Slowly they worked along the trees till they were flush with one side of the hill, the steep side.
Tohil looked back at the battle, at the clumps of fighters and the number of fallen warriors. Unless the Seelee followers had more bands coming to reinforce them, it would be reasonably even. The skill and training of the troops from the Great City was balanced by the sheer ferocity and religious zeal of the warriors they now faced, but the disciplined troops were holding their own.
Tohil outlined his intentions.
“We need to get up the side of that hill. From there we will reach the temple doors.” He turned to the Jaguars. “I will need you to hold on the hillside. Stop any of the warriors reaching us. You need to give us time to find a way in. I don’t know how long it might take us.”
The Jaguars nodded their understanding. “We need to keep low on the way across, and we should move quickly.”
“Agreed,” said Tohil. “Right, let’s go.”
Bent down, and striding quickly across the field, they reached the side of the hill. They charged up the slope then, scrabbling for good purchase, slipping once or twice, but climbing quickly all the same. For a brief time, they were out of direct sight of the main conflict, then, as they reached a higher elevation one end of the fighting appeared over the crest. Tohil directed them around the edge of the hill and motioned for the Jaguars to hold position there. Immediately he raced up to the top of the slope, with Xquic, Tepeu and Tzacol alongside him. Then, they were at the flat. They would need to work their way around the side of the temple to reach the main double doors in front, and, keeping a watchful eye on the village defences below, he began to do just that.
They rounded the corner, stepped in to the shadowed overhang that framed the double stone doors and held. They could no longer be seen from below, but neither could they see the battle’s progress, though the noise of it continued to travel up to them. Nor could they see the group of Jaguars meant to defend them, but he was sure if there was a threat, they’d be certain to hear it.
“How do we get in?” said Xquic.
“I don’t know,” said Tohil, scanning the great doors from top to bottom. They were so familiar, so firmly etched into his memory, but he could see nothing that was obvious. “I wish I did,” he said.
“Think, Tohil,” said the astronomer. “Have you seen anything in your dreams?”
Tohil closed his eyes, trying to remember. The noises, his mindfulness of the nearby fighting made it difficult for him to concentrate. A moment later he opened his eyes.
“Wait, I have an idea,” he said.
He steadied himself positioned right in front of the doors and spoke one of the words from his dreams.
“Open,” he said but in the language of the Seelee.
He stood looking at the doors, waiting expectantly. Nothing happened.
“Open,” he said again.
Once more there was no reaction. Another one, perhaps.
“Initiate,” he said and then waited. Absolutely nothing.
“What are those words?” asked Tepeu. “Are they magic?”
Tohil shook his head. “I think they are Seelee.”
“But they don’t work.”
“No, they don’t.”
Time to try something else. Tohil approached the doors, started feeling over their surfaces, touching the carvings, pressing at them. It was nothing he hadn’t done before though and he began to feel his hope fading.
“Come, join me,” he said over his shoulder. “See if you can find anything on the doors, anything that looks out of place.”
All three stepped up to the doors and started searching.
They’d been at it a few seconds, when a familiar voice spoke behind them.
“Oh-ho. What have we here? Welcome home, Tohil. I see you finally made it.”
There was no mistaking that sarcastic tone. Slowly he turned.
“Acab?”
Spear in hand stood Acab, but it was Acab in a mask and feathers, Acab dressed as one of the Bird People. Beside him stood another, but this one was dressed as a Skull. If it hadn’t been for the familiar voice and clear attitude, Tohil might not have recognised Acab at all. Now, that he looked, he could tell that Acab was grinning within his mask.
“Acab,” he said again. “Why did you leave us?” There were other thoughts, but that was the one that leapt first to his mind.
“I have someone you might want to meet,” said Acab, his voice full of some joke.
Slowly, the other warrior lifted his mask, revealing his face.
“Quapar!” said Tohil and Xquic with one voice.
The desperate ones [the men of wood] ran as quickly as they could; they wanted to climb to the tops of the houses, and the houses fell down and threw them to the ground; they wanted to climb to the treetops, and the trees cast them far away; they wanted to enter the caverns, and the caverns repelled them.
— Popol Vuh, Part I, Chapter 3
THIRTY
“Call the Jaguars,” hissed the astronomer.
“There is no need for that,” Tohil told him. “These are our friends.”
He turned to Acab and Quapar. “But Quapar, how? I was sure you…”
Quapar said not a word, just stood there looking at them. Tohil was suddenly struck by how strange this all was. Down below, they could hear men fighting, dying and here now, his friend was back from the dead.
“Pretty, staff,” said Acab. “But you see, you and your little girlfriend don’t know everything Tohil. You are not always right. That should be becoming obvious by now.”
At his mention of her, Xquic had tensed, her bow held ready.
“But where is Oquis?” Tohil asked. If the strangeness of the situation was not warning enough, he was starting to have a bad feeling about this.
Acab laughed. “He’s down below, fighting with the others. He likes a good fight. You know that. If you were as smart as you think you are, you might have worked out some other things by now.”
“But why are you dressed like that?”
Acab took a step forward. “A-ha. Finally. Don’t you know, Tohil? No, I suppose you don’t. Every reward deserves sacrifice.” He looked at Tzacol. “And who is this tall ugly thing? Ahhh. Right. He’s an astronomer, isn’t he? So, I guess you finished your little task in the Great City. Your little child’s errand….”
Again, Acab took another step. Tepeu raised his spear. Tohil narrowed his eyes. Acab had always been a one for revenge if he had been slighted. Tohil assessed the odds. It was two against two. The astronomer had no weapon, nor did he. Tepeu was good enough, but Acab and Quapar were more skilled, Quapar faster. The latter had also changed the position of his weapon. Tohil thought quickly. Acab might indeed attack them, but Quapar? He couldn’t believe it of him.
“Listen, Acab, Quapar,” he said. “Whatever happened, we don’t have time for this now. We need to get into the temple. Let us sit down together after this is all over, discuss things.”
“And how have you managed with getting inside?” said Acab. “You’ve managed very well I see.”
Now he started walking to the side, keeping his attention on Xquic most of all. Tepeu and Xquic adjusted their own positions to track him. Tohil followed him as well, but he kept one eye on Quapar too.
“Who is this boy?” muttered Tzacol.
Tohil lifted one hand to still him.
Acab moved to one side of the door, keeping his attention on the group, but then he lifted one hand, placed it flat against the wall beside the door, changed its position, sliding his hand up and then stopped. Then, inexplicably, the place where his hand was started to glow slightly. Tohil had seen light like that before.
“Acab. You?”
“Yes, me Tohil. See you’re not so special after all. Some of us…well…” He grinned again.
Tohil turned to Quapar. “Quapar, do you go along with this?”
Quapar said nothing, and didn’t even turn his gaze to face Tohil, keeping his attenti
on on Tepeu as they moved warily, sizing each other up.
This was becoming steadily worse. Tohil swallowed, his mind racing. He needed to do something. He took a step forward, but all opportunities were snatched away by a series of noises coming from behind him, a grinding, the sound of metal. Very slowly, he turned. Dust and small fragments of stone started falling from the area at the top of the door. The doors themselves shuddered and then slowly, impossibly started sinking into the ground. Tohil jumped back, watching, bewildered. These were not double stone doors; they were one piece designed to look like doors. The large slab ground lower and lower, revealing a dark chamber beyond, a sigh of old air stirred through the opening.
Tohil, his companions, were all staring at the space where the vast door had been.
Just then, Tohil caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Just in time, he lifted his staff to block a deadly spear thrust. Acab jabbed again, his teeth bared.
“Sacrifice, Tohil,” he said as he thrust once more. “Time for yours.”
He could sense Xquic trying to get into position with her bow, but the astronomer was in the way. Quapar was charging at them and Tepeu quickly jumped forward, his own spear at the ready to intercept. Tohil was too busy trying to fend off Acab’s spear thrusts, backing away, swinging the gilded staff to try and knock the spear away. Pretty soon he’d meet a stone wall and he’d have nowhere to go. He managed a quick glance to the side. Quapar and Tepeu were at a standoff, trading spear thrusts, dodging from one side to the other, back, and forward. There were no more words to be had now, and Tohil knew it. But just then, something happened that he would not have expected. The tall astronomer leapt upon Acab from behind, wrapping his torso with wiry arms. Still Xquic circled, trying to get into position. Acab’s arms were pinned. He squirmed and struggled, growling, trying to break free. Tohil lifted his staff, brought it down with a mighty crack, right on the top of Acab’s mask. The wood split, and Acab immediately went limp. The astronomer released him and he fell to the ground. Tohil raised the staff again, but there was no need. Blood was coming from Acab’s head; he was not moving. Tohil lowered the staff again and turned. Tepeu and Quapar were still at it. Quapar seemed to be getting the better of it.
“Quapar, Tepeu stop!” he shouted, but his words went unheeded.
Just then Tepeu dodged, right into the path of a wicked thrust from Quapar. It caught him low in the side, and he cried out, fell backwards clutching at the place where blood was already streaming.
“Tepeu!” called Xquic.
Quapar raised his spear for another thrust. Tohil heard a quick noise from behind and in the next instant, an arrow thunked heavily into Quapar’s chest and then another. Quapar stood there, an expression of shocked surprise on his face and then he toppled backwards to the ground.
“No…” said Tohil and rushed forward. “Quapar.”
He crouched beside his old friend, but there was no doubt. He was gone. He looked back at Xquic, at the astronomer, and then turned to look at his fallen friend again. He started to reach out a hand, but then a groan from beside him made him turn away. Tepeu lay there a grimace on his face, holding his hands against his side, blood welling through his fingers.
“Tepeu,” said Tohil. Xquic had rushed forward and was now leaning over him.
“How bad is it?” she said.
Tepeu gave a feeble laugh. “How bad is bad?” he said.
Xquic tried to help him to his feet, but he groaned in pain. Together, they started pulling him across to the temple wall.
“You have to go,” said Tepeu.
“No,” Tohil told him.
“There is no time,” said Tepeu. “I can stay here, make sure of Acab. The temple is open. You have to go.”
Tohil grimaced. He didn’t like it, but what Tepeu was saying was right. In the heat of the moment, he had virtually forgotten about the yawning space behind them.
“Come,” said Tzacol. “He’s right.”
“We need to bind him, at least,” said Xquic. “There’s no way to tell how badly he’s hurt. He might wake up.” She reached behind her. “Look, I have two spare bowstrings. These may do.”
She stepped across to Acab, rolled him on his front, pulled his arms behind him and tied his wrists together and then she bound his ankles. There was no response from Acab at all. Tohil went and retrieved Tepeu’s spear, and offered it to him. Tepeu reached up and took it with one bloodied hand. It was not ideal, but it was enough. He had no desire to see another of his friends meet their end.
“You go,” Tepeu said. “Do what you have to. Do what you are meant to.”
Tohil stood slowly, turned looked at the darkness lying there. He glanced down at Acab. He’d realised, of course, that Acab too must be ‘of the blood’ but simply had not registered it in all the confusion. Amongst the priests, the Elders of all those tribes that sacrificed to the Seelee, they would have to have access to something similar to the mechanisms that lay beneath the Grand Palace. If he remembered the maps, that would make sense, all those glowing red spots. And if the Seelee awoke? Then, he imagined, all those places would become true sites of sacrificial rituals. More so than they were already. There were just too many things to process right now.
The sounds of battle still drifted up to them. Were there others like Acab among their number? Others like him? If they went inside the temple, there would be nothing to stop anyone following them should the attackers prevail. A wounded Tepeu could hardly hold them back, but then, there were the Jaguars as well. They had an uphill advantage. They’d surely be able to hold back the enemy for some time. It would not be an easy fight to the top.
The thoughts were tumbling through his head, the possibilities, and somehow, now, here, he felt something holding him back. There was a reluctance to enter that dark space in front of them, to discover what lay behind it.
“Tohil,” said the astronomer.
“Yes, yes, I know,” he said.
Xquic was watching him. She inclined her head in query.
Plucking up his resolve, Tohil took the first steps towards the shadowed darkness before him.
As he stepped inside, it was as if the shadows consumed him. All was in darkness. The other two were with him, one on either side. He peered into the gloom, trying to see something, anything, but there was merely shadow. The air inside was dry, a faint smell of dust, of age. He turned back to look at the light issuing from the temple door.
“There has to be a way to close this,” he said, visions of enemy warriors pouring through the gap filling him with concern.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asked the astronomer.
“I don’t think we have a choice.”
He walked over to the side of the high stone door frame, the same side where Acab had placed his hand. Though it was partially shadowed, he studied it carefully. He placed his hand on the stonework, cool beneath his palm. There didn’t seem to be anything that marked a place, no carvings, no painted details, just smooth stone. He ran his hands over the surface, left to right, and then he tried a little higher, remembering Acab’s placement. Then, just when he was about to give up and try on the other side, he felt something, a brief tingling sensation in his palm and then it was gone again. He moved his hand back to the spot. The tingling came again and a moment later, a slight glow sent faint light through the gaps between his fingers. That had done it. A deep rumble came from the floor, then again, a grinding sound as the broad stone door began hitching ever higher, faint trails of dust trickling from the top, shaken free by the movement. Still it rose, until suddenly, with an air of finality, it crunched to a complete close sealing them off inside. The only light came from the area on the wall beneath his hand. All noise from outside had gone and there was only the sound of his own breathing and that of his companions. He had sealed them in darkness. He waited for a moment, but nothing else appeared to happen.
“What now?” said Xquic. He could barely make out her shape. Her voice echoed in the spac
e.
“I don’t know,” he said. He lowered his hand from the wall, waited again, but still there was nothing but darkness. The faint glowing patch slowly faded. Then there was complete blackness. Tohil turned, one hand in front of him and stepped slowly forward toward the room’s centre. He took one step and then another, then, suddenly, there was light coming from everywhere, blinding him. He closed his eyes against the brightness. Cracking them open to a slit and then looking around slowly, his eyes became used to the light and he opened them even further.
They stood in a vast empty room. The flat floor was smooth, unmarked. The walls were free of decoration, featureless. Above them sat a vaulted ceiling, regular ribbed stonework interspersed with glowing panels.
“There’s nothing here,” said Xquic.
“No, that can’t be,” said the astronomer.
Tohil turned slowly. “There has to be something,” he said. “This can’t be it.” Had they come all this way for nothing? Had the Dwarf King been so wrong?
“Look at the walls. There has to be something else.” He stepped back towards the door, started feeling along the walls. Xquic started at the other side, working her way around. Tzacol crossed to the far side, doing the same, running his hands up and down, moving to the next section.
“Here!” called the astronomer after a few minutes of searching. “Over here.”
They both crossed quickly to where Tzacol stood. As soon as he reached the position Tohil could see what he had found. A faint line marked the stonework in the shape of a door, the finest crack. Tohil studied it, felt along the surface of the central panel, and then moved to the wall on either side. A moment later, he felt a familiar tingle. He placed his hand flat against the surface. The reaction was immediate. The central panel shifted back into the wall and slide aside.
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