“Europasaurus,” Jake named them. “Pygmy dinosaurs.”
Three men crowded the chariot: one held the reins and the two others bore spears and swords. One hopped off and crossed toward them. He was dressed like Pindor, but he also wore bronze armor and a helmet.
“Heronidus,” Marika said. The girl crossed her arms and said sourly, “Pindor’s older brother.”
The newcomer spoke loudly. “Father is furious, Pin! What are you doing up here by the Broken Gate?”
“We were…I wanted to show…”
Heronidus pointed. “By Jove, is that Father’s spear?”
Pindor shifted the weapon behind him. He glanced up the path toward Marika for some salvation.
Heronidus stiffened in surprise as he saw Jake and Kady. His hand dropped to his sheathed sword. He waved the second Roman soldier out of the chariot.
“Trespassers…”
The second soldier drew his sword.
“Who…?” Heronidus asked boldly, having to clear his throat to achieve the right rich baritone of command. “Who are you?”
Pindor stepped forward and planted his spear more firmly. “I think…” His voice cracked. He glanced to Jake, then down to his toes. His voice hardened to match his brother’s. “They are spies. Spies sent by the Kalverum Rex, the Skull King.”
7
CALYPSOS
As the day grew hotter, the road down into the valley proved to be longer than it appeared from the Broken Gate. It was made even longer by the tense stretches of silence and suspicious glances from the two older boys in the chariot. The pair of pygmy dinosaurs tugged at their leads, as if sensing the anxiety. The driver kept hauling back on the reins, to keep pace with those on foot.
They were marched quickly through the farmlands that covered the valley floor. Jake tramped behind the chariot with Kady on one side and Marika on the other. Pindor and Heronidus followed, one with the spear, the other with his sword.
No one was taking any chances with spies in their midst.
Eyeing the sword and spear, Jake considered ways to escape, but where would he and Kady go? Back out into the surrounding wild jungle? They would not survive long on their own.
And besides…
Jake’s attention turned forward.
Marika must have noticed his sudden focus on the dragon pyramid. Pointing, she said, “That is the great temple of Kukulkan. It protects this valley and—”
Heronidus cut her off with a bark. “Mari! You’ll not speak to the spies.”
“I’ll speak to whoever I want! And they’re not spies,” she said for the tenth time, as if declaring it enough would make it so. “They are newcomers.”
Heronidus scoffed. “Newcomers? There have not been strangers to these lands in a score of lifetimes. And if they truly are newcomers, I wager it was the dark alchemies of Kalverum Rex that brought them here. To plant spies in our midst.”
On Jake’s other side, Kady exhaled loudly with disgust. She eyed Heronidus up and down with disdain. It was a look she had perfected at school, capable of withering a freshman with a glance.
The older boy tried to ignore her, but Jake noted he grew a little red around his tunic’s collar and shifted his sword nervously for a better grip.
A muffle of movement drew Jake’s eye to the left. From out of the meadow, a snaking head rose. It stretched higher and higher, twenty feet into the air, then tilted over to spy on the small band of travelers on the road below.
Jake stared upward, holding his breath. The creature’s skin was purplish, its eyes large and moist above blubbery lips. It blew a short bleat from its trumpet-shaped nose at them, then sank away and returned to its grazing.
Kady grabbed Jake’s elbow. “What was that?”
He shook his head, too awed speak. It looked like some type of duckbill dinosaur.
“We call it a blow horn,” Marika said. “They’re very good at pulling plows.”
As the dinosaur vanished, Pindor rubbed his belly. “Shouldn’t we stop to eat?”
Heronidus scowled at his younger brother. “We’re not stopping. Not when we have prisoners with us.” He looked hard at Jake, then back to Pindor. “You’ll be lucky to get water and dry bread after Father finds out you went to the Broken Gate by yourself…and took his spear.”
“Father doesn’t have to know about the spear, does he?” Pindor pleaded.
Heronidus shrugged and continued down the road. “We shall see.”
A half mile ahead spread the city of Calypsos. Built on a small hill, it rose from the valley floor. But as much as the place intrigued him, Jake’s attention was drawn beyond its borders. Deep within wild woodlands that ran up against the city walls on the right, the massive stone dragon hovered over the treetops, its wings spread wide. It seemed to be staring straight at Jake. Only the dragon was visible from this angle. The pyramid was buried in the forest.
Jake shared a hopeful glance with Kady. Even this close, the dragon appeared an exact match to the artifact at the British Museum. The pyramid had to offer some clue as to a way home.
Marika must have read the desire in Jake’s face. She shook her head warningly. “It is forbidden to trespass there. Only the three Magisters of Alchemy are allowed to enter and gaze upon the crystal heart of Kukulkan.”
Jake heard the longing in the girl’s voice, which further set fire to his own curiosity.
The crystal heart of Kukulkan? What was that?
Heronidus grunted his displeasure. “Enough, Marika. I’ve already told you. No speaking to the spies.”
“They’re not spies!” she insisted yet again.
Kady cleared her throat. Loudly. All eyes immediately turned to her. Even the chariot’s two pygmy dinosaurs swung their long necks in her direction.
Jake frowned. How did she do that?
Kady planted a fist on one hip. Her initial shock had grown into irritation. She fanned her face with her khaki hat, then waved it at the group. “I don’t understand. All you weird people. How come you all speak English?”
Heronidus cocked his head, appraising her. “Ang-lash? It this the tongue of your land?”
She nodded. “Of course. It’s what you’re speaking, too.”
“No. Here we speak All-World. As you are doing now.”
Kady touched her fingers to her lips, looking concerned.
“All-World?” Jake asked.
“It is a gift of the temple gods,” Heronidus said, and pointed his sword toward the pyramid, violating his own order not to talk to them.