Blood Moons Rising

Chapter 8

Incorporating Yzti into their home and their lives was rather easy. She laid her own bedroll next to the one they shared and they bound the two together. Sometimes they waited for Qetzl, but some nights they did not, and he came home to find them curled up together. Tlalli fell asleep most nights and woke up each morning in a tangle of limbs, often with one or the other or both kissing her or touching her or moving against her.

They got a few stares, sure, and more than a few whispers. It was not uncommon for large family groups to live together, but this was something else. Qetzl gained more popularity, more status for keeping the two women that shared his bed with constant satisfied smiles on their faces. Tlalli was contented, comfortable, happy, for many weeks. So much so that she could not even bring herself to dwell on that nagging feeling that this was not where she was supposed to be.

It was the last good fishing day of the season, before the season changed again and their main breeds migrated away from the waters around the island. Tlalli was on one of the boats, helping cast the nets out and pull them in, the high wind chafing her bare skin.

She struggled to pull a full net from the water, one of the young men on the boat assisting her. She yanked hard, and pain shot up her spine. She got dizzy, nauseous, and then the world world felt like it was starting to shake. Both of them released the net, and that was when she realized it wasn't just her as one by one, the fishers fell from the boat rocking on waters suddenly gone choppy. She grabbed the mast, looking towards the island to see that it was shaking, too. She could see trees falling and a fissure opening near the far end of the beach.

Tlalli tried to rally the others, but it was useless, none of them could get the ship back to shore until the shaking ceased. They did their best to sail, though the wind was against them, finally getting back to the beach. She jumped over the side of the boat and ran through the water up to the sand, nearly sinking into a hole of wet sand that had formed. She ran up into the village, finding the place that she had started to call home descended into chaos.

Structures had fallen, large swaths of it were burning and many were rushing to put them out. Others were bleeding, screaming, a woman held her child that had been crushed by a fallen tree. Tlalli felt sick, but swallowed down her fear to find her mates.

Qetzl was easy enough to track down. He was pulling those still living from fallen structures. She rushed at him, asking if he knew where Yzti had gone. He did not know, as she was not where she was supposed to be. She asked everyone, directing others to their loved ones that she had seen. Finally, one of the children pointed her in the direction of the mill, which had fallen and was currently burning.

She felt her heart sink and tears well in her eyes, but she wasted no time in rushing at it. Many yelled at her not to go, but it fell on deaf ears. She reached the structure, the fire burning her skin and ash filling her lungs. She reached forward with her cobalt arm, ripping away debris and not caring where it landed. She soon heard the girl hoarsely crying for help through coughing fits and screams of pain.

Tlalli growled as she gripped a beam with both hands and threw it, opening a large enough gap to get inside. She tore through the structure, fueled by adrenaline despite the heat and the smoke doing its best to consume her. She found her at last, her leg trapped beneath a millstone. It was crushed, and she was turning pale as she bled out onto the ground. Tlalli got beneath the stone, trying to lift it off of her, but it felt useless.

She cursed out loud and then pushed with just her cobalt hand. The stone broke in half and a large chunk fell away. Tlalli was panting, coughing hard and nearly vomiting from the exhaustion it had caused her. She grabbed Yzti and began dragging her out. She was grateful the girl lost consciousness, hoping it would save her pain.