A World Darkly (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 3)

by John Triptych

  Tepiltzin could only watch helplessly as he struggled against the chains that held him fast on the column. The black man that had slowly made his way towards him was obviously going to free him, but what he would do after that, he had no idea.

  Just as Tyrone got his hands on the chains that were binding the renegade high priest, Coaxoch tackled him from behind and both began to wrestle on the floor. Even though he had alerted the guards, Coaxoch had a feeling the avatar would need help, so he ran back into the room, just in time before the force storm had blocked the others from entering. He had been hiding behind one of the stone pillars and waited until one of the intruders tried to free his enemy Tepiltzin. The moment he saw the intruder get close to his captive, he made his move and intercepted him.

  Tyrone cried out as his hands slipped as he tried to pull away from Coaxoch, the flayed skin suit was waxy and it easily slipped off so he couldn’t get a grip on it. Tyrone saw the flint blade coming out from its sheath as Coaxoch tried to plunge it into his shoulder, but he was able to hold onto the high priest’s wrists and the point of the blade stopped at less than an inch from his body. Coaxoch cursed as he used all his weight to bear down and push the knife in, but Tyrone twisted the blade so its point became parallel to his chest just as Coaxoch plunged it down. The fragile flint blade snapped in two as its flattened end was forced on Tyrone’s chest. Tyrone twisted sideways and rolled over until he got on top of the struggling priest as he pulled out the Gerber knife from his boot. Now it was Coaxoch’s turn to panic and scream as the blade plunged into his throat. Blood started to gush from the high priest’s mouth as the sharp edges of the steel blade tore through his artery. In less than a minute, Tyrone could feel the other man’s strength ebbing away. Just as Coaxoch died, Tyrone felt something within himself. It was like a seed in his soul that began to grow. When he looked up at Tepiltzin, he knew what he had to do.

  The swirling, chaotic forces in the room no longer seemed to affect him as Tyrone got up and stood to his full height. He walked up to Tepiltzin until their faces were only inches away from each other. Tyrone opened his mouth and vomited out a black mist that swirled in front of the captive’s face.

  Tepiltzin now realized what the mysterious dream about the boy meant. The god of the smoking mirror had been here since the very beginning. He had been biding his time, just waiting for the right moment to strike back against the other gods that had banished him from his people. Now he would show them his supreme power. Just as Xipe Totec and Huitzilopochtli chose their avatars with which to reign on earth, so would the god of the smoking mirror. Now he understood it all. Tepiltzin opened his mouth and breathed in the dark vapors. The black mist swirled in his lungs and then the transformation had begun.

  Tlazopilli grinned with satisfaction as the boy in front of him cried out and fell sideways to the floor. A few more minutes and he would finally overcome the remaining defenses of that accursed mirror and shatter it. Then he would bide his time with that boy and learn all he could about how the child could have possessed such a powerful artifact. The avatar of Xipe Totec knew the significance of that mirror and it would be the final nail in the night god’s coffin once he was able to destroy it.

  “Destroying my mirror will grant you nothing,” a voice beside him said. “Your Triple Alliance will cease to exist as of now.”

  Tlazopilli’s eyes went wide as he turned his head. Standing beside him was Tepiltzin, but his nephew had somehow been transformed into a being with jet black skin, far darker than the color of night. The avatar of Xipe Totec was stupefied as he stared back at the newly born avatar of Tezcatlipoca.

  Tepiltzin opened his mouth to reveal rows of razor sharp teeth. He roared as he bit into his uncle’s throat, sending a gushing torrent of blood onto the stone floor in front of them. Tlazopilli’s lightning staff dropped onto the floor and began to transform itself into a solid ball of energy that crackled and became as bright as the sun. The dying avatar of Xipe Totec fell onto the floor as his nephew continued to bite into his flesh.

  Tyrone let out a deep breath as he turned and ran over to where Steve was lying. As he knelt down and checked to see if the boy was still alive, Steve opened his eyes and gave him a wink. “Goddamn it kid, I thought you was dead,” Tyrone said.

  Steve grinned as he stood up. Both of them could barely see as the glowing sphere of power was starting to engulf the whole room. “We need to get out of here,” the boy said as he looked into the mirror that he had been holding.

  Tyrone nodded as he held up his hands to shield his eyes from the ever expanding wave of blinding white energy heading towards them. “I ain’t saying no to that!”

  Steve was exhausted but he used the remaining reserves of his willpower and concentrated on the black mirror. If he didn’t do it now, they would be dead. Suddenly, the black mist began to emanate from the mirror once more and surrounded them. Less than a second after that, they were gone.

  Temple of Huitzilopochtli

  Gyle had finally met his match. The tzitzimitl’s claws narrowly missed him as they tore chunks out of the wall where he had been standing in front of less than a second before. They both moved so quickly it was like watching two blurred figures that dodged each other’s attacks. Gyle was certain his own clawed hands had connected against the demon, but the tzitzimitl didn’t react as if it even felt any pain. A piece of Gyle’s shoulder was already lying on the floor when the star demon bit into him and tore a chunk of flesh out from his body. Gyle was hurt, but he kept at it, hoping for a weakness to reveal itself before it was too late.

  Ixtli continued to hurl lightning bolts from his atlatl at the trickster god, but Coyote continued to jump around from one end of the room to another as portions of the hall was slowly being ground to dust by the force of the explosions. The avatar of the war god Huitzilopochtli was getting frustrated at his enemies, so his attacks were steadily increasing in intensity.

  Valerie hid behind one of the columns as she fired another short burst from her MP5 at the entrance of the great hall. She had fired several rounds at the avatar, but the bullets seemed to just harmlessly bounce off Ixtli’s body. The remaining temple guards and priests tried to force their way into the room so she concentrated on them instead. Valerie would sprint from column to column, making sure that she was behind cover against both the reinforcements coming from the entrance and the lightning attacks coming from the central platform.

  Paul was ready to cry out in frustration as he crouched behind one of the stone pillars for cover. He never felt so useless in his life. The others were busy fighting and he wasn’t up to it. As he tried to think at what he could do to help, he spotted a three foot tall stone idol of Huitzilopochtli sitting in an alcove at the far side of the hall. He remembered the creation myths of the city, when the Aztecs were nothing more than a wandering tribe. They had been carrying a talking idol of their war god that finally led them to a swampland in the middle of the lake. From there, the small tribe began their ascent to dominate this part of the world. Paul sensed the idol might be the key.

  The moment Coyote started jumping to the other side of the hall, Paul made his move as he started running towards the location of the small statue. He made sure to move only when the avatar finished his attack. It took less than a minute, and Paul was now standing behind the last column. Now he had to run out into the open and make a grab for the idol. He waited until Ixtli fired another lightning bolt at Coyote, then he started sprinting towards the wall where the alcove was.

  The tzitzimitl instantly sensed Paul’s intentions. It quickly kicked Gyle away and lunged at the mythology professor. Gyle was able to recover quickly and caught up with the demon just as it clawed Paul’s back. Gyle tackled the tzitzimitl from behind and drove it into part of a nearby wall.

  Paul cried out in agony as he fell face down onto the stone floor. It felt like his back had been ripped wide open. Blood began to seep down his lower back as he was momentarily blinded by flashing pain. His hands trembl
ed as he got up to his knees and stared at the stone idol just a few feet above.

  Valerie was reloading when he heard the scream. She turned and saw Paul trying desperately to get back up. “Paul!’ she screamed as she started running towards him.

  The tzitzimitl elbowed Gyle in the face as it tore away from him. With the speed of a lightning bolt, the demon dashed forward, holding out its claws to rip open the man who dared to attempt the destruction of the holy idol.

  Valerie got there first. Just as she got in between the demon and Paul, she pulled out her Glock pistol and fired several rounds at the demon’s face. The tzitzimitl lashed out in rage, concentrating on her as its claws tore through her chest. Valerie’s eyes opened wide as she started to spit out blood and fell backwards.

  “Noo!” Paul cried out and pulled her away, just as Gyle got to them and threw the tzitzimitl into the other side of the hall before leaping after it. Paul gently placed Valerie on her back as he cradled her head in his arms.

  Valerie began to cough up more blood, but she was able to slight smile slightly as she looked up at him. She reached up and lightly touched his chest, right where his heart was, before slumping back down. Then she closed her eyes forever. Paul screamed out in pure unadulterated anguish. The one person that truly mattered in his life, the woman who saved him from an eternity trapped in Hell, was gone.

  Gyle was doing his best to keep the demon away from the others but it was like trying to hold onto a snarling tiger. The tzitzimitl kept tearing into him and ripped at his left arm, nearly severing it. Gyle used his own fangs and bit into the demon’s throat and cut off the spinal column, as the monster’s head was torn off. The demon kicked him away as it stood up and then reattached its own head. “Paul,” he bellowed as he stood to block its way. “I can’t keep this up, do it!”

  Paul fought through his tears of loss as he stood up. He just wanted to die with her. His life didn’t matter anymore, but Gyle’s cries of desperation took hold and reignited his sense of duty. These Aztecs had to be stopped. If he failed, then Valerie gave her life up for nothing. His wobbly knees could barely support himself as he wrapped his hands around the idol and removed it from the pedestal. The stone statue was surprisingly light as he held it above his head and threw it down onto the floor. The idol was smashed into a million pieces.

  Ixtli let out a cry as his powers started to fluctuate, his control over the energies coursing through his body was lost. The lightning bolt on his atlatl suddenly overloaded and exploded in his hand, severing it. Coyote sensed his chance as he leapt up and kicked the avatar in the chest, sending him flying backwards into the central support column. Ixtli collided with the stone pillar and shattered it as his body began to burn from the inside out, as the internal energies in his aura had made it unstable. Then the entire building began to buckle as a chain reaction had started, just as other parts of the braces that held it in place began to collapse.

  Gyle knew he wasn’t going to make it. He had lost too much blood, and the snarling demon in front of him was going to kill everybody else if he let it get away from him. He could see the rear support column was not that far. One more ought to do it. The demon hissed before it lunged at him. This time, instead of dodging the tzitzimitl attack, Gyle only pushed it slightly away and redirected the creature’s momentum as they both were hurled sideways into the remaining support column. The demon began ripping out his stomach as Gyle smashed the pillar with all his remaining strength and it finally gave way.

  The entire pyramid groaned as its apex collapsed in on itself. The outer temple at the top of the structure caved in, and the four upper sides imploded. Huge blocks of falling stone started bursting through the ceiling of the great hall. The remaining priests tried to run down the stairs but many of them were crushed as the inner stairwell gave way. Corridors within the interior of the pyramid crumbled inwards, sealing many of the rooms inside.

  Paul was wailing as he cradled Valerie in his arms. The trickster suddenly appeared behind him. “We need to go,” Coyote said as the ceiling began to fall all around them in a tremendous crash of stone and dust.

  Seeing that Paul wasn’t responding, Coyote grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him away. Paul cried out just as a vertical rip in the air opened up behind them and the trickster pulled him through. Paul hung onto Valerie’s body and was pulled into the black hole, just as a huge block of stone smashed right into the spot where they had been.

  27. Ouroboros

  Georgia

  As soon as the rowboat touched the shore, Tyrone Gatlin stood up and walked up to dry land. The late afternoon sun had cast giant shadows over the monstrous, looming trees that blanketed the horizon. All the areas in the Old South were like this now: flooded landscapes, with bayous and waterways, big and small islands in between. It would take a new kind of human being to live in these parts. He was lucky it hadn’t rained all day, but he sensed the storm clouds would arrive by early evening.

  The old store was still standing there, right where he remembered it. His grandparents first started building the place. Then his father, still in his teens, had steadily expanded it, adding new sections in, until it was as big as one of those department stores in the malls. One of the big chain stores had just opened up at the far end of town when he left, and business was steadily getting worse, but his daddy always believed that they would hold on, no matter what.

  Tyrone stood in front of the building. His father said those words to him a long time ago. All of the windows in the store had now been boarded up with rickety, warped plywood and rusted nails. Most of the paint had peeled off and the air conditioning units on the flattened roof had rusted away into oblivion. At least his family was luckier than most, as he turned and surveyed the edge of the water where the other side of the street used to be. The daily deluge of rain had pretty much wiped out everything else, but his daddy’s store was still standing.

  He tried the rusted doorknob and it opened with an ear-piercing creak. Right after he stepped inside, he could hear the sounds of rats scurrying about in the darkness. Tyrone looked around and he could see nothing but rusting, empty shelves that stretched out into the dim recesses of the store. He could hear the crackling of broken glass as he stepped over assorted bits of trash and other refuse. The smell in the inside was a combination of rusted metal, dried river muck and animal droppings. The white marble counter where the cash register used to be was cracked and a layer of dust had painted it to the color of ashen grey. The old stool where his parents would take turns watching over the place was still there, but the upholstery had been eaten away by vermin. The only bits of light that shone through were from the opened door and the cracks where the plywood had broken off.

  Tyrone heard the sound of a shotgun being pumped as he turned to his left. Standing at the far side of the deli section was the silhouette of a woman. She moved forward for a bit so she could get into optimum range with the old Mossberg 500 that she carried in her arms. Tyrone saw the wrinkles underneath her dark brown eyes. Her thick black braided hair hung loosely over her shoulders as she got to within twenty feet of him. Tyrone recognized her pouting face as she glared back at him with pure, unadulterated contempt. Yes, it was his sister all right.

  “Laila? Is that you?” he asked.

  She turned the shotgun so the barrel wasn’t aiming at him directly anymore. “You picked a hell of a time to come back, Tyrone.”

  Tyrone took a deep breath. “What happened here?”

  Laila snorted. “What do you think happened? The Glooming happened. While you were away, it just kept on raining and it never stopped. Daddy waited for you to come back but you never did.”

  Tyrone looked away. “I told him I was joining the Army. And I did.”

  The rage in her voice was palpable. “He depended on you! He needed you! He was an old man, but you left him because you didn’t wanna work here. Now he's dead.”

  Tyrone’s mouth dropped open. “Daddy’s dead?”

  “He
drowned,” Laila said softly as her free hand pointed to the outside. “He was out there, helping the others, when a huge wave of water just came in and swept them all away. Momma had a heart attack and now she can’t get outta bed. So many people are dead, and you weren’t around.”

  Tyrone slumped as he leaned on the edge of the counter by the door. The rotting wood made a loud creak, but it didn’t give way. “I tried to ask to go on leave, but they wouldn’t let me. It was a national emergency. The Aztecs were comin’ and we had to do somethin’.”

  Laila shook her head slowly. She wanted to cry, but the past year had already hardened her. “You can keep telling youself that. As for me, I blame you for what happened to daddy and momma.”

  Tyrone sighed. There was no point in arguing with her. “If you blame me for everything, fine. But I’m here now.”

  She snorted a second time. “Lotta good that does now.”

  Tyrone looked around. “What happened to the store? The flooding didn’t touch it cuz our grandaddy saw fit to build on high ground, that’s why he bought this lot in town, it had the highest elevation.”

  “All this came later,” Laila said. “After the floods and the dying, people were starving and all that. Then the Klan came along and took whatever they could. They still out there. They come in every now and then in them fast boats and they take what they can. If anyone tries to fight them, they die. You ain’t gonna last long out here, Tyrone. There’s so few of us left. I’m only stayin’ cuz of my son, he too young to go anywhere.”