The Temple in the Sky, Fernando Herrera Jr [the rosie project .txt] 📗

pause Micay added, “I think they do. The gods must know how to do everything.”
“Only THE GREAT HUIRACOCHA knows everything,” Apaec stated with a tone of seriousness.
After a short pause, the three finished the last driblets of their stew. Khuno glared down at the grass with a concentrated look and mused, “Heh… the Cahuachi people know everything.”
“What do you mean?” Apaec asked with clear intrigue. “What do you know about them?”
“I… uh… nothing” Khuno stuttered. “I know as much as you do.” He glanced at Apaec and looked back at his empty bowl. He then threw it down to the grass and flicked his spoon into it. “I learned about them with the Kapra just as you did.”
“Well then… why did you say that? And you stuttered.” Apaec accused as he looked fixedly at him with a frown.
“I didn’t.” he defended without taking his look off the frosty grass.
“Yes you did… you know that you did. Now tell us what you know.”
“I don’t know anything!”
“Yes you do. I know you do. You’re lying! I can tell that you are… now tell us!”
As Apaec’s frustration grew so did the tension among the three and Micay was caught in the middle. She stood up gently from the trunk, placed her bowl down on the grass, and looked at Apaec with heightened eyebrows. Then she proceeded to walk to a rock a few feet away from the trunk. She sat down facing them and placed her hands in between her legs for warmth while listening calmly and quietly.
“So, are you going to tell us? We are your friends, aren’t we?” Apaec pressured looking towards Micay.
“Yes of course you are. I’m sorry… it’s just that I can’t.”
“What do you mean… you can’t?!” He shouted. “I would tell you and so would Micay! Right, Micay…?”
She simply frowned and shrugged her shoulders.
“You don’t understand… I made a promise,” explained Khuno.
“A promise, a promise to whom…?” The boy asked in frustration.
“Ugh… nobody, just forget it. Look, we should get going. I have to go back home and start my chores. My mom is probably awake by now.”
“Oh-noo, no, no, no… we’re not going anywhere until you speak about this. Now speak up!”
Khuno looked up at them for a moment and sighed. He then said, “Apaec… I… ugh... Why are you so stubborn? You can’” He paused for an answer but Apaec just stared with his big eyes. “Look… fine… very well… here it goes, but first, you both have to promise me that this will never be spoken of, not even to your family, your mom, or anyone… ever! You have to promise me that. Promise on our friendship,” demanded Khuno.
“Yes, yes of course. I promise… I promise on our friendship,” said Apaec immediately.
They both turned to Micay as she glared at them with a crooked smile. She timidly said, “I promise.”
“On our friendship,” insisted Khuno.
“Yes… on our friendship. I won’t tell,” she said.
“Very well then, if you must know,” he hesitantly started, “I… made a promise… I made a pa… puh-promise to… theeee… Cahuachi people and… I was in the Cahuachi temple. There… Happy?”
There was another pause, but this time even longer as Apaec and Micay looked up at each other in shock. They couldn’t believe it. Somehow Khuno had made it into the sacred temple of the Cahuachi.
“But how?” asked Apaec. “How did you do it? It’s impossible. Only the elite members of the councils are allowed to contact the Cahuachi at their temple. There’s no other way.” He stared down at the grass with a stunned look on his face and slowly looked up at Khuno.
Khuno glared at him and stated firmly with a trembling voice, “Yes, there is a way… you know it Apaec.” Khuno swallowed and took a deep breath. He looked at them as he stood up and proceeded to say, “I have been chosen.”
The young prince gazed at him with distressed eyes and a long silence followed between them. Neither of them knew what to say. They just sat in shock. Only the chirping of a few birds, the faint barking of a dog, and the sound of the wind filtering through the leaves could be heard. After a long minute, Micay licked her lips and finally spoke softly to bring Apaec out of his state of shock. She asked: “When did this happen, Khuno?”
He took a moment to respond. “It happened many days ago during the rainy season. I was to head to the mountains with a group of Kapras and herd back some alpaca for its wool. Instead, we were directed deep into the jungle for a three day hike in search villages where we could develop trade treaties. We didn’t know why or what was happening. We just followed the strict orders from the chief. We had traveled for many miles into the thick of the jungle and it seemed as if though we weren’t headed anywhere soon. The jungle was as thick as it gets, we couldn’t see the sky or even three feet ahead of us. We had to carve our path through the jungle with our blades. I knew that wherever we were headed, was either a secluded place or the chief didn’t want us to know where the path was… for some reason. Then, just as the clan was becoming restless and frustrated from the puzzling circumstances of our journey, a magnificent city was uncovered. We arrived at a point where massive walls erected high up from the ground for many, many feet. They were white walls built of shiny stone. I had never seen anything like it. The chief went ahead of us and stood in front of two tall gates made of gold. He said in his thick brut voice, ‘Welcome clan to the magnificent City of Cahuachi.’ It was about dusk when we arrived and I—”
“For the love of God! what was it like, Khuno!?” Apaec interjected.
He paused and looked up at the trees while he recollected his memories. He then continued, “It was majestic, but it wasn’t very big. Very clean… very white—and the walls were built high with a smooth stone that seemed to shine. It did shine. I remember the rays of the twilight sun bouncing off the walls and disturbing my sight. There were many gardens that were very well kept. They stretched vastly in front and inside the building. The greenness of the gardens complimented the whiteness of the buildings. It was beautiful, guys, unlike anything I had ever seen before. I don’t think that even the great king’s temple is quite as beautiful. I imagine the gods may live in a city like it. Anyway… we walked up to the main temple stairs and—”
“How many of you were there? “ Micay interrupted.
“About thirty of us,” he responded, “we walked up a set of stairs into the first courtyard. It was empty. Only a few dead orange leaves withered about on the white tiles of the ground. We then walked across to a big golden gate. It was decorated with bizarre facades and odd symbols encrypted all around the edges. We stood there for a while and we could hear hundreds of faint voices in the next yard… or at least I thought it was a yard. People were chanting, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. We all just stood there for a while looking around in amazement at the sheer beauty of the temple. Then… finally… after a long tedious wait, the gates were opened… and this my friends is when it began to get strange. I mean, we walked into what appeared to be some sort of amphitheatre or something, and once again, the strange facades appeared all over the place. Statues of really peculiar creatures adorned the stage, and they were all made of gold! Solid gold! Apaec! They shone so beautifully, I wanted to touch them but I was afraid I wasn‘t allowed to. The seats were filled with hundreds of the Cahuachi. It could’ve been the entire city. They were all sitting in a circle, all of them chanting in a strange dialect. I have never heard anything like it before. They all stood up when we reached the center and ordered us to sit, but there weren’t any seats around us so we had to sit on the bare floor. It was dark by then and fires were lit along the walls. We were illuminated. The fire’s light reflected off the golden walls and the whole damn place was lit-up with a golden hue. That’s when an old priest walked up to us, but he could barely stand. He carried a silver cane and was assisted by two more men, who were probably also priests. The Cahuachi were all wearing long white tunics with blue decorations. Others were wearing blue hoods with long colorful cords wrapped around them. The old priest with jaguar masks came up to everyone single one of us and stated something, but once again, I didn’t understand the words. He picked up a small wooden bucket that was burning from inside and motioned for us to inhale the smoke. We all did. I began to cough profusely and my eyes became irritated. I looked around and all of the other Kapra were also coughing.” He paused for a moment.
“Yes go on. Then what happened?” Apaec pressured.
Khuno looked over at Micay who still patiently sat on the rock with her hands in between her legs. She gave him a faint smile. “I can’t remember what happened after that,” Khuno said.
“What?” asked Apaec, “how can you not remember?”
Khuno looked at him uneasily and responded, “Well the next thing I remember after the smoke was waking up on a bed in one of the rooms from the temple. It was a cool, humid morning and I remember feeling ill, I was very thirsty. I sat up on the bed to look around for water, but the room was empty—well, except for the bed of course—but it had a very big window on the right side where I could look out and see a small courtyard. There was a fountain in the center and grass covered most of the ground around it. It looked like bright, green pelt. I walked over to the fountain and leaned over to scoop the cold water into my palms and took a sip; it was so cold, the tastiest water in the world. I drank as much as I could and splashed it on my face. I wanted to bathe in it. It was very cold but I didn’t care. The place was silent—almost too silent if you ask me—couldn’t even hear birds or anything, just the sound of the water running beneath me from the aqueducts. I looked down at my reflection on the water and I saw a woman’s face just above my right shoulder. Startled, I turned quickly with water dripping down my face and gasped. Right there in front of me stood an old woman dressed in a shiny blue tunic. She was barefoot. Her body was frail and her voice trembled when she spoke. She told me I had been chosen and that I would take my place in heaven very soon. She spoke of ceremonies that I would be part of, but I could not tell anybody of this, not even my family. She made me take a solemn promise that I couldn’t speak of. She told me that if I did, I would be in grave danger. So I did, I made that promise. But I broke