"I am the leopard of the jungle. My heart pounds like a wild deer in flight, but now, pockmarks cover my body like frost, gnawing my blood, chewing my bones."
"Quetzalīn calli! The ancestors dance beneath a roof of flowers and kingfisher feathers, and tonight I lie among withered petals and fallen plumes. Heat and pain are like eagle talons, clawing and pecking at my skin. But a brave warrior does not weep, because tears cannot buy back the daylight.
Ehecatl yohualli! God of Wind, carry away the diseased breath clinging to me; Moon God, wrap yourself in my trembling shadow. I hear war drums echoing through the Divine Kingdom. That is the voice calling me home!
Xochitl tonatiuh! Flowers and the sun weave my sleeping mat, and my breath is the sacrificial smoke offered to the Heavenly Fire. When I return, I will take this scarred and ugly flesh with me, wearing eagle feathers, and set foot upon the road of light.
Huitzilopochtli, Tonatiuh! Thank you, supreme Sun God. Life is a trial, death is the road home. I will pass through the black night, and whether I live or die, I will never look back~~"
The marks of Smallpox were like "frost and eagle talons," stamped onto the bodies of the warriors who likened themselves to flowers and birds, bringing an inescapable trial of death. The Kingdom Warriors began to sing an ancient song, and in that singing, the Main God and the Subordinate Gods all watched. Warrior Captain Copilli dipped a brush in blue ink and painted a leopard head befitting his name on his helmet, then used red ink to draw the spots on the leopard's body. After that, wearing this ritual-like leopard helmet, he went to see Priest Ah Ding before the final "trial."
"Ah!