Chapter 6

"Julia ... Julia."

Julia groaned and tried to open her eyes. "Mother? Is that you?" She couldn't see anything. Whether it was because she had gone blind or was dead she couldn't tell. Moving her right arm sent a splintering of pain through her shoulder.

"Definitely not dead yet," she said to herself. "Hurts too much."

How far had she fallen? Twenty feet? Certainly a fall a human could survive provided she didn't land on her head or land on anything that could skewer or cut a major blood vessel so she'd bleed to death, but as she pushed herself off the ground she noticed that only her right shoulder hurt. There didn't seem to be any bruises or cuts on her that would indicate she'd hit the ground.

Her vision was still blurred. Her glasses weren't on, but then she was far sighted. A scuttling movement from above snapped her attention up. Six eyes peered down at her above eight legs.

"Kokyanwuhti," Julia whispered.

The Spider Woman seemed to float in the darkness. "Daughter, child of the corn, I know why you have come. I have sensed the release of the Ancient Enemy, the god of fighting, the devourer of souls."

"Kokyanwuhti, how was it freed?"

"As it has always been: greed, the lust of fear, the desire for power has freed Ogre. I defeated it so many years ago to protect our people, but I had not the power to kill it. My children guarded it, but time has altered the weapons of man and they could not stop its awakening. The people who have called Ogre are ruthless and seek to use Ogre as the weapon it was created to be, but they have not the strength to fully control it. I know your fears, child, but it must be so that I call upon you as the wearer of the hochichvi pendant to gather the warriors to fight against the Ancient Enemy."

Julia bowed her head. "I'm ... I'm not the one you want, Mother. There are others who are stronger, who are leaders, who people will listen to and follow. I am only here because I am a failure and shame of the tribe."

"You are here," the Spider Woman said, "because you have heard my calling. Just as your mother did."

Julia gasped. "You mean Michelle was doing as you asked? Where is she? What happened?"

"I cannot answer all your questions, child, for there are limits to even my knowledge. Michelle has answered to me for a long time. It was I who called her out to those ruins eighteen years ago to bring you home. It was I who told her to find the men responsible for raising the god of fighting. I was able to watch over her for part of the journey, but now that part of my web has become dark and I can no longer guide her.

"There is much that has already fallen upon your shoulders, dear child, and I know it will be an arduous and dangerous journey, but you are the only one that can save your people now. They are blinded, lost in the past mistakes when the devourer of souls had first arrived. It was their own fear that ate them, child. Ogre was just the manifestation of their fears. The Ancient Ones were tore apart from the inside out. Again they have turned upon each other, but you must look beyond that. You are the water-bearer, the wearer of the hochichvi pendant, and now the Ogre-Slayer."

"But how am I to fight a god?"

"Have as much faith in the Creator as the Creator has in you, daughter. Ogre is a false god. It has only as much power over you as you give it. Just as blood can call it, blood can dismiss it. Look to the Mother Earth, child, and go with my blessings."

The Spider Woman ascended back into the darkness.

"Wait!" Julia called after her. Gone. "Look to the Mother Earth," Julia repeated. At her feet was the familiar handle of her flashlight. It turned on like someone who had been woken up far too early, its eyesight flickering and dim. She pointed it at the ground. She noticed at her feet was a strangely carved bowl not much bigger than her fist.

The inside was ridged and mountainous. In the half-light it almost look like the contours of a face with the mouth open in a cruel smile. Beside the bowl was a blade of obsidian which, judging from the glass smooth edge, had somehow survive centuries without chipping or being ground into powder. There was no way these fragile artifacts could have survived a fall from the top of the cave walls; they had to have been placed there by Kokyanwuhti.

Cautiously, Julia picked the bowl and knife up. She gasped as she felt the warmth sucked from her body. The shock sent her to one knee and she fought not to drop the bowl and knife. It was over in seconds, and the turquoise in the necklace took on an bioluminescent glow for a moment before darkening and slowly returning to the ambient temperature.

"It's coming," she whispered. She could feel it - called down from the ages, a dark god rising like clouds to cover the moon. It was all chiseled muscle and flashing teeth laughing with the flesh of sacrifices rotting between the white kernels. Corn fed the people and people fed the corn. The air moved behind her and Julia instinctively rolled to the side, shielding the knife and bowl from impact. Could it have found her already? She looked around but there was no one there.

Gathering the artifacts into her backpack with the water jar, Julia hurried and began crawling out of the cavern. When she emerged from the narrow passage, she was aware of a foreign presence within the cave. As she came up to her feet, she saw a thin figure kneeling in the distance. The white face, with its painted cat features, was unmistakable. "Kunimitsu!"

The ninja cocked her head to the side like a feline hiding beneath a car as it looked out at traffic. "Easy, child of the corn. I'm not here to fight you, but to warn you. Heihachi has your mother now. In three weeks, the third Iron Fist tournament will be held. Heihachi extends his invitation to you."

"I don't trust you. Besides, what keeps you from trying to kill me and take the pendant back yourself?"

"You assume that I am loyal to Heihachi. If there's anything you shouldn't be trusting, it's that assessment. Doing these jobs for him are simply steps towards my own goals."

"Which is?"

"No, child," Kunimitsu said, shaking her head. "You'll not have that power over me. It is not for me to bring you or the pendant to Heihachi now - I am simply a messenger. The choice to save your mother is yours."

Kunimitsu pulled a thin white blade from her shirt and laid it on the ground. "Here," she said. "A gift to get you started."

It wasn't until after Kunimitsu left that Julia approached the object and picked it up. Like a butterfly opening its wings, the paper slid apart and dropped a plane ticket into her lap.