Prologue: 1521

The air of the jungles rang with gunshots and the war cries of Aztec warriors. They fought fearlessly and restlessly against the strange enemies. When they had come only two short years ago, the Aztec had welcomed the strangers. They had shocked the Aztec with their metal bodies, and strange sticks of fire. Their leader a pale man with a brown was once thought to be the god Quetzalcoatl come back to earth. They had treated the strangers like gods. Giving them shelter, food, and even sacrifices. Now they fought against the very people they had worshiped. Countless Aztec now lay dead on the forest floor as the armored enemy mowed them down with loud bangs. The spirit of the Aztecs was not so easily broken. Many were able to bring down the powerful crusaders with them.

As the sun began its daily journey into the underworld, a group of Aztec high priests emerged from the temples of the gods. Each of them wielded an artifact sacred to the Aztec. They knew what they had to do if they wanted to have a chance against the invaders. They called upon the ancient gods and goddesses of the jungle to aid them in their battle. The gods answered and granted the priests their powers. With the ferocity of leopards, the priests leapt upon their enemies.

"Retreat! Men back to the boats!" The commander shouted to his men. They didn't have to be told twice. They ran back to the beaches as the Aztec whooped with victory on their side. They didn't have long to celebrate. The priests collapsed, dead from the intensity of the gods' powers. The cheers died down quickly when this gruesome fact took root. They were the only ones who could contact the gods. If the conquers where to return, they were doomed. They hadn't long to wait.

The very next day, a scout reported news of the deaths to his commander. Hernando Cortez was pleased with this news.

"With them out of the way, those savages are ripe for the taken! All their land and gold are to be ours by tonight boys!"

His army of two thousand troops whooped with pleaser. Finally they were going to be able to get paid with land and wealth. Not to mention a possible knighting from the king of Spain himself. They waited until the Aztecs' guard was at its' weakest, and sprung onto them like a plague. It was barely even a battle, the Aztec were destroyed by the Spanish gun and cannon. Cortez was victorious, and the Aztec no more.

Chapter 1: The Temple of the Gods.

Diego Vasquez traveled through the jungles by Mexico City with his history class. He had always found the history of his home country fascinating. He enjoyed the chance of being able to gaze upon the pyramids of the long lost Aztec. They were exploring the jungle city of Tenochtitlan. The field trip group was small, not many parents wanted their children to be wandering in the jungle. No matter what benefit it might have. The field guide was talking about how the Aztec had taken up residence in the spot after the Maya had mysteriously disappeared.

"How dull." Isaac Garcia grounded quietly to Diego. Isaac was Diego's friend and had been since grade school. He was tall with olive skin and neat black hair.

"Then why come? You could've stayed home you know."

"I just thought I'd be able to see some giant snakes."

Diego shuddered, even though Isaac liked, and thought snakes where interesting to the point of adoration. Diego hated them. He hated the way they would slither on the ground, and hiss, with their tongues lashing out at you. At this point the guide had gotten to describe the uses of some of the temples.

"Hey." Isaac interrupted. "Wouldn't be cool to go in one of the temples? I bet it would just be crawling with snakes!"

"Umm, yeah it would be." Diego tried not to think about the snakes. "But maybe without the snakes."
"How about we sneak away for a few seconds, and explore it before we have to leave?"

"I don't know…."
"AH come on Diego!" Isaac now had a dreamy look on his face. "We would be like Indiana Jones!"

"Yeah." Diego thought. "Without the fedora, whip, or bone cracking boulders hopefully."

"Besides." Isaac continued, now looking seriously at Diego. "You always talk about being an archeologist. Why not start today?"
"Because, we're just on tour. And unlike you I have no desire to get into trouble." Diego had a good reason for saying this. Isaac usually gets them both into some deep trouble. Food fights in the cafeteria, spit balls in math class, you name it Isaac has done it. Diego usually had to get him out of it and wondered how his friend wasn't expelled yet.

"Ah, what's life without a little fun?" Isaac sighed dismissively.

"If trouble equals fun, I think I'm set for life."

They continued to walk and listen to the tour guide. Now she was talking about how Cortez was able to conquer the Aztec with his superior weapons. As they were heading back to the bus Isaac got an idea. He pulled a rubber prank snake from his pocket. If he couldn't coax Diego into going into the ruins with the lure of treasure, or knowledge, he would have to scare him there.

He carefully placed the snake on his friends backpack shoulder strap. When they were nearly to the bus, Isaac prepared for the act of his life.

"Diego, watch out for the snake!" He screamed in horror.

Diego wheeled around and saw the snake. As Isaac predicted his friend howled in terror and sprinted away from is as fast as possible.

"Ayudeme ayudeme, snake, snake!" he sprinted off in the direction of the pyramids. Isaac ran after him, hopeful to guide his friend straight into the largest one. He got his wish. Diego bolted up the steep steps and into the cool inside of the pyramid.

Diego stopped and painted hoping he had put as much distance between him and that snake as possible. Isaac ran in right after him.

"W-wow." He gasped out of breath. "I don't think I've ever seen you run that fast."

"I-is it gone?"

"Yeah, the snake's gone Diego."

Diego took a look around. Noticing for the first time where he was.

"Umm…where are we?"

"In a pyramid." Isaac stated obviously.
"Well come on. Let's get back to the bus."
Isaac grabbed Diego's arm before he got too far from the entrance.

"Come on Diego. We're here. We might as well take a look around."

"What if we get caught?"

Isaac thought seriously for a second, keeping a tight grip on Diego's arm in case of an escape attempt.

"I'll tell them you were so scared you ran in here and got lost. And I as your friend came in here to find you."

Diego grounded. "And if we don't explore?"

"Well we could leave right now and get yelled at. Or we could have some fun beforehand."

"Fine, we can explore. But don't say I didn't do anything for you."

Isaac got a gleam in his eye and they set off further into the pyramid.