“Wait a moment, Tláloc,” King Otontecutli interrupted, wearing a worried expression. “No one has ever managed to overcome the trial of the Thirteen Heavens.”
Otontecutli’s hall was empty, with only two soldiers guarding the entrance to the chamber. The nobles who were usually present in that room were absent for the moment.
“What is the trial of the Thirteen Heavens?” Menrva asked.
“It is, basically, a continuous battle against thirteen gods,” Tláloc said. “However, as Otontecutli says, no one has ever cleared that trial.”
“Are you planning to sacrifice us again?” Tania asked the Toltec god angrily.
Tláloc shook his head.
“No, not this time. I am confident that if you overcome it, you will become even stronger,” the Toltec god replied.
Then he began explaining.
“Our kingdom, Ilhuicatl Iohtlatoquiliz, is composed of thirteen planets—or, one might say, thirteen heavens—and each heaven is ruled by a different god,” the Toltec god explained.
“So, we would have to fight each of the gods while traveling from planet to planet?” Anpiel asked.
“Yes. The objective is to reach the thirteenth heaven, the heaven of Quetzalcóatl, where the god grants access to his wisdom to the victorious warrior,” Tláloc continued.
“Wasn’t Rodrigo supposed to have gone to see that Quetzalcóatl fellow?” Freyja asked, puzzled.
“Well, in truth, of the thirteen heavens, only nine remain,” Tláloc replied. “The heavens of Quetzalcóatl, Ehécatl, Nanahuatzin, and Xólotl were removed from the trial.”
“Nine heavens… nine gods, and we are eight, excluding Anpiel,” Susanoo inquired. “Thus, it would be eight against nine.”
“That is correct, though I must also give you a warning,” Tláloc said.
The gods looked at the two Toltec gods with intrigue.
“What you will face there are not truly gods, but copies of us that preserve the memory of our most powerful era, from when we lived in the city of Puh,” the blue Toltec god added.
“In other words, you will find me in that trial, along with Xipe Tótec, but neither of us will actually be there in reality,” he concluded.
“Indeed. Going to Ilhuicatl Iohtlatoquiliz has been forbidden since the fall of the city of Puh,” Xipe Tótec added.
“That means those copies of us will seek to kill you without hesitation,” Tláloc continued explaining.
“But wait a moment,” Menrva said. “If Quetzalcóatl’s heaven is no longer there, what prize exists for us to go through the trouble of taking this trial?”
“A sacred golden macuahuitl was placed in the last heaven, the ninth,” Xipe Tótec said. “It can increase anyone’s power hundreds, or even thousands, of times.”
“What is that?” Tania asked, puzzled.
Tláloc pointed toward Otontecutli’s guards.
“Do you see those soldiers’ weapons?” he asked. “That is precisely what it is.”
“Ah, the thing that looks like a club with saw-like edges,” Anpiel said, intrigued.
“Indeed. That weapon will grant you the power to face Itzpapálotl and her Chichimeca allies,” Tláloc said.
“And why don’t you use it yourselves?” Loki asked.
“Because that weapon was placed there long ago, when Quetzalcóatl died,” Tláloc replied. “However, at present, the only way to recover it would be for us to pass the trial ourselves.”
“We would need several months to erase the memories of our copies and gain access,” Xipe Tótec replied. “For that reason, Tezcatlipoca went to Cholollan, since it was easier to recover the teotonli of the Feathered Serpent.”
“In truth, that weapon is of no importance to me,” Menrva said. “However, if we face that trial, we may be able to fully break the barrier.”
“Fully break it?” the two Toltec gods and Otontecutli asked.
“In other words,” Menrva said, “the rules of this barrier would no longer limit our power at all.”
“But then you could destroy this planet with a single blow,” the Otomí god answered, frightened. “That is the purpose of the barrier.”
The Toltec gods also looked at Menrva with uncertainty. No one had ever considered surpassing the barrier. Having grown under the effects of the barrier, they had learned to break some rules, such as flying or increasing their physical or mental powers… but ignoring its limitations completely was another matter entirely.
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“Well, I do not know whether it can be done completely, but our goal is to break as many of its limitations as possible,” Menrva replied.
“Where we come from, on the other side of the world,” Ana interrupted, “we use pocket dimensions to avoid damaging this planet. But the barrier keeps us from activating those dimensions.”
The goddess then took a tiny spark from her clothes and showed it to the Toltec gods and Otontecutli.
“This is a pocket dimension, and my hypothesis is that, by breaking the barrier, we will be able to use them again.”
They are ambitious. Excessively so, Tláloc thought, and then he remembered Anat’s absurd power.
Are all the gods from the other side of the world like this? he wondered.
“Anpiel, I think that if we give you that mace, you’ll be able to fight beside us too. Would you like that?” Ana asked the angel.
“It would be an honor,” Anpiel replied.
“Then it’s settled,” Ana said. “We’ll clear the trial and give the prize to Anpiel, if no one has any objection.”
“You are going to give a legendary weapon to a nahua?” Otontecutli asked.
“Nahua?” Ana asked, puzzled.
Tul quickly explained to the gods that Anpiel’s rank, which they called malak, was called nahua in the territories of Anáhuac.
“Well, what the hell does rank matter?” Ana asked, then turned to look at her companions. They all made gestures showing they did not understand the problem.
“If you could, you people would surely use humans on your teams,” Tláloc said, shaking his head with a gesture of disappointment.
“Well, a group of deities on the other side of the world use humans, and they make them awaken their divine powers,” Menrva replied. “And believe me, they are excessively powerful.”
The Toltec gods were surprised by that.
“That should not surprise you. We saw that Xólotl fellow in the Chichimeca kingdoms do that with his ball players,” Freyja said, puzzled.
The Toltec gods and the Otomí king then became embarrassed.
“It’s just… we all do that so our team of players always wins,” Tláloc replied, trying to look away.
“Yes, that way the challengers have no chance,” Xipe Tótec added.
“How dare you defile the sacred Ball Game in such a way?!” Tul said furiously.
“You should be ashamed, cheaters!” Tania snapped. But when she turned to look at Otontecutli, the god also tried to look elsewhere.
“In any case,” Tania said, trying to change the subject.
“As I was saying, we accept the challenge,” she said energetically.
All the members of Orniskem nodded.
“We will depart right now if necessary,” Tania added.
“Did you not suffer wounds in the battles you fought today? Do you not wish to rest first?” Otontecutli asked.
“If we stay longer, we will give Tula more room to attack again,” Menrva replied. “We will pass the trial, and after that, we will invade Tula.”
Too ambitious, the blue Toltec god thought in surprise.
“Well, then, to access the trial, you must go to the ruins of the city of Puh and find the two pyramids in the main plaza,” the blue Toltec god said.
“In fact, those ruins are exactly thirty minutes west of this city by flight,” Otontecutli said. “The ruins of the great Hñahñú metropolis.”
“Uh, no. It was a city of ours, the Nahua gods,” Xipe Tótec replied irritably.
“Then why is it in my territory and not yours?” the Otomí king asked defiantly.
“But everyone knows it was really called Teotihuacán, not that ridiculous name Puh… stupid Maya,” Tláloc said cynically.
“Uhh! I’m right here!” Tul shouted angrily.
“Well, if you are finished arguing over trivialities, we shall proceed to withdraw,” Menrva said.
“Do you know how to reach Tula, then?” the Otomí king asked.
“Reaching Tula will not be a problem, because we will use the map Father Odin gave us,” Freyja added.
“All right. In any case, Tula is directly north of here, approximately one hour away,” Otontecutli said.
“Even so, I will give you a mental map of Puh’s position and Tula’s as well. I possess that ability too,” Tláloc said.
At that moment, the gods of Orniskem clearly had directions to the ruins of Puh and the city of Tula.
“Then, when you reach the pyramids,” Tláloc continued explaining, “you will notice that one is larger than the other. The taller one is the Pyramid of the Sun, and the smaller one is the Pyramid of the Moon.”
“Does that mean there are two paths?” Tania asked.
“Indeed. On one pyramid, a sun god was born; and on the other, a moon god was born as well,” Tláloc replied.
“You mean we must choose the route carefully, based on the elements we ourselves possess, correct?” Freyja said, intrigued.
“That is correct. In the end, both routes will converge in the ninth heaven, the heaven of Tezcatlipoca. If you defeat him, you will have passed the trial, and the macuahuitl will be yours,” Xipe Tótec replied.
“Once you choose your groups, you must climb to the top of the pyramids and recite: ‘Nictemoa Quetzalcóatl in tlamatilistli.’ With that, you will be teleported to Ilhuicatl Iohtlatoquiliz and enter the trial of the Thirteen Heavens,” he added.
“Wait, what?” Tania asked, stressed.
“And if only one person says it, does it work?” Anpiel asked.
“No. All of you must say it, or whoever fails to say it will not be able to access the trial,” Tláloc said.
“Do not worry,” Anpiel said. “I will write the phrase down so you can learn it while flying to Puh.”
Then Anpiel repeated the phrase from memory. The Toltec gods and Otontecutli were surprised by how skilled he was with languages.
The angel then made a parchment appear, along with an inkpot and a quill, and began writing the phrase. Then he asked who knew the Latin letters. Susanoo, Tul, and Freyja admitted they did not know that language.
“Tul, you will not need to read the phrase because you know Nahuatl,” the angel said to the rabbit goddess. She admitted that was true with an embarrassed little smile.
Anpiel then wrote the phrase in runes and asked Freyja if it was correct that way. The Norse goddess read the phrase without difficulty.
The greatest problem was Susanoo, since his language was completely unknown to the group. Anpiel told him to repeat the phrase throughout the entire trip so he could learn it, since the eastern god admitted that his language was pictographic and not very useful for representing foreign sounds.
“All right, we are leaving, then,” Menrva said. “Once we pass the trial, we will head for Tula.”
“We will enter Tollan at seven in the morning,” Tláloc said. “We expect to see you there at that hour.”
The members of Orniskem nodded.
“Anpiel, it would be best if you stayed. I do not think there is any point in you going for now. You will not participate in the trial,” Tania said.
“All right. I will stay here and wait for you.”
“Good. Forward, then,” Menrva said.
The gods left the palace, donned their totemas, and headed west, just as Tláloc had indicated.
“Do you truly believe they can pass the trial?” Otontecutli asked the Toltec gods.
“I do not know, but those people give me a hope I have not felt since Quetzalcóatl lived,” Tláloc answered with a spirited smile.