The Quetzal's Fire

Harry Potter

Part Sixteen: Quetzalcoatl's Pyre

Herein is the legend of the Fire of Quetzalcoatl.

When the God That Is Bird and Snake sailed east, he lit a pyre of two final sacrifices, and a warning. Turning to the highest priest of his order:

"You and your line will rule our two people. Yet, I see it will end when it is greatest. Topiltzin, do not abandon us. We will struggle. We will return. I will return. The fire must stay lit, but it must be contained: my anger shall know no bounds."

Thus: he entered his ship and sailed to the east.

Yet, Topiltzin did not know of two people. There was only the Toltec, and the Toltec would remain. But the Toltec fell. Finally, the Aztecs returned Lake Texoco to its glory. Tenochtitlán was founded, and it flourished. The Great Temple was built, the gods had their sacrifice, and all was well.

Then Cortéz came.

In the Empire's death throes, as the treacherous Cortéz deceived Moctezuma into believing that the conquistador was in fact Quetzalcoatl, the god that was both Quetzal bird and Snake, returned to resume his holy rule over the Aztecs. The Spanish conqueror had come to conquer, enslave, and steal, however. He unleashed plagues, slaughtered citizens in the streets, and pilfered the most sacred of artifacts from the Aztecs' temples. Yet, something that escaped his notice had greater importance to those wizards of latter days.

As the white men captured Tenochtitlán, the disciples of Quetzalcoatl at the Great Temple fulfilled their responsibility. The fire of the Quetzal was to be sent to the greatest city of the Maya, Tikal. In a secret antechamber located directly under the altars where prisoners were sacrificed to the gods, the priest of the Great Temple and his protégé, were attempting to stave off a doom more ultimate than the fall of their empire.

"With haste! The devils are about to take the final causeway. Texococo is to fall tomorrow. If you do not leave now, the sacred Fire will be in the hands of those who do not understand it. You know what would happen in that case." The high priest looked sternly at his quaking initiate. "You have been chosen to perpetuate our holy order. The rest of us will ruin as many of the Castillanos as we may. You are devout. You are strong. Do not fail us, . The world looks to you for redemption. Out! They are storming the steps." The High Priest thrust a nondescript granite box into the acolyte's hand, seized his obsidian sword, and donned his leopard helmet.

The adolescent would-be cleric took the granite box with trepidation. Despite the remarkable heat it contained, the granite was cool.

Spaniards, conquistadors, were charging the Great Temple, roaring as they shot or cut the priests that dared to defend their holiest of sites. The acolyte was secure in the knowledge that they did not know what he carried. He was less sure (as was the High Priest) that the white men would be deemed impure in the presence of Quetzalcoatl's Fire. All he knew was that he would have to flee to Tikal, where the conquistadors would not be able to find him. There, where Quetzalcoatl was also recognized among the greatest of gods, they would be safe. The order would be intact, and the fire would burn.


A/N: This chapter requires some explination, I know. That will come later. For now, just know that this is the backstory. Neither Harry nor anyone from the 20th century will appear for some time.
So, here's the start of the story.