With the news that the legend of the lost city of Choque Cota was indeed real and all that that promised for the party and the success of their journey, the whole camp was abuzz with excitement. But the actual discovery and exploration of the city would have to wait until morning.

So the group made camp and tried to get some sleep while they waited for the sunrise. For most of the party, sleep came fairly easily.

But for the two doctors, sleep would be much more elusive. Dr. Anderson had been dreaming of this day for many years and now the culmination of all that exhaustive research, study, and planning was only hours–instead of years–away.

Finally, mercifully, the dawn began to break and the forest floor began to get a few shades lighter. Dr. Hope had finally succumbed to a fitful sleep, however Dr. Anderson, younger and in better shape, had not.

It took all of his self-control and patience to keep from waking everyone in the party and rushing headlong towards the direction their travel had been taking them thus far.

But he still wasn’t sure of the trail ahead. What if it split and he took the wrong path? Or what if there were unknown dangers ahead that he might stumble blindly into?

It would be a much smarter decision to wait a little longer until the whole group was ready to go. After all, he had waited this long, another few minutes wouldn’t kill him! The Amazonian jungle was not a place to be in a hurry to get through!

The small group soon began to stir and the activity around the camp began. They were all in a hurry to get to their long-awaited destination and they quickly broke camp.

Since they had lost all their tents and most of the other belongings when they were captured, “breaking camp” was an easy matter of making sure the fire was completely out and picking up their meager possessions and heading on down the trail.

Tika knew that the band of Yupanqui tribesmen that had been chasing them were a long way from catching them. Wrecking the rope bridge after they had crossed it forced the tribesmen to go many miles out of the way to find the next nearest crossing point. This effectively put some time and distance between the two groups.

So they were safe from any pursuers and could focus their attention forward to the trail ahead of them and the lost city of Choque Cota they would soon come upon. The explorers began down the trail they had been following since leaving the Yupanqui village. They had been walking a couple of hours when they saw the trail ahead was bathed in bright sunlight.

Tika stopped suddenly, holding her hand up. She turned to the group of Americans, “Ahead is Choque Cota,” she said pointing down the trail, “We must show respect now or the gods will be angry!”

The small band moved forward and in a minute or so broke into the clearing. The forest had been cleared of trees and in front of them was an enormous fortress made of logs that appeared to be similar to the forts of the American west.

Logs stood on end and partially buried in the ground, their tops tied together with vines to form high strong walls, surrounded the huge fortress compound.

A large double door, Dr. Anderson estimated at ten feet tall and twenty feet wide when fully opened sat at the front of the fortress. Such a large door would enable many warriors to pour quickly out of the fort when under attack, Dr. Anderson thought.

They walked across the clearing towards the fortress, about a quarter-mile from the edge of the forest.

“This was once farmland for the Choque Cota,” Tika explained. “They grew some of their food as well as hunted the jungle.” Dr. Anderson could see the ground had been cleared and worked, although now there were a few young trees beginning to grow where once crops were planted. The forest was beginning to reclaim the grounds.

“Oh my!” Dr. Hope said aloud. As they got closer, the walls of the fortress grew taller and more formidable. When they reached the outer wall of the compound, Dr. Anderson examined the construction for a moment.

He discovered that instead of just one row of logs set on end like the American forts, this fortress had two walls of upright logs, one in front of the other, and staggered so there were no spaces where a stray arrow could pass through!

One side of the huge double doors were partially open so the group moved inside the compound. The interior of the fortress was no less impressive.

A large open area about the size of a city block, the fortress contained several small buildings, Dr. Anderson assumed were individual family homes, as well as a couple of larger meeting buildings.

All the buildings were made of logs with what used to be thatched roofs. The roofs had long since dried and crumbled from non-use, but the walls still survived pretty well intact. There was a large pit in the center of the compound with burned logs and old ashes in it.

"This is the chief’s lodge,“ Tika said beginning her tour of the compound. She walked them around describing the compound and life as a Choque Cota resident.

“This fire was the main cooking fire where everyone gathered to eat as one village. They hunted these woods and would bring their catch here to have the women prepare it. Everyone pitched in either hunting, picking the crops they grew outside in the fields, or cooking the food.”

They walked a little further to the other large building. “This was the storehouse. This is where they stored all their food. They dried what food they didn’t immediately eat and they put their crops here for storage as well.

They also fished in the local rivers and stored everything in here. That way if they were attacked, or if it was a hard year, they had food supplies to last through it,” Tika said.

“The Choque Cota was not a warrior tribe, really–not like the Yupanqui. They didn’t take prisoners to sacrifice to their gods like my people do. They were a peaceful people, only defending themselves when necessary.”

“That would explain the missing sacrifice altar,” Dr. Hope said.

“Well, it’s fortunate for us that they were a peaceful people… who knows what kind of unsettled spirits there would be here if they believed in sacrificing their enemies!” Dr. Anderson said.

“Tika would it be all right if we gathered a few artifacts to bring back home with us… you know like pottery, arrowheads and the like?” Dr. Anderson asked.

“Yes, so long as you leave something in trade with the spirits here. Otherwise, you are stealing and the gods won’t like that,” she said.

“Well we don’t want to anger any gods, that much is certain!” he said. They looked at what they had to offer.

Dr. Anderson pulled a few coins from his pocket. Dr. Hope pulled a few more coins from his pocket. Marcos had a few coins and a lucky rabbit’s foot. They figured that was a pretty fair trade for a few arrowheads and a couple of hand-hewn tools.

But in the storehouse, Dr. Anderson found some remarkable pieces of decorated pottery that he wanted to take back.

He knew that something more than pocket change would be needed to trade for these, so he took off the gold cross he wore around his neck and put it on the table with the coins. That should take care of a couple of choice pieces of pottery.

Dr. Anderson, being an anthropologist, wanted to take back some of the human bones scattered around the compound to study how diet and their lifestyle affected the growth and development of these people.

But Tika stopped him, placing her hand over his. “You cannot remove the bones. The spirit will not rest apart from the bones. It is very bad,” she said. So regretfully, he placed the bones back just exactly how he found them and settled for the other artifacts he had already “paid” for.

Because of the time of day and the fact that Dr. Hope wanted to take some notes and make some sketches of the fortress and grounds, the group decided to spend the night in the compound and start back in the morning.

So while Dr. Hope began his work, the rest of the group looked around some more.

[img]https://images.lushstories.com/5137371c55e28a24f0ce6bc1/three-astericks.jpg[/img]

The next morning, the group gathered their belongings and the artifacts they had chosen to bring back. They headed out of the compound and back along the trail they had come down.

Tika planned to take them back the way they came, but before they got to the canyon that had given them their escape, she would veer off on another trail to bypass the canyon and the Yupanqui village, and take them on a round-about way back to the Juruá River and their boats.

They began the long hike and were making good time. Tika figured three days hike should get them close to the river.

The Americans were happy with the trip and were looking forward to getting back to the river, then back to the ship and heading home. They had been gone for a long time and missed the comforts of Boston and the university.

The weather turned rainy as they started back and that made the trail muddy and slippery, it was taking a lot longer to head back than it had to get there.

They trudged along though, making as good time as they could. It was early afternoon when they decided that the weather wasn’t getting any better. They found a thick stand of trees that would provide some cover from the rain and moved into it, making camp for the night.

When they woke the next morning they could tell right away it would be another day of slow going.

It had rained almost the whole night and although it had stopped and the clouds were breaking up, the trail had been completely saturated. There were large puddles everywhere and they spent fully half the time with their feet underwater.

When they did come to an occasional small patch of ground above water, the clay soil made it slippery to walk on and each member of the party slipped and fell more than once that day. All but Tika who had grown up in this world and knew how to navigate it safely.

By noon, the Americans were tired, wet, and miserable. The only thing that kept them going was the fact they were headed home.

The group didn’t make it nearly as far as they hoped and Tika was beginning to think she might have to add another day to the three-day hike she had figured.

But they did reach the canyon that day and Tika took the trail to the right, opposite of the direction the Yupanqui warriors took when the rope bridge was destroyed.

“Now that we have reached the canyon, Tika, how much further is it down this new trail to the river?” Dr. Anderson asked.

“About three days. This is the rainy season and it will be wet going until we get to the river now. The other trial is along higher ground and is better. We will be taking low ground and it will be swampy but my people don’t use it very often so we should be safe,” Tika said, through Marco's interpretation.

The Americans didn’t much like the sound of Tika’s news. Slogging their way through jungle swamp wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good time.

But they did feel better knowing that Tika’s people, the Yupanqui, didn’t like using this trail either. And maybe the fact that it was so swampy might help hide their passing and keep the tribesmen from following them.

The next day, the group had just broke camp and were headed down the trail once more. The weather was better, finally, and they were hoping to make the river that day. But fate had other plans in store for the small band of Americans.

They had been traveling for a couple of hours when Tika suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Dr. Anderson asked. Tika held her finger to her lips telling them to be silent while she listened carefully. But no one heard anything, so they continued on for a bit.

Tika kept listening though, and no one said anything for a little while. About ten minutes further down the trail, they came around a bend and that’s when it happened.

Suddenly the brush on both sides of them exploded, and in the blink of an eye, they were caught by the Yupanqui that had been tracking them all this time.

The leader of the Yupanqui men said something to Tika and Marcos translated it for the Americans: “You thought that cutting the rope bridge would stop us but we found another crossing and came back to the trail.

"We saw where you turned off the trail to this one and followed you here. You were not as smart as you thought. Now you will all be brought back to the village to face Chief Acahuana and he will surely kill you all!”

And so, once again, the American explorers were bound with their hands behind their backs and ropes around their necks. But this time they wouldn’t be able to claim their mistake was an innocent accident or have Tika come to their rescue–she was in the same situation as the rest of them!

It took two long days of hard hiking to get back to the village, but the Yupanqui wanted to get their captors back in front of the Chief as soon as possible before anything else happened.

The Chief was none too pleased with the whole matter and to come back empty-handed might mean the warriors would take their places!

As they all entered the village, the people all came out to see them. There were what the Americans could only figure were insults and what passes for curses thrown at them as they walked to the Chief’s lodge.

They were especially hateful sounding to Tika, probably because she had turned traitor against the tribe and the Chief.

Chief Acahuana came out of his lodge and everyone could tell he was livid at the captives. He hated the American party for trespassing on his lands first off, and he blamed them for turning his daughter against him as well.

And he was angry and hurt that his daughter would choose to side with these intruders and disobey his wishes. Now to save face with the tribe and prove his authority, she would have to suffer the same fate as the Americans.

The Chief barked some orders to the others and they hustled the prisoners to a lodge next to his. But this time they put two guards out front and one in the back, the Chief was taking no chances of letting them get away again!

“What was the Chief saying out there?” Dr. Anderson asked Tika.

“The Chief is very angry with all of us. He says that he is going to think about what to do with us and tomorrow we will all die.

"But I can tell you however he chooses to do it, it won’t be an easy death, he is very angry at you for causing all this and at me for betraying him in front of the whole village,” she said.

“Yes, but you are his daughter... surely that carries some weight!” Dr. Anderson said.

“No. My father believes that if he shows mercy to me it is a sign of weakness and he will not have the authority that he has now. Weakness of any kind is a serious matter and no Chief should have a weakness if he wants to stay Chief,” Tika explained.

“So I will suffer the same as you. The only chance we have is for one of us to show strength and best one of them in battle. That would show them the gods are on our side and they dare not harm any of us.”

“You mean one of us has to fight one of them?” Dr. Anderson asked.

“Yes, fight and win. It would be a fight to the death and if you lose, we all die. But if you win, we all go free. That is my people’s way,” she said.

“I can’t fight against these people! I can’t kill anyone!” Dr. Anderson said.

“Then we will all die tomorrow,” she said quietly.

This was a lot for Dr. Anderson, a friendly, peace-loving university professor from Boston USA, to take in. If he didn’t fight, he and all his friends would die. If he fought and lost, they would all die.

But if he managed somehow to beat his rival, they would go free. He would have to fight if they had any chance at all.

But what kind of fighting? What weapons would be used? He wished he could use his bow and arrows. It would be an easy matter of a couple of well-placed arrows to dispatch one of these warriors. But he doubted they would make it that simple for him.

That night he went over and over the situation, trying to recall what he had learned about other tribes and their customs. He didn’t know anything about the Yupanqui ways, but he tried to think what other similar people might do in such cases.

He had studied some of the American Indian tribes and tried to apply some of that to his situation. He hoped that he could pull this off, for his sake as well as for the others.

He especially didn’t want Tika to have to die. This was not her fault and she was only trying to do what she thought was right. Then he remembered her words…

“I did it because I like you and didn’t want to see you hurt,” she had said. Did Tika have feelings for him? He looked over at the Amazon girl sitting with her hands bound behind her back and her head lowered.

She was quite beautiful and far too young to have her life cut short. And in such a horrific way–by the hand of her own father!

No, I can’t allow this! he thought to himself. I may not win this fight tomorrow but at least I will die trying to save her!

The next day at what Dr. Anderson figured was about noontime, the prisoners were taken out of their lodge and stood in front of the Chief and the council.

As the Chief spoke, Marcos translated so all could understand:

“You white dogs have trespassed on our lands, you have kidnapped my daughter and you have turned her against me, making her disobey my wishes and turn on her own people. You will all die by being skinned alive, and yellow hair will be the last so he can watch the others suffer!” he said.

With that two of the warriors reached in and grabbed one of the native guides, who began screaming and fighting but to no avail.

Dr. Anderson turned to Tika. “Tell the Chief that I will fight one of his men for our freedom,” he said. Marcos quickly translated and Tika called out what was said. The Chief held his hand up to stop the warriors.

“You wish to battle my warrior in exchange for your freedom?” he asked again.

“Yes. I will fight if you allow my people to go free,” Dr. Anderson said.

“Agreed. If you win, I will let you all go free. But if you lose, everyone dies,” he said.

The Chief then said something else and one of the warriors stepped forward. “You will fight Pauhacutec,” he told them. Dr. Anderson looked at the leader of the group that captured them.

He was a big man, not as big as the Chief, but bigger than Dr. Anderson. He must have stood six feet tall with a broad muscular chest and huge arms. He was an impressive man and Dr. Anderson was beginning to doubt the validity of this idea...