Rodrigo and the others were surprised to see that the box where they were being seated was reserved for the Zacateco elites. In fact, at the back of that box stood Xólotl’s throne, which was red and lined with animal skins, such as deer and bear. The roof of the box was covered with grass, like many of the houses in the area.
“I’m sure they’ll keep us here so we can’t escape if our team loses,” Epona said nervously.
“Don’t worry, Epona. Menrva and the others are going to win,” Rodrigo said with a smile.
“Yes, I’m sure that with Loki’s cleverness, they’ll win super easily,” Ana said, very cheerfully.
Once again, Tania looked at her friend with uncertainty.
Ana, are you really that desperate to be loved? she wondered.
Below Xólotl’s throne was another, smaller throne. The gods assumed it belonged to the human royalty of the Zacatecos. However, almost as soon as they sat down, a man arrived and sat upon that small throne. His skin was painted blue, and he wore a headdress of white and green feathers, a helmet shaped like a bird’s face, and a cloak that appeared to be made of feathers.
“Are you the new gods who have been wandering around since the Innu territories?!” the man asked in the divine tongue, very excited. “How exciting! I have finally met you!”
The man stood to look at Rodrigo and his companions, who had no idea who he was. His divine power was nonexistent, but since he spoke the divine tongue, they assumed he was a minor Zacateco god.
“My name is Huitzilopochtli, and I have wanted to meet you for some time!” the man said as he stood in front of Rodrigo and shook his hand. The young man stood and extended his hand, but the man quickly hugged him.
“It is a pleasure, Lord Hui…” Tania tried to say, but she could not pronounce the god’s name.
“Ah, do not worry. You may call me ‘The Hummingbird of the Left,’” the god said, laughing.
“What is a hummingbird?” Rodrigo asked, embarrassed.
The god pointed to his helmet.
“Do you see the face of this charming bird? It is a hummingbird!” the god said with a smile.
“All right, Lord Hummingbird… is that okay?” Ana asked.
“Of course! It is a pleasure!” the god said.
The gods then introduced themselves, and Huitzilopochtli hugged each of them one by one.
“And are you from this Zacateco kingdom?” Tania asked, intrigued.
Huitzilopochtli placed his hand on the back of his neck and began to laugh.
“No… I ran away from work,” he said with a smile.
“I am not from this region, but I came because I heard you would be participating in a ball game, and I could not miss it,” he added.
Then the god looked behind him and saw some servants waiting for their lord Xólotl.
“Hey, what kind of service is this?” he asked in Nahuatl. “Go bring some cups of peyote and venison for my friends.”
The servants grimaced in annoyance, but accepted the request.
“The peyote in this region is of the finest quality,” Huitzilopochtli said.
“Just do not drink too much, or you will start seeing lights,” he said, and began laughing.
“Lord Hummingbird,” Epona interrupted. “Is it true that the losers will die in this game?”
“Yes, that is the tradition,” Huitzilopochtli said.
“Would there be any way that… you could help us so we are not executed?” Epona continued asking.
“Do not worry. No one will die today,” the god said, giving them a thumbs-up.
Then Xólotl arrived, accompanied by his steward and a retinue of servants. They brought the god in a litter, and when they reached his throne, the servants knelt on the ground so the god could descend.
The Zacateco king looked at Huitzilopochtli, who greeted him with a wave, but Xólotl ignored him with a look of contempt and continued advancing toward his throne.
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“Attention, everyone! Greet your god and king, the great Xólotl!” shouted the Zacateco god’s steward in Zacateco.
The entire audience then stood and bowed their heads while Xólotl raised his hand.
“Esteemed Zacateco people,” Xólotl declaimed at the top of his voice, standing with his hands raised.
“It is a great honor to bring you this Ball Game match between four gods and our four finest players,” he proclaimed.
The people, who had stopped bowing, raised their faces to look at their god and began applauding with joy.
“Today, we shall demonstrate the supremacy of the Zacateco people over the arrogance of the gods!” Xólotl shouted, and the people roared and cried out.
“I don’t think all of that sounded very good,” Huitzilopochtli said to Rodrigo and the others.
“What did he say?” Tania asked.
“Well, basically, Xólotl wants to use this spectacle to mark the racial supremacy of these people,” said the god with the bird helmet.
At that moment, on the playing field, a door in the corner opened, and four very large, powerful men emerged. Three of them had long hair and a red band tied around their foreheads. They wore loincloths, and on their knees and wrists they had a kind of rubber protection. Around their waists, they also wore belts made of the same material. The fourth, who stood behind the other three, wore a very elaborate red headdress, although his clothing was the same as that of his companions.
When the men appeared and began shouting with joy, the people cried out excitedly.
Then a man who appeared to be the referee of the contest, since he wore a vivid emerald-green tunic and a headdress of blue and white feathers, introduced the men by shouting at the top of his lungs in the local language of the region.
“That is the referee, and he says those four men have never lost a ball game in their lives,” Huitzilopochtli told the gods.
“But even so, they are humans, and we are gods,” Anpiel said, intrigued, looking at the bracelets he wore to suppress his divine power.
“Even with these bracelets, I feel we should be able to defeat any human without difficulty,” he said.
“They are humans who awakened their divine power,” Huitzilopochtli said, just as one of Xólotl’s servants brought what the god had requested: peyote and venison. Everything came in ceramic dishes.
The servants gave each of the gods a small cup and a plate so they could eat. Afterward, Huitzilopochtli gave the servant some cacao beans, thanking him with a broad smile. The gods began tasting their food, but they noticed that the peyote was very strong and drank it slowly.
“I had heard of humans awakening their divine power, but I thought only a few could do so,” Ana said, intrigued.
“The Greek gods have armies of humans like that. They call them Heroes and Amazons,” Anpiel said.
“In any case, that is the reason they have never lost,” the hummingbird god continued. “With those abilities, they can very easily defeat any opponent.”
“But looking at it that way, that would be cheating,” Ana said, annoyed.
“Indeed. But overcoming an opponent when everything is stacked against you is what makes it more exciting,” Huitzilopochtli said with a smile as he drank a little peyote.
At that moment, all the stands began booing. It was Menrva, Freyja, Loki, and Tul, emerging from the other side of the stage. While the three goddesses wore green rubber helmets, bracers, belts, kneepads, a loincloth, and bands to cover their breasts, Loki wore a headdress similar to that of the other member of the opposing team, except his headdress was blue.
“This is extremely embarrassing,” Menrva said, utterly mortified as she tried to cover her breasts and genitals, since that clothing left little to the imagination.
“I’m… suffocatin’,” Freyja said, whose band was crushing her enormous breasts.
“But this is the proper game outfit so we can move!” Tul said very cheerfully, giving them a thumbs-up.
“Cheer up!” she shouted excitedly.
“And I,” Loki said, suddenly making a perverse expression.
“AM IN PARADISE!” the god shouted, completely thrilled as he looked at the nearly naked bodies of his companions.
“Pervert,” Freyja snapped at her companion.
Then Menrva and her companions saw that the other team was devouring them with their eyes as well. Whatever they were saying among themselves, it was certainly nothing good.
At that moment, the referee positioned himself on the narrowest part of the court, specifically on the platform holding the right ring.
“Attention, participants. Before we begin, I will explain the rules of the game in case any of you do not know them,” the referee said in Zacateco and began explaining the rules.
They could only use their hips, elbows, and knees to strike the ball.
The ball could not touch the ground. If any player let the ball fall, the opposing team would receive one point.
Players could only bounce the ball three times, either against their body or against the wall. After that, they had to pass the ball to one of their teammates. If they bounced it more than three times, their team would automatically lose possession of the ball, and it would be given to the nearest player on the opposing team.
Punches or kicks against the opposing team were forbidden, though hip checks to steal the ball were permitted. If a player used physical attacks against an opponent, that player would be warned. Three warnings would result in expulsion.
A player who bounced the ball against the wall protected by the opposing team would score two points. At that moment, the ball would return to the center of the court and be taken by the opposing team.
The goalkeepers, who wore headdresses, could use their chest and head to prevent the ball from striking the wall they protected.
Whoever managed to shoot the ball through one of the rings at the center of the court would win the game. But if the ball touched the ring without passing through it, the player risked giving two points to the opposing team.
The first team to score ten points would automatically win the game. Otherwise, the game would continue until the sun set and the ball traveled once more into the abyss.
The losing team would be sacrificed in honor of Xólotl.
Although Tul did not know the Zacateco language, she had already explained the rules of the game to her companions, while Huitzilopochtli explained them to Rodrigo and the other gods in the stands.
The gods of Orniskem swallowed hard upon realizing the dangerous situation they were in.
The referee then raised the ball and threw it into the air so it would fall onto the playing court. Menrva and a player from the opposing team ran toward it to catch it with their elbows, just as the referee shouted:
“Let the game begin!”