"Woo-hoo-hoo!" yelped Esteban, full of delight.
Zia held Esteban tightly. They landed on a dusty stone floor and Tao landed on top of them with a thud. "Ouch!" he exclaimed.
Kulkapetal fluttered from Tao's robe and hovered above the children as they regained their footing. "RAWK! This way! This way! RAWK!" Kulkapetal flew ahead as the children followed down a thin stone hallway lit with occasional torches.
"These flames..." Tao began.
"...are bright yellow. I've never seen anything like them," Zia remarked.
"I wonder what they're made of... this is no ordinary fire," said Esteban.
The children arrived in a small room with a tall ceiling. It was packed with scrolls, maps, and paintings. A jaguar-skin chair sat in the center of the room, and in it sat Akabi. He smiled at Esteban.
"Please sit," he said, "I have something important to show you."
The children sat. Kulkapetal landed gingerly upon Tao's left shoulder.
Akabi said, "I've received word that you children have located the first city of gold. Is that correct?"
Esteban nodded, "Yes. It was on an island in the middle of a lake in the Maya lands. It's been destroyed, though... the Olmecs didn't have the Heva failsafe device used to control the city's power..."
Tao broke in, "That's right. All this time, I thought it was just a Heva jar that my father told me to keep... I never would've guessed that it was the key to controlling the city of gold."
"Ah yes," Akabi said, "And the jar-keeper. I see that the old legends speak the truth."
"Old legends?" Esteban asked, "What old legends?"
Akabi looked around the room and answered, "My boy, I've been studying the Heva and Atlantis empires with my colleague Papa Kamayo for almost a century..."
"Papa Kamayo?" Zia asked, "My father?"
"Yes," replied Akabi, "He and I travelled much together during our youth in search of the lost cities. We found the first one of which you spoke early in our travels. The other six eluded us for quite some time, but then we found the ancient prophecy..."
The children were riveted. "Prophecy?" Tao asked, "What prophecy?"
Akabi smiled, "That the children of the sun and the jar-keeper would find the seven cities and raise the Heva Empire once more."
The children gasped. Zia stammered, "Y-you mean that we're in an ancient prophecy? To find the cities and bring the Heva Empire back from destruction?"
Akabi said, "If the prophecy speaks true. Whether it does or does not, time will tell. Of course, there is a good deal more in the prophecy..."
BANG! The room shook. Angry voices shouted from down the corridor. "They must be this way. Coming sir! They won't escape us this time!"
The children jumped up. "Olmecs!" Tao said.
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"Oh no!" Mendoza yelled. Pedro and Sancho clutched each other, trembling violently. Gomez unsheathed his sword.
The warrior said breathlessly, "It is as I said. The village of Ramul is in flames. The golden man's rage cannot be satiated. The priests are doing all they can, but..."
"Stand aside!" yelled Gomez, "Where the prayers of priests fail, the sword unsheathed rings true! To arms!" Gomez yelled as he ran down the hill towards the burning village.
Mendoza stared after Gomez then asked, "Where is the golden man now?"
The warrior said, "Sir, he is..."
An explosion from the village punctuated the warrior's sentence. Mendoza drew his sword. He called to Sancho and Pedro, "He is still in the village! We must protect the Mayans! This way!"
Mendoza ran down the hill. Sancho and Pedro, still hugging each other tightly, looked at each other. Pedro said, "I don't know about you, Sancho, but I think that Mendoza and Captain Gomez have the situation well under control."
Sancho responded, "Y-y-yeah, I th-uh-th-uh-think so, too. W-w-what about y-y-you?" Sancho turned to face the Maya warrior, but he was no longer there.
Gomez ran down an alleyway, met a dead end, ran back out, and crashed into Mendoza. The men fell backwards. Gomez said, "Why don't you watch where you're going?"
Mendoza asked, "Any sign of the golden man?"
"No," Gomez responded, "I haven't found him, and the blaze seems to have stabilized. I think he might've moved on."
An old man ran up to the Spaniards. The man was half their size, but had a large head encircled by a purple headband. He panted and said, "My lords, the golden man is no longer in the city, and the flames are extinguishing of their own accord!"
Mendoza stared. He asked, "What's that? The fires are going out?"
The old man nodded and ran to the edge of the village. Mendoza and Gomez followed. They turned around and faced the houses. Indeed, the damage was extensive, but the fire had died to low embers. Sancho and Pedro ran up behind Mendoza and Gomez. Pedro said, "Great job, Mendoza! We saw you fighting that golden guy! We were behind you the whole time, weren't we, Sancho?"
Sancho replied, "Y-y-yeah! B-b-uh-behind you!"
Mendoza sheathed his sword. "You fools! I didn't fight anyone. The golden man has moved on. I'm still glad to see you two safe and sound."
Gomez said, "I don't understand what happened here... what's all this talk about a golden man?"
Mendoza replied, "The Mayans of this area found a man barely clinging to life at the base of the Mountain of the Burning Shield, the former Olmec Headquarters around these parts. They tried to heal him, but his body reacted strangely to their remedies and they claim that he rose up and began setting fire to this village. I have no doubt that they're telling the truth. I only wish that I could have recognized him sooner..."
Pedro scratched his head. He asked, "What do you mean, Mendoza? You just said you didn't even see him in the village!"
Mendoza smiled and said, "That's because he had already shifted shape by then. The young Maya warrior who roused us to the village... he was the travelling prophet, high priest of the city of gold, and Esteban's father."