Sky Knife by Marella Sands

Author:Marella Sands
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781466889187
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

18

An hour later, Sky Knife stood in the plaza with Bone Splinter and Kan Flower. Other warriors stood on the perimeter of the plaza and held torches to light the area. The shells in Bone Splinter’s ear spools reflected the torchlight.

“What do we look for?” asked Kan Flower.

“Anything in which a sorcerer could store bad luck,” said Sky Knife. “Or anything that shouldn’t be here.”

Kan Flower laughed. “Sky Knife, this is the plaza. Everything in the city comes here at one time or another. Everything and everyone.”

Sky Knife shrugged and grinned. “I know. But I don’t know exactly what we’re looking for. I have a feeling we’ll know it if we find it.”

“Right,” said Kan Flower. “Well, anything to escape a poetry contest in which Bone Splinter doesn’t compete.” Kan Flower knelt on the pavement stones and held his torch in front of him.

Sky Knife walked to the Great Pyramid. None of the warriors could touch it, so it would be his to search. Sky Knife held his torch high and tilted his head back to stare at the summit of the pyramid. Normally, only the priests, attendants, and sacrifices would have been on the temple. But a sorcerer strong enough to bring a black jaguar full of butterflies or a stinging black rain probably wouldn’t bother to obey that prohibition. If a sorcerer wanted to hide something, there would be no better place than the temple.

Sky Knife climbed the red step and walked along the step from end to end, bent over, torch held in front of him. When he was satisfied that nothing was out of the ordinary, he moved to the second step. Sky Knife thought briefly of calling a ball of fire to light his way, but it seemed too much like showing off. He had a torch and that was sufficient. Besides, if the power to fuel the blue flame came from Sky Knife’s own soul, he shouldn’t waste it. He might need the strength later.

By the time he had searched the first eighteen steps, Sky Knife’s back and knees ached. He sat down and scanned the plaza. The torches held by the warriors below shone like the brilliant stars above. Sky Knife looked up into the sky toward the stars he had been named after. The Knife of Stars glittered in the humid air.

Sky Knife sighed. It was not wise to stare at the stars for too long. One might attract the attention of one of the monsters that lived in the dark shadows of the stars. It would come and devour the stargazer and digest his soul. Attracting such a monster would bring bad luck not only to the unlucky person but to an entire city.

Not that there wasn’t already more than enough bad luck to go around Tikal just now.

Sky Knife’s torch sputtered. “Itzamna!” he whispered through teeth gritted together. Now he’d have to go back down to the plaza and get another torch before this one left him entirely in the dark.

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