The majestic structure was right in front of her, only a few meters away. As tall as the largest trees in Amazonia, and as imposing as a mountain seen from its base. It was something the Monkey Queen never thought possible...
As she approached to the entrance of the temple, she couldn't help but look at the mysterious symbols and figures that covered its exterior. Strange patterns that adorned the ruins of a long lost civilization. The path by which she moved wasn't the same as the soft and wet surface of the jungle, on the contrary, it was hard and rough. The feel of the sun-heated floor beneath her feet and knuckles wasn't something she was used to. Undoubtedly, she knew that this couldn't be a natural place. This place was surely made by humans... or is it? What did all this mean? Perhaps this was the dark secret that the Naka'i elders had mentioned? The origin of the bad things that were happening in the Darklands, as Ko'too had said before?
As much as Y'shaati looked around for some trace of the Snatchers, she couldn't find anything. It was as if they had completely vanished in thin air. Being now only a few steps from the entrance, she discovered a large amount of ivy, and debris that covered the walls of the place. There was so much that it made it impossible to explore beyond that point. At that moment, she lowered her gaze and finally found what she was looking for, a clue... a disturbing clue: a faint trace of fresh blood droplets seemed to indicate that someone or something had recently entered the temple. An invitation into the darkness...
Immediately, Y'shaati deduced that this must have being the Snatchers doing. But why? Why this place? Why capture animals and drag them to this place? Y'shaati had to dig up the truth once and for all. She hadn't come so far as to stop here. It was the time for her to get answers.
However, she knew that she would have to be careful when walking inside the temple, therefore, she decided that she wouldn't enter through the main entrance. When approaching a wall, she saw a small opening free of the tangled ivy. She quickly climbed the wall and crawled across the narrow path.
The place was very dark, but little by little, Y'shaati was able to make her way among cobwebs, rubble and other obstacles. When she least expected, she finally reached the other side of the path. As she suddenly fell to the ground, a sense of danger ran wild through her body... something inside her told her that this place was much worse than she thought. She was able to detect an energy emanating from deep within the temple. An energy similar to that transmitted by Snatchers. She was definitely on the right track to follow the monsters up close. Then, Y'shaati began to walk through a long corridor that gradually began to light up with a dim light.
With all her senses on alert, the Monkey Queen observed the surroundings of the structure. Pillars of fallen rocks, broken statues by some great impact. The place seemed to have witnessed a battle of epic proportions, similar to the fierce battles between animals species that live in the jungle. However, something wasn't right. There were no corpses, there wasn't a smell of death inside the temple... it was as if time had simply frozen in this place. And this was just the beginning...
As she moved forward, Y'shaati began to notice transparent objects of a blue-green hue emerging from the floor. The structure of the temple was split to give place to these strange and bright objects. She didn't know what these things were, however, unbeknownst to her, humans called them gemstones. Deeper in the temple, these crystals became larger and larger, and no longer only emerged from the floor, but also from the roof and the walls.
In an attempt to know what these objects were, Y'shaati approached one of them to inspect it. As she approached, she saw her own reflection in the crystal, as when she saw herself in the river's clearwaters of the jungle. But these precious gemstones hid something, Y'shaati could feel that there was something odd about them. Without thinking twice, Y'shaati decided to touch the object.
At the moment of placing a finger on the precious stone, she felt a powerful source of energy... evil energy...
She immediately took off her finger from the object and backed away desperately... she didn't want to feel that thing again. It was as if she had received some kind of wound in her soul. Definitely these crystals didn't mean anything good. She would remember this for the rest of her stay at the temple. Right in that moment, mysterious noises began to appear in the place. It sounded like something was being dragged along the ground. Something was approaching. Looking behind her, she saw several silhouettes: the creatures she was following, the Snatchers, were walking towards the core of the temple. Startled, Y'shaati ran towards one of the walls and climbed quickly on a statue, shaped like the head of a beast. Thanks to the poor visibility, she was able to remain undetected in that place while she saw how the Snatchers began to walk in a row towards the heart of the temple.
Squatting, always prepared for anything, Y'shaati simply stayed in that place to avoid being discovered. She thought that maybe after a while, the monsters would leave the place. However, and to her bad luck, what she was about to witness, would leave a mark on her memory for the rest of her life.
At that moment, the nightmare began: Y'shaati saw that the Snatchers were dragging with them the captured preys that she had previously seen. This poor animals were severly wounded, leaving a trail of blood in the ground. But the thing got worse seeing that the room was slowly filling up with a large number of these monsters. Each one brought a victim with them, and for some reason, the beings stopped before walking towards the front, where there was a small staircase that was heading towards a large golden statue.
Y'shaati couldn't do anything but just look for now. As much as she wanted to help those defenseless animals, she was incapable of defeating even a single Snatcher. The monsters had proved too dangerous.
At the moment, one of them walked to the front, climbed the stairs and held his prey by the neck: a small boar. The poor animal began to shriek and kick to try to escape. Just then, Y'shaati was able to observe what was inside the golden statue: a huge and round precious gemstone, with a color very similar to the crystals that were in the previous corridor. This spherical gemstone was embedded right in the center of the statue. The Snatcher remained motionless for a few seconds, until, without warning, did the unthinkable: it broke the small boar's neck, killing it quickly.
Y'shaati could feel the pain in her heart knowing that a noble creature of the jungle had died in that instant.
But the next second, the precious sphere on the statue began to shine. A resplendent, powerful, bluish glow was present throughout the temple hall. When least expected, a thunderous sound, similar to that of thunder, caused the earth to tremble. What was happening? A spectral echo invaded the place when Y'shaati finally understood the dark secret of the Darklands:
The sphere began to absorb the boar's body, disintegrating it as if it were dust, absorbing its soul in the process...
Y'shaati couldn't believe it, this was an aberration. Immediately, the other Snatchers began to sacrifice their preys one by one, killing them in front of the precious gemstone so that it could absorb its essence and increase its power. Meanwhile, the blood of the victims began to drain all over the place, forming horrible crimson-colored rivers of blood on the temple's floor.
Y'shaati just could'nt see this horrible scene anymore, it was a massacre. The Snatchers offered their victims in a sacrificial ritual. But for what purpose? What did they even try to achieve with this?
While she was thinking horrified, a scream went throughout the temple. A kind of scream that she had heard before. The simple sound caused a tear to come from her beautiful azure eyes: those were the cries of a human child.
At that moment, a Snatcher walked down the hall, dragging a little tribal girl by her arms. The girl screamed and kicked to save herself, but this was in vain. The poor human girl cried inconsolably and shouted strange words that surely were supplications for the monsters to let her go.
Y'shaati was catatonic. She couldn't react to see what awaited to the little girl.
At the moment when the Snatcher took her by her small neck with one of its branches and held it in front of the gem, the girl uttered the most heartbreaking shriek possible. One that Y'shaati would never forget in her life. Just a moment later, the absolute horror occurred:
The Snatcher, with one of his arms, pierced the poor girl's chest, ripping out her heart, killing her instantly...
After that, a sepulchral silence flooded the temple... The girl's entrails gushed all over the place. The monster had bathed with her blood. Abd then, the precious gemstone began to glow again and absorbed the dead girl's whole body.
It was a dreadful. Y'shaati didn't want to see anymore. She covered her eyes with her hands. She wanted to flee from that place immediately, but if she did, she could end up just like the poor human girl.
Just then, the monsters cleared the place. The next victim was on the way. Several Snatchers brought dragging a huge and heavy creature. When she removed her hands from her eyes, she finally saw it: it was a giant monkey.
T'eya, I'ppi's mother, was next to be sacrificed...
There she was. The very reason Y'shaati had come to this place... The Monkey Queen's hearbeat was accelerating for the tension. This was too much for her. The Snatchers slowly placed her body in front of the gemstone and held her by her limbs. T'eya produced weak grunts, apparently unable to recover after inhaling the toxic gas with which she was captured. But she was still conscious.
Every second that passed was a torment for Y'shaati. She had to do something to help her, she couldn't let her die in this deadly place. Time was running and she had to take an important decision...
As she continued to observe, Y'shaati noticed something she hadn't given importance... right next to where the monsters were, there were two vessels containing fire: the "red flower". As on that occasion in the human village, the red flower remained docile and controlled, but by the way it moved, it seemed that it could become a major problem if it were to provoke its anger. Y'shaati thought that perhaps this could be a unique chance in which this powerful entity could help her.
Meanwhile, the Snatchers began to pull each of the giant monkey's limbs with brutal strength. T'eya roared loud this time due to the intense pain. If they continued like this, T'eya would suffer a terrible death at any moment. Without thinking twice, Y'shaati closed her eyes and thought about the promise he made to Ko'too and I'ppi.
The time had come. This was her time to act as the true and only guardian of the jungle. The time to fully become the Spirit of Amazonia...
In the blink of an eye, Y'shaati jumped from the statue where she was standing while producing her war cry:
"AAAHHOOOOHHAAAAAAAAHHHHミOOOHAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
When the Snatchers finally detected her presence, it was too late for them. Just before landing, Y'shaati kicked the vessel containing the red flower, making it fall to ground. At the moment the object broke, the red flower spread all over the temple's floor. In a matter of seconds, the fire reached the Snatchers, causing their bodies to set ablaze immediately. Desperate to escape, the burning monsters ran towards the exit of the temple, causing them to collide with each other, which only spread the fire more and more.
The Monkey Queen quickly ran to T'eya and using all her strength, dragged her little by little to push her away and prevent the red flower from burning her too. Being at a safe distance, Y'shaati tried to help her get up and escape together from the temple.
The giant monkey was very battered, but had no significant wounds. The fire gradually began to increase in the hall. Just as she began to rise to get out of that place once and for all, the spherical gemstone began to emit a dazzling brightness once more. The monkey-girl tried to ignore this and continued to help T'eya, until she heard something that left her cold with fear:
"Y'shaati... Y'shaati... YYYY'SHHHHAAAATTTIIII...!!"
A whispering voice coming from the gemstone began to call her name. Y'shaati, completely terrified, slowly turned to see the sphere. In just a second, the glow emitted by this powerful object brought her into a state of trance. For some reason, she couldn't withdraw her gaze from the sphere. And in just a second, Y'shaati's mind was transported to a completely dark place. An infinite void... infinite darkness...
And in that darkness, she saw the face of a woman: a woman with black horns and blue skin, similar to that of the gemstone...
"Yshaati... Y'shaati... YACURUNAAAAAA..!!"
After that, Y'shaati came to herself. And to her surprise, a Snatcher was in front of her, about to pierce her heart, as they did with the tribal girl. But before it could do this, the monster received a powerful blow that sent him flying through the air. T'eya had finally regained her strength and once again, she had saved Y'shaati. The giant monkey quickly told Y'shaati to climb on her back to escape from the burning temple. Without hesitation, she jumped in.
With great agility, T'eya began to run and jump through the walls of the temple, avoiding falling into the flames. While both escaped, Y'shaati couldn't avoid seeing on the road the charred remains of the Snatchers that were consumed by the fire. Once again, the wrath of the red flower had proved lethal to any creature in the jungle.
With a roar and a powerful charge, T'eya managed to knock down the wall of rubble that blocked the exit of the temple. Once outside, the giant monkey took a big leap into the trees to finally get lost into the dense foliage of the jungle.
They did it: T'eya and Y'shaati had finally escaped...
What happened in that temple's wasn't a coincidence. Fate had already decided the outcome of this event. The secret of the Darklands that the Naka'i elders mentioned before the beginning of this journey, professes that the ancestral battle between light and darkness would be born again from the collision between two deities:
The Goddess of Life and the Goddess of Death...
The Goddess of life, reincarnated in Y'shaati's body.
The Goddess of death, absorbing the souls of living beings... waiting for the moment of her resurrection...
The next day in the Michí's great tree, the giant monkeys saw the pale dawn of the Darklands, contemplating that the girl who left in search of T'eya was probably dead by now. Among the monkeys, Ko'too remained with a slight ray of hope in his heart.
While Michí babies ate pieces of meat, in the distance, they saw in the fog a large silhouette approaching them. Immediately the baby monkeys shouted to alert the adults that a possible threat was near. However, when all the giant monkeys believed that they would have to face one of the many Dark Gods of the jungle, the truth was unveiled in a few seconds.
Ko'too's eyes lit up with happiness: his mate T'eya had returned home, safe and sound along with the human girl.
Upon learning of this, all the Michi began to jump and celebrate the return of the female alpha of the troop. The monkey couple approached and rubbed each others noses, as a sign of their love. Without a doubt, this was a day to celebrate.
Y'shaati, still traveling on her back, jumped and approached Ko'too to show him that she had kept her word. However, being face to face, Y'shaati mentioned that it was T'eya who saved her again. With a big smile on his face, little I'ppi jumped out of his father's arms to hug his mother. The scene was moving. Finally, mother and son were together again. At that moment, T'eya swore that she would never separate from her baby again.
While this was happening, Y'shaati simply observed them with a smile. She finally understood that her chance to be a mother wasn't present yet, but that without a doubt, one day that chance would appear...
After a day of rest at the home of the Michi, Y'shaati finally prepared to return home. The Naka'i would surely be waiting for her in the great tree. Before leaving, the giant monkeys troop bowed again before the Queen of the Monkeys. Once again, she had shown that she is the true protector of Amazonia and guardian of all the inhabitants of the jungle.
Gathered, Ko'too and T'eya approached Y'shaati to say farewell to her and to launch a great roar to the sky to communicate that the giant monkeys of the Darklands will prosper for many years to come. The Monkey Queen didn't stay behind and proceeded to do the same, throwing a powerful cry of victory that would resound throughout the jungle:
"AAAHHOOOOHHAAAAAAAAHHHHミOOOOHHHAAAAAAAHHミOOOHAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
Just before taking a vine and leave, little I'ppi jumped off a branch to land on Y'shaati's breasts. The baby monkey hugged tightly to her. She cared for him like a true mother during this long and dangerous adventure. Y'shaati took him in her arms and told him that this wasn't goodbye. With an illuminated look and full of hope, he asked his parents if those words were really true. Ko'too answered his question by saying that when he grows old enough, he would be free to travel wherever he wanted and reunite with Y'shaati, knowing that, just as she took care for him, I'ppi could also take care of her whenever she could need it.
Happy to hear this, the little monkey jumped back into his mother's arms.
And without further ado, Y'shaati took a vine and began to swing through the trees to return home. Thus concluded her journey in the Darklands. Just a single thought was present in her mind:
"We will meet again... someday, somewhere..."
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