Revolutions

129 - Teqosa

I hastily raise my glaive and plant the blade onto the neck of the nearest Auilqa warrior.

"What is the meaning of this?" I snarl through gnashed teeth.

The warrior appears as stunned as I am, eyes wide with shock and confusion. I quickly realize my inquiry is futile, with the Auilqa not knowing Merchant's Tongue. But Síqalat, too, is horrified by the sight of Eye in the Flame zealots walking freely among a ravaged city. Her stunned silence prevents her from translating.

"Have the Auilqa willingly harbored these cultists?" Upachu asks rhetorically. "How has such a cult, with origins of Ulxa, managed to persuade their biggest rivals?"

"I assume they persuaded them by force," Síqalat remarks. "Nothing motivates a person more than the phrase 'join or die'."

"But the Auilqa are so prideful," Upachu notes, still baffled by this development. "Seeing so many join, and so quickly, is highly disturbing."

My wise friend makes a strong observation. In every interaction we've had with the Auilqa, they have consistently conducted themselves in a manner that aligns with their people's ideals and beliefs. So why the sudden change? Why have they become unquestioning followers to the Eye in the Flame?

I request that Síqalat relay this question to the present Auilqa warriors. What can explain this phenomenon, the presence of this cult everywhere we've traveled? What caused them to change their loyalties and gods of worship to the twisted image of Eztletiqa?

She speaks to the Auilqa warriors, and their exchange appears to be one that concerns her deeply. For a moment, the two Auilqa warriors repeat the same word in their native tongue over and over again. It takes a lengthy back-and-forth before she turns to inform me and Upachu of what was said. The look of confusion on her features seem to have only deepened after her conversation.

"Well," she sighs with pronounced bewilderment, "at first, they simply told me that the Eye in the Flame had performed rituals that 'proved' they were fulfilling the old prophecies. When I asked them to explain further, they kept repeating what I believe is translated to 'Flame Bearer'. Something about the Eye in the Flame performing supernatural feats—casting the flaming serpent in the sky, orbs of fire from their hands, and the like. But they're speaking so wildly that I'm starting to question whether I'm correctly translating what they're saying."

"So, because they saw these feats of magic, they believe the Eye in the Flame are some saviors to be worshipped?" I ask, somewhat skeptically.

Síqalat grimaces and hesitates before responding. "When you consider how that other tribe felt about you when we encountered them, I'm not surprised that they'd be so assured that this was a prophecy being fulfilled," she responds.

I grunt at this, having to confess she makes a fair point.

"But it's more than just awe," she continues. "It's as if they believe they're witnessing the very destiny of their people unfold, that the signs are there of the Auilqa returning to some long promised greatness."

Once again, I'm confronted with the blind willingness to believe in prophecies foretold generations ago, of people in the flesh being worshipped as gods. How scores of people can unquestioningly follow such a development is beyond me. Maybe I'm too skeptical to understand. Or maybe they're all not skeptical enough.

"Besides," she says with a shrug of her shoulders, "they say they were not following willingly, but more so resigned to the fact that the prophecy was coming true before their eyes. According to these warriors, it's because of this that, when the Eye in the Flame told them they were there to cleanse the world of its impurities that sought to destroy them, and mentioned their assault on the Ulxa capital, the Auilqa were easily swayed to follow them. They saw their age-old enemies being punished and thought, 'Perhaps this is the way it's meant to be.'"