The 13th Cycle by Sabrina Ricci (best beach reads .TXT) 📕

he doesn’t know is a hidden tunnel links all of the secret rooms in each city. He usually spends a few months in each city, before eventually destroying them and moving on. My guess is he takes the time initially to find the calendars, but then he gets frustrated.”

Mahaway’s eyes grew wide. “Yesterday we overheard Kish talking about getting close to something. Do you think this is it, this room?”

“If that’s true, we need to get out of here right now.” Yochi stood up and tried to grab Mahaway’s hand.

“Relax,” Ichik said. “This room is particularly far from the city center, and Jasaw got here only a few weeks ago. He probably doesn’t know about this place yet. Besides, for now it’s the safest place for me—almost no one can find me here.”

“I don’t like how any of this sounds,” Yochi said. “I’m getting out of here. Come on Mahaway, we need to finish our stela.”

Mahaway ignored him. “Ichik, what do you know of the calendars Jasaw seeks?”

“Not too much,” Ichik said. “Just that they track the stars and seasons. But I never learned how to read, so once my father was killed, I couldn’t learn any more about them.”

Yochi started rubbing his arms. “Why would a king need that? He’s already successfully conquered a bunch of cities, and his power is growing.”

“It would seem so, but my father suspected Jasaw was actually losing power. Wherever he goes, he consumes too many resources. Too many people are going hungry, and they will eventually revolt. But, the calendars may give him the answer to keeping all of his power, forever. Then he can just keep conquering and forcing people to work for him.”

“Well then,” Mahaway said, standing up. “We have to find Ox Te- Tuun’s calendar first.”


Late that afternoon, Yochi finally got Mahaway back to the stela. They had promised to meet Ichik again the next day and bring him food, but Yochi was worried Nacon might check their progress. He didn’t want to take any risks.

“Where do you think the calendar could be, Yochi?” Mahaway tried to work as quickly as possible. Now that there was a plan she felt better about creating a stela.

“I have no idea, Mahaway.” Yochi chipped away at the rock. “I don’t think we should get involved—what can we do anyway? We have no power, no resources. What would we even do with the calendar once we found it?”

“We’ll worry about that later.” Mahaway winked. “One step at a time. Besides, if we have the calendar, we can use that as leverage so Jasaw doesn’t destroy our city, our home.”

Yochi sighed in surrender. “I guess, if we have to.”

“Yochi, come here!” Mahaway shouted. She waved him over, excited. On her side of the rock, underneath several layers of dirt she had uncovered, were some words. She could only see a few letters, so she took a stick and started scraping off more dirt.

“What is it?” Yochi continued to work.

“I don’t know yet. Come help me.” Mahaway kept scraping until Yochi came over. She handed him her stick. “Here, you scrape and I’ll read.”

They kept at it for a few minutes. “Ok, I think I can read it now,” Mahaway said, shooing Yochi away. She stepped back, and then leaned forward again, squinting. “It says something about a hidden cavern?”

“Let me see,” Yochi said. He had better eyesight than Mahaway. “The directions to the calendar are in a hidden cavern.”

Mahaway grabbed Yochi’s hands and started jumping up and down. “I bet it’s where Ichik is! Remember, there was some writing on the walls? I didn’t get a chance yet to look at it closely, but that must be what this refers to. I mean, what else could it be?”

“You may be right,” Yochi said. “But if this is true, then we need to be extra careful. Help me cover this up. We need to carve this stela so Jasaw and his men never know about this clue.”

They worked together until it was too dark to see. Most of the writing had been carved out and replaced with images of Jasaw as a great warrior, but Yochi was still worried. “It’s too dark to tell if we got it all,” he complained.

“It will be fine,” Mahaway said. She wasn’t sure herself, but she didn’t want Yochi to worry. “Besides, we’ll be here first thing tomorrow to finish, so we can check then.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Yochi continued to stare at the spot where the writing had been.

“Come on,” Mahaway said, ushering him away. “Let’s get back before anyone notices we’re missing.”
CHAPTER 9 - November 2012

“Professor Brown!” Amara barged into his office early Monday morning.
She had called Cayden on Saturday to let him know someone had broken in, assuring him nothing was taken and she was fine. Amara then spent the weekend cleaning up her apartment and inspecting it for clues. To her befuddlement, nothing was missing. Oddly, the burglar appeared to have drunk all the juice in her fridge and left the carton strewn on the ground. But the police had found no fingerprints, so there were no leads. When Cayden had returned Sunday night, they had discussed possible theories, but hadn’t landed on anything promising. Amara was worried, so she had decided to get the Professor’s opinion.
“Professor Brown?” Amara froze, halfway to his desk. The professor sat there, head in his hands, pulling at his hair as he muttered angrily. He looked up, eyes full of rage.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to bother you.” Amara started to back out of his office. “I can come back later.”
The professor blinked and shook his head. He broke out into a smile. “Amara, no, come back in. Excuse me I…just heard some bad news.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Amara took a small step back inside. “Anything I can do to help?”
“No, no.” He gestured for Amara to sit. “Nothing to worry about. Please, take a seat. How may I help you?”
Amara took a deep breath, and then it all came out. “IwenttoMexicooverthebreakandthensomeonebrokeinandIdon’tknowwhattodo—”
“Amara, slow down.” Professor Brown held up his hand. “I can barely understand a word you’re saying.”
Amara exhaled, nodding.
Professor Brown leaned back in his chair. “Now, what’s this about Mexico?”
Amara told the professor everything she had learned in Mexico, how she’d gone to the bookshop, how her grandfather had been a Maya scholar, how she’d found a drawing of an arrowhead and she thought it might be a key to something. She left out the fact that she actually had the arrowhead the drawing was based on; she wasn’t ready to let him know until she figured out what to do with it.
The professor listened intently, occasionally nodding or jotting a note down. Amara started to elaborate more on the burglary, but Professor Brown stopped her again.
“Let’s just focus on one thing at a time,” he said. “Now, tell me more about this arrowhead. What exactly did it look like?”
“I don’t know, kind of like any other arrowhead. But my apartment—”
Professor Brown slammed his hand on the desk. “Think! Anything specific?”
Amara shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I can’t remember. As soon as I learned about it I got the phone call about my apartment.” She watched as the professor got up to open the mini refrigerator in the corner of his office and pull out a jug of juice. He took a swig and seemed to relax.
“I’m sorry, Amara. I have hypoglycemia, and sometimes I can’t think straight without my juice.”
Amara stood up. “Actually, I’d better go. I just remembered I told the cops I’d give them a report of anything I found missing.”
Professor Brown stood up too. “Well, did you?”
“Um, you know, I can’t remember. It’s all written down at home. Thanks Professor!” Amara took off, her heart racing. She had a new theory about the burglary.

CHAPTER 10 - Around 900 A.D.

“Come on, come on!” Mahaway hurried along down the path towards the secret room. She had woken up at sunrise, impatient to check on Ichik and study the writing on the walls of the secret room.
“Slow down, we don’t want anyone to get suspicious.” Yochi trailed along behind her, looking over his shoulder every few steps to make sure they weren’t being followed.
They made it to the tunnel, and Mahaway called down to Ichik so