Behind it, revealed, was nothing more than a silver box. It was smooth on every side, a lighted ceiling stone filling it with bright illumination that reflected from the smooth surfaces. Tohil swallowed. It looked suspiciously like those boxes beneath the Grand Palace, the places where the Seelee had gone to sleep. He hesitated, and then stepped inside. He turned around to see a square shape on the inside wall next to the place where the door had been. At both the top and bottom of that square there were smaller square shapes. Around each of the smaller squares was a yellow line. It glowed slightly.
“Come inside,” he told the others. “I think this is another doorway. But I probably have to do something to let us pass through.”
He waited for them to join him in the small confined space, and then reached out with two fingers to touch the top square. The pressure of his fingers depressed the small shape slightly, but nothing further happened. He stood there waiting, but that was it. Hesitantly, he reached out to touch the bottom square. The reaction was immediate. The door slid shut. A word issued from the air around them. Tohil started to panic. He’d been right. They were sealed inside. In moments, they too would fall into a sleep that would last for years or even centuries. How could he have been so wrong. He stabbed at the bottom square again. There was a noise, a slight tremor through the silver box, and then the feeling of motion. They were dropping. He stabbed at the square again. Nothing. The box vibrated around them, and still they could feel the movement. He looked to each of his companions. They met his gaze, wide-eyed. The astronomer had reached out to one of the walls, steadying himself.
“What’s happening?” said Xquic, a touch of panic in her voice.
Tohil could only look at her, feeling them sink rapidly into the earth.
The first was the House of Gloom, Quequma-ha, in which there was only darkness. The second was Xuxulim-ha, the house where everybody shivered, in which it was very cold. A cold, unbearable wind blew within. The third was the House of Jaguars, Balami-ha, it was called, in which there were nothing but jaguars which stalked about, jumped around, roared, and made fun. The jaguars were shut up in the house. Zotzi-há, the House of Bats, the fourth place of punishment was called. Within this house there were nothing but bats which squeaked and cried and flew around and around. The bats were shut in and could not get out. The fifth was called Chayim-há, the House of Knives, in which there were only sharp, pointed knives, silent or grating against each other in the house.
— Popol Vuh, Part II, Chapter 2
THIRTY-ONE
The small metal box finally shuddered to a halt, leaving them breathless, waiting. Tohil was about to reach for the small square shapes again when a word spoke from around them and the door slid abruptly open. Beyond the doorway was a different place than when they had stepped inside. A long hallway ran before them, straight, seemingly without end, but with a lighted ceiling its entire length as far as they could see. Cautiously, Tohil exited the box and took a few steps. Xquic and Tzacol followed, looking around nervously, Xquic in a slight crouch, her bow to hand. Suddenly, the door behind them closed, sliding shut and they spun around to look. There was nothing there now, just a plain blank wall. The floors, walls were all a uniform grey. Tohil stamped his foot, and then reached down to feel the floor. It was not stone. It was something else, too smooth to be stone, but it was hard and cool to the touch. He straightened and took a few further steps along the corridor. The air around them was still, but it smelled of something unidentifiable, something that reminded him of…no, it didn’t remind him of anything he knew. He was afraid of saying anything, afraid that the merest noise might release something that would harm them. He looked at the faces of his companions, could see the trepidation etched there as well. So, he wasn’t alone. There was nothing for it; he had to continue.
Holding his staff up before him, not to ward anything away, but simply to keep its base from tapping against the floor, he started walking slowly and then, more quickly along the corridor. For a long way, there was nothing, and then, on either side there appeared etched lines, that he now knew indicated doorways. He picked a side at random, tentatively reached out with one hand and pushed. The piece of wall was solid. He placed his hand against the wall next to the outline, and once more, a broad door slid back. As soon as it was open, light blossomed inside, making a visible rolling sequence of noises as it came on in an increasing number of lines across the ceiling.
Tohil sucked in his breath and nervously stepped inside the great room. Within it stood a number of large shapes and they were shapes that he had seen before. Side by side, they ran in twos. They were long, black, and gold, and they had wings, but the wings were not curved. They were straight and featherless and they projected stiffly from the sides of the long shapes towards the rear. These were what he had seen in the carving, the representation of the Dark Serpent. Each of them stood on three thin legs, one at the front and two that projected just below those wings. He felt fear then, worried that his presence here might awaken them. He had a sudden vision of them turning, breathing fire. He looked along their length, marvelling at their size. How had they even come to be in this vast space. There didn’t seem to be anything that would accommodate their mass, despite the size of the room.
“What are they?” said Xquic from behind him. His breath caught with her voice, but then he relaxed again as the sound seemed to have had no effect.
“I think these are the Dark Serpents,” he said. “I saw these or something like them on one of the temple walls.”
He stepped back to get a better view. They were so large, larger than the canoes they had travelled in along the river, though the front of them curved to points in just the same way. How could such a thing fly across the sky? They were so big, had to be so heavy. He turned looking at them, at all the details, but could make no further sense of them. He stepped forward to the next pair. These were identical to the first. Six more pairs stood unmoving along the length of this room. He reached up with one hand and touched it from underneath, wary that his skin might spark something, but the Dark Serpent, if that’s what it was, did nothing. Its surface was smooth and hard. Slowly, he withdrew his hand.
“This is not what we are seeking,” the astronomer reminded him. He couldn’t have known that, but clearly, he had reached a similar conclusion to Tohil’s own. Tohil acknowledged the words and turned, heading back towards the doorway.
At the passageway’s other side, he opened another door. This one revealed a further great room. Once more, lights came on all along its length. Huge square shapes lay stacked inside in even rows, floor to ceiling. He scanned the entire length, but they were just big square things. Perhaps they were containers. Some of them had different colours than the others, but apart from that, there was no clue as to their purpose. Tohil shook his head and withdrew.
“We could spend hours looking,” he said.
“Perhaps we should follow this to the end,” said Tzacol, and Xquic nodded in response.
They passed many, many doors along the way, too many, and there was no indication of what might lie behind them. The only sound they could hear was that of their own footsteps along the corridor. After what seemed an eternity, they finally reached the end, but this time it opened into a broader corridor leading off to the right and one to the left. Tohil looked in both directions, but they appeared the same. He found it difficult to assess how far they had walked. They must be far beyond the temple now, and yet these corridors and rooms stretched on and on. He could see the faint etching of doors in each direction.
“We could get lost in here,” he said, still trying to decide. “We could split up, but I think it’s better if we stay together.”
He closed his eyes, and as soon as he did so, he knew with certainty the right direction. It was as if there was a finely edged map set out inside his head.
“This way,” he said.
He got no debate from the other two, so he turned into the right-hand passage and started walking. As temp
ting as it was to stop and examine the doors, he resisted. Again, they came to the end of the passageway and it turned left. Without hesitation this time, he entered the corridor and started walking. He wondered what was happening outside, whether the battle had reached a conclusion. He thought they’d eventually find out one way or another if they survived this at all. Still he kept walking. By now, he was no longer worried about noise and he had lowered the staff, placing it in front of him with each step, the clear click echoing from the smooth walls.
Finally, they reached the end of that passage. Once more it turned left. Again, they started walking. About halfway along this time, something was different. As they neared, Tohil could see that the walls were different, smoother, and as they grew closer still, he saw with a sense of wonder, that they were made of something he could see through. Shapes, shadowed space stretched out on the other side. He reached the transparent wall, placed his face and hand upon it. It was cool, unyielding, like it was made of some sort of hard water. Through it he could see some sort of platform circling a deep chamber. There was a shadowed floor below and in its middle, sat a round, flat object. With a certainty, he knew what that was. He swivelled his head to look along the platform. Close to them and on the other side, he could see stairs leading down to the chamber’s floor.
Tzacol knocked on the hard, smooth substance and Tohil sucked in his breath, pulling his face back to look quickly at the astronomer.
“What are you doing?” he said.
Tzacol held up his hands. “It’s interesting,” he said lamely.
“That may be,” Tohil told him. “But we need to get down there. That’s what we’ve come for.”
The astronomer craned forward to look. “Yes, I think you are right.”
“We don’t know if there is anyone down there. So no more knocking on things,” he told Tzacol. “Look for a door. Something like it.”
Xquic trotted off to the other end of the transparent wall, Tzacol moved to the centre and Tohil started searching where he stood. A moment later, Xquic called to them both.
“I think it’s here,” she said. Tohil jogged over to where she stood feeling a section of the wall.
There was no mistaking it this time. There was a straight opaque rectangle marking the outlines of what had to be a door. This time, he did not hesitate. He lifted his hand and placed it firmly on the transparent surface next to the door. Immediately, he was rewarded. A pale light suffused the transparent surface, tracing the outlines of his hand and then the door drew back, this time rising into the ceiling and out of sight. As he stepped through onto the platform—it seemed to be made of some sort of dark metal, honeycombed with small holes—the round chamber filled with light. From his vantage point, now that everything was illuminated, Tohil could see that the central object looked just like the calendar table beneath the Grand Palace. Here, now, they had reached their goal. He stood there for a moment just staring at it.
Quickly, then, he moved to one of the staircases and descended, now noticing what he had not been able to see before. Large arched doorways lay all around the chamber. He could see rooms extending through them, rooms with walls, lined floor to ceiling with recessed spaces containing boxes, rounded pearly covers sealing each. He knew exactly what these were, and there were many, many of them.
“Tohil,” came the astronomer’s voice, dragging his attention away from where the slumbering Seelee lay, for that’s what they had to be.
“Yes, yes, I know,” he said, heading towards the room’s centre. His steps somehow dragged as if he were reluctant.
He knew what he had to do. Well most of it.
Slowly, he walked around the calendar table looking at it from every angle. There were three separate depressions where he might place his hand. Xquic and Tzacol had joined him by now. Somehow, he was waiting for some sort of guidance, perhaps some indication from the gods, but there was none. He picked one of the places at random, reached forward with one hand and placed it firmly down upon the surface. Immediately, a light picture blossomed in the air above the table, pale blue, filled with writing. The writing scrolled, showing different colours.
“Open,” came the voice from around them. The word was Seelee. Xquic and Tzacol looked at each other, clearly not having understood what they heard.
“Instruction,” Tohil said.
“Awaiting instruction,” came the voice again.
“Calendar sequence,” he said. He knew the words without having to think about them. It seemed his semi-dreams had done some good after all.
“Calendar sequence initiated.”
The display above the table altered. This time a different set of figures. And then, a moment later, more words.
“Revival started.”
“What? No….”
All around them came noises, a slight shifting within the very fabric of the place.
“No, no, no!” said Tohil. “Stop!”
“Invalid instruction.”
The panic was starting to rise within him. How could he have ever thought that he was equipped to deal with the Seelee magic? He, Tohil, a simple villager.
“Close!” he said, unable to think of anything else.
The display winked out of existence, but all around them the noises continued, slow grinding, whirring, a deep thrumming vibration that came through the floor.
Just at that moment, something clattered across the table surface, missing him by the barest fraction. He spun to see what it could be. It was a spear. Heart in his throat, Tohil turned slowly back around. There, standing at the top of the stairs, supporting himself against the railing, his head and half his face bloodied, was Acab.
“Not this time, Tohil,” he shouted.
Acab was carrying two more spears with him. He staggered down three more steps, gripped the railing with one hand to steady himself, leaned one of the spears next to him, and took aim with the other. He only had eyes for Tohil.
Tohil knew what would happen if he didn’t move, but what would occur if he removed his hand from the table. The Seelee were already starting to awaken, he could tell from the sounds. Acab had his arm pulled back, ready to throw and despite his current state, Tohil knew he was good with that spear.
An arrow took Acab in the throat. He staggered back, managed to launch his spear, but it fell short, hitting the floor a few paces away and then skidding on. In the next moment, Acab lost his balance, crashing back and then tumbling down the staircase. Tohil stood rooted in place watching as Acab’s fall reached the bottom of the staircase. His wounded friend dragged himself across the floor, leaving a trail, said something wetly and then lay still.
“Tohil,” said the astronomer.
Tohil dragged his eyes away from Acab’s body. He thought he could see movement from the chambers closest to them. It seemed that whatever was happening, was happening in waves. How long was it before those waves overwhelmed them? There was nothing for it. He had to know. There was only one way to do that. He had to remove his hand from the calendar stone. Taking a deep breath, he did just that.
Nothing happened. The mechanical noises continued, grinding, whirring, and still that pulsing vibration that seemed to throb through the ground. There was definite sense of movement in the adjacent rooms. He had to know.
In two minds, he stepped away from the table and started walking to one of the closest arched doorways.
“Tohil, what are you doing?” said Tzacol, his eyes wide. “You have to stop this.”
“And why can’t you stop this?” he shot back over his shoulder.
“You know I can’t!” said the tall astronomer, his voice taking on a hint of desperation.
“Tohil!” It was Xquic this time.
He had reached the doorway. The room was vast and long. He could see the end, but the details were dim. Every wall was covered in those niches, each one bearing one of those coffin-like boxes. There was something different; the light had changed subtly, and the glowing jewels set into the wall beside the al
coves had changed colour.
“Tohil?” Again, it was Xquic.
Cautiously, Tohil stepped past the doorway.
“Come here,” he said, waving for her to join him, not watching to see if she complied, keeping his attention on the box shapes, all his senses at alert. He took one step, and then another. He was sure that he had seen movement. Just then, there was a subtle change in the vibration coming through his feet. He stepped across to the wall. As he watched, the pearly top of the box started to shimmer, and then pulse, picking up the rhythm of vibration coming from the floor. There was a change in the colour. It grew darker, and then, with no apparent cause, started growing transparent, clear. Tohil caught his breath. He could see a figure there. It looked like a person, just like a person. The face was not that different from his own. The skin was perhaps lighter, but then there were variations of skin colour all throughout his people. They had seen many more in the Great City. The figure was dressed from head to foot in some sort of smooth cloth. It was the blue of wall paintings. Not quite sure where the thought came from, he wondered if they all wore blue, and he was tempted to peer into another of the boxes to verify.
He shook his head. At first, he had been struck by the similarities, but then, now, he started noticing the differences. The face was a little gaunt, the eyes closed, but there was more, more that he hadn’t noticed because the figure was lying down. It was at least two heads taller than he was, or would have been if it was standing.
“Xquic, come here,” he said.
He sensed her step up beside him. “This is a Seelee?” she said, leaning over the coffin.
“What else can it be?”
“I do not see any poison spikes,” she said.
“No, nor do I.”
She looked up and down the container and then moved to peer at the wall beside the recess.
The Serpent Road: A Science Fiction Novel Page 29
