May Hawaii and the Dreamhunters

May was running out of aerena to keep her phone on. The downside of the Engineers’ inventions and aerena technology was their heavy reliance on the user’s support. Don Gregorio and Rex were incapable of dreaming up that kind of technology. Ember did not yet have enough knowledge of manipulating the scarlet substance to make one for himself. Finally, young Marcus had lost the experience he had gathered. So, they had no way to communicate with the rest of the group. “Minerva will be safe; she’s with Valdés,” Don Gregorio had said, who never seemed to worry about anything. It was somewhat reassuring.

Don Gregorio and Rex had tended to Marcus, who was starting to look better. A leaden night full of stellar nebulae was looming over the jungle. In the distance, a reddish glow, originating from the flames of Sotopeña, could be seen superimposed over the orange and purple tones of the sunset.

“Well, here’s the situation,” May said for the second time at the entrance of the ziggurat, though this time they weren’t organizing an expedition to explore it. “A dangerous kabu, possibly an Asura, has attacked Marcus. Its larger half has fled, and we don’t know where it is. We also don’t know what connection this might have with the fall of the Aegis…”

“Wait,” Marcus interrupted, “what happened to the Aegis?”

“It’s been failing since you entered the ziggurat. Do you know what might have caused it?”

“Nothing! The ziggurat has nothing to do with it! Besides, I didn’t alter anything in the ziggurat until this cycle, right before you arrived. If it’s been failing since I reached Sombraverde, it has nothing to do with me.”

“There was quite a stir when it was known that the famous Marcus Blake had been inside the ziggurat for several cycles,” Ember added. “People thought you were dead or trapped. It’s possible someone wanted to create confusion. Besides, the jungle was already acting strangely before you arrived.”

If Marcus had noticed that Ember wasn’t entirely human, he hadn’t mentioned it, but he glanced quickly at May and didn’t respond.

“In any case, the Aegis is not our problem,” May continued. “The Triple Star will handle it somehow. Our priority is the Asura, which now has Marcus’s knowledge and experience.”

“But it doesn’t have my charm or initiative,” Marcus joked, though no one found it funny. “Sorry, age catching up. As May says, the priority is the Asura. I believe it was an entity the natives here had locked up. The key to the last door was that it could only open when all the other doors but one were closed. I think the ancient inhabitants of the ziggurat would lock themselves in and release it to feed on their enemies. When I set the doors in the proper configuration, I could open the door, but only a cold air swept over me like a blizzard. Before I knew it, it was behind me and attacked. I felt a bite, so I threw my hatchet at the mechanism and jumped inside before it closed.”

“Do you think the kabu is an Exú?”

“No…”

“What are the Asura and the Exú?” Ember asked.

“The Asuras are powerful kabus that have emerged from human myths related to gods or demigods,” Don Gregorio explained. “They are very dangerous because they ignore the rules that humans establish in Oniria with our presence, and they can do impossible things, like what happened to Marcus.”

“The Exú…” May began. “We thought they were deities represented since the 19th century in Vigilia. But what we’ve seen in the ziggurat suggests that the myth could be older. That is, humanity might not have come into contact with them until the 19th century, but they could have existed before. Nothing is completely true or false in Oniria…”

“If the Asura were an Exú, it would have the Patron Trident, right?” Don Gregorio asked.

“I think the Asura is looking for the Patron Trident to become an Exú,” Marcus added.

“That makes sense.”

The group debated around a small fire they had made by piling leaves and branches growing over the ziggurat entrance. The massive structure observed them impassively. Don Gregorio squatted with his arms crossed. Ember absent-mindedly picked some moss and put it in his mouth. May checked her backpack. Rex was petting one of his deinonychus under the stairs, not very interested in the conversation.

“Young Marcus,” Don Gregorio spoke, “if I’m not mistaken, you’ve been asleep for a septic cycle. Aren’t you at your limit?”

“My Vigilia body is in an SSVIO; I can hold on. If I woke up now, I’d miss the whole party.”

“And do you have any idea where your other half might have gone to look for the Trident?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“The fact that we found Exú images in Nirmana ruins suggests there might be a similar connection in other related places,” May said. “There are a few smaller ruins in Sombraverde we haven’t explored yet. If the local tribe had any connection with the Exú, we might be in luck.”

“May, we’ve always thought along the same lines. If you have that intuition, surely my experienced half has it too.”

Although May was worried about Minerva and Valdés, it was true that they had enough resources to flee Sotopeña if the Aegis completely collapsed. Although something told May that the explosions they heard weren’t solely the work of the kabus.

“If you’re going to venture into the jungle, I can offer myself as a guide,” Ember said. “In return, I want you to teach me how to do the jump.”

Though the proposal took almost everyone by surprise, May quickly accepted.

“Deal. Do you know of any other Nirmana ruins in this area?”

“The ruins around here aren’t exactly Nirmana. Yes, I know of a few. We can go to my house, rest, and plan the expedition from there.”

“Where is it?”

“On the other side of the river, on the way to the observatory. With the new mounts, it won’t be dangerous to get there.”

And that’s how the Dream Hunters group headed to Ember’s dwelling.