“Ehécatl, tell me, why do you not join us as a warrior? I can see that you are stronger than we are on this continent,” Rodrigo asked the wind god, who remained hidden inside his totema.
Ana was flying while carrying, with a chain behind her back, the platform created from her dark matter. The members of Orniskem had been traveling that way for an entire day since leaving Chicomóztoc. Since they had departed at night, they had been traveling through the darkness without rest, while Rodrigo, Ana, Epona, and Tania took turns carrying the platform. Fortunately, they were now capable of maintaining their transformations for at least an hour.
“In truth, Lord Rodrigo, I am already nearly a ghost,” Ehécatl answered.
“A ghost? Are you dying?” the young tannin asked, puzzled.
“Indeed. I have reduced the use of my vital energy to the bare minimum, so that I may lead you to Cholollan and fulfill my promise to my master,” the wind god replied.
“It must be very difficult, then, to continue among us,” Rodrigo answered, embarrassed.
Was the loyalty that god held toward his master truly so great? he wondered.
“Once you reach the great pyramid, my mission shall be complete, and I will be able to become a teotonli so that I may continue assisting you,” the wind god said.
“What is a teotonli?” Rodrigo asked, confused.
“It is what you call an idol, though we also use that word to refer to totemas,” Ehécatl replied. “In any case, I shall become an idol so that I may continue supporting you.”
“I appreciate it,” Rodrigo replied, embarrassed. “I don’t know if I deserve all this attention, but thank you.”
Since dawn, the gods had begun to see a far more beautiful landscape than the one they had been seeing since arriving near Chaco. At last, the desert had disappeared, and beneath them stretched vast virgin forests filled with hundreds of animals, such as deer, squirrels, lynxes, as well as hundreds of birds and butterflies of many colors. Great expanses of lakes and waterfalls could be seen, revealing the immense beauty of those fertile lands.
“I would love to go down there,” Tania said as she looked at the enormous pine forests beneath her. “But I think we must continue our march toward those Otomí kingdoms.”
“I am glad you managed to pronounce that word correctly,” Anpiel interrupted mockingly.
“It is not a difficult name to remember!” Tania said, irritated at the angel.
“Actually, only the Toltecs call them that,” Tul added. “They call themselves Hñahñú.”
Tania turned pale as she tried to imitate the sound the rabbit goddess had made, but she simply could not.
“It is very simple, Tania,” Anpiel replied. “Jñajñu,” the angel said.
“Pretty good, yuum Anpiel,” Tul said. “But you gotta make that sound softer.”
Anpiel began practicing the sound while Tania simply chose to ignore them.
“That reminds me, Tul,” Anpiel said to the rabbit goddess. “I saw that you could speak the language Xólotl and Ehécatl spoke.”
“Yes, it’s Nahuatl. The language of the kingdom of Tula,” the rabbit goddess replied.
“Would it be possible for you to teach it to me, so I can communicate more effectively in the territories of the Toltec Empire?” the angel asked.
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“Of course! No problem!” Tul said very happily, giving the angel a puerile smile.
“You have to pat her head when she starts purring like that,” Tania said, as she was still listening to their conversation.
Anpiel stroked the smiling rabbit goddess’s head, and she then began teaching Anpiel Nahuatl.
Forests and gigantic blue mountains could be seen all around. The terrain definitely looked very mountainous in that area, while groups of eagles flew around the gods.
“This region is called Anáhuac,” Tul said. “We’re already in the regions under Toltec cultural influence.”
The sky was beginning to darken with sunset, so the mountains looked black as they watched the sun disappear, giving way to the dark night, though the lower part of the sky still held orange and reddish shades.
“It would be best to rest somewhere around here, Ana!” Menrva shouted to the Irish goddess, whose face already showed exhaustion in her eyes.
“According to the map Ehécatl gave us, there should be a gigantic lake very close to here,” Ana replied. “I just want to reach it before stopping.”
“It’s Lake Texcoco,” Tul said. “Both the Otomí and the Toltecs share that lake.”
The rabbit goddess then leaned out to look at the scenery and saw the range of mountains in the distance.
“Do you see those mountains?” the goddess asked. “Behind them is a great valley, and that huge lake is there,” she said.
At that moment, darkness covered the entire landscape. The gloom was so vast that absolutely nothing could be seen.
“Wow, the darkness in this valley is creepy!” Ana said playfully.
“Iie. This darkness is not natural,” Susanoo said, trying to look toward the scenery everyone was facing, but he could not.
“I… I cannot even see my hands anymore,” Anpiel said, puzzled.
Tul then began to grow nervous.
“No… we’re… under attack,” the goddess said.
“Indeed. There are three creatures approaching us,” Loki said as he stood, trying to sense where the energy came from.
“Ch’úupal Ana! Get down to the surface right now!” Tul shouted nervously.
“But I can’t see where the surface is!” Ana shouted.
“Hurry!” the rabbit goddess screamed, while all the gods invoked their totemas and entered combat mode.
“O… okay,” Ana replied as she tried to land. But before she could do so, her head disappeared from her body, causing the goddess’s body to plummet and the platform she had created to vanish.
However, the gods could only feel Ana’s energy disappear as they began falling toward the ground.
“Ana! Are you okay?!” Tania shouted worriedly, but she received no response.
“Everyone, protect your heads!” Tul shouted in horror. “It’s a bat beast called Camazotz that decapitates its victims!”
“One? I can sense at least three,” Loki said.
The gods crashed violently to the ground. In the deep darkness, it was impossible to see anything at all. Rodrigo, groping blindly, finally touched Ana’s motionless body and felt that her head was not in place.
“Ana! Ana! Answer me!” Rodrigo shouted desperately.
“Rodrigo, are you here?” Epona asked, but at that exact moment, the goddess’s voice went completely silent.
“Epona!” Rodrigo shouted, and when he heard no answer, the god lost his calm and became furious.
“Wait, Rodrigo!” Tania shouted. “First we need to see what the hell is attacking us!”
But Rodrigo began launching his sacred energy in every direction toward the sky, trying to strike the beasts fluttering above them. They could only faintly sense the malignant energies stalking them.
“Idiot! You almost hit me!” Loki shouted furiously.
“Wait,” Freyja shouted to the rest of the team. “I’ve got an idea. Try to survive for a meowment!”
At that moment, a dull blow was heard, followed by an infernal shriek from the impact.
“What happened?” Anpiel asked, shouting.
“I hit one of those creatures!” Tania shouted. “But it tore off my arm!”
“Damn it, this can’t be happening!” Anpiel began shouting desperately.
“Its power… is too high! My arm isn’t regenerating!” Tania roared, but at that very moment, her voice also went silent.
“Ch’úupal Tania! What happened?!” Tul asked nervously.
“Tul! Do not stand up!” Anpiel shouted.
Rodrigo, furious, continued firing a barrage of attacks in every direction. He was so enraged that his tannin transformation began taking over his body.
“Lord Rodrigo, pray calm thyself!” Anpiel shouted.
But at that exact moment, the young tannin’s energy disappeared as well.
“Rodrigo has fallen too!” Loki shouted.
“These creatures… they attacked the strongest members of the group!” Anpiel said nervously.
“I have to… I have to treat everyone!” Tul shouted.
The goddess began running while nervously pulling medicine from her bag.
“Tul! I told you not to stand!” Anpiel shouted. “The power of those creatures will kill you in a single blow!”
But Tul did not listen and tried to find her friends by touch, when she felt the beast’s claws on her neck.
At that moment, the rabbit goddess knew her life had reached its end.