Troman, p.1
Troman, page 1
TROMAN
TROMAN
Robert W. Pietzsch
Copyright 2016 Robert W. Pietzsch
Reg. # TXu 1-927-280
All rights reserved
ISBN: 1517177480
ISBN 13: 9781517177485
Library of Congress: 2016906061
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
North Charleston, South Carolina
To
My daughter and grandkids
This novel is a work of fiction. All characters are fictitious, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is by chance and not the author’s intention.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank several people for helping me publish this book. My daughter, Kristen Garcia, was the inspiration and main reason I wrote the novel. I wanted to write a story that was interesting and fun for young people but also educational.
In the beginning, I explained my idea about Troman to my friend and colleague Mike Reed. He thought it was a good idea and encouraged me to pursue my story.
My wonderful wife, Colette Pietzsch, was instrumental in giving me constructive criticism when needed and also served as a consultant and editor. She is the main reason I finished the novel and should be given a lot of well-deserved credit.
Helen Ginger and Patricia Saunders were my two professional editors and set me on the right path toward publication.
I met Faye Walker at the Rita Mills Workshop, a writer’s seminar in Houston, Texas. She read and critiqued my query letter and helped me develop my introduction.
Doug Hiser drew my first cover, and Bill Green is responsible for my current cover. They did a fine job.
I appreciate the support from my family and friends and encouragement from Dale Russell.
I would like to thank the people of the beautiful Republic of Mexico for carefully preserving and reconstructing the Mayan ruins and for providing safe access to these amazing archeological sites.
In conclusion, I would love to thank all the wonderful people I met during my stay and subsequent visits to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.
Welcome to my fantasy!
—Robert W. Pietzsch (Peach)
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Jasper
Jason, Jessie, and Wendy
The Campsite
The Witch’s Pyramid
Golden Elf Orchid
Ek Balam
Troman’s Cave
Cleansing Ritual
Alux
The Watchers
Cenote
San Lorenzo
A Candle Is Lit
The Orb
Chac
The Parade
Betelgeuse
Chupacabra
Kukulcan
The Battle Brews
Bruja Lucia
The Grey
Emperor Serpentia
Epilogue
About the Author
PROLOGUE
Eons ago, there were two civilizations that ruled the Earth—the cruel Empireans, who started the Feud War, and the peaceful Tromanoids. Both species had evolved from the Troodon dinosaur, which had survived the great extinction sixty-five million years ago. However the two were very different. The Empireans were intelligent technologically and left Earth to live in the cosmos. They became known as the Watchers and captured Chupacabra and peaceful Greys to work as their slaves. The Tromanoids remained on Earth but their once great civilization had been decimated by the Feud War. Luckily, the Tromanoids’ Emperor Serpentia and the man-god the Atlantean Kukulcan had escaped into the heavens as time travelers. Troman hoped to contact them someday.
Today, only a small number of Tromanoids remain on Earth, and they live in a cave in the Yucatan jungle. Troman has few allies. Tozina, the Mayan bruja, is a good witch who is always there for Troman. He also has the magical Mayan dwarves, known as the Alux, who help the Tromanoids as often as they can. Led by the all-knowing Troman, his followers maintain their meager existence in the Yucatan.
JASPER
All was quiet beneath the jungle canopy where a creature hid in the dense wilderness, stalking its innocent prey.
A short distance away, Jasper ventured from the safety of his cave. This night was different. He didn’t see any roosting birds or hear loud chirping frogs and insects as usual. Tall and thin, Jasper walked along a dark, root-riddled path until he spotted a large cacao tree. He reached his lizard-like arm past several branches and then with three long, pale-green fingers and a thumb plucked a large, ripe cacao pod from the tree. It was loaded with cocoa beans for making chocolate. He placed the pod into a bag slung over his shoulder. After collecting several pods, he smiled and thought, Troman will be pleased.
Suddenly he heard a rustling noise in front of him. Startled, he hid behind a tree, laid down his sack, and stood motionless. With huge, coal-black, round eyes, he scanned the area. Even though he could see very well at night and had a full moon above, the thick Yucatán jungle made it difficult to navigate. Jasper sensed danger and caught a glimpse of something large moving through the dense brush nearby. He felt like someone or something was watching him, and he hoped it wasn’t a jaguar. His green skin glistened from the humidity of the jungle while he searched for humans or any other danger.
The fronds on the large palms and banana trees remained eerily still when an owl screeched loudly in the distance. Jasper turned his head in the direction of the sound and strained his eyes to detect any movement. He ducked behind a large tree and spotted a beast like he had never seen before on the trail. The grotesque figure had mixed patches of hair, small scales, and black, rough, bumpy skin, which covered its hump-backed body. The cryptid creature looked as if it had a bad case of the mange.
Strangely, it wore some type of metallic strap wrapped around and above its waist. It raised its head and then stuck out its long, coarse forked tongue to smell the air. Jasper could see its large, pointy ears, like those of a vampire bat. He gasped and cowered behind the tree, hoping he was camouflaged. The stealthy creature advanced toward him, now only twenty feet away.
He sensed the creature creeping in his direction, but he didn’t dare move to get a clear view. Jasper had noticed it had a stooped bipedal gait and was about four feet tall hunched over. All of a sudden, it stood tall on two legs and sniffed the air through its large nostrils. He could hear it getting nearer. A smell like rotting eggs filled the air.
Then, unexpectedly, like a kangaroo, the beast made one giant leap, using its large hind legs, and landed directly in front of Jasper. “You look like Troman. Are you him?” it asked with a raspy voice.
Jasper was terrified and could barely manage to speak but answered with a weak “No.” Now he could see it clearly. He had heard of these hideous beasts, known as the Chupacabra, and was mesmerized by its large, glowing blood-red eyes, staring at his throat. “My name is Jasper.” He gulped. “I’m a Tromanoid, but I’m not Troman.”
Long spines protruded down the Chupacabra’s neck and back. “Too bad,” it growled. Jasper cringed, and the threatening, hypnotic look from the creature’s eyes made chills run down his spine.
The beast studied Jasper. He stared curiously at the small birdlike feathers, which ran along and underneath both of his arms from the wrist past the elbow and on to his shoulder.
“Who are you?” Jasper asked.
“I’m Zephyr,” he said and sneered. Saliva oozed from the corners of his mouth as he stared at Jasper’s throat. The Chupacabra quickly rotated its head and scanned the area around them. He made a crooked smile when he realized they were alone in the jungle.
Then, unexpectedly, in a fit of rage, the creature yelled, “All Tromanoids must die!”
Jasper was shocked and froze where he stood. He realized he had nothing to defend himself with and it probably wouldn’t have mattered against the well-armed Chupacabra.
The cold-blooded Zephyr opened his gaping mouth, exposing large fangs and jagged, razor-sharp teeth. Slobber and a foamy gooey material similar to the saliva of a Komodo dragon dripped profusely from its mouth onto the ground.
Jasper gasped with a horrified look in his eyes.
Nearby, Mayayuc, an Alux, had heard the commotion and the loud screech of the owl. He arrived in time to watch the encounter and saw Jasper standing in front of Zephyr in horror.
Zephyr heard a noise, wheeled around, and spotted the small, short Mayayuc. “I’ll deal with you next!” He was well aware of the Alux and knew the Mayan dwarves were allies of Troman and his followers.
This Chupacabra was different than the coyote-like creatures that had been reported mutilating cattle. Zephyr was evolved from a dinosaur, but his evolution had gone horribly wrong. He was a freak who was now a captured servant of the evil Watchers located in the Cosmos.
Zephyr took a couple of steps in Mayayuc’s direction. From the metal strap above his waist, he retrieved a shiny, pistol-like weapon from a metal holster strapped beside one of his forearms and then pointed and fired it toward him.
A red bolt of light shot through the air and struck Mayayuc’s head, stunning him. To Mayayuc’s astonishment, he couldn’t move. For the first time in his life, his powers were useless and he couldn’t summon help from the Mayan jungle god, Yum ka. However, he could see the event taking place before him.
Jasper watched anxiously as Zephyr quickly turned back in his direction, but fortunately, Mayayuc had distracted Zephyr long enough for him to grab a hard, green cacao pod off a nearby tree. Jasper closed his eyes only for a second, which was long enough for him to see his life flash before them and to envision his small son, Tulo, looking up at him.
When he opened his eyes, Zephyr was ready to attack. Jasper quickly threw the pod with all of his strength, striking the creature on one of his small forearms. Zephyr winced in pain and let out a loud, hoarse yell. Even though his scaly, long-clawed, short arm was wounded and useless, he shook off the attack and angrily stared back at Jasper.
His hope dwindled; Jasper wanted to run, but he stood frozen in shock. At this point, Zephyr’s stench was almost unbearable.
Zephyr approached him, irate, eyes glowing red like a lit flare. He quickly raised one of his huge hind legs and placed his dinosaur-like foot near Jasper’s head. Jasper’s scream was cut short as Zephyr slashed his throat with a scalpel-like toe hook. Jasper’s head rolled back, and he slumped to the ground. Zephyr bent down and slurped the blood. He stopped momentarily, raised his spiked head, and then, like a vampire, thrust his long hollow fangs deep into Jasper’s neck.
Mayayuc watched helplessly in frozen horror while Zephyr drained poor Jasper of his blood.
Zephyr continued to drink until he looked like a bloated tick. All the blood was drained from Jasper’s lifeless body. When he finished, he lifted what was left, an emaciated shell of skin and cartilage, and hurled it into the trunk of a large ceiba tree.
Jasper’s body smashed and crumpled onto the exposed roots.
Zephyr wiped some of Jasper’s blood from his mouth with the back of one of his scaly hands. Still in pain, he rubbed his arm until he regained use of it. Then he turned toward the terrified Mayayuc. He quickly thrust his bloody mouth within an inch of his small face. The little Alux could smell his foul breath, a sulfuric stench mixed with fresh blood.
“Remember, I’m Zephyr!” he said, seething. “I’m going to spare your miserable life—this time.” With hot breath like a dragon, he blew in Mayayuc’s face. “Let this be a lesson to you, all of the Alux, and the Tromanoids. I only wish this had been Troman instead.”
He glanced at Jasper’s remains and then spat into Mayayuc’s frightened little face.
A commotion a short distance away unexpectedly broke the silence. “What’s that noise?” Zephyr spun around and scanned the jungle canopy. Something had made the tree limbs sway back and forth. Mayayuc could only move his eyes, and as he looked up, he could see in the distance an opening in the canopy and a blue misty cloud forming.
This could be trouble, thought Zephyr. He cowered, and the spines on his back stood up straight. His big, round, bulging eyes stopped glowing and became pitch-black as he leaped out of sight.
Only at that time did Mayayuc overcome the effects of the stun gun, and with the help of Yum ka, he quickly shot a spell at Zephyr, but it was too late. A great ball of fire crashed into a tree and split it in half, but Zephyr got away.
Mayayuc hurriedly grabbed a hollow conch shell from his small pouch and blew on it. Almost instantly, directly overhead, Bruja Tozina slowly descended to the jungle floor through the blue mist. She was rather plump and came down from the jungle canopy a little faster than she had hoped, making a loud thud on the ground upon landing. The good Mayan witch wore a bright-blue Mexican dress.
Daylight was breaking, and she spotted Mayayuc a short distance away near the large, split tree. She saw he was in a state of shock.
She rushed over to him. “What has happened here?” she asked as she dusted herself off. “I could feel there was trouble near, but I couldn’t locate you.”
“A Chupacabra shot me, and I couldn’t move.” He then ran over to Jasper. He looked back at Tozina. “There was nothing I could do,” he said helplessly. Jasper, he believed, had gone to Xibalba, the Mayan world of the dead.
Tozina said, “What happened?”
“A Chupacabra did this and said his name was Zephyr.”
Tozina looked at Jasper’s remains and gasped, covering her mouth in horror. She said, “My heart is crying…Don’t worry; he’ll pay for this. Wait…I sense his presence,” she whispered.
Still hiding nearby, Zephyr, with a quick burst of speed, hopped up and then ran deeper into the jungle.
Bruja Tozina raised a small wand into the air and listened intensely. “I don’t feel his vibration now. He has escaped.” She turned to Mayayuc. “I came as soon as I heard from you.”
The stocky dwarf said, “I know. Unfortunately I couldn’t move, and when I could, it was too late. I’m going to call Yucatep.”
“Good idea,” she said. “We need to tell Troman. Poor little Tulo will be devastated.”
“Yes, I plan to tell Troman as soon as possible.” He placed the small conch flute to his lips and blew into it, and although no sound was readily heard, his friend could hear it quite well.
Mayayuc then placed the shell to his ear. “I’ll be right there,” Yucatep answered. His round-faced Alux friend arrived in seconds. He saw Jasper and clasped his little hands. “What happened?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Yucatep mumbled a peace prayer for poor Jasper. Tozina couldn’t speak and stood nearby with tears in her eyes.
“Please help me, Yucatep.”
Mayayuc produced a blanket, and they carefully wrapped Jasper’s remains. Sadly, the sack of cacao pods was lying by his side. The Alux solemnly brought him back to their hidden jungle camp, a small group of tiny clay huts where the dwarves lived. Tozina returned to her home, not far away, to compose herself before going to see Troman.
Inside his hut, Mayayuc marched his small, squatty body over to Yucatep, sitting by Jasper’s remains. He put his hand on Yucatep’s shoulder and said, “I must tell Troman.”
“Yes, Mayayuc, we must. I’ll stay with Jasper and join you later.”
“That’s fine.”
Mayayuc trekked through the jungle and then made his way to the brush-covered cave-side entrance to Troman’s home. Dressed in his ceremonial classic Mayan attire, a jaguar skin lined with small pheasant feathers and a jade beaded necklace, he entered the cave and continued down the deep, dark corridor in search of Troman.
“Troman! Troman!” he yelled. “It’s Mayayuc, sir. I have some tragic news!”
“You can find me over here!” said a low, distant voice.
Mayayuc continued his search. He followed the voice in the dim light. He spotted Troman’s unusual three-toed feet. His stature and body appeared to be that of a slender man of average height.
Mayayuc rushed to his side. “The unthinkable has happened again, my friend, and this time it is one of your followers.”
“What has happened?”
“The Chupacabra have struck again. I witnessed the slaughter this time, sir. The murderer said his name was Zephyr. There was nothing I could do. I was paralyzed!” he sighed heavily.
“Calm down, my friend. Don’t blame yourself. Who has met such a fate, Mayayuc? Please tell me.” Troman lit a candle and set it on a stone table and then sat down.
“It was one of your brothers. It was Jasper. By the time I could summon Tozina for help, it was too late. I’m so very sorry.”
“Jasper?” he asked incredulously. He stared at the floor in disbelief and then shook his head slowly from side to side. This can’t be true, he thought, such a peaceful being.
First sadness and then rage overcame Troman. He thought about many of his young friends whose lives were cut short.
He stood up and pointed his long green finger into the air. “We must stop the killings!” He slammed his fist on the table and said, “We must stop the Chupacabra attacks! The Watchers will attack next, and they won’t just send their messengers, the Chupacabra. The attacks are becoming more numerous, and now, I understand, they’re targeting humans as well! Tell me no more. I have heard enough. Please bring Jasper’s remains to my cave, and I will place him in the Tromanoid resting place. We’ll give him a proper ceremony and wish him farewell and prosperity in Xibalba.”
“Yes, sir. Yucatep is praying over Jasper’s body and is preparing it for the journey to Xibalba now.”
Mayayuc tightened a sash, or faja, he wore around his waist. “Why do you think the Watchers will attack next?”
“There are signs…” Troman stopped short when a small bat flew past Mayayuc and landed, upside down, on a rocky ledge nearby.
