Don T Wake The Sleeper Quotes

“The High Priest was sitting on a small wooden stool, his golden bracelet glinting as he waved his right hand to urge me to join him. At his feet lay a large feline, its eyes closed and a sleepy expression.
A jaguar!
As soon as he noticed me, he lazily raised his head, staring at me with very green, pupil-less eyes; the thick gold band around his neck resembled the High Priest's bracelet. When he let out a soft roar, his master's hand reached out to caress him between the ears, and the temperature in the room seemed to suddenly drop.
'No, it's a shapeshifting spirit
We called them uay, underworld spirits capable of changing appearance, like the great white-boned Centipede that would accompany us to Xibalba. The lesser uay loved to leave the Underworld at sunset and take on the appearance of all kinds of animals to wander the land of the living. No one knew exactly why; some said they sought souls to lead to Xibalba like the alebrijes, others that they were the splendors of the Jade Men, but the elders of my village all agreed that if we spotted one we would have been wise to run away and run away had been had always met some when, in the past, it happened to me.
"Be brave," the High Priest urged me again, noticing my worried look. "He won't harm you. This uay has been with me a long time and is accustomed to humans. His name is Nalu."
He even gave it a name.'
“I didn’t think uay could be tamed,” I replied impulsively, advancing slowly.
"Let's just say 'tame' isn't the word I'd use. In any case, we priests need a spiritual power amplifier to establish contact with the Spirits. Especially with the Oracle. And what better amplifier could be than a uay jaguar?" He smiled, motioning for me to look around.
What the servant had called the Jaguar Room was a large room, and as soon as my eyes fell on the walls, I understood its name: the effigy of the Jaguar was everywhere. A nocturnal and netherworldly representation of the sun god, the Beast had been depicted either clawing at a deer or descending into Xibalba at sunset.
There was no doubt that the Jaguar that dwelt in Yersin and Yuga was the most powerful of all the Spirits. According to Uzu-bah, it was especially at night that he acquired some of the strength that, in the Underworld, guaranteed him the greatest chance of survival.
Staring at the jaguar-like uay, I walked under the vaulted ceiling, painted with representations of the celestial constellations. The High Priest motioned for me to sit opposite him, on a stool slightly lower than his. I obeyed, rather uncomfortably: I was so close that our knees almost touched, and the uay's whiskers tickled my ankles.
"May the heavenly gods always turn their gaze upon you," I muttered through a dry throat, trying to ignore the shapeshifter's muzzle resting on my right foot. It felt unnatural to be in that room with the High Priest standing over me He observed in a relaxed position, wearing only a few pieces of jewelry typical of the upper caste. Even more unnatural was the feeling of the icy breath of a simple white loincloth and that of the uay on his feet.”
― Krisha Skies, La ragazza colibrì (Libri)