THE CONDUIT
The Underworld Adventures – Book One

Copyright 2016 Jeff Comer, Jr.

 

The old medicine man’s fire burned brighter than normal. The air was heavy with an unusual stickiness, giving it a feel of a marsh or swamp. Certainly not the norm for Second Mesa in Northeastern Arizona where the air was normally so dry and hot that the baked ground resembled a shattered windshield. Nothing grew in this arid land without great care and prayers to Maize the Goddess of Corn or maybe that silly Navajo flute player Kokopelli. Although Hototo was a Hopi elder and respected Medicine man, he had always had a fond place in his heart for the naked Navajo flute player. How could you not like a comical prankster responsible for fertility? he thought.

Hototo wiped the sweat from his brow and continued his chanting. If anyone happened to hear him they’d think he was singing while gargling mouthwash. But he didn’t care how he sounded – he sounded just the way he should. Hototo was reciting specific lines the way they had been spoken for thousands of years, passed down to him through generations of Pueblo Medicine Men. His name, Hototo, meant Warrior Spirit Who Sings. He had never been fond of his name which was frequently mistaken for Toto the dog from the Wizard of Oz or sometimes people called him Hot which made him chuckle, but well, some things in life you simply had to accept. But for now he had to focus on more important matters.

The flames shot higher and higher. He felt the heat of the flames, but it was not the heat that bothered him – it was what he saw in the flames themselves. In fact, what Hototo saw was simply terrifying – even to him.

“And so it begins….And so it begins.” He slowly muttered under his breath.