It was a miracle. All the people who were sick were cured with a wave of the deity’s hand. The high priest swallowed the lump in his throat, and his shoulders relaxed. With a god here, what burdens would he have to bear? Once someone was infected, their death was guaranteed. Well, they were always guaranteed to die, but once infected, they would die much earlier. But now, his people were saved. The great god honored their sacrifices in the simplest manner possible: sending down an avatar of himself.

“Agh tru bubu lagh sta?”

The only problem was … no one understood the language of the gods. The high priest’s previously relaxed shoulders tensed again as the avatar of the great god stared at him. The golden eyes brought an unimaginable pressure on him as if he were being hunted by a wild jaguar. What could the great god have possibly said? As the high priest, everyone was counting on him to communicate with the great god, but he was never trained for this! All he did was sacrifice people to—that’s it! After banishing the disease that the foreign invaders brought, the great god must’ve used up a lot of blood energy. He was demanding a sacrifice. “Yes, come with me.” He bowed towards the great god before turning around towards the crowd behind him. “The great god has cured over forty people with a wave of his hand! Prepare fifty sacrifices!”

The crowd cheered and split apart, paving way for the high priest from the sick house to the pyramid. The high priest kept his head held high but his gaze on the ground, checking the shadows to make sure the great god was following him. He deliberately slowed his pace, giving his men a chance to acquire the sacrifices while at the same time letting the great god bathe in the people’s worship. According to the legends, the great god was a god with many characteristics. He was benevolent and kind, yet at the same time, he could bring about death and destruction on unprecedented scales. In other words, the high priest had no clue how to treat the great god except with reverence and awe.

When they reached the base of the pyramid, the great god’s shadow stopped moving. The high priest mustered his courage and took in a deep breath before turning around. It seemed like the great god’s attention was fixated on the skull rack. It was large, spanning the base of the pyramid, with over a thousand skulls mounted atop. The high priest couldn’t find any clues in the great god’s facial expression. How could a mere mortal judge the thoughts of a god? A chill ran down his spine, and he lowered his gaze lest he be caught staring.

“Yig grah tu batre des?”

“Grah tu batre koin des.”

“Tagh.”

The high priest kept his gaze lowered. The great god was conversing with the green rocklike spirit that was sitting on his shoulders. He had no idea what they were saying, but he wasn’t going to interrupt them. The high priest had heard the foreign invaders speak before, but their language wasn’t like the gods’ at all. At first, the natives had thought the foreign invaders were gods, but after being slaughtered by the invaders for the gold the natives wore, the natives realized the invaders were simply humans. However, falling from the sky in the shape of a giant lizard and transforming into a human, only a god could do that. Not to mention the great god’s previous feats, one of which was right behind him. The main pyramid, which had the blood of tens of thousands of men soaking into its foundations, had been completely cleaned through divine powers.

“Head Priest, we’ve brought the sacrifices.”

The high priest raised his head, and the great god turned around. Approaching them, through the path that the crowd had left open, fifty men dressed in warriors’ garbs were following behind one priest. Their heads were held high, and all of them were staring at the great god with sparkling eyes. The high priest exhaled through his nostrils as his body relaxed. The great god didn’t seem displeased with the sacrifices at all, but it was hard to be certain. “Come!” the high priest said and turned around. The stairs of the pyramid were a bit damp, but at least they didn’t smell anymore. “Today, we’ll have a mass sacrifice!”

Upon reaching the top of the pyramid, the high priest turned around. The great god had followed him up there, and behind him, there was a line of people marching up the steps. The high priest nodded before approaching the altar in the center of the pyramid’s peak. He readied his knife, and the first sacrifice laid himself upon the altar without any goading. The high priest looked at the great god, but he still couldn’t read the god’s expression. “This sacrifice, we offer to you.”

“Hugt yu isra namyet?”

“Buhh, isra namyetis toba tris!”

Once again, the great god conversed with the green spirit. Then, the great god nodded at the high priest. The high priest exhaled and raised his arms, grasping the hilt of his knife with both hands. Then, in one motion, he plunged it down into the abdomen.

“Hugt tu reck!?”

The green spirit shouted something, but the high priest ignored it, focusing on the task at hand. He yanked the knife back, opening an entrance into the captive’s body. His hand plunged into the red slit, and he dug around before yanking his arm back. “I present you the heart and blood of a great warrior!” the high priest said and held the heart out towards the great god.

The great god scratched his own head before taking the heart. Then he walked next to the sacrifice, and under the high priest’s puzzled gaze, stuffed the heart back inside. With a wave of the great god’s hand, the cut disappeared, and the sacrifice twitched before jerking upright while gasping, his hands patting his chest. The high priest swallowed at the sacrifice’s resurrection. Did the great god not like the sacrifice? Then he would just have to sacrifice more until the great god accepted! “Bring the next person!”