A leash of the same was around her throat, cutting off her breath every time she stumbled or faltered. Totzin jerked and cursed as he dragged her along, relentlessly trying to reach the hidden sanctuary in the distant mountains, the sanctuary only he knew of. There he would be safe and gather to himself the loyal survivors of his cult. From there he would build his own city and grow in strength until he could return and take vengeance. Everything had gone wrong. How could the Olmecs have lost? Metah stumbled and lay still. Viciously jerking her leash, he commanded her to rise and walk. The cord twisted itself and cut a thin red line in her brown flesh. Struggling to her knees, she looked the Jaguar priest straight in the face. "No. I will go no further, eater of filth, traitor." Totzin struck her with the back of his hand. "Silence, you she-slut. You will obey." Metah's tongue touched the cut in her mouth, tasting salty blood. "No further.
