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

by John Triptych

  Suddenly, the mirror had begun to sparkle as a black mist began emanating from it. Tyrone shouted at Steve to wait, but the dark vapors quickly surrounded them both before suddenly collapsing in on itself. Within a few seconds, they had both vanished, it was as if the hillside had never been disturbed.

  Xochimanca Causeway

  Patli frowned as he sipped his cup of coffee while staring out the window. The young warrior had been designated as the commander of the night watch guarding the main road towards the center of the capital city of Tenochtitlan. The guard house was a one room shack hastily built beside the causeway. He hated guard duty, for it meant doing nothing since the travelers heading into the city were always cooperative when challenged by the sentries. Even worse was the evening shift, and he had to struggle to stay awake. The coffee he was drinking was stale since the pot hadn’t been cleaned in weeks and the old coffee grounds had pretty much been robbed of their flavor. If only he hadn’t forgotten to take some coffee with him.

  Zipactonal was sitting beside the rickety old table in the middle of the small guardhouse, he was playing some cards when he noticed Patli sighing while looking out towards the darkened, empty street. “Do you want to play a game with us?” he asked.

  Patli turned. Zipactonal was a young recruit, just a year younger than him and he hardly ever complained. The older warrior sitting across from him was Iuitl, a veteran of several campaigns against the Americans. Iuitl hardly said a word and would stare back at them blankly when asked a question. Patli had heard that Iuitl had been resurrected several times already after being killed, and it looked like he had lost any trace of emotions or the memory of his family. Patli hoped he would not turn out like that when he would finally participate in the coming campaign.

  After seeing just how silly playing a game with those two would turn out, Patli just looked away. “No, thank you. I think I would rather stare at an empty road than play a boring card game with the likes of you two.”

  Zipactonal shrugged as he started shuffling the cards again. The commander was right, Iuitl played the game like a robot. “Okay, it’s up to you if—”

  Patli interrupted him. “Shh! I heard something!”

  Zipactonal looked up at him. “What? I don’t hear anything.”

  Patli looked out into the roadway. The sounds of distant drumming and flutes could be heard. As the minutes passed the music became louder. As Patli picked up his macuahuitl from the nearby table, he could see three figures coming up on the road beside them.

  “On the alert, someone’s coming up through the causeway,” Patli said as he carried the Aztec sword with him while he walked out towards the checkpoint.

  Zipactonal rolled his eyes. This was just going to be another routine check. He got up and holstered his pistol before going out of the guardhouse. Iuitl said nothing as he followed. As the three guards stood behind the barrier pole, the figures soon came into view from the other side. When they saw who it was, Patli and Zipactonal’s eyes opened wide in total awe. Only Iuitl’s face remained impassive.

  Coming towards them was a large, light furred coyote that seemed to be walking upright. As the animal came closer, they saw that it had human-like arms, with hands that were playing the flute it was carrying. Right behind the creature were two humans, a pale-skinned, grey haired man and a woman with a scar across her face. The two were wearing heavy robes that covered their bodies and they were banging on small leather drums.

  All three guards instantly knew who it was. It had been fated by the high priests of the empire that the gods would soon return in their actual forms. So far, the Aztec deities only spoke through their avatars, but now an actual, living god had returned to his people in the flesh. Among the Aztec pantheon was the animal god Huehuecoyotl, the old, old coyote. He was the god of music, dance and unbridled sexuality. Now he had suddenly arrived, walking towards them this very minute.

  Patli instantly fell on his knees as the old coyote stood in front of him while playing a tune on its flute. “Hail, Huehuecoyotl! The old, old coyote has returned to us!”

  Huehuecoyotl took the flute from its mouth while his assistants kept on drumming. “I have returned! I give you blessed tidings this evening!”

  Zipactonal quickly fell on his knees as well. Only Iuitl stood upright. “Whatever you command, o’ old coyote, we will obey!”

  “Since I have just returned, I need to go see my brother Huitzilopochtli,” Coyote said. “Can you give me directions to his temple?”

  Patli quickly got up as he manually raised the barrier pole. “I can do better than that, old coyote, I shall escort you to the grand temple myself!”

  The coyote god seemed disinterested, but then quickly nodded and howled at the moon above. “Very well, lead the way, but only you and my followers shall go.”

  Paul Dane smiled to himself as he made a quick glance at Valerie Mendoza while the two of them followed behind the coyote. His drumbeats were off key, but the others didn’t seem to notice. The plan was working beautifully so far. Once they were in the temple, they could deal with the avatar of Huitzilopochtli before facing the avatar of Xipe Totec in another pyramid. It wasn’t a sound strategy, but it was all they had.

  Valerie noticed Paul’s glance as she walked silently with him. It was a good thing those guards hadn't tried to search them. He knew that underneath her robes she had a Heckler & Koch MP5SD6 sub-machinegun. It had a folding stock and a built-in suppressor for silent kills. Her Glock pistol was in her hip holster and that had a suppressor as well. Since her drum had a sling, she had one hand gripping her pistol, while the other continued to pound the drum as the coyote god talked to the guards. Paul could see that she had been tense the whole time while the trickster was talking to the guards, but now she relaxed as they made it through the checkpoint.

  In the dark waters beside the causeway, Patrick Gyle’s pale head bobbed above the waves. His original plan was to take out the guards so that Paul and the others would get through. Now it looked like the alternate plan was working so he used his long, sinewy arms to swim forward as he headed towards the embankment near the temple grounds.

  Temple of Xipe Totec

  A continual wave of defeat and despair coursed through his body. He had lost his title of high priest and he had lost the one person he so cherished in this life. Tepiltzin bawled as the metal shackles on his arms restrained him. Once his treachery was exposed, they had him chained to one of the stone columns in the inner hall of the temple. For what seemed like hours, he was forced to witness his enemy Coaxoch’s ritual dancing while wearing the skin of his flayed brother. His own uncle, the avatar of his god, had betrayed him. Coaxoch was now the designated successor to become the future avatar of Xipe Totec. Tepiltzin wondered what sort of things he could have done differently. If only he could have done this, or have done that, then maybe his brother would still be alive. The unending thoughts of lost possibilities gnawed at his very being. All he wanted to do now was to die.

  The braziers continued to cast a yellowish hue across the great hall as Tlazopilli entered the area once more. Following right behind the avatar was Coaxoch, still wearing Yaotl’s flayed skin as he had vowed to keep wearing it until it dried and naturally flaked away. Coaxoch stood on the stone platform as Tlazopilli made his way to where his nephew was.

  Tepiltzin could see that the avatar was standing right in front of him. A sudden feeling of rage coursed through him, making the chains on his shackles rattle slightly. Even then he knew it was useless, so he averted his tired eyes to look at the ceiling while saying nothing.

  Tlazopilli crossed his arms and frowned. “I am very disappointed in you, Ramon. It has been hours, yet you are still defiant. Your brother is gone because it had to be done. You had to be punished. You should be thanking me for sparing your life since Coaxoch over there wanted to wear your skin as well. You are very, very ungrateful to me, your own uncle.”

  “He was my brother!” Tepiltzin bellowed. “You all hated him, but I lo
ved him! Then you took him away from me! I curse you, uncle! Damn the Aztec Empire! Damn you all!”

  Coaxoch laughed as he started dancing on the stone platform. This was the best day of his life so far. His enemy was defeated and now he had the inside track to become the next avatar. It was all so easy. He was just about to say something that would insult Tepiltzin when he sensed some sort of movement at the corner of his eye. As he turned his head towards the side of the stage, he let out a surprised yelp before jumping off of it.

  A great black cloud had suddenly materialized out of nowhere as it appeared on the far side of the stone platform. It was a swirling mist, like a vertical whirlpool of dark energy. The whole temple began to shake as if an earthquake had hit. Tlazopilli was in complete shock as he just stood there. He had been unable to foresee what was happening. Coaxoch ran over and stood beside him as both men were petrified with fear and awe.

  Less than a minute later, a black man and a young, fair-haired boy suddenly emerged from the swirling portal and stood on top of the stage. Coaxoch cried out in surprise. Tlazopilli placed his hands on his temples to see if his god could sense who the two strangers were.

  Tyrone was still feeling disorientated as his legs wobbled and his head spun. “Whoa, that was some trip.”

  Steve had traveled across worlds before and he instantly adjusted as he looked around. “Blimey, this whole place is bloody mental!”

  Tlazopilli scowled as he slapped Coaxoch’s shoulder. “Infidel intruders! Alert the guards!”

  Coaxoch sprinted towards the doors so he could call for reinforcements. Tlazopilli held out his hand as an invisible force grabbed his wooden staff lying on a far table and brought it towards him. He was an avatar of the Flayed One, and whoever these interlopers were, they would be facing his full wrath as the godlike powers of Xipe Totec coursed through him.

  Temple of Huitzilopochtli

  Patli had led them to the lower entrance of the temple pyramid. As they passed through the main foyer and into the basement holding area, more than a dozen temple guards were there. At first, all the men were speechless as they just stared at the coyote god. Within less than a minute, their training took over and they reverted back to their professional ways.

  The officer of the guard took a step forward and bowed slightly to Coyote. “Huehuecoyotl, news of your return is now being heard across the city. We are now in the process of waking up our temple priests to see if they could rouse the avatar of Huitzilopochtli so that he may see you this late evening. Please bear with us.”

  “Thank you for that,” Coyote said. “Can we go up now towards the main inner hall so we can wait there?”

  The officer was apologetic. “I’m sorry, but your assistants must wait here for they cannot accompany you up in the great hall.”

  “Oh dear,” Coyote said. “That is not convenient for me. I demand that my followers go with me. I … need their drumbeats to concentrate.”

  The officer shook his head. “I am sorry, but we must insist your followers stay here.” He snapped his fingers as two other guards started moving towards them. “We must also search them as a precautionary measure.”

  Paul couldn’t speak Nahuatl so he had a hard time trying to follow the conversation. The moment he saw the guards starting to approach them, he knew the game was up. Just as one of the guards stood in front of him and made a gesture for him to raise his robes, Paul pulled out a Taser gun from beneath his garments and fired it at point blank range. The guard stood stiffly as he started to convulse before falling backwards to the stone floor.

  Valerie instantly drew her suppressed Glock and started firing. The officer and two other guards were shot in the chest and they went down. The other guards in the other side of the holding area instantly took cover, as Valerie grabbed Paul and pushed him until they were both behind a stack of crates. One of the guards drew his macuahuitl sword from the scabbard on his back and charged at Coyote, who instantly leapt out of the way. Another guard drew his pistol and shot a surprised Patli in the chest. Patli fell down into the stone flooring and started to cough up blood. Valerie jumped up and shot another guard in his shoulder before dropping back into cover again.

  With lightning speed, Gyle sprinted through the entrance and began to attack the remaining guards. He would make rapid leaps from one end of the room to the other, using his claws to slice through bare flesh to tear out their innards. One of the guards fired multiple rounds into the air, hoping to hit him as he jumped, but Gyle easily got to him first as he shoved his arm through the hapless man’s chest. Within less than two minutes it was over. The three of them stood over a room full of corpses as Gyle wiped the blood off his arms before standing beside them.

  “Jesus,” Paul said softly as he surveyed the carnage around him. The stench of blood and excrement was potent. “You’re a one man army.”

  “We need to move,” Gyle said tersely. “I’m sure the shots fired were heard all over this place.”

  Valerie nodded as she readied her MP5 sub-machinegun. “Lead the way.”

  It was a long climb up to the upper part of the inner temple. Paul was trying to catch his breath as Gyle and Coyote effortlessly went over a hundred stories up in a mere two minutes. Valerie was in better shape, but she still had a hard time catching up with the leading pair. Every time a priest or a guard would try to descend down the stairs, Gyle would make short work of them. By the time Paul and Valerie got to the main landing of the inner temple, they had to walk over dozens of corpses.

  Gyle and Coyote waited at the sides of the main entrance to the great hall as Paul and Valerie staggered over to them. Paul was breathing heavily, his lungs strained from the marathon climb up the narrow stone steps. Valerie’s shins were aching as she leaned on a wall to steady herself.

  “I just remembered,” Paul said in between breaths. “Legends state that the idol of Huitzilopochtli would talk to his people. They carried the idol from their ancestral lands for a long time and endured many hardships, until the talking statue told them where to build their city, and then the legend of the Aztecs was born. So I think a lot of his power might come from the statue. That means if you come across any idol, destroy it.”

  “Got it,” Gyle said as he stood in front of the wooden double doors. He took a step backwards before kicking it with all his might. The two-inch thick doors instantly buckled and collapsed inwards. The way was open.

  As the four of them ran inside, Ixtli was standing on the middle of the stone platform as he faced them. The avatar of Huitzilopochtli was painted entirely in blue, with a purple feathered headdress on the top of his head. He was holding a small atlatl shaped like a serpent. His eyes were glowing bright orange and he pointed at Coyote. “You are not the true Huehuecoyotl. You are an imposter and you have defiled my temple by bringing these intruders here.”

  Coyote walked forward as he stood close to one of the columns that braced the roof of the great hall. “How do you know that I’m not the real one?”

  Ixtli sneered. “Huehuecoyotl would never betray his brother gods to these infidels!”

  “Maybe I would,” Coyote said. “Especially if I have good reason to do so.”

  Ixtli roared as he made a throwing motion with the atlatl at the trickster. Coyote instantly ducked behind the stone column. A javelin made of pure energy instantly materialized on the spear thrower, was thrown and struck the pillar. The column was instantly shattered in a cloud of dust. Valerie gasped. Another spear made of light began to form on the atlatl that Ixtli carried.

  Gyle knew it was now or never. Like a blur, he sprinted towards the avatar, hoping to cut him in half with his claws before he could bring that weapon to bear on his companions. Just as he was about to get close to Ixtli, something leapt out at him from the other side of the hall and threw him into a stone pillar. The stone column had cracked, but did not give way as Gyle landed sideways into it. As he quickly got up and looked around, a tzitzimitl demon stood just a few feet away from him as it licked t
he blood from its own claws.

  As he rubbed the sides of his torso, Gyle felt a stinging pain. He looked at his hand and it was covered in blood. His blood.

  Temple of Xipe Totec

  The two cascading waves of energy were in opposition as they crashed against each other and shook the temple’s foundations to its very core. Steve was on one knee as his trembling arms could barely keep the black mirror up in front of him. The wall of black energy that surrounded the mirror was slowly dissipating against the furious onslaught of Tlazopilli’s lightning based attacks. The avatar of Xipe Totec was unleashing furious currents of white hot power that continued to expand as the support columns in the middle of the great hall started to buckle. Sensing that victory was soon at hand, Tlazopilli grimaced as he focused his attacks on the boy. Once the protective forces around the mirror were stripped away, he would take great pleasure in personally sacrificing that kid to the Flayed One.

  Steve gritted his teeth as the pain in his arms became unbearable. His whole body was being steadily pushed backwards by the sheer power that was being thrown against him. He made a quick glance at Tyrone, who was huddled behind a support pillar. “You have to do it now! I can’t bloody keep this up!”

  Tyrone threw his arms up and shook his head as the winds caused by the opposing forces were hurling all sorts of dust and materials around them. “I dunno what I’m supposed to do!”

  Steve turned his head and used his chin to gesture at the former high priest being held captive at the far side of the hall. “Get over to him! Free him quickly!”

  Tyrone had to squint his eyes as the gale force winds in the room kept him rooted to the column where he took cover at. He got up and started making his way to where the other man was bound. Tyrone could only make one step at a time as he moved close to the ground so as not to be blown backwards by the concussive forces that swirled around him. The pace was slow and it was like trying to walk across a sea of molasses. It was so tempting to just give up and cower behind one of the far columns, but he had a feeling that if they lost, it would be a fate worse than death for the both of them. He heard the boy scream out in pain but Steve was able to miraculously hold on as Tyrone finally got close to the bound man.