Miguel slept alone that night, in the gods' temple, high above the city. It was the first time he'd slept alone since... well, since he'd run away with Tulio as a child. His dark haired comrade had always been close by, his steady breathing comforting to him, so far from anything that could ever be called a snore. Sometimes he'd wake up in the middle of the night to hear the last snort or a snore escape his mouth – he snored horribly loud, – and wondered how Tulio could sleep. As for tonight, he dreaded not waking up to see his friend twisted into some uncomfortable looking position, or sleeping calmly while facing him. He wanted to turn and find his familiar face, put an arm around him and pretend when he woke up that it had been an accident that had occurred while he'd been asleep.

The weather was cool, and somehow Miguel couldn't get warm. He shifted closer to the left side of the bed, (he'd been attempting to sleep on the far right,) only to realize that he would not find the warmth of another person there. Sighing sadly, he sprung up from the bed and heaped for blankets onto it, then snuggled down and squeezed his eyes shut. After a few minutes of waiting for the temperature under the covers to rise, Miguel fell asleep. Then he dreamed.

He ran down the stairs of the temple, trying not to stumble, and came into the house where he knew Tulio rested. Inside, he found Chief Tanni, but not Tulio.

"Where is he?" he asked, sounding a little worried.

Chief Tanni didn't answer. He just lifted a curtain to another room and let him enter. Miguel caught sight of the man standing over Tulio, and screamed.

"Chief Tanni? Chief Tanni!" he yelled, tearing out of the room and finding the Chief. "Why is he there?"

"Who, my Lord?"

"Tzekel-kan!" Miguel screeched. "Why is he near Tulio?"

"He is treating him," the Chief replied. Just then, the dreaded medicine man came out of the room.

"Well?" the Chief asked, blinking at Tzekel-kan.

"Delicious," he replied, licking blood from his lips and fingers. Miguel, horrified, ran back inside.

The room reeked of copper, and when Miguel went forward to see his friend, Tulio's eyes were squeezed shut. He coughed, blood pouring from his mouth.

"The tongue of the gods, if eaten, gives the consumer the power to control the elements and command man."

"You're crazy!" Miguel bellowed, charging the dark figure.

"The tears, eternal life," he continued, catching Miguel's arm and twisting it behind his back. The blond gasped.

"The eyes," the sadistic man purred in his ear, "the power to read the minds of those around them." Miguel stilled, though adrenalin raced through his veins. Run! His instincts screamed at him. Run away!

He was pushed roughly down, and looked up in time to see Tzekel-kan grab a handful of Tulio's black hair and pull him up. "A handsome creature isn't he?" he asked silkily. "God or no god, I will enjoy devouring him." Tulio reached a hand out desperately, just as the predator behind him traced his collarbone lovingly, and nuzzled his neck.

"Get away!" Miguel cried, lunging forward. Tzekel-kan bit down, and Miguel made a discovery: you didn't need a tongue to scream.

"No!" he cried, sitting upright in bed. He shook his head and rubbed his face. Nightmares. Only when he'd been a child had he had nightmares. Only when he was alone. When he'd snuck into his parents' room, he was fine. But otherwise... He'd grown out of them around the time Tulio had become his friend. Apparently he'd become so accustomed to having him around that being alone made them return.

Sighing in resignation, he got up and walked to the entrance hall. Outside, the sky was beginning to lighten, so he decided that he might as well get up. He walked slowly down the stairs, his legs burning by the time he'd gotten to the bottom, whether going down was easier than going up or not.

When he reached the bottom, a few of the citizens offered him food. He took an apple and nibbled contentedly, and went into the little house where he'd left Tulio in the care of the chief. What he found inside made his jaw drop.

There were at least a dozen bowls of different mixtures, each containing different combinations of ground herbs. Chief Tanni was in the middle of making a new batch of... something, while glancing occasionally at a book open on the table on his right. He hadn't yet noticed his visitor, made obvious by his quick movements and soft humming. He jumped up suddenly, patted his waistband and looking around, as if searching for something...

"There!" he chirped, which made Miguel jump. He reached over and grabbed a handful of what seemed to be green sprouts with tiny white buds on them, and began to grind them on a wooden board using a blunt tool. Miguel cleared his throat.

"Oh, Lord Miguel," the chief said, smiling up happily at him. "You're just in time! I needed help for the next part of the treatment." He quickly finished grinding the plant and added it to a bowl. He mixed quickly, and then spooned out some of the stuff onto a long strip of white cloth. "White's best, because you can see when you have to change the bandage," he explained happily.

"How is he?" Miguel asked nervously. The chief paused.

"We are currently bringing down his fever. The infections are being treated. Unfortunately the best way to treat any infection is to eat healthy foods with disease fighting properties, but it is quite difficult for a patient to eat when that patient won't stay conscious for very long." He stood by the door to the next room, waiting for the blond to go first.

Tulio was lying on a low table with a cloth draped over him, covering from his hips to just above his knees. Nothing else clothed him.

While Miguel had to take a second to lean against the doorway and resist the urge to jump his friend, the chief entered the room and smothered some more bandages with the mix in the bowl he'd brought in with him.

"Lord Miguel, if you might be so kind as to lift Lord Tulio?" he asked, gesturing at the brunette on the table. Miguel nodded.

Stepping up, he lifted his friend into a sitting position. Tulio, perfectly unconscious, merely continued to breathe steadily. Chief Tanni removed the bandages and replaced them with the new ones, which were covered in the, erm... goop that he'd prepared. Finished, he motioned for Miguel to lie Tulio back down, which he did all too happily. The blond also resisted the urge to look down, in case he was able to see under the cloth. It was similar to the skirts they'd worn at the celebration the last time they were here.

"If you'll excuse me, I've been up all night, and must retire. If you could watch him for any changes?" the chief asked, already out the door. "Just come get me if you need anything," he added. Miguel nodded.

Once they were alone, Miguel turned to Tulio. "Well, this has been an adventure," he told him, laying a hand on his chest. His friend didn't respond. Rubbing slow, lazy circles over the bandaged area, he thought of Cortez. What was the man doing?

Little did he know, his enemy had returned to the New World, in search of them. He wanted his prey back, and he wanted it now.