Four guards dashed into the tent. The first two held submachine guns and they dramatically released the safety with a resounding click letting everyone know they meant business. Next, two rather large Mexicans came into the tent. They held twine bindings and they bent down towards Autumn and Andrews.

“Ouch,” Autumn winced as the guard grabbed her arm sharply and twisted it behind her back. The rough strands of twine cut a bit into her skin. She squinted her eyes.

Andrews thought about making a break for it. He was almost certain that he could take the two burly Mexicans out, but decided against it once the guns shifted from Autumn to him. He attempted to relax his right shoulder a bit, so that when they grabbed his arm, it would automatically pop out.

“Get them tied and then bring them out to the circle when you’re done,” Blackstone called out as he left the tent’s back flap. “I need to prepare myself for the ceremony.”

The four guards smiled and nodded at Blackstone. Once Andrews’s hands were secured behind him, the two burly guards pulled them up from their crouched positions and dragged them out into the middle of the circular camp. An altar made of stone had been brought in during the time that Blackstone was talking to them. Small bits of quartz and mica glinted off the smooth stone. The fire warmed their skin up a bit and Andrews caught a glance at the bruise that blackened Autumn’s skin.

“Did that bitch do that to you,” he said.

Autumn nodded, “Yes. She did. After you got knocked out. Do not worry, it does not hurt too much. I will be fine.” She smiled widely, attempting to quell Andrews anger. “So where do you think she is now? And where is Blackstone?”

“I am guessing that they are both getting ready to fry us over the fire and then release Hell upon this world. They are probably in one of these tents,” Andrews replied as he looked up towards the sky. The light of the full moon shined down on them and Andrews was growing worried that there was no hope for them to escape in time. He looked around the camp, the bonfire illuminating a good majority of the layout. Five guards sat around smoking and smirking behind them. Their guns were strapped over their shoulder or laid on the grass next to them. Two more patrolled the area behind them, their hands resting on the triggers. The two who helped escort them out were no where to be seen. Andrews thought that they were probably guarding the outer part of the tent that Trevor and Celeste were in. And the two burly guys who tied them up, were tending the stokes on the fire.

Andrews grunted again and Autumn shot him a look that said, “Are you trying to get us killed. There are too many standing around.”

He winked and nodded and slowly arched his back towards the ground. His arms dangled limply near the ground and he quickly moved his left boot over them and then his right foot, only pausing ever so slightly. Finally when his hands were in front of him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Autumn, come near me,” he said. “I promised you nothing will happen and I never break those promises. I need you to get in front of me so they think I am still tied up.”

She nodded and moved closer, hoping that no one saw what they were up to. The two burly guards had returned to their chattering in spanish and they did not seem to pay any attention to them.

Suddenly, a gong went off. Its deep baritone sound rang deep through the air and into the ground causing everyone in the camp to look up. Celeste appeared once more, her daemon form painted and decorated with blood red symbols. Autumn wondered who she had killed for the paint to make herself up.

“It is time,” her voice rang out. “Everyone come to the circle. We are ready to begin.”

Soon, the small inner campfire circle filled with about fifteen men total. A few of them had brought their guns, most just stood around with their arms folded across their chests. It was apparent to Andrews that many of the men had no idea what was about to happen and he hoped that once Trevor started speaking they would flee in terror.

A flap from the tent Celeste was standing in front of opened and Trevor Blackstone emerged dressed in the red robes he had on earlier. Only now he added a papal hat to his dress and also wore some blood red markings on his face.

He surveyed the small gathering and smiled. Waving and gesturing with his hands towards everyone he inhaled deep, “Hola mi amigos. Welcome to this small ceremony. Tonight I shall attempt a feat that was started by your great, great, great Mayan ancestors over a thousand years ago. With my words, the sceptre of the gods, and the blood spilled by these traitors who wanted to take your nation’s treasure from you, we shall open a gateway to the heavens. We will become gods tonight.”

A cheer rose up through the men and Andrews looked at Autumn. “What a bunch of bullshit,” he said to her silently. “They have no idea what is about to happen to them and this world. He has obviously lied to them to get them to follow and help him.”

She nodded but turned her attention back to the altar. The wand was not there. She stared closely at Blackstone’s outfit. Peeking out through a cloth belt was the familiar cylinder of the wand. She felt strangely relieved to see it there, ready to be taken so easily.

“Andrews, I see it. There, on his belt.” Autumn nodded her head in the direction and Andrews nodded back.

“I see it. I take it you have an idea of how to get it,”he replied.

“Yeah, I do actually. First, you gotta untie me. Then, wait until I tell you to and then you got to come up with some sort of diversion. I can handle the rest.”

“Oh really now,” he replied.

“Just trust me.” And Autumn fell silent and focused back onto the wand. She barely felt the pressures of the twine in her wrists as Andrews started working very slowly on the knots that held her hands together. She closed her eyes and spoke a few silent words to some unknown god that what they were about to do was going to work and that everything she knew and loved was not going to disappear in a great ball of white light as she saw the wand do in her dream.

Celeste moved over towards Blackstone and light four candles that sat at the edges of the rectangular table. She picked up a dagger and held it forward, offering it to Blackstone.

Blackstone moved behind the altar and threw his hands up in the air, the dagger pointing high above his head towards the silvery white moon floating high above them, “We call upon the ancients. Those who have watched over us, their children for many years. The air that gives us breath, the fire that gives us warmth, the earth that gives us food and the water that cools our throats. We call you to witness the greatness that is about to unfold here, on this night of a full moon.”

A small fog rolled into the campsite, covering the land like a light wispy puff of silk. Off in the distance thunder ran out, quickly followed by a crackling of lightening, as if it obeyed the words Blackstone spoke. A few men in the audience shuffled their feet and looked around a bit nervously. However, no one moved and the only noise that could be heard was that of the snaps and pops of the roaring bonfire. Autumn held her body perfectly straight, unmoving. Her eyes were still locked on the wand.

Blackstone continued, “We call upon the father of them all, the great Yum Cimil whose home lies deep beneath the earth, who tends to our fallen brethren in battle. We call upon your attention and devotion. Heed my words.”

More lightening struck off in the distance, followed this time by a howl. Shuffling of feet and a few whispers could also be heard, many of the men around the fire grew afraid.

“Do not be afraid, my friends,” Blackstone called out. “That is just the sound of the earth and her children. They are ready for what we are about to do. Please do not be afraid and do not move. If you move out of the circle of the light, you may disturb the land and I will not be held responsible for what may happen to you.”

The sounds of dissent quieted, mostly out of fear for what was about to take place. The thunder continued to grow closer, albeit slowly. Blackstone paused a bit longer and looked around at the faces of his men. He smiled a slight sinister smile when his eyes found Autumn and Andrews kneeling before the altar in the dirt.

“We are now in-between this world and the next,” he continued. “In the world where daemons play and gods voices can be heard. Tonight, with the attention of Yum Cimil watching over us, I will spill the blood of the innocents over this weapon of glorious destruction and say the words of the ancients to unlock the power. And then, the world shall be ours for the taking. No more will they laugh at the peoples locked down in Central America. No, they will be begging for our mercy, calling Yum Cimil out for mercy.”

Celeste removed the athame from his hand and held it over her breast. Blackstone then drew out the wand and cradled it in both his hands holding the golden rod out for everyone to see. A few men crossed themselves when the rod moved towards their direction. Others gasped the name of the Holy Spirit under their breath.

“By the name of Yum Cimil, I command thee to bind this weapon to thine hand,” Blackstone yelled out above the thunderous sounds that had finally made their way to the campsite. The light of the full moon disappeared behind deep black storm clouds. The flames flickered and jumped high under the wind that suddenly blew in. Blackstone threw the wand high into the air, holding onto the shaft with both his hands, just as a short but sharp burst of white hot electricity shot out through the air. Everyone threw up their hands and turned their heads away from the blinding flash. Even Andrews turned his head and closed his eyes tightly. Everyone, except Autumn. Her eyes glowed bright green from the lightening bolt, but she held fast to the image of the hot, glowing golden rod still between Blackstone’s hands.

“Andrews,” she whispered silently, trance-like to him, “Get ready. When I tell you, rush at Celeste and stop her with the athame. Create the diversion before he calls for us.”

Andrews turned to Autumn and was about to shout out an objection when he saw her glowing eyes. He shut his mouth and silently nodded in agreement. He did not understand what had happened to her but apparently it was going to be the only way they could stop the horror that was vastly approaching.

Blackstone let out a scream as the bolt finished coursing through his body. He let go of the sceptre with his right hand and stared down at it. The flesh had turned black and his fingers curled disfigured in the shape of how they held the wand. His eyes grew in terror as he realized that the dark power now coursing through his veins had come with an even dark and more twisted disfiguring fate.

“I am alright my friends. The great Yum Cimil has given me his blessing to continue. Even as I speak the blood of the ancients..”

But his sentence had been cut short for Autumn stood up and shouted, “Now.”

Andrews leapt through the air and tackled Celeste. They tumbled to the ground as she struggled half heartedly for control of the athame. It was over in a few seconds, however, as her wails of death cried out above even the thunder. Andrews stood, his black shirt glimmering with the dark sheen of fresh blood.

Blackstone froze with the wand in his hand out in the air. It took him a minute to realize what was going on. As Andrews leapt over the altar after Celeste, Autumn rushed around the other side to face Blackstone. And for the first time since the start of the ceremony, fear entered his body. He now realized that the girl’s eyes were glowing green and her skin seemed paler than it was when his men brought her to him.

She smiled at him and when she opened her mouth to speak strange words from a language long forgotten spilled out. It was an odd mix of her own voice and something deeper and darker, something that was only reaching out from the other side of the universe. She raised her hand and pointed at him. He dropped to his knee and held out the sceptre towards her. She took a step forward and grabbed it from his hands, still speaking in that strange language. Andrews hovered over him, his athame extended towards Blackstone’s throat. Sweat formed on Blackstone’s brow and he slowly blinked his eyes, expecting the knife to plunge deep into his neck, killing him quickly. But the sharp sting never came.

He opened his eyes once more to see the red haired girl gently stroking the shaft of the sceptre. She smiled at him once more and spoke a few more words, which he actually understood this time.

“This is not for you. It is not your decision on what stays and who gets to go. We lost it once, thinking that the heart of man would forget his plight to grow strong and challenge the voice of the Quetzalcoatl. But sadly we were mistaken. So now, it is time that we put an end to this weapon of balance.”

Blackstone gulped once more. “No, please, do not hurt me. I have so much that I want to do. Please, do not destroy me.”

His pleas had fallen on deaf ears for the girl did not respond to him. Rather, she lovingly pet the weapon once more. Then she grabbed the shaft with her hands at the ends and frowned. She pushed down quickly and briskly with both hands until the shaft, made of gold bent and snapped. Another brilliant flash of white light shot out from the weapon this time and leapt up into the air.

Blackstone howled in agony as the sceptre split in two. Then the look of anguish turned to horror on his face as he realized what was coming next. His body began to twist and bend in ways that they were not meant to be. He growled and screamed in pain, so much pain that the men watching all turned and fled in terror. They called out the name of several gods, Jesus Christ and Quetzalcoatl among them as they ran for the jungle without looking back. Blackstone’s body bent and folded in half upon itself and then disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Autumn dropped to her knees. Andrews dropped the knife and rushed over to her side. He did not touch her, but called out, “Autumn. Are you there?”

She lifted her head, her hair stuck to her face, wet with sweat, and said silently “Um. Yeah. Did that work?”

Andrews reached out and helped her out of the dirt, “What the hell just happened. Yes that worked. Whatever just happened tore right through the sceptre and devoured Trevor. And made everyone run off into the jungle screaming various protections to various gods. Autumn, what did you do?”

“It was not me. It was the panther. Or rather Quetzalcoatl,” she said shrugging. “Remember how there was a mirror on the pedestal? Well, the only way one could remove the wand thing without it destroying them was if they faced Quetzalcoatl with pure intention. And that is what I did. But since Blackstone had evil intentions and wanted to use it for destruction, the gods sent Quetzalcoatl down through me to balance the odds again. The sceptre is not a weapon per say, but a balancing device. It can bring destruction or it can create life. Just like any person. Or any god. It all depends on how you use it.”

Andrews chuckled at the discovery, “Nice thinking there kiddo. You realize that the twins are going to be a tad bit pissed that you broke the sceptre in half. They were hoping to catalog it and find a safe place for it.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said walking towards their Jeep. “However, there really is no place on earth that is safe from those people like Blackstone who want to destroy the world. The only safe place for things like that is for them to have never existed in the first place. So can we go home now? I think I have had enough excitement for one lifetime.”

“Sure thing Autumn,” he replied as he started the car. “You sure about that kiddo? I mean, we could really use someone like you back home in the Hive. What do you say?”

Autumn Chase shook her head and smirked at Andrews as they drove off back to Mexico City. Behind them a soft glow of yellow peaked over the horizon as the sun slowly began to rise into a new day.