Red City on the Ocean

A Moment from the Past - Ocotlan Becomes a Cuauhocelotl.

Several warriors with their leader, a sixteen-year-old youth, came out of the jungle and approached the river. All of them wore simple combat clothes, and, in addition, the young man, had a scarlet ribbon tied around his arm. It was decorated with different drawings and a single dot. Ocotlan, this tall young man with highly developed, beautiful musculature, had already captured his first captive in this war and consequently received the military rank of Tlamani. Everyone in his squad was wondering whether Ocotlan would bring this captive as a gift to Teotl at the next festival or retain him as a slave.

The warriors stopped at a river, rapidly flowing down from the mountain. The water was no more than seven or eight paces wide, but it was very fast. The warriors, armed with spears and macuahuitl, entered the water and began to cross. The current of the cold water was so strong that it literally knocked them off their feet. It occurred to Ocotlan that if the enemies noticed them now, they would be easy prey. Spears thrown from afar by the atlatls, spear throwers, would hit his warriors without a miss. They would not be able to escape or hide under the water either.

After crossing the river, the group went deeper into the jungle. The warriors had walked quite a way when the thickets became less frequent. The smell of smoke reached them, and a clearing with people around a campfire appeared ahead. A spit holding a wild piglet was visible above the fire. Ocotlan raised his arm, bent at the elbow, and his squad froze. Looking closely at those sitting in the clearing, Ocotlan realized that these were warriors of the people they were now fighting – the Zapotecs. There were at least twice as many of them as there were warriors in Ocotlan's squad. While waiting for dinner, the Zapotecs talked nonchalantly, and the noise of the rushing and roiling river did not allow them to hear the enemies.

The warriors of Ocotlan did not take their eyes off their leader. They clearly did not want to get involved in a battle with such a large detachment. Ocotlan also understood that an open battle would most likely end in their defeat. He raised his half-bent arm again and twirled it in the air, gesturing to retreat. The warriors, crouching to the ground, had already returned to the river when suddenly Ocotlan again raised his arm, bent at the elbow. The squad froze again. Ocotlan turned to the warriors. There was a devious smile on his face.

Is he really going to give the signal to attack now?

Ocotlan took out a wooden tube a couple of cubits long from behind his back. The warriors also took out their pipes. Ocotlan opened the bag hanging on his hip alongside his knife. There were several darts in the bag. He chose a red-feathered dart and showed it to the warriors. The tip of the dart was smeared with poisons, including the poison of a golden poison frog. This poison was very strong. It was potent enough that just touching the tip of a dart on the frog's back passed the poison to it, and the dart became a formidable weapon. A mixture of the golden frog's poison with other poisons allowed the captor to keep the victim alive and yet temporarily deprive him of mobility. The warriors also took out darts with red feathers.

Dividing the detachment into two parts, Ocotlan ordered the warriors to take shelter in the thickets along the bank of the cold river. He then covered them with grass and mud, leaving space for the warriors to breathe while they peered from their hiding places, but invisible to those watching from the shore. At the same time, Ocotlan pointed out a sharp turn that the river made far downstream.

Then Ocotlan hid his own weapon and went to the clearing. He walked loudly, deliberately stepping on and breaking dry branches and roots. When Ocotlan approached the clearing, the enemies, alarmed by the noise, were already on their feet. He and the Zapotecs were now only twenty paces apart. At the sight of Ocotlan, the Zapotecs grabbed their weapons and rushed at him. Ocotlan raced back toward the river. Remembering where the river began behind the bushes, he ran straight out of the brambles and threw himself into the water. Ocotlan jumped with such strength that the current did not even pull his body downstream, and he safely surfaced at the other shore.

The Zapotecs ran up to the river and began to slowly wade through the turbulent stream. When half of the pursuers climbed ashore, and the others were still struggling with the current, Ocotlan's warriors raised their blowguns and began silently shooting poisoned darts at the enemies still wading through the water. The Zapotecs on shore didn't even see them, as the warriors were shooting behind them. It was impossible to miss from such a close distance. The Zapotecs that had managed to cross the river were already headed deep into the jungle on the other side in the hope of catching Ocotlan and did not see that their immobilized tribesmen, who could not even call for help, were caught up by the current.

Soon, Ocotlan and his warriors regrouped around the bend of the river. They now had eight bound Zapotec captives in their custody. The captives already had one ear cut off, and Ocotlan's warriors used the blood to make marks on their forearms, where the ribbons were tied. Now, Ocotlan awarded each of his warriors a captive slave, and he himself became a cuauhocelotl.