Serpent and Storm by Marella Sands

Author:Marella Sands
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781466889194
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

19

The two men propelled Sky Knife through the narrowed neck of the tunnel and into the cave beyond. Oil lamps around the perimeter lit the cavern so well that only the deepest corners sat in shadow.

One of the men elbowed Sky Knife in the ear. Sky Knife gasped and dropped to his knees, head ringing.

“You’re more trouble than you’re worth. We ought to just kill you,” growled the man.

“Not yet,” said Dark Lightning. “He has some questions to answer. Bring him over here.”

The two men pulled Sky Knife forward without allowing him to get his feet under him. His knees scraped painfully against the pebbly floor.

His captors threw him down. Sky Knife’s face hit the floor. He bit his tongue and tasted blood.

It was tempting to just stay where he was and let the pain slowly ebb according to its own rhythms, but Sky Knife couldn’t do that. He was the High Priest of Itzamna. He would stand before his enemies until they killed him.

Sky Knife got his hands under him on the strangely slick floor. He must be bleeding more than he knew. Slowly, he pushed himself up.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Dark Lightning. A foot slammed down into the middle of Sky Knife’s back, driving him to the floor again. Sharp stones sliced open the skin of his chest and abdomen.

“Now, you’re going to answer some questions for me,” said Dark Lightning.

“Like what?” Sky Knife mumbled against the slick stone floor.

“You’re going to tell me what just happened here. One minute we’re perfectly safe and the next, lightning is crackling all over. Two of my men are dead.”

Sky Knife refrained from saying “Good.”

“Well?” demanded Dark Lightning.

“This is the Center of All,” said Sky Knife.

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“It’s the answer to your question,” said Sky Knife. “Is the boy here? Is he safe?”

The foot prodded Sky Knife’s back again. “I’m asking the questions. Did my sister send you here? Did she send you to kill me?”

“Your sister doesn’t really believe you’d do this,” said Sky Knife.

“So who sent you?”

“The Masked One.”

“Impossible,” said another man. Sky Knife recognized the voice of Leather Apron. “We are here to honor the Masked One, to see she gets the proper devotion she deserves from Teotihuacan and its king. The Storm God must bow to the Masked One. He was never her equal, even if his priests tell the king so.”

“Heart’s blood,” said another man. “Look!”

The pressure on Sky Knife’s back disappeared.

“What’s going on here?” asked Dark Lightning. “What are you doing?”

Sky Knife struggled to push himself up. “I have no idea,” he said. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t get too close to him,” said Leather Apron. “I told you, we should have killed him before. We have no idea how much power he has.”

“He’s just an iguana priest,” said Dark Lightning. “His lizard god’s power can’t compare to the Masked One.”

Sky Knife eased into a sitting position. He wiped blood away from his face and looked around.

The cavern consisted of four rooms clustered around a lower central point.

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