Sisimito II--Xibalba

by Henry W. Anderson

  “But he is not crying out. There must be pain. Those needles aren’t small,” countered Teul. “And I don’t think you know a madafok about what you’re doing. I’ve been bitten by a tz’i’ and the wound was not sewn even though it was large enough. You do not sew wounds made by animals as there is too much infection in the bite of an animal.”

  “Those wounds were not done by the bite of a tz’i’ or any … animal. They were done by the claws of the Sacred Ix Balanque. Why don’t you be quiet like your fellow Warriors, Teul. Leave us to do what we know,” rebuked Kish. Teul exhaled loudly. Kish sighed, sounding almost sympathetic. “I know you are anxious.” He looked towards Teul. “The paste has pa-al and k’uutz oils. They take away some of the pain. He is also far away, lamenting the death of the Sacred Ix Balanque he killed in honorable battle. He will not return to us until he has finished his lamentation.”

  “You mean he’s in a coma,” shot back Teul. “Lamentation my madafok.” Kish shook his head and turned away.

  The women kept sewing and Chiac did not move or utter a cry. When they were finished, they nodded to Kish who then walked over to the pot with embers and brought it to the table. Emataly took out the jar with a short kiskis377 and slowly, carefully, poured the hot thick liquid over and along each wound. Again, Chiac did not move.

  Kish looked towards Teul and the men. “That is a mixture of the sap of the olicuáhuitl378 and the Flower That Honors Ix Chel.379 It will seal the wounds.”

  Teul shook his head, angrily. “I can smell his flesh burning. No madafok with that. I told you to let’s finish it.” He started to jump up, but Choc and Choco held him down, stopping him. “I can smell his flesh burning,” repeated Teul, almost screaming. Choc and Choco kept their arms around him and they sat calmly, quietly sobbing.

  “It will seal the wounds,” repeated Kish. “When Emataly and Ni-kai are finished, he will sleep until his lamentation is over, or until I awaken him. I hope he finishes his lamentation before I wake him or all may be lost. If he carries his lamentation into the next trial, he will not win. Now, we should all rest … and eat. That is the Way of the Warrior.”

  I slowly became conscious and I remembered Kish telling me ‘Ko’one’ex’ after which all was darkness. I was sitting on a rock near a beautiful cascading stream, surrounded by beautiful elfin jungle, my feet in the water. There was a pale blue mist over parts of the stream and between the ferns, orchids, bromeliads, other flowering epiphytes, and trees from which hung green, brown, red, and white mosses. The heavens also carried the same pale blue color and I felt a great peace settle over me. I looked back at the stream. Gold reflections were everywhere as the water rose and fell. I observed my body. It was covered in blood and I smelled of sweat, strange oils, baläm kis, and dried blood. I was aware of the wounds on my back, but they did not hurt even though I knew they were deep and long. I jumped off the rock and walked into the stream, placing my whole body below the sweet, cool, and invigorating water. I rubbed my hair and began washing the smell from my body. I broke the surface, took a breath, submerged again, then washed every part of my body. When I felt that I was clean at last, I surfaced and opened my eyes. Sitting on the boulder, looking at me, was Ix Balanque, the young, virile, black male, the Sacred Baläm I had murdered. I brushed water from my face and walked out of the stream. I climbed to the boulder where he was and sat beside him.

  “So! You walked away from Baläm Ja,” he said.

  “Yes! I did.”

  We both looked at the stream as it flowed, golden ripples and cascades amidst the pale blue mists, then he spoke again. “This picture. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Even the greatest of our elite women could not weave a tapestry rich enough for our greatest artisans to paint this picture upon.”380

  “It is beautiful … By what name may I call you.”

  “But you have given me a name. I am Noh-il.”

  “I am honored to meet you again, Noh-il. I fought you, a worthy opponent, and by the blessings of the gods I was victorious; then I meet you in this beautiful world as a friend.”

  Noh-il coughed. “The honor is mine, T’oit’ik-jolom. Defeat, it is honorable only if it comes from the greatest Warrior in the realm. You are that Warrior, Fuck. But may I call you Chiac? It is a better name for one such as you.”

  “I am just Waach, Noh-il.” Ix Balanque coughed again, but did not respond. “What place is this?” I asked.

  “You are in the Kaab Ya’ax381 of Yaxché, at the center of U Wach Ulew.”

  “And why am I here, Noh-il?”

  “It is the wish of the gods that two great Warriors sit together on a rock and tell stories of our great battles, our great journeys, the noble women we have pleasured on our mats. It is only then that we can bring our story to an end so that the poets and scribes can write about them, can sing about them, for many baktuns to come.”

  “Then let us begin, Noh-il.”

  We talked and hour after hour passed. He told me his stories and I told him mine. I spoke of the great battle at Ox Witz Ha and of the night by the Hidden Valley Falls when I made love with Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’ for the first and only time. I told him how Mahanamatz had taken her from the jungle one tun ago and had stolen her a second time, that time from me at Santa Cruz. I recounted my battle with Mahanamatz in the cave beneath the Hidden Valley Falls, Ch’ajch’oj Chiyul,382 and I spoke of the Image of Ix Na Li Kawa. I spoke of Bas, and showed him Bas’ bloody Green Scapular, which also carried his blood and which he observed with great interest. I told him of the mountain top where Bas and my men were murdered by Mahanamatz and I cried.

  “You honor your men with your tears,” he said. “That is the sign of a great Warrior.” He coughed. “Now, you must go. It is time.”

  “So soon?” I looked at him. “Do you know what will happen to me, Noh-il? Will I leave Xibalba to continue my search for Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’? Will I kill Mahanamatz?”

  He turned his head and looked at me. “Your future is in the hands of the gods; yet, many of the gods are eager to give their blessing to a great Warrior so that the Warrior may serve them.” He coughed, looking away from me. “Your future is also in your hands, Chiac.” He coughed again. “You suffered severe wounds from our battle, Chiac. Those wounds have you weak and even though your friends in Xibalba have tried to help you, it is not enough. You are too weak to win the next trial.”

  “What can I do, Noh-il? I must win. I must rescue all my Warriors. I must leave Xibalba. If I don’t leave Xibalba, I will not rescue my woman, Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’, and kill Mahanamtz.”

  “As I said, the gods are often willing to help a great Warrior … even one they fear.”

  “Fear?”

  “Yes! Fear! The gods fear that if you leave Xibalba, you and your woman, Xch’úup Xma’ K’aaba’, will weaken the very roots of Yaxché … possibly even bring about the fall of an empire.”

  “Noh-il! Noh-il! My friend! Why would I wish to do that? This is the land of my people.”

  Noh-il coughed, louder this time. “Sometimes it I not what we wish to do we accomplished.”

  I remained quiet, in deep thought. “I must leave Xibalba,” I finally said.

  “The god Huracan owes favors to Hunahpu and Xbalanque. They have already requested him to heal you of your battle wounds. When you leave the Kaab Ya’ax of Yaxché, you will have the strength of a great Warrior once again. You will also have one blessing that will help you in U-yeh Ja. But take heed, Chiac. Nothing is definite in Xibalba. It is a place of trickery, deception, and fear.” Ix Balanque stood. “It has been an honor doing battle with you, T’oit’ik-jolom Chiac. It has been a pleasure talking with you. Now you must go.”

  “Meeting you this way has been a great honor, Noh-il. I pray to the gods that we meet again and, like friends, talk more of our journeys, drink iztāc-octli.”

  He stared at me. “If you are ever desperate and you need me, call me. That is the least one great W
arrior can do for another. Ka xi’ik teech utzil, T’oit’ik-jolom Chiac.”

  I felt a dreamlike state beginning to overtake me. The Kaab Ya’ax of Yaxché, Noh-il, and the beauty that surrounded me slowly disappeared.

  “He’s waking up,” I heard Teul shout. I opened my eyes. Teul was bending over, looking into my face. I let out a deep breath. “Madafok!” he shouted, holding his nose. “Your breath still stinks of that thing you drank from the jar.” Then he grinned. “You’ll need to eat some pu-ta383 to get rid of that bad breath.”

  “Fok you, Teul,” I responded.

  I felt strong and I jumped off the table I had been laying on. Their mouths dropped open as they stared at me.

  “Why the fok are you staring at me?” I asked. Then I saw Robertson. “Robertson!” I shouted. You’re here. I ran over to him and embraced him, laughing. “Now only Rhys and Taat are left.”

  I frowned. They were still all staring at me, still slack-jawed.

  “What the fok … Is something wrong?”

  “Yes! There is something wrong,” blurted out Teul. “There’s nothing wrong with you. That’s what’s madafok wrong.” I shrugged my shoulders. Teul held his head then began hitting it.

  “What’s wrong with you, Teul?’ I asked. “Why are you hitting your head?

  “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just making sure I’m alive and conscious.” Teul continued hitting his head.

  “It’s just, it’s justthat you are completely healed. A short while ago there were eight long wounds on your back, and your body was covered with scratches, and burns, and scars, and bruises, and … I could continue. And you were so weak with all kind of poisons that we thought you were surely going to die,” explained Robertson, with a note of relief, however.

  “I looked at my body. It appeared completely normal. I felt my back. All the wounds were gone, though I could feel very thin scars. Noh-il had told me that Hunahpu and Xbalanque had already requested Huracan to heal me of my battle wounds. I turned and looked towards Kish. I wanted to shout, but didn’t. “Huracan has granted Hunahpu and Xbalanque a favor. Ix Balanque told me that a favor had been asked. I am healed.” All my men looked at me in total confusion. The Xibalbans did not.

  “You have received the blessings of the gods,” Kish said, kneeling before me. Immediately, Emataly and Nikai kneeled also, quickly followed by the guards, except the guard at the door who had his back to us. “My Lord,” said Kish. I looked towards my men, who were still standing not knowing what the fok to do.

  “Should we kneel to him,” I heard Choco asked Teul.

  “Kneel to him? Not a madafok!”

  “No! Definitely not,” I said while walking over to Kish. “Stand, Chief Guard.” I looked to the others. “Stand! All of you.” All except Kish, who stood immediately, rose hesitantly. “I am Waach. In Xibalba, I am Waach. I am not a Lord. I have been helped by the gods and by Ix Na Li Kawa, but I am just Waach. It would not be good for the Lords of Xibalba to hear that you kneel before me. You are my friends and fellow Warriors. You don’t kneel before me. You never kneel before me.” Kish and the guards hit their chests. The women nodded. My men just stood in awe. “I think it is time for me to prepare for U-yeh Ja. What can you tell me about U-yeh Ja, Chief Guard of Xibalba?”

  Kish began. “Let’s sit. U-yeh Ja is dark and filled with Knives that move on their own. They fly and their only motive is to torture whoever enters. U-yeh Ja is the House of Trials of Vucub-Came. Its door is green and carries the image of Ah-Puch, the God of Death, who rules over the ninth level of the Underworld, the darkest, deepest, most dreadful place that exists.”

  “It’s strange that the doors of Baläm Ja and U-yeh Ja are green, even if they are in the center of the Cavern of Trials. Green is a color of life.”

  “This is Xibalba.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “How will the Knives know where I am? You said it’s dark in U-yeh Ja. But then you never tell me everything about the Houses of Trials.”

  “You know I cannot. Already, as I’ve said before, I tell you too much. If the Lords of Xibalba found out how much I tell you, you would forfeit the trails. And me?” He shook his head. “Xibalba is a place of trickery, deception, and fear. Being careful is not enough.” Kish furrowed his forehead then looked earnestly at me. “The Knives! They are alive. They sense your movement like a chikoop. They fly like the sotz’. They are made of the sharpest chay.384 They pass close to you without touching you and your skin bleeds.” He looked very uneasy. “They once flayed a Warrior from head to toe and left him alive though he begged for death. The next morning when I opened the door for him to walk out of U-yeh Ja, he did, but there was not a piece of skin on his body. He screamed for me to kill him. The trials rules demand that I take him back to the Chamber of the Council Place of the Lords. I did, but not before I had removed his head with my ba’at.385 I told the Lords that was how I found him. At other times when I removed the dead from U-yeh Ja, I saw that they died wearing the grotesque smile of the robaal we fish in our nim-ja’s on U Wach Ulew, their face cut from the edges of their mouth up to their ears. At other times, the flesh was cut away piece by piece, slowly, until only the skeleton remained, providing a lingering death. Is that enough Waach?”

  “And he’s our friend. Pray the gods he doesn’t become an enemy,” jeered Teul.

  “Madafoka!” mumbled Choco. “How positively stimulating.”

  “Kowil!” swore Robertson.

  Choc said nothing at first, just held his head, then began a tirade of Fokmi! Fokmi! Fokmi! …’

  “What the fok are you trying to do to me, Kish … Chief Guard?” I asked, angrily. “Frighten me to death. At least then the trials will be over and I won’t be cut to pieces, skinned, or have a living knife slice a grimace on my face as I die.” I burst out laughing, certainly not in mirth.

  “You were the one grumbling about me not telling you everything. Yet, knowledge sometimes proves the best comrade in battle. I want you to know exactly what you face. It is almost time, Waach. Let’s get you ready.”

  “How will you help me this time, Chief Guard?”

  “U-yeh Ja is dark and goes deep below Xibalba. It has many corridors, some narrow, some with low ceilings. There is one that takes you through U-yeh Ja and brings you back to the door you entered from. You will need to travel through that corridor. If you enter others, you will walk until the passage ends and there will be no door. You will need to return and start over, going through another passage. If you take the wrong passage, the danger becomes extreme, almost impossible to surmount, for the Knives will follow you and when you reach the dead end, when you can go no further, they will attack. Even if you ward off their attack, they will wait for you further down the passageway as you return.”

  “How will I know which one is the correct one?”

  “You will not.”

  “I will not?” I cried out, frantically.

  “You will not, but you have the blessings of the gods, at least, some of them. I will discuss this more with you.” My hands went up to Bas’ Green Scapular. “Even in the dark, the Knives can sense where they are going, where you are going, what you are, how big you are. They do that in a way similar to the chikoops. When they are searching for you, they send out audible clicks at a low rate. They are able to locate you by analyzing the echoes that return to them. Once they locate you, they become excited and the frequency of the clicks increase much higher until they sound like b-u-z-z. The Knives will not approach you when you hear the b-u-z-z. Once they have identified where you are, they decreased the frequency of the clicks so low that you do not hear them as they approach. The bigger you are, the easier they can locate you and so you will always try to make yourself as small as possible. For that reason, you will enter U-yeh Ja without your belt and scabbard, machete, knife, and without lej-xajäbs. You will wear only a scant loincloth. No bulk.”

  “But I need to be armed,” I objected, strongly. “And on
the matter of the clicks …

  “Leave the clicks for later. Your weapons move as you move. They would add additional size and movement to you, and the Knives will be able to sense you even more quickly.”

  “Fok!” I cussed. Fok! I’m cussing as much as Teul. “I don’t like to be without my weapons. A Warrior is never without his weapons.” I paused, thinking. “What if I wear thick skins that would protect me?”

  “The Knives cut through anything.”

  “I’m not taking this off,” I declared, holding onto Bas’ Green Scapular. Kish just shrugged his shoulders.

  “It’s fokmi hopeless,” snapped Choc.

  “Are you a Warrior?” reprimanded Kish.

  “As a matter of fact, I wasn’t. All I used to do was hunt and fuck,” Choc stormed.

  “Then, perhaps, you should not be in in this room, but in the market place,” Kish derided Choc.

  “Fokmi!” shouted Choc, hitting the wall forcefully then kicking it.

  I, immediately, flashed back to the room at Ox Witz Ha when I had kicked the wall, stupidly jealous, when Molly told me of her childhood fantasy that her first lover would be Prince Tristan … but, happily, it was Tóolok and I who had that pleasure. I quickly returned to my quarters.

  “Nothing is hopeless for a Warrior,” admonished Kish. “We look for ways to win the battle, not to accept defeat.”

  Choc hung his head. “I’m sorry. It has just been too much.”

  “It’s okay, Choc,” I said, calmly.

  “The only thing you will take with you into U-yeh Ja is this ch’aw-baq.386 Emataly brought a small ch’aw-baq and handed it to Kish. “I will not give it to you until you are about to enter U-yeh Ja.”

  “A ch’aw-baq? A flute?” I exclaimed, in disbelief. “I am to attack Knives, alive and armed with sharp chay u-yehs, with a ch’aw-baq?”

  “A madafok flute!” Teul roared with contemptuous laughter.

  “Do not mock me, Waach, or I will leave you to your destiny and you will remain in Xibalba forever. As will your men” warned Kish. I heard shuffling from the men. “And you Teul, I would have you die a lasting and terrifying death every day whenever the skies of Xibalba are red.”