The sun arose the next morning with white hot intensity, the light refracting beautifully off the golden buildings and statues of the city. The sight was breath taking. At the first glimpse of daylight, Erendira's eyes shot wide open. Though overall she slept well, it was not a deep sleep. Her body would not let her fully lose consciousness due to the deep down excitement she felt about her first lesson.

She stood up from her bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Tzekel-Kan would be expecting her soon. She had to prepare. 'I can not just walk up to the high priest's temple and expect him to teach me looking like this!' she thought to herself. So she quickly got dressed, put on all her golden jewelry, fixed her hair up in the usual bun, and headed out.

As she got closer and closer to his temple, Erendira felt more and more anxious. A million butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach, making her queasy. She had to stop herself for a few moments to take a deep breath and to reassure herself that everything would be fine.

Off in the distance, Chief Tannabok noticed Erendira walking to Tzekel-Kan's temple. This worried him deeply. Tzekel-Kan usually doesn't like anyone up there. And when he did allow it, he was either teaching people his fanatic views because he saw that person as someone he could manipulate or he was interested in giving that person over to the gods as a sacrifice. He didn't want Tzekel-Kan's fanatic and violent behavior to rub off on such a sweet woman. But he could do nothing about it. The most he could do was to talk to her.

At this point, Erendira was at the threshold to the priest's temple. She could not see anyone inside. She did not want to just barge in so she shouted "Hello? Tzekel-Kan?" But no response.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the mysterious man walk down the stairs to the main room of his temple. A surprisingly welcome smile on his face.

"You made it." Tzekel-Kan muttered, almost in a whisper.

The sound of his deep, silky voice sent shivers down the young priestess' body. Ever since she first met this man, she has gotten a sense of something dark or imposing coming from him. Being near him made her nervous. Maybe it was his intelligence or the way he spoke. Maybe it was the smooth and graceful way he moved or the power and stature of his priesthood. Or maybe it was the dark deepness of his eyes. It seemed as though his eyes could see into your very soul. Even though she was nervous, Erendira was very much intrigued by this man.

Then, panic overcame the priestess when she saw Tzekel-Kan begin to walk across the large, spacious room towards her.

He stopped a few inches away from her and softly said "Step aside please."

She did as he told her and moved away. He then walked over to the small wooden table she was standing in front of and grabbed a book. A wave of embarrassment came over Erendira as she realized what a fool she had just made herself look like.

"I'm sorry." She said sheepishly.

Tzekel-Kan looked up from the codex of gods he had immersed himself in and spoke.

"Erendira, you must relax. You can not meditate and listen to the gods in such a state. What is making you so nervous?" As he gently said those words, a taunting grin formed on his face. Almost as if the priest knew that he was the source of Erendira's anxiety.

"Follow me." Tzekel-Kan said in a strictly business manor.

"Yes sir." Were the only words the young woman could muster as she quietly followed the high priest with her head down like an obedient pet. They walked up a large flight of stone steps leading to an observatory on the very top of Tzekel-Kan's temple. It was a huge round room with one central window. It was here were Tzekel-Kan looked to the heavens and interpreted the stars.

The priest sat Erendira down in the middle of the room and promptly sat down himself, just a few feet across from her. She looked to her left and noticed an assortment of things lying on the floor: a small pile of books, a knife, barbed wire, and idols of the gods Xochiquetzal and Tepeyollotl.

There were a few moments of silence as Tzekel-Kan positioned himself comfortably on the floor. And in this time, Erendira took it upon herself to pick up one the books in the pile and begin flipping through the pages. She didn't recognize anything in this book. The contents were that of chants and random ingredients for potions. 'I've never seen anything like this.' the young woman whispered to herself.

Suddenly, Tzekel-Kan broke the silence, making her jump.

"Now Erendira, I'm sure you know about the process of bloodletting. Am I correct?"

"I've only practiced it but a few times. But I am familiar with the ritual." She answered.

Erendira personally disliked bloodletting (simply because it's so painful). In her former city, she had cut her arms and legs (which is nothing compared to cutting the ears, tongue, and lips like the other priests practiced). But even though the process was agonizing, the gods deserved their fair share.

"Do you know why the gods demand blood?" Tzekel-Kan asked, breaking the priestess out of her thoughts.

"Because gods don't bleed." She replied, without giving it any thought.

A serpentine smile appeared on the high priest's face as he reached his hand over to knife Erendira had seen on the floor a few moments ago. He picked it up with his tapered fingers and quickly slashed a cut into his forearm. Tzekel-Kan let out a small grunt of pain and exhaled as the crimson blood began to flow out onto the floor. Then, Erendira could not believe her eyes as swirls of green light began to intertwine in his wound and it vanished, as if he had never taken the blade to his arm. It had happened so fast that she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. The look of astonishment on the young woman's face made Tzekel-Kan chuckle.

"Incredible isn't it? With one simple spell I can heal any injury. All thanks to the gods."

At this point Erendira was speechless. She still could not believe the wonder she had just witnessed.

"Now it's your turn." Tzekel-Kan purred as he slowly handed Erendira the now bloody knife.

The young priestess reluctantly took the blade in her hand. She calmly began to start an incision in the same place Tzekel-Kan had before but he stopped her.

"Your thigh…" Tzekel-Kan whispered to her. He was so close that Erendira could feel the hotness of his breath upon her face.

Everything inside of her was screaming for her not to do this but she dare not disobey this powerful man or the gods themselves. So, without hesitation, Erendira lowered the blade to her left thigh and swiftly cut into the flesh. She let out a moan of pain and began to hold her wound. Tzekel-Kan reached over to her and moved the woman's hand away so the blood could seep out and drip onto the floor.

"Good. Most of the citizens in this city would have been so selfish as to refuse." Tzekel-Kan grumbled.

"Humans are disgusting. So selfish and arrogant! They refuse to give back anything to the gods that graciously gave us this city so they can continue their life of laziness. They lie, cheat and steal. They are spineless and weak. Humans are imperfect." The priest hissed, with a look of utter displeasure on his face.

"What has a mere mortal ever done for you?" the man pressed.

And before the shocked young woman in front of him had time to respond, a Jaguar Warrior barged in and exclaimed

"Tzekel-Kan! Chief Tannabok wants to have a word with you. He said it's urgent."

Tzekel-Kan's nose began to curl and he growled words under his breath. He stood up and glared at the warrior and scolded, "This better be important."

The angered priest looked back down at Erendira and sighed, "We'll continue this tomorrow." and beckoned her to follow him and the warrior down the stairs and out of his temple. She nodded and stood up. The jaguar warrior was rushing Tzekel-Kan so by the time Erendira made it down the enormous flight of stairs, they were both gone.

As she was walking home, the young priestess was pensive. Replaying everything Tzekel-Kan had told her about the human race. She was thinking of all of her lives' experiences, trying to figure out whether she agreed or not. After an enormous argument inside her head, she could only come to one conclusion…he was right…