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him. The young priest gently and determinedly took Casca's hand from his
wrist.
"Tectli Quetza, she dies."
The young priest's voice was soft but certain.
"The cut is deep inside. For years I have watched and studied. It has come to
me that when one has lost too much of his blood, he dies. I have seen many
like her. When the blood leaves the body or fills the abdomen, they weaken;
the heart beats faster, but weaker. They go into a deep sleep as she has now
and do not wake. She will die before the dawn."
Casca groaned at the young man's words.
"Is there no hope? No way to save her?"
The young priest nodded. "One perhaps, Tectli. But before I explain it to you,
let me say that I do not agree with the priest Tezmec. The Olmecs would have
come sooner or later. Under torture the Jaguar priest Totzin's men have
confessed their treachery."
Casca nodded. "Well, that's something at least. Perhaps then all the blame is
not mine. But still this is. She is my woman, and what has happened to her is
my responsibility. That I do know. If you can do anything to save her, young
priest, then do it now, and do it before she leaves me.
"As you command, Tectli. My name is Sactle. All my life I have wondered what
is death and what is the cause of death. There are many things that cause it,
but one, as I told you, is when too much of the body's blood is lost. I
believe that the blood is the life force of all. I have experimented with many
animals, including monkeys, whoise bodies are amazingly like man's in their
construction. I once let the blood out of one and put back in the blood of
another when the beast was close to death as is your lady Metah now. The blood
of the second monkey kept the first from dying. The secret of life, Tectli, I
believe is in the blood."
Casca thought for a moment.
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In the ~ Perhaps he is right. It was the blood of the Jew that caused my
condition, my being condemned to live and never age. Perhaps if I gave Metah
some of my blood the life force that sustains me would save her also.... Hope
rose in him. She might even become as me! At last I would have someone to walk
through the ages with me until the Jew sets me free! Not to be alone
anymore... to be able to stay with one person and not to have to look for
signs of fear in their faces when their hair turns to gray and wrinkles show
the passage of time and I remain the same.... Yes, it must be the blood.
Aloud he said: "Do it, priest. Do it now before she is too weak to help. And
use my blood to fill her with life."
The Coyote priest bowed. "As you wish, Teeth. But know that I can promise
nothing. Never have I tried this on humans. It may not succeed. But she will
die if nothing is done. That I swear to."
"Tijen be about it, man." Casca's voice rose. "Make haste while we still have
time. You said she would die before dawn. That leaves us less than an hour if
we do nothing."
Sactie took from his pouch a long thin flexible strip of materal.
"What the Hades is that?" Casca demaned in irritation.
Sactle answered, "It is made from the sap of a tree that grows to the south.
We also make a ball from it that we play with in the courtyards. I take the
sap and smear it over a small reed. It is hardened in the fire, in the heat
from the smoke. When it is ready, it is pulled back and rolled off the reed
leaving a flexible tube. It is through this that your blood will pass from you
to your lady."
He reached again into his pouch and took out two golden needles, showing them
to Casca.
"These, too, are hollow. They will fit into the ends of the sap tubing. I will
insert one of the needles into your arm, into one of the channels through
which your life's blood flows, and the other into that of the Lady Metah. Your
body being the stronger, your blood force should push its way into her
weakened system. Now, Tectli, lie down beside your lady."
Casca did as the priest said, putting his thick-muscled body next to the
slight frame of the woman he loved. She looked even tinier... as though she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]