Daniel reached for Tizoc’s hand, and I caught Tizoc in a tight embrace. We stayed linked as a trio for a few moments, gathering strength from each other.
When Tizoc stood, ready to continue on to his house, Daniel and I flanked either side of him in case he needed to lean on one of us.
“Tizoc,” a hoarse whisper sounded from the darkness before we’d traveled a few steps.
“Zolin?”
Tizoc’s cousin appeared in the dim moonlight. He gripped Tizoc’s shoulders in a show of relief.
“I was afraid you were lost to us,” Zolin said. “That all of you were lost. How did you escape?”
Tizoc flashed a quick smile to me. “We may not have had guns, but we are not without our secret weapons.”
Zolin’s gaze slid over to me, smiling briefly before turning back to Tizoc. “Some of our people have sent a request to the Spanish leader. Word is out that Dimazuno is dead, and the people want to honor him at Adanitupachi’s temple. Salazar has granted them this request and wishes to attend.”
I sensed Tizoc’s uneasiness right away. “Why does he want to attend?”
Zolin shrugged.
“What time is it?” Tizoc asked.
“Nearly dawn.”
“We haven’t much time. We must go to the temple.”
****
Carrying the daggers and spears Zolin had supplied and the two guns we took from the guards, we scurried along in dawn’s fading shadows to the central temple. From the ground level, the sounds of ceremonial preparations could be heard, and we climbed the temple stairs.
The first thing that caught my attention when we arrived at the temple patio was an enormous statue erected in its center. It had been dressed in colorful feathers. Turquoise earrings adorned its ears and a gold arrow was fastened through its nose. A headdress of feathers fanned out from the statue’s head while yellow parrot feathers encircled its neck. A black cape decorated with white feathers was draped over the figure’s shoulders. In its strong hands, the statue carried a bamboo shield and four arrows.
“Adanitupachi, the Sun God,” Tizoc whispered to me. His strength had returned the moment we’d set foot on the temple patio.
“We need to blend in,” Daniel said. “The Spaniards have no doubt been instructed to hunt us down in particular.”
Tizoc slipped like liquid to a cache of gear nearby. Extracting three wooden helmets, he passed two of them along to us. Both he and Daniel had a guard’s gun hidden at their waists. Donning the helmets, we mixed with the rest of the Sunal. The sound of my heartbeat echoed off the sides of the helmet, sending nervous vibrations coursing throughout my entire body. The carefree days in Ezenoch seemed so far away to me now.
Drawing in a deep breath, I scanned the crowded temple patio. Lines of Sunal brought offerings to the statue of Adanitupachi, placing them at the figure’s feet. The robe Dimazuno had been wearing when he was killed was hung over the statue’s shoulders. Torches, arranged at the four compass points, blazed at the base of the figure. Song and dance quickly followed, and soon the gathered Sunal were engrossed in their ceremony. Their voices were raised in such harmony, their bodies moved in high praise to the Sun God and in mourning for their lost emperor.
An emperor who had ignored the warnings and had invited the Devil himself into Ezenoch.
“This is not right.” Tizoc motioned to our left where a group of Spaniards stood, armed and watching. They pointed and talked amongst themselves. “This is a sacred time. The outsiders are mocking us.”
The Spaniards had moved in closer to where the Sunal sang and danced. The smug look on their faces clearly displayed their inability to respect the ritual, the deities, the symbolism of the dance, and the grief over a lost king.
In the mere seconds it took me to scowl and look back to the statue, the Spaniards pulled out their weapons and charged forward. One of the Spaniards attacked the drummer keeping the rhythm of the song and dance. With one precise swoop of his sword, the Spaniard cut into the young Sunal boy, severing his head. It rolled along the stone patio to rest at my feet, and my breath got trapped in my lungs.
As I choked out a shriek, Daniel pulled me back from the head. The guard’s confiscated gun was suddenly in his hand, ready to fight off anyone who came our way. A spear was also at Daniel’s feet.
Tizoc leaped into action, wielding the other gun in one hand and his spear in the other. Surging ahead to help protect his people, Daniel and I did the same.
The Spaniards had closed off the stairs leading to ground level. The attending Sunal had no choice but to fight the Spaniards at their holiest of places. Salazar had executed another perfect plan—collect as many Sunal as possible in one spot and obliterate them.
Gunshots sounded from the Spaniards, Daniel, and Tizoc, but it did not take long for ammunition to run out and for swords and spears to be drawn instead. Blood fell like rain onto every corner of the temple patio as the Spaniards ruthlessly slaughtered the scrambling Sunal celebrants. Limbs dropped, bodies fell, voices screeched in death.
Though everything happened quickly, it was in slow motion to me. I somehow had time to think about all my movements. Could sense an oncoming Spaniard before he was upon me. Was ever aware of where Daniel and Tizoc were as they fought.
I whirled my spear around in time to stop a Spaniard from slashing me with his sword. His eyes popped open as his blade sunk into the shaft of my spear. He had expected to meet my flesh instead. Daniel took my attacker’s surprise as an opportunity to bury his spear tip into the Spaniard’s thigh. As he howled in agony and dropped to his knees, the Spaniard released his sword. I scooped it up and tucked it into my belt. Daniel retracted his spear with a revolting spray of blood following it.
I swallowed the nausea and used the blunt end of my spear to bat away another oncoming Spaniard. Daniel fought off his own opponent, and Spaniards encircled Tizoc a few paces away, all of them wanting a piece of an experienced warrior.
Summoning every bit of strength I had, I gripped my spear like a club and swung it around so the shaft cracked into the jaw of the Spaniard in front of me. The sound of spear hitting bone echoed throughout my entire body. I cringed in empathetic pain but had to continue my assault if I had any chance of living. Quickly, I repositioned my weapon and, as my attacker recovered from my first blow and raised his sword to me, I drove the spear tip deep into his gut.
It went in soft and wet, a look of horrified astonishment flitting across the doomed recipient. A gurgle bubbled from his throat as he spit up blood and brought his hands to the wooden shaft of my spear extending from his abdomen. Slowly, he slid himself free of the spear. My first victim staggered back. His eyes hadn’t blinked since I had impaled him. When his legs crumpled, I shook uncontrollably. He heaved his last breath, and I would never forget that moment. Ever.
I had killed.
In the moments that followed, I instinctively defended myself against advances, receiving only minor scratches and bruises in the process. I wasn’t sure how this was possible but thanked whatever gods were watching out for me. The same gods that were allowing me to take lives, horribly wound other humans, and walk over the bodies of the fallen to take down more.
Some Sunal struggled to climb over the temple walls to escape the massacre. Everywhere I turned, bodies fell to the ground in a red haze. For every Spaniard I fought off, two more appeared, slaying Sunal innocents around me. The temple floor was slick with the blood of the fallen. I choked down my own screams, intent on remaining among the living.
Charlie, came Tizoc’s voice in my mind. We have to push the Spaniards back.
Cripes, there are so many of them, and we’ve lost too many to count. I shuddered at the gruesome scene. I had soaked in so much beauty during my time in Ezenoch, but these horrific moments atop the temple made it difficult to remember the serenity.
More warriors are on the way. Zolin has called them.
As Tizoc broke the link with my mind, a flood of Sunal warriors crested ove
r the side of the temple walls. They rushed in with such force the Spaniards were quickly outnumbered and overpowered.
“Retreat!” hollered one of Spaniards. The outsiders scrambled for the walls, tossing themselves over the tops and disappearing back to the palace. As the sounds of warfare diminished, all that was left were the grunts and moans of the injured.
The dead lay silent.
Sure that all the Spaniards had followed the retreat order, I ripped off my helmet and searched for Daniel. I found him off to my left. He set down his spear, the tip dyed red with Spanish blood. Pulling off his own helmet, he caught both of my hands in his one.
“I’m all right, Charlie. Are you hurt?” He took in the scrapes on my skin.
I shook my head, the rush of what we had endured catching up with me as I stood in front of him.
“Salazar is full of suprises,” Daniel said as Tizoc approached.
Tizoc’s right shoulder had bloodied, claw-like marks dug into it. His eyes were the darkest I had ever seen them. His lips formed a hard, grim line. Before he could speak, a young warrior stumbled over, dropping to his knees between the three of us. He spoke softly in his native tongue, the life seeping out of him as we watched helplessly.
Why didn’t our gods protect us after all we have sacrificed to them? Why did they allow us to be slain on holy ground? Tizoc translated for me.
I could barely hold it together now that the fight was over. The warrior searched Tizoc’s face with his coal black eyes, then, with a strained gasp, his maimed body dropped to the ground. Tizoc bent down and closed the eyes that had remained opened.
“Why indeed,” he whispered, crouching over the warrior’s body, one of many strewn haphazardly about the temple. He looked at the other fallen. “Why am I not strong enough to bring you all back?” Guilt weighed heavily on him.
Daniel allowed me to hide from the macabre scene in the warmth of his embrace. I didn’t want to have to think about what had happened. Didn’t want to remember I had driven my spear tip into the flesh of other humans with the intent to kill. If I let these thoughts, these realizations, creep into my mind there would be no denying what I had done and seen during this ceremony turned bloodbath.
****
As the pyres roared to an angry orange, Daniel and I helped Tizoc hoist the bodies of his people into the flames. Voices raised in lament as the Sunal grieved for their lost brethren. By the time we had finished, we were covered in more blood than we could comprehend. Tizoc stood beside me, resting his hand on my shoulder. He was about to speak when a sudden flare up of the funeral fires had us both turning to look toward what remained of the statue of Adanitupachi.
The figure held us both transfixed as the reddened flames rose higher and higher. Tizoc’s mind opened to my own. We were so linked I swear his heartbeat pulsed through my veins.
I squinted at the statue of the Sun God, and my mouth dropped open as its eyes widened, giving the illusion that it looked directly at me. I couldn’t move from my spot in front of the figure. I could only watch the image that unfolded before my mind’s eye like a dream.
In the vision, Adanitupachi stepped from his pedestal and over the raging flames at his feet. When he kneeled before Tizoc and me, the urge to run was overwhelming, but my legs were useless. The Sun God set down his feathered bamboo shield and turned his fiery, golden eyes—eyes like Tizoc’s—upon us.
The time has come, my Son, Adanitupachi began in a voice deep like thunder. You must protect your people.
I have tried… and failed, O Great One, Tizoc thought humbly.
I turned to look at him, and his eyes were full of tears. I pushed past my fear and reached out to him. I wasn’t sure what else to do. All I could do was hope my touch brought some comfort to Tizoc.
You have not failed, Warrior, Adanitupachi said. Your people are those closest to you. Your parents, your sisters, your friends…
Adanitupachi arrowed his gaze at me, and all the power of the Sun God surged through my body. A hand rested on my shoulder as Daniel stood behind me. His eyes were trained forward, focused on the now living statue. He saw what Tizoc and I saw. Heard what we heard. This was much more than a simple vision.
These are the ones you are destined to save, Warrior. True, you cannot save all the Sunal. You were not meant to. I would not charge you with such a task, mortal as you are.
Many have fallen here today and many more will fall at the outsider’s feet when this is all over. It is how it is meant to be. The ones you do save, however, will be the seeds that rebuild your great empire and carry on your culture.
Your time in this land is over, but a new time begins as it must. Go from this place, and let happen what is destined to befall those that remain here. From the embers, the Sunal will survive, Warrior.
Adanitupachi straightened to his full height again and in a blaze of blinding firelight, the statue was reduced to a mere pile of ash at our feet.
Dumbfounded, the three of us stood silently and motionless. Slowly, Tizoc intertwined his fingers with my own.
“You saw that as well, yes?”
“I did.”
“So did I,” Daniel said.
“You’re not meant to protect them all, Tizoc,” I said. “Just your family.”
“And you two.” Tizoc tore his gaze away from the dust that used to be a statue of the Sun God.
“That’s your destiny.” Daniel rested his hand on Tizoc’s shoulder.
We stood together, linked by touch in a triangle of sorts. “It doesn’t seem right. To abandon the rest of my people,” Tizoc said.
“If they live on in you and your family, Tizoc, you haven’t abandoned them,” Daniel said. “When my parents were killed, I realized what was wonderful about them was still inside me. It took meeting Charlie to see it, but I did. I like to think I can pass that on to our children someday.”
Though blood covered most of him and his face wore the signs of fatigue, Daniel’s love for me was right there. I could feel it, like a magnet, drawing me to him.
“Daniel’s right,” I said. “You hold the beauty of these people and this city in your heart. No Spaniard can take that away. You can build this empire again.”
“But how will we get out of here? The Spaniards have surrounded the city.”
We stared at the ash pile at our feet, listening to the crackle and hiss of the pyres.
“Our boat,” Daniel said. “Our boat is done for the most part. She’ll sail and there’s enough room for your family.”
“Where will we go?” Tizoc said.
The word family bounced around in my mind. I touched a finger to the shell still around my neck.
“Florida,” I said. “We’ll go to Florida.”
Chapter Thirty-one
“Florida will be as good a place as any to seek refuge,” I said as we descended the temple stairs.
“The Spaniards may follow us there,” Daniel said.
“No. They do not want us,” Tizoc said. “They want our gold and other valuables. Our lives don’t mean anything to them. That is why it is so easy for them to slaughter us.”
“Still, we should move quickly,” I said as we entered Tizoc’s house. “You have to gather your sisters.”
“I have called to them. My sisters and their mates are coming to meet us.”
We filed into the kitchen, which was a tomb without Citlali and Tizoc’s sisters filling it. We continued out to the courtyard toward the chamber we had dug in the ground. Before opening the chamber, Tizoc turned to Daniel and me.
“You both fought well,” Tizoc said. “It is not an easy thing to kill, but you did so for my people.”
I did so for you, I thought.
Tizoc squeezed my hand, nodded to Daniel, then pulled open the chamber door. Citlali and Yaoti blinked up at us as sunlight burst into the dark hole.
“Tizoc,” Citlali said as she climbed out of the chamber. “You live! You all live! We were so afraid.” She embraced each of us, holding on as if she
never intended to let go.
“Where are the outsiders?” Yaoti climbed up behind Citlali.
“They have taken over the emperor’s palace,” I said.
“Dimazuno is dead,” Tizoc added. “As are many of our people.”
“Oh, my…” Citlali’s eyes grew wider when we were all standing in the courtyard, the afternoon sun illuminating everything. “You’re… you’re all covered in blood.” Her hands flew to her mouth as her mind put all the facts together.
“What happened?” Yaoti took hold of Tizoc’s arm.
“The Spaniards overpowered us at the palace and killed the emperor. Then, they launched an attack at the temple while our people honored the Sun God and Dimazuno.” Tizoc rubbed his hands together in what appeared to be an attempt to wipe away the memory of it, then he turned to Daniel. “Why did they not use guns at the temple?”
Daniel shrugged. “Perhaps they are saving ammunition for future conquests and thought swords would be enough against arrows and spears. They thought wrong. We made them retreat, but we cannot outlast them.”
Lowering his shoulders and letting out a long breath, Tizoc caught one of his parents’ hands in each of his own. “Our leader is gone. The Spaniards are too strong for us to fight. We must leave this place.”
“Leave?” Yaoti was ready to disagree. Tizoc released Yaoti’s hand and held up his palm.
“Adanitupachi has visited us.” Tizoc motioned to Daniel and me as well as himself. “On the temple patio, while we buried the bodies of the fallen, he came to us. Told me what to do. You must listen, Tahtli.”
My own throat stung as Yaoti’s eyes filled with tears. Though they never spilled over, the tears showed how much leaving Ezenoch was going to hurt Tizoc’s parents. Leaving it would be like leaving their hearts behind.
“Tahtli, Nantli,” Tizoc said, looking to his parents, “go to your rooms and pack what you need. We will be leaving tonight on Daniel’s boat.”
Without a word, but sporting long faces, Citlali and Yaoti headed into the house. Tizoc hopped down into the chamber and lifted supplies up to Daniel and me. When the chamber was empty, Tizoc climbed out.
Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) Page 26
