Wolves of War

19

  An hour later, two wolves lounged by the temple in the darkness. That didn't look out of place. Though wolves were not common here, Valo had gathered that they existed from the art displayed in the city. Reading the writing along the walls of the temple, Valo translated it to Aspen. They discovered the temple was near dedicated to Venus.

"It says that this is built to honor the Goddess of the morning star, Venus. She is seen as a war Goddess here, I don't quite get the translation- it is poorly executed but it reads that they look to Venus for when to make war. This serpent God is recent though."

The men came to the temple and knelt down on the sand. After a quick prayer they rose and gathered some tools they had brought and started down to the serpent pyramid. A man in a dark shroud opened Quetzalcoatl's temple in silence and allowed them in. He left the heavy stone open and stepped back within the darkness. When the men were out of sight, Valo motioned his mate to follow and they padded silently up the footpath to the pyramid, and then up the stairs to the door.

"The stairs must make it hard to get the Obsidian out, it isn't lightweight", Aspen thought as they ascended. Peering inside the door, it appeared the humans were nowhere in sight and were deep inside the depths of the pyramid, they would never hear the wolves enter. Keeping their wolf forms, the two moved along the block walls and down long dark corridors. There were offering stations along the way, inset into the stone walls, some still had some offerings inside them. Suddenly there was a ringing sound, which Aspen identified after the first initial shock of the sound. Someone was hitting a stone with a tool.

"They must be cutting it out or breaking it up to move." She whispered to Valo.

He looked puzzled. "They are underneath us. Feel the vibration? But how to get down there?"

Aspen looked around her, but everything looked the same. The dim torches did little to cast light out of their immediate area and the hallways were rendered dark. "If this is going up, maybe we need to go back and see if we missed a door. We had to have missed a door!"

Valo turned in the corridor and started back whence they had come. At the entrance to the pyramid, Valo changed into his human body and rubbed his hands down the walls along the way until he found a crack. The crack ran floor to ceiling and a closer look revealed it was a concealed door. That made sense; if people were coming to offer here, it wouldn't be a good idea to let them into the sacred area where Obsidian was kept. He leaned against it just enough to shift into his human form, he only needed to slide it back a little to make room for them. He took back his wolf form and the pair entered the darkness.

The space they entered was dark and damp with a strange smell filling the air. When her eyes adjusted, Aspen realized they were on a small bridge that overlooked a deeper pit. There were dim lights down below, and the sound of the mining was louder. Valo moved off the bridge and onto the solid rock overhang to peer down into the pit, Aspen joined him. Down below, the torchlight lit up the walls, which shimmered in hues of blue, green, gold, and black. The blue was near the edge of a small lake that shimmered as if made of silver.

"What is this place?" Valo whispered as he watched the humans mine the rocks and place them in sacks.

Below the younger man was fascinated with the pool of silver. He poked at it with the sharp tool in his hand but it made no waves. He looked back at the priest. "Is it cold?"

"You cannot swim in that, child. It is a portal to which Gods can pass, you will not get through and you will die." The priest looked annoyed.

The youth laughed, "Maybe I will be special and maybe the Gods will let me through!"