise and Camargo guided them inside.

Panitzin found the hamlet very cozy inside. A woman held a fire going at the middle to heat the room. The sons of Camargo turned out to be three boys. The oldest two were teenagers halfway towards becoming grown while the youngest was only approaching being a teenager. They stood there trembling fumbling with bows and arrows and Panitzin felt unease at their nervousness. It looked like the might panic any moment and send an arrow in their direction.

"We are here to seek protection from the weather, we will cause you no harm," Panitzin promised.

The boys did not seem to calmed down but stared back at them with large eyes and unsure looks at their father.

"Be at ease, I put down my machete and sack of provisions by the door and sit down by your fire unarmed," Acatlotzin tried.

"You can't keep the bows strung the whole night, I have promised them the protection of my home so can you please calm down," Camargo ordered.

Finally the boys unstrung their bows, but they did still not dare to step closer to Panitzin and Acatlotzin and continued to stare at them filled with suspicion.

"Sorry about the boys, they have heard too many stories about our previous hardship," the woman said. She was obviously much more at ease than the boys, but Panitzin noticed that she still kept a distance between herself and them.

"Yes children, I don't think these visitors mean us any harm. You are free to return to your beds to sleep, but if you are able to stay wake I much prefer you listening as I sit down with them by the fire to hear news of the world," Camargo said.

Panitzin and Acatlotzin took the cue and set down by the fire. It was a much welcome relief to feel the heat of the fire starting to warm their cold joints.

"I am Panitzin and this is Acatlotzin," Panitzin told the woman.

"I am..." the woman began but then silenced down and looked at Camargo.

"Excuse my wife, she is named Etea," Camargo said. A brief smiled passed over the woman's lips and she seemed to repeat the name silently.

"If we were looking for a woman who ran away from her tribe I would be pretty inclined to suspect your wife is the one when you hesitate about her name," Panitzin said.

"Well, her name...I mean...she is just shy," Camargo stuttered. Obviously the exchange made him very nervous.

"I suggest you find her a good name to use in the presence of strangers," Acatlotzin said. "Pretty much like I suspect that Camargo is not your real name, so find her a taken name that works as day to day name and practice its use."

Camargo and the woman exchanged a short look and then they both tried to compose themselves.


"Trust me on this," Panitzin said. "We have no interest in go looking for what tribe you are hiding from. Our interest is only this Shingali village that I suspect you have taken care of very well. Are you alone here, or are there more people helping you?"

"Two families more," Camargo said. "They are on run for something, we don't know what, but we suggested to them that they should stay and help us tend the village."

"Nobody was living here when you came here?" Acatlotzin asked.

"No it was totally abandoned," Camargo answered. "I suspect few or none have dared to visit since they heard the Shingali tale about the dragon that had devastated their village."

"Any idea why the neighboring tribes did not expand to claim this ground?" Panitzin asked.

"They think that the village is cursed and stay clear of it," Camargo replied. "There are plenty of tales of dragons stealing prey from hunters and the like but no tales about them ever attacking a village so people think the Shingali must have been very cursed. Especially since they got peace when they moved inland."

"I heard talk about dragons raiding temples in the far west," Acatlotzin said.

"I have heard the same, but don't know what to think of these stories," Camargo said. "The same stories talk about the legendary gold treasures filling these temples and I wonder if there really can be so much gold anywhere so that they would decorate the floor with a weak material like gold. Maybe the dragon rumor is just used to explain away that they don't have the gold that the tales claim."

"Wasn't the Shingali known to be pretty rich?" Panitzin asked.

"Maybe, they did not seem very rich to my father when they passed his..." Camargo began and suddenly went silent with a white face.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with us," Panitzin promised. "We are only here to seek for details about a Shingali named Acampichtli."

"The name sounds familiar," Camargo mumbled.

Panitzin struggled to keep his excitement in check.

"When Malinche came here, wasn't she looking for a shaman with the name Acampichtli," Camargo's wife suggested.

"Yes, that is right!" Camargo exclaimed. "She thought the shaman might protect her from the bad spirit she think ruined her first marriage."

"Could you please tell me more about Malinche and Acampichtli?" Panitzin asked.

"Malinche is the head of family that lives on the other end of the village. Themselves they claim to suffer from a curse that bring bad luck, but maybe a big part of it is due to them never putting effort into things because they except the curse to ruin things. We don't mind them staying since there are plenty of room, but generally avoid sharing resources with them," Camargo told.

"What about Acampichtli?" Acatlotzin asked.

"As for Acampichtli I don't know much. There is a building that Malinche claims is the temple of the Shingali village and inside that building I found a skeleton when I came here and Malinche is furious for me not telling her the location of the grave," Camargo said.

"I suspect she want to make some kind of dark ritual on the remains to drive away the spirit," Camargo's wife said.

"Could you show me the believed temple tomorrow?" Panitzin asked.

"I don't know," Camargo mumbled. "I thought you would be moving on when the storm had passed."

"How about a deal," Acatlotzin suggested. "What if we are allowed to stay here for some days and look around the village in exchange for us providing you with labor. I have always wanted to learn more about fishing and Panitzin here is crazy strong and can help you with just about anything."

"Sounds like a deal," Camargo said. "I don't know if it is wise to trust you, but I like you so let us make an exchange like you propose."

"It is a deal then, tell us what tasks need to be done and we will do them in exchange for you answering our questions," Panitzin said.

"You understand we take a pretty big risk with allowing you to stay in our house," Camargo's wife said.

"Think about it like this," Panitzin replied. "We already know enough about your secret to cause you lots of problems. Yet why would we like to cause you problems if you are out friends? Sending us into the thunderstorm is not a way to contain your secret, but a sure way to make us consider you with ill feelings. By staying true to the bargain we made both sides benefit."

"You two are mighty smart I'll say," Camargo said. "For sleeping you can borrow the straws over there, we normally use them but we can sleep with the children."

"You are quite clever yourself," Panitzin replied. "I salute your offer made in friendship."

Since everyone was tired they all decided to go to sleep. Panitzin and Acatlotzin was too tired to care of safety, but they could see that Camargo made sure to keep one in family awake to keep watch. Panitzin liked it, if their hosts took precautions it increased the chances they would not panic.

*

Tired and warm Panitzin finished getting the last stone free from the farmland he agreed to clean up. The task had seemed simple enough when he started, but the lack of proper tools had made it into hard labor even for someone with Panitzin's muscle. The sun had not even reached the middle day so Panitizin felt good. This feeling increased as he saw Camargo looking at his work with admiration in this eyes.

"Finished already!" Camargo exclaimed as shook his head as he looked at the pile of stones.

"There are always more rocks to be found, but for the moment I think I have removed all large enough that they might damage your plow," Panitzin agreed.

"I expected that labour to take at least the full day," Camargo said. "Please let me show you the temple as a reward."

Panitzin nodded and followed. Acatlotzin was away with Camargo's sons to learn how to fish, but Panitzin did not mind. The notion to explore the temple on his own felt nice.

Panitizin had expected them to leave the village, Camargo actually took him to ordinary building in the middle of the village. The temple of village was one of the buildings that had been fully restored by Camargo and the other new people living in the village. It was a low building of a more simple design than the rest of the village. For the outside watcher it was impossible to see that there was anything special with the building.

"I leave you to look at it, myself I must look at making my plow fit for use," Camargo said. Panitzin nodded and stepped closer to have a better look.

Camargo had made sure the outside of the house was whole so that rain and wind would not further damage the building. There was a new makeshift door make of slender sticks to replace the traditional heavy cloth that closed the opening of most buildings. Besides that temple looked very abandoned. The entrance to the temple was so infrequently used that a couple of bushes blocked the path inside. Of course there was no problem stepping past the bushes to reach the door.

Impatiently Panitzin undid the straps that kept the door in place and pulled it aside. Inside there was gloom, dust and lots of dust. Vaguely Panitzin could to the right make out the small living quarter where Camargo had found a skeleton. On the left was the actual temple and Panitzin studied it filled with curiosity.

The temple was mostly an open space with a statue of Coatlion, the eternal snake at the far end. The actual statue was a disappointment, a crudely done wooden statue at least three man lengths long that with good imagination could be thought of a snake.

Panitzin stepped closer to get a better look. The snake statue seemed to have been to some kind of use, most parts of it had been polished smooth in a way that hinted of extensive handling. Pantizin could not imagine what had happened to it.

Looking around he noticed that there were lines of pegs along the walls. They were not large enough to carry rain protection gear, if nothing else they looked like pegs where you hang tools. The use of pegs for tools in a temple was equally mystic to Panitzin as the worn statue.

Panitzin looked around irritated. He had hoped to find some clue of what had happened to his grandfather. Had it been his remains that Camargo found when he investigated the temple?

When standing here the whole expedition felt foolish, what clues could possibly survive the three decades that had passed since his own tribe left the village. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, travel to the old village instead of facing the unknown poisoner at home. Now the idea seemed more like a child's silly fantasy.

"I hate snakes!" Panitzin growled and went forward and kicked the snake statue that insulted his intellect by its mystery.

With a bang the lower part of the snake stature fell down, dropping a bundle on the floor.

Panitzin stared at the bundle in utter surprise, how could the vibration from his feeble kick possibly affect the massive statue? He picked up the bundle and looked inside. There was a small book and a scroll of hide.

Curious he carried the bundle outside to investigate it in better light. The scroll was done on ordinary waterbuffalo hide, while the book was written on exotic snake skin. Something had been done with pages so they turned stiff and not brittle like ordinary snake skin. Written on the outside of the book was the text Memories of a Snake.

He decided to start with the book and carefully opened it. At the beginning of the book there was no text, but endless sequences of pictures of characters doing movement. It did not look like proper dance instructions, but it was clearly instructions for doing some kind of exercises or movement.

At some of the pages Panitzin found a beautifully inked snake that featured in the middle of the movement. The later part of the book was filled with pictures of flowers and instructions how poison could be extracted from them.

Pantizin stared at it for a while without making any sense of it until he understood that the statue inside the temple must be a training device. Long years of use had made worn out the original decorations of the statue and left it in the current crude simple state. Even with this understanding Panitzin could not exactly understand the points of the moves. What they thought was totally unclear since there was no explanations but just precise steps of movement.

He opened the scroll to see if that could bring some solution to the mystery. Inside there was a long text written with an ornate hand writing. Panitzin impatiently started to read.

It is shame that I Acampichtli must write this down instead of telling you my son Jamru. Will it be you Jamru that finds the hidden package or will it be one not of our blood? Never could I understand this nonsense that is spreading through the tribe. The young ones refuse to hear the tale of Coatlion, the eternal snake. What is their aim when they claim to be Shingali in name, but not in spirit?

Actually I hope that it is somebody else that finds the sacred book so that not my hard headed son burn it without reading it. I should not have waited so many years with getting a son, but the tasks to perform always seemed plenty and I felt strong and young. Now I am old and frail, barely able to do the tasks of the master of snakes. I fear that I will be dead before I manage to convince the tribe of their current foolishness. The riches of our tribe is a consequence of hard work and not something that you can rely on without effort.

Before anyone can become master of snakes after reading the holy instructions, they need to hear the secret true tale of the Shingali. I write it down here with the hope that it should move you in ways I failed to with my son with these words.

After Coatlion the eternal snake had created the world the god traveled around to behold the creation. Unfortunately everything was not good, there was much pain and sorrow and Coatlion was distressed.

This was not the world as intended. Furious Coatlion summoned the kings of the world to its presence and asked "How can you do this to me? Did I not entrust you with killing the snakes of the world so that creation might be in harmony?"

The black king answered "We know the task, but the number of snakes is too many for us handle."

The blue king answered "We see evil deeds, but the snakes refuse to make battle."

The red king answered "Some of the snakes hide among your children. They are snakes in spirit, but not in form. Shall we really burn down all the villages to hunt them down?"

The green king answered "We need assistance to complete our task. Select a master that can be the bane of snakes and act as our messenger and find the snakes so we might kill them,"

Coatlion heard their words, but was not convinced and spoke "If you can't protect my children in first place, what stops the snakes from killing the master I select?"

The golden king answered "The master will have the support of his tribe that can guard him from the snakes. I shall also submit one of my tooth to forge a weapon that will make the demons and fell creatures tremble in fear. This weapon will keep the master safe for all but treachery."

The other kings pledged to sacrifice a scale each to make the handle of the weapon. With this the most powerful weapon was created, but through Coatlion's cunning magic the outlook of the unbreakable spear was made most humble.

Coatlion was wise to do since else the master of snakes would be easy to find. Only when the weapon is used against a true snake will it reveal its nature. Guard this secret with your life.

Coatlion agreed to the kings proposal and went searching for the most noble of tribes. The god found it in the Shingali tribe and gave us the task to battle evil. Our ancestor, the first master was noble and wise, but he claimed he did not have the needed skills to battle all the snakes.

The newly appointed shaman of the tribe traveled to the kings to learn their skills. He found the green king at the circular river. He found the blue king at the island of hollow. He found the black king in the cavern of salt. He found the red king at the mountain of fire. The advise of each king he wrote down on skins of snake.

Yet his task was not done, he had not found the lair of the golden king. None could tell him where to search, not even the other kings themselves. Everyone told him the domain of the golden king, the king of kings, is the sky itself. The master of snakes continued to train as he thought about the problem.

Finally one day he heard the great swoon of wings as the golden kings came to greet him. The golden king spoke "You are now master both in name and skill. I could sense your movement and feel your need. Here I give to you a tooth to guard against the snakes. Know that on cases when not even this weapon can prevail the kings can hear your movement so we can come to your aid."

Thus begun the long war against the snakes that would continue through the ages. I implore you to succeed where I have failed and return Shingali to our former glory. The world need a master of snakes to search for evil and defeat it, and the master need the support of the Shingali!

Panitzin felt himself trembling as he finished the letter. The content of the buffalloskin was so mind numbing that he didn't know where to turn. Never could he have guessed about such an answer to what happened to his grandfather. It was also painfully clear now why some enemy from the tribe had tried to kill Panitzin after his talk at the meeting. The combination of him killing an actual snake and then talking about training for combat must had been too close to the past of the tribe.

There was still the question of why Panitzins father Jamru and the others had rejected the tribes past, nothing in the letter really explained the reason behind this.

Another thing that was not clear was the nature of the kings. Nowhere in the letter was there a clear explanation, but Panitzin could not help to wonder if the kings might in fact be dragons.

What if the red dragon did not come to attack the village, but to take revenge on a individual who had betrayed the master of snakes?

At first the thought seemed absurd, but then Panitzin felt his perception of the world change. He had been taught the tribe was saved when Tayauh's grandfather was filled with the spirit of Magog and saved the rest of the tribe by sacrifice of himself in combat with the dragon.

The alternate explanation would be that the red dragon had came to kill Tayauh's grandfather specifically. Tayauh's father, Ecatzin, might have just taken the opportunity to take indirect control of the tribe when his father was slain and spun the tale about Magog's help to further his own goals.

It was true that Panitzin's father Jamru had stayed as chief after the change of religion, but his position was clearly weakened when the chief and the shaman was not from the same family.

Panitzin was too excited to sit still and went inside to look for the magical spear. Unfortunately he could find no spear at all and had to return outside empty handed. Should he search for Camargo to ask him about the spear?

"You are the visitors to village," an unknown female voice said. Panitzin turned towards the sound. It was an older lady that came to greet him.

"I am but one of the visitors. My name is Panitzin," Panitzin said and bowed for the woman.

"I am Malinche," the woman said. She was staring at Panitzin in a way border lining on being rude.

"I see, Camargo mentioned your name earlier," Panitzin said.

"Did he?" Malinche asked. "What are you doing in the village temple?"

"I am looking for information about Acampichtli, the Shingali shaman," Panitzin replied.

"Oh, how nice. I am interested in the same," Malinche said. "Care to join your findings with me?"

Panitzin felt a flicker of discomfort, he could still remember Camargo's wife saying she suspected Malinche wanted to do rituals on the bones of Acampichtli. Camargo had not denied the suspicion from his wife.

"Nothing really, Acampichtli seems to have died in the temple and the Shingali was gone and never learned about what had happened," Panitzin answered.

"You think he took his secrets with him to the grave? Care to show?" Malinche asked.

"Well, I don't know the location of his grave," Panitzin said.

"I am not speaking about grave! I am speaking about the book at your belt. Give it to me!" Malinche barked.

Panitzin jerked backwards in surprise. The book was so small that it blended with his clothes, but the scroll was very visible at his belt. Why had the not mentioned the large scroll?

"Boy, you have been so good that had found the missing memories of Acampichtli. What a pile of good luck that you would find them just after your first visit to the temple. I am have been looking for them so very long," Malinche said.

"Sorry, they are not yours and I want to keep them for myself," Panitzin objected.

"You better give the memories to me, or else," Malinche threatened.

Panitzin stared back at her in utter surprise. That this old lady, at barely half his length, and a fraction of his strength should threaten him seemed absurd.

"Give them now!" Malinche ordered.

"Get lost. I intend to keep them," Panitzin said.

Malinche just stared at Panitzin as she stood more than ten steps away. Panitzin had problem imagining a less dangerous looking opponent. He just stared at her and shook his head.

Suddenly Malinche shrieked and jumped towards Panitzin. The move took him by surprise and somehow she closed all the distance between them and hit him squarely on the ribcage.

Stumbling backwards Panitzin struggled to regain his breath and keep her hands away from the objects at his belt.

"She has not landed yet!" he realized. She was indeed levitating in front of him as she tried to close the distance between them to grasp the objects at his belt.

She dived towards him again. This time Panitzin was more ready and blocked her jab towards his throat and then danced away from her reach.

The whole time Malinche looked forward with an unfocused look in her eyes. It looked there was nobody there.

"Yet that is not case. Quite the opposite, she must be possessed," Panitzin thought.

The realization gave him little help. He did not know if he could outrun her or if she could levitate forever. "Does she even feel pain?"

Maybe he could put her down if he hit her with all his strength, but maybe she would die from the impact but keep coming at him.

Again and again Panitzin diverted her attacks without using more force than needed. Her partial hits on him took their toll, but the bulk of his body mass kept him protected from even these supernatural attacks.

Suddenly when Panitzin blocked yet again something happened. He could not tell what it was, like a brief wind passing through the villages. The moment afterward he collapsed on the ground weary with exhaustion. Luckily Malinche had also collapsed besides him. From the sound of she had hurt herself hard as she hit the ground.

Panitzin struggled up in case it was a trick. The woman did not attack or show any supernatural powers.

"Ohh, my head. How my body ache today," Malinche complained. She noticed Panitzin standing there on some distance.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Ah, might you be one of visitors that Camargo mentioned."

"Are you feeling well?" Panitzin asked while keeping his distance.

"I hurt very much. I think I must have been sleep walking again and bumped into something," Malinche said.

"It is nice that you are so concerned for the health of an old lady, but you really should learn some manners. Present yourself when you meet an elder," Malinche complained.

"I am Panitzin," Panitzin said.

"A pleasure meeting you. Can you help me up so I can return to my work?" Malinche asked.

Torn about what to do Panitzin stepped closer. He feared this might be a trap, but did not feel he could just ignore an old lady that needed help. Nothing bad happened as he helped her and she hurried away after thanking him.

Panitzin's only good guess was that the woman indeed had been possessed and that the spirit very much liked to read the material Panitzin had found from the Master of Snakes. He realized that he could in no way know if the woman had been cleansed permanently or if the bad spirit was just out of power for now.

On weak legs he walked towards Camargo's house to see if he had finished with plow. He found Camargo working by his house on getting a bone plow in shape.

"I hope you found the temple satisfying," Camargo said. "We could not really make sense of it since it is not our faith, but have kept the temple whole to not anger the god of your tribe."

"Very pleasing, but I found it rather empty. I expected it to be tools and weapons there. Do you know anything about it?," Panitzin said.

"No, I am sure the temple part of the building was empty. Anything there must have been taken before we came to the village," Camargo answered. "Many years between the Shingali leaving and we arriving so anything could have happened."



"What about the living part of the building?" Panitzin asked.

"Just a minimal set of things that I sold to a peddler to get wares to repair the roof of the temple. This kind of exchange seemed fair to me," Camargo replied.

"Sounds very fair. Was there any weapons?" Panitzin wondered.

"Just an impractical spear, far too long to be used for effective hunting. It was actually surprisingly sharp, like it was brand new. I suppose it never was used," Camargo said.

"That spear is of sentimental value to the Shingali tribe. Who was this peddler that you sold to?" Panitzin asked.

"Her was name Huitzilxochtzin from the Nagakai tribe," Carmargo answered.

"Nagakai, that is the same tribe as Anaconona the outcast shaman came from,"Pantizin thought. It did not feel like a total surprise. It felt possible his encounter with the outcast shaman had not been a pure chance, but something guided by the gods.

In the distance he could see Acatlotzin returning from the fishing trip with boys that by now totally had warmed to his presence. Their heavy load indicated they had very successful fishing trip.

Panitzin wondered if he should tell Acatlotzin about the book and scroll that he now had hidden below his clothes. Should he tell the story about the possessed woman that had attacked him to gain the book?

The worry about old woman returned. What if she still was possessed and would bring a knife to next encounter. Suddenly Panitzin felt he needed to return home. He needed to digest what has happened, try to understand the book and meet his parents.

He would decide later about telling Acatlotzin, for the moment Acatlotzin was too happy learning the details of fishing to be bothered with tales about the trails betrayal.