The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Author:Silvia Moreno-Garcia [Moreno-Garcia, Silvia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B096MT98WC
Publisher: SUBTERRANEAN Press
Published: 2021-08-12T22:00:00+00:00

T he city seemed farther away upon their return and perhaps it was, some sorcery having allowed her to reach the lake faster than might have been possible by an ordinary mortal. Or perhaps she was simply tired and now dragged her feet slowly.

The nahual was morose. She had expected it to again acquire the shape of a dog and gambol through the grass, but instead it remained curled up inside her ring. It stretched out one night, becoming an iguana, pale as ivory.

“We’ll be in the city tomorrow.”

“I suppose we will,” she said.

“I thought you might have desisted by now.”

“When I have Teotah’s teeth around my neck?”

“Precisely because you have his teeth around your neck. It’s carrion and it’s festered magic, Yalxi. You know as well as me it is a folly to play with dead things.”

“I have no other choice. Are you scared now?”

They were resting under the shade of a poplar tree, Yalxi’s back was against the trunk. The iguana crawled upon her lap and stared at her face.

“I always feared your power.”

“And delighted in it.”

“You’ve shone as bright as a star. But your rage clouds your thoughts, just like ambition blinded Teotah. Should you succeed and annihilate Xellah, then you will have to contend with Teotah.”

“Teotah is but bones and a few teeth.”

“And with only those scraps he has lingered upon the land. I have not felt such enduring power ever before. You are toying with tremendous forces, and I cannot protect you.”

“As if you ever could! If you have ever wondered why I put you aside it is because you are the ring of a carnival magician, of a child.”

The iguana slid onto the ground and turned into vapor, and then the vapor drew into the ring. She felt it against her skin, not hot with anger, but cold with sorrow. She bit her lip with a pang of regret and let out a sigh.

“I am sorry,” she said. “That was unkind.”

But the nahual did not reply. She missed the warmth of the dog next to her and the thin blanket wrapped around her body provided scant comfort. She found herself thinking of her youth again. This time, it was out of her own volition, not a memory thrust before her by the nahual who sought to taunt her, but her own inquiry into the past.

She thought back to those first days when she had joined Teotah’s entourage. Those had been times of sweetness and optimism. Then their master had changed, grown darker. Or perhaps in the beginning Yalxi had simply been content to ignore his darkness, his thirst.

After all, sorcery requires blood. Who was she to judge him?

But then, in whispered conversations, the three of them had voiced that inevitable truth: their Master was mad. They had discussed a course of action and though all were in agreement that something must be done, they differed on the appropriate course. Itzyul had proposed a rather blunt solution, but one which would have meant the destruction of the diamond.

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