The Serpent Road

by Anthony James

  They were hidden under green and blue feathers, and were therefore called Gucumatz. By nature, they were great sages and great thinkers.

  — Popol Vuh, Part I, Chapter 1

  THREE

  Tohil had no need to seek out Haracan, for the old man was standing there watching him as he approached. It was as if he already knew when Tohil would be coming. Feeling a little uncomfortable with that thought, Tohil swallowed and watched his feet as he approached rather than meeting the Elder’s scrutiny. All the same, he could feel the old man’s gaze every step of the way. No longer did the old man have a woven blanket around his shoulders. In the interim, he had changed it for a feathered and hooded cape. Dressed in his ritual robes, Haracan made an imposing figure.

  “You have made your choice then,” said the old man as Tohil grew closer.

  Tohil merely nodded in reply and then slowly lifted his gaze to meet the old man’s eyes.

  “And...?”

  Tohil hesitated. “I have done as you asked,” he said. “But I have questions.”

  “Questions are natural, Tohil. I would have been surprised if you did not have them.”

  Tohil pressed his lips together and nodded.

  “Good,” said Haracan. “Then come with me and I will show you the way, you can ask me your questions and you can tell me of your companions.”

  He turned with a swing of his feathered cape and beckoned Tohil to follow him to one of the smaller houses towards the edge of the group. A little nervously, Tohil followed behind. He had never been inside one of the Elder’s houses. He was a little unsure what to expect.

  Haracan stepped inside and turned, waiting for Tohil to enter.

  “Well, come in. Come. Sit,” he said as he took up a cross-legged position in the room’s centre.

  Tohil stepped inside, affording himself a quick glance around the room’s interior. Inside, it was not much different than the young men’s house, and he found himself surprised by that. There was a green and black feathered totem to one side, a shelf with various packages, and some carved stones on the top, but apart from that, just a sleeping pallet, a place to sit, a water gourd and not much else. He moved to the centre and sat as instructed.

  “So, now, Tohil. We had better start with these questions,” said Haracan once Tohil was seated. He tilted his head a little to one side and watched as Tohil struggled to ask what he wanted to.

  “Come, boy. Ask me.”

  Tohil gave a quick succession of nods, almost as if reassuring himself and then started.

  “Who are the Seelee?” The words burst from him all at once.

  Haracan narrowed his eyes at that.

  “Hum. I did not expect that one first.” He thought for a moment and then slowly nodded to himself before speaking again. “There are many stories passed down about the Seelee and their great power. How they shaped the world and rode high above it in the heavens. We have heard tales about how they came here, how they parted water and made stones rise from the oceans. All we have is the words that have been passed down to us and the stories that are carved in the stones, but sometimes these are unclear.”

  Tohil frowned. “But then why do we fear them?”

  Haracan answered slowly. “There are many reasons to fear them. They are beings of great power. We also know from the tales that they have a great hunger and they feed without remorse. Their legend must not be taken lightly.”

  “So, then where did they go? Are they still here? Acab said he saw one.”

  “We do not know where they went. Some of us believe that it has something to do with the temples, that perhaps they are only asleep. Others among us debate that and say that they have gone, risen to the heavens upon their Dark Serpents. Truly, we do not know the answer. And I wouldn’t listen to Acab. He likes to tell stories, that one.”

  “Then what is inside the temple?”

  “We do not know. Something of power. Perhaps it is connected to the Seelee. Perhaps it is the Seelee themselves. We simply do not know. What we do know is that the opening of the temple presents a great danger, and we must guard against it. To open the temple would call the Seelee back to us. As with everything, the calendar tells us, gives us prophecies and predictions. There will be a time when it is destined to happen, but that does not mean that it could not happen before the calendar speaks of it. That is why we are here, Tohil. You know that the Bird People take captives and then sacrifice them. Some of us believe that it is a tradition that grew from the Seelee’s hunger. This is why we do not follow their practice. There are other peoples, other tribes who do the same. They capture enemies, villagers. They don’t kill them then. They take them to their places of worship and they cut the hearts and the life from them. But you know that. You have seen that here with the ones that they take.”

  Tohil sat there for a moment, trying to absorb everything the old man was telling him. Some of what the old man was saying didn’t fully make sense, but he had other questions too.

  “But up on the temple, there is a very old stone, a carving. It’s a face. It does not look like any of the gods. It looks like us.”

  Haracan nodded. “Yes, I have seen this too.”

  “If it is so old, how can it look like us? Is it the Seelee? Do the Seelee look like us? And it is wearing a strange mask on its head. What does that mean?”

  Haracan held up a hand to stop him. “Enough. Some of these are questions that we all ask. But it is good, Tohil, that you are asking them. Know now that I cannot answer them all. I cannot answer many of them. None of us can. All we can do is guess. Keep these questions with you. Keep asking them. Ask them of yourself and ask them of the world. Perhaps some of the answers will come.”

  Tohil was not satisfied, but he knew he would not receive the answers he sought today and it was far from his desires to start questioning an Elder in the way he would need to get anything further.

  “So, your companions,” said Haracan.

  “Yes. I have spoken to Acab, Oquis and Quapar. They are my friends. I can depend on them.”

  “So you should,” said the old man. “I can see why you would choose them. No one else?”

  Tohil shook his head. “I do not think that anyone else will help. We work well together. There are others who might have more skill in certain things, but if I included them, it would just make things harder. That’s what I think. We should be able to travel better as a small group. At least, that’s what I believe.” The last he said almost as much to justify his decision to himself as to convince the old man.

  Haracan nodded, seeming to accept what he was saying.

  “Good.”

  The old man reached into a pouch and withdrew a tightly wrapped piece of animal skin. He unfolded it and spread it out on the ground between them. On it were drawn shapes in deep blue. He looked at it for a moment, and then turned it ninety degrees and then smoothed it in place again.

  “Look at this carefully, Tohil. This shows you your path. This circle here is our village, where we sit now. Here, over the other side is the Great City. These here are mountains. This line here...” He traced it with his finger. “...is a river. And nearby there is a white road, passing through the valley. You will need to journey through difficult places to reach it, but the white road should help. It will take you many, many days or even weeks to make this journey, and once you have reached it and delivered your message, you will need to return.”

  Tohil peered down at the map, studying the various features. He looked up at Haracan who was watching him intently. He returned his gaze to the map and it was then that he realised something. If the map was truly facing the direction they needed to travel, then the great city was in the same direction that the old carved face on the temple seemed to be looking. Was it coincidence? He looked back up at Haracan, but the old man showed no sign that there was anything significant. Tohil took a breath and decided he would keep that piece of knowledge for himself. He’d already been told that he’d asked enough questions.

>   “If it’s clear, take it. Guard it well. You will probably need it.”

  Tohil nodded and carefully folded the skin tightly and placed it in his pouch.

  “So,” he said. “Tell me the message.”

  Haracan smiled but the smile quickly slipped away to be replaced by a grave expression. “It is as I said before, but take this to the Dwarf King. Tell him that the Elders have seen the temple open and the Dark Serpent ride the sky.”

  Tohil repeated the words. “The Elders have seen the temple open and the Dark Serpent ride the sky.”

  “Yes. Listen to me, Tohil. I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to deliver this message. For some time, we have been aware of the portents, the foretelling of a great and dark event in the calendars, just as I mentioned before. They do not say what it is, but what we have seen tells us that it is the thing we have most feared for generations. We have known of its arrival through many lifetimes, but now, as we near the end of this calendar cycle, everything points to how soon it will arrive. We have studied, we have tried to interpret the signs, but now, our visions, our dreams only make that terrible thing clearer.”

  He fixed Tohil with a hard gaze, his eyes clear and sharp within that wrinkled leathery face.

  “You are the one, Tohil. Do not fail us.”

  “I understand,” said Tohil, stammering slightly.

  “So, may Red Chac if the East watch over you, for it is his path that you will tread.”

  Tohil bowed his head slightly at the mention of the god.

  Haracan seemed satisfied, though Tohil could not help thinking that there was something the old man wasn’t telling him. He was just about to say something else when a sharp scream came from the direction of the banked earth walls at the edge of the village. It was a man’s scream.

  Haracan and Tohil looked at each other and then scrambled to their feet and rushed outside. There on the embankment, one of their warriors lay on the ground, blood already staining the dark earth. From the trees came whoops and cries, and moments later a group of figures charged out. Some wore eagle masks, others long black and green feathers tied into their hair or bound into headdresses and onto their arms. All of them were painted, black and red or black and blue and all of them bore weapons. They were charging towards the defences.

  “The Bird People,” said Haracan. “Quickly, go! Find your companions. Go!”

  “But...”

  “Go!” hissed the old man.

  Tohil could see other warriors grabbing weapons and charging to defend the fortifications. Arrows flew across the earthen bank and one or two of the Bird People fell. A spear flew in the other direction and took one of their own warriors in the throat. He fell without a sound.

  Tohil didn’t need any other instruction; he charged across the earth and between houses heading for the young men’s house. Noise of the attack had drawn everyone out. Some of them were rushing to assist the warriors, but he spotted his companions, still in a group. They were watching the growing conflict but at the same time, tracking Tohil sprint towards them as if trying to make up their minds what they should do.

  As he neared, Tohil waved to them and then changed his direction, up towards the temple. They took his signal and started to run, following him, carrying weapons, sacks, some gourds strung about their bodies. If anyone noticed the four young men racing away and in the direction of the temple, for now, they had more important things to worry about.

  Tohil reached the top of the rise and wasted no time dashing around to the other side of the broad stone structure. He stood there panting, waiting for his friends to catch up.

  Acab was the first to round the temple’s corner. He raced up to Tohil and stopped, a look of accusation on his face.

  “What are we doing?” he said. “We should be down there helping.”

  The sounds of the battle still reached them from beyond the temple’s bulk.

  “We are leaving,” Tohil told him.

  The others had reached them by this time.

  “But we can’t just leave,” said Quapar.

  “We must. The old man said we must go. We are not to wait.”

  His three companions did not look happy, but they had no time for debate now. Tohil reached towards Oquis and retrieved his bow and arrows. These he slung over one shoulder.

  “Give me something else,” he said and Acab handed him a sack of grain, which Tohil also slung upon his back. The other two kept on glancing in the direction of the sound of fighting, shielded from their view by the walls of stone between them.

  Tohil looked up at the strange carved face, and then back in the direction it was looking, towards the mountains, towards the great city. He closed his eyes for a moment and then took a deep breath.

  “Come. We go,” he said and took the first steps down the other side of the hill, his heart still pounding. “And may Red Chac of the East be with us.”

  They descended the steps quickly and passed between several streams and ravines. They passed among some birds and these birds were called Molay. They also passed over a river of corruption, and over a river of blood, where they would be destroyed, so the people of Xibalba thought; but they did not touch it with their feet, instead they crossed it on their blowguns. They went on from there, and came to a crossway of four roads. They knew very well which were the roads to Xibalba; the black road, the white road, the red road, and the green road.

  — Popol Vuh, Part II, Chapter 8

  FOUR

  As Tohil descended the temple hill, he did so with a heart full of conflict. On the one hand, he had his task, on the other, he knew he should have remained there in the village to help against the Bird People. Acab was talking incessantly, saying that they were cowards, that they should not have run from the fight, and though he was saying things that Tohil believed in himself, he tried to ignore the words.

  “When we get far enough away, we need to check what we have. We’ll find a good place to stop and then make plans.”

  Oquis grunted his assent.

  “I’ll tell you the plans we need to make,” said Acab, stopping in his tracks. “We need to plan to go back and see if we can help. What if there’s no one left?” He waved his hand in the general direction of the village.

  “If there’s no one left,” said Tohil, “then there’s nothing we can do.”

  “He’s right,” said Oquis.

  “Besides,” continued Tohil, “with what the old man told me, if we do not complete this task, things will be a lot worse.”

  “Worse how?” asked Quapar.

  “Let us not stand here and argue about it,” said Tohil. “Let’s just keep going and when we find a safe place I will tell you everything I know.” He hefted the sack on his shoulder and started walking.

  “All right, but I don’t like it,” said Acab, but he quickly picked up his pace and fell into step with Quapar and Oquis following closely behind.

  Quapar kept looking around in every direction including behind them as they walked.

  “What are you doing?” Acab asked him.

  “Well, what if we are being followed? You never know.”

  “I think they might be too occupied to be worried about us,” said Acab with a little huff of derision.

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Quapar. He was probably right.

  The scrubby ground soon gave way to low bushes and shortly thereafter, they reached the treeline. Here, at this elevation and so close to the settlement, the forest was not too dense and they were quickly between the trees. Either the battle was over, or they were too far away now, with the temple hill in the way, to hear any of the noise. All around them were forest sounds, birds, monkeys the rustle of brush as some creature pushed through, perhaps a deer or peccary, or even a margay chasing birds or monkeys through the trees. Thankfully, up here, they were unlikely to run into a jaguar. That would certainly give Quapar something proper to worry about.

  Sunlight filtered through the treetops painting everything in v
ariegated shades of green. Small open patches speared with shafts of light lay brown with leaf litter. Here, within the trees, it would be difficult to be certain of their direction. They would have to rely upon the position of the sun and guesswork to identify where they might be on Haracan’s roughly etched map. The trees blocked any identifiable landmarks they could use to guide them. This gave Tohil concern.

  Before too long, Tohil heard a sound, something like running water, not too far off and straight ahead.

  “Let us head towards the water. We can get our bearings there and fill our gourds.”

  Oquis quickly agreed and they struck out in that direction. With each few minutes, the sounds grew clearer. They refrained from conversation as they walked. Once or twice they heard something louder moving through the forest and they froze, waiting until whatever it was had passed. It could have been a larger animal, or even the Bird People. Thankfully though, they didn’t have cause to find out. In a few minutes more, the sound became clearly identifiable as falling water. There was no mistaking it. They broke through some thicker scrub to reveal a crystal blue pool with a small waterfall at the opposite side. Steep banks surrounded the pool on every side, but there appeared to be a flat strip down near the water’s edge near to the spot they had emerged.

  “Perfect,” said Tohil. “Let’s stop here.” The others nodded their assent. Quapar kept looking around at the surrounding trees and shrubs.

  “What is it?” said Acab.

  “I’m listening.”