Inca 2 : Scourge of the Sun 6

[ismenin]

Hello there! Yes, it's me again with part 6 of Inca2, but before I post it, I must tell you all that I still have double vision and can't really focus, and am still very wobbly. This means that I haven't been able to visit your lj's to see the lovely things Lady Sunrope and my sister, pattilovesviggo told me you posted for my birthday.

It would be smashing if you could let me know in a comment here, where they are, or leave a link, so that I can go and look when I feel a bit better. I'm still not very "extra" as we say in these parts. Luffs you all with great luff. xxxxxxxxxx




Thanks to LSR for her beta.


Part 6 - Encounters with Demons

DP
Amaru - Karl Urban



It was four days before Lizhe was satisfied that Dom's feet were healed enough to continue the journey. Maita had brought into the cave some leaves he said would help, and he boiled them up in a little water and applied the cooling mess to Dom's blisters.

The were so beneficial that Yupanque went out and gathered more, and Will was anointed also.

All the men were aware of how quickly wounds turned putrid in this rarified atmosphere, and the Incas were at pains to see their companions were well healed before continuing.

When Dom announced that he was fit to travel, Lizhe closely examined his lover's feet before allowing that he was right; Will nobly gave up his spare stockings to Dom's comfort, and Dom, laughing, had said that they were his property to begin with sinceWill having had no time to return to his home to gather anything for the journey.

A few minutes later, Maita, Kon and Rimac re-appeared with filled pouches of water, and they set forward, with lighter hearts, into the morning sun.

It was while they were sitting under some trees eating their midday meal that Will sat beside Lizhe and asked in low tones, "where are we heading, Lizhe?"

Lizhe glanced over at Maita and Rimac who were laughing over a white cuy that Kon had announced to be the perfect pet that he had been seeking, and answered, his voice equally quiet. "I am heading for the village of Tanqui where my cousin Amaru is hiding. We may learn something there that may aid us. It is not easily found, and I have never been there, but my Father says it is nearer than we may think, although well hidden from possible intruders."

Dom and Will shared a quick look. Neither man was inclined to scoff at this announcement. If Lizhe said his Father - whether Viracocha or Pachacutec - had spoken to him, it was so.

"How much further is it?" Will asked, eating a tomato still warm from the sun.

"Tomorrow. We shall reach it tomorrow. Do not fear - we are not travelling out of our way. Tonight I will again ask my Father to send me a dream showing me the path, as he did last night."

As they rose to continue the journey, Dom laid a restraining hand on Lizhe's arm. "Which Father will you ask, Lizhe?"

The Inca smiled. Dom saw that Lizhe's eyes were heavy, as if he had not slept well the night before. "Does it matter? They are both the same to me when I sleep. God has Viracocha's face, but Pachacutec's voice. It is the same voice he used when he was with me as my father, and that comforts me. Whichever God I petition, the same face appears and the same voice speaks."

They were standing behind a tree and the others had moved forward in the direction Lizhe had indicated, so Dom risked Will's wrath and pressed Lizhe against the bole of the tree and kissed him, hard.

Lizhe moaned and leaned into Dom. Dom pulled away, regret plain on his features. "We do not - cannot - wish the others to see either of us tenting the front of our clothing with the plain evidence of our desires, mi corazon," he whispered into Lizhe's ear.

"When may we lie together?" Lizhe whispered, as Dom saw Rimac turn to see the whereabouts of their guide. "It is painful to be without thee so soon after our long abstinence...and I have need of thy comfort. I..."

Dom kissed him again, stopping the words in his lover's mouth. "I will find a way. For thy beauty tempts me so that I can hardly bear it," Dom answered in a throaty murmur. "Will cannot be so cruel as to keep us apart like this. Does he not realise that we find comfort in each other's body?"

They stepped out from behind the tree and saw Will was about to send Rimac back for them.

Dom sighed wistfully. It would be a long day.


******

When they settled to sleep, Lizhe saw the man and his son had nothing with which to cover themselves. The cave had been warm, even at night, and although Maita insisted that the grass was very comfortable, it was cold on the hillside at night. Lizhe gave up his blanket to the couple and after a glance at Will, took his bed-roll and settled beside Rimac and Yupanque.

Dom, realising Lizhe could not lie with him for warmth, or indeed, for anything else, turned away from the group, and after a short while he made a frantic gasping sound that any of the men - had they been listening - would have immediately recognised.


They rose early in the morning, for they needed to hunt for food. The grass was getting taller and they had seen no cuy all day. Rimac and Yupanque took Maita to hunt, and thinking the pace of the foragers might be too fast for his son, Maita told Kon to walk beside Lizhe and lead the group. The lad was very pleased to be given a task of such importance, and puffed out his thin chest with pride.

He walked beside Lizhe step for step, and Dom listened, with Will, to the story the Inca was telling the boy.

"The tale is told that in the beginning, and before this world was, there was a Supreme Being named Viracocha. He created a dark world without sun, moon or stars.

"Because of this making, he was named Viracocha Pachayachachi, which means "Creator of all things." And when he had made the world, he formed a race of giants of a huge greatness, and painted and sculpted them to his liking, to see whether it would be well to make real men of that size."

"But he decided they were too large, and so he then created men in his likeness as they are now; and they lived in darkness..."

Dom smiled at Will, for the boy was so patently enthralled by the legend. "I do not suppose his father has had much time to tell the boy stories, as we do, Will. That was all left to the mother, and now she is gone."

After several hours, the hunting party returned carrying several small creatures and some potatoes.

"There is not much to eat here," Rimac said, watching Yupanque skin the animals as he, together with Will, washed the potatoes in one of the small streams that ran everywhere down the hillside.

Lizhe, lighting a fire nearby, blew on the tinder encouraging the flames. "It matters not, there will be food aplenty at Tanqui, and we will reach it before nightfall."

Maita, bringing a pot of water from the stream, looked puzzled by this statement. "How do you know we shall be there tonight? You said you had not been this way before, and there is no sign of a settlement - how can you know?"

Lizhe took a deep breath. "I...I just know," he said, and there was such assurance and finality in his tone that the man nodded. "I see that you do know," he remarked, not a little wary of Lizhe's pronouncement.

Dom was beginning to worry that Lizhe had been wrong. The sun was not far from setting and there had been no sign of the village for which they were headed. They had been walking through thick trees for some time, when they cleared, and before them flowed a wide river, its opposite bank so far distant that the trees edging it were no larger than dots on the horizon.

"We are here!" Lizhe breathed, smiling at his companions, and breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Dom looked about him. There was no sign of any human life. There was nothing in front of them except the wide expanse of water with a large, elongated island standing in the midst of it, hundreds of yards from the bank. It was covered with dense trees and undergrowth and nothing could be seen moving upon it. Still, Dom realised they had reached Tanqui.

"We must light a fire - then they will come for us!" Lizhe explained to a puzzled Dom, and Yupanque immediately set out to gather twigs from the densely wooded area behind them.

After the fire was well alight, Lizhe put some damp leaves on it, making it smoke furiously. Then he placed a wet cloth over it until billows of smoke went up at intervals into the sky. He did this several times, in a pattern. All the men gazed upon him with interest, for they had never before seen such a thing.

It was Will who spotted the boats, and pointed to them. Three of them, each nearly fifteen feet long, left the island in the river, heading for the group. Dom wondered how they been concealed, as they could not be seen from the river bank.

To Dom's dismay, as they came nearer, a tall, dark haired man, well built and richly dressed, leaped out of the leading boat before it had landed, and running to Lizhe, flung himself, sobbing, at the Inca's feet.

"Safe! Safe!" he said, thickly, his head resting on Lizhe's foot. Then the stranger rose and enclosed Lizhe in his strong arms. Lizhe returned the embrace and rested his head on the man's chest, so much taller was he than the little Inca God.

Dom realised that this man must be Lizhe's cousin, Amaru, and he also thought that an extraordinary closeness must exist between the two men, for it was unlike Lizhe to behave in this fashion. He began to feel the stirrings of jealousy in his chest, which was reinforced when Lizhe kissed the man lightly on the cheek, which made Amaru smile and Lizhe whispered in his ear, at which Amaru glanced speculatively at Dom, then grinned and kissed the Inca's hand.

Dom breathed deeply, but then noticed that Maita was staring at the man, clearly wondering why the richly clad stranger was behaving with such familiarity, and with such deference towards a mere guide.

Rimac quickly went to the stranger's side and clasping him about the shoulders whispered in his ear. The man returned the embrace and then brushed his face with trembling hands. "Forgive me, Rimac," he said, almost devouring Lizhe with his eyes, but before he had time to speak again, to make amends for his hasty actions, the other boats had landed, and all the oarsmen were lying face down upon the sandy ground, chanting "Inti! Inti! Inti!" Amaru, too, knelt again.

Will shrugged his shoulders in a fatalistic way. Amaru had clearly told the inhabitants of Tanqui the identity of their newest visitor.

Maita pulled hard at Dom's sleeve. His hands were far from steady. "Tell me why these men bow in the dust at Lizhe's feet...who...?"
Realisation hit the man like a hammer blow. "Inti? This...Lizhe...is God? he said, falling to his knees, his legs unable to hold him upright any longer.

The boy, frightened by his father's odd behaviour, moved forward and reached for Lizhe's hand. "Why is my Tayta - and all these men - lying on the ground, Lizhe? I do not understand."

Dom took a deep breath. There was no point in trying to lie, now. He pronounced the formula recited when men were admitted into the Inca's presence.

"Kneel before your God, Aralizhe Pachacuti, the Earthshaker, the Sapac Intiq Churin - Holy Son of the Sun - and shield your faces from the light of his blessed countenance. Make a prayer unto Inti, for he stands before you, by the Grace of his Father, Viracocha, God of all the World, with power to act in his name and to do his will," and, then, in a gentler tone, continued, "and he has reached you, with God's aid, safe and well."

Kon knelt with all the others and bowed his head, but Dom noticed that he still held fast to Lizhe's hand.

*******

When the boats landed, Dom was amused and impressed to see that each boat was slotted by its rowers into a tunnel dug into the bank, and was hidden completely from view. As they progressed to the village he saw that it was built in the middle of a dense circle of trees and would not be seen, except from above; and as only God, and the birds ever attained such heights, he knew that, here, they would be safe.

Dom thought, as they entered the village, that he had not seen anything to compare with it since he brought Lizhe back from captivity in Tupac's stronghold, where even now, he hoped, the inhabitants of the Holy City resided safe and well.

Several hundred people were there, lining the path. But unlike upon the previous occasion, these people remained silent, and crouched, their heads in the dust, as Lizhe's feet passed them by.

At the end of the line he walked up a few of the steps that led to the house where Amaru had led him, and turned to face his people. "God gives you leave to rise and to look upon his face," he said in his light, but commanding tone.

The people were reluctant to stand, and Dom could see that they were afraid to gaze upon God. He looked up at Lizhe and received a decided nod. He could speak.

Dom repeated the words he had spoken upon the river bank, and then added, "I am the Auqui Inti Huana Capac, known also as Dom Huascar, who was dead and whom God brought to life again in the mountains. I am his spouse, and he is my God as he is yours."

"I tell you truly, if God speaks to you, he means what he says, for, when he speaks to his people, he does not lie. Look upon his face as he commands, for he is beautiful beyond the understanding of men."

The people looked up just as Lizhe bent upon Dom his sweetest, loving smile, and the people as one, drew in a breath.

Lizhe smiled down upon his people. "Greetings, my friends. Never has God travelled from the Holy City to visit this part of his domain - and never, I suspect, will he do so again. I will speak to you informally, for I believe you deserve this honour because you have sheltered my beloved cousin the Auqui Amaru from the strangers who would take our lives and lands, and brought him here safely at peril of your own lives."

"My cousin vows to me that you are my most loyal servants, and I believe his words to be true. Therefore I am putting you under oath not to leave this island until you receive word that I am safe - for no-one will find you here, you are so well hidden. Lord Amaru also tells me you have everything you need to live on this island, without leaving it to search for food."

"Is there any spokesman here who can take the oath on behalf of the people?"

A man of middle years, thin and battle-scarred, but tall and proud, stepped forward and knelt at Lizhe's feet. "I am the head of the allyu of this settlement, Lord. I speak for the people, and my life will be forfeit if they disobey your commands. I swear to you, on pain of death, that no-one shall leave here unless appointed by God or the Auqui Amaru. I give myself up to this oath, may God smite me dead if I break it."

Lizhe nodded. "It is well. I am satisfied." Then turning to Amaru who stood with Dom on the lower steps, said quietly, "God would eat, cousin. And my companions also."

Amaru's brown eyes glistened up at Lizhe. "Go you in - I have had meats prepared for you all."

Will, climbing the steps with Dom and the others, said out of the side of his mouth, "how did he know we were coming? I'm damned if I can puzzle this out."

Dom grimaced. "Lizhe told me in the boat - he visited Amaru in a dream."

Will sniffed, and behind him, Rimac took Yupanque's hand and they went inside.

*****

They had time to bathe quickly before they went to eat, and Lizhe was given clothing more suited to his station, and gold and jewelled ornaments to wear, as were Rimac and Yupanque.

Dom and Will were still dressed in their soutaines, but they had been brushed and freshened whilst they were in the bath. The villagers seemed to be wary of them, because of their beards and strange clothing, and Dom realised that he missed, with a keenness that surprised him, the people of the Holy City, most of whom were now his friends.

The meal was the most lavish that Dom had ever seen. Wild sucking pig, fowls and other meats stood on the low table, groaning under its weight, together with vegetables and fruits and coca and beer.

Dom observed that there were several of the leading citizens of the village kneeling against the wall, having been granted the honour of watching God eat. The party of priests and Incas sat, on mats on the floor to eat and Dom was just about to move to Lizhe's side to offer him food, but he was forestalled when Amaru took the coveted position and to Dom's great chagrin began to plait Lizhe's lustrous hair, to keep it, the man said, smiling at Lizhe softly, out of his face whilst he ate. When he had braided it to his satisfaction, he offered Lizhe his first mouthful of roast meat.

Dom scowled. He was irritated beyond reason. It was hisplace, he thought, grinding his teeth with frustration, to feed God, and he was usurped by a man he did not know. It did not help that the man was tall, handsome, well-built with shining black hair, and brown, sparkling eyes - who smiled at God with desire in his face that could not be hidden, and who touched Lizhe's hair as if he owned him.

Dom felt his stomach clench with jealousy, and he could not help but glare at the man. He did notice that several other men of high standing in the village were looking at him through lowered lashes, and one or two of them muttered in low voices, but he ignored them.

He did, however see Lizhe study him, his expression inscrutable, and fix him with a cool, level gaze. Dom lowered his eyes to the empty dish before him.

Several times whilst Lizhe ate, Dom glowered over the table at Amaru, and each time he did so, Lizhe drew his attention by some slight movement towards Amaru - touching him, smiling up at him, for he was so much taller than Lizhe.

Once, he leaned his head on Amaru's shoulder and closed his eyes and it seemed to Dom that Lizhe had opened like a flower in the presence of this man. He saw Lizhe touch Amaru's face with the tips of his fingers, and look at his cousin with what, in anyone other than his Lizhe, Dom would have called love.

Dom snorted loudly, and when he glanced again at Lizhe, there was bright anger blazing in the Inca's face, and Dom did not dare to look at his Lord again.

When he had finished eating, Lizhe rose from the table, and taking Amaru's hand, without even so much as a glance at Dom, left the room.

Dom had eaten very little, although the food was delicious, for his appetite had deserted him long before Lizhe left. Will, Rimac and Yupanque, however, ate a hearty meal, talking animatedly to each other and to the other honoured guests who had come forward to eat once Lizhe had departed. His companions could not have failed to notice Dom's taciturn mood, but they forbore comment.

The Auqui Dom Huascar was by now incandescent with rage. Lizhe had preferred this handsome cousin to him - the man he said he loved above all others. He did not understand why he felt so mutinous, for he knew he owed his life and soul to his Lizhe, and had promised to obey him in everything.

He put down the sliver of meat that he had been attempting to eat, and stared blankly at the wall.

He had not been jealous of Rimac, who had shared Lizhe's bed before he had taken Yupanque as his lover, nor the Villac-Uma, who had occasionally done so, too. It was only Tupac - the traitor, the despoiler - who had ever roused such feelings of animosity in Dom.

After everyone else had finished eating, a servant came to Dom and whispered in his ear that a room had been prepared for the Auqui when he was ready to retire to it. Dom's head flew up, surprised beyond telling. Lizhe had ordered that he sleep elsewhere?

"Where has God been quartered? I would see him."

The man, kneeling by Dom's side, did not meet his eyes. "God has said he will see the Auqui in the morning, as he has much to occupy him this night."

"I expect he has, indeed, much to occupy him, but he will see me tonight, nonetheless." Dom rose to his feet in a fury, scattering bowls and platters everywhere. Never had they slept apart, when quartered under the same roof, except at fast times. He brushed the servants out of the way and stormed out of the room.

It took him a few minutes to locate Lizhe, for no-one would tell him where he might be. He systematically searched the whole house, which contained many rooms. No-one dared prevent him, Dom knew, for was he not next to God in honour in the Land?

He came at last to a chamber with a decorated hide covering over the door, and when he entered it, and saw the occupants, he stopped so suddenly that he nearly fell.

Amaru was sitting on the richly coloured sleeping blankets covering the floor, his back propped against the wall. In his arms, his face turned to his cousin's chest, his hair loose and covering his naked body like a robe, lay Lizhe.

Dom screamed "No!" He bounded forward like a man possessed, and dragged Lizhe out of the man's unresisting arms.
"You shall not have him!" he panted, in a voice made hoarse with rage. He knelt to draw Lizhe to him, then noticed that his lover's eyes were still closed and his limbs limp and unresisting.

It was only then that Dom spared a glance at the man still sitting, fully dressed, next to him. His eyes were dark, but not with rage - with understanding, and perhaps...dislike.

"God did not wish you to know, Auqui - he has taken the leaves."

Dom could not stop trembling. He remembered how it had been for Lizhe the last time he had taken the leaves - when they had driven him blind and mad with their potency. "No!" he managed, again, but this time it was a desperate whisper. He felt his limbs lose their power, and he sat, unresisting, beside Amaru as the man drew Lizhe once again into his arms, and crooned in his ear.

"Come, my God, and make all things bright by your presence. Let Viracocha guide you, let the Gods lead you in the right path. May he show you the way..."

Lizhe suddenly jerked violently in the man's arms, and opened his eyes. "It is dark, and I cannot see the way. There are demons...they have come to me again..." and as the madness took him, and Amaru seemed almost paralysed with shock by Lizhe's extreme reaction to the drug, Dom knew what he must do.

He took Lizhe and held him close, pinning the thrashing body in his arms, so he could not move. It was a struggle to hold him, for Lizhe was stronger under the influence of the leaves.

"Help me hold him. I have seen him like this before, and if he remains unrestrained, either he will die or we will, for he will kill us with his bare hands if we cannot contain him..."

Amaru came out of his stupefied state and reached, on Dom's orders, for a large blanket. They succeeded in wrapping Lizhe tightly before the leaves took him completely.

"I see you!" Lizhe snarled, his teeth bare, his eyes wild. "Demons of the deep. I will not let you harm my Dom. You shall not have him! Give him up, I command you! Father, help me!"

They struggled to hold him between them until Will rushed into the room and joined them on the mats. "The servants brought me. What has come to him, Dom?" Will breathed as he sat on Lizhe's legs, holding him down.
"He should not have done it, Will!" Dom's throat was so dry with fear he could hardly speak. He swallowed a few times before trying.
"Do you remember what I told you of the last time he took them...the leaves? He will die this time, and I shall die, too. Lizhe!"

His voice cracked in the lamp-lit room. Lizhe, whose eyes had closed again against the encroaching demons, stirred as Dom's voice penetrated his fractured mind.

He croaked, "Dom? Is that Dom calling me? My Dom?"

Dom's voice failed him completely.

"Aye, Lizhe," Will said calmly, "your Dom is here, and I am, too - your friend, Will - and Lord Amaru. We have fought the demons for ye, and they have fled. Rest now, they cannot harm ye more."

"Dom," Lizhe sighed, "...and Will and Amaru... They cannot assail me now, with such loving friends about me..."

As suddenly as he had woken, Lizhe fell into a deep sleep, and Amaru allowed Dom to cover his mate with the blankets. The three men moved to sit against the corners of the far walls, away from where Lizhe lay sleeping.

"What happened to God to cause him such terrors when he takes the leaves?" Amaru's face was a mask of confusion. "It never used to be so. Tell me, Auqui, what causes it?"

Dom glared again at the man sitting opposite him. "My name is Dom - I make you free of it," Dom stated in formal tones. He was sure that he much disliked this man, who had been resting with Lizhe lying in his arms, and whose company his love had preferred to his own.

Choosing his words carefully, he told the man of Lizhe's growing intolerance to the leaves. "He should not take them. You should first have asked me if he should do such a thing. He hazards his life by doing so."

Dom knew he was being unreasonable, but he could not stop himself. He stared at the man once more: his eyes burning and weary. "Why did he take them, my Lord Amaru? He promised me he would never again take them."

The man sat, his knees up, his arms clasped about them and his face turned from Dom's view.

"He had told me this, that he had sworn not to partake - but he said he needed to receive a vision of Qoylurani - examine its houses and temples - its palaces and storerooms." The man stopped as if unsure how to proceed.

"But...but..." Dom stuttered, not comprehending. "Surely there was no need to risk his life for that? Could he not wait until we came there? Then he will see all these things for himself..."

Amaru laid his head on his knees, facing Dom, and it could now be seen that he was weeping.

"No, he will not," he breathed, his voice low and trembling, and laced with a violent, suppressed anger that was as great as Dom's. "God said to me that he needs to know what the City is like so that he may imagine you - and his wives and children - living there, all safe and well, and happy."

Amaru's voice was bitter and held a disdain for Dom that he neglected to hide.

"Has he not told you, Auqui, that the God Viracocha has revealed to him that he will never see the City of Qoylurani with his living eyes?"


Glossary

Tayta - daddy, father