“What kind of cleansing are you talking about?” William asked.
“The cleansing will come from the heavens, as the cosmic plan exerts its final push—to transform our world into a higher state of vibration. The energy from this event will increase the frequency and strength of natural disasters. But there will be survivors… as there always are. They will inherit the new world.”
Betty understood a little of what was being said, and after William filled in the gaps, she let loose a big grin.
“Hey, those disasters have already been happening and I’m still here.” She pretended to knock on wood. “Whatever will be, will be… I’ll roll the dice and see what happens.”
Betty was right, of course. Natural disasters had been occurring with more frequency; he only had to think back on recent news reports of earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and tornados that had killed thousands in the years before they left. Yet according to Priest Quisac, even more destruction was on the way—at the end of the Great Cycle—possibly worse than his modern world had ever seen. However, Betty knew the risks, and she still wanted to return.
William stepped through the circular opening and headed down; the sacred flashlight illuminated the way. Partway along, he paused, waiting for Betty to finish saying her farewells to Priest Quisac and Teshna. A moment later, he saw Betty’s hand clutch the rope. She climbed through, looking a bit teary-eyed, and followed behind him. When they reached the bottom of the tunnel, Betty had the same flabbergasted look as William did when he had first seen the immense chamber of the crashed spaceship. But on this day, William noticed something different; yellow and red sparks flickered within the green triangular crystals on the walls, creating a strobe light effect in the chamber.
They carried the litter with their equipment through the passages until they came to the ledge overlooking the cenote. Ropes had been secured in place from years before, which extended the distance to the base of the underground cavern. After they lowered their gear, they climbed down using a rope that had been tied with knots for a better grip. Water from the creek above trickled over the limestone walls, making it a slippery trek down.
When they reached the bottom, they dressed in their rubbery suits—being careful to not tear the material against the jagged rocks along the shore. The light from the sacred flashlight emphasized the milky yellow colors of the stalactites and stalagmites, in comparison to their first visit when the dim greenish glow of the fluorescent algae lit the area in gloomy hues.
“Are you sure this is the right day?” Betty asked, while pulling her arms through the sleeves. The suit was a little too long for her body and bunched up around her elbows.
“Priest Quisac says it’s the winter solstice today,” William said. “I’m sure he would know. Besides, didn’t you see how the green stones in the jade cavern sparkled? They only do that on the solstice days.”
They had practiced getting geared up a few times before, and followed the same routine to finalize their pre-dive preparations. After their suits were on, he tied the flashlight to the disk-shaped sacred item.
“What’s that for?” Betty asked.
“It’s an anti-gravity device,” William said. “It can help you to move heavy objects… or it can propel you in the water. I tested it in the cenote last week. It really works! After I send you on below, I don’t want to get sucked through the Serpent Passage too. So I’ll use it like an underwater scooter to come back.”
While William adjusted the breathing container on Betty’s back, he sighed. “It’s hard to believe that after all we’ve been through, you’ll be gone in just a few minutes.”
Betty turned back and gave William a hug. “I’ll miss you too,” she said, with tears in her eyes. She forced a smile. “But now that you have this suit, you can come for a visit any time, right? I’ll just be on the other side of this tunnel.”
William smiled. It was a comforting thought to know that each year he would have the option to go back home, if he ever wanted to. He finished connecting the tubes to her helmet and gave her a serious look. “Remember what we agreed, Betty? You can only tell my mom about all this.”
Betty held up her hand like she was saying a pledge. “I know… I promise. I won’t tell anyone else about the Serpent Passage. They would think I was crazy, anyway. I’ll just say I hit my head… that I had amnesia all this time.”
“Do you have my letter?” William asked. It had taken him a while to write the note to his mom, painting words on the thick bark paper that they used in those days. He discarded several initial drafts until he found the fewest words to capture his story—what he wanted to tell his mom on just a few pages.
Betty patted her stomach, hitting a firm object inside her suit. “Right here,” she said.
William held the edge of Betty’s helmet just over her head, looking one last time into her green eyes. He tried to memorize the contours of her face, realizing it was likely the last time he would see her. “I guess this is goodbye,” he said.
“You take care of yourself, William.”
“I will.” He lowered her helmet, locked it into place along her shoulders, and pressed a button on the side of the breathing container on her back—initiating the airflow system. Betty helped William with his final connections and turned his air on as well.
He picked up the anti-gravity device—with the flashlight secured beneath it—and moved down the rocky shore. Betty followed behind him, and they descended to the bottom of the cenote.
William already knew which way to go. He headed straight to the entrance of the Serpent Passage, where the ghoulish carving of an angry serpent greeted him. A flash of red light beamed out of the serpent’s mouth, providing William with a final assurance that the passage was awake. He maneuvered through the entrance and grabbed Betty’s hand, helping her in. A current pulled them forward, and he locked his arm around a stalagmite; he didn’t want to risk going any further.
As he drew Betty near, she grabbed hold of his shoulder for support. He pointed down the long circular tube, just as another red flash lit up the tunnel. Betty nodded her bird-like helmet, seeming to understand which way to go. The directions were pretty obvious at that point, as there were no other options but to go straight ahead. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before letting go and allowing the drift to carry her through the Serpent Passage.
While watching Betty’s progress through the tunnel—lighting her way with the sacred flashlight—he became aware of the pivotal moment before him. He could easily choose to go through the passage and return to his simple life as a kid back home in the future; he only had to let the current take him. Or, he could turn back and take responsibility for the challenges of the past. Of course, he had already made up his mind long before. He loved Teshna, and he would have stayed there just for her alone. Yet his decision to remain in the past was much more involved than young love. At the core of his soul, William sensed that he was supposed to be there, with the ancient Maya… to achieve something great.
He was tempted to wait until flashing lights whisked Betty away, but figured he had better get out of the passage while he still could. Once Betty passed a certain point in the tunnel, the Serpent Passage would activate, and he worried that it might pull him through.
With the click of a button, he started the anti-gravity device; it made a muffled rumbling noise. He pressed another button with his left thumb, and the device propelled him ahead. After angling his body in the opposite direction, William maneuvered out of the Serpent Passage.
He glanced back, noticing how the red flashes came in faster intervals. The light brightened to orange and then to yellow. Just as he had feared, a strong current pulled him back. While fumbling with the controls, the tunnel drew him back. He braced himself at the entrance of the passage, pressing his feet against the teeth of the serpent carving. William pressed the accelerator button to the maximum setting, and he began to pull away, feeling like his arms might rip clean off his shoulders at one point. He aim
ed the device upwards and broke free from the suction with the suddenness of a rubber band snapping, launching him out of the water like a dolphin leaping from the sea. William landed with a hard belly flop; the device shut off when he lost his grip on the handles. As he paddled to the shore and climbed out, a dazzling white light from the cenote lit up the cavern. In that moment, he knew that Betty had completed her journey through the Serpent Passage; she had made it home.
He shut off the air supply, popped the pressure seals, and pulled his helmet off; he set it on the ground. After shifting the breathing container off his back and crawling out of the suit, a content smile spread across William’s face. He felt a sense of satisfaction for finally accomplishing what he had set out to do six months before, when he tried to save Betty from drowning in the Cenote Azul. At last, he had rescued her.
Epilogue
While packing his gear in preparation for the hike back, the sound of a splash caught William’s attention. He scanned the surface of the underground cenote, but didn’t see anything. He brushed it off, figuring a rock had just fallen into the water. As he stuffed the suit inside his pack, he heard the noise again. It was more of a pop than a splash—like a bubble popping at the surface. Another bubbly pop came from the middle of the cenote, and William shot his attention there. He imagined the bubbles were being caused by the energy from the Serpent Passage.
The bubbles began to surface closer to the shore. When he leaned forward for a better look, he saw a dark form moving beneath the water, growing larger as it ascended. Two little lumps rose out of the water before eyelids snapped opened, exposing yellow glassy eyes that rolled from left to right. The eyes became transfixed on William. A snout surfaced, and he could see the tips of its nostrils. William gasped at what appeared to be the head of a crocodile. “Oh, that’s just perfect!” he said with annoyance. William recalled the crocodiles that he had encountered on the other end of the Serpent Passage, and he assumed that one of the giant reptiles had somehow made its way into the cavern through the tunnel.
He grabbed his things and hustled to the side of the cavern, tying his sack to the end of a hanging rope so he could haul it up after he climbed out. Before leaving, he glanced back, aiming the sacred flashlight—still attached to the anti-gravity device—at the cenote, to check on the crocodile’s position.
When the crocodile reached the shore an odd thing happened. Two long green arms reached out from the water and gripped the rocks. The entire body sprang up from the water with a giant splash, right into a standing position—at least nine feet tall—steadying itself on its thick legs. It shook the water from its plume of yellow feathers on its head and neck, while glaring at William with its crocodile-like face.
William beamed the flashlight along its body. It wore rubbery green and red clothing that resembled a shorty wetsuit; its scaly tail poked out the back. It lumbered closer—swaying from side to side between its long strides. “No freaking way,” William mumbled, while shining the light at its head.
The creature threw its webbed hands up, shielding its eyes from the glare. “Off the light!” it said in a low raspy voice, speaking in a choppy Mayan dialect.
William aimed the light away and stared at it with astonishment. “Let me guess,” William said in Yucatec-Maya, “Gukumatz?” He remembered the name from the story Priest Quisac had told to him… the creature from the ‘Legend of the Serpent Passage.’
It halted within several feet of where William stood. Its reptilian body shifted, while its eyes rolled around in thought. “Much time, last called. Of you… the Balam?”
“Yes, that’s right,” William said, astonished that he knew his name. “You’re a feathered serpent, aren’t you?”
“Called by many ways, by many peoples,” Gukumatz said, as he moved in closer. William shined the light at his face again, and Gukumatz stopped, shielding his eyes. “Off the light!”
“What do you want with me? Why are you following me?” William asked, holding the light on his reptilian face.
“Off the light, and I tell you.” After lowering the beam, Gukumatz glared at him. “Of you, disturbed the passage… altered time… impacted my kind. Of you, have I searched. Must not, of you, to leave here!”
“Hey, take it easy,” William said, threatening with the light again. “Look, this passage pulled me in here. I didn’t ask for this.” Gukumatz took another step forward and William held the light steady on his face.
“Off the light!”
“Move back, and then I’ll lower the light,” William said. Gukumatz complied, staring at William with hostile eyes, his feathers standing up at the back of his head. William lowered the beam again, not sure how much longer the flashlight defense would work. He thought he would try to reason with Gukumatz. “I know you have some kind of agenda here that I can’t even begin to understand; the grey ancestors of the Mayans said so. But maybe we can work something out?”
Gukumatz seemed to get even more upset, as his raspy breathing accelerated. “Know you, of the Grey Ones?”
“Wait… how do you know about them?” William asked. “They just got here… and they’re leaving the planet soon.”
A low chirping noise came from the back of his throat; it sounded like he was gagging. However, William sensed it was his way of laughing. “Of this world, are the Grey Ones… of the north. Ancestors are not. Is reversed.”
“What do you mean… reversed?”
Gukumatz ignored the question, looking frustrated. “Of you, the seed to harvest,” he said in his deep scratchy voice.
“What are you talking about?” William wished he had brought a weapon into the Serpent Passage with him, but he didn’t expect a confrontation on this leg of the journey.
Gukumatz picked up a rock, pointed at his head, and then at William. As if the rock was William’s skull, he pretended to pluck something out, holding the imaginary object in his webbed hand. “The seed to harvest.”
William had a sudden revelation. “You smashed those skulls that we found here before… because you were looking for me?” William’s heart raced. He knew the feathered serpent intended to kill him, just like the others who had been sucked into that cavern in the future, whose bones were tossed all about.
A creepy smile crossed his face. “Of the Balam, searched of many times. Seed of bloodstone, to harvest,” he said, as he threw the rock down. It bounced into the cenote with a crack and a plop.
William cringed. Priest Quisac had said that the seed from the Tree of Life was inside him now. Gukumatz wanted that seed… and it appeared that he planned to take it out of his brain. He had to think fast. Scanning his surroundings for anything that could be used as a weapon, his attention focused on a large serrated rock beside his equipment, and an idea surfaced. “Do you want the bloodstone too?” William asked. “It’s in my pack.”
Gukumatz glanced at the sack beside the cavern wall. “Of the bloodstone?”
“Yes. You can have it.”
Gukumatz moved to William’s bag of equipment in three long strides and tore through his things. He tossed the helmet and breathing container aside and removed the folded suit, squishing it between his hands like he was feeling for the bloodstone in the material.
“It’s there… inside the suit,” William said, while moving closer. As Gukumatz focused on unraveling the suit, William picked up the big rock, lifted it over his head, and slammed it against his feathery skull with enough force to split the rock into pieces.
Gukumatz dropped to his hands and knees. His bloodied head swayed in a dizzy manner, while his tail whipped around like it had a mind of its own. William rushed to grab another rock to finish him off, when the creature’s tail smacked him hard across the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He tripped and fell into the cenote, coughing from the water he swallowed.
After catching his breath, William swam back toward the shore, knowing he had to kill the beast while he still could. However, Gukumatz started to get up, and William dogpaddled back to th
e middle of the cenote, hoping the creature wouldn’t see him there.
While rubbing his bleeding skull, the feathered serpent made a high-pitched chirping noise. He spun around, snapping his eyes in every direction until spotting William in the water. “Must not, of you, to leave!” Gukumatz growled. He grabbed William’s helmet and slammed it against the cavern wall, shattering the faceplate. Still venting, Gukumatz snatched the breathing container. He held it up for William to see, and jerked all the tubes out in a single yank. Gas shot out from the broken connections and the container took off like a rocket. It soared through the cavern, bounced off the stalactites on the ceiling, and raced straight down—like a heat-seeking missile—smashing with a dreadful crack into the side of the feathered serpent’s head. Gukumatz staggered a few steps and fell over with a thud, landing on top of the container that had sputtered out after hitting him.
William lifted his hands from the water and cheered. “Ha! Take that!” He swam back to the shore and picked up another heavy rock to finish him off. But the feathered serpent already looked dead; he wasn’t breathing, and purplish blood oozed out the gash on his head. William tossed the rock aside, and it rolled beside his broken helmet. He studied the helmet with a sigh, realizing that his option to return home had just been smashed forever.
William skirted around the dead feathered serpent and went back to the cavern wall, grabbing a rope by the drizzling waterfall. He was about to start his climb out, when he remembered the sacred items. Priest Quisac would have been mad if he had lost them. William spotted a light shining beneath the creature’s tail, and he groaned, realizing that he would have to touch the dead feathered serpent to retrieve the sacred items.
The Serpent Passage Page 26
