(S)He Who Brings the Rain

"I enjoy your company as well, Iztali. Most of the time."

His eyes went wide in surprise as I called him by name. I hadn't called him by his name in a very long time. "Thank you, Xochitl."

I turned back to watch the water cascading from the top of the chasm to the pool. The water caught the afternoon sunlight, casting a rainbow. "How many girls so far? I've lost count."

The priest's mouth moved silently as he counted. "Four and twenty," he told me after had he counted a second time.

I nodded, still watching the waterfall. "Four or five was a very poor estimate." I couldn't keep the despair from my voice.

The priest only nodded, before standing and walking back across the pool. He gathered a variety of herbs in the garden then disappeared inside the stream hut.

I sat in the cold water for a while longer before I stood, and followed him. The temazcal was full of steam when I entered. I sat on the bench beside Iztali resting my head on his shoulder, as we both breathed in the herbs. We watched as the sun's light faded, leaving the garden in deep shadow.

Darkness had fallen when the priest startled, moving away from me. "He will arrive soon," He whispered.

I said nothing, only turned on the bench, and presented my sex to the priest. The oil felt different as he carefully covered my swollen my flesh. It was too dark in the temazcal to make out his face, or even see if the container was the same.

I sighed, and sat back up when he patted my knee to signal he was done. I waited for several minutes expecting the burning throb that was always present between my legs to become worse as it did each time more oil was applied. It did not, it was just added slickness between my legs.

After several more minutes, the priest stood. "You should go to work." He reached down in the dark and helped me to my feet. He held my hand just a little too long before letting me go. He gave me my robe, and walked nude into the shrine.

I followed him back into the shrine. Someone had already lit the torches, and the hallways seemed very bright after the darkness in the garden. Neither the priest nor I spoke as we stopped in front of the closed doorway. The girl within was crying loudly, her hands, or head, pounding against the thick wooden table.

The priest eyes were sad as we listened to the girl within, but he managed a forced smile as he rolled his head in the direction of the door. I nodded knowing that I needed to get to work. I kissed him on the cheek, before I turned and stepped into the room.

"Please untie me," the girl begged through gag, as I walked across the room and took my seat between her legs. "Let me go."

I ignored her as I had so many before her. I looked down at her sex as I considered how to make her orgasm. I sat and picked up the container with the oil the priest left in the room each night, and liberally coated my fingers.

She screamed as I brushed my fingers up and down her sex. I settled into a slightly gentler routine than I had taken with the girl the night before. But I still forced both of her orgasms.

As her cries quieted, I stood and leaned over her, still moving my hand against her. I took a few steadying breaths, as I shaped my hand into wedge, and shoved three of my coated fingers brutally into her pussy. I felt the extreme tightness, and then flesh tearing as I took her virginity. I withdrew my hand, turning it slowly to see it was streaked with her blood. I pushed my fingers back inside her, as she continued to scream in pain.

I looked up as Tlaloc materialized at the head of the table. His eyes illuminated his entire face in their green glow, and flashed with red lightning. His lips were drawn back in a snarl. He flicked his hand in my direction, and I thrown to the ground several feet from the table. The light in the room was dwarfed by lightning that filled the room. Bolts of red, green, and blue fire filled the small room, striking the God, the girl, and the stones.

I scrambled to my knees facing the dead girl, and the God standing at her head. I forced myself to straighten as blue and green bolts stuck the stones all around me. I rested my arms on my knees, wrists up in offered sacrifice. I strained to stay still, and not flinch away from the lightning as it crackled around me. My closed my eyes, and awaited to the God to take his vengeance.

I felt heat building in the room, and heard the crackle of wood beginning to burn. I opened my eyes just enough to see red and orange flames licking over the table. The table becoming a funeral pyre for the girl. Lightning was still striking within the room, but with less frequency.

Tlaloc was no longer standing at the head of the table. He was either gone, or was standing in the room somewhere behind me. I focused to slow my breathing, rebelling against the screams of my body to escape the room. Self preservation was no longer an option. I knew if I took her virginity I would face the wrath of the God. I had dreamed this for many days. If the God did not kill me, I would remain kneeling until Iztali came and took my heart.

I remained as still as I could, as a bolt of green fire split the stone of the floor inches from my knees, a fraction of the bolt splitting off to strike my bared, upturned wrist. My entire body erupted in pain, every muscle jerking, and I was nearly thrown from my knees. The air was driven from my lungs, and I could not force my body draw another breath.

I fought the twitching of my rebellious body, and tried to convince my lungs that they no longer needed air. I leaned my body backward, raising my head to bare my throat, welcoming the next volley of lightning. My chest was hitching as it demanded my broken lungs draw air. My heart was thundering in my ears as it beat faster, the rhythm becoming erratic. As I let my eyes fall closed, I thought that I saw Tlaloc looking down at me from behind me.

Light flashed before my eyes, and my body jerked and danced involuntarily, as my body was struck by several bolts. Each strike igniting every nerve with unimaginable pain, my mind screamed in agony. I felt my hair catch fire, burning away to my scalp in a flash of searing heat. I felt my mouth open to scream in silence.

This was death, I told myself as my body toppled backward to land limply on the stones. My chest continued convulsing, and I felt the beating of my heart begin to slow. My eyes opened and I saw Tlaloc kneeling above me. I looked on the beauty and terror of his face. His frowning eyes were so pale they were grey, as he looked coldly down on me. His jaw was clenched tightly. His mouth was set in a tight-lipped line.

I was content that his face was the last I would see. My vision slowly grew dark and I saw nothing. Blind, I fell into the blackness of Mictlan.

"Xochitl." I could hear the God call me, distantly, and felt his hand press down over my chest "Live." My lungs drew in the burning air. My head swam, and then I was floating in the ether of unconsciousness.

Chapter 7. Bringing the Storm

________________

I regained consciousness slowly. 'She is waking.' I heard Iztali say, but his voice sounded strange, as though he was speaking in my head. His hand was cool, as it stoked the baldness of my head.

I heard Tlaloc's reply, but it was far away, like the wind speaking. 'I will be there in a moment. Keep her calm.'

I opened my eyes, and blinked up at the priest. I was laying on my bed with my head resting on his lap. "Hi," I whispered, feeling my lips crack as I tried to smile up at him. It was day time, and sunlight caught in the hair at the top of his head. I could see the highlights of brown and red within the blackness of his hair.

"Hi," he whispered back. His eyes filled with tears, even as he forced himself to smile down at me. "Do not try to move. Your body is burnt from the lightning's fire."

"I should be...was...Dead," I whispered. I remembered watching the God's face as my vision died with the rest of my body.

"Sacrificed, yes," Iztali said, his eyes glancing up at the door. "Tlaloc brought you back after your heart stopped."

"He was so angry with me. He burnt her up, and..." I felt tears fill my eyes. "Why am I alive, Iztali?"

"Shh. Don't cry." His fingers touched my face gently, brushing the tears from the corners of my eyes.

I heard the God's voice whisper in my mind, 'I am here. Bring her to the pool.'

"Yes, master," I heard Iztali respond, though his lips did not move. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply. My chest was tight, and each breath was painful.

The priest gently lifted my head, and moved his legs. I whimpered, my body was brittle, and my skin cracked with every small movement. He lay my head down on the bed, and stood. "I am going to pick you up, and carry you to the garden. Do not try to help me. I will be a gentle as I can be. I do not wish to cause you any more pain."

"To the pool," I corrected him, as he lifted me carefully in his arms. Then a horrible sound of excruciating agony was torn from me, as the very air burned me.

The priest shifted gently me in his arms, as he turned to the door. "You hear him?"

"Yes," I hissed, determined not to scream. I let my head rest in the cradle of the priests shoulder, as he began walking us slowly through the shrine toward the garden and the pool. I closed my eyes, whimpering in pain with each slow step. Every fiber of my being was screaming.

I opened my eyes as the priest stepped outside of the shrine. Tlaloc stood waist deep in the pool watching us move toward him. My breath caught in my throat as we moved closer, and I forgot the agony that was my body for just a moment. I had never seen the God in the sunlight before. His white skin was iridescent under the rays of Tonatiuh, his flesh like a million rainbows.

Iztali stepped into the pool, walking me closer to the shimmering God. 'She hears you speak,' he told the god, as he stopped. He shifted me again, and offering me to the God. 'She is as unfit a sacrifice as I was.' I felt the sorrow in the priest's silent voice.

The God looked down at me, frowning for a moment, before his lips split into a terrible fanged grin. His laughter echoed off the walls of the garden. "Tell the priest, Xochitl, that mine is not the only voice you hear."

I slowly shook my head no. "I hear you as well," I whispered, not understanding what any of this could mean. I didn't understand the amazement I saw in the priest as he looked down at me, or why being unfit would make the God so happy.

'We will discuss this after this unpleasantness is done,' Tlaloc's voice whispered through our minds.

The priest nodded, and shifted me again. Then I felt the God's hands beneath me, and they both lowered me into the water. The water was cool, but felt so hot on my burnt skin. I struggled, trying to escape as the water covered my face. They held me beneath the water, until my sore lungs burned, and I despaired. I couldn't understand why I has been spared from the fire of the lightning just to be drowned.

I stared helplessly up at their distorted faces. The surface was so close, if I could raise myself the width of my hand I could breathe again. I fought weakly against the hands of the God and his servant as they continued to hold me under. As time passed, my body grew still, my lungs screamed. I released the air I held, and willed myself to breathe in the liquid death.

Before my lungs could comply, I was lifted out of the water and allowed a choking mouthful of air, before they lowered me again. As I fought against the hands holding me under the water, I felt my skin begin to tingle. The water was washing away the burnt skin, leaving new skin in its place. They brought me to the surface again. Giving me only a second go gulp down another hungry breath of air, before sending me below the surface of the pool a third time. I felt my hair growing back, my scalp tingling. I could feel it brushing my shoulders in the churning of the water.

Their hands released me, I managed to get my feet underneath me, and shot out of the water. I stood sputtering and gasping for air. I managed to stumble to shallower water before collapsing to my knees. "Drowning is a worse death than lightning fire," I whispered to myself, having experienced both. The fire just burns and all choices are taken from you, but in the water you have to choose the take the breath that kills you. I turned and sat in the water, glaring angrily at the priest and the God, still coughing.

The God stood smiling proudly down at me, and the priest's eyes were wide with surprise. Their silent words overlapped. Tlaloc's was 'Magnificent.', and Iztali's 'Unbelievable.' They both moved and sat down one on either side of me.

"Why am I still alive?" I asked, finally able to breathe without coughing. "You were angry with me. You killed me."

"And brought you back," The God's voice rumbled from his chest. "I was not angry with you, except perhaps that it took five and twenty before you finally gave me a girl worthy to sacrifice. Two, actually." I heard thunder in his laughter. "Virgins for the sake of their virginity are worthless to me."

I stared at the Tlaloc in disbelief. "So what is the point of all of this?"

Iztali answered for the God. "He needed you to disobey, and to take the virginity of a girl either in pleasure, or despair. He needed you to both taint your purity and have her living blood on your hands before she died."

"And the lightning? The near drowning?" I asked fighting to keep anger from my voice.

"Painfully necessary." The God cupped my chin and turned my face to him. "That you offered yourself as a willing sacrifice was a pleasant surprise. I had expected to have to chase you screaming down the mountain. You had to die in fire and be reborn in water." He ran his hand down my healed skin. "The water has healed all of the damage your body took from the lightning. You will walk between this world and Mictlan for all of your days. When he thought you could hear only me, the priest despaired because only souls that are not fit to be sacrificed can hear the God they were ill fated enough to be sacrificed to. He feared that the sacrifice was not successful, and all of your suffering had been for naught."

I looked up at the cloudless sky, only understanding a fraction of what I was being told. "So the rains will come now?"

"Not quite," the priest said standing and moving back toward the shrine. 'I will prepare the room for you,' his voice whispered silently to the God. He stopped, turning to look back at me. "You are the storm, Xochitl."

"Just one last pesky virgin to take care of." The God said, his obsidian fangs flashing as he grinned at me. He stood, and held his hand down to me. "Come. To the temazcal with you."

I took his hand, and let him pull me to my feet. He held my hand, and led me into the steam hut. The usual bouquet of herbs smoldered over the coals, and the air was heavy and humid. Tlaloc led me to the bench, and I sat down.

I realized with a start that the God was nude, and that he had been since the priest had carried me out of the shrine. Out of the direct sunlight, his skin was unblemished and bleach-white. He knelt down and stared into my face intently. His eyes were fascinating, the sickly green glow and the flashes of lightning emanated from the sclera, and the irises were an ever changing blue.

"I know that you do not understand just how important you are," the God whispered his eerie eyes moving over my face. "I know that I cannot make you understand, but everything that happens this night is important to the lives of your family, and of your people. In the many nights that have passed since I took you from Huey Teocalli, the people have begun starving, and the maize is dead and gone. What happens tonight will bring the crops back and allow the people to live." He stroked my cheek, and lightning flashing within his eyes. "Now lay back."

I turned and reclined on the bench. Raising one foot to rest on the warm stone, my other foot remained on the ground. I bared my sex, as I had countless times for the priest. The God's hands moved over the smooth flesh of my legs, as he leaned in to to examine my swollen sex. He gave a long hiss, and straightened.

I heard the angry words as he spoke to the priest. 'The swelling is not from passion. She has seen too much oil, for too many days. This changes the ritual.'

'Forgive me, lord. I have been diluting the oil for several days. The application last night was only oil of maize. Why did the water not heal that as well?' I felt the sorrow in Iztali silent response.

'It is not my forgiveness you need to beg." Tlaloc's eyes met mine. 'The water could only heal the damage from the fire of her actual sacrifice.' His eyes flashed with red lightning as he continued to look into my eyes. 'Though we couldn't have anticipated she would be so stubborn. If this ritual must be repeated in the future, we will know to dilute the oil if it appears it will take more than a few days.' He sighed out loud as well as silently. 'We will make due. Continue with your preparations, Iztali.'

'Of course, lord,' the priest's voice whispered, as the God blinked down at me. I fought not to squirm as he held my eyes captive.

Finally, I turned my head away, thinking of what this night may hold for me if arousal and passion were beyond me. The God had said there would be pleasure, but that was before he had see the damage the oil had done. I knew that regardless the ritual to bring the rains to my people would take place, even if I was too swollen from the burning oil to take any pleasure from it.

I took a deep steadying breath, and turned my face back to Tlaloc. I felt the blanket despair raise back up and cover me in the icy acceptance of my sacrifice. I knew that he did not need my consent, but I nodded to him anyway. "Let's bring the rains," I whispered, my body relaxed, embracing the divine horror.

"Brave girl," He rumbled, kissing my cheek, before turning his attention back to the mess of my sex. He sat down on the bench and lowered himself until his mouth was only inches away. I had raised my head to watch as his tongue snaked out and moved over the inflamed lips of my pussy.

He spoke his lips moving against my mound. "I hadn't intended to bleed you so soon."

The feather-like touches of his tongue were not unbearable. But when he covered me with his mouth and sucked, my hips snapped involuntarily, and my head jerked back onto the unforgiving granite. I willed my hips to still, and my body to relax, trying to ignore the pain.

Tlaloc rumbled against my body, as I regained my composure. Then he sucked most of my pussy back into his mouth. His eyes rolling up to mine, challenging me to move away, as his arms moved across my hips. His arms tightened to hold me in place, his mouth opening wide as he drove his fangs into the swollen flesh.

My head fell back and I screamed wordlessly, as his fangs pierced me again. Then he was sucking my pussy again, drawing the blood from me. The pain was intense. I chewed the inside of my mouth, fighting back a scream, but I did not try to move away from suction of his mouth.

His tongue moved against my folds. Slowly the pain of his touch lessened and I felt the tiniest jolt of pleasure. His tongue moved over my sex again, spearing my clit, and my hips rolled to meet this tongue. I moaned as I felt the nearly forgotten building of the orgasm I had been denied so long.

The God growled between my legs again his grip on across my hips shifted. He moved his hand up my body to gently squeeze one of my breasts. His tongue moved in slow circles over my clit, down my slit to delve into their folds, pushing the center of my sex.

I was panting and moaning I felt my pussy begin to spasm, when the God released me. He moved back and sat on the bench, denying me yet another orgasm. I cried out, my hips pumping the air where his face had just been.