That, at least, was something. He hadn’t had time to count their losses, but he knew that more than a hundred of the
Itza warriors had fallen in the short, violent engagement. But they had accomplished their objective. The man-bugs had apparently paused to regroup. If the rest of the people had the opportunity to gain the pass because of the sacrifice of some, the warriors had not died in vain.
He remembered, with a cold chill, the pale white monster who had lashed out with magic against them. Once again he thought of the battle against the foreigners at Ulatos and how the magic of the albino sorcerer had broken his army.
Could there be a connection between the two powerful spell-casters? He didn’t see how, and yet the distinction of their whiteness seemed too obvious for coincidence. One had been a humanlike elf, the other was a grotesque and unnatural beast. Yet something about the beast’s face seemed similar, in its alluring femininity, to the elf.
He pushed his speculation aside, focusing instead on the rigors of the climb. The warriors straggled across a swampy valley bottom, a flat depression that marked another barrier in their long march up the pass.
From here he could look before him into the black dome of the star-speckled sky and faintly see the outline of the narrow pass above. It looked impossibly remote and distant, yet somewhat closer than the last time he had seen it. Most of the Itza people should be passing through it even now.
“You have made us a good plan,” said Zochimaloc, appearing out of the darkness to walk softly beside Gultec. “The high route must be the safest.”
The Jaguar Knight sighed. “I wish it were true. But I fear no place is safe from the kind of enemy that pursues us.”
“You must know that your attack was successful,” countered the old man, stepping nimbly over a low vine. “They have fallen behind us now, and this gives us time to escape.”
“Time? Can it be enough time?” Gultec wondered. “Is there enough time in the world?”
Zochimaloc chuckled, a patronizing, grandfatherly sound that somehow made Gultec feel more confident. “There is time, now, for the old people, the children, and the mothers ° go through the pass and over the mountains. Perhaps there is time, too, to have faith.”
The warrior looked up at the pass, still outlined against the stars. Perhaps Zochimaloc was right. Indeed, many of the Itza must have already reached the far side of the mountains. By morning, the warriors would reach the summit of the pass. Once there, they would have to turn and face the inevitably pursuing enemy. There they would make their stand.
From the chronicles of Coton:
In wander at the mysterious ways of the One True God.
Around me the dwarves pace and grunt in agitation over our missing companions. Lotil, too, fears for his daughter. He tries to work, but his fingers cannot perform their pluma-weaving. Instead, they tremble in a way I have never seen before.
And in truth, the disappearance of Halloran and Erixitl is sudden and mysterious.
Yet I find it difficult to express fear for them. There is too much of destiny about the woman for her to suffer a random mishap in the jungles, this short of our goal. She may not triumph, J know, but her ultimate resolution will be countered at Twin Visages. Of this, I am certain.
Wherever she has gone, it is good to know that she has Halloran’s strength with her. Whatever her lot on this dark and impenetrable night, I feel certain that it has a purpose in the pursuit of our goal.
The dwarves will seek them in the morning, and I will wish them well. Perhaps my optimism is but the senile dodderings of an old man. My companions may be correct in their assessment of danger.
In any event, we must wait for the morning to know.
14
Halloran placed one arm around Erixitl’s shoulders and moved himself between her and the source of the rumbling growl. He felt very conscious of the baby within her and terribly vulnerable in his own unarmed state. He was determined to die before allowing harm to reach Erix.
The couple stared across the darkened pit, and slowly their eyes adjusted to the dim light. The stoutly barred door remained closed, but again they saw shadowy movement beyond it.
Then that resonant growl rolled through the pit again.
“It’s opening!” Erix gasped. They saw the barred door rise slowly, and then the black shape beyond it crept forward with an oily smooth motion. Ft crept toward them, slowly moving away from the shadows around the wall of the pit. As it reached the center of the enclosure, they saw its sleek black pelt, its ears laid back along a broad, flat skull.
“A black jaguar!” Hal hissed, shocked at the horribly menacing visage of the great cat. Its yellow eyes burned through the darkness like glowing spots of hellfire, while its jaws gaped open just enough to reveal long, wickedly curved fangs. The animal’s shoulders equaled Hal’s waist in height, even as the creature crouched. It stared unblinking, the dark tail flicking hack and forth in excitement.
“Its too huge. It can’t be a jaguar!” Erix objected, though she couldn’t imagine what else menaced them in this night-mare pit.
“There are other great cats in the world-tigers, lions, even more horrible things like displacer beasts,” Hal whispered, desperately seeking a plan of action. “Maybe it’s something like that.”
“I am the Lord of the Jaguars.”
For a moment, the voice shocked them into stillness. It flowed with oily smoothness, yet it contained traces of the deep growl that had already raised their hackles in fear. The great cat blinked, and Halloran swore those jaws twisted upward into a horrible caricature of a smile.
“I am the Lord of the Jaguars, and you are mine.”
“It talks!" Hal hissed. He tried to shield Erixitl, staring into that monstrous, leering face.
“I talk. I talk before I kill.”
“Who-what are you?” Erixitl demanded. “Why do the Little People keep you here?”
“I stay because I choose to stay,” rumbled the black beast. “They do not keep me. No one keeps me!”
“Why do you choose to threaten us, then?” Halloran asked. “We offer you no harm.”
“No one offers me harm,” sneered the cat. “I desire your blood and your flesh. It pleases me that you shall die to feed me.”
Halloran’s mind raced. Stunned by the bizarre communication with an animal that belonged among the beasts of the forest, he sought a way to argue or reason with the creature.
“Are you old and feeble, so that you cannot hunt for your self’” he asked.
“Silence!” The jaguar lord’s voice shook the air around them, a roar of command.
“I will not be silent!” Hal barked back. “Why do you depend on them for food? Why do you live in a cage? That’s no life for a lord!”
The force of the creature’s roar slammed into his face like a physical blow, hurling him back against Erixitl. Quickly he stepped forward, his jaw jutting belligerently. He stared in challenge at the monster, aggressively raising his clenched hands.
Then his attention faded and his eyes grew heavy. Halloran felt an almost overpowering urge to sleep.
“What-what’s happening?” asked Erix softly from behind him, “I… feel so… tired.” Her voice faded to a soft whisper. He felt her slump against the wall of the pit and sink slowly toward the ground.
Before them, the Lord of the Jaguars grinned his evil grin. Hal stared at those yellow eyes and thought for a moment that they no longer seemed so threatening. Indeed, they were gentle now, their look caressing him like the kiss of sunlight on a warm summer day.
“Sleep, insolent human,” hissed the great cat. “Stare into my eyes and rest.”
Halloran shook his head angrily, realizing that something was very wrong. But what? Now he had a hard time forcing his mind to work, as if a thick and cloying fog permeated his skull. He didn’t dare sleep, with this savage beast ready to attack! Or was it savage, after all? Now it seemed benign to him, like an old friend.