The flames of the Thunder God Temple burned beneath the dark sky like a torch in a giant's hand, dazzling as they surged upward. The blaze raged, burning everything to ash. Before long, all the final screams had turned into smoke and dust as black as the night, vanishing into the long wind off the sea.
In this resplendent night, the towering Feathered Serpent pyramid at the center of the city-state was the finest "viewing platform" of all, offering a clear, unobstructed view of the fireworks of the old days as they passed away.
At this moment, the two watchers on the "viewing platform" were also the master of Golden Bay City and the writer of the city-state's fate. Yet Miawa had exhausted her mind and strength, endured in silence for so long, and finally managed to write the beginning of that fate—only to find herself unable to control how it unfolded. And now, under Black Wolf Toltec's icy stare, even the brush in her hand that wrote the tribe's power was almost slipping from her grasp.
"Honored Commander Black Wolf, the captured chiefs of the eastern tribes are being held in the black prison underground. Yoltzin, chief of Cone House City; Mayakun, chief of Coyote City; Teotla, chief of Stone Carving City; Tochina, chief of Rabbit Hill City; and Telako, chief of Caotan City. These important great chiefs of the city-states are all under separate guard by my personal guards, watched carefully. They can be handed over to you tomorrow."
Snake Mother Chief Miawa looked pitifully fragile, her face full of docility and obedience. She lowered her head and bowed, revealing a snow-white neck and the same rising, abundant curves. Yet Black Wolf turned a blind eye to her faint, almost-there temptation and merely ordered coldly.
"No need to