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Karen crouched behind a large boulder, tensed and ready to strike out at the slightest sign of life or movement. Sweat covered her body, and soaked what was left of her clothes. A multitude of emotions were cascading through her head. Anger... fear... joy... sadness... frustration... so much had happened in the last ten minutes, so much good and evil, it was difficult for her to decide what to do next. Her unseen adversary was still out there, thirsting for blood. Karen's blood.
After a few moments, Karen stood. Her enemy was nowhere in sight, probably still adapting to the same changes Karen was coping with. Ultimate power... the Sunstone... pure energy... she had to get it. She had to be the victor. Especially now...
Karen had been an archaeologist, studying ancient Aztec ruins in southern Mexico. In fact, not more than two days ago she had been doing some excavations in a recently unearthed temple in Tenochtitlán, the ancient Aztec capital. It had been there that she uncovered the tablet describing the Sunstone. A source of unimaginable power, the tablet claimed, it had been hidden when the Spanish Conquistadors (the tablet read, "golden-haired gods from the East") had attacked the Aztec people. The tablet told where the hiding place of the Sunstone was, but it was written in Nahuatl, an ancient Aztec language. As luck would have it Nahuatl was the only Aztec language Karen could not translate herself. So she had Donna, a trusted assistant and linguist, translate the directions for her. Karen was smart enough not to let Donna know what the directions were for. Once translated, Karen packed some essential gear, took a leave of absence from the dig, and set out in the direction of the Stone.
Eventually, Karen traveled to a small island off the east coast of the Baja Peninsula, in the Gulf of California, the alleged final resting-place of the Sunstone. After a few hours of searching she found a cave set in a cliff face. The cave was covered over with a great deal of foliage and large rocks, but she had found it at last. The cave led to an underground temple, and Karen's heart leapt. Her spirits buoyed, she made her way towards the heart of the temple. Covering the walls of the royal hall were scores of ancient writings. Some she could read, others she could not. But after an hour of torch-lit translations, Karen was able to piece together the legend of the Sunstone.
The God Quetzalcóatl, known as the Feathered Serpent, created the Sunstone after the reign of the fourth sun, Nahui-Atl, known as Four-Water, had ended. There was a great flood, which lasted fifty-two years. The only human survivors of the flood, one man and one woman, were transformed into dogs by the creator-god Tezcatlipoca for disobeying him. Quetzalcóatl, with the help of his twin brother Xólotl, created a new race of humans. He gave to them the Sunstone to use against any threat. It was a stone of incalculable power, said to contain the spirit of Quetzalcóatl after he sacrificed himself to create the fifth sun. The Aztecs had kept the Stone enshrined, and never used it. When the "golden-haired gods from the east" became hostile, the Stone was hidden. Because the Conquistadors were believed to be gods, the Sunstone was not used against them. Quetzalcóatl had ordered the ancient Aztecs never to use the Sunstone against any god, for fear of heavenly wrath and the destruction of the Earth. The Stone held enough power to make one equal to the gods in might, but people were afraid to use or misuse the Stone. But now, in a world where gods of the sun had been replaced by self-proclaimed gods of wealth and corruption, Karen feared no lightning from above. She was now sure that, in a few short moments, her life would change for the greater.
Leaving the enscripted walls, Karen went in search of the Stone. The temple was huge; the ceiling vaulted far above, at least fifty feet high. Huge chunks of granite littered the floor, varying in size from mere pebbles to massive boulders ten feet wide. But at the center of the room was a stone altar, and atop the altar rested the Sunstone. It was incredibly radiant, capturing the light from her torch and reflecting back to her all the colors of the rainbow, in an iridescent display of splendor. It radiated such an aura of power that it made Karen's spine tingle. The Stone was twice the size of a football. The altar upon which the Sunstone rested was covered with writing. It spoke of the Stone, saying that its power was much like a double-edged sword. It would grand godhood to its user, but held a curse for those unworthy. Karen knew that she would use the Stone to make the world a better place, and was not worried about any curse. With god-like power, she would be able to handle any curse anyway.
Karen stepped up to the altar and placed her hands upon the Sunstone. She felt infinite energies coursing through her body, fusing with her very being. She could feel each and every molecule in her body; every cell was touched and caressed by the power flowing from the Stone. Reality began to distort.
Then she appeared. So much happened so quickly... Karen hadn't time to make out too many details before everything exploded. She remembered the newcomer placing her hands on the Stone as well... there was a flash of light... everything went black...
When Karen came to, she felt more than a little odd. No bountiful power, no omnipotence or omniscience, just a strange tingling feeling in her arms, feet, and throat. It took her a few moments, but she was able to stand up. And it was then that she realized what fate had befallen her.
Her arms, once tanned a rich gold by the tropical sun and strong from the lifting of large stones, were now grotesque, elongated appendages lacking hands and covered with brown feathers. Her feet had become hideous, clawed, and scaly. The rest of Karen's body seemed human... she cried out in anguish, but instead of a human sound, the harsh screech of a bird of prey escaped her lips. Wings... claws... no voice... Karen had become a freak of nature. She had lost her humanity, and had no godly powers either.
Karen was brought back to reality by a shadowy form striking at her from the darkness. Karen instinctively leapt up, and found herself flying! She felt sudden freedom, as natural as if she had been born to fly. But she realized she had no time to waste enjoying this. She gave an avian cry and dove at the form below, relying more on feeling and instinct than on human thought. She pulled up at the last minute, knocking her adversary to the ground. Then she landed about twenty feet away and faced the other, who was now in full torchlight and could be identified.
From what Karen could make out of the face, it was Donna, her friend who had translated the tablet. But... Donna had become a serpent in much the same way Karen had become eagle. She no longer had legs, but a long serpentine tail. Her body was covered in fine scales, but retained her feminine form. Her face had become snake-like, as well. No nose, fangs, narrow yellow eyes... Donna opened her mouth and spoke. At least she had retained the ability of speech.
"Sssso... I ssssee the Sssstone chosssse no favoritessss... you obvioussssly are feeling assss I am. We were once friendssss, but... I will kill you if I musssst to get the power of the Sssstone!" And with that, the creature that was once Donna Grant struck out at Karen, jaws wide and fangs bared.
Karen leapt to the side, and Donna missed. She took flight as her enemy struck again. Donna was fast; she had the speed of a rattlesnake. However, Karen was faster, and had the advantage of wings. Once she was airborne, Karen quickly planned an attack. For while Donna's mind seemed clouded with rage, Karen had the faculties of a full human brain. She also realized too late the meaning of the curse; like a double-edged sword, she could get the power, if she could defeat her serpentine adversary. Then she could return to her human form, no longer a freak bird.
Something clicked. Quetzalcóatl was known as the Feathered Serpent. It was said that his spirit was inside the Sunstone. After touching the Stone, both she and Donna had become living embodiments of the Feathered Serpent: Karen the Eagle, Donna the Snake. If only Karen hadn't let herself be blinded by power, she could have seen this coming. She would have been more wary of someone following her, especially someone who had read the tablet to translate it. But, reasoned Karen, that didn't matter. Once she had the Stone within her grasp again, she could make her body into anything she desired.
Karen swooped down and snatched a large rock from the temple floor - her now awkward feet were surprisingly good at this task - and tried to drop it upon her adversary from above. The first rock missed. As Karen flew low to grasp a second stone, Donna attacked, knocking the feathered human down and coiling around her. Karen felt herself losing consciousness as her rib cage was pressed inward from all sides. She kicked out with both feet, and felt no small amount of delight as her sharp talons tore into something soft. Donna gave a sharp hiss of pain. Karen continued to kick as Donna continued to squeeze. At last, however, Donna loosened her serpentine tail and fell away, thrashing for a moment before laying still. Karen, battered and exhausted, both wings broken and throbbing, noted with morbid interest that her claws had shredded Donna's abdomen and lower torso. She lay motionless in a crumpled heap of coils, unmoving and unbreathing.
Karen stood, unsteady. Pain seared through her entire body, especially her wings. Every breath hurt.
And like that, Karen had won. The power of the Sunstone was hers and hers alone. Perhaps, with its power, she could heal her wounds and return to human shape.
She looked to the Sunstone, still resting upon the altar. It now glowed with a dull red color, and made Karen's spine tingle even more than before. She drew close to it, oblivious of her pain, oblivious to everything but the beauty and power of the stone. She felt a voice in her head whispering. Karen... come forth and receive the Ultimate Power...
Karen stood in front of the Sunstone, wings quivering. So close... she was so close to becoming as powerful as a god... Karen had to concentrate so as not to lose control. Somehow, she knew she had only to touch the Stone and receive its power. Karen took a deep breath, cleared her mind of all thought, and placed her broken wings upon the Sunstone.
The interchange of energies was almost immediate. It was as if Karen could feel every atom in her body. The energy of a thousand suns coursed through her battered frame. She felt the pure forces of nature and the universe entering her body, which began to feel incorporeal, ethereal. She felt omnipotent.
After a moment that felt like a billion lifetimes, Karen broke contact with the Sunstone. The stone that had once held the soul of Quetzalcóatl now lay as another chunk of granite, fallen upon an ancient Aztec altar. Its energy spent, it was now no different from the rest of the stone in the ancient temple. But this did not matter. Karen was now a god.
Karen tried out her newly acquired powers by destroying a statue of the Feathered Serpent with the blink of an eye. Amused, she then created an ivory statue of herself, one clothed in silver and gold. The facial features of the statue looked exactly as Karen did. It was an exact replica of her, except... the statue had wings in lieu of arms and eagle's claws in the place of feet. Karen looked down, and realized that she was still not human.
Karen tried to change back to human form, and could not. She tried to change her wings into arms, or change her body in any way, and found she could not. Outrages, she destroyed half the temple from existence, revealing the blue sky through a hole in the mountain.
By now, Karen was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Infinite, yes, but she still had to rest to recover her power. She was a goddess, but a freak goddess. Slowly, the words of warning drifted into her mind. All the powers of the universe were hers to command... but at a price. She was the victor, and to the victor goes the spoils.
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