A Warning

The Alliance warriors held their heads high as they escorted the great column of Captives, swaggering past Xilotepec's west gate. Then they circled half the city from the south gate before finally heading for the main army camp outside the east gate.

All along the way, the cheers of the Mexica City-State Warriors stirred the whole of Xilotepec. Xolotl saw many City-State Priests in feathered crowns and cloaks, along with lavishly dressed City-State nobles, climb the walls and hastily inspect the Captives among the Mexica ranks.

Commander Kasal sent men to throw the banners of the Otopan City reinforcements before each gate. Then he had the captured Otomi nobles call out beneath the walls, recounting the reinforcements' defeat.

Very soon, the defenders atop the walls grew noisy and uneasy, and the number of guards on the ramparts increased. Xolotl could clearly sense that, after losing hope of reinforcements, Xilotepec's morale was rapidly sinking.

As Kasal slowly paraded the prisoners, he had already dispatched messengers to report the good news of victory to the king. Amid the tapping drizzle, he arrived at the east-gate camp in full ceremonial attire, yet he saw neither an envoy warmly welcoming him on the king's behalf nor, still less, the king himself.

In that instant, Xolotl seemed to see anger flash across Kasal's face and vanish. The accompanying Mexica Military Nobility also began to grumble in dissatisfaction.

"The king slighted the warriors, and so the warriors' hearts have begun to waver."

Xolotl lowered his head and thought to himself.

Kasal handed over the prisoners without expression and dismissed the expeditionary legion. After a great battle, the warriors needed to mend their damaged Leather Armor and replace the worn Obsidian blades on their War Clubs. Then Xolotl followed the officers led by Kasal into the king's great tent.

King Tizoc sat upon a raised platform, wearing a formal Obsidian feather crown and magnificent robes embroidered with golden suns, with a Cochineal cloak behind him. He was absorbed in studying an ancient wooden tablet in his hands. Xolotl could not make out the image on it, but such tablets were generally used to record ancient myths.

Beside the king stood a burly, close-cropped man in full battle dress, his face cold and hard: Totek, the commander-in-chief of the army, the Cihuacoatl.

Commander-in-Chief Totek raised his head and swept them with the same hard gaze. The officers all lowered their heads and saluted the king and commander-in-chief upon the platform. Xolotl followed suit, avoiding Totek's icy stare.

Only then did King Tizoc lift his head. He set down the wooden tablet, looked at the returning officers, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad! This battle was fought very well. You captured many prisoners! The supreme Main God will be pleased with your Captives!"

Next, Tizoc did not ask for details of the battle or the casualties. Instead, he turned to the commander-in-chief beside him.

"Totek, arrange for men to send the Captives back to the capital as soon as possible! Hand them all over to the Chief Priest of the Great Temple in Tenochtitlan!"

"As you command, King!"

Tizoc's expression remained calm as he exchanged a few words with the officers, acknowledging the generals' fearless fighting under Divine Protection. Only then did he change the subject and say with a faint smile.

"Let the Main God bear witness! Let us assess the merits of this ambush!"

At this, Kasal, who stood at the front, was about to step forward and reply. But Tizoc lightly raised a hand and abruptly stopped him. Then he beckoned slightly to Xolotl.

"Come! Xolotl, you tell us. Those watching from the side always see more clearly."

"Me?"

Hearing this, Xolotl was startled, then immediately felt an enormous weight settle upon him. The Alliance officers ahead all turned to look at him. Kasal and Balda watched him with rather fierce gazes. Avet wore his usual natural smile, while Totek's eyes were cold and sharp as blades. Last came the king's unreadable face.

Xolotl considered for a moment, recalled yesterday's conversation with Avet, and only then answered haltingly.

"Let the Main God bear witness! The foremost merit belongs to Kasal's decisive assault, followed by Balda's support. I merely watched the battle from the mountaintop and have no merit to speak of."

Only after hearing Xolotl's assessment did satisfied smiles appear on Kasal and Balda's faces. Avet blinked rapidly in approval. Tizoc first raised a brow slightly, apparently surprised, before chuckling at the end.

"Ha! There is no need to mention that last sentence. Everyone knows you merely went to watch the battle."

At this, all the generals burst into laughter, and the atmosphere regained some of its harmony. After a brief moment of thought, King Tizoc asked Commander Kasal.

"Kasal, do you have anything to say?"

Commander Kasal lifted his head proudly and spoke in a lofty voice.

"Blessed by the Sun God, we won this battle because I led the Jaguar Warriors in a decisive charge and shattered the Otomi war band in an instant! Next, Balda's charge was powerful and effective as well. The Otomi were like Turkeys, helplessly struck down one after another. Finally, Avet held firm, drawing the enemy's attention to the front and creating the conditions for the assault."

Upon hearing this, Balda beside him nodded as well. He stretched out his thick arm and slapped his powerful chest in agreement.

"Good! The foremost merit goes to Kasal, the next to Balda, and finally to Avet."

Tizoc gave Avet an indifferent glance, while Avet continued smiling as usual.

"Then reward the three commanders in that order with Chinampa plots, feathered garments, cotton cloth, and slaves. The Jaguar Warriors shall also receive rewards. Ordinary warriors shall receive promotions."

The great tent became noisy again as everyone discussed the details of the rewards, joy showing on every face.

Then Tizoc looked at Avet and said with a smile.

"Praise the Main God! My dear younger brother, you have earned merit by holding firm this time. Over the past month or so, you have also taught Xolotl with considerable success. Well, what additional reward do you want? Would you like to continue handling intelligence and guard duties?"

At this, Avet's expression grew solemn, and he offered his advice sincerely.

"Intelligence and guard duties concern the safety of the Sun God's descendants and have always been decided by the king alone. Whomever you employ is your will; it has nothing to do with gains or losses. How could such a matter serve as a reward? In this campaign, I merely stood upon the hill the entire time. In the end, I achieved little in battle. As for Xolotl, I am not his teacher. I merely regard him as a friend and junior, and share some of my life experience with him."

Hearing Avet's counsel, Totek, the chief commander, raised a brow and nodded in considerable agreement.

King Tizoc smiled and nodded without committing himself. With his head lowered, Xolotl tasted a trace of danger. He now understood politics more deeply.

In Mesoamerica, where no rigorous system of hereditary succession existed, sometimes brothers inherited the throne, sometimes descendants inherited it, and important royal Priests likewise possessed rights of succession.

The Alliance's hearts had no fixed allegiance. They readily yielded to the victors of political or military struggles. Every transfer of the Mexica throne was accompanied by cruel storms of blood and wind.

King Tizoc had only recently ascended the throne and had not yet established his prestige. One of his eyes watched the control that divine authority exerted over people's hearts, while the other remained fixed upon every potential threat—even if that threat was his own brother, even if it was a youth.

Xolotl was still struggling to think when, unexpectedly, icy eyes had already settled upon him.

"Xolotl, what do you think? Do you want Avet to continue teaching you?"

"Uh? Yes! Avet is a good man, and he treats me well."

Xolotl answered honestly, his face innocent.

"Oh. Since that is so, Avet, you shall continue teaching Xolotl!"

Seeing Xolotl's innocent response, Tizoc smiled faintly, then asked as if casually.

"Xolotl, I heard that after this battle, more than a hundred warriors decided to follow you?"

At these words, alarm bells immediately rang in Xolotl's heart. He nodded and answered truthfully.

"Yes!"

"Oh! And why do these warriors wish to follow you?"

"Probably because I presided over the funeral after the battle and guided the souls of the fallen. Some warriors also believe that the victory had something to do with me."

"Mm. Teotihuacan is the Tomb of the Gods, a bridge linking life and death, and it is also where you were born. Then tell me, Xolotl: can you truly communicate with life and death, and contact the souls of the departed?"

King Tizoc wore a slight smile, but his sharp, icy gaze fell upon Xolotl's face, studying every expression closely.

As a devout theologian, Tizoc seemingly should not have doubted a Priest's ability to communicate with the gods. Xolotl weighed matters quickly. If he answered "no," then the earlier funeral would have been nothing more than a meaningless ceremony. That answer would surely be spread afterward, and the hearts of the warriors who had newly followed him would immediately scatter.

Yet if he answered "yes," he feared the king would question him further, while the king's suspicion and wariness would only grow. Especially if it became connected to astronomy and celestial phenomena.

Xolotl pressed his lips together and glanced from the corner of his eye at Totek, the towering, hard-faced commander-in-chief with cropped hair and tattoos on his face. The other man's oppressive gaze was fixed on him as well, carrying killing intent.

Since neither "yes" nor "no" would do, Xolotl could only answer helplessly.

"Uh... I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Tizoc frowned. Some surprise mixed with sternness as he pressed him further.

"How could you not know?"

"Um... when I conduct funerals, I cannot directly see the Sun God or the realm of the dead, nor can I communicate with them."

Xolotl wore a puzzled expression, then tried hard to recall the contents of supernatural novels he had read before.

"But I can sense a hazy ball of white light, seeming both distant and near, vast and boundless. Not with my eyes, but with some awareness beyond the senses, like a dream while asleep. I can feel ethereal white light rise like smoke from the bodies of the dead, then merge into that ball of white light. Afterward, the white light leaves, flying far away toward the sky. Then I wake up, and can no longer see any trace of it."

"White light? White smoke?"

Tizoc's brows furrowed deeply. His fingers tapped lightly against the throne as he asked in a deep voice.

"Xolotl, when did you see this white light?"

"During the invocation of the gods. But I cannot communicate with the white light or white smoke. Perhaps it is because I am merely an Assistant Priest, and my abilities as a Priest are still far from sufficient."

Xolotl looked ashamed as he answered quietly.

Afterward, the theologian king sank into deep thought. His hand lightly struck the throne, producing cold tapping sounds. Xolotl's answer had clearly disrupted some of his original plans. Yet the youth's expression, which showed no sign of deceit, made him genuinely begin to believe in the existence of white light and white smoke.

Most of the commanders in the tent looked at Xolotl with some astonishment. Only Avet's smile became more sincere.

After a long while, Tizoc came back to himself and delivered his conclusion with an unchanged expression.

"Xolotl, you still need to make up for some gaps in your theological knowledge. You are not an Assistant Priest, but an Alliance High Priest. A Celestial Dog Priest is also a kind of Level 5 Coyote Priest, under the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Ever since I bestowed the Celestial Dog Ritual Robe upon you in Teotihuacan, you have been an Earth Wolf Priest of Tenochtitlan!"

"When this campaign ends, return with me to the great Lake Capital, Tenochtitlan! Quetzal, Chief Priest of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan, will be very willing to teach the heir of the holy city of Teotihuacan. Perhaps the nation's two High Priest Councils can become one in your hands!"

Hearing that the two High Priest Councils might become one, many officers gasped and looked at Xolotl with envy. That was the pinnacle of divine authority: two bodies holding the most exalted right to interpret myth.

King Tizoc casually gave Xolotl a warning, then painted an unfathomable and distant vision for him. Without waiting for Xolotl's reply, the king waved his hand and dismissed everyone.

"Whew! When will the fledgling eagle break free of its shackles and soar freely through the sky?"

After leaving the great tent, Xolotl looked at the boundless sky, let out a breath, and spoke with distant longing.