Under the Moon of Taxoxcia
Chapter 5

Version Beta-3

By Tom J. Hyde

His chest rose and fell in quiet waves as the purple smoke moved about him like a stray dog seeking a scratch behind the ears. His teal eyes studied the surface of the wall in clinical detachment. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the wall. It was simply a stone slab cut from the rock beneath the Outer Sanctum of Taxoxcia. But what lay beyond was another matter entirely.

In the faintest recesses of Thomas’s mind, a voice yammered away incessantly.

‘You’re being a fool!’ it chirped. ‘You don’t want to screw with magic! Especially to help a crazy woman!’

Thomas guffawed. An hour ago, he was berating his wife about the impossibility of magic. Now the mist of the purification chamber wrapped itself around him like vermillion seaweed.

The tickling sensation in the back of his mind wasn’t nearly as prominent as it was before. But it was still there. He forced himself to take another deep breath, clenching his hands tightly. A knot bounced in his stomach like a trapped mouse. The worst part about the mist was he didn’t know what it was doing to him. Thomas’s thoughts whirled in his mind, terrified that somehow the power of the Foxfolk was changing his thinking. Bethi’s vague comments about enhancing passions and desires weren’t exactly clear.

Then the words came back to his lips.

“I’m not leaving you.” His voice wandered through the air.

Bethi was always a dreamer. She didn’t become an archeologist to gather fame and fortune. She wasn’t consumed by the architecture or the pottery of these ancient peoples. Her obsession was myths and legends. She wanted to know every rite, ritual and secret of all the races that walked the earth.

She wanted to touch the magic. But not out of any vain need for glory or power. She didn’t want to dominate others or create vast sums of wealth. Her fascination was nothing so mundane.

She simply wanted to experience the wonder.

Opening his eyes, he glanced down at his muddy hiking boots.

He remembered their first night on the deck of the Katsumi, shortly after they arrived at the coast of Madagascar. The stars sparkled in her eyes as they listened to the soft sounds of the waves against the hull. He had been teasing her about the decision to move the expedition inland in the search for Taxoxcia. Then, they discussed her adoration of all things magical, which mostly consisted of him poking fun at her.

“So what’s your dream, Tom?” she had asked him. “You know mine. But you never talk about yours.”

He turned bright crimson under her piercing blue eyes and muttered something about seeing the world. Bethi smiled in that particular way and lay down next to him without a word. She never forced it from his lips.

“I’ve lived my dream,” he whispered in the hazy, violet chamber.

The mist shivered and the familiar rumble vibrated through the rock. He lifted his gaze to watch the hidden stone door slip into the floor.

Bethi was on the other side.

She looked very small at that moment. Her body was a shivering mass of pent-in emotion as she locked her eyes upon the laces of her boots.

An eternity passed before she raised her shining eyes to his. Her mouth opened for just a sliver of a second, but then it closed and her eyes dropped to the ground again. She scuffed her boot against the stone.

A pulse of white light came from behind her. It burst through her tawny hair as a rush of wind flew into the misty room. Her tresses streamed about her downcast face like angelic ribbons of golden light.

Thomas took a step forward through the receding smoke. She shivered almost imperceptibly. Bethi looked like a frightened animal under the gaze of a watchful predator. Her body tensed as if to bolt at the merest hint of danger.

He took another step. She cringed, but remained rooted where she was. Three more steps and they were a handbreadth apart. She didn’t look up.

He reached out and placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder. A single tear streamed down her cheek. Then something inside her broke and she threw herself into Thomas’s arms.

He gripped her with unwavering strength as she clung to him. Great salty droplets swept down Bethi’s face and into the stained fabric of Thomas’s expedition vest. She didn’t make a single sound, but only allowed the tears to fall. He simply held her, blinking against his brimming eyes.

Another pulse of light washed over them in a marble gleam. A faint hum came from down the corridor. They slowly slid apart and looked into one another’s red and watery eyes. His hand slipped down and clenched hers. He could feel her wedding ring around her finger.

As one, they turned and faced the light. Their legs moved in slow, measured paces as they turned a small corner and beheld the final tunnel into the Chamber of Red. The passage was at least two hundred feet long, with walls painted with the faces of smiling people. Brightly painted murals, so much more vibrant than the stone and metal reliefs of the Alcoves, adorned the shining hallway.

On the right side of the hall, a golden sun shone upon the inhabitants of Taxoxcia, working together to create a paradise for all to enjoy. And on the left side was a scene of glorious celebration as the people sang and danced under the glowing moon.

Never before had Thomas Logan seen such joy in a picture. Before he knew what was happening, a smile caressed his lips, mirrored by the one on Bethi’s stained face.

At the end of the tunnel, they stopped under a thick marble-like archway and beheld the Chamber of Red.

A narrow beam of white light lanced into the middle of the Chamber, streaming down in a single bright point upon one final Foxfolk statue. But unlike the other statues within Taxoxcia, this one’s eyes were closed. No glimmering orbs peered from the sockets of the vulpine creature. Despite that, there was a presence around this statue that seemed all too familiar to Thomas.

Once they became adjusted to the brilliant sliver of light, they could see the walls of the Chamber itself. Thousands of faceted red tiles coated the inside of the hundred-foot dome, each a distinct and individual color in the glowing moonbeam. There were no other decorations of any kind within the Chamber, save a chalky white circle about five feet in diameter around the last statue.

They stood there for a time, awestruck by the simple wonder. Then, the ground shivered as if in expectation. The two of them looked up to see the tiny aperture of moonlight expand like the rock was being gently tugged away. The sliver expanded into a brilliant cylinder of pulsing light. Strange patterns danced in the curtain of moonbeams, swirling and twisting like glowing serpents.

A low hum filled the Chamber as the rumbling came to a halt. The couple moved further inside until they were just outside the circle of moonlight. The glow pulsed in time with the soft noise.

Thomas looked into Bethi’s eyes and saw the reflected glory there. His smile grew wider. She glanced at him and responded by tightening her grip around his hand.

A faint noise in the moonbeams caught their attention.

The statue’s eyes were opening. He watched the creature take a long, shuddering breath as it blinked in the blinding light of the moon. Another pulse came from above and the gray stone melted into a vibrant red coat, washing through the tips of her ears and flowing through her body until it reached the thick paws she had for feet.

She yawned as if trying to work out the last bits of rock from her movement. And then, she smiled.

Somehow, it reminded Thomas of his mother’s smile.

“I have waited over six thousand moons,” the creature said in a low, singing voice. “For the appearance of the next generation.”

All this time, Thomas secretly suspected that the Foxfolk were more animal than human, but the voice of the creature before him shattered that preconception. Her voice was one of motherly encouragement, passionate love and glorious celebration. In his life, Thomas had never heard words spoken with such hope.

“Who…who are you?” Bethi whispered. Thomas noticed she was having trouble meeting the Foxfolk’s gaze. Thomas found it difficult to stare directly into the creature’s brilliant ivory eyes himself, though he suspected it was for different reasons.

“I am known as Kendra,” she sang. “I am the Gatekeeper. The final arbiter of the blessing of my kin. And I…I have been watching you.”

Her gaze turned to Thomas and he fidgeted under the appraising glance.

“The presence you have felt in my ancient home has been me, human. The eyes you have felt upon you have been mine.”

Thomas suddenly noticed how interesting the pebble next to his left boot was. His face turned red in the milky light of the moonbeams.

“You need not feel embarrassed. You should be proud, human. Proud to know that you sensed my gaze upon the two of you since you found the Way.”

The creature called Kendra turned to face Bethi. “And you, human, you have looked into my gaze. For all icons in this place, great and small, connect to me. I am the one who guided you here at the proper moment.”

A tiny spark of skepticism rose up in the face of Kendra’s proclamation. Thomas lifted his eyes, but still found himself unable to meet the Foxfolk’s gaze. He settled upon looking at Bethi, who was studying the creature’s feet.

“Why?” His voice was a hoarse whisper.

“You seek to know my motives, human?” Her look became quizzical as she glanced between the two of them. “As you worry for your mate.”

“Yes,” Thomas said as he finally forced himself to stare into the white orbs of the Foxfolk. He searched the creature’s face, seeking any sign of her true intention, but found nothing but the echoes of her softly singing voice.

“Your mate is a Seeker.”

Now Bethi looked up at Kendra. “A Seeker?”

Kendra smiled. Despite the vulpine face, it still came across as a rather beautiful smile. “A creature who desires to know the infinite mysteries of creation. A being with magic in her heart and fire in her mind. There are few remaining in this world. And you are the first to find me so many moons.”

“And why does that concern you?” Thomas grunted. He refused to trust this creature entirely.

“This place is a focus for those like your mate, human. When you were lost in the jungle, I sensed your need and I sensed your mate’s soul.” Her white gaze shifted to Bethi. “I inflamed your passion for mysteries and secrets, driving you forward so you would be here at the appointed time.”

“And…what do you intend to do with me now?” Bethi’s voice betrayed the brutal battle within her between longing and fear.

“I offer you a chance to join me.” The smile upon the Foxfolk’s face grew wider.

“Join…you?” Bethi bit her lower lip as her eyes wavered in the shining light.

“Once, you would have become an acolyte, human. Slowly, through the years you would learn our ways until you were ready to be made one of my kin. But that time has long past.”

Neither of them said anything as Kendra stared up into moonlight above.

“We have watched your world carefully,” she sang. “Five hundred of your years ago, we watched great nation tear one another asunder for lines on a map. My kin have always been concerned about the savagery of your race, but as you advanced, so did you methods of death.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow in thought. “You were worried that one of the nations would find you.”

Kendra nodded in a slow, measured movement.

“This dark need inside your people is alien to us, though we still see kinship with your race through the power of passion and love. We embraced these qualities for those who lived here long ago, but knew they would not remain safe as humanity advanced forward.”

“So you left,” Thomas guessed. Bethi’s hand tightened around his. He could feel the excited tremble in her arm.

“All those within Taxoxcia were offered a chance to undergo the Rite and cross to our side.” Kendra let out a soft sigh of happiness. “And to our everlasting joy, almost all accepted, despite the hardship. A few could not bear to leave and remained behind.”

“And where is this side of yours?”

“It cannot be explained in your language. It is not a different planet, but like another state of being. Some among us believe our home is a shadow of the Earth itself, but given a different quality. A place of magic and kindness that has never known the crack of rifle or the clang of sword.”

“So what are you offering?” Bethi murmured. She was trembling even harder now.

“For you to experience this home of ours,” Kendra said. She held out a hand to the human. “I offer you a chance to cross into my world.”