The rabbit goddess went down and looked at Loki, who still wore his arrogant expression.
“Unbelievable that your mother let you come out to play,” the god said cynically.
“Don’t call her like that. She doesn’t like it,” the rabbit goddess replied angrily.
“Well then, little Tul,” Loki continued. “Our mission is to make that creature stick its head out, so you can hit it with that technique Susanoo mentioned you used.”
“Will it be enough to beat it?” Tul asked.
“That’s why the two of us are here, ain’t it?” the Norse god replied. “To break that damn barrier once and for all.”
Then the god discreetly pointed at the Toltec gods.
“I don’t know if they expect this creature to kill us, but I’m sure they picked the strongest beast that so-called king of Tula unleashed,” Loki said.
“Do you mean that if we defeat this beast, they’ll know they can’t beat us?” Tul asked.
“Exactly, little Tul,” the dark god replied.
“As an old friend of mine used to say: ‘The harder the trial, the more triumphant our victory,’” Loki said, repeating the same words Thor used to say.
“I’m ready!” Tul shouted excitedly.
“That’s what I’m talking about, little Tul!” Loki said, and he began flying through the skies.
That bastard Loki is using his illusions to pretend he can fly, and that way he’s fooling those two idiots. Not bad, Tania thought when she realized Loki’s trick.
The dark god then began firing stalagmites into the earth at tremendous speed. The stalagmites stabbed into the ground and remained upright like towers.
Finally, the Norse god finished planting the last one. The stalagmites outlined the shape of the beast beneath the earth. The creature was far larger than the gigantic city of Xochicalco.
“Little Tul!” Loki shouted. “Whatever happens, you must not cross the boundaries I traced with my ice needles, or one of those mouths will try to devour you!”
“All right! Got it, yuum Loki!” Tul shouted.
“That man is impressive. He has traced Tlaltecuhtli’s form,” Tláloc said, surprised.
I must admit he is right, Tania thought. Determining the shape of this beast using only his illusions is exceptional.
Loki then raised his hands toward the sky and said:
“All right, let’s begin.”
Then he raised his power and shouted:
“Hugur sprengja (Mindblast)!”
Apparently, nothing happened, but Loki kept smiling.
“What the hell did you do, Loki?” Tania asked.
“I attacked this monster’s mind,” Loki replied. “So right now, it oughta be dumber, and its reflexes should’ve gone down.”
At that moment, Tania remembered that Loki had used that technique to destroy the minds of the monsters that had attacked them in Adlivun.
If he had been at full power, he surely would have destroyed this monster’s brain, she thought.
“Good. Now comes the complicated part,” Loki said, and made three thousand two hundred thirty-nine stalagmites appear. That was a superhuman effort for him while inside the barrier. Even more so because he was making his illusory clones carry them.
The clones positioned themselves over the outline of the gigantic beast, just as the horrible monster opened its thousands of mouths to try to devour Loki’s illusions.
The Norse god shouted:
“Hrímþursar kæsia (Spear of the Ice Giants)!”
All the clones threw the enormous ice spears at the monster’s many mouths. However, the attack did not strike any of the mouths, but landed beside each one. At that moment, the monster stopped its attack and began howling in pain.
“Did that man… know Tlaltecuhtli’s body was covered in eyes?” Tláloc asked in surprise.
No, he did not know, Tania thought. That man determined the line of sight for the beast’s attack… damn bastard.
At that moment, the earth began to tremble and crack. Loki turned to Tul and shouted: “Little Tul, prepare your attack now!”
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“All right, yuum Loki,” the rabbit goddess said, and threw her bag onto the ground. Tul began moving her hands hypnotically.
“Kaansaj Ixchel, please lend me your power again so I can use your technique once more,” the rabbit goddess said in an almost hypnotic tone, while she continued moving her hands and a beautiful moon appeared behind her.
The grotesque creature began emerging from the earth. It was a horrible female demon standing on the ground on its four hideous limbs. Its color was yellowish, and it had long, curly reddish hair. Instead of a mouth, it had a powerful jaw, and a gigantic tongue came out of it. It could be known that it was female because it had two enormous, sagging breasts, like those of an old woman. Its body was covered in eyes and mouths, and bloody skulls protruded from its elbows and knees.
Behind Tul, red and amber drawings began to appear. The image of a white moon illuminating red glyphs could be seen, while men bowed in worship before that phenomenon. From the moon, a rabbit appeared, granting light to the men who worshiped it.
Then Tul raised her right hand and shouted:
“Kili’ich uj léets (Sacred radiance of the moon)!”
A glyph representing the moon in the ancient Maya language appeared on the rabbit goddess’s hand. The moon behind Tul disintegrated, and like a whirlpool, its light illuminated the Maya goddess’s sacred glyph, generating an immensely powerful beam that struck the horrible monster directly in the face.
Tul, you combined water with sacred power, and yet you still always consider yourself weak, Tania thought. That is an extremely advanced technique.
“No, that power will not be enough to defeat it!” Tláloc shouted as he watched Tul fire her enormous white beam.
When Tania heard Tláloc’s words, she quickly began shouting: “You can do it, Tul! You are an incredible woman, and I trust you completely!”
Tul’s face twisted in pain as she continued firing her powerful attack, though the beast seemed only irritated by that sacred assault.
All my effort… I have to break the barrier, Tul thought while continuing to fire her attack.
Then she felt a hand touch hers. The goddess turned and saw Loki standing at her side.
“Don’t think I’m gonna leave you alone, little Tul,” Loki said with a smile, squeezing the rabbit goddess’s hand.
“We’re breaking the barrier right here,” the god said, then shouted at the top of his lungs:
“Fimbul-vetr (Terrible Snowstorm)!”
The terrible creature began screaming in pain as it felt the combined attack of Loki and Tul. But slowly, it began advancing toward the two gods, starting to swing its tongue, ready to attack. The horrible demon had the city of Xochicalco behind its back.
“Are you not going to help her?” Xipe Tótec asked Tania, but she refused. The goddess crossed her arms and watched the fight closely.
Trust between us is another virtue of Tawa, Tul. I believe in you completely, Tania thought.
“Then she is going to die,” Xipe Tótec said calmly, drawing a sarcastic smile.
“It seems you made a mistake by sending gods as weak as those two to fight,” he said.
Tania began to laugh quietly.
“You’re just an ignorant ape,” the goddess replied defiantly. The act enraged the Toltec god, but Tláloc calmed him again.
The monster Tlaltecuhtli swung its grotesque tongue and struck Loki and Tul with it, but the gods resisted the attack, continuing to fire their beam at the terrible beast.
“Don’t give up, little Tul!” Loki shouted.
“I won’t move even one centimeter!” the rabbit goddess also shouted.
Tania was a bundle of nerves, but she pretended to be certain of her companions’ victory. She wanted to go and kill the creature herself, but she could not. She had to trust Tul and Loki.
The monster continued striking the gods with its tongue, which was like a feline’s tongue, covered in countless spines. The gods’ skin stuck to it, and it began tearing pieces from their bodies. Loki had already lost his right arm and part of his face. Tul had lost her left leg and one ear.
Tawa, please, how much longer? Tania prayed, crying inside herself.
The Toltec gods saw her and began mocking her.
“Tul, Loki, don’t give up!” Tania shouted at the top of her lungs while the creature continued punishing the gods.
“I’m… almost dead, yuum,” Tul said, her voice nearly extinguished as her energy began to fade, but Loki held her up with the arm he was using to attack.
“Little Tul. Dispel the doubts inside you,” Loki said. “Up there, your mother is sure that you can do it.”
Tul smiled and turned to look at the Norse god.
“And I believe in you too, yuum,” she said.
At that moment, an idea crossed Tania’s mind. Tul and Loki were the ones who most openly displayed their problems with hatred. Tul felt hatred toward the Toltecs, and Loki seemed never to apologize for the crimes he had committed.
Could that be preventing Tawa’s light from reaching them? she wondered.
“Tul, dispel the negative thoughts you have in your mind about the Toltecs!” Tania shouted to the rabbit goddess.
“Loki, I know you made mistakes in the past, but I can see that you try to become better every day!” Tania shouted again to the Norse god.
“I… wanna help everyone, even if they’re Toltecs,” Tul said with an expression full of pain.
“And I have finally found inner peace with all of you!” Loki shouted.
At that moment, Tul saw something shining between her clothes. The goddess knew what it was, and she screamed with all her strength.
Magically, the goddess Tul’s physique changed slightly. Her red eyes disappeared and became silver circles. Her fur turned as white as snow, shining like a pearl.
Loki also underwent a transformation. The god’s skin became bluish, and his hair turned white, as did his beard.
The two gods screamed with all their strength, and the beam they were firing grew in size, piercing the terrible beast’s face.
Like a saw, the beam from both gods split Tlaltecuhtli in half. Screaming in pain, the monstrous woman hid beneath the earth again, and her presence disappeared. The city of Xochicalco remained intact after the attack.
Tul and Loki fell exhausted to the ground and looked at each other.
“Congratulations, little Tul,” Loki said.
“You too, yuum Loki,” Tul replied with a smile.
Tania jumped toward her companions and gave both of them chocolatl with ambrosia so they could recover, something that intrigued the Toltec gods.
“You did it. I’m proud of you,” Tania said, holding both their hands.
Finally, the moment had come when the Punic goddess fully accepted the Norse god Loki.
At that moment, Tul’s and Loki’s bodies returned to normal.
The rabbit goddess searched through her clothes and showed Tania the Tawa pendant Rodrigo had bought in Chaco.
“He has been protecting us with this pendant since we faced Coyote,” the rabbit goddess said.
Immediately, Tania remembered that Epona had given Tul something before leaving with Menrva for Chaco.
It was that pendant, Tania thought. Epona figured this out before we did.
Tláloc and Xipe Tótec watched the scene full of fear and uncertainty. Those gods had done something only Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca had once managed to do. The power of these foreigners was truly terrifying.