by Rob Jones
Selena drew up beside him and swept the beam of her own flashlight across the alcove’s ornate stone ceiling. “Postclassic era?”
He nodded. “I should say so. Certainly doesn’t seem to be any evidence of the post-contact era or Spanish conquest in here.”
“What does that mean to us plebs?” Charlie said.
“It means it was built between five hundred and a thousand years ago,” Decker said.
Selena and Atticus turned simultaneously and stared at him. “You amaze me,” she said.
He shrugged. “I do listen to some of your ramblings… occasionally.”
“You flatter me, Mitch. Please stop.”
He grinned. “But that’s the limit of my knowledge.”
Diana said, “It’s a very pretty alcove, I agree, but…”
“But it’s still not what we’re looking for,” Selena said. “It’s nothing close to what we’re looking for. At least now we know the Stormbringer seems to be somehow contained in a capstone like you’d see on the top of a pyramid.”
“Wait,” Atticus said. “You see that glow over there in the next cavern?”
“I do indeed,” said Decker. “And I don’t like it. What the hell could be glowing like that in a place like this?”
Atticus shrugged and swallowed nervously. “Not a fire.”
“No, not a fire,” Riley said. “Not unless it’s been burning for half a millennium.”
“Which it has not,” said Charlie. “Whatever the hell it is.”
“Please do not use that word,” Diana said with a shudder. “Remember where we are!”
“C’mon, Di!” Riley said. “Don’t you start, too. Just because we’re in a cave in Xibalba where the ancients said the entrance to hell was located, doesn’t mean this is the actual entrance to hell, right Lena? Right? I mean, does it?”
She thought about her reply. “Not sure on that one, Riley. To be honest, I’m as much in the dark as you are.”
“Let’s stop being silly,” Atticus said. “Yes, the ancient Maya said the entrance to Xibalba was to be found in a cave in this approximate area. But let’s use some deductive reasoning. Just because there is a fiery glow emanating from a cave here does not mean it’s the entrance to hell!”
“No, it does not,” Decker said. “All we have to do is walk in that cave and find out what it is.”
Charlie craned his neck forward and looked deeper into the bright golden glow lighting the cave walls. “And I’m sure when Riley gets back he’ll give us a full report of what he found in there and then we can proceed safely.”
Riley looked at him. “Wait, what?”
The glow suddenly went out and they heard boots crunching on the cave debris. Selena gasped and swung her flashlight up in front of her. She was horrified to see a man in a jade stone mask in the entrance to the next cavern. Beside him, what looked like a number of common thugs and gangsters. Four of them were carrying something heavy and hidden from view by a large tarp. Then, they saw the Avalon crew and pulled up fast, drawing weapons.
“Drop your guns! Now!” one of them shouted.
Decker looked at Selena. Everyone could see they were massively outgunned and stood little chance in fire fight. Reluctantly, they dropped their weapons and kicked them over to their captors.
“We finally meet,” said Decker. “I’ve been waiting to get a better look at the assholes who shot up my plane!”
“Yes, an unfortunate necessity,” said the masked man. He stepped into their flashlights and stared at them through the slits in his mask.
“Who the hell are you?” Atticus said indignantly. “Coming in here and threatening the life of my daughter, of my friends!”
“But life is full of surprises, old friend.” The man slowly removed the jade mask. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
When Atticus saw the man’s face he gasped and took a step back, reaching out for something to steady himself on. “My God! I don’t believe it.”
21
“Nate!” Atticus took a further step back in horror. “What the hell is going on? I thought you were in Spain? What the hell is all this about?”
Nathaniel Danvers stepped closer to them, still gripping the jade mask in his hand. “Hell is an unwise word to use in this space, Atticus. You of all people should know that.”
Atticus looked behind his old rival and saw the men holding the tarp. “Is that the capstone?”
Danvers laughed. “Ha! So the Moores worked out the Stormbringer was a capstone. Whatever next?”
“Why have you done this? Who are these people?”
“They are my loyal servants, and I am here to claim my destiny!”
Atticus furrowed his brow. “What do you mean by that?”
Another laugh. “I mean the capstone’s power is mine to wield and mine alone!”
“This guy’s crazy,” Riley said.
Charlie nodded. “You can say that again. Just check out that mask!”
Atticus was starting to agree. He turned to Danvers. “But how could you? You’re a good man! An academic of the highest quality. What do you mean this power is your to wield and what was that glowing we all saw?”
Tarántula raised his gun and started to explain, but Danvers stopped him in his tracks by pushing him out of the way and taking a step toward Atticus. “It is not your concern what is happening here, old man. I have no need to explain myself to you. It is enough for you to know that I am not merely an archaeologist. I am the direct descended of the ancient snake kings and I am here to claim my rightful inheritance and that is the end of the matter. No more questions or I will shoot both you and your daughter.”
Atticus stepped forward and started to roll up his sleeve. “You threaten my daughter? Why, I ought to…”
Selena reached out and pulled her father back by his elbow. “Enough, Dad! Can’t you see he’s serious?”
“As am I, Lena! You won’t get away with this, Nate! I’ll see to it every university in the world hears about this. You’ll lose tenure, you do realize that?”
Carlos and Miguel Mercado burst out laughing, as did the other armed men standing behind them. Finally, Danvers grinned as well.
“I don’t think I’m going to need tenure anymore, old man,” he said. “When we’re done with this business I will retire a very rich man. Maybe buy my own island somewhere. If you’re lucky and you ask me nicely enough, perhaps I will hire you and let you serve me drinks.”
The laughter increased, an insane burst of giggles in the damp cool of the cave system. Carlos and took a step toward Selena. He reached out his hand and brushed it across her chest. “Maybe you can come and serve me drinks on that island, too.”
She moved to slap him but Decker grabbed her hand and pulled her back in the same way she had done with her father moments earlier. “Leave it, Lena. These guys don’t even need an excuse.”
Carlos produced a pistol from his holster and pushed the muzzle up into her forehead. “You should listen to your friend, bitch. He knows what he’s talking about. I could fill you full of lead right now and there is nothing anyone here could do to stop it.” He leaned in closer and whispered in her ear. “Nothing at all.”
Miguel laughed. Diablo lit a cigarillo and puffed a cloud of smoke out, eyes crawling all over Diana.
“So what now?” Decker asked, moving in front of the Portuguese woman.
“That’s easy.” Danvers refitted the jade mask and started laughing. With the mask on, Nathaniel Danvers was gone. Now he was the Snake King. “Now is easy.”
The men laughed nervously.
“Now, you will be taken into the boneyard down here and killed.”
“My God!” Atticus said. “You’re criminally insane! How could I not have noticed before?”
“Boneyard?” Selena asked, confused. “What boneyard?”
“Don’t you know?” the Snake King said. “Down here in Xibalba the demons eat humans like it’s going out of fashion. When we arrived, we found piles of human bones c
overed in gnaw marks… the marks of human teeth.”
“That’s impossible,” Selena said. “The Maya culture was never seriously cannibalistic.”
“So we thought,” he said smugly. “But now there is evidence to suggest that at the very end of the Maya era there was widespread cannibalism among their people. Archaeologists even found human remains that show arms and legs being torn from their sockets with great force and even with human gnaw marks on them.”
Atticus frowned. “There is some evidence the Aztecs practiced cannibalism, mostly tied up with their bloodletting rituals, but even that’s fairly scarce and weak. There’s much less evidence of cannibalism in the Maya culture apart from what we’ve already discussed.”
“It’s of no matter,” the Snake King said. “You will go there now. It will be your final resting place, and you should consider this a great honor.”
“We’re not going anywhere!” Charlie said. “Bloody psychos!”
“Yes, you are!” he snapped. “You will not defy the Snake King!”
“Make us,” Decker said.
“Then we will make you! All except you, Atticus. You will be my insurance policy. Not only will you stop any of your friends here from causing any further trouble with us, but your archaeological knowledge may come in useful, too.”
Atticus laughed. “I see! You need me now. Well, you know what you can do, right?”
“Yes, order you to obey or I will kill your daughter. I need you Atticus. There are very few specialists in Mayan hieroglyphics, even today. You are one of them. Just pray when I no longer need you, I decide to let you go and not have you killed, too.”
An enraged Decker lunged at the Snake King. He made no more than a few yards before Miguel Mercado piled into him and sent him tumbling over. His face hit the cave floor and skidded to a grazed, bruised stop a few feet along the newly cleared path. Inches above his head, a bullet split the damp air, blew his hat off and ripped a chunk of stone from the alcove. When he looked up he saw Novarro standing over him with a smoking gun in his hand.
“Please, give me another chance to blow your head off.”
“Maybe later.” He flipped over onto his back, spat a wad of dust and debris out of his mouth and leaned up on his elbows.
“Anyone see my hat?”
“Here.”
He looked to his right and saw his battered Akubra spinning like a frisbee. Selena had thrown it to him. “Thanks.”
“Welcome!”
“Get up!” the Snake King snarled. “Any more tricks like that and I’ll…”
“Kill me?” Decker’s face broke into a dark smile. “That little threat runs out of currency when you’re already marching a man to his death, asshole.”
“Not necessarily,” the Snake King hissed. “My loyal Tarántula here is an extraordinarily deranged serial killer. He can find ways to make your death last days, weeks even. Eventually you will beg him to kill you fast. If you prefer, I can order your days to end in a much more brutal way than a simple bullet to the head.”
“You’re a bastard, Nate,” Atticus said firmly. “A total bastard who is going to regret doing this to us very much.”
“I am the Snake King, and you are a snivelling nobody. Now, march!”
22
Diana spoke very little as they approached the boneyard. Nothing in her life had ever prepared for something like this and she was at a loss for words. She was an educated woman. She knew what this world was all about. Her knowledge of history was good, including a reasonable understanding of the Maya and Aztec cultures. But this was something else. The sight of the gnawed, broken human bones piled up all over the place dragged her from her comfort zone and made her feel sick to her stomach.
Surrounded by the heaps of bones, Selena looked around the grisly subterranean cemetery and saw an enormous stone altar. Carved in the traditional Maya style, with stone snakes twirling around the faces of various gods, its intricate altarpiece stretched halfway to the cave ceiling. Beneath it was a beautifully predella, in front of which was a smooth stone mensa. This was the flat table on top of the main altar stone and now the Snake King’s men walked the object they were carrying over to it and set it down.
“Are we to be treated to a show?” Atticus said.
The Snake King laughed. “I don’t want to miss seeing your daughter and her friends die, Atticus, but if you think I would let this out of my sight for one second, you are insane.”
Riley laughed. “And when a man in a jade mask who thinks he’s a lizard king says you’re crazy, you really are crazy.”
Atticus lunged at the Snake King, but Novarro pulled him away. “Bastard!”
“Remove the tarp!” the Snake King ordered. “Let them see the greatness before they die!”
Selena watched Carlos Mercado pad over and pull it off, revealing something resembling a copper pyramid. But that wasn’t quite right, was it? She looked closer again and saw its surface shifting and rolling, as if there were smoke or water under its metallic surface.
“What the hell is that thing?” Decker asked.
“That’s our capstone,” she said, her voice almost a whisper.
“But why does it look like it’s moving?” Diana asked. “What is that, moving around like oil on top of the metal?”
“It’s not on top of it,” Selena said, mesmerized. “It seems to be under the surface.”
“Impossible,” Charlie said. “Unless it’s some sort of glass and we’re seeing something moving underneath the surface.”
“It’s not glass,” said Decker. “You can see it’s metal. That’s obvious, even from back here.”
Riley frowned. “Then how do you explain the movement?”
The American shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’m just the flyboy.”
“Seriously guys,” Charlie said. “What the hell is going on with that thing?”
Selena thought about the question for a moment then looked at her father. “Can it be?”
Atticus furrowed his brow. “It could be.”
The Snake King followed their conversation with amusement. “Go on…”
“You really think so, Dad?” Selena asked.
“I do. What about you?”
“Maybe, yes.”
Decker sighed. “Do either of you two care to tell the rest of us just what the hell you’re talking about?”
“Please, Mitch,” Selena said. “No profanity.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I know what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?”
“You’re trying to annoy me. You’re doing it on purpose.”
She folded her arms over her chest and squared up to him. “And just why would I do such a childish thing as that?”
“Because of what I said earlier about me being the team leader.”
“Stop being so ridiculous.”
“Then tell me what the hell you’re taking about!”
Selena and Atticus relented, answering together: “Mirrors!”
Decker said, “Mirrors?”
“Ha!” the Snake King smacked his hands together. “Mirrors!”
“Yes, mirrors,” Selena said. “Mirrors played an important part in all Mesoamerican culture, including Maya culture.”
“Is that why they had such cool face-painting?”
“Riley?”
“Yeah?”
“Be gone.”
“Sorry.”
Decker sighed. “You were saying…”
“I was talking about the important role mirrors played in ancient Mesoamerican culture, and it wasn’t about make-up or haircuts.” She looked at Riley and scowled. “Mirrors were highly sacred objects, believed to be portals into the underworld. The ancient Mayans used them for scrying.”
The Snake King began walking around the capstone, admiring it, stroking it. Still amused by the conversation.
Charlie looked confused. “Don’t know that one.”
“Augury,” Acosta said darkly.
“Exa
ctly,” said Selena. “It’s the custom of looking into certain media in the hope of communicating with the other side. Over the centuries, most cultures have done this and used all sorts of things – obsidian, polished metal, even the surface of water.”
“As in crystal ball gazing?” he said.
“Exactly. The Maya thought that they could communicate with demons through their mirrors and summon them into this world. They even wore mirrors on their backs in battle in case their enemy tried to attack from behind in the hope the demons would crawl out of the mirror and kill their attackers!”
The Snake King stopped walking and turned. In his hand he now brandished a gleaming pistol. “Yes, you have shown us all how clever you are, but sadly now it is time for you to die!”
“So this is it?” Diana said with a sniff. “We die here in his hellscape and no one will ever know?”
“Are you freaking kidding me, mate?” Riley said. “I’m not dying down here. The Eagles are in the Grand Final this year! I’m not missing that because some barking mad apeshit wackadoodle thinks he’s descended from the lizard kings!”
“Snake Dynasty,” Selena said with a sigh. “They’re not actual lizards. We talked about this.”
“Yeah, whatever. They all go down the same way when you hit them hard enough.”
The Snake King laughed. “Big words from a man seconds from his own death. Now, you all die. Tarántula! Have your men execute them, now!”
Carlos and Miguel Mercado brought up their submachine guns, smiles on their faces and fingers wrapping around the triggers.
“Mitch!” Selena said. “I've heard of cutting it fine, but don’t you think this is a little relaxed even for you?
“Take it easy,” Decker said. “We’re not going down without a fight.”
“So what are we going to do?” Charlie asked. “We’re outmanned and they have our guns!”
“Leave it to me,” Decker said. “I have a plan.”
23
