The Serpent Passage

by Todd Allen Pitts

  “Balam! Behind you!” Teshna called out to William; she was jumping up and down and pointing behind him with the velocity of a woodpecker.

  William turned just in time to see a Kinichná player coming at him with a short blade in his hand. They toppled down together, rolling on the hard surface of the ballcourt. Another man grabbed William’s necklace from behind, strangling him for a second. The necklace scraped across his face when the man pulled it free and took off with it. William felt his attacker with the dagger go limp. He scrambled back and saw the blade protruding from the man’s chest.

  The guy who had stolen his necklace sprinted toward the northern entrance of the ballcourt. He managed only a few more steps before a dart zipped through the air with a fluttering sound, and impaled him through the side of his neck, sending him into a bloody plaster face plant. The necklace flew from his hands, skittering across the ballcourt.

  The white owl streaked across the ballcourt and grabbed the bloodstone. The gem glowed in its talons as the owl whisked it over to Honac-Fey and dropped it into the ceramic jar in his hands. Honac-Fey raised the container over his head. “Ban kimil e lu’ um!” he said in a deep voice, and hurled the jar onto the ballcourt. It shattered with a splattering of a reddish-black liquid that dissolved like acid into the surface of the ballcourt.

  A group of Dzibanché royal guards rushed in with spears, blocking the exits at both the northern and southern ends. They ordered the Kinichná players and Governor to surrender.

  Knowing they could not escape, the five remaining ball players gave a collective nod and slit their throats, killing themselves to avoid capture.

  The Kinichná Governor rushed across the ballcourt and grasped the bloodstone from the floor, holding it in his clenched fist. He raised the stone, showing it to the entire assembly, defiantly waving it at Yax. His arm began to tremble; it turned white. He seemed to be in severe pain, as he lost all the color in his face. With a blood-curdling screech, he fell over dead on the spot. The bloodstone slipped from his lifeless fingers to the ground.

  A long moment of silence was broken by the King yelling, “Honac-Fey!” Yet the man with the diamond tattoo had run off.

  The Serpent Priest went down to the ballcourt, his teeth clenched in anger. He took a moment to watch the guards chasing after Honac-Fey; the burning torches reflected the concern in his silver eyes. He turned and approached William. “Retrieve the bloodstone, Balam.”

  “Are you crazy?” William asked. He was worried to touch it after seeing what it had just done to the Governor.

  “It will not harm you. Pick it up and hold it so that all can see that you are its rightful master.”

  William nodded, knowing that he could trust Priest Quisac. As he staggered toward the lifeless man in the yellow cape, William glanced at his fallen teammates; they were all dead, with green foam dripping off their faces. He looked up to find Betty in the stands and mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to her, realizing that she had saved his life by stopping him from drinking the poison.

  He tossed off his helmet and yanked loose his shoulder and hip protectors; they fell to the ground behind him. He reached down, pulled the necklace free from the limp fingers of the dead man, and studied the gem that dangled before him. Its previous reddish hue had faded; it was nearly black. William grasped the bloodstone, carried it to the center of the ballcourt, and held it high over his head for all to see. Its glow radiated from between his fingers, and he felt a tingling sensation in his hand. He relaxed, for the bloodstone somehow soothed his aches and pains. It made him feel steadier on his feet.

  Many in the assembly chanted his name, while others were in tears, or in a frozen state of shock from the alarming turn of events.

  William opened his hand and stared at the bloodstone again. Its color had brightened a little, but lacked the vibrancy it used to have. An uncomfortable feeling crept over him. He figured he was just feeling sorry for those who had died on the ballcourt. But that wasn’t it, he realized. The feeling of distress was emanating from the bloodstone itself.

  Chapter Six

  William awoke to the sound of someone screaming, followed by a stampede of footsteps—sandals clacking against the plaster floor as people rushed about. He went out to investigate and discovered a large crowd gathered in the main courtyard. Everyone was transfixed by the tall ceiba tree, staring into the canopy of its branches overhead. William joined the growing group of nobles, servants, and guards. As he made his way to the tree, he wondered what had them so concerned.

  Yax arrived at the courtyard a moment later with such a look of shock, that one might think someone was hanging by his neck from the tree. He rushed over to a gnarled old noble nearby; he had a nasty looking scar along his cheek and was missing his left ear. “What has happened, Subiac?” Yax asked.

  “The Tree of Life is dying,” he said.

  “That’s impossible,” Yax said, with tears forming in his eyes. He placed his hand against the ceiba tree’s trunk and stroked its thorny bark with the concern one would show for a sick pet.

  Teshna entered the courtyard with the same horrified expression as all the others. “What is this?” she asked.

  “It is the beginning of the end,” said the Serpent Priest, standing in the arched entrance of the western hallway.

  Yax pulled himself from the tree and spun around. “What do you mean?” he asked.

  Priest Quisac moved through the crowd, as the fallen leaves fluttered up around his feet. “A terrible curse has been set forth on our land by Honac-Fey.”

  “What’s going on?” William asked.

  “The Tree of Life has been poisoned, Balam,” Priest Quisac said. “She is dying.”

  Teshna kneeled by the tree and ran her hand along the large buttress roots at its base. She smelled the sap on her fingers and looked up with hope. “But she is not dead yet,” Teshna said.

  “No, not yet… but dying,” the Serpent Priest said with certainty.

  Betty entered the courtyard and shuffled over to William with a grumpy look on her face. “Boy you guys sure like to get a head start on the day! I thought you’d all be sleeping in after yesterday’s shenanigans.” She noticed the mess of leaves all over. “What’s this, some kind of tree pruning party?”

  Yax gave Betty a blank stare, not understanding her, and then turned back to Priest Quisac with his arms crossed, becoming impatient. “What is this curse?”

  Priest Quisac regarded Yax with profound worry. “Honac-Fey used yesterday’s ceremonies against us. He cast a plague on our soils.”

  “How?” Teshna asked.

  Priest Quisac stomped around the large base of the ceiba tree, waving back the crowd of nobles that had gathered too close, as though he was shooing away pesky flies. He stared up the towering trunk, studying its empty branches, and then turned back to Yax. “Honac-Fey placed the bloodstone into a container with sacrificial blood, chanted the curse of the soil plague, and smashed it onto the northern cardinal point of the ballcourt. Did you not see how the cursed blood crawled into the earth?”

  “Yeah, I saw that!” William said, understanding his words, while also seeing images of the blood dissolving into the ground as the Serpent Priest spoke.

  Yax moved in close to the Serpent Priest and whispered, “What is the end that you speak of?”

  “All the land that is sacred to your kingdom will wither and die, just as the Tree of Life dies before us now,” the Serpent Priest said.

  “You mean the fields? The crops?” Teshna asked, blurting out her concerns louder than she should have. Nervous grumbles spiraled through the crowd about the crops being poisoned.

  “Yes,” Priest Quisac said. “Thus it is so with the soil plague.”

  The King walked several steps and spun back. “Then all is lost?”

  “No,” Priest Quisac said. He glanced at William, a subtle smile crossing his lips. “Had Balam died with the others, the bloodstone’s power would now reside with Honac-Fey.” The Serpent Pries
t gazed at Betty, and his face lit up. “However, a twist transpired in the planned events. We have Bati to thank for that. Balam did not die, and Honac-Fey fled without the bloodstone. Perhaps Honac-Fey assumed all would be lost before we could understand the impact of his actions.”

  Betty perked up upon hearing her name amidst the jumble of Mayan conversation, and she gave William a gesture to explain. He translated as best he could about the curse—how they thought the bloodstone might help in some way.

  Yax paced around the tree. “The solution to the soil plague,” he asked Priest Quisac, “will it take an extended time?”

  “Yes,” Priest Quisac said, “and it is a difficult and uncertain proposition.”

  “Then we must harvest the crops now,” Yax said.

  “A wise decision, my Lord, before the sickness reaches them all,” the Serpent Priest agreed.

  The heavy noble with a bone pierced through his nose approached Yax. “King Stone Frog,” the man said with a short bow. “I was at the fields yesterday. A few plantations of beans, peppers, and squash are nearly ready. But the maize fields are far from maturation. The stars… they do not advise harvest at this time.”

  “Forget the stars for once!” Yax said. “We must salvage whatever we can, noble Lamat, down to the last berry.” Yax raced up the steps of the platform overlooking the courtyard, glaring at several nobles who were on their hands and knees. “Now is not the time for prayer!” he shouted. The nobles jumped up. “We must save our food supply. Each and every one of us—noble and peasant alike—are to work the fields and orchards. Scour the jungle for anything that is edible.”

  Yax pointed at a group of royal guards near the entrance. “Shake the royal palace! Wake each and every family from here to Kinichná. Pass on my order of the harvest to all!” He rushed over to a little boy kneeling beside a potted plant. “Belasar.”

  “Yes, my Lord,” he replied, his head bowed down. “I apologize for screaming when I saw the tree like this.”

  “Look at me, Belasar,” Yax said. The little boy lifted his head, meeting eyes with the King. “Your scream was the alarm we needed. Now you must run, Belasar—faster than you have ever run in your life. Go tell your father of the great ceiba, and of my declaration. Tell him to spread the word to all the master farmers—begin the harvest at once.” Yax removed his jade necklace and shoved it into the boy’s hands. “Take this as proof of my order. Now go!”

  Belasar bowed and bolted off, zigzagging through the clusters of exiting nobles like a running back juking his way up field.

  While Yax ordered the start of the harvest, Priest Quisac directed Subiac, Lamat, and some servants to carry the potted plants outside the palace.

  Betty pointed at the ceiba tree. “What’s this tree got to do with anything?” she asked William.

  Priest Quisac kneeled beside the ceiba tree and moved his hands over the conical thorns, as though he were feeling for a pulse. “The Tree of Life,” he said, understanding Betty’s general question, and speaking with much imagery coming from his thoughts, “is a portal to the underworld. It completes the triad of our land’s power—the bloodstone, its master, and the Tree of Life. It has been so over the last baktun, and our land has prospered under the careful protection of this unity… to the envy of our rival kingdoms.”

  Betty turned to William, shaking her head as if coming out of a dream. “This tree connects to another world?” she asked, rolling her eyes. “Whatever.”

  Yax rejoined William and the others near the ceiba tree. “Of course, that’s it!” Yax said to Priest Quisac, studying his progress at the base of the tree. “King Aztuk of Calakmul is behind all this. He used Honac-Fey and my uncle to put this plan into motion… to weaken our land.”

  “What good would our land be to our enemy if made unlivable?” Teshna asked.

  The Serpent Priest sliced off the tip of a conical thorn; sap oozed out the cut. “Their intensions are not yet known,” he said.

  Yax scratched his forehead with a confused look when he saw a group of servants enter the palace to retrieve the potted plants and carry them back out. “What’s going on here, Priest Quisac?” he asked.

  The Serpent Priest stood and surveyed the courtyard. “We must replant all these potted plants around the temples, far apart from one another. Provide them with water from the sacred chultunes.”

  “There are fifty-two plants here,” Teshna said. “What purpose does this serve?”

  “We must create a diversion for the demon of the soil plague… entice him with other sacred plants to attack. The demon is heading to the fields. We must convince the demon to return here,” Priest Quisac said with haste in his voice. Teshna and Yax looked hesitant, and Priest Quisac gave them an impatient glare. “There is no time to waste. The Tree of Life has been absorbing the curse, attempting to prevent its continued spread into the lands. She can take no more. The disease now moves!”

  Yax regarded William like he was about to get a painful shot at the doctor’s office. He turned to the Serpent Priest. “So you plan to…”

  “The Ritual of Binding… yes,” Priest Quisac said.

  The ceremonial priests, Ik-Tanil and Ch’elek, entered the courtyard. “You must summon Yum Kaax,” Priest Quisac said to them. “Only the Maize god would be willing to help us in this matter. Pray for his assistance in slowing the demon, Yum Cimil.”

  The priests lit their incense burners and began chanting, moving in opposing circles around the ceiba tree.

  “Go now,” Priest Quisac said, ordering the others. “Do as I said with the plants.”

  William told Betty that Priest Quisac wanted them to replant the potted plants outside, although he still didn’t understand how that would help. Betty shrugged and went along with it. William also reached for a plant, but Priest Quisac snatched his wrist, holding him back.

  “See that we are undisturbed,” the Serpent Priest told Yax. “Balam will soon be in a deep trance.”

  William gave Priest Quisac a double-take. “Say what?” he asked. The Serpent Priest tugged his arm, jerking him down beside the tree.

  Teshna reached over and caressed William’s cheek before grabbing the nearest pot. “Good luck, Balam. Be brave,” she said with a wink, and carried the plant outside.

  “May Yum Kaax assist you in your mission,” Yax said, and he picked up a pot filled with long pink and white petals that appeared to wave good bye, fluttering up and down as he left.

  Betty stopped and glanced back, peeking around the leaves of the shrub she carried. “Aren’t you coming?” she asked William.

  “I guess not,” William said with a nervous laugh. “You go ahead. It’s okay.”

  Betty shrugged and exited the courtyard.

  William didn’t like how Priest Quisac still held his wrist in one hand while wielding a dagger in his other. “I don’t know what you’re planning,” William said, pulling his hand free from the Serpent Priest’s grip. “What’s all this about gods and demons? This is getting a little crazy, don’t you think?”

  Priest Quisac scowled. “I do not understand.”

  William watched Subiac and Lamat enter the courtyard with a couple servants behind them. They each grabbed a plant and then headed back out. “I can understand that the soil is poisoned,” William said, “but now you’re talking about a demon, and having to convince him to return here. I imagine you’re speaking symbolically, right?”

  Priest Quisac shot a stern look his way. “There are many truths that you do not yet understand about our world. Yet there is no time to explain. Give me your hand.”

  William held out his hand. The Serpent Priest snatched his wrist and slit a gash across the palm of his left hand with his dagger. “Ouch! What are you doing?”

  William asked, wincing from the pain. He leaned against the tree for support, feeling dizzy from the deep cut.

  “Remove the bloodstone and place it on your wound,” the Serpent Priest said.

  William took off his necklace and set th
e bloodstone on his cut. It absorbed his blood like a sponge, and it began to glow brighter.

  Priest Quisac pulled William near the spot where sap continued to flow forth. “Hold your hand with the bloodstone against the cut on the ceiba tree.”

  “What will that do?”

  “Your spirit will merge with the Tree of Life,” Priest Quisac said. He grabbed William’s hand and forced it against the sap dripping from the gouge in the conical thorn, wedging the bloodstone into the opening, and holding his hand firmly in place. “The great ceiba will send you through her roots to the underworld. This may call the attention of the demon. If not, you must call out to him—convince him to return with you to the temples to destroy the sacred plants, which they are now planting around the temples. He must be kept occupied for as long as possible, Balam.”

  “You mean I’m going to actually see some sort of demon?” William asked with a smirk.

  “I know it is not a pleasant task. Call him by his name, and he will come to you. Yum Cimil or Au Puch. The Lord of Death goes by both names.”

  William shifted to get more comfortable. “Nothing is happening,” he said, feeling kind of stupid.

  “You will soon see. Call to him, Balam. Call to Yum Cimil and draw him back to the plants. Keep him from the fields for as long as you can.”

  The bloodstone felt uncomfortable pressing into his wound like that. He felt his hand begin to heat up. “Now I’m feeling something. It’s starting to hurt.”

  “Keep your hand in place,” Priest Quisac snapped, pressing down even harder. “It will pass.”

  Sweat dripped down William’s forehead. He writhed from the pain; it felt like a hot needle digging into his hand. “Why didn’t you warn me about this?” he asked, as he let out a groan, feeling nauseated. “I think I’m gonna throw up.” His eyes rolled back, and he felt like he was about to pass out.

  The Serpent Priest just stared at him, studying his reactions.

  The pain and nausea suddenly passed. “I’m feeling better now,” William said with relief. Then he panicked, for he felt paralyzed. “Priest Quisac, I can’t move!”