Page 46 of Corvus and the Broken God

It didn’t take much to convince them to play, especially since Camazotz had prepared by bringing his own slightly larger stick. He simply flew by the nest before gaining some loft and then dropped his stick. I watched as the three young birds flew to grab it. The victor earned the right to drop the stick next. I joined in but quickly realized I had a lot to learn before I could claim the prize. Being up close to skilled fliers, expertly snatching the stick with their sharp talons, was thrilling—but not for the faint of heart.

My Monster didn’t go easy on me, either. He preferred the sink-or-swim method of teaching, but eventually, I improved enough to finally seize the stick. The others fell away from me as soon as I had it, and I climbed high with great satisfaction. I hovered momentarily, the trees and mountains shrinking to toy sizes from my view from the clouds, and dropped it for the others to fight over.

Instead of plunging for the stick, Camazotz joined me in the sky.

Come, let us leave them before the parents come back. You ready to go back?

He wanted to know if I was ready to return to reality. I was nowhere close. Since I didn’t want to remain an eagle for the rest of my life, I told him, Ready.

We were both quiet that evening back at the house. No stew waited for us on the stove, and I got to witness my Monster as he prepared tomorrow’s dinner. I offered to make something for us to eat. I was hungry, and neither of us had eaten since the morning before, but he brushed me off, producing a side of smoked meat, a side of venison, some fresh vegetables, and yesterday’s loaf of bread. Otherwise, we kept our own counsel. I retreated far inside myself, so deep, I didn’t think even he could hear me.

Maybe he could, but he chose not to comment. That was fine too. He was welcome to share the worst of my torment.

I had put the last piece of meat into my mouth that I could stomach when he finally spoke. “Come with me, Corvus.”

My first instinct was to shy away—hadn’t I been ordered around enough to last me a few years? But when I looked up to see him standing patiently above me, I caved. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to discuss our upcoming trip.”

I almost smiled but then the impulse faded. He grabbed the leftover venison bones, and we headed to his room. He excused himself for a few minutes, explaining how he always gave our leftovers to the wolf pack who shared our mountain, and flew off with the stinky carcass before joining me back at his desk.

When he returned about a half hour later, he poured us each a glass of mead.

“With each new generation, your civilization has been putting more and more value on human life.” He began his lecture after a long drink of mead. I had no idea where he was going with this at first. “It has now reached a ridiculous height of farce and hypocrisy. You put your elders who have all but ceased functioning on life support systems that keep their hearts beating, no matter what kind of pain they are in, and do all you can to save the fruit of unwanted pregnancies when the world’s population is overflowing, choking on its lack of resources. At the same time, you hand out firearms like toys, giving extra to the most demented and trigger-happy, when most of the people who buy them no longer hunt their own prey and buy over-bloated, chemically altered meat pre-frozen at the megastores.”

He paused, eyes warm as he considered me and my mental state. Good gracious, was he trying to comfort me for killing Darryl? Was this twisted rant the result of actual compassion I was sensing from the ancient creature?

“Thanks, Camazotz, but I don’t think valuing human life is necessarily wrong. If that’s even what you’re trying to tell me. Then again, to you and your kind, we must not seem any better than the animals.” Did he actually expect that explanation to cheer me up? If I felt better I would have brought up declining birth rates and challenged him, but then he kept going…

“Humans are more highly evolved than animals; otherwise, we would not have such an interesting and complex civilization. Then again, it has taken a nosedive lately, in my opinion. Take the Wolf, for example. But to your point, Corvus, it is not wrong to cherish human life. But after you have seen a few hundred generations pass by, you will appreciate how fleeting they all are.”

I frowned into my mead. He let me stew a little longer before trying again.

“With respect to Darryl, you had already saved his life once. He was as good as dead when you revived him. His death was on me, and my unwillingness to sacrifice my mountain home. You gave him a second chance, and he squandered it. As soon as you were certain he would betray us, you took his second chance away. Darryl is the one responsible for his death. He intended to harm us, and now he cannot.”

“Camazotz, his car!” I jumped up, spilling mead down my shirt and pants. If anyone had come looking for him, they would have immediately seen his car at the bottom of the driveway, where he always parked. They would know without a doubt that we were responsible for his disappearance.

“Sit down, Corvus. It is taken care of.”

“It is? But how?”

“As soon as I sensed your intention of dropping him over the cliff, I drove his car off the road, but in a place where no one could see it from above. Just now, I moved his body to where his car is a twisted wreck of metal. If someone were to find him, and frankly, I am not sure how they would manage that, they would assume he drove off the side of the road. I listened to his thoughts the last few times he was here. I am fairly sure no one else knew what he had planned to get us off our land.”

“What did you mean about the Wolf earlier?”

“Oh. He was a mistake.”

“You’re not doing as good a job explaining as you think you are.”

“Well, you see, I have had a long-standing relationship with the local wolf pack, going back many generations. We have a deep respect for each other. I have always enjoyed their company and have been allowed to interact with the pups. In exchange, I provided them food when there was drought or prolonged freezing weather, and they kept the deer population under control. When I found that man trespassing on my friend the Stag’s territory, I picked up on how he saw himself. Only his version of a wolf was different than mine or than any real wolf I have ever known. They never kill for the pleasure of seeing the life leave their victim’s eyes. They aren’t sadists.” He shook his head.

“When did you realize he wasn’t who you thought he was?”

“Not for many weeks. He did a good job of keeping his true self hidden from me. By the time he tried to kill you, I already knew it was a problem I needed to handle. I was planning to find him after Chaac left. Instead, he came to us and attacked you.”

I sat back to digest everything he had told me. Knowing more about the wolves, The Wolf, and my Monster’s relationship with them couldn’t distract me from Darryl. From my crime. Hopefully, by the time any authorities arranged a search and rescue, his body would have decayed enough that they would have a hard time proving he had died somewhere else. Maybe we could move some of his blood from where he died over to the car? Or was I overthinking it? If Camazotz thought no one would find Darryl easily, who was I to doubt him?

“Do you regret your actions?” he asked.