Ok so where was I? Oh yes ugly, flying, spiteful bitches. So we freed Joshua's brother but the harpies spotted us and twelve of them came after us. I wrapped my hand in the chain I held and used to leap out at one of them leaving a slash on her cheek while Wuyi did the same and managed to kill her. Ben shot two out of the air and sent them to their deaths as well before I made my next strike. A harpy scratched my arm but I ignored the burning pain and lept onto one of the harpies jamming my spear into her neck. I made the leap off her falling body and back to the cliff face as she fell. Wuyi and Rhia took out some more and suddenly four of the harpies grabbed Rupper and tried to take off with him. I could not let this happen...I WOULD not let this happen. As the harpies let out an ear shattering scream, I leap to the harpies taking Rupper and sliced one clean through before grabbing a hold of him and pulling the group back to the cliff with another leap.
Kelly meanwhile had been aiming cause she finally let a round lose and getting at least one of them to stop their screeching. At this point Wuyi made some small speech about being a thief and someone's daughter, and launched herself at another harpy. The harpy I hurt earlier finally broke the chain above me and it crashed down on me and the three holding Rupper. Thank the gods, I was able to hold on and got Rupper to a place he could onto the cliff-face. The harpies let loose another ear shattering scream and it felt like my ears were going to burst. As the blood trailed down my nose and from my ears I knew I could not listen to Ben's order to stay put. These things needed to die and needed to die FAST. I felt a rage burning inside me and I made a leap at one of the remaining harpies. I barely landed on her back but I managed to reach down and yank hard on her wings as I called for Cal to give her a clipping. Between my pull and Cal's blinding dive/slash at the joints her wings came off and we both started falling. As I was doing this Wuyi was also falling but managed to shove her spear up a harpy's ass and maneuver her to the cliff face like some sick balloon.
As I was falling Ben apparently dived after me and grabbed me, maneuvering us to the wall-side. We slammed into it with a lot of force and all I remember before blacking out was looking up and seeing the worry in his eyes as I muttered "No me siga." and slipped into blackness.
The next thing I remember is waking up with a massive headache, my head in Ben's lap, as he called my name softly. I smiled weakly at him and said "I did it again didn't I?" Not sure why I said that...I've never done anything like this before...well nothing I remember. Right then Rhia splashed water on my face thinking me still out I guess. The others were discussing a swamp and the map, so I handed it to him while I tried to keep the world from spinning around me. We all made our way back up top as we heard more harpies coming.
"As we moved I once again voiced my concerns about Kathy and now the others to Ben. Every time I brought it up to the group I was ignored and as we traveled I started raking my brain for any Aztec myths I might remember. I couldn't think of any but I was certain she was not who she was claiming to be. We were nearing where the rivers converged so I stopped the group and finally tried voicing my concerns again. After some chatter Joshua's brother told him to stop lying to us. He was Prometheus, the man Zeus imprisoned for giving man fire, making Joshua Epimethius. More chatter, a little more arguing, and we see harpies coming after us. Prometheus tells us the swamp will hide us and we decide to continue the conversation once we reach it.
Once in it we were assaulted by an overwhelming feeling of hatred...but luckily no one succumbed to it. Prometheus let of a groan of pain and finally began to heal. Joshua then tells us the best way to escape is through the river Lethe, past Hypnos and Thanatos...and of by the way? our memories will likely be about Hypnos' feet. We decide to go that way and risk angering Zeus...but hey what he did was dick move anyway.
Mark my words though, something is wrong with Kathy. If I have my way she will not be joining us when we leave.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Death warmed up...I wish
So I almost died (again) today. We finally got our crap together and got on the boat to cross the Misty River. I handed out coins and deliberately left out Kathy as I had already voiced my opinions on her. Chances are great SHE is the great evil we gave up all to lock away...and yet Wuyi is insisting she come with us...and stole a coin to get her passage. We fought over it and when she called me Princess I felt something in me snap, a white hot rage flowed through me and I lunged for her fully intending to tear her heart out. I don't know why that word infuriated me so. I mean I was mad at her sure but that one word made me freak. Anyway Ben and Rhia intervened and calmed me down just as we reached the other side.
What we saw was amazing...spirits packed in like sardines. They mulled about talking and some of the others were freaking out a little. I was sick of this place though, sick of Wuyi, and I just wanted out so I lept of the boat and landed on the shore amidst the ghosts. When the spirits had settles I looked down and found one set of tracks leading West. Rhia was hassling Ben about me again so I called out that I'd found the tracks. Ben smiled at me after looking at them himself and something inside me...I don't know, shifted? At any rate, the ghosts weren't leaving tracks so I figured these had to be Joshua's and set off following the trail.
Suddenly a ghost saw Rupper and came over shouting at him and swinging at him. When it didn't do any good, he called to the other spirits and a tidal wave of ghosts crashed into us. It was one of the creepiest and coldest things I have ever felt (I think.) It was like the deepest cold was seeping into my very bones and I fought to keep my body from shivering and chattering too much, but I couldn't help but move closer to Ben. I decided to focus my energy on the trail to not think about the cold overtaking me. At some point (gods only know how long we had been walking) Ben placed a hand on my shoulder and I reached up to put mine on his and nodded as he moved back to urge the others on...not everyone can focus like Rhia, Ben and I. Suddenly the ghosts cleared and we nearly walked off a cliff.
We were discussing our options for going down when I made a nearly fatal mistake. You see people were hanging from chains and being eaten by harpies. I wanted to see where the tracks went and sent Cal to check it out. With in moments he was climbing up fast with two harpies on his tail! Cal's tougher than most but I had no doubt if they got a hold of him he would die...and so would I, part of that being soul-bound thing. Without hesitation I grabbed my spear and chucked it at the one closest to him, nailing her in the chest. She turned and headed towards us. Then I called it back and spun adding momentum to my next throw...and was nearly too late. The second harpie grabbed Cal and my spear hit her at the same time. She released him and fell but so did Cal! I lunged for the cliffside feeling utterly useless and screamed for him again. Ben caught me fearing I was gonna jump I think. I reached for the dangling chains and squirmed out of his grasp, and began leaping and sliding down the cliffside as fast as I could but Wuyi lept out and caught him first. I climbed to her and took Cal thanking her. During this Ben had lept off the side and went into a freefall...but it didn't really worry me. Something in me said he was fine, so the rest of us moved down to him...where he has found Joshua.
Wuyi promptly starts to accuse and assault Joshua again. I told Rhia to control her girlfriend, to which she sputters for a moment before realizing now was not the time for that and concentrated on pulling back Wuyi. Joshua told us he had grasped a memory that his brother had been thrown over a cliff, left to rot, and he could not just leave him. Rhia pipped up that she had found a memory in the river too but it wasn't one of ours. The brother was dangling in chains and missing his intestine and liver, but otherwise did look like Joshua. Ben sent Wuyi to break open his shackles and SOMEHOW Kathy got it in her head that Wuyi was Rhia's slave and claimed she did see a memory of me...juicy one, whatever that means. Wuyi couldn't break the chains enough so I handed Cal to Ben and climbed up to help laughing at what Kathy said. Wuyi must have thought I was laughing at her and ordered me to help. Knowing she has no sense of humor and replied in Spanish that slaves shouldn't order their betters about earning the usual, tired, "shut up Tal" from Rhia. Wuyi got pissed and asked what language we were speaking and told her if she intended to keep her pet, she should learn to speak Spanish. I reached her and yanked on the chains and they shattered easily in my hands. Unfortunately breaking him free sent the pieces chattering down, alerting harpies to what we were doing. Joshua caught his brother, who's eyes snapped open to reveal dancing flames that illuminate the cliffside telling the harpies exactly where we are...shit.
What we saw was amazing...spirits packed in like sardines. They mulled about talking and some of the others were freaking out a little. I was sick of this place though, sick of Wuyi, and I just wanted out so I lept of the boat and landed on the shore amidst the ghosts. When the spirits had settles I looked down and found one set of tracks leading West. Rhia was hassling Ben about me again so I called out that I'd found the tracks. Ben smiled at me after looking at them himself and something inside me...I don't know, shifted? At any rate, the ghosts weren't leaving tracks so I figured these had to be Joshua's and set off following the trail.
Suddenly a ghost saw Rupper and came over shouting at him and swinging at him. When it didn't do any good, he called to the other spirits and a tidal wave of ghosts crashed into us. It was one of the creepiest and coldest things I have ever felt (I think.) It was like the deepest cold was seeping into my very bones and I fought to keep my body from shivering and chattering too much, but I couldn't help but move closer to Ben. I decided to focus my energy on the trail to not think about the cold overtaking me. At some point (gods only know how long we had been walking) Ben placed a hand on my shoulder and I reached up to put mine on his and nodded as he moved back to urge the others on...not everyone can focus like Rhia, Ben and I. Suddenly the ghosts cleared and we nearly walked off a cliff.
We were discussing our options for going down when I made a nearly fatal mistake. You see people were hanging from chains and being eaten by harpies. I wanted to see where the tracks went and sent Cal to check it out. With in moments he was climbing up fast with two harpies on his tail! Cal's tougher than most but I had no doubt if they got a hold of him he would die...and so would I, part of that being soul-bound thing. Without hesitation I grabbed my spear and chucked it at the one closest to him, nailing her in the chest. She turned and headed towards us. Then I called it back and spun adding momentum to my next throw...and was nearly too late. The second harpie grabbed Cal and my spear hit her at the same time. She released him and fell but so did Cal! I lunged for the cliffside feeling utterly useless and screamed for him again. Ben caught me fearing I was gonna jump I think. I reached for the dangling chains and squirmed out of his grasp, and began leaping and sliding down the cliffside as fast as I could but Wuyi lept out and caught him first. I climbed to her and took Cal thanking her. During this Ben had lept off the side and went into a freefall...but it didn't really worry me. Something in me said he was fine, so the rest of us moved down to him...where he has found Joshua.
Wuyi promptly starts to accuse and assault Joshua again. I told Rhia to control her girlfriend, to which she sputters for a moment before realizing now was not the time for that and concentrated on pulling back Wuyi. Joshua told us he had grasped a memory that his brother had been thrown over a cliff, left to rot, and he could not just leave him. Rhia pipped up that she had found a memory in the river too but it wasn't one of ours. The brother was dangling in chains and missing his intestine and liver, but otherwise did look like Joshua. Ben sent Wuyi to break open his shackles and SOMEHOW Kathy got it in her head that Wuyi was Rhia's slave and claimed she did see a memory of me...juicy one, whatever that means. Wuyi couldn't break the chains enough so I handed Cal to Ben and climbed up to help laughing at what Kathy said. Wuyi must have thought I was laughing at her and ordered me to help. Knowing she has no sense of humor and replied in Spanish that slaves shouldn't order their betters about earning the usual, tired, "shut up Tal" from Rhia. Wuyi got pissed and asked what language we were speaking and told her if she intended to keep her pet, she should learn to speak Spanish. I reached her and yanked on the chains and they shattered easily in my hands. Unfortunately breaking him free sent the pieces chattering down, alerting harpies to what we were doing. Joshua caught his brother, who's eyes snapped open to reveal dancing flames that illuminate the cliffside telling the harpies exactly where we are...shit.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Tehecatl
Tehecatl is not just my hunting buddy, after all who hunts with an eagle right? No Tehecatl, Cal for short, is my Nagual...a literal piece of my soul.
In my heritage, the soul is divided into three parts. The first is the yollotl, the heart, the second is the tonal, the spark of life that was, essentially, what Westerners call the soul, the third is the nagual, the shadow soul, the animal twin. The Nagual is a spirit animal existing somewhere in the world with whom a person shared their very soul.
My father retrieved him from the Overworld and brought him to me at visitation. Cal is the perfect hunter. He is focused and utterly devoid of emotion when there is a need to kill, but he does so with great respect for the lives he takes. He has also suffered from the loss of memory I have, due to him being a part of me. But I get the feeling something bothers him about me and I don't know what...and neither does he. This memory loss thing is a bitch. Hopefully in time we will both remember who we are and what we've been through.
In my heritage, the soul is divided into three parts. The first is the yollotl, the heart, the second is the tonal, the spark of life that was, essentially, what Westerners call the soul, the third is the nagual, the shadow soul, the animal twin. The Nagual is a spirit animal existing somewhere in the world with whom a person shared their very soul.
My father retrieved him from the Overworld and brought him to me at visitation. Cal is the perfect hunter. He is focused and utterly devoid of emotion when there is a need to kill, but he does so with great respect for the lives he takes. He has also suffered from the loss of memory I have, due to him being a part of me. But I get the feeling something bothers him about me and I don't know what...and neither does he. This memory loss thing is a bitch. Hopefully in time we will both remember who we are and what we've been through.
I'm not dead...I'm living-challenged.
Hi. My name is Xamantalpalli and I appear to be living-challenged. More on that in a minute though. So we are in the clearing in front of what is now a sinkhole as the ruins suck into the ground and everyone seems to be marveling at their new found powers. It took me 3 tries to get everyone to realize we have a village to save..I mean come on guys I'm not supposed to be the voice of right and wrong here. Ben and I sent the birds to scout ahead and I was delighted to find he and I both can speak bird. A strange thrill went through me at that. As we moved the birds told us that riders were making off with some villagers and others stayed at the village guarding the rest. I took off at breakneck speed, Wuyi with Rhia and Kelly close behind. Ben decided to stop on the high hill and target the riders with the birds while the rest of us went to the village. We snuck up and took them by surprise, Wuyi and I flipping about the battlefield with our weapons and it was... exhilarating. Kelly hung back and was picking them off and Rhia was fighting with that strange coral of hers while Rupper mangled them with his chain and dog...Rex was thoroughly enjoying himself.
When it seemed the group had them in hand I raced off towards the riders as Cal informed me they were at the shore and something was coming from the Mists. I could hear the others behind me and eventually saw Ben running ahead. I don't know really what happened, I didn't even have time for the thought to enter my head, but I reached out and grabbed him, slinging him onto my back in one smooth motion never breaking stride and he didn't even flinch or question it. We just moved in concert together like it was the most natural thing in the world. As I ran for the shore I saw the boat reach shore and them load Joshua on it and no one else and it shoved off.
As we finally approached the thing on the boat told us to drop our weapons or they'd kill the villagers. I hesitated for a moment and had a moment of clarity settle on me. As ben brought his gun to bear on the things with the villagers I hefted my spear, sent a prayer to my father, and through everything I had into throwing the spear at the talking zombie thing that had our Elder. I could not fail, he was our Elder, I CAN NOT FAIL! I kept chanting in my head as I threw. It sailed with deadly accuracy even as far away as the ship had gotten and knocked the thing into the water as it tore a hole through it's chest. Just as the boat started to disappear out of no where Wuyi with Rhia on her back launched herself at the boat in a massive spring! She landed right in front of Joshua, and we didn't see what went on next. The things holding the villagers stopped and looked unsure of what to do. We heard a splash and Rhia surfaced first...Wuyi finally did but something dragged her under. I felt helpless and unsure of what to do but Kelly jumped in and surfaced with a loss of what her name was.
I summoned my spear to my hand and Wuyi surfaced, all three getting safely to shore as the zombies seemed to suddenly turn off. Kelly rung a bell and I had a sudden realization...we might be in the Greek Underworld...Rhia confirmed we all read as dead but it didn't make sense. I am Aztec and a sudden feeling that if I were to die I would be in Mictalan...certainly not in hades. As we were mulling it over and discussing going to get our things before trying to get out of here, I found a bag of silver coins with a hand grasping wheat on them and the ferryman's boat pulled up...yeah we certainly weren't in Kansas...
When it seemed the group had them in hand I raced off towards the riders as Cal informed me they were at the shore and something was coming from the Mists. I could hear the others behind me and eventually saw Ben running ahead. I don't know really what happened, I didn't even have time for the thought to enter my head, but I reached out and grabbed him, slinging him onto my back in one smooth motion never breaking stride and he didn't even flinch or question it. We just moved in concert together like it was the most natural thing in the world. As I ran for the shore I saw the boat reach shore and them load Joshua on it and no one else and it shoved off.
As we finally approached the thing on the boat told us to drop our weapons or they'd kill the villagers. I hesitated for a moment and had a moment of clarity settle on me. As ben brought his gun to bear on the things with the villagers I hefted my spear, sent a prayer to my father, and through everything I had into throwing the spear at the talking zombie thing that had our Elder. I could not fail, he was our Elder, I CAN NOT FAIL! I kept chanting in my head as I threw. It sailed with deadly accuracy even as far away as the ship had gotten and knocked the thing into the water as it tore a hole through it's chest. Just as the boat started to disappear out of no where Wuyi with Rhia on her back launched herself at the boat in a massive spring! She landed right in front of Joshua, and we didn't see what went on next. The things holding the villagers stopped and looked unsure of what to do. We heard a splash and Rhia surfaced first...Wuyi finally did but something dragged her under. I felt helpless and unsure of what to do but Kelly jumped in and surfaced with a loss of what her name was.
I summoned my spear to my hand and Wuyi surfaced, all three getting safely to shore as the zombies seemed to suddenly turn off. Kelly rung a bell and I had a sudden realization...we might be in the Greek Underworld...Rhia confirmed we all read as dead but it didn't make sense. I am Aztec and a sudden feeling that if I were to die I would be in Mictalan...certainly not in hades. As we were mulling it over and discussing going to get our things before trying to get out of here, I found a bag of silver coins with a hand grasping wheat on them and the ferryman's boat pulled up...yeah we certainly weren't in Kansas...
Through my broken mind
Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong and you like saying "screw you guys! I'm taking my ball and going home!" Yeah that was my day. First we got stuck on water hauling duty because Wuyi just HAD to test her grain-a-pult...and instead of it tossing it OVER the water it tossed it IN the water. So while we rested on the big hill some of the others spotted two things. First there was smoke coming from the way past the village, then Rhia spotted a dead body by tree line of the forest we aren't supposed to enter. After a short discussion we decided to go to the forest...after all we've been told not to.
The body was one of the villagers but it was a tad hard to tell who due to the fact he seemed to be suffering from lack-of-face syndrome...it's common among those that have had their faces gnawed off. We plunged into the forest to find out what did this. That place is seriously creepy...the leaves that fell turned from rich healthy to green, to gold, to withered. It was like watching the seasons pass as they fell. And the trees them self twisted in some sort of sick embrace.
We figured we weren't sure of where to go and once again Rhia spotted the tracks and blood before me...I was really getting pissed at missing this stuff, I'm used to be the hunter after all. Kelly seemed to get scared and I couldn't help but snicker. This was exhilarating, the most exciting thing to happen since whatever event took our memories from us. As I looked about one of the things that struck me though was the lack of animals. The forest should be teeming with them. After more discussion we went on.
Eventually we entered a clearing that looked like it was once a campsite...that had blood and bits of flesh strewn about. The smell was horrid and as I walked around I found sets of human tracks, and sets of goblin-ish tracks, like the ones in the stories...and the flesh was human. The goblin like tracks though had no entrance or exit from the area and my eyes immediately stared scanning the trees. Little grey skinned, green eyed creatures were in the trees around us and they spoke " Yoooouuuu are not to be harmed. Yooouuuu are safe from us. Yoooouuu shall not be gobbled up. Yoooouuu obey the ancient treaties and shall pass these woods. Nooooobody else." Wuyi asked what that meant and got a response "Weeeee are the ones that keep the borders, and gobble up any who stray from the valley of the righteous. Weeeee enjoy your delicious bones, succulent marrow, and weeee have answered one of your three questions. Aassssss the old treaties demand." And that's when people's brains seemed to shut down because Wuyi and Kelly both asked a question to the group. I shouted for them to stop, which got me the inevitable "Why?" and explained you don't know what questions they will answer and charge us for...and just as I finished saying that we heard them snigger at us and say "Yoooouuu should ask us why your village is lying to you these past few months. Why? Beeecauuussseee the treaty is compromised by your lack of knowledge. That is why.... HehehahAHAHAHAhaahaha... THOSE ARE YOUR THREE ANSWERS!" I cursed and just glared at the girls and we heard the creatures leave. At this point we decided to go back home and get some answers.
When we arrived Joshua the Elder was talking to a young boy. Wuyi, in her usual bravado, strode up to Joshua, ignoring the crowd, and proclaimed we had questions. Ben and I brought our buckets to the water trough and went to stand with her. Wuyi asked who the boy was and Joshua explained he came running to our village claiming his own was attacked by dark creatures. Wuyi kept pressing it and then started talking about what we saw. I looked around and saw the growing fear and horror on everyones faces. It seemed to me Joshua was telling the truth that he didn't know about a treaty or what we were talking about, besides our info came from monsters. Wuyi would have none of it though and jabbed a finger in his chest demanding the truth. It was a good thing Rhia grabbed her and pulled her back cause I was close to socking her then. It's one thing to grandstand in front of everyone accusing the village Elder of lying, it's another to lay hands on him. Joshua suggested we go to his home to discuss it and we finally got Wuyi to agree.
Once inside Joshua told us he had found books. Books we had all once owned. He had told three people about them before and they went off into the woods...apparently to be eaten. He said the books had to be fiction and then finally seemed to hear that we had been in the woods and allowed to pass. He dug something out of the couch he sat on, which turned out to be a leather bound book. I felt drawn to it and reached out, taking it from him and flipping through it. It told of a group of six fighting an ancient evil to a standstill, only triumphing by surrendering that which granted them power. The power couldn't be destroyed but was locked in a twisted forest with immortal guardians set over it till the end of time. As I fingered the leather I became more sure that it was made of human skins. Joshua laid out a map, also made of human skin, and showed us where to go. He begged us not to but we all felt a pull to go find out. I think deep down we all knew it was us, but we didn't really feel like voicing it.
So back to the forest we went, keeping mostly to ourselves as we traveled. We reached the ruins marked on the map that was said to hold the answers and the door had a knocker on it that Wuyi just couldn't resist knocking before we could check it out. The drawings on this place seemed so familiar to me it was uncanny...they felt...right, and I couldn't take my eyes off them. One of the drawings on the door came to life and asked who disturbed him. Wuyi answered and he said it was known to him; then asked why we were seeking entrance to the tomb that had been sealed for countless ages. We answered and he replied with a warning about the power within and required a test of wits to get in....what must you add to a bucket of water to make it lighter? We all answered 'hole' and that's what he gave us. The door shattered throwing stone and dust on us. A large chunk hit my face and cut it open and the others seemed to get various cuts and bruises too...except Rhia how somehow managed to avoid it all, not even the dust got on her.
We went in and Rhia clicked on a flashlight to reveal stairs leading down. A faint gust of wind burst up every so often. Her flashlight revealed a green fungus growing on the walls that when the light hit, it would release spores into the air...that make you fall asleep. I passed out and woke up in Wuyi's arms. I pulled out my bandanna and covered my mouth only to hear Kelly screaming. Rhia threw water on her to wake her and it started to bubble and burn her skin. After wiping it off we dashed down the stairs into a room full of the fungus and a wall of water. As we went through all of us but Rhia got a scalding on our skin. It burned like hell for what seemed like an eternity but was only seconds. In this room was six holes glowing with a different color, and a woman in a pool of water. After more discussion we each chose a color and reached in. There was a power that shot through my body like pure ecstasy but it was fleeting and it faded to a dull roar within seconds and I felt an emptiness at that. Suddenly I remembered meeting my father, Huitzilopochtili and him telling me of my new powers...and my duty...so much blood I spilled and so much more still needed. The lights died and the room was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. Rupper apparently could because he came over and helped me get out...cause the place was collapsing on top of us. When we reached the stairs I passed out again (WHAT THE HELL) and awoke in Rupper's arms as a rock hit me.
We all made it out, someone had grabbed the woman from the pool, and checked everyone over. The woman didn't know who she was at first (been there honey) or how she got there. She seemed to at least remember a name though, Kathy Taaleo.
When the day started I never thought it would end with me turning out to be a child of a god, let alone an Aztec god but it all felt right and I was ok with what I did, what I needed to do. If I failed in my duty I would be putting the rest of the world in jeopardy. Now I knew what my little obsideon knife was for...and now I knew Cal was so much more than an eagle...he was me.
The body was one of the villagers but it was a tad hard to tell who due to the fact he seemed to be suffering from lack-of-face syndrome...it's common among those that have had their faces gnawed off. We plunged into the forest to find out what did this. That place is seriously creepy...the leaves that fell turned from rich healthy to green, to gold, to withered. It was like watching the seasons pass as they fell. And the trees them self twisted in some sort of sick embrace.
We figured we weren't sure of where to go and once again Rhia spotted the tracks and blood before me...I was really getting pissed at missing this stuff, I'm used to be the hunter after all. Kelly seemed to get scared and I couldn't help but snicker. This was exhilarating, the most exciting thing to happen since whatever event took our memories from us. As I looked about one of the things that struck me though was the lack of animals. The forest should be teeming with them. After more discussion we went on.
Eventually we entered a clearing that looked like it was once a campsite...that had blood and bits of flesh strewn about. The smell was horrid and as I walked around I found sets of human tracks, and sets of goblin-ish tracks, like the ones in the stories...and the flesh was human. The goblin like tracks though had no entrance or exit from the area and my eyes immediately stared scanning the trees. Little grey skinned, green eyed creatures were in the trees around us and they spoke " Yoooouuuu are not to be harmed. Yooouuuu are safe from us. Yoooouuu shall not be gobbled up. Yoooouuu obey the ancient treaties and shall pass these woods. Nooooobody else." Wuyi asked what that meant and got a response "Weeeee are the ones that keep the borders, and gobble up any who stray from the valley of the righteous. Weeeee enjoy your delicious bones, succulent marrow, and weeee have answered one of your three questions. Aassssss the old treaties demand." And that's when people's brains seemed to shut down because Wuyi and Kelly both asked a question to the group. I shouted for them to stop, which got me the inevitable "Why?" and explained you don't know what questions they will answer and charge us for...and just as I finished saying that we heard them snigger at us and say "Yoooouuu should ask us why your village is lying to you these past few months. Why? Beeecauuussseee the treaty is compromised by your lack of knowledge. That is why.... HehehahAHAHAHAhaahaha... THOSE ARE YOUR THREE ANSWERS!" I cursed and just glared at the girls and we heard the creatures leave. At this point we decided to go back home and get some answers.
When we arrived Joshua the Elder was talking to a young boy. Wuyi, in her usual bravado, strode up to Joshua, ignoring the crowd, and proclaimed we had questions. Ben and I brought our buckets to the water trough and went to stand with her. Wuyi asked who the boy was and Joshua explained he came running to our village claiming his own was attacked by dark creatures. Wuyi kept pressing it and then started talking about what we saw. I looked around and saw the growing fear and horror on everyones faces. It seemed to me Joshua was telling the truth that he didn't know about a treaty or what we were talking about, besides our info came from monsters. Wuyi would have none of it though and jabbed a finger in his chest demanding the truth. It was a good thing Rhia grabbed her and pulled her back cause I was close to socking her then. It's one thing to grandstand in front of everyone accusing the village Elder of lying, it's another to lay hands on him. Joshua suggested we go to his home to discuss it and we finally got Wuyi to agree.
Once inside Joshua told us he had found books. Books we had all once owned. He had told three people about them before and they went off into the woods...apparently to be eaten. He said the books had to be fiction and then finally seemed to hear that we had been in the woods and allowed to pass. He dug something out of the couch he sat on, which turned out to be a leather bound book. I felt drawn to it and reached out, taking it from him and flipping through it. It told of a group of six fighting an ancient evil to a standstill, only triumphing by surrendering that which granted them power. The power couldn't be destroyed but was locked in a twisted forest with immortal guardians set over it till the end of time. As I fingered the leather I became more sure that it was made of human skins. Joshua laid out a map, also made of human skin, and showed us where to go. He begged us not to but we all felt a pull to go find out. I think deep down we all knew it was us, but we didn't really feel like voicing it.
So back to the forest we went, keeping mostly to ourselves as we traveled. We reached the ruins marked on the map that was said to hold the answers and the door had a knocker on it that Wuyi just couldn't resist knocking before we could check it out. The drawings on this place seemed so familiar to me it was uncanny...they felt...right, and I couldn't take my eyes off them. One of the drawings on the door came to life and asked who disturbed him. Wuyi answered and he said it was known to him; then asked why we were seeking entrance to the tomb that had been sealed for countless ages. We answered and he replied with a warning about the power within and required a test of wits to get in....what must you add to a bucket of water to make it lighter? We all answered 'hole' and that's what he gave us. The door shattered throwing stone and dust on us. A large chunk hit my face and cut it open and the others seemed to get various cuts and bruises too...except Rhia how somehow managed to avoid it all, not even the dust got on her.
We went in and Rhia clicked on a flashlight to reveal stairs leading down. A faint gust of wind burst up every so often. Her flashlight revealed a green fungus growing on the walls that when the light hit, it would release spores into the air...that make you fall asleep. I passed out and woke up in Wuyi's arms. I pulled out my bandanna and covered my mouth only to hear Kelly screaming. Rhia threw water on her to wake her and it started to bubble and burn her skin. After wiping it off we dashed down the stairs into a room full of the fungus and a wall of water. As we went through all of us but Rhia got a scalding on our skin. It burned like hell for what seemed like an eternity but was only seconds. In this room was six holes glowing with a different color, and a woman in a pool of water. After more discussion we each chose a color and reached in. There was a power that shot through my body like pure ecstasy but it was fleeting and it faded to a dull roar within seconds and I felt an emptiness at that. Suddenly I remembered meeting my father, Huitzilopochtili and him telling me of my new powers...and my duty...so much blood I spilled and so much more still needed. The lights died and the room was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. Rupper apparently could because he came over and helped me get out...cause the place was collapsing on top of us. When we reached the stairs I passed out again (WHAT THE HELL) and awoke in Rupper's arms as a rock hit me.
We all made it out, someone had grabbed the woman from the pool, and checked everyone over. The woman didn't know who she was at first (been there honey) or how she got there. She seemed to at least remember a name though, Kathy Taaleo.
When the day started I never thought it would end with me turning out to be a child of a god, let alone an Aztec god but it all felt right and I was ok with what I did, what I needed to do. If I failed in my duty I would be putting the rest of the world in jeopardy. Now I knew what my little obsideon knife was for...and now I knew Cal was so much more than an eagle...he was me.
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