Chapter 5 chapter Five

The sun is round and big. The sun hangs high in the sky, far away from the mountains in the west. It looks like a beautiful golden bubble, big enough to contain all the above-ground world, like a father returning from a long journey, with his big arms stretched tightly. Like hugging a beloved child. Ana Maya stood on the steps of the Oyantaytambo Palace, facing the sun, her eyes wide open.She felt the heat vibrate her face, chest and belly.She felt the breath of the sun descending on her body. "Oh! Andy! Andy! May you light up the darkness." The sun gets bigger the farther it moves towards the mountains on the other side of the valley.Anna Maya heard a priest behind her standing on the narrow stone steps, which were very steep and almost vertical.The tall corn used for sacrificial offerings is still green and occasionally dotted with golden corn. Everyone faces the sun and sings:

Annamaya repeated the prayers with everyone, the sun was getting hotter and hotter, hanging above the mountains, jumping up to the visible horizon, red as if a sacrificial copper dagger had been pierced into a heart. The sunlight was still vibrating on Anna Maya's chest, but suddenly, it disappeared.Then a weak cool wind blew down from the top of the mountain.The sun shone on the boulders of the city wall, and the city wall seemed to become light and soft in an instant, like a child's skin. Then a shadow fell over the Sacred Valley.The rivers in the valley no longer flow sparklingly through the green mesas.The river instantly turned black and dense, like a giant python winding through the valley.The weather suddenly became cool, just as the peaks of the eastern sky suddenly became dark.The valley in between is narrow and intermittent, like a heavy black hole in a mouth.This darkness hit the regular and neat avenues in the city, as if rigidly outlining the shape of some kind of shawl.

The roof of the courtyard was already gray.The smoke from the inner courtyard was also gray, rushing straight into the sky.The streets were also dead silent.The terraces and mountain slopes connected to the valley through the steps are all shrouded in a gradual gray tone.Only the holy land surrounded by the top of the mountain is still shining with the golden light of the sun, and the surface of the boulder has the fiery red sun that Andi meticulously smeared. For a few seconds, Ana Maya felt like she was about to fly, as if she had wings and soared above the crowd.Her eyes were like the sharp eyes of a bird, and she could see through the back of the mountain and see the paleness and distance behind it, and she looked down on the houses in Oyantaytambo, all like wooden toys played by children.

For a moment, the sun was completely hidden, and the sky was gray and flat. "Oh! Andy, don't leave us behind." She muttered to herself. It was silent again for a while, as if everything in the world had disappeared into the sadness of the night.Finally, a voice from the stairs below caught her attention.She recognized him at first sight.The man is negotiating with the guards of the holy place to enter.Her heart beat faster. She hesitated whether to walk down the steep steps to meet the man.Immediately, she regained her composure.She tried her best to calm the involuntary trembling all over her body, and the shawl around her neck was pulled too tight, but she still didn't move a step, waiting patiently for the man to come forward.This man was a young general who had escorted her to join Manco in Shimak Toho before, and had helped her rescue Jaboye before the Battle of Vilkaconga.

The man finally got through.His face and body were heavy with battle.But before he approached, just watching him stepping up the steep stone steps almost like a waterfall, with his mouth slightly open and his shoulders drooping, she immediately guessed that this man brought bad news. When the man was five steps away from her, he bowed his knees on the steps and said: "Kamakenkeya, please order me to send you," he said, panting. "Titu Kuyuqi, get up!" She replied a little nervously. The expression she saw on this man's face further confirmed her original guess. "The result?" she asked.

"Kamakenkeya, please forgive me for failing to complete the task, but we did our best." She couldn't help but took a big breath, calmed down her heartbeat a little bit, and then asked: "At least know that he is still alive?" "He was alive when we saw him. But that was five days ago." "Titu Kuyuqi, why can't you complete the mission successfully?" The general made a hasty, unnerving gesture. "At that time there were two other men who went with me. As soon as the fire in Cusco stopped, I waited for the dark night of the month, and waited for the opportunity to fly to the city wall with the other two, and ran to the square courtyard you indicated to us. You are absolutely right that the foreigner was there, and we recognized him from the robes worn by Lake Titicaca peasants. He was tied to the wall by a chain..."

"A chain?" "Yes. We almost stumbled and fell when we saw it. We discussed with each other how to rescue him. At this moment, one of the accompanying soldiers was shot and died. We only saw a shaking shadow. The situation was very chaotic... ..." "He, did he say something?" "Kamaken Keya, he said he was your friend and told us not to kill him. He didn't realize that we were actually going to save him!" Without saying a word, Anna Maya turned around slowly, turning her back to the sudden red light in the western sky. "We had to run away. We didn't even have time to see who was attacking us," Titu Kuyuki continued.

"Didn't you try again?" "Kamaken Keya, I don't have..." There was silence in his tone.Ana Maya sensed that he was holding back. "Say, don't be afraid." She ordered in a flat tone. "Because on the second night, those foreigners and the Kanari people set fire to our roadblocks and killed many of our people. I was there when they attacked the last roadblock. Fortunately, we repelled them. At that time I Recognized him. He rode a horse, dressed like the other foreigners, and..." "What else?" But Titu Kuyuqi hesitated to say it.Then his eyes slid to Annamaya's shoulders, and then raised a little more.Anna Maya turned around at the same time, and heard the light footsteps of the stone god getting closer.Anna Maya felt a little relieved to know he was coming.She asked again, in a voice so firm and high that even Kadari heard.

"Titu Kuyuqi, tell me!" "He rode the white animal like a god from the underworld! He broke through our defenses invincibly, and our soldiers seemed to him to be completely non-existent. But neither we nor them suffered casualties. And then A strange thing happened. At that time, we pushed all the foreigners to the front of the barricade, surrounded them, and shot burning arrows from the tower of Saksayhuaman. However, the strange thing is that all Arrows can't hit him, even throwing stones can't hit him. Kamakenkeya, I witnessed this! Just when everyone was so surprised that they forgot to attack them, just watched They escaped."

Anna Maya couldn't help shivering for a while, and closed her eyes. "Are you sure it's him?" "Yes, Kamakenkoya. I can see him as close as you are in front of me. He almost plunged his sword into my belly! He comes and goes like a tiger." The general hesitated for a moment, and then a smile broke into his serious face.He looked at Anna Maya who was close in front of him, and continued: "But, Kamakenkoya, it was useless for him to burn down the barricades. We erected them again immediately, and no foreigner dared to set foot outside again. We will soon win the victory, and the only king will be re-entered the main treasury Sco."

"Titu Kuyuqi, I have to thank you. I know you have tried your best. Go down to rest and add some food..." Night fell on the streets of Olyangitatambo by the time the general descended the stairs. "Kadari, I made a mistake. I can no longer make the right decision, my emotions interfere with my reason. I am suffering from being separated from him, but I am afraid to get too close to him! I accept Vera Omar asked to leave him because he hated him, but as time went by, I became more and more afraid of losing him. Oh! Kadari, am I afraid because he is a cougar, or just because I In love with a foreigner?" "Kamaken Keya, I can't give you an answer." "You think like Vera Omar, don't you?" "No. Vera Omar is no longer the wise man who taught you. He has become a bloodthirsty militant. All he sees is violence." "Kadari, help me, how can I understand what is true and what is false?" "You should listen to the voice of our ancestors in another world." "But all I heard was silence." The last ray of sunlight disappeared behind the tallest tower in the Holy Land, and even the rocks on the high ground disappeared into the night sky.The stars lit up, illuminating the streets of Oyangitatambo with thousands of torches.Anna Maya felt the warmth of Kadari's hand resting on her neck. "If you can trust me, I know of a way for your twin brother to lead you to the one and only King, King Vanya Kapac," he whispered. In the dim night, Anna Maya couldn't tell what was the light shining in the depths of the stone god's eyes.But his words echoed in her heart for a long, long time (even later, when sleepiness invaded her, or when she sneaked into dreams on restless nights, these words always echoed in her heart), countless nights, for the first time Hope ignited in her heart, and she no longer panicked. "I'll wait for you." She murmured under the moon.She seemed to think he had heard it all.

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