Night stars shone over the earth, and the forest held a dim, hidden glow. A black figure moved through the woods, silent as a shadow, reached the coastal city-state, and under the guards' escort, slipped quietly inside, all the way to the Feathered Serpent Temple in the city.
A bonfire burned in the temple's great hall, illuminating reliefs carved with serpentine gods. The firelight spilled into the dim side chamber, outlining a strong, indistinct figure. That figure had one hand raised, touching the relief mural carved by the ancestors, motionless.
The firelight flickered, revealing the mural's outlines. On the left was a God-descendant warrior holding a long spear, as tall as a man. On the right was a giant serpent half the size of the mural, locked in battle with the warrior. And between the warrior and the giant serpent stood the first Totonac city-state!
"In the ancestors' legend, the warrior of the Sun God's bloodline fought and joined with the giant serpent, Miahuacoatl."
Great Sun Chief Chichini spoke in a low voice, standing before the warrior on the mural. The faint light swayed, brightening and dimming beyond description. His figure sometimes merged into a blur with the warrior on the wall, sometimes stood out clearly again, just like the complex, urgent state of mind with which he waited.
"The sun and the giant serpent—which one was right, and which one was wrong?"
"The divinity of the sun and the divinity of the giant serpent are both inheritances from the ancestors. The sun is the father of the tribe, light and glory; while the giant serpent is the mother who gave birth to the tribe, darkness and cunning..."
A graceful figure in a black robe walked lightly up to the mural and stood on the side of the giant serpent.