Feathered Dragon - Douglas Niles [56]
“During our walk through the paths of the dead,” said Erixitl, softly, “the spirits have bestowed gifts upon us.” “In exchange for your token,” said Halloran quietly “And the trolls didn’t come after us.” Daggrande added this important point.
They heard a clatter of stones, and Halloran instinctively reached for his sword, but soon Jhatli slid into view, rapidly descending the steep slope of the gully
“I saw Tewahca!” he cried. “That way, to the south! And look! I’ve got a fresh supply of arrows!” Jhatli pulled forth a slender shaft, narrower than Daggrande’s, with a thin sliver of a head. His own quiver held several dozen of the weapons. The keen tips, like the dwarf’s, were formed from shiny black stone, thinner and sharper than obsidian.
For several moments, they absorbed the news, none of them venturing a suggestion to move. Finally Halloran felt the need to lake some action, at least to plan.
“Where do we go from here?” he asked. “Back to the Nexalans?”
Erixitl gently pulled away from him and walked a few feet along the floor of the ravine. She turned to face the group and sighed slowly before speaking.
“Zaltec has barred Qotal’s entry here. My cloak, which opened the path, is lost. There is no hope of Qotal returning to the True World through this portal.”
“Indeed,” agreed Lotil as Coton nodded silently.
“We cannot give up!” Jhatli barked. He brandished his bow, one of the new arrows nocked. “If not here, then somewhere else!”
“Precisely!” Erix agreed. “When the god spoke to us, he said that this was one of but two places in the world where he could seek to return.”
“Great. He didn’t tell us where the other one is, as I recall,” interjected Daggrande.
“He didn’t have to. I know where it is,” Erixitl replied Only
Colon’s face brightened at her words, though none of the others noticed the cleric’s delight. “Where would he come, if not to the city of the gods?”
asked Jhatli.
“ID the place that was built in anticipation of his return, the place from which he left Maztica so many lifetimes ago!” “Twin Visages!” exclaimed Halloran, suddenly understanding. He well remembered the two huge faces carved in the coastal cliffs of Payit. It had been the first landfall of the Golden Legion along the shores of Maztica, and even at the time, it had seemed a place of great sacred tradition.
“Yes, of course,” Lotil agreed. “Many of the stories predicted that Qotal would one day return there. But how can he, since he lacks the power to overcome Zaltec?”
“We can help him!” Erix said firmly “We can hold Zaltec at bay long enough for Qotal to enter Maztica and reach his full strength. Then he can defeat the god of war and regain his former station.”
“Let us go!” Jhatli cried. “We will fight our way there if we have to! I will fight at your side, sister!”
She smiled gently “1 know you will, my friend, and I am grateful to you. I know that all of you will, but it will not be easy”
“How far is it to Twin Visages?” asked Daggrande. He had seen the place-all the legionnaires had-when they had made landfall there. But he had marched and fought and fled very far since then.
“I don’t know,” Erixitl replied bluntly “It will take us a month, perhaps more, just to cross the desert. Then we will reach the lands of Far Payit. Only when we have crossed those thick jungles will we reach the Payit country and finally Twin Visages.”
Erixitl looked at her father, at all of her companions, frankly. “J was too hasty to condemn Qotal for a thing he could not control. I didn’t understand that a god, like a mortal. can be constrained by factors beyond his power.” She lowered her eyes, then looked up again before continuing, “And perhaps 1 have been forced to admit that we need gods-or a god, in any event. We have all seen the threat
presented by Zaltec. Qotal, it seems, is the best hope we have.”
Colon rose stiffly from the boulder. He crossed to the woman and took her hands in his, looking steadily into her eyes. Erixitl met the silent cleric’s gaze for a moment, them collapsed, sobbing, into his