"The child of the sun is the key ingredient. With him in our grasp, we can return to seclusion for many thousands of years... the wars will end and no more precious Olmec lives will be spent in pointless bloodshed."
One of the three others in the room replied, "What of his companions? And those who might try to rescue him?"
The Olmec King sighed. Sorrow was in his eyes. He responded,
"They have no place in our great scheme. Kill all who obstruct you, and show no mercy. No mercy, understood?"
The three Olmec Princes nodded their heads.
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"Esteban! What do we do?" Zia asked, terrified.
"I don't know, but we can't let them capture us all over again."
Tao threw himself on the condor's control panel and began hitting every button and switch that he could find.
"Come on!" Tao yelled at the machine, "There must be something you can do to protect us!"
"Oh, look!" Zia hugged Esteban tightly. The Olmec legion encroached ever closer. There were well over a hundred soldiers, all armed to the teeth. They were no longer sneaking carefully, but now marching out in the open rocky field. Their faces were as cold and treacherous as the stones that surrounded the plateau that they marched upon.
Suddenly, a bright light shone from a nearby peak. By the time the children looked over to it, it had already become too bright to tell what had caused it. The Olmecs stopped marching and stared blankly at the light. Its intensity bathed the entire plateau in sun-like luminescence.
As the light became ever-brighter, Esteban, Zia, and Tao were forced to shield their eyes.
"Argh! What is that?" asked Tao, covering his eyes with his yellow cloak.
"Maybe it's Inti, come down to help us..." said Zia.
"Inti?" asked Esteban.
"Inti is the God of the Sun," Zia explained, "He often appears as a bright light on mountain peaks when he comes down to visit the Earth..."
The Olmecs began screaming in horror. They collapsed to the ground, holding their heads in pain. "What is that? What's going on?" they screamed.
Then, as soon as it began, the light died. The dark of night fell upon the plateau once more. The children in the condor looked out of the front window. The Olmecs were dazed, but were quick to pick themselves up and continued their march toward the condor. The children looked on in helpless fear as the Olmecs drew ever nearer...
Suddenly, several silhouetted shapes appeared in the sky. Small, at first... but closer, and closer... Speechless, the children watched as the shapes in the sky flew closer. They were condors. Not just any condors... golden, flying condors.
Seven golden condors, exactly like the one they were cowering in, descended upon the plateau. They shone, translucent... but fixed on their location with a definite purpose.
The Olmecs, attracted by the sound of rushing air, turned around all but too late. The seven condors plummeted at full speed towards the Olmec legion. They scattered in hundreds of directions and ran from where Esteban, Zia, and Tao held each other tightly, afraid of this new development.
Just as the condors touched the ground, they vanished into thin air. Aside from the screams of the fleeing Olmecs, the plateau was silent once more. The children looked out. Nothing stirred.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Esteban looked up, but before the sounds barely registered, an old man slid down the head of the condor and stopped on the window, balancing himself quickly and staring down at the children inside. He was tall, bearded, and wore tattered blue and white robes. He looked down at the children with a look that was at once kind and desperate. Esteban stepped in front of Zia and stared up at the old man.
"Who are you?" Esteban demanded, "What do you want with us?"
The old man responded, "All will become clear to you, including what just happened here. But first, and without delay, you must all come with me!"
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"Mendoza! Mendoza!" Pedro yelled. He and Sancho ran into the clearing where Mendoza and Gomez were busy cutting down a tree.
"Yes, what is it?" Mendoza replied.
"The Mayas said that after one more day of gathering wood, they should have enough to rebuild their village!"
"Excellent," said Mendoza, "Soon they'll have recovered from all of the damage the Olmecs did to their town."
"And then we'll be on our way?" asked Gomez, wiping sweat from his brow.
Mendoza responded, "Mmm. They said that if we help them rebuild their village, they'll help us build a boat with enough supplies to make it back to Barcelona. It'll be difficult with just the four of us as crew, but the Mayas have offered some of their best men to accompany us. I'm still uncertain whether or not to take them up on their offer."
"W-w-w-why is t-t-that, M-m-uh-Mendoza?" Sancho asked.
"Well, it'll certainly be easier with more hands on deck. However, once they arrive in Spain, I'm afraid for them... how the people back home will respond, and whether life will be difficult for them. They're not used to life as we knew it in Barcelona."
"If you ask me," Gomez said, "We should use them to make it to Barcelona and then who cares what happens to them?"
"Hm... you know, Mendoza, Captain Gomez has a pretty good point," Pedro said.
"I see," Mendoza said, "So you would just use them to obtain what you wanted and then toss them aside like trash after risking their necks to help us? How would you feel if we did that and you were in their position?"
"Do as you wish, Mendoza," Gomez stood up straight and stretched, "You may be one of the best navigators in the fleet, but like it or not, we'll need more than four men to make it back to Spain. And I'm not about to concern myself with the welfare of anyone other than myself. I will help you until we make it back to the shores of Spain. Then we part ways."
Mendoza considered Gomez's words. "Very well," he replied. "I've never had much use for you anyway, Gomez."
"Hmph," Gomez huffed, "Let's just go back to work. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can leave this forsaken land and go home."
Mendoza gave Gomez a hard look, then turned and walked into the forest. Gomez turned to Sancho and Pedro. He said,
"When he comes back, we'll make camp for the night. Then tomorrow we'll finish helping the Mayas, they'll build our boat, and then we head back home."
Pedro and Sancho hugged. "Home!" Pedro yelled with delight, "Home! Back to Spain! Back to Spain with all our gold! We'll be treated like lords when we return! Think of those rascals back in the tavern, Sancho... remember how they doubted us? Well, I can't wait to show them a thing or two..."
"Y-y-y-yeah," Sancho replied, "A thi-a-thi-a-thing or two!"
Gomez sat down and began to make a fire. Pedro knelt beside him.
"Captain Gomez, I hope that you and Mendoza can patch things up. It's going to be a long trip back to Spain on such a small boat..."
"Ha!" Gomez looked up from his kindling, "Mendoza patch things up? Unlikely. My nephew was never one to bare his feelings."