The Temple in the Sky, Fernando Herrera Jr [the rosie project .txt] 📗

this would take place were called, “The Holy Sites of the Offerings.” Deep in the desert of Nazca valley lays the mysterious lines that the Nazkinians believed had been carved by the deities into the earth. The lines were the figures of sacred creatures from the great rainforests of Peru. Great rituals took place in these flats, and the creatures were offered to the gods as gifts. The rituals were intended as a calling to the deities, a calling for them to appear on earth to take away the worthy spirits. The Kapra were ordered by the king to collect the sacred creatures that included spiders, lizards, monkeys, llamas, dogs, hummingbirds, and all specimens that had been carved into the lands. However, the Kapra were not in charge of delivering the creatures to the gods themselves. Their job ended once they handed the alms over to the Cahuachi people.

The Cahuachi People: A mysterious cluster of crazy old witches, magicians, wise men, curators, prophets, necromancers, etc. Although infamous for their alleged practice of magic, they were very important to the Nazca. Indeed, one could even say their importance exceeded the king’s council. The daring might even suggest that they exceeded the king himself. They were the magic people of Nazca who possessed the ability to cure illness and diseases. They were also rumored to exorcise people who had been possessed by wandering spirits of evil. They were the committee that held the ceremony of the chosen spirits, the ceremony that selected the spirits who would become deities. This was the principle reason why they were so especially esteemed amongst the Nazca. If anybody knew anything about the gods, it was the Cahuachi. They resided in the forbidden and dignified ceremonial City of Cahuachi, and that, was where the darkest secrets of Nazca were kept. It was Apaec’s idle hope to uncover these secrets to find the truth. To him, it had become an obsession to enter the Forbidden City and uncover its profound kept secrets.

On the outskirts of Nazca lay the vast rain-forests that stretched out for hundreds of miles across the Peruvian mountains. This was where Apaec and his two beloved friends spent most of their childhood, deep in what would in time become the great Empire of the Incas. It was at this precise location that on one cold winter morning of what a modern calendar would read as December, the fog was thick and it blanketed two young friends: Micay and Khuno, who were sitting under a bulky old tree waiting for Apaec to arrive. They sat alongside on a massive tree branch that had fallen ages before. Micay was Apaec’s childhood companion, they had grown up together and were practically inseparable. He liked her. She liked him. She was about three inches short of Apaec, but Apaec was tall, hence was she. Her frame was the skimpy type: tan, attractive, lean, and preteen. She had long, black hair, of course; pretty, “feline-like” black eyes, of course; and that is all you need to know about her at this point. Her physical attributes will be described further anon; likewise will her character. Apaec and Khuno, in the other hand, had quickly developed a friendship in the Kapra clan and were becoming very close. Khuno was a behemoth warrior. That is all you should know. Likewise, his attributes shall be described anon. And so, the three friends formed a special bond and spent most of their time together in the forests. It had become a routine that they would wake up extra early in order to share breakfast with each other every morning before they would do their chores. They took turns hosting this traditional breakfast with help from their mothers, but on this particular morning, it was the first time Khuno would prepare the meal. He belonged to a large family of farmers that lived on a house located on the outlying areas of the city. It was a big cozy farm-house built of cut stone and adobe, and it was far from the noise and rowdiness of the city. A perfect area to enjoy a nice picnic…
“Now where do you suppose he is? And what‘s taking him so long?” Micay asked Khuno impatiently, with her soothing, feminine voice. “I’m starving and I don’t care to wait anymore, I’m gonna eat.” She took a wooden bowl, and poured a steaming stew from a pot, filling her bowl to the top. Then put the pot back down carefully, and blew on the soup to cool it down. She proceeded to close her eyes, inhaled the aroma, and gestured in delight. “Mmmmmm… this smells wonderfully,” she said in satisfaction.
“Well then, I’m not waiting either,” Khuno said with his deep, over-androgenic voice, filling his bowl to the top. “You know, he’s probably still sleeping. He’s always late for everything because he’s lazy and he can’t get up.”
“Yep, same story every morning. I don’t feel guilty at all for not waiting, we always have to wait, and you know he wouldn’t wait for us—he’s such a pig, he couldn’t handle sitting beside a boiling pot of delicious pig-stew, without at least trying it,” she said, slurping the starchy substance from her wooden spoon.
“You know? The soup’s gonna get cold soon, but that’s his own fault. You know, what he should do is get married—a wife would surely discipline him,” Khuno said.
Micay looked up eagerly and set her spoon in the bowl. She said, “Hey that reminds me—did you know Apaec has been betrothed to a girl named… uh… Cuca? The youngest daughter of Kekken, you know, from the potter family of Cava?”
“Oh yeah, he did mention that last week.”
“Really? He just told me that last night. Shows what I matter to him… hm! Well, anyway… what do you make of this?”
“Oh… well, I’ve met her before. She’s friends with my cousin, Ixta, and she’s really nice… a little too nice, I think. She never curses or anything like that—very polite, very proper… yet, she’s daring and adventurous at times—quirky, I suppose. You know what I mean? I remember this one time: she built a trap of wooden spikes she sharpened herself and successfully captured a jaguar—‘just for the fun of it,’ is what she said. She then skinned it and turned it into a leather kilt, which she proudly wears now. She trots about with a jaguar’s tail on her butt! She’s quite the extravagant character—but that‘s just the way the Cavas are…” He laughed and continued, “Me and the boys—we make fun of her because when she walks, her hips swing back and forth out of control. She has no idea. It’s actually pretty funny… She does have very wide hips.”
“Is that so? Is that what you stupid boys do? Just make fun of us girls? That’s despicable!”
“Haha! Actually, that’s exactly what we do—talk about the antic that is the amusing anecdote of your beings.” He snickered to himself and continued, “We always blather on about you, especially.” Again, he snickered teasingly.
“What!? Really? What do you say about me?” She was peeved at the idea.
He laughed and said, “Silly girl, I was just kidding. Us erudite boys are much too genteel to gossip about gimcrack. We leave that to you—flibbertigibbets… And I would never talk about you, much less behind your back… anyway.” He spoke debonairly, mimicking the vocabulary style of the monarchy, as intent to impress Micay.
“You better not, Khuno… and well… anyway… is she pretty?” Micay asked, grinning and snippy in gesture.
“Actually, she’s absolutely beautiful! Her face is entirely animated and she’s very well rounded for such teen. Not to mention, she’s admirably voluptuously sonsie. Us boys like that in a girl,” he said while looking at the sky in a sigh. “That’s why his mother chose her, you know. She’s rumored to be the most beautiful girl in the entire city. All the boys are in love with her. The-they have no chance though. Their families don’t have enough to trade for her. You see, a girl like that is very sought for. Indeed, they aren’t gonna give her up that easy… haha -- but Apaec… oh boy… he’s gonna be an all-mighty king -- you know. Any family will be more than willing to plight their daughter to him—or daughters, for that matter. That masterpiece of a female—she’s gonna be our queen someday.” He took a pause, smirked crookedly, and continued, “Hey, didn‘t his mother once say that she wanted you—”
Her glare immediately broadened in alarm. “Don‘t even think about it!” she loudly interposed. “Don’t ever bring that up! I would never marry that lazy, monkey-faced moron! I don’t want to be his stupid queen… eeeeeew!” She shivered in disgust and added, “The simple thought of it sickens me.”
“Wow… Is he really that bad? My sister likes him. She thinks he’s… cute.” He laughed.
“He has a big nose. Well, it’s not that, we’re best friends. You see, it would be too weird… and… I don’t want to have anything to do with his… monarchy… or whatever. You know he’s gonna make a lousy king anyway… and it seems to me that the one who’s in love with that bimbo… is you—says I.”
Khuno laughed and took another spoonful to his mouth. He muttered with a mouthful, “She’s not a bimbo, and I guess I do wish I had the likes from her. I’ve fancied Cuca long before Apaec even laid eyes on her… And about the monarchy, I guess nothing’s gonna change in that department. Innit true..?”
Before Micay could respond, Apaec appeared out of the bushes from a small path.
“Well, well, well, speaking of the death god, look who decided to show up—late, as usual. Finally! Whatever in the world took you so long?” Micay asked impetuously.
He gave them a big smile and said, “Well, I can see that you’ve missed me.” He walked over and sat next to Micay’s right, leaving her in the middle of the two boys. He poured himself a heaping bowl and indulged. Moments later, there they were, sitting under the tree, each of them enjoying a hot bowl of soup…
“This is great, Khuno. How did you make this?” asked Apaec, stuffing his mouth with the steaming, bluish stew as it dripped off his face onto his lap.
Khuno then scooped up a cup of it from the pot and filled Apaec’s bowl to the top once again and proceeded to answer, “It’s simple: just collect the yellow and purple grain from the maize and mash it with potatoes; then make a soup out of it with the herbs we collected yesterday from the meadows; throw in a bit of chopped guinea pig, a pinch of salt, and a couple of red chili peppers. That’s it!”
“It’s not simple—you just make it sound simple,” Micay interjected as she wiped the chowdery drops off her sharp chin, with her thick, woolen sleeve.
“Yes, you do… ooooh it’s still boiling,” Apaec added.
“That’s because I finished it right before you got here,” Khuno explained.
“I think your mom made it,” Micay said teasing him as she giggled.
“No way…! My mom is still in bed. I made it with my bare, beautiful hands. See?” defended Khuno as he displayed his stained palms, still blue from the maize.
“Well, I don’t care who made it, but whoever did must be a god,” joked Apaec who stuffed his mouth once more.
“Haha… Do you think the gods know how to cook?” Khuno asked Apaec.
Apaec turned to Khuno and responded with a skeptical gesture, “Well I’ve never thought of it. I assume that they have to. I don’t think Huiracocha does it for them.”
After a long