‘Do not touch me, Ro. This is my destiny. I will die here.’
With a hundred men Cas-Coatl stood at the northern edge of the mist barrier. His engineers were working furiously to find ways to break through. All had failed.
Cas-Coatl waited calmly. The army besieging Pagaru had been evacuated to twelve golden ships, which were now heading back across the ocean, their holds packed with chests full to the brim with charged crystals. Once these had been fed to Almeia her strength would return and she would sever the spell that sought to drag them back to an icy doom.
The setbacks here in the east were temporary. When next he came there would be no Avatars to destroy his supplies. But first he must capture Anu and force him to reverse the magic of the pyramid. Failing that he would destroy the pyramid itself. He glanced back at the score of wagons containing the last of his powder.
A cool wind whispered across the valley. Cas-Coatl shivered. His face always ached with the cold. Lifting his hand he stroked his fingers across the smooth hard glass of his cheekbones.
Crystal-wed.
He had been horrified when the disease took hold. His parents had taken him to Almeia’s resting place and had prayed for him throughout the day. Almeia herself had appeared to him in a dream, promising to save him. The promise had been kept and, with joy in their hearts, his parents had sacrificed sixty slaves to the goddess.
Cas-Coatl’s hand rested on the huge emerald set into his belt. It linked him to the goddess in a special way and its power held at bay the onset of crystal death.
There had been a price for salvation. Almeia had never allowed Cas-Coatl to take a wife or sire children. He was to be hers alone for all eternity. Cas-Coatl had paid that price willingly.
He was less sure of his actions now. The Almecs had always taken some prisoners to the Ziggurat for sacrifice. It was pleasing to the goddess. But never before had Cas-Coatl been instructed to butcher entire populations. Yet even this he had done, in the expectation that with the completion of Anu’s pyramid the slaughter would cease.
What now, he wondered? Is this to be my life, scouring the earth for fresh victims to murder?
‘Lord,’ shouted an engineer. ‘The mist is lifting!’
‘What did you do?’ demanded Cas-Coatl.
‘I would like to take credit for it, lord. But it was not my doing.’
The breeze picked up, dispersing the mist. Now Cas-Coatl could see the valley beyond and, at its centre, the towering pyramid. Ordering his men forward Cas-Coatl marched into the valley.
As he came closer to the deserted site he saw a movement at the pyramid’s peak. A bearded old man was staring down at them. Turning to his soldiers he sent two to apprehend him. From a pouch at his side he drew a large green crystal. Attuning himself to it he held the gem towards the pyramid. He could feel the energy being drawn from it. But the process was incredibly slow, the loss of power infinitesimal. Moving back some fifty yards he tested the crystal again. There was no loss now.
Cas-Coatl laughed. All his fears concerning Anu’s pyramid vanished like the mist in the breeze.
There was no threat from it.
Relief washed over him. Was there any point in locating Anu, he wondered? The man was a failure. He had built a golden mountain that could not drain a single crystal.
And yet… Almeia had been so sure of his talent. She had observed the construction and had told Cas-Coatl of the movement of giant blocks as if they weighed no more than a hollow box of wood. Surely someone with that degree of skill could have created a more potent weapon.
The sound of music filtered down to him. The old man on the pyramid was playing a flute, the music sad and wistful. Cas-Coatl felt the emerald at his waist begin to vibrate. With a shock he realized the old man was Anu and he was still casting his spell.
‘Kill him!’ he bellowed, his voice ringing out. The two climbing soldiers glanced back at him. ‘Kill the old man. Do it now!’ The men steadied themselves on the ladder and lifted their fire-clubs from their shoulders. At that moment the music stopped, the old man stepping forward to the rim of the peak and standing, arms outstretched, as if beckoning death. At first Cas-Coatl was relieved, for the climbers still had some way to go to reach the summit and who knew what magic Anu could still summon. But as he watched the holy man greet his killers with open arms a terrible fear struck him. Cas-Coatl was a man raised in the principles of blood sacrifice and the power it could bring.