Chapters 13-15

This section starts off with Alex having a vision. He sees his mother in the hospital in Texas and is able to actually touch her. His mother experiences the same type of thing except for the fact that she is not asleep. She sees Alex in the room with her, sitting on her bed, talking to her and holding her hand. As soon as Alex awakens, Alex, Nadia, and Walimai set off on their journey to the realm of the gods to locate the three crystal eggs that are supposed to save the People of the Mist. Upon reaching the tepuis, the ancient mountains and entrance to the realm of the gods where the famed city of El Dorado is supposed to exist, Walimai leads them through a long series of tunnels and secret passageways. Alex pulls out his compass to find out which way they are headed, but the needle gives no sign of a direction, instead it spins around, pointing every which way. After believing to be lost, Walimai leads them into a large clearing inside the mountain with seven separate paths to chose from. Without hesitation, Walimai choses one and. After hours of walking through what seems to be endless darkness, they come upon several chambers with species of animals never before seen by more than a handful of men. Suddenly, out of nowhere, they reach the exit to the labyrinth and come upon an astonishingly bright clearing between the mountains. The clearing is the infamous El Dorado. They begin climbing down a staircase carved into the side of the mountains, astonished at the discovery, but upon descending further down into the opening, they find that the "city of gold" is simply a formation of outcroppings made of substances such as fools gold and and other cheap minerals.
When they reached ground level of the crater, a Beast appeared. Walimai went forward and spoke with the Beast. After an incredibly slow conversation, since the Beasts do everything at a sloth-like pace, Walimai returned and told Alex and Nadia that a council of the gods would take place tomorrow. Apparently, the Beasts are the People of the Mist's gods. At the meeting, after two days of deliberation, it was decided that Alex and Nadia would have to fight the Rahakanariwa. The Beasts are able to speak in the People of the Mist's tongue, they have lived since at least the start of the People of the Mist's existence, and they have a memory that remembers all of the stories told by the Messengers of the Gods. After deciding that Jaguar and Eagle would have to fight the Rahakanariwa, Jaguar and Eagle, against the customs of nature, asked for something in return. Eagle asked for the three crystal eggs, and Jaguar asked for the water of health to cure his mother. The Beasts became enraged upon the request, so Alex whipped out his flute and began to play, while Nadia danced to the music. Had Alex and Nadia not offered the scene they gave the Beasts, they would have most likely been murdered.
The Beasts, having received the gifts of music and dance, informed Alex and Nadia that to acquire the water of health and the three crystal eggs, they would have to go on a journey to the land of the spirits, and they would have to go alone. The next day, Walimai sent each of them their separate ways. Eagle was to climb to the top of the tallest tepui, and Jaguar was to go down into the earth, but neither of them could return to the land of the living empty handed or after nightfall. Eagle climbed up the stairs the way the came down, and once she reached the top of the stairs, she discovered that she would have to climb the face of the mountain. Upon reaching the top, after several hours of climbing, she searched for the nest that contained the three eggs. When she found it, she discovered that she would have to give something to the nest in return for the eggs. The only thing of value that she possessed was Walimai's talisman, which she reluctantly put in the nest. Then she grabbed the three eggs and began her descent.
Over these three chapters, Nadia, or Eagle, undergoes several changes. First of all, she becomes closer and and more dependent on Alex, or Jaguar. They do nearly everything together whenever possible, but now that she has to go on her journey alone, she feels like she will be incapable of accomplishing her goal to retrieve the eggs. But she remembers the words of confidence that Alex gave her, and she gains the strength required to scale the mountain. Secondly, she becomes more mature. She was already more mature than any girl Alex had ever known before, but she now becomes more self confident. With the help of Alex, she is able to overcome obstacles, such as her fear of heights, which has hindered her several times in the past.