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

by John Triptych

  Tepiltzin continued to pretend he was still interested. He smiled back at the clueless manager who stood beside him. “Fascinating, please continue.”

  The plant manager nodded as he gestured at the small group to follow him to his office at the far end of the plant. “Yes, as I was saying. It took us weeks to find a good source for the rubber. In the meantime, our quality control suffered and our warriors took more casualties due to misfiring of the bullets. But since our brave soldiers always return from the dead lands anyway, it was really more of an annoyance than a problem because they were forced to use lead bullets for a short time afterwards. This meant that the number of captives taken had gone down and they were not too happy about that either. Thankfully, that has all been rectified now.”

  Tepiltzin just nodded as his group of priests and assistants were led into an air conditioned office with plush chairs and imported tables. The manager all bade them to sit as a secretary hovered nearby carrying a silver tray.

  The secretary was dressed in a traditional Aztec dress as she beamed at him. “Would you like a cup, High Priest?”

  Tepiltzin was momentarily confused for a moment, then he looked up at her. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “She was asking if you would like a cup of xocolatl, High Priest,” the ever grinning manager said as he sat down with them. “Our cacao beans were harvested just yesterday and we make our chocolate here in the traditional way: with no sugar, just freshly crushed chili and vanilla. Of course, if you prefer the modern Spanish version, she can prepare that for you very quickly as well.”

  Tepiltzin’s head was pounding due to the lack of sleep but he forced himself to smile as he looked at the worried secretary. “The traditional Aztec way is good. Thank you.”

  The secretary quickly poured him a cup and set it on the coffee table beside him. The junior priests accompanying Tepiltzin had slightly concerned looks on their faces. They had hoped the high priest would admonish this plant manager for returning to modern colonial ways, but they were surprised because Tepiltzin hardly said a word during the entire tour. Since there were no emperors in this new empire, it was the priests who determined the ways in which to live. Tepiltzin’s pale demeanor and tired looking eyes gave them a feeling that something was not right.

  As Tepiltzin raised the cup of chocolate near his mouth, his wrist began to tremble slightly, spilling a few drops of chocolate onto the padded couch. His assistant acolyte Chipahua sensed something was very wrong as he made sure his hands were free.

  The plant manager didn’t seem to notice as he just continued talking. “The cacao beans come from the farmer’s plantations just a few miles from here. If you have the time, I can take you there for a tour this afternoon. So far, the gods have doubled our crop yields ever since we increased the number of sacrifices to them. Praise Tlaloc!”

  Right when he heard those words, Tepiltzin’s head started to swim. The room began to whirl around him as he lost his sense of balance. The creeping pain at the back of his head had suddenly thrust itself until it exploded just behind his eyes. Tepiltzin started to see bright flashes as his body swayed back and forth. The cup of chocolate fell from his hand. Chipahua instantly caught his master before he fell to the floor. All Tepiltzin could hear were shouts of alarm as everything suddenly turned dark.

  The next thing he knew, Tepiltzin was standing near the banks of a small stream. As he looked up, the sky was of glowing mauve and pewter. He couldn’t see the sun, but based on the light all around him it seemed like either the early morning or mid-afternoon, he wasn’t quite so sure. The brook was at the base of a series of hills and soft, green grass was growing all around. Across the horizon, he could see a gargantuan structure that covered the surrounding lands all the way towards the distant, mist-laden mountains at the far edge of his vision. It looked like a haphazardly built series of overlapping wooden walls that stretched upwards to over a hundred feet in several places. He could see large, ornate carvings of runes and serpents along its façade. The whole construct must have been hundreds of miles long. The structure was completely roofed by multitudes of overlapping metal shields, it was as if millions of warriors had suddenly raised their round circular shields up to blot out the sky. A number of black birds could be seen circling around the place, they were either crows or ravens, but he couldn’t really tell.

  “The Lord of the Near and Far isn’t too happy with you, mate,” a slightly high-pitched voice said.

  The high priest of Xipe Totec turned around. Standing at the top of the small hill behind him was the young boy that had been in his dreams. The kid looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old and wore a blue hooded sweatshirt and jeans, but with a curious pair of pink striped sneakers on his feet. He was fair-haired, with sky blue eyes that seemed to stare right into Tepiltzin’s soul. The boy was casually holding a small, circular mirror made of polished black obsidian in his right hand.

  Tepiltzin’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

  The boy just shrugged casually. “Well, I could tell you my name is Steve and I’m from England, but it doesn’t really matter, does it? I think you already know who I am.”

  Tepiltzin frowned. He realized that he was still speaking in Nahuatl and the boy answered him back perfectly in the same language. This had to be a dream. “I have been to England in my previous life before the rebirth of our empire. Where we are right now is surely not that place.”

  Steve rolled his eyes. “Duh, I said I’m from England. I never said this place was England. You haven’t been listening very well, have you?”

  “Perhaps it is because of our language,” Tepiltzin said. “I am speaking in Nahuatl- an ancient language of my people, and yet a boy from England can speak it as well? There is something unnatural about all this.”

  Steve tilted his head up and started laughing. “Unnatural? Oh, that’s really funny! With all the gods coming out all over the place and all these monsters and creatures that are suddenly all around us, and you make a complaint about something so trivial as not being natural? You are such a funny man.”

  Tepiltzin grimaced. “You are a disrespectful little child! How dare you speak to a high priest of Xipe Totec this way! I can have you flayed alive for insulting me like that!”

  Steve shook his head as he kept on giggling. “Sorry, but I had expected better questions coming from you. I mean, you did say you were a high priest and all that.”

  Tepiltzin hissed. The boy was insolent. But he sensed that he was merely a visitor and it was Steve who held all the power here. He needed to be patient and control his own temper. “Very well, let us begin again. I am High Priest Tepiltzin, of the temple of Xipe Totec in Teotihuacan. If I may ask, where exactly am I?”

  “That’s better,” Steve said. “Well I can tell you that you are in a dream. So you’re definitely right about that, mate.”

  Tepiltzin looked around. “So all this is just a dream? Then why does it seem so vivid? I could have never dreamt of all of this by myself.”

  “You didn’t,” Steve said. “Since you’re a high priest, then you should also know that the gods sometimes visits their chosen ones in the form of dreams. This particular place is the land of Valhalla. It’s where the honored warriors of the Vikings go when they died on earth.”

  Tepiltzin was confused. “Valhalla? But my god is Aztec. What would this place have to do with him?”

  The boy held up the black mirror. “Do you know what this is?”

  “An obsidian mirror,” Tepiltzin said. “We have many of those back in my city.”

  “Do you know what it represents?”

  Tepiltzin drew in a deep breath. “Yes, Tezcatlipoca. He is the god of the smoking mirror.”

  Steve grinned. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Correct, it looks like you’re getting warmer now.”

  Tepiltzin’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, are you a manifestation of Tezcatlipoca?”

  “Not quite,” the boy said. “I am a real person and
I actually do have his mirror, I think I’ve been attuned to it somehow. This sort of explains why you’re here in Valhalla. It seems that our dreams and thoughts are overlapping.”

  Tepiltzin crossed his arms. “I am a high priest of Xipe Totec. The god of the smoking mirror has nothing to do with me. Why would Tezcatlipoca use you to enter my dream state? What is all of this for?”

  “To give you a message,” Steve said. “Tezcatlipoca is quite angry with you.”

  “Angry with me? Why?”

  Steve looked away for a bit. “He says your colleagues killed his priests and wiped out his followers. As you well know, Tezcatlipoca is a very dangerous god and it was he who created the first sun.”

  Tepiltzin nodded. “Yes, I am aware of our creation stories. I have memorized the entire Tale of the Five Suns by heart. That is part of my responsibilities as high priest. Going back to your message, are you saying Tezcatlipoca is angry at me personally, or is he angry at the entire Aztec people?”

  “At all of you,” Steve said softly. “He has asked me to convey this message that he has been wronged and he will seek redress. It was not right for your people to slaughter his followers and desecrate his temples. He told me he intends to return and to punish you all for your insolence and betrayal.”

  Tepiltzin bit his lip. He had been warned by the avatar of his patron deity that the god of the smoking mirror would attempt to return soon and that they must be vigilant. “Tezcatlipoca may try and gain revenge against us, but we are now a united people. There is no dissension among our ranks and we are protected by the Triple Alliance of Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc and Xipe Totec. Our three patron gods will protect us from the likes of Tezcatlipoca. How can he expect to defeat us when we have the might and the advantage of numbers over his nonexistent power base?”

  The boy pointed a finger at him. “Through you, mate.”

  Tepiltzin took a step backwards and nearly tripped over as he staggered for a bit. His eyes went wide in both shock and surprise. “Me? But I am a loyal priest to Xipe Totec. My uncle himself was chosen as the avatar of the Flayed One! I shall never betray my position as high priest! I would rather die!”

  Steve gave him a blank look. “You will know the power of Tezcatlipoca soon enough. Then you will realize that you gave false allegiance to the Flayed One. After that, you will be given a choice. Yet as you weigh in on these alternatives, you will experience pain and suffering. You will need to endure the crucible of despair. Only after that will your eyes be truly opened.”

  Tepiltzin shook his head violently. “Never! I deny the god of the smoking mirror! Xipe Totec will protect me! I will warn my uncle of this and we will take steps to make sure Tezcatlipoca shall never return!”

  The boy held up the black mirror until it was just above his head. “The god of the smoking mirror has many aspects. He is the night wind, the enemy of both sides, and the possessor of sky and earth. He can assume many forms, has many names and an infinite number of manifestations. Tezcatlipoca cannot be stopped. His mirror is the all seeing, the all knowing, and only he shall foretell the future. Of all the things that shall pass, Tezcatlipoca knows them all, mate.”

  “Nooo!” Tepiltzin shouted as he opened his eyes and sat up from his bed. That was when he realized that he was back in his personal chambers in the palace of the high priests in Teotihuacan.

  His assistant Chipahua had been sitting beside him. The junior acolyte placed a caring hand on Tepiltzin’s chest and gently coaxed the trembling high priest to lie back down on his back. Chipahua stood up as he took out an ice pack from a cooler that had been lying nearby and placed it on Tepiltzin’s forehead.

  Tepiltzin blinked a few times as his breathing started to slow down back to normal. “H-how long have I been out?”

  “Since late morning, High Priest,” Chipahua said. “You collapsed in the manager’s office so we took you back to your quarters here in the temple. You were trashing about and you had a high fever. You were talking in your sleep so we called High Priest Coaxoch back from Tenochtitlan. He arrived this afternoon and he did the dusk ritual in your place. It is now early evening. How are you feeling?”

  Tepiltzin frowned. Coaxoch was Marcelino Morales. So they recalled his enemy back to his city. “Why did you not make some incantations to wake me? Who gave you the order to call Coaxoch back here?”

  “High Priest Eleuia from the temple of Tlaloc came by,” Chipahua said nervously. “He took a look at you and said that you were in a dream trance, it was best not to disturb you. So we went ahead and called the main temple at Tenochtitlan and Avatar Tlazopilli said he would be sending High Priest Coaxoch to take over your duties while you were in your dream state. We were instructed to care for you but not to disturb you.”

  “Yet I am awake now and finished with my dreams, there is no need for Coaxoch to be here any longer. I will resume my position as head priest of Xipe Totec here in this city.”

  Chipahua briefly looked away before answering in a low voice. “B-but the orders from the avatar was clear. Coaxoch would be high priest in this city until further notice. He said even if you awake from the dream, Coaxoch would still be in charge of the temple.”

  Tepiltzin gritted his teeth. “But… what about my position here?”

  “I-I do not know, sir,” Chipahua said. “I was instructed to care for you in this chamber until you recovered. High Priest Coaxoch will be staying at the guest quarters until you were well enough to travel, I was told. Then I was to take a report from you as far as what your dreams meant, and then send my findings back to Tenochtitlan. T-those were my only orders.”

  “You were not told anything else?”

  Chipahua shook his head as he started to rise. “I’m afraid not, High Priest. I will send for a meal and then we can talk about your dreams tomorrow.”

  Tepiltzin placed a hand on his assistant’s arm. “You may stay. I am ready to talk about my dreams right now.”

  Chipahua smiled as he reached over to take a ballpoint pen and a pad of paper from the night table beside the bed. Then he sat down beside him once more. “I was told that when a priest goes into a dream state, that is when their god speaks to them. I had heard stories about Grand Priest Tlazopilli and his dreams. One of my favorites was when the tzitzimitl visited him when he was still living as an ordinary man. I heard they even brought him directly to Mictlan, the underworld where all the dead go to, and he stayed there for a whole season before they brought him back to our world once more.”

  “Yes, those were good stories,” Tepiltzin said. “He told me quite a few more when Xipe Totec would appear to him in a dream. He said that the dreaming of the gods were more important than even the sacrificial rituals, because it was the messages in those dreams that would determine the fate of our people.”

  “I hope he will grace me the honor of being able to hear it from him personally one day,” Chipahua said wistfully.

  Tepiltzin couldn’t help but smile. Despite his ordeals, his assistant always found a way to cheer him up, if only for a short while. “I’m sure you will, Chipahua. You have the makings of a future high priest in Xipe Totec’s temples. All that remains is for you to dream about him.”

  Chipahua grinned at the imagined anticipation until he realized he was holding things up with his small talk. “Okay, sir. I’m sorry but we might as well begin the report then. This way we could finish early and you can get your rest. So tell me, High Priest, did you meet our patron god Xipe Totec in your dream?”

  Tepiltzin laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. “Yes, I was in a dark, smoke-filled land. The next thing I knew, he had appeared in front of me. I immediately fell on my knees in respect.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “Like he always does. He was wearing an old husk that slowly rotted away, piece by piece. The flayed skin near his wrists had completely rotted away and his hands were bare. His exposed hands had red skin. His face I really couldn’t see the full features of, but it had a skin
of gold. I couldn’t see his eyes.”

  Chipahua nodded as he kept writing on the pad. “Did he say anything to you?”

  Tepiltzin nodded as he kept his eyes closed. “Yes, he told me that the god of the smoking mirror would attempt to return. It was my duty to root out his hidden followers… and destroy them.”

  Chipahua gasped as the pen nearly fell from his trembling hands. “Tezcatlipoca! Did Xipe Totec say as to where these followers of the smoking mirror would be at?”

  Tepiltzin paused briefly before answering. “He told me there is a traitor in his own temple. That I must find whoever it is. Then I must flay that traitor and wear his skin until it would naturally flake away as it dried in the sun.”

  Chipahua was writing furiously now. “Did he say who the traitor might be?”

  “No, but he did give me some clues as how to find out and prove it.”

  “What clues were these?”

  Tepiltzin opened his eyes and looked at his assistant. “That I cannot tell you. Xipe Totec told me that it must remain a secret between me and him. If I am to divulge it, then the traitor might be alerted and on guard.”

  Chipahua was shocked. “Huh? I must make a complete report to our Grand Priest back at Tenochtitlan, I am required to include every single detail!”

  “I’m sorry but I cannot give that away.”

  Chipahua had a worried look on his face. “Oh dear, if I am not to include that bit of information and if the avatar finds out, I might be offered as a sacrifice for dishonoring the temple.”

  Tepiltzin placed a reassuring hand on his assistant’s arm once more. “Do not fear. When I uncover the traitor and sacrifice him, I will make an after report to the avatar myself. In it I will mention you as an invaluable ally. I am sure you can become a high priest with that kind of recommendation. And not to mention that Xipe Totec himself will be indebted to you for your unswerving loyalty to him.”