Pyramid of the Dead: A Zombie Novel (8 page)

He signalled
Pizarro
,
who ordered
his men to join Almargo at the
doorway
.
Pizarro
remained
until everyone else was
safely
out of the way
and no one was left to impede his line of sight
.
The last thing he need
ed
as he and his precious cargo moved through the looming Incans
,
was
one of his remaining eight
soldiers trying
to be a hero
. Any deviation from this slim chance would mean certain death.

“Minco,
”
Pizarro
called
out as he reached the doorway with the king still
tightly
under his control.
“Please c
ome and join me
inside
. W
e have much to discuss.”

Without hesitation
,
the Protector followed h
is
King
into the room
,
cutting himself off from his
own
men and allowing
his enemies
to
surround him
.
He
did
n
o
t care for his own
safety;
he
would do what
ever was necessary to preserve the
King
s
life
. As the
heavy
door
closed behind him, two of
Pizarro
’s men took hold of his arms
and held
them
firmly
behind his back.

“
This can
end badly
for all of us,
or
we can work together to make
it end well,”
Pizarro
spoke softly to Minco
,
as he placed his hand
menacingly
on the King’s shoulder
. “
No one else has to die
here today
.
If we work together
,
your
King
will be
returned
to you
unharmed and
my men
and I
will sail away from your land
s
,
never to return.
But if
I ca
nnot trust you, if you betray my
trust,
I promise
you
this
Minco,
the first
one
to die
will
be your
King
. And I’m sure you’ll agree t
hat would not make you
much of a protector
in the eyes of your people
,
my friend.”

“Stop your speech,” Minco spat back
, his arms straining against his captors
. “I know
exactly
what is at stake
,
Spaniard.
Make your demands. If I can work with you, I will for do it for the life of my King
.”

“Good
man
,”
Pizarro
said. “I don’t care much for
small
talk
either
;
let’s get down to business.
”
He gave Almargo his charge. “If he moves, kill him,” he ordered. Almargo’s curt nod left no doubt in Minco’s mind that he would carry out his orders without hesitation.

Pizarro
moved
over to the small window and looked outside.
“
We want safe passage back to our ships
and
then I want two of their hul
ls
filled with your finest gold. The o
ne
is no longer
enough
to compensate
me
for all this
damn
ed
hassle.
When we weigh
anchor
and set sail
from the bay
,
your
King
will be sent back to
shore in a boat.”

“That will
not
be
easy
,” Minco said. “Our people will not take kindly to seeing our
King
marched through the jungle with your knife at his throat.
” His eyes were on his monarch.
“
I doubt
even
I
’
ll be able to stop
them
from
making
one or more
attempt
s at rescue
. I’ll need to think about
how
this can be accomplished
.”

“Don’t think
about it for too long my friend,
”
Pizarro
said
softly. “
W
e need to
move soon. Go, now. G
et out and get
me
my
freedom and my
gold.”

“I’ll see to
it,
Spaniard
,” Minco said as he was led
to the door
, “and you are no friend of mine.
You have always been and always will be my enemy.”

Pizarro
laughed at the savage. “
That may be. But for
the time being
,
we need each other.”

“My
King
,” Minco shouted
as
the door slammed
in his face
. “You will be safe, my Lord. I give you my word!
”

The
King
called
out a reply
to his Protector in
his
own tongue
,
and then
turned burning eyes to his captors. He growled something at them before falling into a stoic silence.

Pizarro
hadn’t understoo
d a word of
it,
but
he felt fairly sure t
he
Incan King
wasn’t offering him his thanks.
 

5-
The
Spaniards have their h
ostage

Minco stormed back through
the
main
chamber
,
shouldered past his own men and strode
to
a
group of
holy men
, who were huddled in a tight circle above the dead body of the Spanish friar
.
They were murmuring prayers in low,
singsong
tones that would have been hypnotic and relaxing if it wasn’t for the dire circumstances that had led to it.

Minco waded into them and closed his fists over the collar of Taipi’s vibrant robes, jerking the man unceremoniously forward until their faces almost touched. “Fool!” Minco hissed at the high priest,
“Why
did you
provoke the Spaniards, knowing
how close
they were
to the
King
?
”
He threw a glance towards the gore-splattered friar and felt his jaw clench in anger when he turned his gaze back to Taipi.
“
What in the
name of the
God’s were you
thinking
?”

Minco
’s peripheral vision took in the approach of the remaining
priests
. Tense anger made masks of their faces as they drew their ceremonial daggers.
They w
ould
never
allow the High Priest
, their Mayta,
to
be
harmed in any way, even at the risk of the wrath
of the Protector
and his men
.
The
y would unflinchingly lay down their lives for the life
of the holiest of men. He spoke for the Gods and to these men- and to many in the royal court- the word of Taipi was
of
a higher power than that
of
the king
.

Minco
knew all
too
well
about the priests
and their
loyalties
. He
let better judgement prevail and
released
his grip on
the Mayta
, releasing the smaller man
and
backing slowly
away
. He would
not
risk the life of the King for instant gratitude, but he would not forget what happened here today, and his memory was long. For now, much more important matters demanded his attention.

Once
he was
s
afe
ly out of reach, Minco called one of his guards to his side
. “
Get
back
outside
the city
now;
m
ake
sure the rest of those Spaniards
don’t move from the hillside.
Tell them what has happened and what we will do if they move. If they try anything
, kill them. Kill them
all
.
”
With
a single, curt
nod
, the Incan soldier
s
turned and sprinted from
the main doorway
towards the open city gate
.

“And w
hat will you do now
,
P
rotector?” Taipi
asked, though he was smart enough to keep
a fair
distance
between them
. He knew
Minco well
enough not to push his luck past a clearly drawn line.
“
Do you even have a plan? Don’t forget i
t’s your
sworn
duty to save the
King
,
” he turned
and swept his arm, palm upward as he gestured grandly around the
room. “O
r
if you prefer
,
you
could stand down and let
me take over
the rescue
?”

Minco
’s rising temper was not easy to suppress and he found himself wishing he could crush the other man’s throat with his bare hands.
“You’ve done enough already
,
Mayta.
” His eyes flashed angrily.
“
I need you to k
eep out of
this
.
I will deal with it.
”

Taipi and his priests
bowed
their head
in
a mockery of
obedience
before they withdrew to the nearest wall.
They
observed the proceedings, watching...
wait
ing
.

“We have no choice for now,” Minco told his
lieutenants.
They’d been hastily summoned and now stood about him looking stricken at his words.
“W
e need to sta
rt getting the gold together. That
wi
ll
at least
give us some time to come up with a
plan. W
e need to convince
the Spaniards that we
’
r
e d
oing
all we can to meet their demands
.
” He
gave a single, dismissive nod.
“
Now get
yourselves
moving
,
”
said Minco.
“
I want this
finished
as soon as possible
.
”

H
e knew it would take near
ly
two full days to
get
that
much
gold together
,
send
out his runners and
sec
ure the
guards
it would take
to make a safe passage
back to the Spanish
ships
. H
is dark eyes bore into the simple,
wooden
door
as if trying to see his king within
,
then
he
drew a resolute breath. The
k
ing would have to
stay
there for now.

“We do have another choice,” Taipi
offered, approaching
when Minco was
more or less
alone
.
The High Priest glanced around, assuring himself that no one else was within earshot.
“
Think about this
,
Protector, w
e must fi
ght this evil with an even greater one
.
”
Taipi leaned ever closer to Minco’s ear, as though he feared the walls could hear.
“
I
know how to
rise
up
the soldiers of
Huacas;
the undead army.
”

A shiver ran down the length of Minco’s spine as the High Priest continued. “
T
hey will
come
here
under my control
from the City of the Snake
and
kill these invaders.
T
heir
dark
powers
will allow them to reach
the
King
unseen and slay the
se
Spaniards
before they
even
realise what has happened
.
” His voice was
clearly
alive with
fierce
excitement
. “
F
or
years,
I
have studied
the ancient scripts
kept
in the
temple
. I can do this, Minco.
I know how
to
control them.
” He looked deep into Minco’s eyes, a pleading gaze full of urgency and a deep knowledge that Minco could only begin to understand. “
P
lease
,
Protector,
I need you to
give
me
this chance to
save our
King
.”

Minco
hesitated, then
shook his head
wildly
, shocked at himself for even considering such
madness
.
“No, Taipi. The risks of such actions far outweigh the small possibility of success.”
He
took a
step
away
from the High Priest
, suddenly feeling vulnerable
to be
in such close proximity
.
“No one is allowed
even to go
near
that
place and with good
reason.
No one can
control
such darkness
,
High Priest,
no one,
not even you
.”

Taipi smiled disarmingly, and sid
l
ed closer again.
“Do
n
o
t
play the
fool
,
P
rotector.
Y
ou know as well as I that
these Spaniards will
never let him live…”

“I said
no
,”
Minco said firmly
,
his voice rising to show in no uncertain terms that this discussion had come to an end.
“
I forbid it! If you wish to be of aid, take your priests and go to the temple.
P
ray
with all your powers
for the
safe return of our
King
.
”

Dismissing the High Priest with a single gesture, Minco
turned to
the remainder of
his men and gave out the orders. The vault
s in the city were to be
opened
wide, emptied of all their riches
an
d brought outside the palace
,
in plain view of the Spaniards. T
he route
back
to the bay was
also
to be plotted and guards
were to be
sent
in advance
to keep
the empire
’s citizens
in order.
Even at the cost of his pride and the city’s gold
, Minco was prepared to
carry out the demands of the Spaniards
,
if it kept his king alive
.

As Minco and his men discussed
their plans
,
Taipi and his
own
followers
quietly
left the
great
hall.
T
hey were
n
o
t
, however, on
their
way to the temples to pray.
Taipi
had made the decision to disregard the words of the foolish Minco and take matters into his own hands.

When they reached the
temple
,
Taipi summoned
together
his most faithful pr
iests
to gather
at the
high
altar
.
He
told them of his plan
to save the King
in this dire time of need
.
They would le
ave immediately. A
fter changing into
some
plain
, hooded robe
s
, Taipi
and a handful of his men
stole
out of the
capital
city
of Cuzco
and
set off down the path to Huacas
, the
forbidden
City of the Snake
.

They would only return
to Cuzco
with the Undead Army at their side.