The walk didn't last much longer.
We passed through another gate, narrower than the rest, carved between two fungal trees that twisted upward like stone-wrapped roots. The guards didn't say anything. They just stopped and waited.
A moment later, one of them stepped aside and motioned us forward. We were led into a chamber tucked into the side of one of the middle terraces.
It wasn't a cell.
But it wasn't open either.
The walls were smooth, cut with unnatural precision. The floor was covered in mats made from some kind of tightly woven plant fibers, rough but neat. A basin sat against one wall, filled with clean water. There were no doors, just a wide entrance watched by two silent figures. No visible weapons, but I doubted they were unarmed.
We weren't locked in.
Just contained.
Jackal stretched his arms overhead and cracked his neck. "Well, this is cozy. Fancy underground jungle hospitality."
I said nothing. Just walked to the basin and dipped my fingers into the water. It was cool. Clean. Probably enchanted somehow.
He looked around the room with casual interest, then nodded toward one of the carved patterns along the wall. A sun etched into the stone, split down the middle, with roots curling beneath it.
"They really like their symbols," he said.
"They mean something," I replied. "This isn't decoration."
"Obviously," Jackal said. "That one looks like it's warning me not to touch their swords."
He glanced toward one of the guards and smirked. "Speaking of which, think I could steal one of those curved blades? Just for a bit?"
The warrior didn't move. Didn't flinch.
But his head tilted. Just slightly.
The pressure in the air rose immediately, not in a harmful way, but as a warning.
Jackal blinked. "Alright. Joke received."
"Think he understood you?" I asked.
"Not the words. But the way I said it."
I nodded. "Intent. Body language."
"Creepy," Jackal muttered.
Which, coming from him, was almost funny.
We sat for a while. No one spoke. The silence pressed in, but not in a heavy way. Just present. Watching. Like the city itself was waiting for something.
Eventually, Jackal leaned back against the wall and sighed. "You ever get tired of the quiet between fights?"
I looked at him. "You mean the parts where we're not getting attacked by the entire jungle?"
"Yeah. Those."
I paused. "I dislike it."
He didn't say anything for a moment.
Then nodded. "I don't mind it, as long as it's not too much of it.."
I didn't add anything.
Time passed. Hard to tell how much.
Then one of them stepped forward. Not one of the guards. A different warrior. Older maybe. Hard to tell with the masks.
He didn't speak. Just raised a hand and motioned for us to follow.
We stood. No reason to refuse. No real way to, either.
He turned and started walking, and we followed, silent as the stone beneath our feet.
Even without seeing his face, I could feel it. His attention. The way his steps never faltered, the way he seemed to know exactly how close we were behind him.
He was watching. Listening.
He had a presence, that was clear.
The path curved, cutting across two lower terraces before sloping toward the structure we'd noticed earlier. The largest building in the city. Towering, wide, shaped from black stone that glimmered faintly with embedded mana veins.
A palace, maybe. Or a temple.
Not more ornate than the rest, not draped in gold or markings. These people didn't seem to care for wealth or show.
It was massive for one reason only, necessity.
Built to house something important. Or someone.
The closer we came, the more the air seemed to tighten. Not threatening, but dense. Like walking into a storm before it breaks.
Jackal glanced at me. He didn't speak, but his eyes were sharp. Alert.
We were entering the heart of Tzalco now.
As we ascended the stairs, drawing closer to the towering doors ahead, I felt watched.
Not by the guards behind us or the warrior leading the way, but by the city itself.
From this height, the terraces stretched wide below us, and for the first time, we saw them clearly, civilians, or what looked like them. Dozens, maybe hundreds. Standing still. Silent. Watching.
All of them masked.
Maybe it was part of their culture. Or maybe it was something deeper, something woven into who they were as a people.
Either way, it was clear.
Visitors were a rarity here.
We reached the doors. The older warrior stepped forward, just slightly.
They opened on their own.
No creak, just a silent parting of stone.
They were massive, easily five times my height, each one carved with deep spiraling symbols that matched the patterns we'd seen throughout the city. Suns, crescents, lines that curved like vines or orbit paths. The stone pulsed a bit, reacting to something unseen.
Impressive craftsmanship.
As the doors opened fully, three figures stood within.
One was unmistakably a beast. Massive. Animal-like in shape, but clearly something more.
The other two were humanoid. Still. Silent.
A voice rang out. Calm. Deep.
"Welcome, humans."
It wasn't clear who had spoken. Not at first.
Then the beast moved.
Black fur covered it, but it didn't seem like just fur. It shimmered under the light of the chambers, like some type of liquid shadow. The fangs were curved and long, predatory. They seemed as sharp as the blades from legends. The eyes were intense, radiating faint golden energy.
A jaguar, but not from our world.
This one was older. Sharper. A creature shaped not just by evolution, but by something deeper. Its presence carried weight, not just from its size but from the pressure it radiated. Like it had been made to rule the jungle, and everything in it knew better than to challenge that claim.
Its fur didn't shift with the breeze. It resisted it. Every strand looked dense, impenetrable, like armor formed from living shadow.
"I hope you were taken into the city well," it said.
The voice was its own.
Not telepathy. Not mimicry.
It spoke. The animal had spoken. Not the humanoid figures beside it. Not anyone else.
Jackal blinked. "Okay, that's new."
It wasn't like the woman in the river who was also a serpent. This was a cat, a big one at that.
And it was looking at us like we were prey it hadn't decided on yet.