to feel his bones burning inside

It entered her line of sight in a flutter of feathers, golden eyes unwavering as they befell an awe inspiring beast. Before her was a being known by many names, by Totec, by Huitzilopochtli, by Xiuhpilli. Her lips are trembling, her eyes wide with shock at the image of a god standing before her. She was honoured to be granted such a presence, even though this land was not his to rule. "Totec, tleica?" She wished to ask how, how he had passed through the borders of this land, surpassing the magic force she felt so strongly. It ensnared her, drained away the familiarity of her ancestors that had settled into her young bones, left her empty handed in a foreign land. But also why. Why had this god granted her, such an unimportant child, his holy presence. How had he seen her, when all she had done in her life was train, worship and learn. She had done nothing of significance other than exist, so why was she being blessed with this deity's time, she was but a waste of it. She had tried to hold her tongue, but she was compelled to ask. "Quenin?"  She had so many questions to ask, all jumbled together in her head as she looked at the god before her with awe. She was speechless, her breath stolen at the sight of an immortal being at her hooves, bright under the light filtered through the leaves. 

Someone interrupts her, waltzing between the meeting of ichpochtli and deity. "Xolopitli!" She snapps, stern expression settling upon the ebony woman who had disturbed her. The god would surely smite her for her idiocy, walking in the middle of such a special meeting like this! The eagle rose, wings outstretched in a promise of abandonment. The cerulean Azteca almost lets a wail slip from her lips, staring longingly at the god as he left the ground. "Xihualhuian!" She cries out, watching her last link to her homeland slip away from her grasp all in the blink of an eye. 

But he does not go, no, he nestles between the wings of the woman child duo that has so foolishly interrupted them. "Tleh?" She looks bemused, horrified at what this god had to do with a woman like this. She came from the woods before her, not behind. She was not a foreigner to this land as the peafowl was, and that made her sick. Why did the god favour the elder, and not she, she who had sacrificed in his name since she was only enough to speak? She who had prayed for his blessing each time she trained against a powerful opponent, she who had listened to his stories in wonder during her childhood. 

"Pialli," She offers, bowing her head as her shaken confidence falters. This woman speaks a foreign tongue, one her mother taught her little of. The ichpochtli understands only pieces, her tongue dry in her mouth as she struggles to return a sentence, lips parched as she spits out a sloppy few syllables. "Yaotl of Arto." Is all she can manage, flicking her ears back at the roughness of her sentence. Her voice comes out raspy and less intimidating than when she speaks in her native tongue, these unfamiliar syllables raking through her throat as though they do not want to leave. "Ichpochtli of Bellona, she here time ago." The fowl turns to Nahuatl when she cannot pronounce child, looking at Megaera in hopes she can understand. She pulls no information of a sultana by the name of Megaera from the tales nantli told her.  "Ah, know of Dragon-ss Throat." She nods, recalling her nantli's listing of all the herds that took up residence in Helovia. The Azteca shuffled her feet, glancing down at the child who clung to Megaera's side. Aureate irises spy the eagle on its perch, her curiosity rising. A god would not vow loyalty to a mortal, even if they were in power, and certainly not a mortal who hailed from a foreign land. 

Finally the daughter of the cheiftess brought up an important question, eyeing the eagle upon the sultana's withers. "Why god choose you?" She spoke bluntly, motioning to the creature and wondering if the mare was even aware a powerful force rested upon her like that. Did it happen often? Perhaps the ichpochtli was so troubled by her loss of her gods that she had begun to imagine them? 

-- tleica means "why", quenin is "how", ichpochtli is "girl/child", xolopitli is "fool", xihualhuian is "come, come here", tleh is "what", pialli is "hello"