Undeath by Chocolate

Like Blood For Chocolate - Chapter 6

"Well, then." Don Videl glares at Lapo. "Let's see this gateway, if it exists."

Our peculiar mob makes its way to the cemetery. Festive costumes and decorations enliven every street corner. Sugar skulls and candles adorn family altars, beacons to guide deceased loved ones home. Curious faces peer from windows and doorways, and more citizens join our procession.

We pass through the cemetery gates and soon reach our destination--a simple crypt marked with the name 'Luisa Esperanza Maria Flores'. Every year, during the Days of the Innocents and the Dead, we honor Seora Flores as our oldest burial, though no one living knew her. She died years before the village existed. Puesta Del Sol was established around this graveyard because of the volatile magic which fluctuates here. The buitres' revelation of a gateway to the Underworld would explain the abundance of power.

We offer a prayer for Luisa's spirit, and Don Videl places a marigold wreath on her headstone. A pair of brawny nahuales pry the crypt open, revealing a dark stairway.

"We must journey swiftly," Lapo tells me. "Can you fly with us?"

"Oh. I don't know." I frown. "My power's low, and I'm out of chocolate. Maybe it's a bad idea to take me, after all."

Eructo's grin broadens, showing her crooked green teeth. "Hey, I've got some o' that toe-curdlin' candy for ya. Now, where is it?" She rummages through a shabby leather bag on her belt, mumbling to herself. "Ah, here. Take it, dearie, take it. I'll be fine until yer granny makes more."

"Okay, thanks. I guess. At least it's something." I slip the crumbly, half-bitten chocolate into the little spirit-bundle I wear around my neck, then I look at Don Videl. "There's one more thing. Since my magic's weak right now, I'll have to perform the tlahuelpuchi ritual and leave my legs behind. And someone needs to guard them while I'm gone."

"We'll protect them." Don Videl winks, then he faces the crowd. "Good citizens, keep your eyes, ears, and spirit-senses open. Fire-Snake is hiding, but she's near. Agallas, Huesos, take the strongest of our nahuales and duendes and watch over the cacao tree shrine. The rest of you, spread out around the village. Report any suspicious activity at once."

The villagers cheer and bid us good luck.

I follow Don Videl and the buitres into the crypt. Don Videl snaps his fingers, and an etheric blue flame ignites over his palm.

Rodrigo drifts beside me with a solemn expression.

"So, why did you volunteer to take my place?" I ask, glancing at him sidelong.

He scratches the back of his neck and whistles for a second. "Because...we're friends."

"Right." I try not to laugh.

"Young love, it bites and bleeds," Moco caws. "But even a ghost has manly n--"

Lapo shoves Moco down the last step. "Sh. Clean up your act."

"How did you three find this gateway?" Don Videl asks.

"Eh, it was an accident," Eructo says. "Kinda. Needed crypt dust for a summonin' rite. We sneaked down here and I, well, opened Luisa's coffin. Just wanted to meet her. She was a famous bruja in life, ya know, the most feared of her time. Anyway, the portal's inside her sarcophagus."

Don Videl fumes. "Tampering with these graves is forbidden, unless you have my permission."

"Of course, of course," Lapo says. She pats Eructo's peppered dreadlocks. "As my sister says, it was a happy little mistake. Can't change it, anyway. Look, it might be good fortune for us now." Her laughter is nervous.

Don Videl sighs. "We'll see."

Once we're inside the tomb, Don Videl sets his flame to hover near Luisa's marble sarcophagus. The buitres scatter bone dust and hexing herbs over the floor. Their voices warble in an invocation song.

Magic flows around them, thick as a windless summer.

Lapo raises her arms and throws her head back. "Join me, all who will cross the realms."

Moco, Eructo, and I join hands with Lapo. We walk in a circle, counter-clockwise. The buitres sing louder.

Light seeps from cracks in the sarcophagus. The sound of a mighty ocean roars inside it.

Eructo turns to me. "Time for yer ritual, now."

I step into the circle. Reciting the tlahuelpuchi spell, I tread in a cross pattern. North to south, then east to west. I'd usually have proper reagents and charms, but there's no time, and no need with my allies' magic enhancing mine.

I lie on the ground and bend away from my legs. They break free as easily as if I snapped a doll in half. My disembodied torso contorts into a new shape. Clothing becomes feathers. My spirit-legs grow, and I morph into a tall black turkey, the preferred flight form of tlahuelpuchis.

A glowing aura surrounds me. I can project it into a vapor cloud and immobilize my victims, knocking them into a clueless trance. Not like I'd want victims, but it's a nice trick.

The buitres change into their vulture forms. What a ridiculous group we are. Four fake birds, a ghost, and a necromancer who hopes to become a famous mariachi singer. If La Muerte could see us, she might die again laughing.

"Open it up," Lapo says.

Don Videl pushes the lid of the sarcophagus aside. A magical fissure shimmers over Luisa's weathered casket.

"Well, I'll be." Don Videl's jaw drops. "It's true."

"Told ya," Eructo squawks.

The buitres go through the gateway first.

I hesitate, perched on the edge of the coffin.

Someone outside the crypt yells, "Videl, Fire-Snake's attacking the cacao shrine."

I gasp. "Oh, no! We can't leave you."

Don Videl shakes his head. "Go. We need La Muerte on our side."

"Okay. I'll do my best."

While Don Videl runs upstairs to defend Puesta Del Sol, Rodrigo stays to watch over my earthly legs.

"Vaya con Dios," he says.

"To you as well," I tell him. Then, I close my eyes and leap through the portal.