The Mistery of Belicena Villca
The capital , Cuzco , was in the center of the four regions in which the Inca Empire was divided : to the West , the Kuntisuyu ; to the East , the Antisuyu ; to the North , where the Lords of Tharsis came from , was the Chinchansuyu ; and to the South , towards where the Road of the Gods was oriented , was the Qullasuyu . The two Royal Roads founded by Pizarro ' s conquerors ranged from North to South , following a path parallel to the Road of the Gods : the coastal route , was born in Tumbes and reached Talca , in Chile , 4,000 kilometers later ; the central , a thousand kilometers longer , started from Quito and ended in Lake Titicaca , on the banks of the Desaguadero River . The Road of the Gods , a lot further east , also ended its journey at Lake Titicaca . But the difference was that the Royal Roads were paths that channeled all the activity of the Empire : the Road of the Gods , on the contrary , was a secret path , only known and used by the Amautas of the Black Bonnet , the dreaded Initiates of the Cold Death Atyhuanuy .
The Road of the Gods showed a perfect state of conservation , competing in some sections of exceptional beauty with the best European roads : this was achieved by the permanent distribution of hundreds of men along its route , who were in charge of the maintenance of the road , of the chasqui service , and of the support of the tambos that existed every three or four leagues . Precisely , little short of walking through the cyclopean stone path , the travelers came across a large tambo : as the Lords of Tharsis later learned , those " Big Tambos " were built near the secret side exits , of the Road of the Gods . The place was attended by members of the same dark Race that served the Amautas ; some children ran to unload the llamas that these brought and led them to a corral , but showed great fear for the Spanish horses , which had to be taken care of by the Catalans . There they ate the inevitable corn tortillas , tamales , drank the hot api , and rested for half a day . A chasqui , meanwhile , left on the run to advance the news about the arrival of the Lords of Tharsis .
Despite the exhausting days , during which they marched all day and only stopped at night in the nearest tambos , time passed without the Road of the Gods ever seeming to end . And week after week , the cold , the wind , and the snow , punished them incessantly , since the road rarely descended below 3,000 meters , forcing them to be permanently warm . A reason for joy was the rapid improvement of Guillermo de Tharsis : two days after the cure the fever subsided noticeably and his leg began to deflate ; after fifteen days he could walk almost normally . But sixty days later , they were still traveling along the same straight road , whose accidents a thousand times repeated , steps , ramps , tunnels and suspension bridges , they fancied now monotonous and boring . The presence of the runic inscriptions on the same Germanic language was constant during the thousands of kilometers travelled , though it tended to increase in variety and perfection as they were approaching destination . But those legends and signs were evidently subsequent to the megalithic constructions that were scattered along the Road of the Gods : such stones exhibited the ancient and unmistakable Sign of the Vrunes of Navutan , of which the runes only reflect a superficial symbolism .
A week before reaching Lake Titicaca , they arrived at a tambo where eight Amautas of the Black Bonnet and a strange character were waiting for them . This was an old man with gray hair and features of a Nordic European type , whose light blue eyes and light skin confirmed his belonging to the White Race . Like the two first Amautas known to the Lords of Tharsis , the white elder and his companions just wanted to see the Stone of Venus . Lito de Tharsis , who correctly interpreted his wishes , patiently agreed to it , drawing the Wise Sword and removing the ribbon from the headband . An exclamation of amazement and approval welled up from all nine throats . And only then did they give signs of noticing the Men of Stone . They had all dismounted and they were behind Lito de Tharsis , admired in turn by the reaction of their hosts . The old man , speaking the same Germanic dialect as the Amautas , but much more clearly , asked :
--And the Princess ? Have you brought the Princess ?
307