The stars know better than to shine when Ītzpāpālōtl arrives. The wind stills, the shadows stretch, and there she stands – skeletal wings slicing the air like obsidian blades. And in her hand? A leg. Not a metaphor – an actual severed leg.

Someone, somewhere, once said, break a leg. She did, and then she kept it. Ītzpāpālōtl is an Aztec warrior goddess, queen of the Tzitzimimeh (deities of fertility). Her name literally translates to clawed butterfly. She cradles the souls of women lost in childbirth and infants taken too soon – yet when the sun fades, so does her mercy.

Legend says she devours the living under the cover of an eclipse. Ītzpāpālōtl is death and birth, terror and comfort, mother and executioner. And yes, still clutching the leg.