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They crossed the square and were let through the entrance to the keep without any hesitation by the four guardsmen at the entrance. The men nodded at Atl and saluted the Tlatoani. The inside of the keep was similar to that of the barracks a scene that spoke of former glory now marred by missing furniture and black soot on the walls. Atl looked down at the green and red carpet that ran the length of the hallway they stood in and strangely seemed to have been undamaged.

Tlacuilos walked this way and that with wax tablets or parchment in their hands performing a seemingly unending stream of administrative tasks. Those that took the time to look up from their work saluted the Tlatoani but most continued on their way without noticing.

"There is much to keep track of." The Tlatoani said with gestured at the men walking about. "Some will stay and some with move with the troops once everything has been settled."

Atl said nothing as a member of the first wave there was very little chance he would see his home every again. This he knew as he boarded the ships to cross the oceans back to their pre-ancestral continent. He was here to help the empire in a reclamation extolled by prophesy. He was here to balance out the scales for his family ensuring a location for his ancestors along the bone walls of Xolotl. He was here because he was a soldier, Tlamanih of the Eagle warriors and he had little say in the matter.

The turned the corner at the end of the hallways and came to a large open area with an open iron gate and stairs leading down into torchlight. Guards stood in front of the open gate at attention with spears in their hands. There was a table and chairs nearby where four guards sat hunched over a patolli board with piles of red beans and chicken bones in front of them.