“What does that mean?” asked Xquic.
Tepeu shrugged.
Tohil looked up at the peak, suddenly believing that he knew what it meant. He looked down at his feet, at the hard stone beneath them. He had seen what happened to metals when fire touched them, how they flowed and became liquid when they were made into jewellery. Could the same thing happen to stones? How hot would the fire need to be? He turned his attention back up to the very top of the mountain. This road would take them ever nearer to that fire up there. He wasn’t at all sure now that he liked that thought. He resettled the things on his shoulders and stepped forward upon the dark road. Once more, he was forced to put those doubts away and press on.
A slight breeze had grown, cooling now, but as they climbed, it started to develop a chill, becoming increasingly stronger as they went. Even though the path they walked was smooth, it was all uphill and hour by hour, they found the need to pause, taking short rest breaks. With each one, the cool wind was noticeably colder. Tohil and Tepeu, with their simple breechcloths and Xquic, though better off in her plain, woven shift, started feeling the chill. As it became more and more obvious, Tohil started to realise how inadequately prepared they were. Certainly, back in the village, it got cooler in the dry season, especially at night, but it was nothing like this. He was starting to wonder how many ways the gods could find to test him.
Later that afternoon, all such thoughts were driven from his mind. Tepeu reached the spot first, and he stood, transfixed, mouth open and staring. Tohil and Xquic quickened their pace to catch up to him and then they too stood there staring. They’d reached a high point, one that allowed them to see over the other side of the mountain and there, shining in the late afternoon sun stretched a vast body of water, the like of which they had never seen. At least Tohil presumed it was water. He had seen small lakes, he had seen rivers, but nothing like this. The sheer size of it challenged his comprehension. A green, heavily vegetated shoreline stretched around, looping in and out, forming circular bays and finger-like promontories. In other spots, long pieces of land merely extended out into the water. And everywhere the water sparkled. Further out, there were islands, covered in thick vegetation, except for one that looked barren and rocky. Xquic gripped his shoulder.
“Do you see that?” she said, unnecessarily.
“Yes, I see it,” he breathed. He had never imagined that there could be so much water in one place. For now, the chill was forgotten. He didn’t even notice that Xquic’s hand remained resting on his shoulder. All he could think of right now was that it was such a pity that his friends were not here to see it as well.
He stood there for a moment or two more, and then divested himself of the things that he was carrying.
“We may as well stay here for the night. It will be dark before long.”
He looked around, but there was only barren ground surrounding them, a few small grassy tufts, but nothing for them to make a fire with. They would have to make do with dried fish and meat that they had acquired in the city for the moment. He had a thought then. It would be good to celebrate this achievement, seeing how far they had gone, but looking around the provisions he realised that the chicha that Acab had acquired had departed with him as well. Besides, thinking about it, he wasn’t sure that Tepeu would feel much like a celebration. With a sigh, he lowered himself to the ground, and in so doing, discovered something else. The rock that he now sat upon was warm. He placed his hand flat upon the stone, and it confirmed the feeling.
“Do you feel that?” he said, motioning for the others to feel the ground as well.
“It’s warm,” said Xquic.
“Yes, it is, isn’t it,” he said. He spared a glance up to the glowing light above them. There was fire in the heart of the mountain as well. It seemed that the chill air around them might not be such a problem after all.
He leaned back and turned his gaze out to the ocean. Somewhere down there lay the Great City. Though he could not see where it was for now, they were surely getting closer. He lay back against the warm stone, gazing up at the slowly darkening heavens. It would seem that the gods gave as well as took.
For seven days, he mounted to the skies, and for seven days he went down into Xibalba; seven days he changed himself into a snake and really became a serpent; for seven days he changed himself into an eagle; for seven days he became a jaguar; and his appearance was really that of an eagle and a jaguar. Another seven days he changed himself into clotted blood and was only motionless blood.
— Popol Vuh, Part IV, Chapter 9
SEVENTEEN
Despite the ground’s warmth, they found themselves huddling together in the night, one next to the other as the breeze chilled them, coming and going, making them shiver. Tohil had never felt so cold. Once or twice, he woke during the night the trembling shaking his body. The moon was high, painting the vast expanse of water below them with silver. He could see there, in the darkness, marks of civilisation, slight glows where there were fires burning. One such deep smudge looked to be almost in a straight line from their position, directly down the mountainside and towards the water’s edge. He sat up at that point, fumbling out the map and trying to match their position, peering down at it in the moonlight, but it was too hard, and he tucked it away again, and lay back down, seeking the warmth of his companions. Xquic stirred and mumbled something in her sleep and then subsided again. He thought for a while, considering how strange it was that they lay there in the open, fires above them and fires below them on the coast, and if he considered it, probably fires directly beneath them as well. Eventually, he drifted back to sleep, dreaming of travelling a long road with fires burning across the entire land on either side, a great winged serpent soaring and diving against a black and red sky.
They woke together as the sun rose, touching the water with orange and yellow, making the water below look like beaten gold. Tohil had memorised the position of the fires he had seen in the night, and he pointed it out now.
“If we head almost straight down here, we can reach the water. I saw a fire down there last night. Maybe a village. We can ask for directions to the Great City.”
“But isn’t it on the map?” said Xquic.
“Yes, of course it is. But I don’t see this ocean, the shore, the islands. We should be able to see it from here, but I can’t see anything that looks like a city.”
“If there’s a city, there should be a road,” said Tepeu.
What he said made sense, but perhaps that was only presumption on their part. If not one road, then possibly many roads. That too could be, but still there was no indication. They had been able to see the white road from afar, like a pale scar across the landscape. Here there was just green lapped by water stretching as far as they could see.
They took turns attending to their morning needs, the two who waited to stare out at the landscape below in respect of the other’s privacy until they were done, and then they all gathered their things together. There was no obvious path down from here, no stone road upon which to walk, so they would just have to watch their footing every step of the way. Tohil marked where the vegetation started again, quickly turning from dirty brown to rich green once more. Very soon, they managed to find a descending ridgeline that led in the right direction, hard and unmarked by the various stony gullies that spidered across the rest of the ground. About halfway down, having picked their way step by careful step, Tepeu called for attention, pointing at something down below, peeking through the green.
“That looks like a building,” he said.
“We should head that way,” said Tohil. If it was another temple, or the remains of one, it might provide clues about which way they should travel, or again, more that could help solve a number of those things remaining unanswered in his head.
“But what if there are people there?” asked Xquic.
“We should be careful, of course,” he told her. “But during the night, I saw fires along the coast. There was nothing down there, nothi
ng this close.”
He paused for a moment, thinking, and then looked back up behind them at the smoking mountain top.
“Perhaps there were people here once,” he said. “But maybe it was too close to the mountain. If the mountain truly breathes fire, I would not like to live below it.”
Xquic seemed to take that, and they started descending once more, Tohil keeping his eye on the spot where whatever the structure was now lay. The more they approached, the clearer it became that it was some sort of building, but from this distance, it was still too obscured by forest to make out its shape clearly.
By midday, the sun high above them, bare earth and stones had turned to scrub and grass, and not long after, the grass, growing in tufts and clumps started to form a covering over the ground. The first trees and bushes drew a line, marking the change from the foothills to the beginning of the coastal plain. And then, about an hour later, they were in forest. Tohil dropped his packs and sat upon a green covered log, feeling the cool earth and leaves beneath his feet. He looked up into the canopy.
“Do you think we need to hunt?” he asked, as the other two squatted down in front of him.
“Not yet,” said Xquic. “I think they left us more than they needed to.”
Tohil nodded, though the comment made him remember and he felt that sense of sadness and betrayal wash through him again. He looked at Xquic and at Tepeu, realising that they were less equipped to hunt now. Acab and Oquis had taken their weapons, and the atlatl and darts as well. No darts, no blowgun, they were left with bows and spears. Certainly, Xquic was very good with that bow, but still, if they were forced to seek out bigger game, the light spears might not be adequate to finish the job as needed.
“Tepeu?” he said.
“I think we have enough,” he said. “Besides, you said you saw a village. We can find a way to find more food and water there.”
Tohil nodded. He looked around and then found a stick, cleared some of the leaves away and started drawing in the forest earth.
“Here is the mountain, and here, that’s where we are. That’s the sea.” It was only a rough line that he drew, nothing like the bays and promontories that extended along the coastline. “And about here is where I saw the lights. The Great City, according to the map is over here somewhere.” He drew a circle, but placed it away from the ocean. “I can’t tell whether it is by the water or further inland. But, by what I can tell, it is still probably several days’ travel from here. There is still a long way to go. That concerns me. The longer we spend travelling, the greater the danger.”
He knew that to be true, though he didn’t know what would happen if they took too long to reach their destination. And then, after they had, what was supposed to happen next was beyond him.
“I just wanted you to know, that we may be closer, but we still have far to go. Now we are only three, the risks are even greater.”
“We know,” said Xquic.
“I will not stop,” said Tepeu. “I must honour Tzité’s memory.”
He pressed his lips together, and at the same moment, snapped the stick that he had been holding. He tossed the pieces away from him and into the undergrowth.
Tohil nodded slowly.
“Good. So, let us find this building first.”
He stood, brushed himself off, and collecting his things, started off in the direction that he thought they had seen the structure or more than one hidden within the forest.
Once more, they had stumbled upon an overgrown temple, but then Tohil remembered; Tepeu had not been with them the last time it had happened. He might have seen something like it before, but it was very different from that they had seen in the old city, crumbling but exposed to the elements, the forest’s encroachment at a minimum. This again was different still. The familiar pyramid structure, the undergrowth and canopy keeping most of it in shade, leaf litter and small creepers partially covering the stairs, these were the same. This time, however, there were no old trees and buttress roots wrapping the structure like the fingers of a hand. It looked like no one had been here for a long time. The small bushes and young trees of the forest sprouted directly around the temple’s base. Tohil stopped right at the temple stairs, listening for sounds in the thickness around them, but there was nothing more than the noises he would normally expect among the trees. All the same, he didn’t want to be caught by surprise like the last time they had found a building like this. He lowered most of his things to the ground, but kept his bow at the ready as he climbed the stairs, one by one.
“I will wait here,” said Tepeu from the base of the staircase, spear in hand, watching the trees around them.
Xquic said nothing, only raced up the stairs to join him, her bow also at the ready.
The usual small altar room sat atop a flat platform when they reached the end of the stairs. A large crack marked the front wall, but above the doorway, stood another of those carved faces in the round mask with the tubes running over its shoulders. Tohil had come to think of them as their guides, Seelee or not. It looked just the same as the others he’d seen, and Tohil wasn’t quite sure what he felt upon seeing it. To him, now, it was an indicator that they were on the right path, but that possible link to the Seelee still caused him unease.7
Tangled vines covered half of the doorway concealing whatever lay within and adding to the shadows inside. Tohil stepped forward, peered through the gap. It was dim inside, but this time, he could see there had been damage of some sort. The altar stone had cracked and half of it lay at an angle, one end on the stone floor, the other propped against what remained. He ducked beneath the vines and immediately jumped back, flailing at his face and mouth, trying to rid himself of the web he had just walked into. He turned around and around, checking that there was nothing left crawling on him.
“What?” said Xquic.
“Spiders,” said Tohil. “I hate spiders.”
Xquic gave a short laugh, and trailing her palm across his back, without any hesitation, she stepped inside.
Tohil grunted to himself and followed, still wary of any other webs waiting to entrap him. He held for a moment, allowing his eyes to adjust. The old stone was dark, covered in patches of moss, one wall almost completely covered by old dead vines that had gone black. Small pieces of rubble and dirt lay strewn across the floor. He looked over at the other wall, and the stonework was blotched with large patches, but he the figures that were carved there remained visible. Once more, the familiar representations of the gods were there, but also, something more. A large central panel showed a line of Seelee figures, once more holding the blowguns that shot fire, but this time, they were pointing at another group. The second group were Seelee too, and they too held up blowguns, shooting fire. This panel showed Seelee fighting Seelee. It was clear. But how could that be?
“Do you see that?” he asked Xquic. “Can they really be fighting each other?”
She stepped up to the wall and ran her fingers over the carved shapes.
“Gods fight gods,” she said. “We know that. Why not Seelee against Seelee? That is if these are truly supposed to be the Seelee.”
Tohil stepped forward to stand beside her.
“I am sure that is what they are meant to be now,” he said. “After what the priests told me in the city. They said that the Seelee became as gods, or more. That they became gods.”
He looked back at the other wall.
“Come, help me over here,” he said.
A little nervous about what might be hiding amongst the old vines, he started ripping away at the dead creepers, tearing them away from the wall to try to reveal what might lie beneath. Xquic came across and began enthusiastically pulling at the vines as well. It did not take them long to clear enough to see what was carved there. Tohil stepped back, trying to take in the entirety of the relief. The carving showed line after line of rectangular shapes, laid out one above the other in neat rows. Each one contained a figure, lying, arms beside them. They could only be graves. He could t
hink of nothing else. But these figures were not wearing the round masks that he had become familiar with from representations of the Seelee. Were these people? He had never seen something like this.
“What do you think it is?” he said.
Xquic stood staring at it, plucking at her lower lip. “I do not know. Are they graves? Are they dead people? They don’t look like warriors.”
“No, they look just like normal people. There is no jewellery, no weapons.”
Nor were there any representations of serpents or gods. Just line after line of people lying still within the rectangular shapes. There was no jewellery, no feathers, no offerings.
Xquic looked back at the carvings on the opposite wall. “Maybe there was a war and these are the dead.”
“But they look different from the figures over there.” Tohil rubbed the back of his neck. He tried counting, but the even lines confused his eyes after a while and he stopped. “I don’t know,” he said. “Let’s look at the other side.”
Together, they stepped out into the relative light through the other temple door. Once more, there was another face there, facing out into the thick undergrowth. Tohil followed the gaze and tried to orient himself, picturing the map in his head. It was certainly facing the way he would have expected, if it was indeed in the direction of the Great City, but it was away from where he had seen the village the night before and it would take them through even denser forest. The way would be too hard.
“Hmmm,” he said.
“What is it?”
He pointed the direction the carved head was facing. “The last ones we found showed us the way. But that takes us away from the water, away from the village. I still think we should try and find the shore, and then we can follow the coastline along till we meet up with the path again. Maybe there will be another road or something, though I didn’t see one from up on the mountain.”
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