Barry Sadler Casca 02 God Of Death

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But that was the only word he could make out. While the priest and the leader
were talking, Casca took a better look at the pyramid. It was a big thing. A
series of stairs led to the top. Whatever was up there was not visible from
here, but carved all along the steps was a continuous line of serpent heads,
flanking the staircase all the way to the top. Casca looked back at the
priest.
The Jaguar leader was now on his knees, drawing a picture in the dust.
Obviously he was trying to get across to the high priest how the strangers had
come to this land and how they were captured, and either drawing a picture in
the dust did the job better than words or maybe there were no words to explain
easily in this language what he had seen. He drew what even Casca could tell
was a rough sketch of the Viking longships. Then the leader drew a larger
sketch of the figureheads on the longships. Then the leader drew a larger
sketch of the figureheads on the longships, the dragon heads. At this the old
priest became extremely agitated. Looking back and forth between Casca and the
sketches, he pressed his questioning of the leader. And again and again the
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word quetza was repeated.
The thing that seemed to excite the old priest the most was the dragon head of
the longship. He kept pointing at its rude drawing in the dust.
I don't know what the hell he's getting so worked up about over a piece of
carving, Casca thought. They certainly have plenty of carvings here. Again he
took in the imposing pyramid. In addition to the painted stuccoed facings,
much of the structure was heavily decorated with carvings heads of the great
serpent . .. and the likeness of another ugly bastard that Casca knew nothing
about. Further, the body of a great serpent was intertwined in high relief
between carvings of sea shells and snails. Casca raised his eyes higher. He
saw that there were six levels to the pyramid, each decreasing in size toward
the top. At the very top there was what appeared to be a temple constructed of
dark wood. He couldn't see it very well from where he stood, just the upper
portion of what appeared to be a temple. If there was anything else up there
it was beyond his vision.
Finally the old priest seemed satisfied with the Jaguar leader's story and
came back to Casca. He looked him up and down, chattering in approval at what
he saw. The scarred, muscular body of the prisoner seemed to please him
particularly. He nodded in approval and patted Casca on the shoulder. Then he
took a shining dagger of black obsidian from his belt and cut Casca's bonds.
What the hell? Casca thought. But the sudden pain in his wrists caused by the
blood flowing in and setting the flesh cramping and on fire took his mind off
the odd behavior of these religious bastards. The old priest gave rapid orders
to the Jaguar men. Two escorted Casca across the great square and into a
buiding set slightly apart from the others. Guards stood at the doors. Their
flinttipped spears and feathered shields were different from those of the
Jaguar men and bore a snake emblem.
Casca noticed a slight reluctance when the Jaguar men turned him over to the
Serpent warriors guarding the doors.
Oho ... a little rivalry between the snakes and the cats. Perhaps to my
advantage.... As he entered the interior of the building he momentarily lost
his vision, coming as he did from the bright glare. As his eyes adjusted to
the dark he saw that his new guards were making him welcome with smiles and
bobbing heads. They were pointing out the different features of his quarters.
There were two rooms and a small latrine. The walls inside were covered with
pictographs representing heroes and legends he could not yet decipher, but
they did serve to brighten up the room. Over in the corner near the window was
a raised benchlike affair on which were several reed mats and a couple of
woven blankets. Bed, he thought, that's what I need. His captors showed him
how to cover the windows and made signs to show that food would soon be
brought to him. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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