“Unfortunately, no one may enter Tollan,” said one of the guards protecting the sacred precinct of the Toltec gods.
Several Toltec soldiers guarded a gigantic red wall that led to the highest areas of the city of Tula. Within this zone, filled with pyramid-shaped temples and sumptuous palaces, stood the entrance to Tollan, the part of the city where the Toltec gods lived. However, to enter this section, permission from Tezcatlipoca was required.
The soldiers, who wore blue headdresses with white feathers and a kind of bronze eagle covering their breastplates and red skirts, blocked the gods’ path with their enormous obsidian spears.
“Do you not know who I am?” the goddess Ixchel asked irritably in Nahuatl, the language of the people of Tula.
“We know. You are the queen of the moon from the kingdom of Mayapán,” the soldier replied.
“And despite being supposed allies, you deny me and the other neighboring kingdoms of your empire entry to visit your new Tezcatlipoca?” the lunar goddess asked angrily.
“As we have told you, entry is forbidden to everyone,” the guard answered. “Those are the orders of the tlacatecutli Itzpapálotl.”
“Is Itzpapálotl not a Chichimeca goddess?” asked Otontecutli, who stood beside the goddess Ixchel along with the other four gods of the neighboring kingdoms.
“Why is a Chichimeca goddess in the government of this empire?” Tajín asked, puzzled.
But the guard did not answer.
“Listen to me, you worthless piece of shit,” Ixchel said furiously. “Take us to that barbarian immediately, or we will be forced to use strength.”
At that, the goddess showed the palm of her right hand and placed it in front of the soldier’s face.
“Wait, Ixchel! If we attack them, we will be dragged into a clear declaration of war!” Otontecutli said nervously.
“I don’t give a fuck!” the Maya lunar goddess replied. “They killed my people, and that was already a declaration of war.”
The guard, however, neither moved nor grew nervous. All the other warriors kept their serious expressions, completely unmoved before the gods.
“Do you not fear death?” Ixchel asked. “Do you know I can blow your head off in an instant?”
But the guard did not respond to the Maya goddess’s threat.
All the gods were nervous, except Mixcóatl, who showed no emotion.
“I think, Ixchel… you should think this through. If you kill him… how are we going to get out of here alive?” Cuerauáperi asked nervously.
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The Maya goddess did not answer. Her hand began to glow with white energy, while the soldier remained firm and showed no emotion.
“Ixchel, Ixchel. Still got that fiery temper of yours, don’t ya?” a sensual female voice was heard from atop Tollan’s high walls.
Ixchel extinguished the energy in her hand as all the gods turned to look up at the sky. There, lying atop the walls, was a woman wearing a skull-shaped mask. She looked down at the gods while resting her head on both hands.
“Itzpapálotl,” Ixchel said irritably, just as the mysterious woman stood and jumped down to where the gods were.
The Chichimeca queen’s movement was so fast that, before the Maya lunar goddess could realize it, Itzpapálotl was already standing in front of her, removing the hand with which she had been threatening the guard.
“These ain’t Toltec soldiers. They’re loyal Caxcan warriors, and they don’t fear dyin’,” said the current tlacatecutli of Tollan.
Although the woman’s face could not be seen, the gods could sense a diabolical smile behind that horrible mask.
The goddess had beautiful black hair with red streaks, and brown skin painted with white and red lines. She wore a yellow headdress from which black-and-white feathers emerged.
She also wore a dress in black with red, blue, and white colors, which reached just above her knees. A circular mantle covered her shoulders, the same color as her dress, adorned with a golden mirror at its center.
Something peculiar about Itzpapálotl was that her fingernails and toenails were quite long, like the claws of a wild animal. In addition, her forearms and calves were covered with jaguar pelts.
“I do not want to imagine what kind of torture you must subject your own soldiers to so they do not fear death,” Ixchel replied defiantly, while the other five gods took alert stances.
At that moment, Itzpapálotl began to laugh.
“What in tarnation’s gotten into the six of y’all?” asked the Chichimeca goddess. “Can’t y’all see I came down here to stop somethin’ stupid from turnin’ into a war?”
“You already set the conditions for war with what happened to the people from our embassies,” Ixchel replied angrily.
“Yes, that is what we came here to discuss,” Tajín added, annoyed.
“IN CASE YOU HAVE NOT NOTICED, ITZPAPÁLOTL, THERE ARE SIX OF US AND ONLY ONE OF YOU!” Tlatlauhaqui shouted threateningly.
“We are not afraid of you,” Cuerauáperi said furiously as well.
The atmosphere remained tense. Ixchel pulled her arm free from Itzpapálotl’s horrible hand with a gesture of disdain. The goddess’s claw-like nails had dug into her forearm, but the Maya goddess’s ichor healed the wound quickly.
“Could everyone… please relax?” Otontecutli said nervously.
But both Ixchel and Itzpapálotl ignored him. The two goddesses continued staring at each other defiantly, until the Chichimeca goddess shifted into a more relaxed posture.
“All right, y’all win,” said the tlacatecutli of Tollan. “Come on into Tollan, and let’s talk about whatever it is y’all came to say.”
“I DO NOT THINK WE ARE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO FALL INTO AN OBVIOUS AMBUSH!” Tlatlauhaqui added sarcastically.
“Oh, come now. If I wanted y’all dead, I’d have done it before any of ya even noticed,” the Chichimeca goddess mocked, turning her back on them and instructing the soldiers to let the gods pass.
“In the end, this is what we came here for,” Mixcóatl said seriously, being the first to take a step and follow the Chichimeca goddess. The others realized they had no alternative and accepted.
Tollan was spectacular, surrounded by enormous red-and-white pyramid temples supported by columns carved with realistic figures of soldiers wearing their characteristic Toltec armor. The scent of maguey and honey perfumed the sacred streets of the divine precinct. The streets were completely abandoned, and not a single person walked through the area.
A group of soldiers carried a litter, where the goddess Itzpapálotl was expected to sit. The men knelt so the goddess could take her place upon the mobile throne.
“To Tezcatlipoca’s palace,” the goddess said.
The men rose and lifted the sumptuous chair, lined with jaguar skin and red feathers, then advanced ceremonially toward the largest temple on the esplanade. Meanwhile, the six gods followed the goddess with puzzled expressions.
“As if walking or flying could tire you,” Ixchel thought inwardly.