Authors: Corinne Davies
Jag was the one who nodded. “There was a point when we weren’t sure you were going to survive. IxChel took care of your injury and healed you.” He took a step toward her, but she stepped back at the same time. She needed to maintain some space between them in order to think clearly. If she was to do something like jump into their arms and wrap her legs around their hips, she’d forget anything and everything except getting naked.
“Thank you for saving my life. Even if you hadn’t been the ones to drive me to the rocks I quite possibly would’ve died from exposure. The desert isn’t a very hospitable place.” She ran her fingers over a large flower that had started to lean toward her hand.
“Are they sentient?” she asked as she tickled the fronds on one plant and it shuddered.
“No, they’re simply plants reacting to your emotional state.”
“They’re mood plants? Do they turn black when I’m angry and bright blue when I’m happy?”
“No. They don’t change colors, but they will shrink back away from aggressive feelings or behaviors.” Rock stepped closer and caught her hand again. “Please don’t shrink back from us. We’re trying very hard not to scare you with all of this.”
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I need to go home. I have a life there I want to get back to.”
“We can’t take you back right now, Destiny.” Jag moved forward and captured her other hand in his own. “There is some danger with the portal and we have to suspend any travel between it. We do have enemies who would use the portal to create havoc and death on your world and we cannot allow that.”
“How long will it take?”
“I’m not certain, but we would like you to stay as our guest for the time being.”
“Why?”
“Our ancestors lived in your world while hiding from their enemy. When Lu’um was reclaimed, we returned to our home. No one wanted the Kimil to discover and claim your world.”
“We’ve reason to believe that Kimil have found their way to Earth, or perhaps they’ve always been there. We’re not certain, but we can’t take you back and put you in possible danger.”
Destiny walked past them and surveyed the massive structure and rubbed her head. “This is all becoming a little hard to take in.” She could feel a headache starting behind her eyes.
“You said you came back here when your people reclaimed your world from these Kimil. So you’re the Mayans that disappeared. No one is sure what exactly happened to your people. There are stories that your civilization was killed by smallpox or the plague or something like that.”
“We did have some troubles acclimatizing to your world. The energy lines are different and we had trouble connecting,” Rock offered. “But our bodies don’t have the ability to carry your diseases and we don’t have such a thing here.”
“Not to mention that your lightning storms have the ability to overwhelm us to the point of desensitizing.” Jag took her hand and led her to a path that weaved through a garden. Rock captured her other hand and continued on the other side of her.
“You don’t have any diseases?” Destiny mentally sighed in relief.
That means my slip-up isn’t a permanent mistake.
“Does everyone live in a temple like this?”
Jag grinned at her. “This isn’t a temple,
Atan.
” It’s the home of warriors. We guard the entrance to this world and protect everyone who might be in danger.”
“So you’re like guardians of your people. That’s cool.”
“The warriors’ true position is to protect the
Nohchils
, the rulers. It’s the Nohchils’ responsibility to see to the safety and well-being of their people.” Jag plucked a flower and tucked it into her hair behind her ear.
“Who are your Nohchils?”
“They’re simply men at the moment. When they claim their lover, their
Noonsa
, at a
Cha’an
celebration, they must ascend to the position. Neither of them is ready for that yet.”
The three of them walked silently for a bit as Destiny tried to take in everything they were telling her. It was so much information, and even though it was plain as day in front of her face, the truth was a bit hard to swallow. She could understand why their Nohchils didn’t want to take the power position yet. She could only imagine the responsibility that would entail. To be the one person an entire culture looked to for guidance. The idea made her feel nauseous. That was something she would never want to do.
“What is this interview you’re missing today?” Rock asked her. “Is there something we can do to help with that?”
“No, I don’t think so. I was heading to Vegas to work in a casino.” Destiny wasn’t sure if she was going to get another chance at that. A friend had pulled a few strings and favors to get Destiny this interview and now she was not going to show up. “I wanted to make enough money to open a small bar one day. Maybe in the States, or I was going to go overseas and try my luck there.”
“Your world is very fascinating to us.” Jag added, “We spent a great deal of time learning as much as we could when we first arrived there.”
“When was that?”
“On your December twenty-first, 2012.”
Destiny couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. “You’re kidding me! The end of that Mayan calendar that had everyone thinking our world was going to be destroyed.”
Rock’s smile didn’t quite make it to his eyes. “The calendar heralded the opening of the portal.” He pointed up at the top of a monstrous staircase set into the side of the temple…
No, their home.
There was what looked like an elaborate archway with a waterfall that poured water down in front of it.
“Had we not defeated the Kimil and forced them back then they might’ve rushed your Earth and inhaled all they could.”
“Inhale? That’s an odd way to put it.” Destiny didn’t understand what Rock was trying to say. She looked back and forth between each of them and noticed a sadness that came with whatever they were remembering.
“The Kimil survive by consuming energy. In this world it’s everywhere and easy for them to tap into. When they enter a new world they search for the richest sources, which are human, more specifically descendants from our people.”
“Whoa, you’re trying to tell me that I’m…that my ancestors…I’m not completely.” She held up her hands. It was one thing to discover that she’d been transported to another world but something else completely when they tried to say she was part alien. “I’m done. No more. I think that knock to my head really did some damage and I’m going to wake up in a nice hospital room and find out I’ve been in a coma.” The headache had steadily grown and she was starting to feel like her eyes were going to pop out of her skull and her shoulders hurt.
“Okay, too much. I’m sorry.” Jag stopped and turned toward her. He cupped her face and gently pressed a kiss against her lips. “We understand, and shouldn’t have pushed you so much. But something has come up and we have to go for a while.”
“Go where?”
Why does the thought of being separated from them make me feel sick?
Rock stepped closer and placed his hands on her hips and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. She could feel the heat from his skin through the thin material. “To check our borders and look for other portals between here and other
Kaah
s, other cities. We’d thought that this was the only one, but we need to be certain to protect Earth.”
“We aren’t going to leave right now.” Jag added, “But sooner than we’d like to. For now let’s enjoy the day and give you a tour.”
They took her for a walk past the large stone wall. It had to be at least thirty feet high and was much thicker than she’d thought. The only way through was a narrow passage where they had to walk single file. Rock had explained that it was for the protection of their people. At the first sign of danger their people would come inside the walls and the warriors would line the top walkway. The narrow paths restricted any enemies from coming through more than one at a time.
The other side of the giant walls bustled with life. There were children running around in brightly colored skirts. The toddlers only wore a pair of long shorts while she noticed the girls wore a sarong-type top as they got older. The weather in this world was consistent, according to Jag. It was hot enough that she was comfortable in the sleeveless dress she wore, but at night the temperature wouldn’t drop like it did in the desert. It might get a bit cooler in the morning but only until the sun rose.
“It’s market day today, so there are a lot of people. It’s usually quieter,” Jag commented as they passed through a group of trees. There was a large space beyond it where people had set up what looked like tables, but they hovered in the air a couple feet off the grass.
“We do our best not to disturb the natural setting.” Rock nodded to the tables and the way swaths of light fabric stretched from branch to branch overhead. “Most of our innovations have been in what you would think of as ecological research. Our goal has always been to coexist with our world as much as possible.”
“It’s fascinating.” Destiny really was in awe at the combination of simple living and the high level of technology. “What about your economy? What drives the value of things?”
“Our economy is mainly comprised of bartering. The value depends on what the person purchasing it places on it.” Jag pointed out a couple of men who looked like they were in an intense negotiation. “They will come to an agreement eventually and both will leave happy. I’m not saying that greed doesn’t exist in our world, but it doesn’t happen often because the community won’t tolerate it.”
She noticed quickly that people treated them differently. Many nodded and called out greetings to Rock and Jag. They both returned every smile and introduced her as “our
in’tialóox.
”
Destiny was going to ask them what exactly that meant when an older woman marched up at them. “No
Cha’an
?” She shook her head and tsked at them before turning and walking away. The woman didn’t even look at Destiny.
“Who was that?” Destiny expected both Rock and Jag to snicker or laugh at the older woman’s display, but each man looked as if their grandmother had chastised them.
“A friend of IxChel’s,” Rock muttered. His cheeks looked a bit flushed. Jag ran his fingers through his hair and then reached out and captured Destiny’s hand. “Come on. Let’s look around a bit more and we’ll head back.”
She could tell that each man was lost in his own thoughts as they wandered through the market. An older man walked slowly through the market, his arm wrapped around the shoulders of a woman who looked up at him in fascination. They looked like they had been together for years, or perhaps they’d just met. She’d always loved to see older couples acting like teenagers. It made her think that perhaps one day she would find someone who would love her for that long.
They both nodded to Rock and Jag and then gave her a kind smile. She smiled back as the sun caught the pendant the man wore around his neck.
He’s wearing a St. Christopher’s medal?
She wanted to ask where he’d gotten it, but the couple stopped to look at swaths of fabric on a table. Rock and Jag led her down another path away from all the crowds. Jag stopped at the last vender and traded for an odd-shaped brown lump before they left the market. As they walked he sliced it open with a knife he’d tucked into his boot. The inside of the lump was a soft pink color and looked somewhat like the inside of a cantaloupe. He carved out a thick sliver and held it up to Destiny’s lips. “Try this.”
Destiny stopped and reached up to take the piece off Jag’s knife, but Rock wrapped his arms around her and trapped her hands. “Let him feed you,
Atan
.” He pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin beneath her ear and whispered, “Open your mouth and lick that fruit like you would his cock.”
Destiny smiled and gently wrapped her lips around the soft fruit and sucked on it lightly as she pulled her mouth off it. Jag’s eyes flashed emerald and she felt a surge of female power. The fruit was delicious and she opened her mouth again and licked the edge of the fruit as Jag watched her tongue. She didn’t know if there were any people around them watching nor did she care. Rock and Jag didn’t seem too concerned, so why should she?