Feathered Dragon - Douglas Niles [60]
He sat-fell, actually-beside her, and she laughed gently. When he tried to explain, she placed a hand to his lips to silence him.
For a long time, they sat together, watching the stars wheel gracefully across the heavens. A feeling of well-being encircled them in hope and promise, and they did nothing to break the spell.
“Our lives have changed these last few days,” Erixitl said softly, “We start on anew path-a long journey across the face of the True World.”
Halloran held her tightly He wanted to remind her that they had new allies now, and new prospects for success. They were together, they would have a child… A million thoughts raced through his mind.
For now, he remained silent, sensing that she knew these things and shared his contentment. Challenges and hardships awaited them, they both knew, and the success of their mission was far from guaranteed.
But for now, for tonight at least, all would be well with the world.
* * * * *
Hoxitl groaned in weariness, a bleak sense of exhaustion he had never before suffered. The fight against the humans had been savage, so close to victory! But ultimately so futile.
How he had missed the trolls! If only he had kept those savage creatures alongside him, instead of sending them after the woman! The monsters had returned to his camp now, with their own tale of failure, and a great lethargy settled over all the beasts of the Viperhand.
Somehow, although the flush of victory fed him and his creatures with energy, the frustrations of defeat sapped their strength in equal measure.
He considered the effort needed to make another attack against the position defended by legionnaires, Kultakans, and Nexalans. He could plainly see the breastworks on the ridge above him, and once again weariness coursed through his body.
Instead, Hoxitl squatted on the ground and tried to focus on a plan. His army remained strong, still savage and bloodthirsty.
Then, deep within Hoxitl’s awareness, Zaltec called to him again. The god of war had but one true enemy, and that enemy had been deflected but not destroyed. The Plumed One could not return to Tewahca. The altar had been destroyed, and this was the scene of his defeat.
But where else could he go? Nexal? That ruined metropolis, heartland of Zaltec’s power, certainly could not beckon
one such as the! Yet, still, Nexal had hosted temples to Qotal and the other gods as well as to Zaltec. A great fear began to grow in Hoxitl, a fear that even as he stood here, wasting his time in battle with these humans, his true enemy could be taking shape behind him, sneaking his way into Nexal itself.
Zaltec’s summons finally stirred Hoxitl’s beast body, and the cleric felt the threat foreseen by his god. Roughly the monster rose to his full height, still stiff and battered from his epic struggle. Zaltec, he knew, would gather his strength for the battle with Qotal that was still to come. Hoxitl, meanwhile, mustered his force. They would turn from the humans before them.
Instead, they would return to Nexal, and there they would await the command of Zaltec.
* * * * *
“My master! I come in answer to your summons!” Gultec bowed deeply before Zochimaloc, relieved to let the peace and serenity of Tulom-Itzi once again wash over him.
“Ah, my brave warrior; said the teacher affectionately. “I wish it were not so, but now we have need of your skill. You must lead our people in war.”
“With the scourge that mars the jungle?” Gultec asked. “I have seen its spoor, but I do not understand its nature.”
“Yes, this is the enemy, arisen from the bowels of the earth and now spreading its stain across all the lands of Far Payit.”
As always, Zochimaloc was a mountain of solidity in the world. Gultec felt a peculiar joy in his heart just to be with the old teacher again. His words, the warrior thought, offered the wisdom of the ages.
The pair spoke in one of the gardens of Tulom-Itzi, beside a fountain that sent shimmering rainbows of light dancing in the sun. Yet that beauty fell away, forgotten in the horrors