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Chapter K10 - City of God
🕑 Added 2018-12-30 18:15:03 +0000 UTC
Zohigal, as it is known to the people of the Dominion, is called Tonatiultepetl in the local tongue, named after their principal deity, the goddess of the sun Tonatihuatl. While Tepeyohuatl is the patron goddess of the city, Tonatihuatl is the one who has gifted them the use of fire and magic. And she continues to give life to the world and its inhabitants.
The stone walls are completely hidden in the jungle, and there isn't even a marked path that leads up to it. Gates made from the same material as the walls are equally embellished with figures and murals, which show that they are more decorative than for defensive purposes. Though when they pass through the gateway, they see that their thickness far surpasses that of the strongest fortifications in the Dominion.
Tepeyohuatl growled something to the Physornis warriors and disappeared at one point, letting the bird demons guide them on their own. She wouldn't be able to fit through the gate, and the walls are too tall for her to climb, so she must have returned to what she was doing before their presence alerted her.
The city of Zohigal is a sprawling metropolis that appears to be overgrown by the jungle. Trees sprout from inside buildings, and the paved streets are broken by brushes in many places. Soon, the captive group realizes that it's all as intended. Many inhabitants can be seen tending to plants that would otherwise have been considered invasive. The people here have not lost their touch with nature even after building a civilization with such a rich culture.
Many larger and smaller dinosaurs can be seen among the bird demons. The four-legged ones appear to be used as beasts of burdens. Some pull carts while others have wooden structures strapped on their backs on which citizens ride. The two-legged ones seem to be reserved as mounts for the Physornis warriors as they patrol the streets.
"I never imagined something like this could exist." Gram comments while looking around. "Is an elven city similar to this?"
He's referring to the closeness to nature, which elves supposedly exhibit. His indirect question directed at Kamii doesn't go unnoticed by the little dark elf, but she ignores it. Her kind is nomadic with no permanent settlements and live wherever they can forage for food. Their perceived rarity stems from the fact that they go out of their way to avoid places where humans are active.
"What exactly are we doin' here again?" Terog asks Kamii in a whisper. She only said that a way to reverse the momentum of the war could be found in this city, never specifying what that meant in particular. But the truth is that she doesn't know much beyond that either.
"I don't really know." Shrugging, the little dark elf replies truthfully. "We'll see."
Exchanging a look with Zancrax, the boar demon frowns. Kamii has always been very cryptic, so this is nothing new. The members of this fellowship have all met the blind seer, and all been told to follow this cursed girl that they would soon meet. Nobody but her knows what they have journeyed so far to do.
And while being captured by the Physornis may be part of their destiny, it could just as well result in their ends if they get fed to dinosaurs instead of being led to meet somebody important as they're - for some reason - expecting to be.
"Ya just tell us when, then." Muttering under his breath, Terog implies that the little leader should make the call when to attempt an escape. Now that Tepeyohuatl isn't with them, they should be able to overwhelm these bird warriors. Although with every step deeper into the city, their chances at making it out dwindle further.
"Wait and see." Kamii replies while looking ahead. They're being led towards a ziggurat that towers over the city. Unlike the buildings around it, this is the only one that isn't overgrown and kept completely free of any vegetation. A bright light from a big flame is burning at its apex, but it doesn't appear to flicker at all. Villagers can be seen carrying unlit lamps up the steps and coming back down with lit ones.
"That is the Sunshard. It has burned for millennia and is the only source of fire in Zohigal." Sazi, who has remained silent so far, explains. "Even though the pyramid is not as big as the one I was laid to rest in, the fact that it still exists while mine has crumbled long ago means I have to admit that they are the more successful architects."
She speaks in a dissatisfied tone, and although her face isn't visible, everybody can tell that she's feeling jealous. None of the group members know her past exactly, only that she's an undead who came from a place that is now part of the Khurut Sultanate.
They enter the central plaza in front of the ziggurat, and all eyes are on them. Even though they're prisoners, their hands aren't tied, and they're taken through the main street openly, rather than brought to the barracks next to the city gate. Maybe they're considered guests? Or they'll be led directly to the slaughter.
The Physornis warriors speak in a guttural language none of the group can understand, but when they point their spears at them and direct them to the left of the pyramid, it's clear that their destination lies elsewhere.
Behind the ziggurat is a walled palace, so the initial idea that they will be given an audience with the ruler of the city seems all the more likely. While having spears pointed at them doesn't exactly give them the confidence that it's a nice reception, at least the likelihood of becoming live sacrifices seems to have dropped by a bit. Technically, Tepeyohuatl didn't attack them either, and her powerful roar and lack of expressiveness may have caused a misunderstanding.
But Kamii mentally prepares for the worst case scenario anyway. One thing she learned traveling the Dominion during the past year is that unforeseen circumstances are not as unforeseeable as one may think. She avoided a lot of situations that could have ended badly if she had not prepared for them.
The palace gates are guarded by a pair of featherless lizardmen with powerful builds and dark gray skin. Unlike the nimble and long-legged Physornis, these are less humanoid, standing hunched forward with bulging muscles and carrying what appear to be flat wooden bats. But the edges have inlaid obsidian pieces that make them look like crude saws. Nobody doubts that they're effective despite their unusual appearances, considering the apparent strength of those wielding them.
These guardians stand as tall as Terog despite their hunched backs, and their eyes with vertically slit pupils watch them carefully as they pass by. On the other side of the gate, a whole contingent of them are waiting, and they take over from the Physornis in guiding - or guarding - them.
"These are the Varanida monks. While the Physornis warriors are the common soldiers and scouts, these are the elite backbone of the Zohigal army." Sazi comments as the previous group of bird-like warriors leaves and is replaced by an encirclement of those powerful fighters. Their chances of making an escape have diminished greatly.
"How do ya know all this?" Terog asks while scratching his chin. The undead surgeon has always been a fountain of historical knowledge, but it generally stops before the demons first came into existence. Considering it happened over one and a half millennia ago, that would make the civilization of Zohigal predate that of the Dominion's.
The Dominion is only mildly aware of the existence of these southern barbarian tribes. No trade or political dealing has ever occurred between them, and now they know why; they only ever discovered the blood apes and the Physornis scouts, thinking they were primitive savages living in a jungle village called Zohigal without much of a civilization. And even that only came from folklore, as the Empire of the Sun that Sazi belonged to fell long ago, and no others had any contact with them for centuries.
"Zohigal has existed even before the first dynasty." Replying while looking around the interior of the wide-open courtyard, the former ruler takes in the sights of this ancient civilization. "Not much has changed about this place since then."
"You were here before?" Even though it should have been obvious by the way she guided them here, Rolan still asks.
"Yes, we had a trade agreement with them, so I came for two royal visits in my time." Sazi explains her past and settles on looking ahead, as they approach the palace gates.
"You don't happen to speak the language of those, do you?" Gram inquires as he hears the Varanida growl something to each other in an aggressive-sounding tone of voice.
"Isss that Pharaoh Nefersssobek Amunansssazi I sssmell?" A voice asks in a strange accent of the language the demons speak. The gate to the palace building opens to reveal a towering but thin-limbed, long-necked lizardman with shiny black scales wearing colorful robes and a feathered headdress that looks like frills. He appears to be incredibly old, sporting saggy skin along his neck and weary yellow eyes, but there's an undeniable glint of vigor in them when he spots the masked woman. "Your sssmell hasss changed though."
Bending forward his long neck down, he extends a long forked tongue towards her. He blinks his eyes by only closing the transparent nictitating membrane over them, and shies back when he notices a different smell.
"Are you alright? The ssstench of deasss clings to you." He leans on his feathered staff and bends his entire body forward to look at Sazi more closely, ignoring the people behind her completely.
"Itzcoatl!" She sounds surprised when she recognizes him. "I did not expect for you to be still alive."
"That voissse. Yesss, you are indeed Pharaoh Nefersssobek Amunansssazi." Itzcoatl hears her voice and recognizes it. Straightening his back, he attempts to appear more dignified despite his advanced age. "And you did not expect me to be ssstill alive? Doesss your kind not live lesss than a sssingle cycle?"
"I am a special case." Hiding her loneliness behind a façade of grandstanding, Sazi replies in a prideful tone. She woke up in her tombs all alone, the servants and royal guards that had been buried with her already crumbled to dust. The same had happened to her entire civilization when she finally made her way out of the crumbled pyramid.
"A ssspecial cassse, I sssee." If he's thinking something, he doesn't show it on his face, which already lacks those expressions more humanoid beings could interpret. "And who are thessse?"
Finally, he takes note of the ragtag group of demons and humans behind the undead pharaoh. They remained silent throughout the exchange between the old lizardman and the only one among them who seems to know what's going on.
"They are my entourage. Please do not sacrifice them to the Sunshard." Speaking in a half-joking manner, Sazi introduces the group as her followers.
"What a ssshame. They would have made for good material." But Itzcoatl sounds genuinely disappointed. "Follow me. I will bring you before the Sssihuatlahtoani. After all, your visssit mussst hold sssome importanssse, to come wisssout announsssment or a large prosssesssion. And to run from Tepeyohuatl, who only came to guide you."
It seems that the lady of the mountain recognized Sazi as well, though the latter doesn't remember ever meeting her - also the reason she was so shocked to find that the giant dinosaur was coming for them. She growled something to the Physornis warriors, so it may have been an order to take them to the palace directly.
"Who's that?" Terog whispers to Sazi and points at Itzcoatl when they follow him into the palace. The Varanida guards have been reduced to six, although that number implies that they don't fully trust them yet.
"Itzcoatl was the prime minister when I was still among the living. He still appears to be that even today." She replies in a hushed voice.
"How old are you again?" Zancrax asks directly, but only receives silence as his answer. "Huh, didn't you hear me?"
"Why are minotaurs always so thick-skulled?" Ireyo sounds irritated. She has been glaring at Rolan for the longest time, but he made sure to avoid her, so she found a new target to let off some steam.
"Because we have to use our heads all the time." Not understanding the metaphor, he replies honestly and with a hint of pride in his voice. Everybody rolls their eyes at his words, and he looks at them in surprise. "Huh, what is it?"
"In either case, the actual ruler has changed. When I last came here, there was an emperor, but now it's an empress." As they walk across the large overgrown hall with the open roof, the former pharaoh explains what she remembers. "It appears that the Varanida are incredibly long-lived."
"Only thossse born under a ssspecial ssstar." Itzcoatl overhears their conversation and turns his head on his long neck to add. "At my birsss, the Hueytetotopixqui foresssaw that I would live to witnesss the End Timesss."
"End times? Please tell me more!" Rolan walks forward and inquires with an alarmed expression. His unkempt hair, overgrowing beard, haggard appearance, and the bandaged stump that is his left arm make the prime minister frown - or at least his expression appears that way to those with humanoid and more expressive faces.
"Your ssservant lacksss ressspect." He ignores the human and addresses Sazi instead.
"Yes, he has not been properly trained yet. Please forgive his impudence." Extending a hand to wave Rolan back, she apologizes in his stead. "But you never mentioned the End Times to me before."
"That isss because it was of no relevanssse back then. The priessstsss believe the End Timesss are upon us. The sssun dropped a ssshard over one moon ago in a faraway plassse, and the Obsssidian Comet wasss sssighted two daysss ago."
"What happens then?" Ireyo walks past Sazi and asks impatiently. The old lizardman has been talking too slowly for her tastes.
"All your ssservantsss appear to lack training. But I ssshall forgive thisss one because ssshe isss ssso fluffy." The corners of his wide mouth curl up a little, making it look like he's smiling. "The End Timesss have been foretold by the Old One, the creator of our people. A great darknesss will cover the world, and all life will ssseassse."
"That sounds bad." Zancrax mutters, but the others wait for Itzcoatl to go into more details. When he doesn't, they exchange glances with each other, until Sazi takes it upon herself to ask for them.
"Is there any more information about it? Did the Old One tell you what form that darkness would take?" She follows up on the subject. But the minister doesn't reply, as they reach a large door.
Two massive Varanida warriors easily towering over even Zancrax, stand guard on both sides. On Itzcoatl's approach, they pull open the two sliding wings of the heavy stone door by two protruding handles. The hall beyond is a richly decorated throne room, filled with golden statues of regal-looking lizardmen and -women between plants growing directly from openings in the stone floor, as well as a carpet of live grass leading down the center.
On a podium, two dozen stone steps elevated from the ground stands a throne made from pure gold. Sitting on it is a white-scaled and red-eyed lizardwoman similar in appearance to Itzcoatl, wearing a predominantly green dress and a variety of gold jewelry. A feathered crown sits atop her head, fastened to it with a leather strap around her neck.
She hisses something to the old lizardman bowing before her, and he replies with a hiss of his own. The two continue to talk back and forth like this for a while, with the minister most likely explaining who they are. It seems to be their language, though Sazi shrugs when the others glance at her questioningly. She never learned it during her visits, as they were usually quite short - and Itzcoatl could speak with her normally.
"Welcome to Tonatiultepetl. My name isss Teoyohticacoatl." Standing up from her throne, the empress speaks to them in the common tongue - to everybody's surprise. "Prime Minister Itzcoatl has informed me of who you are, Pharaoh Nefersssobek Amunansssazi. Our empiresss ssshared a prosssperousss passst, ssso you are our honored guessst. But he hasss not mentioned the reassson for your visssit."
"For that, I have to introduce you to the real leader of our expedition." Stepping aside, Sazi gestures at Kamii. The latter steps forward without bowing or showing any other sign of respect to the empress that just welcomed them into her city.
"We are here because a blind old lady told me that I would find a way to turn the war around that has been going on in the Dominion for the past year." She doesn't even introduce herself and jumps right to the point.
"An impatient one, I sssee." Smiling - or performing the lizardwoman's version of it - Teoyohticacoatl descends the stairs slowly. From behind the large throne, two Varanida warriors emerge and follow behind her silently. They look less muscular than the ones that had been escorting them up until the door outside but instead have black bead-like scales with yellow patches. Their eyes are black as well, giving them a sinister appearance. "A blind old lady. A ssseer? Wasss ssshe perhapsss clad in black feathersss?"
"That was the one." Kamii replies instantly. "Do you know where she is?"
"That old ssseer isss a crow that bringsss misssfortune. Ssshe mussst have an ulterior motive to sssend you here." Itzcoatl takes over the explanation. "Whenever ssshe appeared before usss, calamity sssoon followed."
"So I won't find anything here?" Tilting her head, the little dark elf asks in a disappointed tone.
"A war, you sssay?" The empress inquires in a curious tone.
"Yesss, the warm-blooded creaturesss known as humansss are in the processs of invading the Dominion. According to our information, Queen Pelomyxss wasss asssasssinated, leaving the nation leaderlesss." The prime minister informs her, sounding a little impatient. "You ssshould know about thisss, Great Sssihuatlahtoani. I told you many timesss."
The group of demons and humans stares at Itzcoatl and then glance at Teoyohticacoatl. His words and tone sounded disrespectful, but their target looks ashamed rather than angered. It seems that he takes on a mentor role for the albino lizardwoman.
"Please, can you send an army to help the demons?" Rolan suddenly steps forward and kneels on the ground before the empress standing near the base of the stairs.
"A human asssking for help from thossse it would label a demon all the sssame?" The old minister's yellow eyes fixate on the one-armed man on the floor. Pacing back and forth before Rolan, Itzcoatl lets his staff resound on the stone ground with each step, purposefully making it louder than it needs to be. "What isss your purpossse?"
"I beg you; you are their only hope!" Banging his head onto the ground, the former leader pleads.
"Doesss thisss lowly ssservant ssspeak for you, Pharaoh Nefersssobek Amunansssazi?" Eyeing the masked woman, Itzcoatl asks in a low and menacing tone.
"No, he is stepping out of-" Sazi motions to walk forward to stop Rolan from tarnishing her relationship with the lizardfolk, but Kamii takes action first.
"Get up and go back there." She uses her crab arm to lift him by his collar and drag him back, displaying an unexpected amount of strength in her slender body. Then she addresses the empress and the prime minister. "I'm not here to ask for your help in the war."
"You came here becaussse the old ssstormcrow told you to." Lowering his head and looking at the little dark elf from close up, he scrutinizes her expression. She doesn't show much of an emotion, but he still seems to see right through her. "All will be desssided in five daysss. The Hueytetotopixqui will conduct a Sssuncaller Ritual, and the future of our world will be revealed."
Straightening his back, he turns his focus to Sazi again, his body language and eyes making it clear that he expects her and her pesky followers to behave in that time.
"You will be our honored guessstsss until then." Knocking the butt end of his staff on the ground twice, he summons the lizardwomen servants that had been waiting behind the pillars of the throne room. "Ssshow them to their abodesss."
"Wait." Empress Teoyohticacoatl stops the servants, and they kneel on the spot. "I wisssh to ssspeak to Pharaoh Nefersssobek Amunansssazi a little more. There are many sssingsss I want to hear about the Dominion and the world of thossse humansss."
"Asss you wisssh. Take the othersss away." Raising his staff and bringing it down once with a decisive sound, Itzcoatl grants his empress' wish.
The Varanida warriors growl at the ragtag group, signaling them to leave the throne room. As they don't speak the common tongue, it's the only way for them to make their intentions known to the demons and humans.
"That went... well?" Terog mutters to Kamii in a questioning tone.
"At least we won't get sacrificed to a giant fire." Gram is the one that replies when he sees the little dark elf deep in thought. She must be considering their next move, quite unlike how he remembers her. The little girl clinging to Chloe has truly grown up.
All they can hope for now is that the Suncaller Ritual holds the answers to their reason for being in this city.
