Chapter-15: Beneath The Full Moon
Well rested, Diego stretched against the maple tree and sat up straight in a haze of awareness. The large golden tuna was gone. In its place, under the shade of an apricot tree, Chuey rested on the ground. The little bird lay curled up and asleep.
Diego stood and in the process his machete dropped to the ground in a heavy thump. Chuey lifted his head and stretched his wings and looked over at Diego.
“I’m ready for the next fight, little friend,” said Diego.
Chuey flapped his wings and lifted into the air. The bird belched a couple of times, and replied, “Halfway there, we only have another eleven kilometers to the next battle. Follow me, and don’t fall behind.”
Diego picked up his gear and followed close behind his little green guide. He passed the fire pit and collected his staff and ignored his curiosity to ask about the missing golden tuna.
Diego and Chuey stood in front of another grey and black fog barrier. The fog wall extended without end in each direction. Though, from above, it cascaded down from a height of about three hundred meters.
The two approached the elastic fog wall. In silence, Chuey hopped onto Diego’s right shoulder, repeated his routine from earlier, and finished perched on top of his head. Similar to the first time, Chuey radiated a particular color of light at each step of his routine. And, when he reached his green light glow, Diego stepped through the cold elastic membrane.
Darkness greeted Diego in the new area. A step forward and gravel crunched under his feet. He stopped and looked upon a deep canyon, littered with rocky plateaus and chiseled narrow buttes. From below, a fast-moving river roared. It rumbled and bent and turned all over the landscape.
There were no trees, no plants and no signs of wildlife. Only caverns and scooped out crevices among the plateaus of the canyon. Cold wind whistled and howled at regular intervals. And up to his right, large stone blocks were packed together in tight deliberate order.
Diego gazed up at the midnight sky and gaped at the enumerable stars that sparkled and blinked. He felt soothed by the twinkling light as his eyes focused on something much brighter. An immense full moon stared at him from the cloudless sky. The moon glowed pearl white, with concentric halos of blue.
Diego dug in with his staff, using it as a walking support up the gravel slope. He climbed up a few steep meters and stepped onto a flat open area. Stone blocks stretched out for an acre, forming a fighting space, much like the previous arena. And, in the center of this stoned blocked plateau, there sat a large circular table with carvings. He recognized the designs: ancient Mayan, Aztec and….
Tiny sparks flickered in and out across the arena. It caused goose flesh to spread over Diego as he clutched his staff against his chest. The atmosphere vibrated with an electric charge that hurt Diego’s ears and nose. Still, he continued his search for the next beast, doing his best to soothe his pounding heart.
Thank you
I appreciate your time in reading this blog post. Next Monday I will upload the next part of Chapter fifteen, Beneath The Full Moon, from my first novel: Guerrero of Passions.
Total Consciousness 