We hurtled through the air for 2.3 seconds. Yes, I counted them.
“AAAAHHHHHH!” That was Louie.
In a fierce gust of wind, we were whooshed out of the portal and dropped onto the floor of a cave. The air was thick and hot, barely tolerable. I peered across the dark watery world.
Alana gripped my hand tighter. “Are we…?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “You aren’t going to believe this.”
I raised Fuego over my head. Its blue light cast an eerie glow across the cave.
“Whoa!” my friends said on a long breath.
We stood on a barely there ledge mere inches away from a steaming pool where thick, towering white crystals grew in every direction. They poked out of the water like giant icicles or massive iridescent tree trunks that had fallen all slanted and skewed.
“They look like shimmering dinosaur bones,” Ren said, rotating her arm like she had a kink in a muscle.
Louie said, “This reminds me of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. Did you ever see the movie where—”
“Louie,” Alana wheezed, “just turn down the heat!”
Pressing his mouth into a tight line, Louie rolled up his sleeves. “I kinda need inspiration.”
“Like what?” I asked, already feeling light-headed from the 99 percent humidity.
“BOO!” Alana leaped at Louie, who startled so bad he would’ve gone over the edge if I hadn’t grabbed his arm.
“Not cool, Alana!” he said with a scowl.
Snowflakes began descending from the cave ceiling.
“But you are, Louie!” Alana said, side-hugging him.
He grunted in surprise.
I nodded my agreement, totally grateful that we weren’t going to get cooked. The snow fell thicker and faster, and the temperature plummeted. The water below us froze with a crackkksss shppplitzzz.
“Seriously, that’s so, so amazing, Louie,” Ren said, blinking snow off her lashes. Then she turned to me. “You should use the sunglasses, Zane. You never know when a god’s help could come in handy.”
I’d almost forgotten about them between Disneyland and Venus turned North Pole.
As soon as I put them on, the world tilted. I saw purple and silver flashes, like a strobe light. An image of Itzamna burst out of one of the sparks, and it was like he was standing right in front of me. Well, more like his face was floating right in front of me. The image looked like a selfie, with the god’s hair blowing in the wind as he smiled wide for the camera. When I lifted the glasses off my nose, no Itzamna.
“Are we going to FaceTime or not?” Itzamna said with a voice as clear as if he was standing right next to me.
“I can hear him!” Louie said. Ren and Alana nodded that they could, too.
“FaceTime?” I asked. Gods did FaceTime?
“Move your head to the right,” the god said. “I can only see what you can. Ah, yes. I remember this cave—I think I held a New Year’s party there back in 300. Or was it 400?”
“Itzamna!” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me you could turn into a dragon?”
“I did! Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said? Dragon is my most powerful incarnation.”
“But I thought you didn’t have much power left,” I argued.
“Are things okay at SHIHOM?” Ren butted in.