Crystal Rain Read Online Free Page A

god’s hip.
    It shook rusted locks of hair and looked at him through oval steel eyes.
    “We hunt men who may stop this invasion. Now we hunt the man who will try to go north,” it hissed. The silver jaw and gray gums did not move as the Teotl spoke. The whisper wormed its way past from deep in the fleshy throat. “You are to find a man, here. He has great secrets within him. You must get codes from him. Then you will kill him.”
    “The man who goes north?” Oaxyctl gasped. “I don’t understand.”
    The hand holding Oaxyctl’s chin up caressed his cheek. Blood ran down the sides of his neck and collected in the V of his chest.
    “He will try to leave the land for north. This man is dangerous. But important.” The god puffed wet air. “Any moment now … we will push in greater numbers over these mountains. We will have men sacrificed before us in this land. We will destroy their gods, our ancient enemies. But we must have this man.”
    “So how will I know him?” Oaxyctl croaked. His vision danced as he tried to pull a full breath.
    “His name is John deBrun, and we think he lives near this town. We are sure of it. We smell it faintly. He has the secret codes that set free the Ma Wi Jung . Torture them from him or bring him back to us alive. That is your choice, for you can walk among the nopuluca as I cannot. He must not die before releasing the codes to the Ma Wi Jung.”
    “Lord,” Oaxyctl shook in fear for his impudence. “May I have Jaguar scouts to help me capture him during the invasion?”
    “You do this now . Only days remain before we begin to march again, and there are those who do not want to risk this man living, no matter what we may reap. They give no orders to save him, as I wish. They are weak-minded and miss potential. So we charge you with this mission. As we all invade, you find this man. Keep the human alive and obtain his secrets. Do well, you will be rewarded well. Fail …”
    The god did not finish but let go with a snort of steam. Oaxyctl dropped into the mud, his legs folding painfully under him.
    “Remember.” The god turned around. “The Ma Wi Jung codes. I will be near you again.”
    Oaxyctl inhaled deeply and watched the Teotl walk back into the forest. Somewhere near the trees it slipped into the shadows and Oaxyctl was alone.
    He lay back into the mud. Without thinking he put a hand over his heart. It still thudded. He was alive. He’d thought he was dead when he’d crossed the mountains and the mongoose-men captured him, and he’d thought he was more dead when the god had landed in the mud in front of him, yet he was somehow still alive.
    It was almost the end of rainy season, but the heavy clouds opened up anyway. Oaxyctl lay still in the downpour and began shaking. Several hours later a Brungstun mongoosesquad circled him. Their guns hung easily by their sides, dangling from leather straps, and their canvas clothes dripped rain. Their unshaven but quite human faces looked down at him with suspicion. Oaxyctl cried with relief to see them.
    But even now he realized there was still nowhere to hide. The Teotl could walk almost anywhere, Jaguar warriors would be coming over the hills any day now. The gods still commanded him. There was nothing he could do against this.
    Nothing.
    The mongoose-men tied his hands and dragged him off to Brungstun. Oaxyctl shook all the way there.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    John sat at the table the next morning, buckling his hook’s metal cup tight onto the stump of his hand. He levered the straps until they bit into his wrist’s calluses and looked up to see Jerome in the doorway.
    “Hey, Son.” John smiled.
    Jerome blinked. He picked up a piece of bread and some cheese from the counter by the stove. He had something on his mind. “You always have to do that?”
    John nodded.
    “You wrist all scar up. It hurt?”
    “Sometimes.”
    Jerome took that as a good enough explanation.
    “You ready for a good sail?” John asked, changing the