Well, I'm back. Hopefully this chapter will mark the beginning of a new era of productivity in writing for me. I am really encouraged that I was able to put this chapter together in the space of about a week while not ignoring my responsibilities as a first year teacher. I know I have been gone for a long time, but I finally feel that I have time to write again and to think about my stories.

I would like to thank Eldonyx and Rashaan Butler for reviewing this story, and for their words of encouragement. I really was beginning to wonder if anyone out there liked it because I never got comments about it the way I did for The Navigator's Tale and my other stories. It really energizes me when I get reviews whether they are positive or critical. I hope you both enjoy this chapter and will like where I take the story next. :D

Disclaimer – I own no part of MCoG, but I would totally own Mendoza if I could. :D

PS – My website has moved from mysteriouscitiesofgold . com to mysteriouscitiesofgold . org due to unfortunate circumstances. Also I will be posting the titles for the rest of the chapters of this story there in a day or so, if you want a clue as to where I am going with all of this.

The Shores of the Western Sea

Zia awoke with the sun in her eyes and the sounds of a fight filling the air. She sat up startled and looked around in fear. Neither Tao or Esteban were sleeping beside her any more nor could she see them in the area where they had made camp the night before. She felt quite disorientated and for a moment feared that they had been captured once again by Cortez or Gomez or another enemy.

Although they had all been exhausted from the events of the past few days, Mendoza had insisted that they keep flying until they saw the western ocean, and in the afternoon they had reached their goal. After a small meal of the leftover food that Tao and his companions had brought from the Village of the New Sun, they had all gone to sleep.

Zia stood up in the light of a bright morning and turned toward where the yells were coming from, feeling surprise fill her. Mendoza was fighting with Hisoka! What was happening? Had they been betrayed by their new companions?! A moment later, Zia saw Esteban and Tao standing not far from the fight and they looked positively delighted. They were yelling and cheering, and Zia felt more confused than ever.

Zia ran to her companions to find out what was happening, but stopped suddenly by their side when Hisoka landed a blow in Mendoza's face. The navigator fell back and then was knocked off of his feet as their new companion swept his legs out from under him. Zia gasped in horror and Tao let out a groan. From the other side of small circle of onlookers, Sancho looked devastated and Pedro wailed, "We're done for!" Esteban, however, yelled, "Don't give up, Mendoza!!"

Hisoka stepped back for a moment, and looked at his fallen opponent with a smirk on his face. "Have you had enough yet?" he asked confidently. "It is obvious that you haven't practiced in years!"

Mendoza actually smiled as he slowly got to his feet. "There aren't many in the places I have been where I could ask someone for a match. But don't worry," the navigator said, settling into a fighting stance with his fights raised and ready, "I have had plenty of real world experience!" Hisoka laughed and came at him again.

Zia looked on in confusion as the two continued to fight, throwing punches and kicks all while blocking the other's efforts. Hisoka appeared to have the advantage and pushed Mendoza farther and farther back. Suddenly the navigator seemed to stumble and fall backwards. Hisoka darted forward to finish the fight, but Mendoza wasn't through yet.

The navigator rolled smoothly onto his back and planted his foot into Hisoka's stomach, using his momentum to send the other man flying over his head. Tao stepped aside quickly to avoid the falling man, laughing now. Mendoza himself continued the backward roll and quickly was on his feet again. Pressing his advantage, the navigator planted his boot on Hisoka's chest, pushing him into the ground.

"The tables have turned, Hisoka," Mendoza said with easy confidence.

Hisoka sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "I yield, Mendoza! I had forgotten how good you were at using an opponent's force against him."

"Avoidance of an attack is sometimes better than a strong offensive," Mendoza replied as he removed his foot and offered his hand to his friend. "Responding to force with more force means that something has to break."

Esteban, Tao, Pedro and Sancho were all cheering Mendoza's victory as Hisoka was quickly pulled to his feet. Zia looked at them all incredulously and said in a confused voice, "What was all of that about?!"

"Ignore them, Zia," a slightly exasperated voice said behind her. The Inca girl turned to see Anda standing behind her with a look of amusement and annoyance on her face. The older woman motioned for her to follow her and walked back toward the Golden Condor.

Zia glanced back at her companions to see that Esteban and Tao had crowded around the two combatants to ask them about what they had seen. "You move so fast!" Tao marveled while Esteban seemed to be asking how it was all done. Zia shook her head ruefully, her fear from earlier finally fading. She didn't feel like interrupting the excitement, and so she turned to follow Anda.

A small fire burned on the beach, shaded by the huge form of the Golden Condor. Andeanna was turning some fish that was cooking on it and, as Zia reached it, the girl asked, "What was all of that about?"

"Oh boys will be boys, you know," she said dramatically in reply. Anda looked up at Zia and continued, "Mendoza was a good fighter, at least in European styles, when we met years ago, but Hisoka was easily his superior then. He became Mendoza's sifu while we were sailing back to Portugal. He wanted to know how Mendoza's skills had faired after all of these years."

"Sifu?" Zia asked curiously, as she sat down next to her new female companion.

"His sensei, his teacher," Andeanna replied. "Hisoka is a master of many of the fighting styles of the east, and one of the few people he has passed his knowledge to is Mendoza. I'm not surprised that the two of them couldn't resist a match this morning." She passed Zia a handful of small, red berries and a small bag that was filled with nuts. "We might as well eat before the wolves descend upon us."

Zia gladly accepted these and quickly ate some of the sweet berries, listening to Anda hum a strange tune. She took a fish from the fire just as the rest of their companions joined them.

"You decided not to wait for us?" Hisoka asked as he sat down by Andeanna.

"Naturally!" she replied without hesitation. "I'm not going to make the food and then not get any of it," Anda said gesturing to the rapidly vanishing fish. Hisoka hastily snatched one for himself before they were all gone. Tao and Esteban quickly followed his example then settled down next to Zia.

While Pedro and Sancho fought over whose fish was bigger, Mendoza took his share and sat between the children and their new companions. As they ate, Esteban turned to him and asked, "So what are we going to do now?"

"I'm not sure," Mendoza said in reply, closing his eyes in thought for a moment. "I never intended to cross the western sea again."

"But we can't go home now!" Pedro said angrily, pausing in his food battle with Sancho to glare at his employer. "You gave away all of our gold to Gomez and Gaspar!!"

"Not all of it," Mendoza answered easily. "I wasn't about to give away everything we had gained and what Gomez didn't know was that the share I gave to him and Gaspar was only about one third of what we possessed."

Pedro and Sancho looked slightly mollified by this, but not everyone was so forgiving. "You took gold from the city of gold?!" Esteban asked, sounding both surprised and outraged, while Zia's expression mirrored his sentiment.

"If I hadn't, you wouldn't be wearing your medallions again," the navigator responded smoothly. "There was little I could do at the Burning Shield, and I wasn't about to let the last ten years of my life be for nothing."

"And besides," Anda cut in, "you may all be very glad to have that gold in Nipon and Chin. It isn't easy to get by there without money."

"Do you really want to go west," Hisoka asked quietly. "It appears to me that you have a better chance of finding the cities of gold here than across the ocean."

"No," Tao said, shaking his head, "I don't think so. The inscriptions in the temple indicated that the feathered serpent visited the temple near Mexico City, but then flew away across the great western sea."

Hisoka looked shocked, "You could read the markings in the temple?"

"Of course," Tao said proudly. "It was easy for a descendent of Hiva!"

Hisoka's face became contemplative while Anda looked confused. "Hiva? What is that?"

Esteban and his two friends looked at each other, then the boy glanced at Mendoza. The navigator turned to examine the faces of two people he had known ten years ago, but who time may have changed.

But Zia spoke before any of the others could make up their minds. "I think we can trust both of you, but it would help if you would tell us why you were looking for Esteban and Mendoza."

It was Anda's turn to look reserved, but she agreed, "I suppose it is only fair…," she glanced up at the blue sky above, and added, "but I don't know where to begin."

Esteban looked at her eagerly and asked, "Did you know Father Rodriguez? Did you really take me to the cathedral? And what about Mendoza? Why wasn't he there? And…"

"Wait, wait!" Anda protested, looking a bit overwhelmed, "Take a breath and give me time to think! So you want to start with Barcelona?" Esteban nodded eagerly. The woman glanced at Mendoza, who seemed to be uncomfortable with this line of questioning, but he remained silent. "Very well, we will begin there."

"I told you before that we met Mendoza in Malacca more than ten years ago, and that he traveled with us back to Europe. That was also when Hisoka joined us, and the voyage around the Cape of Good Hope was fairly uneventful." Hisoka made a small sound of incredulity, while Mendoza shook his head, a hint of a smile on his face, but he remained silent.

Andeanna glared at both of them for a moment then continued, "Mendoza left the ship at Lisbon, but he sent us on to Barcelona to sell our spices. He had given my father information to find a woman who had raised him, but when we arrived in the city, we encountered an unforeseen obstacle."

At this Mendoza glanced up, a strange look on his face. It was as if he wanted to listen, but knew that it would be painful as well. Anda looked away into the fire, and went on slowly. "When we found Maria, we discovered that her entire family was desperately ill. She wasn't sick then, but she didn't want to have Esteban with her for fear that he would contract the fever." She looked at the boy and smiled sadly, "I have rarely met someone as kind as Father Rodriguez and he promised Maria and my father that he would take care of you until it was alright for you to live with her."

"But I never left to the cathedral," Esteban stated, his words falling in the heavy silence. The rest of the group shifted uncomfortably, but no one spoke.

"Your father was anxious to go back to the east, I take it," Mendoza said suddenly, his voice rough and brisk.

Anda started and tried to regain her focus. "Yes. Hisoka had told us that he had been to Nipon and my father was anxious to establish trade relations with the people there."

"Nipon?" Esteban asked confused.

"Did you ever read the account of Marco Polo's journey to Cathay?"

"Yes," Esteban answered eagerly. "Father Rodriguez let me read the copy in the library at the cathedral. I used to imagine traveling to those strange lands."

Anda nodded with equal enthusiasm. "Fascinating, wasn't it?! Nipon is the proper name for the land that he called Cinpangu. Now not everything there is as he described, but then again we never went into the heart of Chin, or Cathy as Polo called it, so I cannot gage his description of the imperial city. They do not welcome foreigners, but we walked much of the old Silk Road in order to return to Europe and it was …"

"Wait," Tao interrupted, "if your father was the captain of a ship, why didn't you sail back to Europe?"

Anda's face went from excitement to sadness in a moment and she did not answer immediately. Instead Hisoka continued, "Because we did not reach Nipon safely. We were attacked by the Wako, fierce pirates who hunt in those waters, not long before we would have arrived on shore. It was all I could do to convince them to spare Anda and her father."

"Yes," Anda said hollowly. "And that took some time."

Her voice trailed away again and Hisoka continued, "By the time we were freed, our crew had all either been killed or had disappeared. We stayed for some time in a village where I had friends, but Captain Camões was broken by these events. We stayed some years in Nipon, but his health never improved. Finally he wanted to travel back to Europe although he knew the journey would take his life."

"We came back just over a year ago," Andeanna finished. The knuckles of her hand were turning white she was gripping her knees so hard, and her eyes glistened slightly as she turned to look at Esteban and then Mendoza. "Then Hisoka and I decided to come to the New World in hopes of finding both you."

"The New World is vast and the chances of finding us were slim," Mendoza said, closing his eyes and folding his arms across his chest. "I am surprised you would attempt such a feat."

"We had some clues to help us," Andeanna said, looking more composed. "We tried to find you in Barcelona, but learned that Esteban had disappeared from the city the day that a ship had set sail for the lands that Pizarro had conquered in the New World. We couldn't find a ship that would take us there, but we were able to come to New Spain and from there we believed that we could travel the rest of the way on our own. There was nothing for us in Europe, and at least here we had a chance of finding answers if we saw the two of you again."

"What answers are you searching for?" Zia asked.

Anda twisted slightly and reached into a pouch on her belt. "Answers such as why Esteban's medallion is on this piece of paper." She unrolled a small scroll and everyone stared at the image and the writing on it.

Tao let out a yelp and snatched it away from her, looking at it intently. "Where did you get this?!" he asked in an excited voice.

"I found it in a shrine in Sakanacho, the village we lived in while we were in Nipon," Andeanna responded, her excitement mirroring the Hivan boy's. "Do you recognize these characters?!"

Everyone crowded around Tao as he examined the paper. "This is the writing of the people of Hiva!" he exclaimed.

"Do you mean like the writing in the manuscripts?" Zia asked him.

"No," Tao responded, never taking his eyes from the paper. "This is different, but in some respects it is closer to the writing in my encyclopedia than was in the manuscripts or even in the Temple of the Feathered Serpent."

"Amazing," Anda marveled. "No one in Sakanacho could tell me about the writing, but the priestess said that the symbol was related to an ancient legend of a dragon and the sun." All the faces around her looked surprised and eager to learn more.

"Can you tell us what the message says, Tao?" Esteban queried.

"'We will be waiting for you, in this place where you belong'," he replied simply.

For a moment there was silence, then Pedro snorted, "What does that mean?!"

"How should I know," Tao answered with some heat. "I can only translate what it said, not divine its meaning."

"You didn't find out anything more about this paper when you were in Nipon?" Mendoza asked Andeanna.

She looked back at him, slightly annoyed. "I had other things on my mind, including my father's illness. To be honest, I thought the paper was interesting and kept it, but didn't think of it again until we were traveling back to Europe."

"Was the note all you found?" Tao asked.

Anda hesitated a moment. "No," she finally admitted, her companions staring at her expectantly. "I also found this," and she pulled a small, thin cylinder from the pouch that had held the scroll.

"Oh," Esteban exclaimed. "What is that?"

"I don't know," the woman responded, "but look at the strange markings on the barrel. Do they mean anything to you?"

Tao looked at it for a moment, but shook his head. "That isn't writing. I don't know what it means."

Mendoza sat back looking at the strange items that now lay before them, thinking. "All of these clues seem to be pointing across the Western Sea. The Temple inscription, the golden sphere, and now these clues."

Esteban nodded. "I think that the next city of gold must be across the ocean, somewhere in the lands of the Orient."

Zia looked to the trio of Spaniards, each with a different expression on his face. Mendoza appeared reserved, but hopeful. Sancho looked slightly afraid, but also excited while Pedro seemed a bit annoyed. "And what about you?" she asked. "You still have your gold. Are you going to return to Spain?"

Pedro answered first, "I don't know why we should risk our necks when we have gold already," he said hotly. "What is left of the gold should be mi…I mean Sancho's and mine!"

"That is true," Mendoza replied coolly, shrugging and then sitting back with his eyes closed. "By rights I gave my share of the gold to Gomez and Gaspar in return for the medallions, and so I think it is only right that you do not share in any of the treasure."

Pedro and Sancho looked startled, both of them sitting up straight. "What do you mean?!" Pedro asked. "W-w-what treasure?" Sancho stuttered.

Mendoza opened his eyes and looked at his companions. "Don't you see? Already we are on the trail of another city of gold, and instead of going home with enough gold to live well, we could return home like kings!"

Tao almost smiled seeing the effect that these words had on the two sailors. Both appeared apprehensive and affronted at the same time. It was interesting to watch the navigator manipulate the ideas of his two hirelings.

"B-b-but we al-already found the city, and-and that took a whole y-y-year!" Sancho put in.

"True, but just think," Mendoza said leaning forward eagerly, "I spent ten years tracing the first city of gold before I was finally able to see it, but now another is already within our grasp." A disappointed note entered his voice as he continued, "But if you wish to transverse the vast lands between here and Mexico City on foot, face Cortes again, pay the king's fifth, give the viceroy his share, not to mention the audencia, before finally being able to sail back to Spain, be my guests! But," he fixed them with a hard look, "you'll travel alone. I plan to go on and then go home as rich as Midas himself!"

Zia and Esteban both looked disgruntled by this talk of treasure, but Tao and Anda were swallowing smiles as Pedro and Sancho looked at their employer incredulously, then turned to look at each other, completely dumbfounded. One could almost see the wheels turning in their minds as they processed all the navigator had said. Suddenly, as if they shared some of the same brain matter, the two nodded at each other and then looked back at Mendoza.

"Well, if you really think that we will have more gold soon then we will continue to help you!" Pedro said firmly.

"I am overjoyed beyond words," Mendoza replied with only a trace of sarcasm.

"You may be very glad that you have that gold before long," Anda told them seriously. "As I said before, traveling through Nipon and Chin can be very expensive. Especially in Chin because they do not welcome strangers readily, but gold can smooth the road a bit."

Pedro and Sancho did not look happy with this notion, but Mendoza appeared more thoughtful. His eyes traveled to the one member of their group who had remained completely quiet during this whole exchange. "What about you, Hisoka?" the navigator asked. "What do you think, my friend?"

Hisoka's face was smooth and impassive, and he shrugged at Mendoza's questions. "I am not as eager as Andeanna to travel through the east again," he said. "I prefer to explore this land. For all you know there may be cities of gold still here, since you have apparently already discovered one. But if you truly desire my assistance, I will go to the Orient again."

Anda looked pleased at these words, but her companion went on again before anyone else could speak. "Be that as it may, I would like to know more about your stories." He looked at the sun that was already nearing midday. "I do not believe it would be wise to try to cross the Western Sea today. That ocean is so vast that we will need every moment of sun to cross it, if that bird of your does indeed take in its light for energy." Hisoka looked back at Esteban. "Why not spend it telling tales?"

"Yes," the boy answered enthusiastically. "I still have so many questions for the both of you." He looked eagerly around at his friends until his eyes fell upon the navigator, who smiled and nodded his head.

"Very well," Mendoza said. "Where shall we begin?"

-----

The rest of the morning was spent talking about the many adventures that the three children and their adult companions had shared during their quest for the first city of gold. Esteban talked about his years of living with Father Rodriguez before Mendoza came and told him about his father, and how he had decided to join the expedition bound for the New Continent.

He and Tao laughed about how they had met while Zia shook her head at them both before continuing on with the story of her return to her homeland after five years of captivity. Pedro and Sancho frequently chimed in with details about the many times they had rescued the children from danger before Mendoza sent them away to find something for the group's midday meal.

Then the navigator took up the tale and, as they ate a lunch of roasted fowls the two bumbling sailors had managed to catch, spoke of the wonders of the High Peak and the city where they had discovered the Golden Condor. Esteban jumped in to tell the two new travelers about the fantastic things they had discovered while flying in the Golden Condor, including the Nazca Plateau, the city of the Amazons, and the first of the ruined cities.

Tao, at that point, took over the story, speaking in great detail about manuscripts that had led them to the other ruined cities. All of which occurred, Mendoza reminded him, while they were being pursued by the Doctor and Marinche, until they finally came to the mountain of the Burning Shield.

Hisoka and Anda were astonished by their descriptions of the hidden, underground world of the Olmecs, cringing at the children's words of the strange experiments their captors had planned for them. Esteban explained how Mendoza had rescued them and they had all fled to the Village of the New Sun.

The tale then took a sad turn as Zia spoke slowly of finding her father only to lose him later that same night, and yet her determination to tell about the heroic efforts of the Mayan tribes to free themselves from tyranny kept her composed. Tao and Esteban spoke about the terrible flying machine of the Olmecs and how they had jumped aboard it to save Zia.

It was well into the afternoon when Esteban told Hisoka and Anda of discovering the gates of the first city of gold and meeting the High Priest who had guided them through the history of the Hiva and Atlantis. He also talked with a shiver about how he and Zia had been forced to choose between the well being of their friend and the safety of the world, and choosing to open the doors of the first city of gold for Kalmec.

In awe Mendoza talked about the splendor of the city before telling of the desperate struggle to keep the Great Treasure from falling into the hands of Menator. Anda clapped a hand to her mouth when she heard about how the High Priest had been wounded before the city of gold itself defended against the intrusion of the Olmecs. In somber tones Esteban finished the long story explaining how the High Priest had sacrificed himself in order to save the entire world.

Sadness and admiration was on his face as he finished, "And the rest you know."

"Incredible," Hisoka said, putting his head in his hands, trying to fathom all that he had heard. Anda was similarly affected, but asked Esteban, "And the High Priest didn't know anything more about what happened to your father?"

"No," Esteban said sadly. "But maybe," he added brightening a bit, "I will learn more as we look for the next city of gold."

Mendoza stood and stretched quickly. "I need a rest," he said before he walked away.

The rest of the group followed his example, breaking into smaller groups and wandering away in the general direction of the beach. Esteban and Zia eagerly explored the strange life in the tide pools, while Hisoka put a net he had made while listening to the long story to good use in catching more fish for their supper.

As they settled around the cooking fire at sunset, Tao pulled out the golden sphere they had discovered in the Winged Serpent Temple and looked at it intently. "Have you figured anything out about our new treasure, Tao?" Mendoza asked, settling down to the right of the boy.

The descendent of Hiva shook his head, not bothering to look up. "I still can't make heads or tails of it, and yet these lines seem frustratingly familiar in a way. There is no writing on it, but it must have something to do with the Golden Condor. Here take a look at it yourself," he added, handing the ball to the navigator. He then took a large bite out of a fish that he pulled from the fire.

Mendoza looked at the golden sphere with interest that went beyond just in the treasure of the metal. "Yes, I can see what you mean," he agreed looking it over. "These lines certainly have a purpose if we could simply fathom what that is."

Esteban and Zia had just returned from their explorations to overhear these comments, and the boy looked over Mendoza's shoulder at the object. "I don't know," he said seriously, "it may be just a fancy, but it reminds me of a map that I saw once in the Cathedral library."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Tao chided him. "Mendoza would certainly recognize a map."

Esteban gave his friend a cross look, but wasn't ready to give up his argument yet. "No, I remember that map well. A wealthy merchant gave it to Father Rodriguez because he knew that he was interested in the New World, and see here," his fingers traced over two sets of curved lines, "these lines remind me of the coast of Africa and the New Continent. See how they sort of fit together?"

Mendoza looked at where Esteban was pointing in astonishment. "Yes, I can see what you mean," he said incredulously. "It does bare a resemblance to those shorelines, but they are wrong somehow. See up here?" He pointed to an oval above the Africa-shaped lines. "This should be the Mediterranean Sea with Spain at its eastern most passage, but this looks like a lake."

Tao let out with a yelp of surprise and jumped to his feet to look at where they were pointing. "Of course! Esteban you are a genius!" His friend looked both startled and pleased at this declaration, but he was quickly pushed aside as Tao took the sphere again.

He examined it for a few moments before turning to look at them. "It looks strange to us because this globe shows the world as it was before the empires of Hiva and Atlantis were destroyed. Look at this," he pointed to a bumpy, irregular shape. "That is the continent of Atlantis and this over here, " Tao turned the ball in his hands, "must be Hiva."

By this point, the rest of their companions were staring at where Tao was pointing in astonishment. "But why would the Hiva people leave us a globe with no details on it to guide us?" Mendoza asked. "I see no cities, no distinctive features, nothing that could help us to find the other cities of gold."

"I wonder," Tao said under his breath, then he abruptly turned and walked over to where the Golden Condor towered. The rest of his friends quickly followed him there and then into the cabin of the great bird.

The interior was still strangely shifted, with the rear bench recessed deep into the chest of the bird with two smaller seats replacing it. This left an aisle through which the boy walked and then stood looking around at the walls of the Condor's interior. There were two large squares of black glass on either side of him, and a small. low pedestal lay between them. He placed the golden globe on it and it rested comfortably in its concave surface.

"I think that it is meant to go here," he told his companions, "but unfortunately we won't know what it does until the sun comes up tomorrow."

"Well, we will have to leave it there then tonight Tao, and see about it in the morning before we leave," Zia put in.

"Yes, I can't wait to find out what new surprise lies in store for us," he replied with a grin. "The treasures of the people of Hiva never disappoint!"

"Until dawn then," Mendoza said looking eager. And with a few final looks of anticipation at the globe, the eight travelers returned to their meal. Morning would come soon enough.

-----

It was well before dawn when the curious group of three children, four men, and one woman awoke and readied to depart from the New World. Esteban was excited and yet a little sad to be leaving the lands and the people that he had come to love. As the first rays of the sun peeped over the eastern horizon he stood in front of the controls of the Condor looking out at the still shadowed lands around him.

A hand lightly touched his hand and he glanced to his side to see Zia smiling at him. "Don't worry," she said confidently, "we will come back some day!"

He nodded and looked to his other side to find that Tao wasn't in his seat. Twisting around he saw his friend standing back by the pedestal that still held the golden sphere. Mendoza and Hisoka sat to either side of him, also watching the ball expectantly while Anda sat on the bench far in the back of the Condor with Sancho and Pedro, looking as if she wasn't quite sure how she got there.

As soon as the sun had cleared the eastern horizon, Esteban placed the sun disk into its place and immediately heard a sound of shock behind him. Turning quickly he saw the pedestal that held the golden globe raise slightly, but the real surprise was the ball itself. It floated above the place where it had rested, seemingly on a pillar of pale blue light.

He and Zia moved closer as Tao let out a delighted laugh, exclaiming, "Didn't I tell you! It's fantabulous!!"

"But what does it do?" Zia asked curious.

"Oh my!" Mendoza gasped looking at the black wall panels on the sides of the Condor. The children also gaped in astonishment at what they saw. Displayed on the glass panels were clearly maps of the surrounding area, though it looked as it must have back when the Hivan cartographers had seen it. "This is incredible," Mendoza said. "These charts could guide us to other lost cities or treasures of Hiva!"

"Yes," Tao agreed, "and who knows? This sphere may have other powers too."

They continued to look at the floating globe and the strange maps it created until at last Hisoka brought them back to the present. "I think that it is time to leave. We will have more time to explore this mystery after we cross the ocean."

"You're right," Esteban agreed, tearing his eyes away from the strange sight. We moved to sit down in his chair, and Zia and Tao took their places as well. Taking the control stick in his hands, the child of the sun asked his friends, "Zia and Tao, are you ready?"

They nodded eagerly, and with that Esteban pulled back the controls and the Condor lifted off into the sky taking them to their next adventure.

As our heroes leave behind the Americas and travel to the Far East, what new adventures will they find? In the next chapter of The Ancient Legacy, Esteban and his friends find themselves in a land full of wonders and secrets concerning the Empire of Hiva, some of which will change one member of their group forever. Coming Soon – Chapter 12: Paradise.