Viperhand - Douglas Niles [131]
"Praises to Zaltec!" crowed Hoxitl from his vantage atop the Great Pyramid. The high priest didn't try to suppress his burst of exultation. Though he could see nothing beyond the veil of darkness and rain that shrouded him, he knew of the great victory his warriors won on this black night. "Long live his almighty name!"
Scouts and priests brought him regular reports, and he heard of the many thousands of warriors who fearlessly hurled themselves at the strangers trapped on the causeway. He no longer feared that they would escape him. Already nearly half of the legionnaires had been delivered into his hands.
Still, he hoped to have them all by morning-to march the entire lot of them up the pyramid, offering their hearts to Zaltec in unworthy penance for the wrongs they had inflicted upon Maztica.
Though all Nexal had united and arisen to throw off the yoke of the invaders' presence, it was those men who wore the crimson brand upon their breasts who had ignited the fires of resistance. Warriors of the Viperhand, the most fanatical of attackers, displayed the greatest courage in the battle, and now led the way for their countrymen's greatest victory.
And these were his warriors, his to command and control and lead!
"They remain trapped before the bridge," reported Kal-licl, who had just climbed the long, rain-slicked stairs to the top of the temple. "They shall pass no farther."
"Splendid!" crowed Hoxitl, waving his fist at the sky. "We shall have them all! And Zaltec will feast until he can eat no more!"
Chitikas hovered outside the Highcave as the companions came up to him. The feathered snake floated between the bodies of two jaguars-unmarked by visible wounds, but undeniably dead. HaUoran didn't even want to know how the snake had killed them.
"Let's go," he said. He and Chitikas started into the cave, while Erix came right behind them, followed by Shatil. Poshtli brought up the rear.
The entrance led to a smooth, wide passageway, obviously excavated from the soft volcanic rock. Still, no evidence of hammer or pick stroke could be seen in the walls or floor.
A stench of noxious gas burst around them. Hal clapped his hand to his face, squinting. Fortunately a blast of fresher air cleared the hot vapor away.
Chitikas floated out in front as they entered a larger cavern, with a high, domed ceiling. A deep crater filled the center of the room, emitting a dull crimson glow that seemed to pulse in varying intensity. They couldn't see inside the pit, but the surging light frightened them, alternately hot and cold. The feathered snake drew himself into a coil.
They're in here. Halloran sensed the snake's message, though Chitikas had not spoken. The Ancient Ones. They are invisible.
The information sent a chill through Halloran's body. He unconsciously tightened his grip on his blade. From the tension in ErixitI'shand, resting on his shoulder, he knew that his wife bad received the same news.
Chitikas hovered before them, his tail touching the ground but his twisting neck and head a full ten feet in the air. His great wings beat slowly, supporting him, as the snake turned his head this way and that, looking about the large chamber.
Suddenly a pale white light flashed in the cave. "Ice-tongue!" shouted Hal, involuntarily flinching backward. At the same time, he noticed that he and Erix weren't even the targets of the attack. Instead, the cone-shaped blast of the wand had struck only one of them.
"Chitikas!" Erix cried. They stared in horror at the feathered snake. Chitikas crashed to the floor before them,-his brittle, suddenly frozen wings snapping into many shards of different colors. The wingless couatl writhed there silently.
At the same time, Hal saw Darien appear on the other side of the glowing fire crater. The wizard, her invisibility spell broken by her attack with Icetongue, regarded the intruders with a faint smile that Halloran found more disfurb-ing