Page 95 of The Lost Guardian
Santiago didn’t reply, just let her think.
“Wait, hold on.” Her eyes flew open, and she sprang up to pace the campsite. “The Inca worshipped Inti, the sun, right? For them, a ‘day’ didn’t end until the sun came back around to welcome a new one.”
Santiago stood, too, watching her intently.
“So that means that whatever the llama sees in the east, that is the ‘light’ we are meant to follow.”
She turned her body, looking eastward.
“Oh wow,” she gasped. “Holy shit!”
“What?” Santiago demanded, his heart racing. “What is it?”
“Rios!” she cried out, gripping his arms. “Rios!”
He placed his hands over hers, squeezing them a little. “Ali! What?” he demanded.
“Do you know what a heliacal rise is?” she asked him.
He absolutely did not, and the look on his face must have betrayed his ignorance, because Ali continued without waiting for an answer.
“There are some stars that can’t be seen for long stretches of the year,” she explained.
“How—”
“It has to do with their position relative to the sun.” She barreled on, taking Santiago’s heart with her. “If they’re too closely stacked, from our perspective on Earth, then the star’s light is drowned out by the sun’s. But!” She bounced a little on her heels and Santiago, admittedly, struggled to keep his focus on her words and not, erm, other parts of her.
“At certain times of the year, the star moves out from behind the sun—well, technically, it’s the Earth’s orbit that changes our perspective. You get it.” He did, for the most part. “And it becomes visible to us again.”
An infectious smile blossomed across her face, and she went on. “When it reaches that point, it makes itself known. Right before sunrise, it flashes! It’s called its heliacal rise. The last light of day before the new sun.”
Understanding struck Santiago harder than Ali’s roundhouse kick to his chest.
“Those brilliant bastards.” He laughed.
Ali laughed with him. “Brilliant bastards indeed,” she agreed.
“Are we at the right time for it?” he asked her. “I mean, is there a star meant to rise during this time period?”
“Of course there is,” she answered, shaking her head in obvious wonder. “Just in time for Inti Raymi.”
“So we just have to wait for sunrise?” he said. “Wherever this star, this light, flashes, that’s our next direction?”
“Exactly,” Ali said, and anticipation overwhelmed him. “The llama watches it. So we just look at its line of sight, to the east.”
“I guess we’re staying up,” he said. There was so much adrenaline in his system, he could barely stand still, let alone sleep.
Ali moved to stoke the fire. “I’ll make some coffee.”
Santiago stared at the dark constellation, winking at him from the sky.
Find the llama that sets in the west
His eyes point to the last light of day
Illuminating the path forward.
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