'I am going to ensure that no-one ever gets this idol,' said Renco. 'I will use it to lure the cats into the temple. Then, when they are all inside, I want you to push the boulder back into the portal.'
'But—'
'Trust me, Alberto,' he said, his voice calm as he moved slowly toward the portal with the pack of rapas slinking along behind him. 'We shall see each other again, I promise.'
And with that, Renco stepped up into the open mouth of the temple. The cats crowded in all around him, oblivious to the pouring rain.
Lena, Bassario, the three warriors and myself hastened over to the boulder.
Renco stood in the entrance to the temple and gave me one final look.
He smiled sadly. 'Take care, my friend,' said he.
And then he was gone, disappearing into the darkness between the boulder and the great stone portal.
The cats followed him into the temple one by one.
When the last cat disappeared inside the portal, Bassario called, 'All right, heave!'
The six of us leaned on the massive boulder, pushed against it with all our might.
The big boulder rumbled loudly against the stone floor. It was fortunate that we did not have to push it very far—-only a couple of paces—otherwise we might not have been able to do it with only six people.
But Bassario and the Incan warriors were strong. And Lena and I pushed with all the strength we had, and slowly, very slowly, the boulder began to fill the square-shaped portal.
As we proceeded to seal the temple with the great stone, I heard the song of the idol inside it growing softer and softer.
Then abruptly the boulder sealed the portal fully, and as it did so, it stifled the song of the idol completely, and with the ceasing of that song, a great sadness came over me, for I knew then, in that moment, that I would never see my good friend Renco again.
Before I left that dreadful rock tower, I would perform one final act.
I grabbed a dagger from one of the fallen conquistadors and I scratched a message into the surface of the great boul der now lodged in the portal. I inscribed a warning for all of those who might contemplate opening the temple again.
I wrote:
No entrare absoluto.
Muerte asomarse dentro.
Do not enter at any cost. Death looms within.
It has now been many years since those events transpired.
Now I am an old man, withered and frail, seated at a desk in a monastery, writing by the light of a candle. Snow- covered mountains stretch away from me in every direction.
The mountains of the Pyrenees.
After Renco entered the temple with the two idols and the rapas, Bassario, Lena and I returned to Vilcafor.
It was not long before word spread throughout the empire of our deeds—word of Hernando's death, and of the idol being laid to rest inside a mysterious temple in the presence of a pack of deadly rapas.
Typically, the Spanish colonial government created some sham tale about the death of the Governor's brother, Hernando. They said that he died honourably at the hands of an unknown tribe of natives while he had been bravely navigating some uncharted jungle river. If only my countrymen knew the truth.
I also understand that the Incas did indeed sing songs about our adventure and, yes, those songs mentioned Bassario's name and the singing of those ballads continued even after the Spanish conquest of their lands.
The gold-eaters, they said, could seize their land, burn their houses, torture and murder their people.
But they could not take their spirit.
To this day, I do not know what Renco did inside that temple with the two idols.
I can only assume that in his wisdom, he anticipated the rumours that would spread after our victory over Hernando. Like Solon, he knew that people, hearing of the idol inside the temple, would seek it out.
I imagine that he placed the fake idol at some location nearer to the entrance of the temple, so that if someone did open it up in search of the idol they would come upon the wrong idol first.
But I speculate. I do not know for sure.
I never saw him again.
For my own part, I could no longer endure living in the horror that was New Spain. I decided to return to Europe.
And so after bidding farewell to the beautiful Lena and the noble Bassario, with the help of several Incan guides I embarked upon a trek through the mountains of New Spain, heading north.
I walked and walked, through jungles, mountains and deserts until finally I came to the land of the Aztecas, the land that Cortez had conquered in the name of Spain but a few years previously.
There I managed to bribe my way aboard a merchant ship, laden with stolen gold, bound for Europe.
