Die Back (The Alchimeia) by Richard Hacker

Author:Richard Hacker [Hacker, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2018-05-14T23:00:00+00:00

Temple of the Sun

"I am Governor and Captain General Francesco Pizarro, emissary of his majesty, King Charles I of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor. Untie me, you filthy pagan dogs! Untie me!"

He lay across a camel-beast, bound hand-and-foot. A man Pizarro considered a savage grabbed a fistful of his hair, lifting his head. The pagan spoke words Pizarro could not understand, then released his grip. Pizarro's face bounced off the beast's side, bits of fur clinging to his dry, cracked lips. I will gain my freedom and slit the throats of these pagan bastards. I swear it!

Endless days of starvation and thirst passed. A voice, Aa-Dee-Son, haunted him with demonic visions of huge mast-less ships of iron breathing fire and a great iron bird, larger than any fierce Roc, wings spread, roaring above cities whose spires rose to the heavens. His captors kept him weakened, barely alive. The girl, Kushirimay, sometimes smuggled him morsels of food late at night, speaking to the demon plaguing his mind. He tried to speak, but slipped into madness, the demon Aa-Dee-Son ranting from his lips, words only the pagan girl understood. Then, one day, hope arrived. After a morning spent climbing a narrow mountain path, his captors wrenched him from the camel-beast—what the girl called a llama—and lashed him to a tree. The guards busied themselves with other tasks, when a visitor used the distraction to his advantage.

"Mi hermano, Francisco! ¿Como estas Capitán General?"

His brother walked toward him, golden armor gleaming, a sword at his side. He looked strong, not the bloodied Hernando, whose flesh burned away from his bones. How can this be? "Hernando…you are in blood."

"Of course I live, which is more than I can say of you. Why do you let these savages truss you up like an animal for slaughter?" He stood over Pizarro, wagging a finger. "King Charles would not be pleased."

Pizarro glanced in either direction making sure his rescuer would not be found out. "Hernando, you must help me. Untie my lashings. Together we kill these bastards."

Hernando laughed, his arm around an Incan whore, one hand slipping down her back. She didn't resist, instead, leaning into him, letting her robes fall to the ground.

"Hernando, help me."

He thrust into her from behind, the woman facing Pizarro on her hands and knees, her eyes cold and dark, her hot breath lingering on his face, her voice filled with malice. "He is busy, Francisco. You got yourself into this imbroglio, so get yourself out."

"Hernando." He struggled to rise, but his bindings kept him fast to the tree. "Hernando!"

A fiery pain flashed across his face. He looked up at the angry stare of an Inca warrior. The whore had vanished and his brother had fled. I will bide my time. Hernando will return and when he does, together we will slay the demon, Aa-Dee-Son and the pagan dog, Atawallpa.

***

We travel for days, maybe weeks. My guards speak of our destination, Q'inti Marka—Machu Picchu. Sometimes I'm conscious and other times I slip away, only to be jarred back to the nightmare I've inked myself into.

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