"Huh! Tikalo? So it was you!..."
The lit fire pit illuminated the God-descendant Palace in Lake Sacrifice City; the orange flames shone over the fierce faces of the Dog-kin warriors. The warriors' shadows were stretched long by the firelight, cast onto the walls on all sides, like the shapes of a pack of savage beasts. And the unwashed dark red on those walls plainly hinted at slaughter and death, as though this were a Wolf Pack's den.
"Strange! You actually didn't die? Those dirt dogs in Hidden Snake City didn't kill you, didn't send you up onto the altar? You're skin and bones—how did you escape back?"
Black Wolf Toltec wore Leather Armor and carried two Copper Axes, sitting back boldly on the stone seat at the head with his legs spread wide. That unruly, valiant posture was just like the Wolf King of a Wolf Pack! At this moment, he narrowed his eyes, carefully sized up Tikalo's pale expression and his body that had wasted out of shape, then grinned, showing sharp teeth.
"Ha! His Highness sent someone earlier with a verbal message. He told me that after I captured Hidden Snake City, I should search properly for you. Alive, he wanted to see the man; dead, he wanted to see the corpse!... I was still wondering where I'd have to dig out your bones... I didn't expect you to pop out on your own. Saved me some effort!..."
"Speak! After you were captured by the tribes to the east, what did you run into, and what did you see? Mm... you didn't surrender to the city-state on the other side, did you?... Right! Those Maya big ships I ran into, so damned irritating—where exactly did they come from?!"
"Uh... the Main God blesses us! Honored Black Wolf Legion