Author Note: If you are new readers, I want to say hi and welcome! EoA has ended which means it's finally time to present my new fic. And considering the type of story I'm telling, I'd thought it best to start posting this month since it's Hispanic/Latino Heritage month. And if you are readers of my other fanfics, yes, I know, I'm way behind on finishing one story and updating another but this one has been in my mind for ages so it's now or never.
So this is going to be a very interesting fic. Compared to my other fics, the pairing plays a bigger part. Second, I finally get to use my knowledge of Mesoamerican culture and mythology. That's right, I'm gonna nerd the heck out on this story so buckle up! Usually, I start with descriptions of my OC, but there are many other Oc's and well…. I'm just too excited I'm going to jump right in. Fair warning we start way back in the past. But don't worry we'll get to Esteban and how he fits into the Nagual world soon.
Things to Note:
(This) means translation
(This would mean a description of a certain detail if not explained within the text of the story)
!And every chapter will have fun facts so ALWAYS STAY TUNED after every endnote!
Now without further ado, I'd like to teach you all the Nagual Way….
PROLOGUE
600 years ago
Center of the Kingdom of Maru
"The Shadows of the Night! They're real! And they're attacking Tepet Muul!"
In an instant, a quiet jungle suddenly came to life. The floor rumbled as several feet hit the ground running, making bush rustle and trees shake as the owners passed by. Soon they made it out of the jungle and into a clear path revealing animals of all kinds. Deer, hawk, coyote, iguana… all followed behind a jaguar wearing a large bead jade necklace with a flower glyph hanging down at the center.
She led the animals up the clear path towards the city at the base of a mountain. There, they found themselves among chaos. Smoke like shadows covered the area. They grew like roots among the wooden walls and grassy roofs of several homes while it blocked the view of the many paths throughout the village. Darting in and out of the shadows were people, all screaming in fear of something that couldn't be seen.
The animals stopped at the edge of the village as the jaguar took a step forward. Suddenly a burst of green light with floating jaguar glyphs took her place before it all disappeared to reveal a woman. Like the people, she had russet-brown skin and dark brown hair held up in a bun. She wore a gold crown of green feathers to complement her green flower quechquemitl and long white dress with green jaguar glyphs embroidered on the hems.
(quechquemitl: cloth worn around the shoulders and chest like shall or small poncho)
As she raised her hand to hold on tightly to the jade flower necklace on her neck, the women's brown eyes scanned the village to get a better look at what was happening. She noticed a blur of blue and green jumping from house to house or running in and out of the shadows, leaving an echo of laughter behind. A deer, wearing a jade earring, asked the jaguar with panic in his voice, "Balaamen, what do we do?"
"I-I don't know…" Balaamen responded, the turmoil in front of her almost making her want to retreat back into the jungle.
She looked up in time to see a yellow parakeet come flying down to her. At the last moment, it burst into sparks of blue and bird glyphs before revealing a man wearing a blue hipcloth. He landed in front of Balamen in a squat before standing up and pointing behind him. "I can't see them, but the Shades are in there somewhere. They're making people go crazy, and turning them into animals. Some warriors have come down from the main city to help but even they're no match-"
At that moment the sound of thunder in distance and everyone looked to the mountainscape not too far behind the village. Between two mountains and sitting on a canyon was a city full of temples with a large storm cloud forming overhead. "By Chaac's scales…." gasped a spider monkey.
"I don't think it's him…" A tapir replied.
The other animals began to speak up. "Even the main city is under attack."
"What if they spread their chaos into the Jungle? All of Maru?"
"If the Princess were here, she could probably stop all this."
"But she's still missing."
Balaamen looked between the main city and the village in fear. "Our Lightning Warrior is gone," She began almost sounding like she was out of breath, "We can't see our enemy and we don't know the extent of their abilities." Then she shook her head and the fear in her voice was replaced with determination. "But the gods created us with a purpose, and not just to be a wizard's assistant." She turned to face the group with her chin up. "Help remaining families to the safety of their homes. Nexicho and Ejutla, you're with me." The deer and a tapir nodded. "We'll go help the people in the main city."
Without another word, the other animals ran into the fray. Balaamen shapeshifted back into a jaguar and ran with Nexicho and Ejutla up a major path towards the canyon. Once they crossed the earthen bridge over the gulge, they found themselves surrounded by thicker shadow roots making it impossible to see anything but the tops of the temples. "Nexicho!" Balamen yelled, "Clear the way!"
Nexicho burst into indigo light and glowing deer glyphs before he became a human man wearing a purple cape and a lion cloth. He kept running but added a little spin and swung his arms right to left. A tunnel of wind formed around the three and pushed the shadows aside, giving them a view of a marketplace between the base of two temples. Not only were people running around in a panic but there were also giant stone slabs standing upright and scattered around. "What is…?" Balaamen gasped as she stopped to see that each stone slap had a carving of a person mid-run. "Are they… our people?"
"Balaamen!" Ejulta yelled as he burst into glowing yellow tapir glyphs and turned into a man wearing a loincloth. He jumped high and came down low with his hands in a fist, slamming them into the ground so that the rocky floor rose and created an arc over Balaamen. That's when lightning from the storm above struck the rock formation, only leaving a charred spot on the surface. When the rock collapsed back into the ground, Balamen stood up in one piece and said almost breathless, "Thank you."
Then the woman took the chance to look between the sky and the stone slabs scattered around the marketplace. "The Shades… they're too powerful, they're only one way to stop them-" she gasped and looked ahead. Over a sea of dark shadows, she eyed the second tallest temple and gasped, "She wouldn't-"
"What?" Nexicho asked.
"Stay here and help our people, I'll help Amalay find a different way to stop them!" Balaamen yelled before turning tail.
"But if she has a plan she can handle it on her own, right?"
"I know what she's going to do, and I can't let her do it!" And that's all the shapeshifters heard before their leader disappeared into the shadows. Balaamen barely looked away from her destination until she made it through the narrow entrance at the base of the temple. She didn't notice that something small had seen her go in. They followed after her, hovering through the shadows in silence.
There were many stone corridors lit by torches, but Balamen never hesitated on where to go. Right, left, and left again until she made it to one hallway guarded by two warriors wearing a helmet shaped like a jaguar and held shields and macuahuitl at the ready.
(macuahuitl: wooden clubs studded with obsidian glass blades)
Balaamen skidded to a halt as she shapeshifted back into human form and asked, "Where is she?"
"She told us not to let you-"
"Please..." Balaamen pleaded. The two men looked at each other with long faces before stepping aside. Balaamen didn't wait another second and rushed in. She kept running until she found herself at a dead end.
There was a tall, thin pedestal just in front of the wall. Next to it was a woman wearing a golden crown of colorful feathers. Her long gold and jade earrings matched the jade and gold clasp with feathers on her neck. Her golden quechquemitl was intricately designed with a bright pink heart shape. For a second, Balamen stopped and stared at the women. A small smile almost forming until she saw what was in the woman's hands. "The Jewel of Maru…" Balaamen gasped. "Amalay… you can't… You're our only Royal Wizard." Balaamen's voice began to crack, "… you're… you're too important to us… to me…"
Amalay held up the small five-sided jade pyramid in her hands. "Tezca snuck back into Tepet Muul and opened a portal to the dark side of the Spirit World. The Shadows of the Night broke through and now Tezca is not here to clean up his mess." She held a deep frown as her fingers traced the lines of the carved spirals. "This is the only way to stop them. You know it to be true. I'm willing to make my sacrifice."
The shapeshifter could see in Amalay's eyes there was no way to convince her to stop what she was about to do. Balaamen bowed her head and walked up to stand in front of Amalay. She didn't look up, so Amalay couldn't see her face when she said, "I'm Nagual, so you don't get to do this alone." Balaamen held up her hand and looked at Amalay with determination.
"But-" Amalay was cut off when the sound of yelling was heard far down the hallway where the warriors had been at their post. The two women tried to see what happened but the growing darkness made it hard to see. But small flashes of purple light signaled that something was coming. They were out of time.
Amalay's eyes shifted back to Balaamen who was distracted trying to see the intruder. Her eyes shifted back and forth and then the Royal Wizard took a deep breath held Balaamen's hand. The shapeshifter's eye's widened and she looked back at Amalay. "Together," The wizard said with a smile. Balamen smiled back
They stood alongside each other in front of the pedestal holding the Jewel of Maru in their hands. The shadows crept closer and an eerie purple glow began to grow closer. A dark, feminine chuckle echoed off the walls. The two women ignored it, closed their eyes, and began to chant:
"Ika no yolotl, tlein way kaua seualotl" (With my beating heart, may it's essence stop the dark)
As they chanted over and over again, the Jewel began to glow green. Its light grew brighter with every word, cutting through the shadow roots like shredding paper. The shapeshifter and the wizard chanted louder and louder until, finally, in a blinding flash of light, the shadows turned to ash and fell gently to the ground. When the women opened their eyes, they saw what had followed Balamen inside was no longer there.
The shapeshifter kept hold of the Jewel in her left hand but held up her right hand to look at it before once again looking around. "I think, I think we did it… but how are we still alive-?" Amalay suddenly collapsed onto her hands and knees. "Amalay!" Balaamen dropped the Jewel and got down on her knees to put a hand around the wizard's shoulders. But that's when she realized Amalay's russet-brown skin started to sparkle with blue light. "No, no, nononono!" Balaamen began to panic. "We both said the spell. Why only you?"
"Balaamen!" came the voice of Nexicho as he and Ejulta ran into the room.
They stopped a couple meters away from the women as Ejulta said, "Whatever you did, it worked. But where are our people?"
"What?" Amalay and Balamen asked surprised.
Nexicho began to explain, "We saw the magic come out from here, destroy the darkness, and take the Shadows of the Night with them. But all our people, even the ones that had been transformed by the Shades… they're gone. Only us Naguals were untouched."
Amalay's eyes widened but then squeezed shut in pain. "The Jewel knew… that it takes more… then one life… more then two… to stop great darkness" She moaned before she almost fell forward. But Balaamen held on to her and had her lay against her chest, the wizard's head resting on her shoulder. Nexicho and Ejulta noticed Amalay glow blue and become almost transparent. They looked at each other, realizing what must have happened and they stepped back giving the two women space.
Balaamen was almost in tears now, saying through small choked sobs, "I'm sorry…" She held Amalay close so that her other hand could hold on to Amalay's. "I wasn't strong enough, I failed…"
"No, no you didn't," Amalay said, "I used every ounce of me to make sure you wouldn't be taken… I wanted you to carry on." Balaamen looked at Amalay in shock but the wizard continued. "But now it's not just you. Naguals… you must all carry on… if all of the people are gone..."
Balaamen shook her head, "But, but how? There aren't many of us. And- and we're only half-human, we're not worthy-"
"That doesn't make you less Maruvian. You've all served us well… now protect each other… protect nature… help those in need…" A single tear rolled down her cheek as she looked up at Balamen. "... live on…" She took one final breath before she closed her eyes. Balamen gritted her teeth and hugged Amalay tighter before the wizard was no longer visible. In a flash of blue light, Amalay was gone. The sudden loss of weight made Balaamen almost lose balance but she caught herself on her hands. She stayed kneeling in front of the pedestal, hunched over as her shoulders shook with her cries of grief.
Nexicho and Ejulta bowed her heads, letting tears fall. Balaamen's crying was the only one heard for a long while until her cries slowly went away and only left tears. Balaamen squeezed her eyes shut before she looked to the Jewel of Maru on the ground. With a deep breath and wiping tears away, she grabbed the Jewel and stood up. "Ejulta…" she said with a neutral expression. The said man stood up straight out of surprise as Balamen continued, "Go tell the other Naguals to prepare for the Days of Mourning."
Ejulta opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Instead, he bowed and shapeshifted into a tapir before running down the hallway.
Nexicho was left asking, "And then what do we do after? Pretend as if nothing has happened?"
"No," Balaamen responded as she placed the Jewel of Maru on the pedestal. It began to hover midair. "The Jewel is very powerful, and so are many of our people's treasures. We must make sure they all remain safe, including our culture, our way of life." Balaamen closed her eyes and held a hand out palm facing down. From the base of a pedestal, beneath a crack, a stem grew. It stopped at only a foot tall but let a small bud grow before revealing a blooming marigold. "We may not be able to assist wizards anymore, but just like Amalay said," She turned to face Nexicho, "Protect all living things… for that is the Nagual Way."
A.N: Usually I have something snarky to say off my first chapter but wow I started pretty dramatic. Whelp I had to set the tone of this story somehow, right? Maybe this prologue can give some sort of…. Clue… to something in the future of the story. What can I say, I love making connections. Let's get to the fun facts!
Fun Fact:
600 years: The story starts 600 years before the present story, the same estimated amount of time between the fabled disappearance of the Maya people of Chichen Itza and the year the Spanish Conquistadors first made it to the Yucatan.
Balaamen: Is a play on the Maya naming system according to the Calander day signs (which I'm still trying to figure out lol). Balaam is Jaguar in [Yucatec?] Maya language and 'Men' is one of my birthday date signs.
"By Chaac's scales…": Is a reference to the Maya Rain God Chaac who is often depicted with reptilian or amphibian qualities.
Nexicho and Ejutla: Named after two Zapotec cities
Tezca: Amalay is featured alongside a dark Maruvian wizard in the stone mural in the "Sceptor of Night" episode, so I gave him the name Tezca, short for Tezcatlipoca. One of the Aztec (Mexica) deities known as a dark trickster.
The Spell and Naguals: It's written in Nauhatl, the language of the Mexica, except for the italicized word WAY. It's the name of the Maya Glyph for Nagual, which also can be used for the word Essence. Certain scholars have found links between these mythological shapeshifting creatures and the Maya people's perception of self. So yes, I made a pun, ahahah. More of that will be explored in the story as well as how Mesoamerican cultures viewed the heart in ways not only pertaining to sacrificial rituals.
WHELP! That's just the prologue. Let's pray I get the first official chapter within the next two weeks lol. I'm KikaKatTIOI, peace out!