The Serpent Road: A Science Fiction Novel

by Anthony James

  As his head poked above the level of the road, he took in what he saw, and his stomach dropped with a feeling like chill wind that swept through him and into his chest and head. It took a few momenta to process. Two warriors lay fallen on the roadway, pools of bright blood spreading across the pale stone, their bodies still. Oquis was just emerging on the other side, further up, his macuahuitl held in one hand, dark with stains along one side. Tzité lay where he had fallen, on the other side, unmoving, Tepeu crouched over him, his hands laid upon the boy’s chest, his head bowed and weeping. There came Xquic, clambering up to the roadway, her bow still held ready, scanning the area in every direction. There seemed to be no sign of the warriors who had attached them. Nor was there any sign of Acab and Quapar. Tohil moved to the road’s centre, shouldered his bow, and looked along the forest’s edge on both sides of the road, seeking the other two. His chest felt empty. The sound of Tepeu’s weeping continued as he walked slowly up the road towards them.

  “Xquic, Oquis, are you all right?” he said as he approached.

  Both nodded in response, not saying anything, Xquic’s attention now on the fallen Tzité.

  “Is he…?” she said.

  Tepeu looked up at her, his face wet. “He is gone,” he said simply, his body suddenly wracked with a big shuddering breath. Then he was looking back down at the still form before him.

  “Acab? Quapar?” said Tohil, still searching the treeline.

  “I saw Quapar go down,” said Oquis.

  “Yes, so did I,” said Tohil, the chill in his chest growing even stronger.

  “And Acab?”

  “I’m here,” Acab’s voice as he too came scrambling over the bank. “I had two of them after me, but I got one of them.”

  He didn’t seem to have any visible wounds, but there was a splash of blood along his spear arm.

  “Have you seen Quapar?” asked Tohil. “Did anyone see him run?” He could hear desperation creeping into his voice now.

  He felt himself sinking to his knees and his breath struggling. He was starting to come to a conclusion that he didn’t want to deal with.

  “We will wait.”

  He knew he should be looking for his things, collecting what they could, but he could do nothing more than sit there. The others were standing looking on as if waiting for direction, all except Tepeu, who sat immersed in his loss. After a while, Oquis spoke.

  “I will start gathering our things together,” he said.

  “I will help,” said Xquic.

  There was another pause, none of them moving.

  “I am going to scout the forest, see if I can find any sign of Quapar. He might be lying out there hurt,” said Acab.

  When Tohil didn’t respond, he turned away, and started down the embankment and into the trees.

  Tohil knew what had happened, though he wanted to deny it. Raiding parties such as the one that had just attacked them had a dual purpose. Not only would they try to seize as much as they could, their other main aim was captives. They didn’t want to kill their opponents. They wanted to disable them, knock them out, tie them up and drag them off. And there was only one end to that. Sacrifice. He took in a deep halting breath with that thought. He had seen Quapar knocked down. They hadn’t killed him. At least not yet. He would be bound and carried back to wherever they had come from, only to be laid out on an altar like the ones they had seen, and then his heart would be torn from his chest and offered to the gods. Tohil closed his eyes and lowered his head. His friend. Quapar gone as a sacrifice. He bit his lip. He felt like weeping, but no tears would come. There was nothing they could do. Nothing. He opened his eyes again and looked up to the sky. Any thought of rescue was beyond possibility. He had to face the reality.

  Swallowing back the hard lump growing in his throat, he got to his feet again and after laying his bow down on the roadway, the pale surface now red with blood, he moved across to Tepeu and eased him to his feet.

  “There’s nothing we can do now,” he said. “Come, help me get our things in order. We will do what we need to with Tzité when the others return.”

  There was no real way here that they could provide a proper burial. They had none of the things that might normally go into a grave, nor did they have the proper tools with which to dig a sufficient resting place, but they could, at least, provide some semblance of it. As to the fallen warriors that lay nearby, they would leave them where they lay. It would give him only the smallest sense of satisfaction though. All he could see right now were images of Quapar, stretched out upon a flat stone slab with a dagger poised above his chest. There would be no burial for his missing friend. The gods had seen to that.

  “This shall be your food: corn, chili-seeds, beans, pataxte, cacao; all this belongs to you, and should there be anything stored away or forgotten, it shall be yours also. Eat it,” Hunahpú and Xbalanqué said to the rat.

  — Popol Vuh, Part II, Chapter 6

  FOURTEEN

  By the time the others had returned, Acab, not surprisingly having found no sign of Quapar, the realisation of what had happened to them had truly set in. Their mood was subdued, the conversation sparse, only dealing with the necessities of what they had to do to prepare the continuation of their journey. They scavenged what they could from the bodies of the fallen warriors, some jade jewellery, a few pieces of gold that might come in handy. There might come a time when they had to bargain for goods, weapons or even food.

  It took them most of the afternoon to prepare a simple grave for Tzité and then they all stood for a time in silence, wishing his spirit well, whether it had chosen to join the sky or the forest or the earth, it was not theirs to know. By then, the afternoon was drawing in, and they agreed that they had to keep moving, find another place to set up for the night. They didn’t want to spend the hours of darkness next to the attack site and the slain warriors and the other things that resulted from bodies lying out in the open. Better to move on, find another spot. Oquis suggested that they might leave the white road altogether, but after some discussion, they decided it was best to stick to their path. The map showed them following the white road, and so they would until it came time to leave it behind them. He could curse the gods, but Tohil knew it would do him little good. They were set upon this path now, and they had to continue. The Elders were relying on them, and despite what had now happened, Tohil held that knowledge within his heart. For now, it seemed like the only thing that kept him going.

  It was already dark when they finally decided to stop. They built a small fire, sat around its edges, staring into the flames, not really feeling like talking. Repeatedly, pictures of Quapar’s face, memories of things they had done together, times they had shared, echoes of his voice kept swimming up in Tohil’s thoughts, and he would look at them, turn them over and over in his head till they drifted into something else. At one point, later in the evening, he went for a short walk into the darkness, trying to be at one with the way he was feeling, but it was too hard, and the sense of unfairness would sweep back down upon him. He didn’t care about his safety, even though they were still in the middle of the forest. Though his remaining companions still sat around the fire, he could not have felt more alone. He could barely imagine what it must be like for Tepeu. Now, the boy had no one to count as friend. He was the one truly alone. Tohil looked back along the roadway towards where their small fire still burned, lower now, but still shedding light, his companions silhouetted as dark shapes. Watching them there, he thought about the young man and what he must be going through.

  After a few minutes, he looked around at the trees, listening to the forest’s night noises, always full. Different noises in the darkness, but still there. The forest teemed with life, no matter whether day or night. But there too, there were hunters and there was prey. He looked back up towards the mountains, and saw, now on this moonless night, there was a faint glow in the cloud, a touch of redness. He traced it back to the mountain’s peak. There, right at the top, there was a yell
ow-orange glow, as if someone had built a huge fire. How could that be? For just a moment, he felt afraid. It was as if the images from his dreams were seeping into this world. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and then slowly opened them again. The glow was still there. He had not imagined it after all. He shook his head and turned back towards camp.

  When he reached them, he sat slowly, still thinking and then asked the others.

  “Do you see that light up on the mountain?”

  They looked to where he was pointing.

  Tepeu spoke, though his voice was glum, subdued.

  “That mountain has fire within it,” he said. “Sometimes, it breathes that fire upon the world.”

  Tohil didn’t understand what Tepeu was saying. Whatever he meant, it wasn’t something that made him feel comfortable.

  “How do you mean it breathes fire?”

  “From what they say, it comes out in a vast breath, high into the sky and in rivers that run down to the earth. And then the fire turns to stone.”

  Acab snorted in disbelief. “How can that happen?” he said.

  Tepeu merely shrugged. “I do not know. It is what the Elders say.”

  Again, Acab gave a short sound of derision and simply looked away.

  Tohil, however, was put in mind of the picture of the Dark Serpent he had seen on that temple wall in the forest. It had been breathing fire as well. Was the mountain connected with the Seelee too? But how could that be? No, it didn’t make sense. He was trying to make connections now where there were none. There were too many things that just could not be satisfactorily explained. He sat back frowning. Tepeu seemed to have nothing more to say about the matter. They all sat around the remains of the fire in silence.

  Sometime later, Tohil drifted into a light and troubled sleep.

  oOo

  On waking the next morning, it took Tohil a few minutes to remember, to place himself back into the world full of loss that they had experienced. As soon as he had, that sense of hopeless emptiness swept down upon him once more. Then he caught himself. He could not afford to continue like this. None of them could. The morning greetings among his companions were soft, but they were still all together, all of them that remained. They needed to get moving, find this city, and then plan the next part of their journey.

  “Tepeu,” he said. “Do you know how far away this city might be? Is it one day, two?”

  Tepeu shook his head, his face still glum, even more reluctant than usual to engage.

  “So then,” said Tohil. “We need to move. Get out of this forest. Get on the road again.”

  There were subdued mutters, but they started making preparations.

  Surprisingly, it was Acab who stopped in the middle of what he was doing and spoke up.

  “Why do we have to continue on the stupid mission of yours anyway? Look what’s happened.” He stood there defiantly, arms crossed.

  “Would you have us go back?” Tohil asked him simply.

  “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  “We knew there was going to be danger. Why do you think Haracan asked me to take companions?”

  Oquis nodded slowly at that.

  “And remember, back at that first temple,” Tohil continued. “Wasn’t it you who said that now we were warriors? Perhaps you should start to believe that and accept what the gods have given us.”

  Acab narrowed his eyes, stuck out his jaw, and then turned, and stalked off into the forest. When a little later he returned, there were no more complaints, and he busied himself pulling the last of his gear together.

  Tohil looked around them, thinking that they really should hunt. He had no way of knowing how long it would take them to get to that next point, although now, they probably had more food to go around. He stopped, cursing himself inwardly for the thought, but in the next moment, he was forced to see it in another light. It was a reality, and they all had to deal with realities.

  “Everyone ready?” he asked. “Then let’s get moving.”

  oOo

  Two days more they marched upon the white road before the first signs of habitation started to appear. The white road had curved until their path of travel was almost perpendicular to their progress up to now. They began to see people in the fields, tending to crops. And as that population grew, so did the imposing sight of the great conical mountain, looming over everything, the continuing plume of smoke trailing far across the sky. Now, in daylight, they could not see the fires that were supposed to burn on top, but the smoke trail was enough for them to know that it was there. Tohil, pulled out his map to verify, but there was no city marked, just the Great City, which was their destination. He made a calculation in his head. They’d been travelling for more than two weeks now. From what he could ascertain, looking at the map, they were perhaps over halfway, but it was difficult to tell from here, how much further those mountains lay.

  Around mid-morning, they saw the first buildings, not unlike those familiar from the village back home. More people appeared, and then they started to pass others on the road, merchants, individual travellers, a large group with slaves. One or two of them made simple greetings as they passed in the opposite direction, but their presence drew not even a second glance. Before long, the buildings became larger, constructed here and there out of stone, and square, not round like the dwellings they had passed before. And still the white road stretched on beneath their feet. He didn’t know what he expected, that the road just suddenly stopped when they reached some form of civilisation. As they marched on, it seemed that it would reach all the way through the city’s centre. Again, Tohil found himself wondering why someone would build something like that, so much effort, clearly built to last forever, just like the temples, and all just so people might have somewhere to walk. He could feel the hand of the Seelee on this, he just knew it, but how and why, he had no idea.

  They continued walking, continued passing people, many of them dressed in unfamiliar garb, many colours, different shades of skin. Everywhere he turned, Tohil had something new to look at. The sights affected his companions as well. They turned as they walked, watching those who passed, sometimes with open mouths. Ahead of them, the road’s relative elevation started to sink, becoming level with the surrounding landscape, and on either side, there appeared stalls, merchants with goods arrayed on tables, roofs of woven leaves and wood, protecting from sun and weather. Everything seemed to be there open on display: dried fish, clothing, jewellery, stones, pots, weapons, feathers, grain, meat, other types of food, beverages. It was almost too much to take in. Ahead, two stone pillars, brightly painted in reds and blues sat on either side of the road, marking, Tohil presumed, the entrance to the city proper. Further along, large pyramids marked temple complexes, again painted with bright colours and in perfect repair, nothing like the old forest covered structures they had seen up till now. Tohil wanted to see more, but there was too much to see. He wanted to enter one of those temples, perhaps all of them, see how they might be different. If they were working temples, however, with priests, and functions, rituals, and procedures underway, that might present a problem. Perhaps that was something that could be overcome.

  As they passed the gate stones, he realised that they needed to decide what they were doing here. They entered a broad, flat, paved expanse, stalls clustered along every side, people walking everywhere, engaged in conversation, bargaining with merchants, or simply passing through. He stopped, calling for the others to do the same, and simply stood there looking at all the activity, listening to the various voices, some speaking words he could understand, others not. There were different skin colours, vastly different heights, and stature. The only thing that seemed to be consistent was the lack of sameness everywhere. He really didn’t know what to do. Were their Elders here? If so, where might they be found. Some of the people passing were decked out in feathered robes, jade, and gold jewellery in profusion. Here and there they were accompanied by others, dressed simply, following along behind, or carrying burdens. Were
these slaves? He looked back up to one of the temples—he had counted four—and wondered if they used them for sacrifice. There were too many questions.

  “What do you think we should do?” he asked finally, addressing the question to the entire group.

  “Maybe get some supplies,” said Oquis.

  “Oh, some chicha,” said Acab. “I saw some over there.”

  “Perhaps there’s somewhere we can stay,” said Xquic.

  “Tepeu?” Tohil asked.

  “I can help with trade. Speak to merchants,” he said.

  “Yes, that’s good. Xquic, I don’t know about staying here. It only slows us down. We should probably get what we need and then be on our way.”

  She considered this and then nodded her agreement.

  Tohil had another thought.

  “Did anyone see any sign of a river or a stream coming in? No. I didn’t either. They must have something to cover their needs, a place this size. If we need to go towards the mountains, we might need to take water with us. There must be some sort of water here to support so many people. We should find out where that is.”

  “I’ll try to find that,” said Xquic.

  Tohil nodded. “Good. I want to go and check the temples. Maybe see if there are some Elders I can talk to. We should meet back here I think.” He looked up at the sun. “Perhaps two hours will be enough.”