Arlena von Erenvald of the black wolf on a silver field had expected many things when she was sent on reconnaissance to Aztlan. Their mission was to find out what the Lechites were scheming with the Aztlans and then return.
She had expected many things: an attack by Lechites or Aztlans, wild beasts including enormous cats the size of horses, gigantic carnivorous plants, and perhaps unknown diseases.
She had expected everything as they approached the city where some horned devil was said to reside.
But betrayal was the very last thing she expected.
Yet it happened. The betrayal came from a side she despised, though she had never suspected them capable of something like this.
Still, it happened. She had been betrayed. She herself still stood firm, though she had been struck several times. Her armor stopped the blades, and she emerged without wounds. Yet a coldness spread through her body, as though she had a block of ice in her stomach.
Her companions lay dead. Only two were still on their feet: the rabbit-man Edmund and the elf Thealira. The rest lay motionless.
Furious, she stared into the face of the traitor… her half-brother. Even in normal circumstances she could not stand his face, but now she desperately wanted to tear it apart.
"Albrecht… why?"
The man named Albrecht laughed as if he had heard a good joke.
"You already know."
She looked at him with icy hatred.
"It was you… because of you my father is dead."
"Oh, silly little sister. Not 'you' — what matters is that the idealistic fool is dead. And his lands will be ours."
"You fools!"
"Fools? Well, yes…"
Here the scoundrel tapped his helmet.
"I forgot. You're first in line to inherit. You would get everything. But that can easily be fixed."
He laughed and said,
"Hurry up, little sister, and finally die from an attack by the Aztlan or Lechia savages."
The man standing behind him stepped forward and spoke with a Germanic accent.
"Since the savages attacked them, they must have had some fun."
One of the Germans stepped forward, leaving his leader behind. Everyone began to laugh, certain of victory. Arlena desperately searched for any way out.
"You bastards. If any god exists, let him send a terrible end upon you."
Instantly all her enemies burst into laughter. To them it must have sounded like the desperate last words of a doomed woman. She was backed into a corner with no escape. She could only pray for a miracle.
Suddenly the laughter of her enemies died away. The one who had stepped forward screamed and fell dead. An arrow protruded from his neck. Then they heard shouts.
"Strike the Germans!!!"
"Cut them down!"
"For Racibor!"
The Germans, along with her brother, turned toward the source of the cries. With satisfaction she saw her brother's smug expression vanish.
"Lechites!"
Her brother shouted at the German leader.
"It was supposed to be without problems! What the hell am I paying you for?!"
Suddenly another cry rang out.
"Blood for the Gods!"
Beside the Lechites burst forth half-naked men wielding clubs studded with obsidian blades.
"Aztlans!"
The Lechites and Aztlans attacked them together. The Germans, Albrecht and the rest of his henchmen fell into panic. The Aztlans and Lechites crashed into them like a charging aurochs. Arlena quickly recovered — this was their chance to escape. There was no reason to stay and risk herself for that dog.
"Edmund! Thealira! We run!"
They fled, but the chaos of battle separated them.
"Meet at the base!" she shouted and ran toward the trees.
She believed in them. She refused to believe they could die. They couldn't die. Not the last two precious people she had left.
She ran. Suddenly an Aztlan blocked her path.
"Get out of my way!"
He didn't answer. He attacked. She dodged his blow. She swung her sword. At the last moment she changed the direction of the strike. He read her perfectly. He parried her sword with his shield. She tried something else. He read that too. He attacked. She didn't manage to block in time. He hit her. Only thanks to the closed helmet did she avoid injury. She charged — he dodged. She expected a follow-up strike. He struck her leg. It hurt. Another blow to the arm holding the weapon. The armor held, but it still hurt. She jumped back.
She had a second to catch her breath.
She had to admit it. He was better than her. But there was something she didn't understand.
He had her pinned. Why wasn't he finishing her…
Then terror and understanding washed over her. She remembered what the priests said. The Aztlans made human sacrifices, and when they ran out of victims they raided other peoples or fought among themselves.
He wanted her alive…
To be sacrificed… that was more terrible than her brother's betrayal.
She had to act quickly.
She swung her sword. This time the opponent neither dodged nor parried. Something happened that she could not believe. Her sword — the gift from her father — was cut in two. It was impossible. Stone could not cut steel, yet it had happened.
She was left with only a fragment of the blade. But she still hadn't given up. At that moment an unexpected opportunity appeared.
She felt a wave of fear. The Germans were shouting something about a devil. Whatever. He was distracted. She kicked him. He blocked with his shield, but it was enough to push him back.
She turned and ran.
She got perhaps fifteen meters away. She ran through some bushes and felt the ground disappear. She fell. Pain. She screamed. She looked around. She had fallen into a ravine. It hurt. She tried to stand. Terrible pain in her leg. She had twisted her ankle.
Before she could think, she heard a growl.
When she turned, her heart stopped.
A huge black cat. With enormous fangs. Coming straight toward her.
She couldn't stand. She had no way to defend herself. Was this how it would end? In the jaws of some beast?
At that moment someone landed in front of her. It was her opponent. Without fear he looked at the great cat and pointed his macuahuitl at it.
"In the name of Tlacotzin, whose music heals, I, Itzcoatl, command you to depart, black jaguar."
The cat roared and lunged at him.
Arlena couldn't believe what she was seeing. She could barely follow it with her eyes. The cat struck him with claws. But he struck back with his obsidian blades. The cat leaped at him. He pushed it away with his shield. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it. Finally he swung and cut the jaguar's head clean off.
Bloodied and wounded, he turned toward her. Only now did she look at him properly. Muscular and strong. Handsome. If he hadn't been the enemy, she might have thought this was some fairy tale about a knight saving a princess. But this was no fairy tale — her throbbing ankle reminded her of that very forcefully.
Suddenly she heard a cry from above. When she looked up she saw Thealira leaping down with daggers.
He dodged. She missed. Right behind her appeared Edmund.
"Get up! We're getting out of here!"
"I can't — my ankle is twisted! Leave me!"
She shouted a few more things at Edmund, but a moment later the elf landed beside them.
"The bastard is too fast."
"We have no choice. We have to take him down."
Edmund seized his axe and together with the elf they charged the Aztlan.
"Run! Leave me! That's an order!"
They didn't listen. They threw themselves at the warrior.
Now he had to fight both of them at once. The elf attacked with daggers, Edmund with his axe, yet he still managed to keep up with them effortlessly. At one point the warrior cut through the axe haft. The head flew somewhere far away. Edmund froze in shock. Thealira missed her lunging attack and lost her balance. The warrior seized the moment, grabbed her and hurled her into Edmund. Both of them crashed down beside Arlena. Thealira, of course, lost her daggers. From a distance came the sound of approaching shouts. She easily recognized both Lechites and Aztlans.
She grasped her broken sword. She pointed the jagged remnant toward the approaching warrior.
Then she let the weapon fall from her hand.
"We have been defeated in fair combat. We surrender."
Her hand dropped. She bowed her head. She felt she had failed completely. Edmund flattened his ears. A sour expression appeared on Thealira's face.
The warrior stood before them.
"I am Itzcoatl. You are my captives."
At that moment the Aztlans and Lechites arrived.