place, Ohin would need to navigate carefully to put them near the time of the four days of sacrifice for the temple. Gabriel stood to Ohin’s right, holding Teresa’s hand. Sema held Ohin’s left hand and he gestured for Gabriel to take his right. As he did so, Gabriel could sense the shard of pottery, and an image of a great city came to his mind.
“We go,” Ohin said simply. The sun was gone, blackness sweeping around them, the cloisters disappearing, and then everything was a brilliant white.
They stood in the center of a broad, earth-packed street in the middle of a massive city, looking up at an enormous stone pyramid nearly two hundred feet tall. Two sets of wide steps, over a hundred stairs each, led to the flat top of the pyramid where two box-like shrines capped the structure. Although they were nearly half a mile away, Gabriel could make out people at the top of the Templo Mayor, the great pyramid. And something rolling down the steps. And something piled at the bottom.
Gabriel gasped. The sacrifices were happening now.
“Too early,” Chimalli said.
“Obviously,” Teresa said with distaste.
“One moment,” Ohin said as the darkness came again, followed by the brilliant white light.
When the white light faded, they stood in the same spot, but it was nighttime. Torches illuminated the temple, and lights from oil lamps glowed throughout the city. The half-moon in the sky above draped the city in a ghostly blanket of pale light.
“We are a few days later,” Ohin said, letting go of Gabriel’s hand. Everyone in the circle did the same. “From what I can sense, the dagger is still at the temple. In the shrine at the top of the stairs.” Ohin began to walk toward the Great Temple.
Although there were two hundred thousand citizens living in the city, few people were on the streets at night. Those few employed by the city to sweep the streets clean each night were the exception. Gabriel was not worried about the people they passed. Not only would the magical amulets make them appear to be noble residents of the city, but as long as Sema was nearby, her Soul Magic would ensure that no one would notice their passing.
As they walked along the street, Gabriel marveled at the architectural brilliance of the city’s planners and builders. The streets were uniformly straight, laid out on a grid of smaller lanes crossing four wider main avenues. These four avenues led to the heart of the city, to the sacred plaza of temples and the Great Temple in particular. As they walked, Gabriel could see a grid of canals that crossed the streets. Long strips of floating fields called chinampas bordered the canals. Corn, vegetables, and flowers filled the fields, each about the width of a street.
The buildings of the city were made of adobe, some with thatched roofs. The homes each had two stone chimneys, smoke drifting up from many of them. Other larger buildings must have belonged to merchants or the wealthy. The city was divided into four districts by the main avenues. Each district was further divided into neighborhoods called calpulli , which were dominated by collections of families and merchants.
Gabriel could see other pyramids at the city center, some large and wide, some small and narrow. Each had its own purpose. Different pyramids for different gods. Down one canal he could see the water of Lake Texcoco that the island city was built upon. Down another street he could see a market plaza, empty at night. It was a beautiful city. So beautiful that Gabriel had trouble comprehending it. How could you be so smart as to build a city this incredible and think that killing thousands of people a year was a remotely intelligent thing to do?
However, by all accounts, even though the Aztec people felt driven to conquer and expand their empire by blood, they were also a well-ordered and industrious society. They believed in hard work, respect for authority, and performing one’s duty. They even had schools where
“We go,” Ohin said simply. The sun was gone, blackness sweeping around them, the cloisters disappearing, and then everything was a brilliant white.
They stood in the center of a broad, earth-packed street in the middle of a massive city, looking up at an enormous stone pyramid nearly two hundred feet tall. Two sets of wide steps, over a hundred stairs each, led to the flat top of the pyramid where two box-like shrines capped the structure. Although they were nearly half a mile away, Gabriel could make out people at the top of the Templo Mayor, the great pyramid. And something rolling down the steps. And something piled at the bottom.
Gabriel gasped. The sacrifices were happening now.
“Too early,” Chimalli said.
“Obviously,” Teresa said with distaste.
“One moment,” Ohin said as the darkness came again, followed by the brilliant white light.
When the white light faded, they stood in the same spot, but it was nighttime. Torches illuminated the temple, and lights from oil lamps glowed throughout the city. The half-moon in the sky above draped the city in a ghostly blanket of pale light.
“We are a few days later,” Ohin said, letting go of Gabriel’s hand. Everyone in the circle did the same. “From what I can sense, the dagger is still at the temple. In the shrine at the top of the stairs.” Ohin began to walk toward the Great Temple.
Although there were two hundred thousand citizens living in the city, few people were on the streets at night. Those few employed by the city to sweep the streets clean each night were the exception. Gabriel was not worried about the people they passed. Not only would the magical amulets make them appear to be noble residents of the city, but as long as Sema was nearby, her Soul Magic would ensure that no one would notice their passing.
As they walked along the street, Gabriel marveled at the architectural brilliance of the city’s planners and builders. The streets were uniformly straight, laid out on a grid of smaller lanes crossing four wider main avenues. These four avenues led to the heart of the city, to the sacred plaza of temples and the Great Temple in particular. As they walked, Gabriel could see a grid of canals that crossed the streets. Long strips of floating fields called chinampas bordered the canals. Corn, vegetables, and flowers filled the fields, each about the width of a street.
The buildings of the city were made of adobe, some with thatched roofs. The homes each had two stone chimneys, smoke drifting up from many of them. Other larger buildings must have belonged to merchants or the wealthy. The city was divided into four districts by the main avenues. Each district was further divided into neighborhoods called calpulli , which were dominated by collections of families and merchants.
Gabriel could see other pyramids at the city center, some large and wide, some small and narrow. Each had its own purpose. Different pyramids for different gods. Down one canal he could see the water of Lake Texcoco that the island city was built upon. Down another street he could see a market plaza, empty at night. It was a beautiful city. So beautiful that Gabriel had trouble comprehending it. How could you be so smart as to build a city this incredible and think that killing thousands of people a year was a remotely intelligent thing to do?
However, by all accounts, even though the Aztec people felt driven to conquer and expand their empire by blood, they were also a well-ordered and industrious society. They believed in hard work, respect for authority, and performing one’s duty. They even had schools where
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