Uaxac could only cling helplessly to the fur of T'unu-kan's shoulder as the god strode into the new city. Beside him the great muzzle swung slowly from left to right, scanning the landscape below, studying the tiny people who darted and scrambled at the god's feet. In his heart Uaxac knew that the god was testing them, and that they had already failed. Their terror robbed them of wisdom and turned them into mindless animals, and that, he feared, was exactly how they would be treated.

T'unu-kan frowned and snorted loudly, a sound that echoed with contempt in Uaxac's ears, and then he strode forward. Far below, people fell beneath the god's tread by the dozens and were stepped on like ants. Uaxac could see their agonized, upturned faces disappear beneath the god's toes with each footfall; he did not have the courage to look back at what was left behind. Soon, as he had in Uaxac's city, T'unu-kan began to stamp his feet violently, the impacts sending waves rushing through the earth that shattered buildings all around and sent more and more people streaming into the streets. The god moved quickly along the outskirts of the city, trampling on houses and people with frightful deliberation, driving a growing mob before him. They tried to flee for the woods, but the god swept ahead of them with one long stride. His pounding feet chased them back, pushing them toward an open field at the center of the city.

Uaxac's stomach knotted. He is herding them, he thought with a groan, just like dumb animals. He yearned to call out to the god and beg him to stop but he dared not speak out of turn, remembering the harsh lesson he had been taught. T'unu-kan's wisdom was not to be questioned. The people of this city would have to learn for themselves how to win the god's favor...if any survived.

The crowd in the center of the city packed in tighter and tighter as the people struggled against one another, blindly trying to escape from the crashing that seemed always to be just behind them no matter which way they turned. T'unu-kan was circling the city now, drawing in closer with each pass, mercilessly crushing any who tried to break away from the pack. Before every inch of open space was filled, and T'unu-kan turned and took a long step forward, planting his foot on the far side of the field so that he stood astride the mob. They squealed and gibbered, waving their arms frantically, not even knowing where to run anymore. Some lost their minds and tore at their neighbors like wild dogs. Others fell and tucked their bodies into tight quivering balls.

The god watched all of this and for a moment seemed amused, and then he sat down.

Uaxac was caught off guard as the huge body tilted forward, spilling him onto the front of the shoulder. He gritted his teeth and clung for dear life to the fur, his stomach clenching at the abrupt descent. Through a dizzy haze he looked down to see faces, twisted in fright, vanish as T'unu-kan's mighty scrotum fell upon them. It spread forward as the god sat, rolling over others who tried vainly to run away. The giant stretched his legs out, burying many others beneath their bulk and trapping countless more between them. His feet came to rest against a high stone wall in the distance, thus leaving no escape for his prisoners. Some who were braver than the rest tried to climb onto the great legs, only to be plucked off, one by one, and dumped into the god's palm.

Uaxac felt a flicker of hope as the god raised that handful to his face and studied them for a moment, then lowered them down toward his mammoth sheath. Uaxac's own people had been shown that T'unu-kan's favor could be won by pleasing him. Surely the god was showing great leniency to this group by allowing them this second chance. If only they would take the hint! Uaxac watched breathlessly as the god pressed the captives to his enormous sheath, and then drew them up onto the bare black flesh that had already begun to appear.

The faint hope died within him. Rather than obeying the unspoken command, the little figures were struggling wildly between the god's fingers and his growing member. They wriggled their way free and fell, preferring to die rather than submit to T'unu-kan's pleasure. "Please," Uaxac muttered under his breath, "He will spare you if you only show courage." But it was not to be. T'unu-kan narrowed his eyes in disapproval as the last of his would-be worshippers abandoned him, and he released his erection. It swayed ponderously over the heads of the mob as a gigantic hand swept down upon them, scooping up more and cupping them beneath the dripping tip. He eyed them warningly, his growl thundering from on high. Had but one of them reached up to worship him they perhaps would have been saved; instead, every one of them cowered away and then bolted, their feet slipping in the syrupy fluid that pooled around their ankles, scrambling to leap from the god's hand.

Their defiance sealed the fate of their city. T'unu-kan grunted and flung them away, then reached once more into the midst of the crowd. Another screaming mass was hauled upward and pressed against the enormous member. This time the god's fingers surrounded it and began a rhythmic stroking. Tiny arms and legs flailed from between those fingers as they swept up and down along the great bulk, and soon a low, steady crackling noise arose over the frightened shouts of the mob below. The god closed his eyes and licked slowly over his whiskers as his erection began to streak with glistening redness. The color seeped up around his fingers and smeared over his entire length; here and there a broken limb or a shred of clothing stuck for a moment before being swept away with the next stroke.

Uaxac could not look away. He was dumbstruck, but not by the horror of the god's brutal slaughter of these nameless people; rather, it was the sudden realization that the gentle celestial music from the god's amulet could be heard even over the sounds of terror and death from below. It had been playing all along, but somehow Uaxac had only noticed it now. The notes rang in his ears, hushed at first, but growing louder with each passing second. The squash of bodies against hard flesh and the god's lustful breaths began to fade into the distance as Uaxac's mind focused on the tune. The four simple notes seemed to surround him like a comforting embrace, and before long they were all that he could hear. "Do not fret," they whispered kindly to him. "This is simply the way of things."

A smile ghosted his lips. The simple harmony danced through his ears and filled his head so that he barely heard the god's thunderous climax. He watched as if from very far away the long white streams of pleasure hurtling forth, crashing down with a whisper like rainfall upon the heads of the crowd, whose screams were merely a soft murmur in the background. The celestial song did not falter as T'unu-kan's massive furry hands swept through the crowd and bore two wiggling clumps of bodies to his maw, which opened wide to accept them. Uaxac could see their faces very close by as they were stuffed inside, but it was now almost as though they were not real. They were more like pictures painted on a wall, their mouths opening and closing as though singing along with the music. Uaxac smiled at them and nodded; he too began to hum softly as he watched the god chewing, the great jaw working up and down in time with the music, the crunch of bone a percussion for the celestial rhythm.

A sense of profound peace rose through Uaxac's soul as the god finally swallowed, the muffled gulp echoing perfectly on the downbeat of the song. Sighing contentedly, Uaxac lay back on the god's shoulder and, wrapping himself in the thick strands of fur, drifted off to sleep while T'unu-kan reached down for more.

He awoke with the music still in his ears. T'unu-kan's shoulder rolled beneath him between jarring thuds; the god was walking once more. Rubbing his eyes, Uaxac sat up and peered around him. The sun was low on the horizon. He had rolled in his sleep into the hollow of the god's collarbone. Beside him loomed T'unu-kan's head, a black shadow broken only by the gleam of the fading sunlight upon his eye, and a glitter at the corner of his mouth where some of the blood of his victims had not yet fully dried.

Uaxac shuddered a little as he was reminded of the violent end that had befallen the disobedient ones, but he took comfort in the gentle music. It was T'unu-kan's way of telling him that all was well, since Uaxac's mortal ears could not withstand the true voice of a god. His heart swelled with gratitude that he, Uaxac the Fisherman, had been so honored as to be chosen as the messenger of this mighty being. He swore a silent oath always to deliver that message faithfully and without question, and if the god saw fit to destroy those who would not love him as Uaxac and his people did, then so be it.

A familiar ridge rose into view in the distance, but with T'unu-kan's tremendous strides they were upon it in minutes. The ocean was swallowing the sun far ahead and the light was fading quickly. T'unu-kan stepped into the clearing that he had made for his bed and raised his head in his nightly ritual, his eyes fixed upon the stars. There was no sound, save for the god's rumbling breath and the lilting melody of his amulet. Uaxac stared skyward too, curious as to what T'unu- kan was watching every night but not presuming to ask. All he could see himself were the stars. A twinkle of light nearby caught his attention, and he saw the last rays of the sun fall upon the god's great dark eye. The light quivered and danced, as it did upon the ocean. Was that a tear?

"Great one?"

T'unu-kan's ear twitched and he turned his head quickly toward Uaxac. For the briefest of moments it seemed that he was noticing the little man for the first time, but then he smiled, his teeth flashing white against his ebony fur, and thundered out Uaxac's celestial name. His fingers rose into view and approached Uaxac, who held his breath and could not help tensing nervously as they surrounded him. The god was careful, though, and Uaxac was only mildly bruised as he was lifted from the furry shoulder. The sky spun over him. His head grew light, his insides lurching. He felt as though he were falling a great distance. Suddenly he felt his feet bang against the earth, his legs driven upward, and then the tremendous pressure against his body was released.

T'unu-kan rose to his full height and smiled down at him. His looming form was now almost invisible against the nighttime sky. Uaxac smiled back, trying not to rub at his tender ribs, and watched as the god turned and strode off.

He realized that T'unu-kan had put him down atop the ridge overlooking the city. The temple itself was silhouetted against a sea of torches that wavered and bobbed in the courtyard in front of it. Curious, Uaxac started down the path toward the city, but before he reached it the torches swarmed up to greet him. He saw the giddy faces of his People rushing toward him, but before he could say, "What is going on here?" he was swept up and lifted onto their shoulders. They carried him triumphantly down the hill and into the courtyard, where a mighty cheer arose. Uaxac squirmed, bewildered, but could not escape their adulations until they had brought him to the temple and released him on the steps.

Panting, Uaxac clambered to the temple's height and waved his arms toward the cheering crowds. "Quiet!" he bellowed. "Be quiet, please, or you will awaken the god!" He had to beg them three more times before their voices were finally silenced. "T'unu-kan is resting," he scolded. "Please show some respect!"

"We cannot help ourselves," one man called. "We are happy you have returned!"

"What? I was only gone for a day."

"But we thought that T'unu-kan had eaten you!"

Uaxac snorted. "Eaten me? Why would he do that? He does not eat..."

The words caught in his throat. He was going to say, "He does not eat people," but the image flooded across his mind of so many dozens of faces turning toward him with pleading eyes before they disappeared into the god's mouth. Were they not people?

It is simply the way of things. The music repeated the words in Uaxac's head and answered the question for him. No, they were not people. T'unu-kan had made that abundantly clear. Such was the will of the gods.

Uaxac's face grew grim, and his voice somber. "He does not eat those who believe in him," he intoned. "But those who do not, who flee from him, are food for his belly. Listen well to the lesson that T'unu-kan taught today..."

The People listened with wide eyes as Uaxac described to them what had happened to the far- off city. "He was merciful," he told them. "He even showed them clearly the path to salvation, but they chose not see. Thus they were not his People, and they were doomed." Then he smiled. "It is as I have taught you. We who love him will never feel his wrath again."

A cheer rose up once more from the crowd, but quickly died out as the people remembered their sleeping god. All eyes turned toward the ridge, and a great sigh of relief rose when no angry black silhouette reared up against the stars. Uaxac laughed and sat down, and realized for the first time how hungry he was. He had not eaten all day. "I shall rest now. Go to your homes with the blessings of T'unu-kan upon you. But first, could someone please bring me a little food?"

That humble request resulted in such a vast feast that Uaxac could eat only a tiny bit of it before he was so full he felt he would burst. Groaning, he made his way to his bedchamber, where according to his wishes a modest pallet of straw had been placed. He fell upon it, and into a deep and restful sleep.

T'unu-kan spoke to him in his dreams throughout the night, so that when Uaxac finally awoke and found the sun high in the sky he was frantic. "Quickly!" he shouted to his startled attendants. "Go and gather the people, every one of them. The god will come to us today and will expect a joyful welcome. We must be ready. Go, and hurry!" He shooed the attendants from the room, washed himself hastily and threw on a clean tunic, then ran outside. Gathering every one of his attendants he issued them their orders. They seemed stunned by them, but rushed to obey without hesitation. It pleased Uaxac to have such capable and eager help. Sighing happily, he wandered to inspect the courtyard. As he expected it was clean and neatly groomed, an appropriate spot to welcome the god.

But wait! Here and there were great patches of grass and tangled weeds poking up from the soil. One of the groundskeepers was desperately tugging at them with his hands. "I do not know what to do!" he panted as Uaxac ran up to help him. "They grow so fast. As soon as I pull up one handful, two grow in its place."

"No matter," Uaxac said as he wrestled the green shoots from the earth. "We just need to make it presentable for T'unu-kan's arrival, lest he think we do not respect his sacred temple." The two men scurried from one patch to another, and were joined by other attendants even as the crowd began to gather in the courtyard. Soon all of the offending greenery was removed, and Uaxac would not have thought any more about it if not for a strange sense of familiarity. He knew that the great courtyard had never been marred by even a single blade of grass for as long as he could remember, thanks to the diligence of the faithful groundskeepers, yet he could not help but feel that he had seen those stubborn weed patches before. And how odd, too, that the keen-eyed groundskeepers had let them grow so far before attending to them. Could they really grow so fast?

Uaxac felt the first quivering in the earth that heralded the god's arrival and he forgot all about the matter of the weeds. Eagerly he mounted the stairs to the temple roof and held up his arms for silence. The murmurs of the People faded away immediately. Uaxac felt a wave of dread as he noticed that from his perch on the temple height, the People below looked just like the unworthy dwellers of the far-off city had before the god destroyed them. With a shake of his head, though, he put the thought out of his mind. To even imagine that T'unu-kan would treat his own People so harshly was blasphemous.

The ground shook harder, and harder still, and T'unu-kan's midnight-black form rose over the ridge. He took a step forward and paused, then opened his jaws wide and wider in a yawn that echoed all through the city. Then he turned a little and began to march past the ridge on the far side, headed, it seemed, for the ocean. He did not look toward the city. In fact, he paid no attention to it at all. Uaxac began to worry. He was certain that T'unu-kan had ordered the People to be ready for his visit today. Why would he now pass them by without so much as a glance? Had the People displeased him? Did he know about the weeds that they had allowed to grow before his temple?

The god kept walking, striding past the temple and continuing on, following the curve of the ridge away from the city. Uaxac trembled, and in a near panic he raced to the rim of the temple and called down to the musicians below. "Quickly!" he shouted. "Play this song. La-la, li la..."

They stared at him dumbly. Uaxac waved his arms. "Are you deaf? Play it, I say! La- la, li la. Just like that."

"But how does the rest of it go?" one man said hesitantly.

"There is no...just play it! Play those notes, over and over, just as I sang them."

The minstrels turned to one another and shrugged. The flutes and strings soon were singing the notes of the god's celestial tune. Uaxac begged them to play as loud as they could, and they obeyed, their faces turning red as they blew the song skyward.

T'unu-kan halted abruptly. His hand rose and touched his amulet, and then slowly he turned, his dark eyes fixing on the temple and the people clustered before it. Uaxac's knees quivered and he nearly laughed with relief as the giant took a few slow steps forward, then raised a huge leg over the ridge and stepped into the valley. Four steps later he towered over his People and gazed down at them with eyes alight with wonder and amusement. Those eyes glittered brightly as they played over the crowd, and then T'unu-kan threw his head back and bellowed a laugh that shook the very foundation of the temple. When the echoes faded he smiled and roared forth Uaxac's celestial name, and Uaxac raised his arms high. "I am here, Great One!" he called. "Your People greet you on this glorious morning."

T'unu-kan spotted him and smiled more broadly, then took a step forward. His leg halted in mid-stride, though, and he glanced down at the crowded courtyard. Obediently the People withdrew from beneath him, opening a round clearing into which the god's mighty foot settled with hardly a puff of dust. Ahead of him another opening formed in the crowd, and with a bemused grunt he stepped obligingly into it. In this fashion the people led him to his temple, where Uaxac the Fisherman stood waiting, his arms upraised and face beaming with rapture. The god stooped and reached down; this time as his fingers closed around Uaxac they did not injure him at all. With great care he lifted Uaxac to his face and smiled, then lowered the man into the palm of his other hand.

Below him the people pressed back, clearing a path between the god's feet and the wall of the temple. T'unu-kan watched them, his head tilted curiously, and at last he turned around and sat himself down upon the temple's height. His great tail draped down behind and wrapped around the temple walls. Uaxac moved onto the god's fingertips and waved down to the People, who let out first a joyful cheer, and then began to take up the musician's song. Before long every voice, young and old, was singing T'unu-kan's celestial hymn.

Even the god himself was moved. He sat motionless upon his temple and throne until the People began to creep in closer, when he leaned forward a little, watching them closely. "You needn't be afraid," Uaxac called from the god's hand. "T'unu-kan welcomes his people's touch." Emboldened by those assurances, the People inched toward the god's feet. Their hands stretched out to caress his toes, to stroke the ebony claws that had been Uaxac's own first contact.

Their intense fascination was mirrored by that dancing in the god's eyes overhead. Slowly he lowered his hand down to them, his palm turning upward as it neared the ground. The People were shy at first, but then a few hearty souls trotted forward and leaped into the offered palm. Others joined them, pushing for space until Uaxac had to call down to them not to be greedy. T'unu-kan raised his hand with its cluster of worshippers to his face. They could see themselves reflected in his eyes before they remembered their manners and knealt down, lowering their heads and loudly singing the celestial hymn. They showed no fear, although they did falter when the god's deafening voice crashed over them. His words could not be understood by mortal ears, but he shook his head with a smile and then lowered his hand, letting his blissful worshippers climb back down to the ground. Uaxac immediately called down to them. "T'unu-kan has spoken!" he shouted. "He is ready to accept our offering to him. Now, bring the ropes."

Instantly the crowd parted and a band of stalwart men raced forward, their arms laden with leather strips, ropes made from vines, and thick bundles wrapped in cloth. They mounted the steps of the temple and climbed briskly. Reaching the height they arranged themselves in a line before the god's immense scrotum; on an unspoken command they fell to their knees and placed their hands upon the loose flesh, their heads bowed reverently.

Uaxac raised his head and met T'unu-kan's eyes. For a moment the god seemed astonished, his gaze flickering from the little men between his legs to the one in his hand. His arm shifted hesitantly, paused, then even more slowly began to descend, bearing Uaxac down toward his mighty sheath. Grinning hugely, Uaxac leaped off and onto the furry bulk before him, then called to his People, "Let it begin. All praise and glory to T'unu-kan, the Child of the Sun!"

The People below echoed his words in a great shout, and once more took up the lilting celestial song. Those surrounding the god's feet fell into a frenzy of adoration, caressing the great toes and even climbing atop them to knead lovingly with their hands. A wave of eager worshippers swarmed up the stairs toward the god's groin. T'unu-kan, for all his might, seemed almost alarmed by the intensity of the people's love for him, but very soon he relaxed and a smile returned to his muzzle. Sitting tall and swelling his chest, he folded his arms before him and peered down toward his followers, favoring them with his gaze as they climbed onto his groin and set about their task.

Uaxac felt a stirring against his body and hurriedly pulled himself higher, all the way to the tip of the god's sheath, where a great dark pit awaited him. Almost immediately, though, the black dome of the god's penis rose up from the depths. Uaxac clung tightly to the fur as the sheath stretched wider, the mammoth organ rising majestically, a living mountain of flesh and warmth. His attendants swarmed up through the coarse fur to join him, and began to throw their ropes over the growing bulk. As the gigantic organ's swelling grew more rapid, Uaxac shouted out an order, and the men laden with their cloth bundles swarmed like monkeys along the ropes and onto the bare flesh. Under T'unu-kan's watchful eye they unfurled huge fishing nets and draped them over the godly erection, then lashed them carefully together with the leather straps they had brought. In seconds the nets had been secured below, and the most faithful of T'unu- kan's People began to wriggle their way between net and skin.

The groan that rose from the god's throat and the quiver that shook his body assured the people that their efforts were not in vain. Uaxac climbed higher onto T'unu-kan's body and grinned as he clung to the fur and watched the god's firm penis disappear in a writhing sheath of humanity, the fishnet undulating all around with the movement beneath. Soon the chanting of the People was drowned out by the god's panting. Clear syrup fell in long rainbow strings into the courtyard below; some of it trickled down to coat the bodies of the zealous worshippers within the net whose tireless caresses grew ever more vigorous. Uaxac let go with one arm and made a wide gesture to the temple guards, who moved quickly to part the crowd in two, forming a long, thin gap between the two halves.

T'unu-kan's breath roared louder still, and every muscle in his colossal frame showed itself beneath the fur. One arm dropped suddenly downward; the god's hand reached eagerly for the great shaft, as thought about to seize it and squeeze the life from the worshippers. Only inches away though it halted, quivering, and then retreated slowly. T'unu-kan folded his arms tight over his chest and gasped mightily, then clenched his teeth, then loosed a powerful roar.

His seed erupted with the sound of surf striking the rocks. A long stream snaked through the air and thundered down upon the ground, splitting into a thousand tiny droplets that fell in a gossamer shower upon those at the edges of the gap. That stream was followed by many others, until the center of the courtyard was a-quiver with great pools of the god's pleasure.

Uaxac shouted an urgent command which was instantly obeyed. Hurriedly the god's followers wriggled their way out from under the nets, which were just as hurriedly pulled away and tied back into their bundles, leaving the massive erection free to bob and glisten in the sunlight. T'unu-kan groaned and his chin sank until it rested on his chest. His breath blew down in great gusts over his People. The hand that had stayed itself from crushing the frenzied worshippers closed at last around the great organ and squeezed, stroking shakily a few more times before falling weakly away. Slowly the god opened his eyes to behold the People waiting anxiously, the shadow of his immense penis falling across their eager, upturned faces.

All was silent for several tense moments, until at last the god smiled upon them, and their voices erupted in a joyous cheer that continued to resound as T'unu-kan began to rise to his feet. His toes tensed and dug into the soil, sending those who had been attending to them scrambling for safety. The god drew a deep breath and stretched himself majestically, then raised one foot into the air and held it aloft momentarily. Obediently the People parted the way for his tread, and slowly the god stepped through their numbers until he had reached the edge of the courtyard. With hundreds of voices chanting his celestial hymn behind him, T'unu-kan stepped over the ridge and strode out of sight.

Uaxac stood proudly atop the temple height, where the stone was still warm from the god's rump, and gazed out over the courtyard where the People danced in joyous celebration. He watched in satisfaction as they bathed themselves in the god's holy seed, scooping great handfuls of the heavy soup from the pools and passing it among themselves. He thought about the grass that had been allowed to grow and how fortunate the People had been that T'unu-kan had not seen it. Something about that grass still bothered Uaxac, though. As he watched the people playing in the great pools he thought back to the first time he had seen the god's seed lying in the courtyard, and then to the grass...and a sudden understanding came to him.

"Stop!" he cried.

The People slowly fell quiet and all eyes turned toward Uaxac as he ran down the stairs. "The god's seed," he panted. "Gather it, gather it all. Fetch bowls, gourds, anything you can." The people obeyed, and Uaxac helped them to scoop as much of the thick cream up as they could.

"Now," he told them, "Spread it on the fields."

The People hesitated. "But why?"

"The sun is the essence of all life," Uaxac said. "And T'unu-kan is the child of the sun. This..." and here he held up his hand, dripping with the god's seed, "this is the essence of all life. It is T'unu-kan's reward for his People's devotion. Take it to the fields quickly, or would you waste this gift he has given us?"

The People did not want to waste the god's gift, of course, and they took the bowls and gourds to the fields and spread the cream over as much of the soil as they could. "What now?" they asked Uaxac.

With a gentle smile he said, "You will see."

Continue to Chapter 4...