Apologies for the long wait! I was stuck on the first two scenes for ages. I'll try to be faster with the next update.
Anyway, on to the story!
The next night, Voxzaco found the solar eclipse prophesied on the Stone.
Phoenix, Prince Goth, King Camaxtli, and a handful of minor priests gathered in the temple to hear Voxzaco's words. Personally, Phoenix hadn't expected him to figure it out so quickly.
She glanced at the carvings on the Stone and the bloodstains encrusting them, unnerved by the blood for the first time when she realized that some of it was her own. She hadn't given it much thought the last couple times she had been in this room, but she was standing in the very place she had died. Her heartbeat suddenly seemed very loud.
Voxzaco's raspy voice jolted her out of her thoughts.
"Here," he said, laying a gnarled claw on a perfect circle ringed by triangular spikes. "The sun, as it is now." He spiraled in closer to the center, tapping several carvings of the sun as he went, which had a larger slice missing with each depiction. "But it will grow weaker. And finally" —he scuttled closer still to the center of the Stone and pointed to what was unmistakably Zotz's eye, replacing the sun— "the total eclipse in the midst of day." After the eye, the very center of the Stone was an empty gap, the shadows gathering in it deeper than they had reason to be. Voxzaco trembled with excitement, rubbing at a patch of bare, blistering skin on his forearm.
Phoenix leaned in closer to look at Zotz's eye and the missing center of the Stone. That does look promising.
"We know about the eclipse," said Prince Goth, crossing his arms. "You claimed that you had discovered when it is to occur."
Voxzaco scowled at him. "Yes, yes, of course." He gestured to patterns of jagged lines that curled alongside the spiral of shrinking suns. "The sun will remain for several more months, until near the end of the wet season. But then...then not only will it vanish—it will vanish on the longest night of the year!"
Phoenix narrowed her eyes at the carvings on the Stone, trying to figure out how Voxzaco could tell all that from such an arbitrary-looking assortment of curves and zigzags and dots. She could make no sense of it—except perhaps there, shortly before the eye, could those be flames? No matter; that shouldn't be for several months.
"The longest night of the year," mused King Camaxtli. "The shortest day. There is power in that."
"A good omen," Voxzaco agreed.
"Indeed," Phoenix muttered. But that long…. She looked up through the circular portal in the ceiling at the clear, starry sky. It would be a good eight months before the longest night of the year. She gritted her teeth. What was she going to do with eight months? It was too early to capture sacrifices—they'd likely die within a few weeks, long before the eclipse.
"Months!" she hissed, then realized that the other bats present were staring at her.
"My apologies," said Phoenix, trying to force a smile though she was sure it came out as more of a grimace. "But I'm here to oversee the ritual, not laze about for months on end. I can wait, of course, but what do you expect me to do in the world of the living?"
"All is under control," Voxzaco said, too-large eyes narrowed irritably. "You might train as a soldier if you feel you're needed."
Involuntarily, Phoenix's lips drew back to bare her teeth. "Is that all you think I am, a lackey?" she snapped. "I have been so much more than that for centuries. I was chosen by Zotz not only as one of his elite, but as the only bat worthy to reclaim life. I am more than a common soldier, and let me tell you, viejo, that I did not return to this world to be disregarded."
Voxzaco didn't so much as flinch. "You think very highly of yourself."
Glowering, Phoenix took a step closer. She towered over the old priest. "I've earned the right."
"Stand down." Xocama, never far from the king's side, clamped a restraining hand on Phoenix's shoulder. Phoenix, unaccustomed to physical contact, instinctively lashed out to knock him away. He stumbled back a step but didn't fall.
"Stay out of this!" she hissed. "I don't answer to you."
"But I answer to the king," said Xocama, "and under his laws, no bat lays a claw on a priest of Zotz."
"I don't intend to lay a claw on him. I'm simply giving myself a proper introduction." She smirked toothily.
"Then stand down!"
Phoenix let out a harsh laugh. "Do I have to tell you again? I do not answer to either you or Voxzaco! I have the power to do as I please, and I will ensure that everyone knows that."
Xocama snarled and lunged. The second he moved, Phoenix was there to meet him, gripping his arm in her claws. She urged the stone at her feet to rise up and ensnare him, trapping him in a stone shell for his disrespect—
The earth didn't so much as shudder. Xocama clapped his free hand against his ear as he eyed her with suspicion. "What was that?" he demanded, his brows drawing together.
Zotz had granted her the ability to imprison the traitorous dead in stone to ensure that they remained in the Underworld, but that had been Zotz's power, not her own. Of course this 'power' of hers wouldn't work in the Upper World. At most, it might leave a ringing in the ears. It was nothing more than a sonic illusion, only solid in her god's realm.
From a step behind her, Prince Goth seized her wrist and, to her shock, broke her grip on Xocama. She wrested her arm away, glaring. "Get your claws off—"
"Enough of this!" barked King Camaxtli. Every bat's attention was immediately drawn to him. "This brings us nowhere." His gaze shifted to Phoenix. "Now tell me...what exactly are you?"
Phoenix smiled proudly and lifted her head. "I'm Zotz's huntress. In the Underworld, I would track down traitors that defied Zotz. I could turn them to stone." After the first few Pilgrims she had hunted down, Zotz had granted her that ability so that she didn't need to summon him every time she caught a deserter. "I believe they called me a demon."
"Then you can continue hunting down traitors—traitors to the colony and crown."
"The servant who attacked me," Phoenix said. She remembered the king's theory that there could be others with the same intentions, and that Phoenix may not be the only target. "Of course. I'll find any others involved and bring them back for questioning."
"Good," said the king. "I have already had some guards look into it, but I want a force dedicated to rooting them out. Xocama will send some guards to accompany you."
"Alejandra and Cerberus," said Xocama after a moment of consideration. "They are loyal warriors of the royal guard. I trust they'll be suitable to the task at hand."
"They should be." Anyone in the royal guard should certainly be capable of tracking down traitors.
Xocama's eyes flicked to a guard roosting on the ceiling. "Find them," he ordered. "Have them meet our new...inquisitor...on the pyramid steps."
"I'll start immediately, Majesty," said Phoenix. King Camaxtli nodded in satisfaction, and with a shallow bow Phoenix departed.
"Goth," said his father as the lesser priests began to leave the chamber, "you will also join this inquisition. Not only are you a cunning warrior, but I want someone to...keep an eye on Phoenix. Keep her in line."
"Of course," said Goth, concealing his surprise at his father's offhand compliment. He agreed with the assessment. While he believed Phoenix's words—or at least that she was a warrior and sent by Zotz—he couldn't yet judge how much of her arrogance was justified, or what might come of it. Striking Xocama and disrespecting Voxzaco...who knew what that might lead to. As much as Goth disliked the old priest—and, by some small amount, found Phoenix's regard of him amusing—he knew his father found it concerning that Phoenix would treat those of importance with scorn. Even if she eventually proved to be an authority in spiritual matters, she could not be allowed to treat, say, the prince or king, with such insolence.
Nothing yet suggested that she would. But it had always been Camaxtli's policy to be careful.
"Do you think that the assassin is a part of something larger?" It was uncommon but not unheard of for influential bats to be attacked—the royal guard existed for a reason, after all. Very rarely had the attackers been found to be a part of something larger than half a dozen bats. Always they had been crushed.
"I suspect it," said his father. "Never before have I seen a servant do something so openly rebellious. The odd Vampyrum has spoken out on their behalf, but I have never known them to fight."
'The odd Vampyrum' the king had spoken of, of course, referred mainly to Kalán, Goth's own uncle. The traitor had been silenced three years ago.
"It is possible that he was simply mad, but I don't like to take chances. Now go."
Phoenix stood on the steps of the pyramid, the two warriors Xocama had assigned beside her. Goth recognized them from the royal guard. They were both tall, Alejandra sturdy and with brown hair and orange wings, Cerberus lean and with black hair and dark blue wings.
The newly-named Inquisitor greeted him with a smile. "What brings you here, Your Highness?"
"I'm here to join your Inquisition," he answered. "I don't take treason lightly."
"Of course not," said Phoenix, her razor smile never dropping for a second. "Let's turn the cenote red with blood."
Let's turn the cenote red with blood.
The words replayed through Estrella's head throughout the night. There was only one thing that could mean. Sometimes, the Vampyrum would tear off a bat's wings and leave them to drown in a cenote near the pyramid. Execution by maiming and drowning was rare, reserved mainly for heretics. Since the king was supposedly ordained by Cama Zotz himself, there was a fine line between treason and heresy, so of course the new Inquisition would be searching for both traitors and heretics.
But it made Chrotopterus a double target as well. Naturally, the Vampyrum considered themselves Zotz's chosen species, and so Chrotopterus were supposedly lesser in his eyes as well—less important, less loyal. Vampyrum would likely be questioned too, but they'd have the advantage and were far more likely to be believed and let free.
Estrella ground her teeth. How can the Vampyrum possibly consider themselves in the right? But she'd given up asking that a long time ago. They'd been lording over the jungle for centuries, and they weren't going to stop now unless forcibly defeated.
She soundly hoped that Phantom, that first Vampyrum in years to acknowledge his colony's tyranny and join Kratos's rebellion, was succeeding in drawing others to the cause.
She'd report to Kratos before sunrise, as soon as she was permitted to leave the pyramid.
"You," Phoenix said, halting a servant hurrying by with a raised claw. There wasn't anything inherently suspicious about his behavior, but Phoenix could still ask him if he'd seen or heard anything. It was a starting place.
The servant stiffened, hesitantly turning to face her. As he beheld her, Prince Goth, and the two guards, his eyes flew wide with fear and he dropped to his knees, bowing his head nearly to the stone floor.
"Milady!" he gasped. "My lord! I—I am at your service."
Phoenix felt a corner of her mouth twitch up. 'Milady.' I like the sound of that. She quickly composed her features and asked, "What have you heard about the possibility of traitors in this pyramid?"
She might have imagined his cringe. "Nothing, milady! Only rumors—I didn't think anyone would act on them."
"Didn't?" Prince Goth repeated from behind her. She heard him take a step forward. "Has your mind changed?"
The servant visibly gulped. "The...attacker from last night. I don't think anybody expected it. I've heard nothing about traitors—the attack came as a surprise to all of us."
"Hmm. Do you know his name?" Prince Goth continued.
"Yes, my lord," said the servant. "His name was Temotli."
"Does he have any relatives?"
"A brother, I think. I don't know his name."
"Is he a servant here?"
"I—I think he is, my lord. But I'm not sure."
Phoenix turned to Cerberus and Alejandra. "Find him. I'll search for other leads. Report back to me or Prince Goth."
A slight thrill went through Phoenix as they bowed to her before obeying.
"They know about us?" Harpy demanded, clenching her teeth with fury. All this time planning, waiting to be sure Camaxtli had dismissed her as unthreatening, had all but forgotten her—and she'd been discovered, her army and been discovered, and now the tyrant king would send his own soldiers out to search for her and kill her, just as he'd done to her father.
"No, milady, I don't think so," said Ghoul, her informant. "From what I heard, they're focusing on the Chrotopterus. They said nothing about Vampyrum rebels. It seems to me they're searching for an organized Chrotopterus rebellion."
Harpy's brow creased. "A rebellion," she repeated, turning away from Ghoul to pace across the hollow in the tree she occupied, situated at the very border of Vampyrum territory. An organized Chrotopterus rebellion. She hadn't heard tell of the possibility since she was a child, since Camaxtli had killed her father. Her heart began to beat faster at the thought. She'd been right. There were servants who were willing to fight against their 'masters'—perhaps fight at Harpy's side.
"Yes…" she muttered, "yes!" A smile crept onto her face and she spun to speak to Ghoul again. "Find them! Find everything you can and come to me as soon as possible. We can unite our forces and finally strike against Camaxtli. I will go to them myself the moment I know where they are and together we shall end him!"
Ghoul dipped his head and disappeared in a flutter of wingbeats.
Harpy drew a deep breath. Three years ago, she had sworn to end Camaxtli's life and avenge her father. Now she was closer than ever.
"Where is everyone?" muttered a bat roosting near Estrella.
The meeting that night was somewhat smaller than usual—very few servants had risked it after the establishment of the Inquisition; it was mostly Chrotopterus that hid from the Vampyrum that attended. Ichtaca, though, had remained at the roost with Iktal.
"Camaxtli has implemented a force to expose spies at the pyramid," said Estrella, loud enough for the entire group to hear.
A bat gasped. "What gave him cause?"
"Mecatl's brother Temotli attacked a Vampyrum," said another rebel. "The self-proclaimed messenger of Zotz, no less."
"Phoenix. She's the one who's leading the Inquisition now."
A third bat furrowed his brow. "But Temotli never came here. Mecatl said he couldn't be trusted."
"Not because he'd sell us out, though," Estrella said. "Because he was too reckless. He wouldn't comply with a plan; he'd strike out desperately, like he did last night."
Some muttering. Then:
"Where is Mecatl?"
Estrella's stomach tightened. Had the Inquisition caught him? Or was he simply staying away from the rebel meetings to divert suspicion from himself? Estrella hardly knew him, but a rebel's capture could spell disaster for the entire rebellion should he break under torture.
"I saw him a few hours ago…"
A responding scoff. "Anything could happen in hours."
"He'll say nothing," insisted another bat. "If he's been captured, he'll say nothing, I'm certain."
"If we're found out, we need to strike soon," said Kratos. "Phantom—any news?"
Phantom, the lone Vampyrum in the group, nodded curtly. "I'm gaining a following. Several bats have already sworn to give us aid should we need it, though I don't want risk bringing them here." He hesitated for a fraction of a second. "I've also heard rumors. Rumors of a Vampyrum faction that opposes Camaxtli's rule."
More surprised chattering. Estrella had heard nothing of it. The occasional Vampyrum might grumble about harsh policies, or imply their disapproval about Camaxtli's methods for his rise to power (he had, after all, killed his two brothers and even his own mother to secure his kingship, though they were all legal challenges), but Estrella hadn't expected anything on the scale of an organized faction.
"From what I've heard," Phantom continued, "they've been operating for about three years, since Lord Kalán's death. Most of them must be his followers. The new Inquisition doesn't look like they know anything about it, at least not yet. They're solely targeting Chrotopterus."
"Then we still have an element of surprise left—you," said Kratos. "How many Vampyrum are set against the tyrant?"
"I've barely spoken to a dozen myself, but there must be well over two hundred. I'll investigate more tomorrow night."
Two hundred Vampyrum fighters, set against Camaxtli. Estrella stared. She'd hardly dared hope that there might be Vampyrum willing to strike against their tyrant king, who claimed, as all his line did, that he was ordained by Cama Zotz. Most of the rebels didn't believe that, of course, and Estrella supposed that there must be Vampyrum who didn't either. Perhaps the rebel Vampyrum considered Camaxtli to have stolen the crown from a rightful heir, possibly his brother Kianto, who had been the firstborn and who Camaxtli had challenged and killed for the throne. If they were indeed Kalán's followers, maybe they'd wanted him on the throne, but he was dead now. Briefly Estrella wondered if he had any living relatives. She didn't think so.
"I want to meet with the leader of this Vampyrum faction," Kratos said, face pinched in thought. "I want to see if they really can be of use to us."
Thoughts, questions, concerns? What do/don't you like? Any guesses about who Harpy is? About anything else? Constructive criticism/feedback means the world to me~
Until next time!