Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Water Dragon
I took two deep breaths before making my way down to the bottom of the steps, steps much more intricately carved than in the ruined cenote not so far away from here.
The still water reflected the crystal-blue sky, inviting me into its cool depths.
I could do this. Maybe if I said it a few times, I would believe it.
No, I could. The pebble took up a lot of space in my mouth, saliva pooling uncomfortably, tasting of salt and metallic dirt.
Then again, if I could pull this off, I would have a much larger mouth.
What had I always heard? Were birds actually the closest things to dinosaurs on the planet?
And a crocodile definitely reminded me of a dinosaur.
One that could hold its breath for long periods of time, if Hiroshi could be trusted.
I looked up at the edges of the limestone cave.
Thirty-foot tree roots hung down like ropes.
Light played with the water, aqua blue in the center, deepening to indigo on the edges.
I peered into the darkness of an underwater cave headed in the direction the pebble urged me to go.
It was one thing to step into the clear water here where I was safe, but did I have the strength, the raw bravery, to swim into the blackness, even if I knew which way to go?
I thought of the caves under his house up in the Tennessee mountains.
The clear blue water reminded me so much of this setting, which seemed completely out of place up there.
Maybe he had Hiroshi carve it out for him?
A little reminder of this land for his own personal enjoyment.
Only the water up there was shallow. He was afraid of drowning.
So how must he be feeling now? Trapped somewhere, the only escape lay underwater?
Even if he did get up the nerve to try, he could search endless tunnels and never find a clear path, especially since the usual way out had caved in.
Hopefully, my little rock would guide us back out once I found him again.
These musings were not helping anyone.
I thought instead about changing form. I could deal with facing the black cave once I was used to my new body.
Unbuttoning my shirt and freeing my arms, I kneeled to be closer to the ground, putting my hands on the rock in front of me.
Picturing every detail of the animal I was attempting to change into, holding the intricate details of Hiroshi’s work and transposing them onto a living, breathing creature, I told my body to Change.
The ground came up fast, and I braced my arms in front of my face, but I didn’t fall.
In fact, I had never felt more stable on the ground than at this moment.
Bending sideways, I examined my backside, almost surprised to see the symmetrical patterns of my scales, the strange back foot, more closely resembling my bird feet, and the tip of my impressive tail.
They were all different shades of deep gray.
I looked back at the cenote. The colors had shifted from brilliant blues to slightly duller ones.
Instead of the postcard beauty, my reptilian eyes took in my new surroundings, noticing unusual details.
The streak an insect made across the surface of the water, the ripples the wind created.
My new vision took some getting used to, but I’d recently had practice adjusting to new worlds.
I focused on the strange movement of the air through my nostrils all the way at the end of my snout, adapting to the new process of breathing.
Just like feathers took some getting used to, this shape limited my movement.
But then I wiggled my long body. Powerful muscles flexed in my sides, my legs, and my tail.
I might need to get used to my current range of motion, but the power to move quickly was there, buried beneath the skin.
The darkness didn’t look quite as black. The back walls of the cavern showed more definition; cracks and crevices revealed themselves. I could do this. I said it again, just in case.
Checking to confirm the rock was still in my mouth, although in my much larger mouth it seemed hardly a pebble, the direction it wanted me to go was still clear. I took a big breath, closed my nose flaps, and slipped under the water's surface.
My powerful tail made moving through the liquid easy, even easier than flying.
I swam toward the cave mouth. While my new vision resembled human sight above the surface of the water, it was much better underneath it.
Some type of film over my eyes made it effortless to look around.
My new body was buoyant, and yet I could make it sink at will.
Okay, apparently, I could do this. At least I was going to give it my best try.
I followed the directions of Hiroshi’s pebble, heading toward the darkness, turning my snout this way and that, with each subtle nudge, a little less afraid than I had been as a human.
Being a crocodile had its perks—especially the enhanced eyesight.
But the inky blackness in front of me frightened me more than facing down Ixtab.
Knowing that there were miles of caves beneath me almost made me turn around.
I fervently hoped that I wouldn’t need to descend too far.
The pebble urged me forward, and my tail rocked side to side, silently moving me along in the dark water.
The shadows gradually faded into complete darkness, making no difference whether my eyes were open or shut.
I swam forward cautiously, afraid that I would bump my snout on something.
So far, my tiny guide kept me intact, safe enough to focus on the fact that I couldn’t see a thing.
Slow movements kept me sane, even as my eyes strained to see something, anything.
I hadn’t made it too far when the darkness changed.
A sliver of light just up ahead had me moving faster, the water cool along my belly.
My feet, short and fat and covered in birdlike talons, paddled here and there, but mostly I kept them tucked against my torso, the strength of my tail plenty to propel me.
Eyes open, I scoured my surroundings, looking for any threats.
I didn’t see any fish, only stalagmites pushing up from the depths and stalactites hanging overhead, pointed guillotines waiting to fall.
I reached a cave deeper underground than the others.
A small hole in the roof let in a single stream of light.
I swam to the surface, taking a breath even though my lungs didn’t need it yet.
Slowing my pace, I looked around, only my eyes and nostrils above the surface of the water.
A thick rope of tree roots grew down from the ceiling and disappeared into the water.
The Ceiba tree and its hitchhikers making their living in the unforgiving limestone.
A few large seeds floated in the water, telling me there were fruit bats around, although I couldn’t see or smell them.
I was still unused to this way of sensing the world.
Then again, bats probably didn’t matter much to crocodiles.
While my pebble told me which direction to swim and my bird-sense kept track of where I’d been, I had no real idea of how far I needed to go. The one thing I had difficulty keeping track of in my non-human skin was time and distance, even though I was almost the same length as my human form.
I dove back under the water, feeling a little surer of myself, and continued on.
More accustomed to my new shape and surroundings, I pushed my fear aside and focused on my senses instead.
The soft caress of the water flowed from my snout, down my long body, and finally scooped past my tail.
I could see so much with the tiniest speck of light, making the total darkness manageable, especially as the tiny pebble impossibly led me through the caverns without hitting anything.
Every once in a while, the tip of my tail would scrape something, especially when I moved faster, but it was only the barest touch.
Nothing hurt me. And yet, even as I passed through another cavern easily, in my formidable body, the darkness started to mess with my head.
Fewer caverns let in any light, and I could only distract myself so much.
I kept going, visiting cavern after cavern, pushing my way forward in the darkness, when the reasonable parts of my brain kept control of the wheel, doing everything possible to quench the fear of the dark.
The primal part of me wanted to find the closest cave with an opening and fly away fast as I could.
No, I had come this far. His fear had to be greater than mine.
At least I could swim. But how would I convince my Monster to brave the caverns with me—to bring him back the way I came?
I searched for other topics to worry about, those not having to do with the current darkness.
The Mayans once considered cenotes to be portals to the underworld.
They spun a complicated mythology of crossing over.
While they relied on the sunken pools as sources of fresh water and built cities around them, they also used them as conduits to the gods.
Sacrifices were regularly dumped into the water, everything from fruits of the harvest to virgins.
Blood sacrifice was integral to their lives, but dumping a young girl… how could the gods allow this?
Then again, back then, like now, power was everything.
Only now, the gods played with petroleum futures and hedge funds.
Was that any better? Suppressing the fortunes of the masses in order to grow money on the backs of their hard work.
And when was the money enough? Why would any one person need a billion dollars?