The Serpent Road: A Science Fiction Novel

by Anthony James

  Tohil thought quickly. They should not appear to be a threat.

  “Acab,” he said. “You come with me.” Better Acab than Oquis. Quapar was too flighty and if he asked Xquic to come, that might appear strange. “The rest of you wait here. Acab, bring your spear, but hold it loose.”

  He stepped forward, allowing a moment for Acab to join him and then started walking forward slowly towards the larger group, his bow remaining strung loosely upon his shoulder. He didn’t want any conflict here.

  “So, we’ll just wait here, will we?” said Xquic from behind them.

  He ignored her comment and simply kept walking.

  As they approached, a couple of the warrior types moved forward a pace or two, their weapons at the ready. There were six of them, Tohil saw now. Two of them held atlatls, darts notched in place and ready to throw. The remainder carried spears, and other weapons, no sign of bows. They were clearly experienced fighters. One of them called out something, a word that Tohil couldn’t make out, but it seemed by their postures that it was a command for them to stop. Tohil spread his hands wide, and another of the warriors beckoned him forward. Tohil nodded, and with hands still stretched out from his body, he proceeded slowly forward. As he neared, the one who had spoken motioned him to stop and then said something else. The words were strange, almost familiar, and yet not. He shook his head. Again, the warrior said the words. What he said meant nothing. Tohil shrugged. He looked at Acab, but Acab also shook his head. He looked back over his shoulder at their group. He simply didn’t know what to do.

  At that moment, seeing what was going on, Tzité came suddenly sprinting across the distance towards them. Uncharacteristically, he shouted some words as he ran, words that again Tohil could not understand. The armed warriors, who had bristled at Tzité’s sudden movement, seemed to relax a little. Tzité delivered more words, again almost familiar, but still opaque to Tohil.

  “What’s happening,” Tohil asked.

  “I can speak to them,” said Tzité simply. “So can Tepeu. They are merchants. I told them that we are simply travellers on our way to somewhere else. We don’t want trouble.”

  One of the guards said something again and Tzité responded. With his answer, the guards lowered their weapons completely and started to withdraw back to the rest of their group. And with that, Tzité gestured behind himself for the others to come up and join them. As they started forward, one of the merchants detached himself from the caravan and in turn, stepped forward, approaching the spot where the three of them now stood. What ensued was a lengthy discussion between Tzité and the merchant, with Tepeu joining in as soon as he arrived. Mostly it was lost on Tohil, though he could make out a familiar word here and there.

  While they conversed, Tohil, keeping one eye on the interaction, studied the merchant’s party in more detail. The dozen men who were packs were dressed in simple breechcloths that looked stained and dirty and they were all roped together in a line. There were a couple more armed men at the rear that Tohil had not noticed before. The remainder were all dressed similarly to the merchant who stood with them now, except for one. He wore different robes, more colourful. The shoulders were adorned with sleek black feathers that shone green in the sunlight. Tohil observed him with interest. Merchants he had certainly seen before, but this one was definitely different. In some way, he reminded Tohil of the Elders back home.

  The discussion between the merchant and the boys seemed to be trickling to a halt and Tohil took the opportunity to interrupt them.

  “Who is that with the black feathers,” he asked,

  The merchant turned to him and then spoke, haltingly, but in words that Tohil was familiar with.

  “He is an astronomer,” he said. “He studies the heavens, he makes predictions. He can see many things. Sometimes they join us. Astronomers, architects, sometimes special craftsmen. This time it is an astronomer. They accompany us to ply their trade in different cities and villages or just simply to travel from one to the other more safely. But mostly we trade.”

  Tohil had never seen an astronomer. He had heard of them. He wondered briefly how one became an astronomer.

  A few more words passed between Tzité and the merchant and then the conversation seemed to be done, for the merchant stepped back to join the rest of his group. With one last look at Tohil, he barked a command and the whole party hefted their gear and started forward again in the direction that Tohil and his companions had just left. Tohil, Acab and Tzité stepped back to the edge of the road to allow them to pass, as did the others. They stood there for a while, watching as the merchants continued further down the road. Finally, Tohil turned to Tzité.

  “What was said?” he asked.

  “They are a party of merchants,” said Tzité simply. “They are carrying black salt from the mountains mainly. Some obsidian and jade. They are heading that way to a city that lies at the end of the road. They have just passed through another city about two days ago up that way. He told me they have not seen any trouble along the way, that they very rarely do. All people benefit from their trade, so mostly they are left alone.”

  “But what of those men who were tied to each other, those carrying the packs?”

  “They are slaves,” said Tepeu, offering no further explanation.

  Tohil thought about this for a moment or two. He had also heard of slaves, but only in tales of the old times told by the Elders. There were no slaves among his people, had not been for enough years that it would be hard to suggest when that might have been.

  “Do your people have slaves?” he asked.

  “No,” said Tepeu. “We are farmers. Our people are simple.”

  “How is it you know their words?” asked Xquic.

  “From time to time, we see merchants passing through. Sometimes they stay for a few days. In that time, we learn how to speak with them and they learn to speak with us.”

  “And the slaves?” That was Oquis.

  “We have seen them before,” said Tzité with a shrug. “Mostly when the merchants come from the big cities.”

  He turned away then, as if the conversation no longer interested him, started walking back to collect the gear he had left back up the road when he had dropped it to run to their position.

  Tohil looked back to the retreating merchant group, a mere dark blob on the roadway in the distance now, like a fly walking along a white ribbon. He could understand why they chose to travel along the road. There were no surprises there, but somehow, he could not imagine that a feat of engineering as vast as what the road itself represented would have been undertaken simply to bear parties of traders from one place to another. It just didn’t make sense.

  Tzité had re-joined them now, and leaving the merchants behind, Tohil turned his gaze to the road ahead.

  “So, let us find out what this city up ahead has to offer us,” he said, shouldering his gear, and taking the first steps on the way to do just that.

  “The jaguar ate them.” And they spoke thus because like footprints of the jaguar were the tracks which they had left, although they did not show themselves. Already, many were the men who had been carried off, but the tribes did not notice it until later.

  — Popol Vuh, Part IV, Chapter 2

  THIRTEEN

  Tohil stood upon the white road, but there was something different about it. He took a moment to understand what it was, and then, when he thought it was beyond his grasp, it became apparent to him. The surface stretching far away into the distance was smooth, and it was glowing. He frowned then. He looked around, and he was not alone. People walked before him and behind him in a long line, extending as far as he could see in both directions. He looked down and saw that something bound him to the one in front and the one in back. It wasn’t rope; it was something else, metal, shining like silver but at the same time white. He looked above him and the sky roiled with clouds, deep, flashing with sheets of lightning, but there also there was something wrong, something different. The light was not white; i
t was red. He took a step forward, and then another. There were voices, shouting commands, but he couldn’t understand the words. There, beside him, paced a figure, a Seelee. It carried something in its hand, a rod perhaps. He frowned at it, at the figure, and then the Seelee lifted what it was carrying and brought it down. He saw nothing that might touch him, but a searing pain lashed across his back, and again. He turned his eyes to front, gritting his teeth against the burning on his skin.

  And he was awake.

  Another dream. He opened his eyes, memory of that burning pain still bright in his consciousness. What had it meant?

  The others were stirring as well. They had made camp that night on the top of the road, gathering wood from beneath trees and carrying it back up the steep banks to make a small fire. They had sat around the fire, talking. As the evening wore on, they had managed to prise a few more details from Tepeu and Tzité about their lives. Acab had complained once or twice about a lack of chicha, and to be honest, Tohil could have done with some too, but apart from that, the evening had passed uneventfully. Once or twice, he had caught Xquic watching him in the darkness, but that was something he had put away to think about later. Right now, there were just too many puzzles to occupy his mind.

  Quapar looked over at him, tilting his head speculatively.

  “Did you dream again?” he asked.

  Tohil nodded slowly.

  “And what was it this time?”

  Tohil paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts, sitting up cross-legged and rocking back and forth. He wondered if it was really so obvious.

  “I saw the Seelee again,” he said slowly.

  “And what were they doing this time?” said Acab. “Flying in the sky?”

  Tohil grimaced and shook his head. “I was a slave, I think, or…no, a tribute. It wasn’t clear, but I think I was being taken away for sacrifice. There were many, many others.”

  Xquic looked up from whatever she had been doing, a concerned expression on her face.

  “I don’t know. Perhaps it’s nothing,” said Tohil.

  “You should never ignore dreams,” said Xquic. “You know that.”

  “No, I am not ignoring it. It is just….”

  “Sounds like the slaves we saw yesterday,” offered Oquis.

  “Yes,” said Tohil. “But there was something different about this. The feeling was…I can’t really explain it. They carried something and it was like a whip, but it wasn’t. It was just a handle. There was pain. Anyway, the dream is gone. I don’t think it meant anything. Just as you say, Oquis.”

  Oquis nodded and set about gathering his things together. Tohil could feel Xquic still watching him, as if studying, but he tried to ignore it. They needed to get underway. Who knew how far this city was that they were heading towards. It was marked nowhere on his map. With a sigh, he got to his feet and wandered off down the embankment to find somewhere a little private. Difficult in this open grassland, but at least somewhere that was out of the direct view of the others. They were used to living on top of each other back in the village, but even there, one could always find a need for some level of privacy.

  Alone, at least briefly, with his thoughts, Tohil tried to pick apart the dream. He was sure there had been more than a simple line of slaves. They hadn’t been carrying anything. Not that he could remember. The Seelee were herding them in that long line. The red lights in the sky were ominous, the colour of blood. That had to be significant too. He let out a disgusted puff of breath. Who was he trying to fool? He was no Elder to be interpreting dreams. It was probably just as Oquis said. He got to his feet and made his way slowly back to the top of the road where the others were gathering, but no matter how he tried, images from the dream still stayed with him.

  Their travel along the white road had brought them ever closer to the mountains. As they got underway, Tohil could now make out the folds and wrinkles at the central peak’s base, light and dark browns seemingly crumpled together. Somehow, the conical mountain reminded him of the shape of the temples, growing increasingly smaller as they reached for the sky, a sky, which for the moment lay cloudless and pale blue, apart from that single plume that reached out to one side from the very peak. As they walked, growing ever nearer with each few steps, Tohil began to wonder if it was a cloud at all. It looked somehow like a smoke trail from a large fire, and he questioned how that could be.

  Further up the road, they could see approaching forest, the trees starting to grow more numerous.

  “We need to keep an eye out up there,” he said.

  “As if we are not already,” countered Acab.

  The boys looked from one to the other of them, but as Tohil was becoming used to, they said nothing.

  After walking in silence for a while longer, he decided to press them to see what else they might know.

  “Tepeu, have you ever been to a city?”

  Tepeu shook his head.

  “But you both seem to know a lot more than you would learn in a simple village.”

  Tepeu shrugged. “The Elders tell us things. We learn things from the merchants who visit. Sometimes there are other travellers.”

  “So, what can you tell us about this city? We have heard stories too, but I think not so many as you.”

  Tzité piped up this time. “There are supposed to be many people there. Many different people. They have markets too, where they sell things. Dried fish from the sea, weapons, other things, jewellery. Many merchants come there and many different people.”

  “Different how?” asked Xquic.

  “I do not know. It’s only what we have heard.”

  They continued marching along the roadway for another hour. Though Tohil pressed the boys, they appeared to have little more in the way of useful information. Xquic and Quapar threw in questions of their own, while the other two seemed content just to listen. And still, despite their being a true part of the group now, the boys remained reticent, their answers short. Tohil found this disappointing, though he couldn’t work out why he expected more.

  The trees were growing denser, more like the start of a forest area, though the landscape appeared level. They had not been climbing. Already, Tohil had become used to the comfort level provided by the clear view allowed by the height of the road and the open grassland, and as they started to near the denser forest, he became increasingly uneasy. Something felt not quite right. Perhaps they had been travelling too long without anything to see. There had been a few animals off in the distance, some deer, hunting birds, but apart from that, nothing. Following his instinct, he pulled his bow from his shoulder, no arrow in place, but at the ready nonetheless. He kept glancing to either side of the road, checking the thickening vegetation for unusual movement. Brightly coloured parrots screeched overhead now, crossing from one side of the road to the other. A troop of monkeys made its presence felt, off to one side. Further down the road, a small group of deer crossed in front of them. Acab cursed, complained about the missed opportunity, but then became silent again. Still Tohil could not shake the feeling. Either his nervousness was radiating to the others, or they were sensing it too. They were becoming warier, more alert.

  The trees grew thicker, the undergrowth denser, and then, despite his heightened alertness, what came was a shock, halting him in his tracks as he struggled to understand what was happening. Tzité had fallen, collapsed sideways, clutching at his throat, making a strangled sound. There was blood, spilling on white stone. A long, feathered dart projected from his neck. Tohil reached for an arrow, nocked it to his bow and dropped into a crouch, scanning the trees, looking for where the dart had come from. Then there were more darts flying through the air. One narrowly missed him as he ducked out of the way. Everyone was reaching for their weapons. Xquic had also dropped into a crouch, her bow in hand and an arrow loosed. Acab was scrabbling for his spear. Oquis held his macuahuitl two-handed, swinging from side to side and then he charged forward. Then came the cries, battle cries.

  Tohil backed slowly
along the road and then over the embankment, seeking a target, as the warriors burst from the trees, some adorned in paint and feathers, some as jaguars, now carrying spears and macuahuitls and clubs. He loosed an arrow, but missed. The warriors, screaming now charged up the packed earth slope. There were about ten or more of them. Again, Tohil loosed. This time he found his mark, catching one of the warriors in the shoulder, but then he was backing away as another charged towards him. He saw Quapar go down with a blow to the head. Acab, thrusting with his spear defensively was backing away, seeking the opposite side of the bank. Oquis swung heavily, taking another warrior in the head. He had lost sight of Xquic altogether. And then he was running, dashing for the trees, dropping the goods he was carrying and simply concentrating on staying alive. He charged into the cover, ducking around trunks, tearing through bushes that scratched and ripped at his skin, his breath coming in gasps now, his heart hammering. Footsteps pounded through the trees behind him, and still he ran. And then they were gone. Suddenly there was silence, except for the sound of his laboured breath, and the screech of birds above him in the trees.

  He stood there listening, waiting, willing his breath to become quieter, for the sound of his heart in his ears to subside, and gradually, gradually, it did. He looked around the tree behind which he stood, poking his head around and quickly withdrawing, but then venturing a look again. It seemed as if he really was alone again. He stepped out from behind the tree and waited, at the ready, but nothing disturbed he undergrowth, nothing moved. Of the battle, he heard no sound. Swallowing, he started walking cautiously forward, using tree trunks as cover as much as he could, peeking around their edges then moving forward again. Still no sign of the warrior that had been chasing him, nor of any of the others. He moved forward, hoping that he was heading in the right direction, until finally he saw the edges of the earthen embankment that led up to the white road. Of the things he had dropped, he could see no sign. From down here, he couldn’t really see anything. He hesitated to call out to the others, to draw attention to himself. Cautiously, keeping himself low, he started to ascend the bank.