Book of Fates ✔

Manco Capac

Eirn stared at the keys in Nikk's hand, puzzled. "When did manage to obtain those?"

"When you were filling your stomach with local food. Let's go." Nikk strode off toward a narrow side street. The daitias and Anya silently followed, Daphne a few steps behind like she was and, at the same time, wasn't one of them. Nobody was in a chatting mood now.

While walking, Anya made sure no one looked at her and slipped her hand into her pocket. She fumbled for her phone and turned the sound off. She couldn't risk letting Daphne see it now, but get rid of it? No way, not before trying to call dad first, one more time at least.

They passed a few streets that weren't as crowded as the market place. The air here was better, a light breeze allowed to breathe without an effort and cleared the mind. Nikk led them to an worn-out house with whitewashed walls. The fence surrounding the house had a huge graffiti on it, showing an idyllic scene of the ancient Incas—disproportional people wearing loincloths and robes, carving statues of gods out of stones, carrying golden pitchers and gems.

What amazed Anya most was the colors though. All the people on the picture were of different skin colors—black and white, bronze and honey yellow, and red, blue and green even. And they all were working together as if they all were the people of one family.

"Here we are," Nikk stopped by an old jeep with chipped purple paint, which truck wouldn't close because of corn literally sticking out of it.

"Where did you find this rusty junk?" Rill mused, scratching the last of the paint off with her nail.

Nikk shrugged casually. "Bought from a friend."

"And..." the daitian kicked a tire with her right foot and swiftly jump back, probably expecting the wheel to fall off. "...does your friend know that he needs a new car?"

"Nope. He didn't have a chance to learn my name as I replaced the car keys in his pocket with a wad of cash."

"I'll drive." Daphne said in a cold voice. She snatched the keys from her brother's hand, and flung open the driver's door before anyone could say a word.

Despite looking ragged, the car engine roared the instant Daphne switched on the ignition. The others hurriedly crawled inside before the previous owner, clueless about selling his vehicle, came.

The journey began.

*

The highway where tourist buses and similar shabby cars of the locals could yet be seen was soon left behind. Then, following Eirney's instructions, the daitias and Anya swerved into a barely visible road snaking among the trees. Its pavement stones mixed with mud and grass rather suggested that the path was created about the same time as the Inca Empire itself.

In addition to the clumsy route, the weather became a disaster soon. In less than an hour, the clear blue sky was obscured with low, dark clouds. A harmless drizzle at first, it transformed into a raging storm. Heavy raindrops were hammering on the car's roof, blocking the view and turning the world outside the car windows to a watery blur.

And Daphne appeared to be a reckless driver. She was flooring the accelerator pedal, ignoring wet branches thumping against the windshield. The car was swaying from side to side and hopping on every pebble.

By the time Anya was about to throw up and Rill next her looked as pale as the moon, the trees finally started thinning and thatched roofs peeped out. Two more minutes, and the travelers found themselves in a small village nestled in a valley between two turquoise mountains.

"We need to go northwest," Eirn mumbled, not taking his metallic grey eyes shining with thoughts off the navigator screen.

The rainstorm was slowly fading away. Daphne drove around the village twice, but no luck. Except for the road they came from, there were no traces of anything resembling a trail or a path, or some kind of a faintest trodden line people could use to trudge through the woods. Nothing that would suggest the bunch of ragged houses here weren't the outermost pieces of human civilization.