THE NIGHT OF THE LOST WORLD

By Andamogirl

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ACT TWO

El Diablo's canyon

Kitty pointed at the exact place where the Hopi Indians had told her that they had seen small groups of people dressed like their ancestors – leave the bowels of the Earth. It was the north end of the deep crevasse snaking through the middle of El Diablo's canyon.

Both Jim and Artemus moved cautiously to the edge and looked down. It was very deep and dark, and they couldn't see the bottom of the large crack.

Kitty had to restrain herself from pushing the two agents into the crevasse. It would be so easy. But she needed them, for now. She had to find the underground world of the Ha'ichu people to become a famous archaeologist, she thought.

Puzzled, Jim mopped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand and looked around him. The place was barren except for a few prickly bushes scattered among boulders. The air was shimmering with heat at a distance of a few feet , heavy and hard to breathe. "Are you sure it's the right place? Because there's no way to climb that wall," He asked the young female archaeologist and eased his damp shirt off from where the material was sticking to his overheated skin, trying to cool himself – just a bit.

But it didn't work.

Kitty nodded and a rivulet of sweat escaped from her hairline, trailing down the side of her nose. "Yes, it is," she affirmed wiping it away with two fingers. They told me their ancestors left that crevasse here, just in front of those twin rocks we can see on the other side of the crevasse. I'm sure there's a way to climb up here, and a way to go down too. Let's find it!"

Opening his saddlebag, Artie pulled out a kerosene lamp and a long, solid, rope. "I thought about that and I brought everything necessary." Sweat was running down his temples into his hair. "I really hate that heat coming from hell cooking me through my clothes! Once inside the crevasse, we'll be protected from the scorching sun. Now I know why the Ha'ichu people chose to live underground…" He lit up the lamp, attached the rope against the ring on top of it and lowered it into the crevasse, slowly, and about 10 feet below, narrow steps appeared carved in the rock.

Excited, Kitty said, "See! They use the stairway, and then a ladder to reach the surface. That's the only explanation I can think of."

Looking at his best friend, Jim smiled, "Did you bring a ladder too, Artie?"

But Artie didn't smile. He was still cross with his partner. "No, I didn't. But you can lower me inside using that rope."

Cringing Jim said, "I'm sorry." And, as Artie didn't react, he added, "Maybe I should go first, I'm lighter than you, no offense."

Glancing at Kitty Artemus said, "None taken, it's true. But you're stronger than me, and I'm sure you want to stay at Kitty's side…"

Kitty nodded and wrapped her arm around Jim's. "You'll be careful, Artemus, right?" with a false smile that left the older agent unfazed.

Blatantly ignoring Kitty, Artie wrapped one end of the long rope around a rock, for security, verified the solidity of the knot then, moving back toward the crevasse, he stopped beside the deep crack in the ground and fastened the other end of the rope around his waist. Once that was done, he said, "You're going to lower me in the crevasse Jim, slowly, until I can reach the last step of the stair."

Holding the rope tightly, Jim slowly lowered his best friend into the darkness, hearing a series of 'okays' coming from Artie.

Kitty stared at the knot… thinking it would be very easy to cut the rope, once taut, on Jim's back of course, just a bit, to make it look like an accident… The rope would break and Artemus would fall into space. She had a cold smile.

Good idea, she thought. Jim is enough to help me. And he doesn't think I want to kill Artemus – he would believe it was a terrible accident, she added in her mind.

She pulled out the foldable knife she had in her jacket pocket and moved slowly behind Jim, watching the rope tightening as Artemus descended into the crevasse.

Busy helping his best friend down safely into the crevasse Jim didn't pay any attention to Kitty. "Artie? Everything okay?" There was a muffled "Yes, I'm okay" and the younger man sighed in relief. He asked, "Are you far from the top of the stair?"

Kitty placed the blade of her knife against the rope and started to cut the fibers, keeping an eye on Jim's back, ready to hide it in a split second.

Suddenly Artemus cried out, "I'm on it!" and he sneezed and shuddered as he was hit with a burst of cool air. He sighed in relief. No suffocating heat here. "Oh God, that feels so good."

Smiling, Jim released the rope and pivoted – watching Kitty looking at him, her arms crossed on her chest. "He has reached the stair."

Kitty, hiding her knife in her sleeve nodded, "Yes, I heard Artemus." Then she couldn't help but glance briefly at the rope, cut a little, hoping that Jim wouldn't see the small cut.

Then she realized that she had made a big mistake doing that. She was going to have to use that rope to go down into the crevasse too.

She uttered a small, breathy curse and wanted to face palm herself, but didn't. 'You're an idiot! If you want to kill yourself, it's the right way to do it! Don't be so anxious to kill him! You will find a good opportunity to do it later, keep your cool, Kitty!' she thought. Then she had a brilliant idea: change the rope. She pointed at the cut fibers and said, "I think there's something wrong with the rope, here."

Immediately Jim inspected the rope, not suspecting for a second that the young woman had cut it (especially because she needed it to go down into the crevasse) and nodded, "Hmm, some fibers are cut… I'm going to change the rope. I brought a long rope too, just in case… ropes can be damaged. It's Artemus's idea. He's always prepared for anything."

Kitty smiled. "Luckily I saw that, I could have died and you too if the rope had broken… Poor Artemus, I'm glad nothing happened to him."

Immensely relieved Jim grinned. "Yes, you're right. Wait for me here, Kitty. I'm going to fetch the new rope from my saddlebag."

Kitty nodded, "Okay." But when Jim headed toward the horses standing a little further away, next to a group of shrubs, she moved closer to the deep crack.

She looked down. She could barely see Artie's silhouette standing on the last step of the narrow stairway. "Are you okay, Artemus?" she asked. There was no response. "Jim is changing the rope, because it's a bit damaged, so don't worry if you see the first one go up."

In the crevasse, Artie frowned. "A bit damaged? It's a brand new rope! I checked it myself. How is it pos…?" He stopped mid-sentence realizing that Kitty had probably damaged it – so he would fall down to the bottom of the crack and died there, all his bones crushed.

She had tried to kill him! But she did it before realizing that she needed that rope too, to go down in her turn, and stopped before cutting it right through, he thought. He added in his mind: Kitty had told Jim that the rope was damaged and as he was in love with her he didn't think for a split second that she had cut the rope in order to kill him!

He frowned. "Be very careful, old man," he muttered to himself under his breath.

He glared at Kitty, seeing her frame lit by the sun and said, "Fortunately I asked Jim to bring a second rope, let's hope it's intact!"

Suddenly the end of the second rope landed at his feet.

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Later, in the crevasse

Holding the gasoline lamp, leading the way, Artie was the first to reach the last step of the narrow stairway dug into the rock face.

He was the first too to see bones covering the ground – human bones, everywhere.

He felt a shiver run down his spine.

Holding a second gasoline lamp, Jim pointed at a skull. "Kitty, can you explain that? Are your Ha'ichu people cannibals?"

Kitty shook her head, looking embarrassed. "No, they're not. But I'm glad you came here with me and that you are armed… because there are beasts guarding the entrance to the underground world of the Ha'ichu people, huge, scaly, dragon-like serpents with horns and long teeth."

Picking up a skull Artie said, "Horned serpents are a type of mythological serpent common to many tribes of the United States and Canada. They are usually supernatural in character- possessing magical abilities such as shape-shifting, invisibility, or hypnotic powers. For example, the Cheyenne believe in an underwater serpent called Mehne. Mehne lurks in lakes and springs and eat hu…" His words were cut short when suddenly a long and low rumbling growl resounded. "What was that?"

Frowning Jim said, "Mythological you said? I don't think so."

Paling, Artie lowered the skull to the sandy ground listening to the voice in his head that warned him that he was in mortal danger and proposed, "Let's get out of here, before it's too late," while glancing around him in apprehension.

It was dark. Very dark at the bottom of the stairs and there was a shape slowly coming into sight. The serpent-dragon? He thought with apprehension.

Kitty crossed her arms on her chest. "It's just big snakes! We can kill them with our guns! We have to stay! I want to find the Ha'ichu people!" then she unholstered her revolver.

Moving to the right, lowering his lamp to the ground, Jim lit up a rifle, then another one, lying there. "Big snakes or not, those people here had guns too, and they were killed."

Heading back toward the stairway, Artemus suddenly froze hearing a loud hissing noise that sent shivers down his spine. The hair stood up on the back of his head and he gasped in shock as he saw two glowing, big, slit red eyes fixed on him, in the darkness. "It's too late," he said, a lump in his throat, backing up. He lowered his hand to his Colt – but he wasn't rapid enough though. What was hiding in the darkness was simply too fast for him.

He let out a strangled cry as the 'beast' darted toward him and attacked him at an astonishing speed – forked tongue stretched out toward him, elongating.

He backed away but the creature lashing out its long tongue, struck him like a whip. He cried out in pain, and his gun flew from his hand, the shot going wide, as he kicked and struggled to get away from the leathery, sticky tongue, smearing sticky saliva-ish substance all over his front and back.

He gasped as the serpent-dragon's tongue wrapped around his legs in a vice-like grip, pulling them out from under him.

The next thing he knew, he was being swept up into the air. "Let go of me!"

Artemus dropped the kerosene lamp to the ground just before the beast began to drag him toward its large mouth lined with long, pointed teeth.

He screamed in primal terror, and writhed and thrashed against the serpent-dragon's tongue holding him. "Jim! Help me please!" he pleaded, as he tried to wriggle free once more.

He was going to be eaten alive! He thought, horrified and his stomach lurched.

Looking at Artie in pale-faced horror, Jim fired at the 'guardian' but realized almost instantly that the bullets were ricocheting off the beast's triangular scales. One of them almost hit him.

The gunfire was deafening in the enclosed space.

Her mouth dry, her eyes wide open, feeling cold and frozen with terror, Kitty stared at the beast that was pulling a squirming Artemus into the darkness. Then, Instinct took over and she bolted for the stairway, running upward, climbing the steps two at a time at top speed – yelping out in a panic.

Still holding his lamp, Jim knew Kitty would be fine on the surface and followed the serpent-dragon's large tail, entering a large tunnel covered with bones and some sort of glowing moss offering a faint light. He could hear Artemus's harsh breathing and cries of pain echoing off the walls there.

He gritted his teeth. "I'm coming Artie! I'm right behind you!"

But he was brutally stopped when the serpent-dragon's tail, long spiny and covered with sharp, bony protrusions, suddenly slammed into his chest, knocking breath from his body, and breaking a rib or two.

The pain flared.

His vision went fuzzy at the edges and he collapsed to the ground before losing consciousness a few seconds later.

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Later

Moaning, Artemus woke up sprawled on top of a pile of human bones.

He blinked open his eyes to the sight of an unfamiliar grotto wall lit up by the sun, coming through large holes in the top of the cavern.

Suddenly very much awake he shot up into a sitting position to get ready to fight against the huge serpent-dragon… and found himself covered with blood and with slimy serpent-dragon's saliva.

Speaking of serpent-dragon… he hurriedly moved back as he saw the guardian looming over him lower its scaly, two-horned head toward him, the black and red scales glinting in the sunlight.

He lifted a hand. "Nooooo!" he cried out, his heart pounding in panic, as the beast's open mouth descended on him, green saliva dripping. "No-no-no."

He screamed as he was lifted up in a near crushing hold. Panic spread through him as he struggled. He lashed out, punching the beast's snout, hurting his hands on the black scales.

But the serpent-dragon continued holding Artie in its mouth, inflicting more multiple wounds and adding more slime to his clothes.

Artemus was losing consciousness when the 'serpent-dragon' lifted him into the air and dropped him in the middle of a giant nest, made with flat rocks and diverse skulls – containing six large eggs. Two of them were hatching, and dark gray, baby serpent-dragons' heads were showing, the babies letting out shrill squeaks, showing small but sharp teeth.

His heart leaping into his throat, Artemus realized in horror that he'd serve as first meal for the serpent-dragons' offspring. "No, no, no! I'm not food!" he said, standing up. He didn't want to be eaten slowly, piece by piece, by dragon babies.

But 'mommy' serpent-dragon used its head to slam his left shoulder hard, dislocating it. The agent cried out in pain and sank to his knees.

He curled up in a fetal position – in a protective position - and sucked in a deep breath, grimacing in pain, his right hand pressing over his injured shoulder.

Suddenly Artemus yelped as a large dog-sized serpent-dragon bit his right hand he pushed the creature back – eliciting a scaly nose-butt from the mother.

A blinding pain hit Artemus on the back of the head leaving his ears ringing and a fresh trickle of blood oozing from his scalp and he grunted. His vision instantly grew white as stars exploded in front of his eyes and he crumpled up in a heap on his side, passed out.

More mini-serpent-dragons's heads popped out – all of them hungry.

Hiding behind a rock, at the entrance to the grotto, Jim glanced at his gun helplessly. It was useless against the serpent-dragon.

But not against the serpent-dragon babies he could see climb onto the edges of the nest to say hello to their mama, before going back into the middle.

A plan formed in his mind: take a baby hostage and leave that place with Artie. He would release it once safe on the surface. "Good plan!" he thought.

He stood, ready to run toward the nest, when he felt the ground tremble and heard a rustling sound. He pivoted, finding himself face to face with the massive shape of a second serpent-dragon, much bigger.

It was the dad.

Fear gripping his heart, Jim moved back hastily while the other serpent-dragon was whistling loudly in the wide grotto chamber. He found himself standing in the middle of a circle of light, behind a light shaft, caught between the two serpent-dragons.

He shook his head. "Serpent-dragons!" he said, voice thick with disbelief, his heart racing, observing the two creatures in a span of a few seconds.

They were a mix between a snake (serpent) and a dragon, indeed. They had a snake's body with black dragon's scales, long red spikes lined the back of their spine and they had the tail of a dragon too. They didn't have leathery wings though, but two arched horns on top of their heads. And, of course, dark, red slit eyes, a long forked tongue and very big sharp teeth that could tear a man apart in seconds.

He fired at them, but the bullets ricocheted on their scales disappearing in the grotto. It only served to anger the two beasts.

The huge male opened its mouth wide, saliva dripping to the ground in long filaments.

Shaking madly, Jim closed his eyes, ready to die. The serpent-dragon was going to pierce him, going to smash him into a bloody pulp and eat him.

He pulled in a couple of deep, harsh breaths. "I'm sorry, Artie." he wouldn't be able to save him. Soon they would be together again, in the other world.

He was resigned to his fate when he suddenly remembered something: he had one of Artie's small orange time bombs in the side pocket of his jacket.

He fished it out and in a flash programmed it to explode two minutes later. He then ran toward the nest, finding his best friend's body curled up on himself and covered with mini-serpent-dragons biting his hands and neck with their small razor-like teeth.

He said, "Artie wake up buddy!" but as the older man didn't react, he leaped among the rocks and skulls, pushed the small squeaking babies away from Artemus, noticing that the other man was bleeding from multiple wounds and was covered with green goo.

He grabbed him by his broad, strong shoulders, squeezing gently. "Artie! Wake up! ARTIE!"

Blinking awake, Artemus whimpered at the pain, tears filling his eyes. "Aaaah! That hurts!" he rasped and gritted his teeth. "Left shoulder's dislocated."

Immediately Jim released his grip and maneuvered Artie up on his feet. "Come on, Artie. We need to get out of here!" He slid an arm around him and urged Artemus to stand and the older man managed to get to his feet with a few wobbles.

His mind de-fuzzing, Artemus realized that Jim was keeping him upright. "Jim?" Then he gasped in terror as he noticed the two serpent-dragons moving toward them, showing their long sharp teeth. "Oh my God…"

Feeling lightheaded, nauseous, he felt the contents of his stomach rising into his throat. He coughed and gurgled, nearly choking on it.

He vomited, splashing Jim's shirt. "S'rry," he rasped.

Utterly frightened Jim said, "We have to get out of here, now! Are you ready?" Not waiting for his partner's response, he threw the time bomb in front of the oncoming dragons. Then, one arm wrapped around Artie's middle, he marshaled him toward the tunnel, his broken ribs hurting like hell. He gasped, chest heaving to reclaim his breath just before a big explosion resounded a few seconds later.

Not looking back, the two men ran through the tunnel, both moaning and panting. Finally, a faint light appeared and they reached the base of the stairway a few minutes later.

But they didn't climb the steps: a group of a dozen of the Ha'ichu people were standing there, barefoot and wearing colored dresses and holding spears.

Pressing a hand to his broken ribs, Jim stopped and drew in rasping breaths. "I think we have found the Ha'ichu people," he said.

Two warriors framed Kitty, one of them pressing a knife to her throat. The two agents looked at each other, both thinking it wasn't a good day.

Hearing a loud hiss, they joined the group of Ha'ichu people as daddy serpent-dragon appeared, his red eyes glowing.

Lifting his spear decorated with colored feathers, a hulky warrior, his long raven hair touching his broad shoulders and wearing a blue dress, stepped forward and said something in his language and the dragon immediately calmed down.

Suddenly mama serpent-dragon and the six babies appeared in their turn and Jim sighed in relief. The family wasn't injured. He hated to kill animals – even spiders. Even if the said animals had hurt Artie and he and had almost killed them.

The serpent-dragons 'glared' at Jim and Artie – even the babies all of them angry and frustrated their 'meals on legs' had escaped and they turned around, heading back to the grotto where the giant nest was.

Sighing in relief, Artemus sat on a rock, bone-tired, both wincing and grunting as muscles spasms shook his dislocated shoulder, increasing the pain tenfold. "Thank you, you saved our lives," he said to the tall, strongly-built warrior.

Giving Artemus a black look, the warrior pointed his lance at the other man, the sharp edge of his spearhead touching his throat.

His face impassible, keeping his calm; Artie explained, "We are here to meet you, we are peaceful explorers. My name is Artemus Gordon." Pointing at Jim he added, "This is James West," and looking at Kitty with total indifference, he said, "And this is Catherine Reynolds."

Lowering his lance, the Indian said, in English, "My name is Tlacelel, meaning in your language 'greatest of our male heroes.'"

Very surprised, Jim noted, "And you speak English."

Tlacelel nodded. "Yes, prisoners from the outside world taught us your language, before they were sacrificed to Mictlāntēcutl the king of Mictlan, the lowest and northernmost section of the Mictlampa, the region of death of the underworld." He bulged his powerful chest and added, "I'm the chief warrior. You know we are here; we cannot let you go back to the surface. Nobody must know that we exist. You will die too, like all the others."

Dreading to be killed, Kitty intervened, "Don't kill us, please!"

Still looking at Artemus, the Ha'ichu man ignored her and said,. "I should bring you back to the guardians lair so they can kill you, and eat you, but I won't. You managed to survive and no one has done that before. You can see their bones lying on the ground everywhere. They were explorers too. You are great warriors and you are worthy to donate your blood to Mictlāntēcutli, the most prominent of our gods and goddesses of death and the underworld. He will be very pleased."

Kitty felt her knees going weak and goosebumps pimpled along her skin. "Oh my god! No! Please, no!" She stopped talking when she felt the obsidian blade cut her skin.

Blood trickled down her neck.

She felt tears start to fall, the terror already too much.

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In a cell

Sitting on a stone bench that was sculpted in the rock wall, immobile because the smallest movement of any part of his arm was torture, Artie said, "Jim, you have to relocate my shoulder. I mean return the humeral head to its normal place in the glenoid fossa."

Looking down at his best friend who was pale and sweating, Jim moved away from the small opening in the heavy wooden door covered with metal plates and nodded. "Okay, but it's going to hurt like hell."

Gritting his teeth, Artie said, his voice hoarse with pain, "I know, I'm already suffering like hell. But you already did it for me a few times, so I know it will be done the right way."

Standing in front of Artie, Jim removed what was left of Artie's jacket and shirt, torn and bloodied and soaked with the sticky serpent-dragon's saliva, leaving him bare-chested. Then he asked the other man, "Ready?" and his best friend nodded.

Artemus ground his teeth together and held his breath.

Jim flexed the other man's elbow to 90 degrees and gradually rotated the shoulder outward in an external rotation. It was so painful that tears rolled down Artie's cheeks as he tightened his jaw, moaning. Muscles spasms shook his whole body. His head felt heavy and began to swim.

Then, after 10 minutes of gentle pushing, the shoulder spontaneously relocated – and Artemus slumped forward bonelessly.

His vision grayed and went blurry, and he felt like he was hovering on the edge of consciousness. He was going to pass out.

Immediately Jim gently maneuvered Artemus against the rock wall, minding his injured shoulder and slapped in face, gently, but firmly. "Still with me Artie?"

Eyes closed, grunting, Artie nodded. "Yeah… Feel better. Still hurts though." He looked up at Jim and frowning in worry, he asked, "Your ribs?"

Sitting on the orange-stone bench, Jim smiled but he couldn't quite suppress the wince. "Still broken, breathing is very painful. But there's nothing to be done," he said. "You're covered with blood…"

Lifting his bloodied right hand covered with bite marks, Artie smiled. The good news was he wasn't bleeding to death nor did any of his bones feel broken. "I know, the serpent-dragons teeth were pointy and sharp… even those of the babies. They nipped me."

Placing a soothing hand on his best friend's knee, Jim asked, "We met Aztecs before. Do you remember the Sun Goddess?"

Smiling, Artie nodded. "Yes, of course I do. Let's hope there's one here too. Kiss her and we'll be free to go back home."

Jim nodded glancing around again at the cell lit only by sparse torches. "I'm wondering why Kitty is not here with us."

Suddenly the door opened and two guards entered the small room, holding spears. They pointed them at the two prisoners. "Out!" said the tallest man. "Teoxihuitl (precious and divine) wants to see you."

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In the underground throne room

Teoxihuitl was a tall, athletic woman, with long dark braided hair adorned with a large, flamboyant feather headdress.

She had golden pieces that clung to her ear lobes, she was wearing a long, red dress and her face was hidden with a golden mask imitating the head of a snake.

She was sitting on a solid gold throne and flanked by two piles of human skulls and two braziers and she was holding a long gold spear.

There was a huge Aztec pyramid-shaped wall behind her. Torches lined the walls, lighting up sculpted figures of animals, warriors and gods carved into the red ochre rock.

Tlacelel, was standing at her side, holding a long, obsidian knife.

Dozens of guards were surrounding them.

Jim and Artemus glanced at each other, thinking the same thing at the same time: it was impossible for them to escape.

Framed between the two guards, Jim and Artie bowed their heads respectfully, then hearing a muffled cry they saw Kitty enter the vast room in her turn.

She was escorted by two soldiers too, but unlike the two men, she had her wrists bound and she was gagged, preventing her from speaking.

Pleased to see it, Artie didn't hide a smile of satisfaction – earning a look of reproval from his partner, but he chose to ignore it.

Moving toward Kitty Tlacelel said, "She hit several of my men and bit them. I had to restrain her and gag her. She isn't harmed."

Smiling, Jim bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you."

Teoxihuitl pointed at Artie and said something in her language. Immediately a guard pushed Artie toward the queen.

Placing a hand on the prisoner's bare back, he commanded, "Bow down before the Teoxihuitl! Face down!" and he was satisfied when Artemus complied.

On his knees, forehead touching the ground, Artie waited… and gasped, when a few seconds later, he felt a finger trace the tattoo he had on his lower back.

The Queen said, both amazed and impressed, "Quauhtli! An eagle! Only the bravest warriors have an eagle tattooed on their skin. Mictlāntēcutli will be very pleased to receive your tona, your heart, which is the seat of the individual. You're a warrior, and Mictlāntēcutli likes to govern over the souls of warriors who died heroic deaths – and being sacrificed to the god, is a heroic death. I will cut through your abdomen with a knife made of gold. Then I will tear your still beating heart out of your chest and I will hold it toward the statue of the god of death and the underworld. Doing that, I will release the istli, a fragment of the Sun's heat trapped in it. Mictlāntēcutli will receive this divine sun fragment as the most precious offering and the god will quench his thirst with your blood. He will bestow my people and me with all his blessings for many years! Then, your dead body will be cut up and given to the guardians, as a gift."

Kitty frowned, hearing that. She knew everything known about the Aztec, and yes, she was right, the ha'ichu civilization was not exactly the same as the one of the 15th century Aztec. But very close, she thought. She continued her musing, for example, human sacrifices were performed using an obsidian or flint blade, not a gold one. And the kind of sacrifice the Queen had talked about was performed by a priest, and not in honor of Mictlāntēcutli, but Huitzilopochtli, the sun-god.

The Queen suddenly grabbed a handful of Artie's hair and yanked his head upward eliciting a muffled cry – and Kitty came back to Earth. "Mictlāntēcutli will be pleased."

Teoxihuitl gave the guard a nod and the soldier pulled Artemus back to his feet. Then she took a closer look at the prisoner's other tattoo: it was an intricate dragon curled around his right arm. She gasped in surprise and took a step back, suddenly afraid. "It's Xiuhcoatl! The fire-breathing dragon! Symbol of weapons of destruction!" She glared at Artemus and added, "You won't have time to bring destruction here, Quauhtli! You won't because you will die soon."

Paling Artie said, "I'm not here to bring destruction, like my friends here we came in peace, wanting to meet you, to know you. But we won't tell anyone what happened here."

Teoxihuitl hid a cold smile behind her mask. "I'm sure of it, because you are going to die." She paused appreciating Artemus and Jim's worried look and Kitty's terror reflected in her eyes. Then she came back to sit on her throne, now looking at Jim, from head to toe. She said again something in her language and Tlacelel headed toward Jim, his biceps showing.

He stopped in front of the smaller man before giving a command, "Remove your clothes, the Queen wants to see if you have a tattoo too."

Happy to comply in his goal to seduce the Queen, Jim removed his jacket and shirt, offering his muscular and tanned upper body to Teoxihuitl's eyes.

He turned around and then offered the Queen a large seductive smile, his green eyes shining. His natural charm always worked magic on women – even those who tried to kill him. That's why they didn't manage to poison him, stab him, shoot him… he thought.

But it had no effect on her and he was left stunned, his male pride hit. It was the first time a woman had remained insensitive to his charms.

Upset, he was picking up his clothes when Tlacelel said, "Leave them where they are. You won't need them anymore."

Jim complied.

Teoxihuitl observed Jim and then used a dismissive gesture. "Bring those two to the guardians, I heard they had offsprings. The little ones need to eat." She pointed at Artie and added, "Mictlāntēcutli will be fully satisfied to receive the blood of this man as an offering." She gestured toward Tlacelel. "Have Quauhtli prepared for the sacrifice!"

Tlacelel bowed his head. "Yes, my Queen."

Hearing that, Quauhtli (Artemus) took an instinctive step back and yelped in pain when he felt the tip of a spear puncture his side.

He grunted. "Great! Another puncture hole in my body…" he rasped. Seeing Jim look at him worriedly, he added optimistically, "We'll leave this place alive. We always survive the worst situations."

Feeling as optimistic as his best friend, Jim smiled to his partner and said, "Yes we do. We just need to find a way to."

Tlacelel shook his head. "That's impossible! You will die." He lifted his hand, ordered something in his language and six warriors circled Jim and Kitty, already framed between four warriors. "They are going to take you back to the guardians nest."

Kitty terrified shook her head and cried out something muffled by her gag. Jim took her hand to calm her down and smiled to her. "Calm yourself Kitty. We won't die here, believe me." Then, pushed by a guard, he headed toward the entrance of the throne room. He stopped, glanced at Artie and said, "See you later, Artie." Then he smiled.

Looking at Artemus, Tlacelel pointed at a door, on the left. "This way!"

Escorted by four soldiers and by Tlacelel, Artemus followed the twists and turns of a long corridor covered with other symbols with torches attached to light the way.

Suddenly Artemus stopped dead in his tracks and headed to the short tunnel on his right, leading to a kind of natural balcony opening… to an enormous cavity filled with pueblos constructed of stones cut from the rock walls with polychrome paintings and carvings covering the walls. They had flat roofs and multiple levels which were accessible by ladder.

A temple was erected in the middle of the plaza. It had two staircases and at the base of these staircases there were enormous dragon like figures – like the serpent-dragons. The temple was decorated with paint and statues. The whole underground city was lit by some sort of glowing moss, offering a faint light (like the one in the tunnel leading to the guardian's nest, he remembered) and by many braziers.

At the bottom of the adobe houses, Artemus could see corn fields which were surrounded by canals and ponds of fresh water where sheep and cows were grazing on grass and pigs were rooting among bushes for fallen fruit.. A lot of people lived there, dealing with daily tasks; many of them working in the fields or taking care of the animals.

He turned toward Tlacelel, amazed by the splendor of the find the 'hidden' world of the Ha'ichu people . "It's beautiful," he said.

Nodding, Tlacelel said, "Yes, it is." Then, he poked Artemus's side with his knife. "Move! Mictlāntēcutli is awaiting your sacrifice."

WWW

It took several minutes to reach a large room occupied in its middle by a natural pool with crystal clear water coming from a spring.

Tlacelel halted beside the edge of the circular pool, took a cloth on top of the pile sitting there, threw it to the prisoner who caught it and commanded, "Take your clothes off, all of them. You have to take a bath in the sacred fountain in order to be purified before the ceremony. Then, you will be given new clothes and ornaments and led to the altar. Mictlāntēcutli loves that those who offer him their heart and their blood are beautiful."

Looking at the pool, Artemus started to remove the rest of his clothes. "I like the idea of taking a bath to clean myself as I'm covered with blood and serpent-dragon saliva, of having new clothes too because mine are ruined, but sacrificing me isn't necessary." Then, naked, he dipped a foot into the water, then the other, gasping as it was cold. He eased himself into the water till his lower belly was above the waterline. Goose bumps erupted all over her legs and stomach.

He sat on the rocky bottom and started to rub his limbs eagerly with the cloth.

One moment later, Artemus pushed himself into the water. Dripping, he was leaving the pool, feeling a lot better without all the blood and serpent-dragon's stick saliva covering him, when he saw the others bow as Teoxihuitl entered the room. She was framed by two female servants. One was holding long pieces of colored cloth in her arms and the other a round plate filled with gold necklaces and pectorals.

The Queen was holding a cup made of gold.

Artemus immediately covered his private parts with his large hands and flushed from embarrassment. His skin turned red with a blush, and it spread from his cheeks, down his neck and to his chest.

Standing in front of Artie, the Queen looked at her prisoner from head to toe again and ordered, "Meztli (Moon) is going to dress you, Quauhtli."

Meztli used the pieces of cloths to wrap Artie with from his hips down to his knees, then Teoxihuitl circled the agent. "Perfect." She snapped her fingers. "Citlali! (Star).

Immediately the other woman placed the heavy gold necklaces and pectorals around Artemus's neck, covering nearly his entire chest.

Moving back, the Queen looked at Artemus once again, and said, "You are beautiful Quauhtli. Mictlāntēcutli will be very pleased."

She moved back close to the white man and handed him the cup she was holding. Artemus took it glancing at its contents.

It was a syrupy liquid he noticed, like black honey. But it was something else, he thought. "What's this? Is this poison?" He asked.

Teoxihuitl shook her head. "No, it's a powerful drug. You need to be calm and relaxed when I open your chest with a knife before pulling your heart out. Drink!"

Seeing that Quauhtli hesitated, Tlacelel placed the blade of his obsidian knife against the prisoner's throat, cutting the skin, deeply enough to draw some blood. "You have to obey the Queen! Drink it, or I will force it down your throat."

Feeling his blood pool at the base of his neck, Artie took a sip of the potion, to taste it first – it tasted like molasses, then he drank all of it.

Tbc.