Silver Jungle

Chapter 10

Dra wasn't on her reed petlatl when Dani woke up that morning. After looking around, Dani saw a small note next to hers. "'Dani, meet me at the shrine when you wake up.'" He read aloud. "What shrine? There's a shrine here?"

"Yes," Zammi said, poking her head into the bedroom. "On the far side of the house. It's not visible from the road, so I'm not surprised you haven't seen it yet. It's quite beautiful." She looked at the note, and her slitted pupil narrowed, focusing in on it. Reading it. "I suppose Dra wants to teach you how to behave."

"Why? Is the gods really that important to other Silver Mages?" Dani questioned her. Zammi nodded slightly, then left. Dani struggled up off his petlatl, and threw on some clothes, a tee-shirt and shorts he didn't recognize, but fit him. Leaving the room, he went down to the dining room, to Zammi, who was sitting at the table.

"Dani?" She asked, confused. "I thought you were going to the shrine to meet Dra."

"Are you gonna come with me?" Dani inquired. "To the shrine, I mean."

"I wasn't planning on it, no. Why?" Zammi asked.

"Because I want to get to know you. You're my mom. And I just kinda want to know-" Dani started to say, but Zambia's face darkened.

"I will not tell you why you were adopted by those people, and that is final. Understand me?" Zammi boomed, her voice echoing in the room. Dani tried to open his mouth, but she got up, and turned quickly, her white hair swirling around her like a hurricane.

So much for last night.

***

However much Dani was annoyed at his mother, she was right. The shrine was beautiful. A white curved dome covered a carved statue of snake. The carving looked familiar, but Dani didn't know why. Behind it, a triangle diagram was painted in flacking gold. In each layer of the triangle, letters Dani didn't recognize had been painted. The shrine had a few candles lit and incent sticks that gave off a sweet smell. Dra was waiting for him, looking a little peeved. "And where have you been?" she asked, kneeling on a mat in front of a smoldering alter.

"Getting yelled at by Zammi. How are you?" Dani knelt down next to her, bending his head. He lit a incent stick and put in the holder, where it too, smoldered. Dra mad a tutting sound, and gently put his head onto her shoulder.

It was a sweet gesture, and Dani appreciated it, because it meant that yesterday's events were in the past. He would have appreciated it more, however, if Dra hadn't been skinny. But she was, and her clavicle dug into his jaw.

"So," Dani inquired, a little muffled. "What are you going to be teaching me today?"

"The gods." Dra said. "All of them."

"Oh, I thought it was going to be hard." Dani grumbled, and Dra hummed in amusement.

"It's a little theory and mostly memorization, but here's what you need to know. Okay," she moved her shoulder slowly, and Dani lifted his head. "So, the coatl's are descendent from the Aztec gods. But you'll find that there are also other pantheons, like the Scottish, or the Celtic."

"So, which one is right?" Dani asked. "The true pantheon?" Dra shrugged.

"All of them. Think of it like this," Dra paused, trying to figure how to word her explanation. "Every single aspect of life has a god. Every pantheon has a different god for that aspect." She glanced over at Dani, who was utterly confused. "Okay, not working. Imagine it like the tiers of a pyramid." She drew a triangle in the dirt in front of the shrine, like the one painted on it. "There are all the pantheon's individual gods." She pointed to the largest and lowest section of the triangle. "Then think of the aspect they represent. Like, Huitzilopochtli is the Aztec god of war, but Ares is the Greek god of war, and so is the Celtic goddess Badb. They are all part of war, just different people. Like siblings." Dra looked at Dani, who nodded.