#The Storm Runner

[apollogies-p]

Gods fading wasn't anything new. Small religious die out everyday but this... this was different.

Apollo had never been friends with a god so young, barely five centuries old yet they clicked instantly. He had actually been looking forward to going to their annual sun-god meetings now.

Apollo could feel it all the way from Greece. The sudden cold that went just as fast as it came, like someone pouring ice water on him then immediately launching him into a hot spring.

He felt sick. Him, the god of healing, felt physically ill. Something that was once a part of him ripped away, and now his body was desperately trying to seal the hole left behind.

Now he's sitting at their grand round table, encrusted with gold and stained with festive colors.

One chair empty.

Huitzilopochtli.

He was a young god. He barely achieved a physical form about five centuries ago but he'd been around for a little longer than that. Long enough to help the Aztecs establish Tenochtitlan.

Apollo let out a sigh as he put his head on the always warm wood table. He tried to keep his eyes on the table as Ra droned on about why they were summoned so suddenly.

As if they already didn't know. As if they didn't feel that gaping hole in their chests as one of their own is ripped away from them.

His eyes wandered onto Itzamná's sullen figure.

The Mayan was dressed in casual attire. Well as casual as you can dress when you just helped your country gain independence. Four years after the war and his skin still didn't seem as brilliant and his eyes long lost their luster.

Fear gripped his throat as Apollo came to sudden realization. If Huitzilopochtli could fade, did fade, all because of some overzealous Spanish conquistadors that didn't know what touching what wasn't yours was, then so could Itzamná.

There were so little Mayan people now, so little that believed in him.

His head was off the table and distantly he could hear Ra dismiss all of them and that they'd hold the proper funeral services soon.

Gods, a funeral.

Apollo didn't wait for the other, more older gods to say anything, nor did he stop to wave off their concerned gazes. He rushed to Itzamná side and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry"

Itzamná didn't say anything but the tears that soaked into Apollos jacket and the tremble of his arms said more than enough.

[doyouknowthisdisabledcharacter]

Do You Know This Disabled Character?

Zane Obispo has a limb length discrepancy and uses a mobility aid

[dailycrippledcharacters]

Zane Obispo (The Storm Runner)

[Image Description: Official art. Zane, a teenage boy with tan skin and brown eyes, stands with a cane. His hair is short and slightly curly. He is wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt. One hand is on his hip, the other is holding a cane. He is smiling. End ID.]

Zane has a leg length discrepancy and uses a cane.

[italksstuff]

Guys guys guys in the storm runner series holy shit brooks is Zane’s aunt and his girlfriend what

Cause Hondo is Zane’s uncle. And Quinn is dating Hondo. Which means Quinn is Zane’s aunt. Which means brooks is Zane’s aunt. Because Quinn and brooks are sisters iejdjheei

Maybe is doesn’t count because Quinn is a nawal????? Kind of like the Percy Jackson Gods aren’t technically related thing?????

IM SO SCARED I HAVE RO FIND A WAY TO REMEDY THIS

[teartra]

The best character is the one you once despised

[thedisabilitybookarchive]

'The Storm Runner'- Cervantes, J. C.

Disability Rep: Limb Difference, Chronic Limp, Cane User

Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Adventure

Age: Middle-Grade

Setting: USA (New Mexico specifically)

Additional Rep: Mayan Mythology, Latin MC

For more information on summaries, content warnings and additional tropes, see here:

[thestormrunner3]

Zane: What would you do if I was kidnapped?

Brooks: Wait 20 minutes until they bring you back. Adrik: Will be last 20 minutes?

Marco: Seriously… you think someone would want to kidnap you?

Zane: 😒

[avymiir]

we’re all in agreement that if Ren and Roxy ever met they would be Best Conspiracy Buds together

but you know who would be super into their conspiracy theories despite herself? Pao. she would come at their theories from a disproving scientific mind, but after all she had experienced she’d also be super interested in all of the lore they know and would want to learn more. for Science, of course. and just wait till Ren starts talking about aliens

[tricky-fingers]

My quick sketch of brooks from the storm runner trilogy

Yes it sucks

Yes I’m proud

Deal with it

[life360-i-swear]

My art blog is sorta dead in the water and in any case idk whether to post this in art or book so question: does this look okay? If you’ve read the storm runner by jc Cervantes then input on some characters in appreciated but I mostly want to know whether everything looks normal.

Even if it looks weird just lie to me please I worked hard

[emachinescat]

A Year in (Book) Review: My 2024 Reading Journey 📚

#27 - The Storm Runner by J. C. Cervantes

Fantasy / The Storm Runner #1 / 388 pages / published 2018 / Finished Feb. 26

One Sentence Review: An exciting, fast-paced adventure through Mayan culture and myth, with a colorful cast of characters, huge stakes, and a highly relatable protagonist who would go to hell and back for his dog. 

Favorite Quotes

"A mother's love is the most illogical of all types of love... she'd do anything to protect you."

*

"Like Mr. O had said, destiny comes knocking, and if you don't open the door, she will come in through the window."

*

"Why did people always give me vague responses? Why couldn't anyone just provide a straight answer, preferably with a step-by-step diagram?"

*

"Ay! Necesito un médico o tequila. Necesito tequila."

*

"Did you know the May have a goddess of chocolate? (Dude, how come the Greeks don't get a goddess of chocolate? No fair."

*

"'But humans don't have magic.'

'Sure they do.' I gave her a confused look. Brooks let out a slow breath. "Dreams, talent... love."

*

Any guy who could still love someone who'd been a cranky chicken and ate birdseed out of her pocket was a champ..."

My rating: 4/5

A Few More Thoughts (Spoilers)

It was super fun! I know next to nothing about Mayan mythology, so it was fascinating getting to learn about it through Zane, Brooks, Hondo, and their adventures. It was full of action, and the pace never let up. Some of the gods and demons were a bit too over-the-top body horror-esque for me, though.

This dive into Mayan mythology and culture was incredibly interesting. I especially like that the Mayans had a god of chocolate! I was caught off-guard by how grotesque some of the gods and creatures were - I'd be interested in whether the body horror is associated with the Mayans or if this is the author's flair.

This book reminds us that being different is often treated like a bad thing, something to hide or be ashamed of. As Zane learns throughout this book, however, often our differences, even our perceived weaknesses, can actually be our superpowers, special because they are a part of who we are.

[apollogies-p]

The fire erupting from the kid's hands made Apollo very grateful for Sally's common sense to move her and Percy just moments before.

"Kid- Kid!" Apollo haphazardly lunged for his arms, and the resulting insults and swears coming from the child made Apollo very happy that Paul also had enough common sense to remove Estelle from the house.

After a very forceful struggle (well on the kid's part- Apollo didn't try much) the small boy (he was using small in a more figurative sense, in reality he'd tower over Sally and rival Percy in height) finally opened his eyes and to Apollo's surprise he recognized them.

Deep chocolate brown eyes, full of fear and- determination? A desperate look that Apollo only saw in the most scarred of demigods, in the ones that fought wars and lived to tell the tale.

Apollo gently removed his arms and instantly he lunged for the cane behind him, an item Apollo had paid no attention to although he wish he had.

"Who are you?" His voice coarse like he had been screaming prior to Sally finding him. The kid's eyes darted in between all of them. It reminded Apollo too much of those times Artemis and him had cornered countless men desperate to escape from their crimes.

The kid licked his lips and tried again, "Who ARE you?"

Before Apollo could do something unsavory, Sally stepped in.

"Why don't you tell us who you are sweetie?" Her voice soft and calming, it reminded Apollo of Leto's own voice and the way she'd coax him out of disorienting visions when he was a young god.

Sally continued to coax the young boy into at least unfurling and into a more comfortable position, although the grip on his fancy cane never wavered.

"My name is Zane. Zane Obispo."

[doyouknowthisdisabledcharacter]

Trick or treat!

You get Zane Obispo from The Storm Runner

[shy-blue-blossom]

Storm

Thomas

There was only so much a child could do around the safe haven before their worst enemy, boredom, caught up with them. This was what y/n was going through. Laying by the open door of her and Thomas's place with her head hanging off the step, she watched everything past her. She was about to go nap when she spotted Newt in the distance. Y/n jumped up and closed the door before she ran after him.

"Newt! Newt! Wait for me!" She called to him as she tried to catch up with him. Newt stopped when he heard her and turned.

"Y/n!" He called her with his arms open wide for her to jump into. She jumped into them with a big smile and put her arms around his neck. "What can I do for you?" He continued as he smiled at her.

"I'm bored," She told him, her head leaned back. "Can you entertain me?" Newt was questioned as she looked back at him.

"Tell you what, if you can find something to do, I will find Thomas and Minho," Newt started,

"But why can't you do it now?" Y/n interrupted him.

"If you let me finish," Newt said as he tickled her before he continued. "I will see if they have finished what they need to, and then we will find you."

Y/n sat in his arms as she thought about it before she nodded and asked to be put down as she knew what she wanted to do while she waited. Newt smiled as he watched her go, and then he turned to find Thomas and Minho. He spoke to them and Frypan. They all decided to put up a small bonfire away from the big one. As they talked and made plans, y/n was in the flower fields. Gally, who was doing some rounds, made his way over to her after he saw her.

"What you doing pipsqueak?" He questioned her as he kneeled to her height. She huffed as she looked at him because of the nickname before she smiled at him.

"Look what I found!" Y/n excitedly held the flowers up and nearly knocked Gally over. He moved back, so as not to ruin the flowers and smiled back.

"Who are they for?"

"Thomas!" She said as if it were the most obvious fact.

Gally made a face of understanding before he decided to stay with her. He had completed his tasks for the day anyway. He was shown nearly every flower y/n picked and even got given one. They enjoyed their time together, they did not notice Thomas as he made his way to them. Gally and y/n turned when they heard a laugh and y/n ran to him as she called his name.

Thomas stopped Gally as he walked past and whispered to him. Y/n tilted her head at them when they looked at her. Gally nodded and ruffled y/n hair before he made his way back to camp. They watched for a few moments before y/n tugged Thomas's top and held up the flowers she picked for him. Thomas took them after he picked her up and started questioning about her day.

They arrived back at camp and Thomas walked over to the small bonfire. Newt, Minho, Frypan and Gally sat around it as they chatted and laughed. He joined them and placed y/n down as he sat. She shot straight over to Newt and passed him a flower before doing the same to Minho and Frypan.

"There once was a place that we all met," Newt began the story grabbing y/n's attention immediately from her conversation with Minho, who was joking about the flower being fuel for the fire. "It wasn't pleasant to begin with, we lost a lot of friends." Newt and the others gave a sad smile to this. "We found a way to live and things looked up and we found a way to get along and improve things we needed." As Newt told the story Minho, Frypan and Gally joined in when they thought it appropriate, y/n was hooked on every word.

"When did Thomas join you?" Y/n asked when they had stopped to have a drink. They laughed at this.

"Your brother released a storm with his arrival," Newt told her after he stopped laughing. He got a confused head tilt in return.

"A storm we needed to be released," Minho added.

"A storm I didn't want but I'm now glad came," Gally said as he smiled at Thomas.

"I guess that's why you connected to him," Frypan said and everyone looked at him. "You a hurricane. You belong together."

Everyone laughed apart from y/n who looked at Thomas. She watched him before she jumped on him knocking him off his seat. Thomas grunted before he looked at her.

"What's this about?" He questioned.

"Hurricane and storm," Y/n said smiling big at him. "I love it."

The end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Masterlist

[lady-hibiscus]

some rick riordan reader: I know Norse, Greek, and Egyptian mythology haha I ace the school tests, I'm just too good-

east asian, south asian, african, northern european, slavic, latin american mythologies:

i recommend wikipedia's list of pantheons and rick riordan presents books to help with this. you are missing out if you haven't read Aru Shah, Storm Runner, Dragon Pearl, Tristan Strong, Race to the Sun, Paolo Santiago, City of the Plague God, and The Last Fallen Star. if you're an young adult, American Gods by Neil Gaiman is THE mythology book that redefines modern concepts of deities. The Freya series by Matthew Laurence is also an excellent, more teenager-friendly take on modern gods. honorable non-mythology mention from riordan presents: Sal and Gabi.

[teartra]

Glad Ren and AP have a family picture now… with scary being on the back