8/14/2019 As the Forces Will It

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The moon shone bright on the small Aztec hamlet that night, painting a picture of stilled serenity,but unbeknown to the villagers, devious entities of greed intended to ruin this pristine calm.

The conquistadores, traveling thirty strong, traversed through the lush jungles, en route to thevillage. Upon arrival, they were to burn every hut, slaughter every man, capture every child, andenslave every woman. The men back at camp would know when this deed was done. They wouldsee a tiny speck of light on the hilltop, and would gaze toward it through the night, listening to thescreams of horror and the shrieks of the women, until finally, once the sun had broken past thecaul of the horizon, the flicker of flame would slowly fade, and, with the lives of the lost, beextinguished forever. This is what the men had planned and foreseen, but what was the eventualoutcome could not have been prophesied by any being.

Reaching a clearing in the brush, the conquistadores slowed their pace, and although noneuttered a single word, they all stopped in place. Each man looked around at one another, their faces and whole beings illuminated fully by the fantastic light of the moon. Eventually, every mansgaze fell upon their leader, their Captain, who looked aghast at what his eyes were transfixed on.Within the tree line were the silhouettes of figures who stood upright, just as the conquistadores,however, upon their heads were the muzzles and ears of jaguars. Slower, one by one, theconquerors drew closer to these figures, and just as they reached the very center of the clearing,the silhouettes began to move closer. One man rose his rifle to his eye, aligning his sight as best

he could, and just as he moved his finger toward the trigger, a bough to the right flank of the mensnapped from its tree. Then one from the left, then a sound of stones being thrown from behind,and eventually more silhouettes began to appear all around the men. At that moment the menwere thrown into a frenzy and commenced firing in all directions. Not until all their ammunitionhad been expended did the men stop firing. Dropping to his knee, the Captain looked in acomplete circle, seeing nothing, save for the trees, and the black pools of shadow being cast bythem."Draw sword, men!", shouted the Captain. "We have yet to be driven back, and we shall have thatvillage by day break!". The men all let out a rousing cheer, drew their swords, and once againstarted their march on the hamlet.

Finally arriving just down the hill from the village, the Captain gave his final speech. In a near whisper, the Captain began, "This, men, shall be the final time this village sees the moon." And it

was with those twelve words that the Captain turned on his heel and started up the hill, slowly atfirst, then faster, and then finally erupting in a sprint until he stood by himself in the center of thevillage. "Arise, savages, and look upon your home one last time. We take this land in the name of Spain!" A cheer resonated from the bottom of the hill as the men charged forth to join their captain. Just as they reach the entrance to the village, though, they stopped dead in their tracks.All the villagers had been roused from their beds and stood outside, half cowering in fear, half ready to stand and defend their homeland. But it twas not the common folk that had stopped theconquerors, but rather, what lay just beyond the Captain. In the dark of the night and the light of the moon stood the same figures from the clearing. Now that the trees no longer hid their faces,the conquistadors could see them for what they really were, streaked white with paint, bodiescovered in mud and leafs, cloaks made from the skins of jaguars. However now, they held in their hands ornate spears, and they held in their eyes a fury too great to be contained within man."Do not let these beings daunt you, men! Come, drives these beasts back toward their graves!"

The conquistadores still back at the camp saw no flame on the hill, but merely heard the shrieksof men, and the growls of beast, as their comrades were slowly slaughtered like unknowinglambs.

As the sun rose over the edge of the world, men from the village entered the conquistadorescamp. Not a single man was left. Every man had fled, leaving almost everything they hadbrought. Even their colors lay abandoned on the ground, dishonoured, under a blanket of dirt anddust. A lone villager walked towards the f ire pit left by the conquerors, peering at the meal leftnear it. Digging his foot into the ground, he kicked dirt upon the still burning flames, until slowly

8/14/2019 As the Forces Will It

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they died, and were extinguished forever.