Angel of Death: A Love Story (Omnibus Edition)

Chapter 6-1

Chapter 6

The adobe of refuge

Is thrust into the ground.

It is a pure stem;

Give a blow to crush evil.

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Olmec inscription, c.600 b.c.

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Earth: 208 BC (102 years later)

Olmec City

La Venta, México

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The sun settled upon the horizon like baleful red eye, distorted through the ash-cloud, making it appear as though the streets were bathed in blood. War drums pounded out a rhythmic beat.

Come hither!

Come hither!

Wooden trumpets issued a throaty summons. Runners shouted out:

"The great Ku has called a gathering of the people!"

Citizens poured out into the streets, rumbling about fish-kills and the choking gas which had burped out of Tiltépetl volcano and killed their crops. Upon the great steppe pyramid, Kinich Ahua's priests lit the nightly bonfire that would fortify the sun god's descent into the underworld and guarantee his return.

Talifa, daughter of the king's advisor, the Bu, led her niece and nephew through the crowd while her sister-in-law hurried to catch up.

"Why are we being summoned?" Liyota asked.

"Seg-Yo claims Kinich Ahua sent him a vision," Talifa said.

"Perhaps he has an explanation for the dead fish?" Liyota asked.

Talifa looked towards the mountain which stood sentry over the city. For almost a generation Tiltépetl volcano had slept, but lately, the ground had begun to rumble.

"He probably poisoned them with curare!" Talifa muttered. "Just like he did to Seg-Ayama."

Jaguar-Clan warriors wearing spotted capes ran alongside the people, pounding on doors and driving the inhabitants out into the street. No one was exempt from the Ku's summons. Not the elderly. Not the injured. And especially not the children.

"I have a bad feeling about this—" Liyota clutched her newborn son to her chest. "My husband says the Ku pays far too much heed to the priests."

The previous high priest, Seg-Ayama, had been a close ally of the Feathered Serpent clan. Between him and her father, they'd advised the former king to keep the more bloodthirsty clans in check. But several weeks ago the Ku had died, and then two days ago the old high priest had also died, leaving Talifa's father the sole moderating influence on a young, impressionable new king.

The warriors drove them past two stone heads which guarded the north end of the temple complex, their broad faces and stoic expressions representing the Xi People's strength. Just beyond, Talifa paused at a large, carved rock erected in honor of the Feathered Serpent god.

"Blessed ancestors—" she touched the carving of a feathered man, protected by an enormous serpent "—grant our Ku wisdom that he will listen to our father."

Surrounding the Feathered Serpent god was depicted her ancestors, five species of half-animal, half-human Were-people who had come across the ocean in a bark boat. She ran her fingers over her vaunted ancestors: half-bird, half-porpoise, half-caiman, half-jaguar, and a peculiar hoofed creature which was neither a tapir nor a llama. Her eleven-year-old nephew touched the fierce were-jaguar that had been carved into the stone.

"He looks just like Kele!" Zanpo exclaimed.

"Yes, it does. You and Itzel were born with golden fur like that—" she squeezed her five-year-old niece's hand "—but it rubbed off by the time you were both a year."

All three all glanced back at Liyota's newborn whose tiny body was covered with a silky coat of fine, golden fur. Unlike Zanpo and Itzel, however, Kele had been born with cat-like eyes, furry ears, and a small, but definitive tail. Every now and again, their family birthed a Were-baby, attesting to their status as descendants of the gods.

Speaking of Were-people…

"When will your father be back?" Talifa asked about her elder brother.

"He was due back tonight."

Talifa frowned. Her brother, Votan, had been sent to secure allegiances for the new king. Of all the weeks for Papa to send his Feathered Serpent guard on a diplomatic mission! He had no idea he'd be walking back into a city where the nexus of power had just shifted.

Warriors directed the people towards a chilling monument which predated the building of the city. The Altar of the Children sat upon a raised platform. At its feet, an enormous sunken bonfire highlighted a life-sized statue of a priest, clutching a limp Were-baby. Part-human. Part-animal. Just like Liyota's three day old son.

The statue held the Were-baby over an enormous fire pit. Above the statue, Kinich Ahua's fangs yawned like a great mouth waiting to be fed. The altar was tilted with a groove in the center so the blood would seep down onto the carved stone priest, and then into the pit below.

No living Xi remembered the last sacrifice, but all knew the Jaguar God of the Underworld had an insatiable appetite for blood. For countless generations the Feathered Serpent people had kept worship of Kinich Ahua in check. They’d taught the Xi to grow maize and harvest sap from the rubber tree to create balls for trade, build temples and cities, institute government and laws, sponsor art and sculpture, create a calendar, the concept of the number ‘zero,’ and even invent a form of writing.

But they'd never been able to stamp out worship of Kinich Ahua. Whenever times grew tough, his priests would call upon the Xi to return to the old ways.

The drum-beats increased, pounding hollowed out tree-trunks with a furious tempo so loud and deep the rhythm beat into Talifa's bones. Priests shoved fragrant piñon wood into dozens of bonfires, the smoke casting the entire plaza into an unearthly light. The horns blew out an ominous revelry. And then…

…a shout.

The horns, and the drums, fell silent.

The people turned with pregnant expectation towards the great steppe-pyramid where, only yesterday, they'd given Seg-Ayama's body back to the gods. A man descended from the steps, dressed in a kilt of the finest woven cloth. Across one muscular shoulder, a jaguar-skin had been draped to make a cape, a jaguar he'd purportedly killed himself using nothing but his bare hands. Atop his head, he wore the jaguar's head as a headdress, decorated with quetzal feathers which spewed forth like rays of the sun.

At Seg-Yo's side, a lanky, brown-skinned teenager hurried to catch up. While just as elaborately dressed, the Ku's headdress kept slipping forward and his golden chest-plate hung loosely off his narrow shoulders and slender chest.

"Where's your father?" Liyota whispered.

"I don't know—" Talifa clenched her niece and nephew's hand. "The Ku summoned him this morning for a meeting."

The Ku's warriors split the crowd to make a path between the steppe-pyramid and the altar. Seg-Yo and the young king ascended the low platform which elevated the Altar of the Children above the main plaza. The Ku kneaded his slender fingers. Seg-Yo placed a reassuring hand upon the young king's shoulder.

"My people—" the Ku's voice cracked "—as you know, three days ago our beloved high priest, Seg-Ayama, died. What you don't know is Seg-Ayama was murdered!"

"Murdered?" the Xi People exclaimed.

"Who would do such a thing?"

"When he died," the boy king continued, "he exhibited signs of having ingested poison."

Talifa whispered to Liyota: "See? My father was right!"

"Poison which was given to him by somebody he trusted—" the boy king clasped his hands to his chest. "Somebody that -I- trusted."

Liyota's baby began to whimper.

"Somebody that you all trusted!" the boy-king shouted.

"Who?" the Xi People answered back.

"Bu-Legbe!" the king shouted out Talifa's father's name.

Talifa swayed, certain a snail had crawled into her ear and caused her to hear boy-king's words all wrong. The people roared, some with disbelief, others for vengeance. Shouts came from a low, stucco building as four Jaguar Clan warriors dragged out a nearly-naked man, his hands and feet bound with ropes. At first she thought he was coated with blood, but his entire body had been painted with cinnabar.

"Papa!" she cried out.

Seg-Yo gave a wordless hand-signal. The jaguar-warriors kicked her father in the back of the knees to force him to kneel.

"Legbe, son of Legal, of the Feathered Serpent clan," the boy-king said, his expression solemn. "I have been given incontrovertible evidence that you, and the Feathered Serpent clan, have been conspiring against the People."

"A vision?" Papa asked.

"Yes," the boy-king said.

"Your vision?" Papa asked.

No," the boy-king said. "Kinich Ahua sent it to our new high priest."

Talifa's father bent his face towards the ground.

"Great king!" Papa said. "For twenty years I served your father. His dying wish was that I guide his son to become a good king. Just like his father before him."

The boy-king wavered.

"Seg-Yo?" his voice cracked. "Are you certain you understood the vision?"

Seg-Yo stepped forward like a great, hungry beast. He scanned the people; as malevolent as a serpent. When his eyes fell upon Talifa, they picked up light from the bonfire, making it appear his pupils were filled with fire.

His hands moved like a magician casting a spell.

"This was more than the act of a single man—" his voice came out as a hypnotic hiss "—but the acts of many men, acting over many years. They have so displeased the gods that now Kinich Ahua has sent a series of plagues."

"You lie!" Papa spat. "The fish died because Tiltépetl volcano has become more active!"

Seg-Yo touched Papa's face with a claw-like hand.

"We shall see if what you say is true—" he spoke smoothly, like a serpent mesmerizing its prey "—when Kinich Ahua judges what lives within your heart."

Papa began to tremble.

Talifa gripped her niece and nephew and began to back up.

"We have to go," she said.

"What about grandfather?" Zanpo asked.

"He needs you to find your father."

"I'm scared!" five year old Itzel wept.

Talifa stuck her niece's hand into his hand.

"Find your father on the road back from Tenochtitlán," she said. "If they hurry, he may be able to sway the king."

A jaguar-warrior moved to block their escape. The other warriors moved in to isolate them. Talifa shoved the fierce warrior back.

"Run!" she shrieked.

Zanpo rushed through the crowd, dragging his little sister. The warriors took off after them. Talifa kicked and shrieked to distract the remaining warriors. Liyota's baby began to scream.

The jaguar warriors knocked Talifa to the ground.

"Seg-Yo insists you and your kin bear witness," a particularly brutal warrior said.

Liyota shushed her infant as the warriors grabbed Talifa by the hair. They shoved them, trembling, towards the altar.

Seg-Yo turned towards the people and raised his arms.

"My fellow citizens!" he shouted. "Many years ago, the Feathered Serpent Clan convinced the old king to cease all blood sacrifices. But now, our god grows hungry. He no longer brings the rain. Our animals grow sick and die. And now, the river has killed all the fish."

The people jeered.

"We need to eat!"

"We're not wealthy like the Feathered Serpent clan is!"

"Those things are a natural cycle of the Earth goddess," Papa shouted. "They would happen anyways, whether or not you make sacrifice to the gods!"

A rock flew through the air and hit Papa on the cheek. Rabble-rousers began to chant:

"Death to the traitor!"

"Feed our god!"

"Kinich Ahua will bring prosperity back to our fields!"

Members of the Corn Clan picked up the chant. They were joined by the River, Stone and Tapir Clans. The Feathered Serpent shouted a rebuke. Warriors slipped around the back of the vying factions, carrying war-clubs. The clans began to fight.

"Please?" Papa reached for the king. "Don't do this! Your father understood these blood sacrifices are evil!"

The Ku stared down at his advisor, his expression torn. Seg-Yo whispered something in his ear. The king's expression glazed over. With hardly any expression, the king nodded.

Four jaguar-warriors dragged Papa to his feet.

"If you are innocent," Seg-Yo said, "the jaguar god shall be appeased. But if you are guilty, then we shall satiate Kinich Ahua's anger by feeding him your entire bloodline."

"No!"

The warriors dragged Papa and lay him upon the stone table. They stretched his hands and feet so he lay spread-eagle upon the altar.

"Won't somebody stop this?" Liyota shrieked.

Talifa looked over the crowd, praying her niece and nephew had escaped. There would be no absolution from the gods. Their only hope was if their brother got back in time to save them.

The Ku ascended a platform to sit at Papa's head. The drums beat a terrifying crescendo. Seg-Yo moved towards the bonfire and held up a sacrificial knife.