Chapter 11: The El Dorado Tour

After walking a few blocks south, we reached the shining dock made of solid gold. Like the rest of the city, it showed no sign of rust despite exposure to rain, sun, wind, and plants for a thousand years.

"This is where Marco Pollo's crew landed twenty years ago. You can see the whole city from here," mom said. I turned around and saw the glowing buildings and step pyramids under the bright sky dotted with clouds. "Out in the skyway, which is relatively empty, there is the one stormgate that opens once a year on the winter solstice. Marco Pollo found the equation that calculates the location of the stormgate's opposite end and included it on his map. It was written in an ancient Mooshuese language."

"Ah, yes," Subodai agreed. "When Marco Pollo visited the mystic Cao Tzu in Mooshu."

"Indeed, Subodai. That was where Marco Pollo went after we returned from El Dorado," mom explained.

"Who all came with you, mom?" I asked.

Jenny, my mom, pulled a paper out of her satchel. "This brings back so many memories," she said. "This is the photo of the crew... well, all of the crew except Gazpaccio. He was the brilliant mechanic who took the picture with the camera he invented!" The paper she had was a black and white photograph taken in front of El Dorado's central plaza temple.

"Wow!" I responded. "Who are the others in the picture? The ones who came with you?"

"Let's see, there's me... Oh, there's Marco Pollo. He was quite the explorer," mom pointed to a tall plump chicken in renaissance style garb in the center of the photo. "There's Chistopher Clark, the navigator," she indicated a shorter chicken in glasses holding the map to El Dorado. "Erika the Red is this bear off to the left. She's holding quite a big bag of gold. Also holding the map is Egg Foo Yung of Mooshu. Let's see. That big fella in the back is Argos. He's a cyclops from Aquila. He's not the smartest guy but great in a fight. He steered the ship. There's me, just to the right of Marco Pollo. I was much better looking back then, I guess. And," mom laughed, "how can I forget Catbeard! He's the white cat off to the far right."

I suddenly burst into laughter. "Catbeard...?" I muttered in between gasps for air. "He... came with you to El Dorado?"

"Yes... what's so funny, my boy?"

"It's just that... I know that old rogue. And he's not exactly fit for exploring remote corners of the Spiral," I laughed. "He's a bit more suited for domestic life if you ask me."

"Haha, yeah. That old cat just lives on his ship the Catspaw with Mr. Norrington eating pickled herring and drinking sparkling water," Jack said.

"Really? Cause, twenty years ago, he was an excellent swashbuckler. The years must've taken a toll on him. And who's Mr. Norrington?" Mom asked Jack.

"Catbeard's lover," Jack answered bluntly.

"His... lover?" mom asked. "I didn't realize Catbeard was... well... That discussion will be saved for a later time," mom ruffled my hair.

"I already know, uncle told me ab-" I began.

"Let's go visit the library!"

Just east of the central plaza was the library. My jaw dropped as I entered. The shelves were a dozen feet high and stocked with thousands upon thousands of books and scrolls. It was the biggest library I had ever seen. I could spend three lifetimes in here reading. "Impressed?" mom asked me.

"Mhm..." I mumbled. "I know where I'm gonna be spending my time."

"I've read a few of the scrolls in here. I've never been much of a reader, though," mom laughed.

"Jenny, check this out," Jack pointed to an aged parchment on a pedestal near the library's entrance.

Subodai, mom, and I joined Jack. "Ah, this is the original copy of the map Marco Pollo made," mom put her gloved hand on the old paper. "He made a copy that he took with him back to the spiral and left the original here for safety."

We approached a small square. The square was filled with dilapidated market stalls. "This is the El Dorado market! This is where the people who lived here traded for goods. Don't try looting the place. The stuff decomposed or was eaten by animals long ago," mom said, presenting the area to us.

"It's getting late," Jack mentioned. He was right, the sun was beginning to go down in what I assumed was west.

We reached the dwelling area as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was starting to get chilly. The metallic plating covering the golden city heated up easily during the day and easily released it at night. The lack of human light pollution meant that millions of stars were visible in the clear night sky. The city was shrouded in complete darkness except the moon and stars. I grabbed my jacket from my room before sitting between mom and Jack at the bonfire.

"Mom, how long before you tell us about the giant mechanical sentinels?!" I asked, growing impatient. I had been curious all day.

"Oh, I suppose I could tell you boys. Especially since you're here in El Dorado now." Mom began. "El Dorado is a shining city, but it's far from empty. When we were exploring the city, Marco Pollo was enthralled by the central temple. We entered the place, but we awakened some massive creature the El Doradoans left behind millenia ago. Giant mechanical sentinels appeared out of the wall. We all took as much gold as we could and hightailed it back to the docks. We thought we lost the sentinel, but alas, we we cast off from the golden dock, the giant boarded the Santo Oro! We fought the thing off, but barely survived. Jack, Subodai, and Toby, promise me you won't step into that temple."

"Of... of course," I said. "I won't step into the temple." I said, somewhat regretfully. A part of me, likely the immature part, was curious. But, I agreed to stay out of it, out of the safety of the group, and for my mom. And, that day was the beginning of my life in the golden city of El Dorado.