When that which was once bound to the earth takes to the sky,

And that which was bound to the sky takes to the earth,

The giant amongst giants shall open his heart,

The serpent’s gaze will turn to ancestors long forgotten,

The sins of men long past must be paid in blood,

A trial taken,

A warning given,

A gift rejected,

The wronged descend,

Excerpt from “The Dreams of Grundvald the Mad”

Chapter 1

Gifts

“Alright students, that about wraps it up for your last week of classes. Remember, you may have graduated high school, but this is nowhere near the end of the road. You must strive to better yourself. I hope to hear great things about you all later on when you guys move unto your careers after University. I am proud to have had the opportunity to teach you all.” Mr. Gomez said to the class as the last bell of the day rang.

‘Class is finally over! Summer Vacation here I come.’ Ray thought to himself with no small amount of eagerness as the rest of the class replied with several variations of “Thank you sir” and “We won’t let you down teach”.  Ray himself was amongst them, after all, Mr. Gomez was an alright homeroom teacher and had been for all 4 years of the time he spent at school. A tall, Hispanic man with broad shoulders, an athlete’s physique with a head of black hair always neatly combed back, it was little wonder the man was extraordinarily popular amongst the female alumni. However, it was the man’s relentless devotion to his students that ultimately won the admiration of all the students under his care. Ray could not fathom himself having graduated without his teacher’s unyielding support throughout the years. Ray loved his father, but a formal education did not seem to be something that his father had in the past, although this was all just a hypothesis as the topic was something that was always sidestepped and never fully broached.

            As the students filed out of the classroom in their own separate cliques, Ray made his way over to Gomez’s desk, staying just out of the way to let the girls finish hugging their teacher goodbye. As he watched the surprisingly organized line diminish, he could not help but feel some melancholy clench his heart. Ray had never been an outcast per say, but his friends Ezekiel, Hannah and Roberto had left school just after exams were done, due to having received scholarships and needing to make arrangements for their leave. He had already said his goodbyes of course, but it would be the first summer vacation in his near memory that he had spent without them. Heck, not just the first summer vacation, but his first birthday without them.

            His friends were dear to him since they had been the first to not mind that he was a Mestizo boy with an adoptive Asian father. All the other neighborhood kids had been ruthless in their teasing about it. But not them, no, they were fascinated because his father represented stories outside of the usual folklore they would hear at their parent’s laps. He still remembered how Han would hem and haw whenever they would bug him for a story, Ray pretending to be the dutiful son by halfheartedly trying to convince his friends to do something else. When Han inevitably conceded, he’d act like he might as well make the most of it and settled in with them to listen.

He took a quick glance at the mirror in the classroom, examining himself as he had been doing quite often as of late. He was of average height, being somewhere around 5’8”. Although his father would regularly train him in some self-defense techniques, he remained remarkable plain in the body type department. Not necessarily too thin yet not fat in any measure either, the best way to describe him would be well fed. His caramel skin a feature of being Mestizo, he was a good example of his ethnicity. His friends weren’t the only ones that had made plans to move. Han had told him that there was family in China that could get him into some good colleges through connections and the news had left him more worried about how he’d fit in than anything else. He was sure it couldn’t have been easy for his father whenever he had first moved to Belize.

“…..Ray? Earth to Ray. Do you copy?” Ray was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts as he realized that Mr. Gomez had already finished his farewells with his other students while he was lost in thought.

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“Dear boy, you sure have a knack for getting lost in thought if no one’s there to stop you” he said with clear mirth in his voice,” Here to say goodbye I take it?”

“Yes sir, after everything you’ve done for me I wouldn’t feel it right to just up and leave without telling you goodbye” Ray said,” father’s finally taking me to China to meet the rest of my relatives.”

“Ah yes, Han always did keep his past close to his chest. I’ve always fancied myself a people person, but getting to know your father has really broadened my horizons” Gomez chuckled and slapped Ray on the back and asked “Still, I’m sorry to see you leave boy. Just know that where ever you go, you can always depend on me.”

“Thank you sir, I’ll miss you too. I couldn’t have made it far without you. Are you still coming with me and father for my birthday ‘rite’?”

“Come now, you would not have made it top of the class if you were not smart. You just need a little nudge in the right direction. As for your birthday, you know I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Actually, there was something that I wanted to give you for your birthday, but I couldn’t help but notice you’ve been under the weather ever since your friends left so I decided to give it to you today.” Gomez reached down into his desk, opened a drawer and took out a wooden box. What drew Ray’s attention wasn’t the bow made of strange looking leaves on top but the intricate carvings on the box itself. All around the perimeter of the box were depictions of animals. Not just any animals but predators like lions, wolves, tigers, jaguars and there was even a bear on the left side.

“What…is this?” Ray said in amazement, as he took the box carefully into his hands and ran his hands over the carvings as delicately as he could imagine. At first the carvings looked like just that, carvings, but the more he looked at it, the more the depictions started looking more lifelike. The wood slowly began to lose its wooden texture and it almost felt like there were small fiber like protrusions around it, eerily similar to the way fur would feel. It was almost as if he could hear the roars—

“Whoa there boy, don’t get lost on me again. Be careful with this. Don’t go opening the box itself until after your birthday rite” Gomez once again had to shake Ray out of his daydreams. “Please promise me this. Believe me it’ll be worth the wait. Otherwise it would be a waste.” The look of sudden seriousness on his teacher’s face stunned Ray, but nevertheless he sheepishly took the box and put it in his bag without seeing what was inside as requested.

“I will do so then, thank you for the gift. But, um, can I ask why you don’t want me to open this before then?”

“I had picked this up a long time ago when I used to travel the world. It was given to me by a man in Switzerland after I had saved him from drowning. He said it had been in his family for generations but he had never had the opportunity to marry and have children so he gave it to me and told me to open it or give it to my own children if I were to have any. I never did get his name no matter how many times I asked, and he insisted that I take it as he did not wish for his family’s keepsake to be lost with him. He said that when the time comes for me to give this to whoever I chose to give it to, that they must only do so after they become a man. I understand that this ‘rite’ your father has you doing is some sort of tradition to step into manhood his family has been doing for generations so it fits. Otherwise I would have given it to you for your 18 birthday. I’m getting on in my years and since I’m not married nor do I have children I felt you would make better use of it.” Gomez took Ray and gave him a hug, then held him at arm’s length,” Regardless of what you do with your life after you leave this compound, I’m sure you’ll be terrific at it. I’ve watched you grow these 4 years and I am proud of the man you’ve become. At this point I consider you family. You can call me uncle from now on.”

“I don’t….. I don’t know what to say sir”, Ray’s voice cracked with emotion as he looked at one of the only 2 adult figures in his life. Being an orphan and the last of his name, he had never had someone outside of father and his now uncle to look out after him.

“Now get out of here, I’m sure Han must be annoyed at having to wait for you for so long” Gomez said and after ruffling his hair pushed Ray toward the door.

“I’ll see you later then Mr. Go….. I mean Uncle.”

“That you will boy that you will”.

Ray left the classroom with bittersweet emotions roiling in his heart.

*****

As he watched Ray leave the room, Mr. Gomez’s smile shriveled up and was replaced with a look of concern.

“I trust you know what you’re doing Han, but if anything happens to that boy due to your carelessness you’ll have me to deal with” he said to himself as he set about closing up the classroom for the final time. He had some preparations to make.

****

Somewhere in the Maya Mountains, a massive paper crane faded into view. 4 people alighted from its back. Their landing spot overlooked a valley, through which a river flowed. One of the people in robes took out a black stone from somewhere in their clothes. He touched his forefinger to a flat indentation that had been carved into the stone. Immediately the stone began to glow a soft white. He pointed it in several directions, the light of the stone fluctuating when he pointed it in certain directions. A smile cracked on his face, and he turned to his companions, who all, save the one woman in the group, mirrored his grin.

“We were right, it’s definitely in the area.”

One of the other men in the group made a jump for joy.

“Someone, please cuff him. Let’s try to be serious here.” This was followed by the sound of a smack and a disgruntled “Hey!”

The figure turned back to the vista before him, holding out the stone in the direction that caused it to show the brightest. He too wanted to jump for joy, but he had the reputation of his family to consider. Even if it was just him, another heir, a Custodian and a mercenary, he must carry himself with decorum at all times. Especially for such a momentous expedition. He would not mar his entry into the family archives with such an unseemly action.

Looking out into the vista that stretched out before him, he allowed himself a subtle fist pump downward. So much work would finally pay off. The fate of so many depended on the plan succeeding.

“For the vampyrs, for the humans, for the glory of the Progenitor” he whispered into the air.

“May he forgive us all.”