Tyranny of Steel

Honoria rode upon horseback through the dense woods as she desperately searched for her missing husband. It had been twelve hours since Berengar rode off in search of the witness to the German slaughter, and the byzantine Princess had become dreadfully worried. For the last three hours, she and the soldiers searched frantically for any clue regarding the whereabouts of their absent emperor, only to come up empty. 

With an oil lamp tied around her horse's neck, Honoria continued to delve deep into the woodlands, searching for the man she loved. Finally, after hours of effort, she heard some good news as one of her girls called out to her from a few yards ahead.

"Honoria! Over here, I think I have found something!"

Upon hearing this, the Pirate Queen snapped her reins and charged after her comrade, where she witnessed a gruesome sight. The eaten remains of various humans lie on the ground, with shredded clothing and scattered weapons. It was nearly impossible to identify any of the men who had died in this struggle and thus, Honoria broke out into tears, believing that her husband had been slain. 

However, in the next moment, one soldier climbed up from the cliff below and presented two items, Berengar's revolver and his compass, as well as a few scattered bullets that had followed him on his fall into the river below. When Honoria noticed this, she felt as if her heart might explode, and quickly asked for clarification on what had happened. 

"What have you found? Is the Emperor dead!?!"

The man shook his head before relaying the information he had gathered from the site.

"It appears there was an armed struggle. Judging from the weapons we have found littering the scene above, the Royal Guardsmen are dead, as well as several hostiles. However, judging from the condition of the hillside, the Emperor was thrown over the ledge and tumbled into the river below, most likely floating downstream. It is possible he is still alive."

Honoria sighed in relief as she heard this, she took several moments to wipe the tears from her eyes, and steel her resolve before issuing her orders.

"Then what are we waiting for? We must follow this river at once. I will not rest until I find my husband, or what remains of him."

The soldier immediately saluted the Byzantine Princess and responded in the affirmative.

"Yes, ma'am!"

With this said, Honoria pulled out a flare gun and fired a green flare straight into the sky, marking their location to the nearby search teams, alerting them they found a clue to the Emperor's whereabouts. After doing this, she gave an additional order.

"Have some men stay behind and explain the situation. The rest of you. Come with me. We must find Berengar before something happens to him. I pray to God that we are not too late!"

After saying this, she snapped her reins once more and charged down the hillside, into the river valley, following its course downstream in the desperate hope that she could find her man safe and sound. 

---

While Honoria was searching for Berengar, he was in the thick fog within the woodlands above the river valley, wandering aimlessly, praying to whatever deity that was listening, hoping some hidden jaguar or poisonous snake did not take advantage of his poor condition.

Latched onto his back in a body triangle was the Princess of the Aztec Empire. Though Berengar did not know it, certain events had changed in this timeline that allowed the Aztec Empire to form a decade earlier, and the woman he had been pursuing so ruthlessly was actually its third princess who had elected to live the life of a jaguar warrior.

As the two blindly traversed through the treacherous terrain, a shimmering light appeared in the fog. It was the color of emeralds, and was moving along the ground with each of Berengar's steps as if providing a safe path for the duo to walk upon. Berengar was stunned when he saw this. Perhaps he was in the middle of another supernatural encounter.  As for Tlexictli, she began speaking in her own tongue. Surprisingly Berengar could now understand her words.

"My gods, could it be?"

Berengar immediately looked behind him and over at the woman in shock before expressing his disbelief on the German tongue.

"What did you just say?"

It was now Tlexictli's turn to be astonished. Even though she heard the foreign words of the German Language, she could understand them as clear as day. She immediately questioned if she was hearing things and asked for clarification.

"You can understand me?"

Berengar silently nodded his head with a befuddled expression. How was this possible? Then again, when he thought about it, he had previously understood the girl who he believed to be the ancient Germanic Goddess Baduhenna. When he had that vision in the woods within the borders of Frisia, he could understand the little girl clearly, despite the fact that she spoke an ancient and forgotten predecessor to the German language.  Do you want to read more chapters? Come to p a n d a - n o v e l,c o m

The duo stared at each other in disbelief. There were so many questions that they wanted to ask, but before the Aztec princess could ask the question that was most prevalent within her mind, Berengar interrupted her. 

"We should save any questions we have for later and follow this path. I doubt whatever being is responsible for this would be happy if we deviated from the red carpet they have laid out for us."

Though Berengar had used an idiom from his past life, somehow the girl understood what he meant, and simply nodded her head in silence as the two followed the glowing path. After several miles, they reached the ruins of an ancient and abandoned civilization.

Berengar gazed upon the many pyramids that existed in the city with a shocked expression. However, one such architectural marvel stood out above all others and when Berengar witnessed its glory, expressed the single thought that dwelled in his mind. 

"The Pyramid of the Sun... How is this possible?"

Berengar gazed upon the abandoned ancient city with an awe filled gaze. Unlike what he expected to find, the city, which had been abandoned for close to a thousand years, was in pristine condition, as if it had been taken care of all these years without the slightest sign of decay.  Tlexictli immediately stared at Berengar in disbelief. She could not fathom how this foreigner from across the great sea knew about the great city of Teotihuacán and could only scoffed in response.

"Impossible, the City of the Gods is a ruin. I have seen it with my own eyes. Whatever this place is, it is completely intact, as if it was abandoned just mere days ago."

Berengar shook his head. He did not have an answer for this, but he knew for a fact that what he was looking at was the city of Teotihuacán. Just when he was about to lecture the girl, a woman appeared out of nowhere, wearing a feathered headdress in the shape of a bird. It completely concealed her features.

When Berengar saw this, he knew he had encountered another pagan deity, and he instantly kneeled before the goddess.Tlexictli, on the other hand, screeched in shock and cried out to the strange woman who appeared out of thin air.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The woman smirked beneath her headdress before waving her hand. The moment she did so, Tlexictli fell asleep on Berengar's back. Berengar gulped his sweat in fear that the woman might harm him, however despite his reservations, he stood his ground. When the woman saw this, she chuckled before expressing her disbelief.

"So she has given you the boon of courage? Interesting... I never thought I would see the day where that old hag so freely gave away such a powerful gift."

Berengar immediately knew who she was talking about and gazed at the woman in front of him in disbelief before voicing his thoughts.

"Old hag?"

The mysterious goddess chuckled when she heard this before criticizing Berengar's naivety.

"She may look like a small child, but believe me when I say that she is older than I am. Though I'm not surprised you are unaware of such a thing. After all, your people lacked a written language during the days following what you would call the Nordic Bronze Age."

Berengar could not believe what he was hearing. Not only was this woman claiming to be a goddess, but she also knew about his people. The mysterious woman merely giggled as she saw the look on his face and made a cryptic comment to clarify matters.

"What? Do you seriously think that just because you humans lack the means to communicate with one another over long distances, that us deities are bound to the same rules? I mean, we are gods, after all. So, yes, I am aware of the other pantheons, and the history of the people who worship them."

Berengar struggled to comprehend what he was hearing, but the woman cut him off before he could ask for clarification.

"Leave the girl behind. I give you my word that she will be safe within the boundaries of my city. We have much to discuss alone..."

Berengar did not question the orders he was given and merely bowed his head before leaving Tlexictli behind as he walked off towards a distant pyramid, following the curvy figure of the mysterious goddess to her temple.