The Mayan Priest

by Guillou, Sue

  ‘Try and imagine life 1500 years ago.’

  ‘Well, for one thing, they didn’t have torches.’

  ‘Exactly! In the city of Xibalba, the lords had a series of six rooms, each designed to test the intelligence of the visitor. The outcome was always death if they could not ascertain how to escape. It is my guess that this is supposed to be the first of the six rooms often referred to as the Dark House. The purpose was to confuse and capture the intruders in the absence of light.’

  ‘For once technology is on our side,’ said Adam, waving his torch about.

  Gillian laughed as they easily picked their way around the holes, reaching the opposite in record time.

  ‘So, what was the next room?’ asked Adam.

  ‘I’m trying to remember, but I think it had something to do with cold.’

  ‘What could possibly be cold down here?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘Well, what the hell. We’ve got nothing to lose,’ said Adam as he stepped forward and accidentally tripped over a thin metal line.

  ‘Oh, no!’ he exclaimed as a stone door slammed shut behind them, enclosing them in a small corridor.

  Gillian looked about. The only way forward was through a small doorway, which she did not hesitate to hurry under. This led into a cavernous room made entirely from large blocks of grey stone matching in size and pattern. Even the floor looked to be carved from the same quarry, creating an impression of an impenetrable prison.

  ‘I’m feeling chilly already,’ shivered Gillian as a few drops of water landed on her arms.

  She shone her torch upwards to discover the cause and noticed four large stone panels that were purposely out of alignment. This was coupled by a loud grating noise, a slight lifting of the panels and further water.

  Gillian turned to Adam and pointed to the roof: ‘A penny for your thoughts.’

  ‘If this is the cold room, the only thing I can imagine would have been chilly in Mayan times was water. Water running in underground streams away from the heat of the day.’ His voice was hurried and nervous.

  ‘Above us,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, and just about to cause us a lot of grief!’ Adam yelled as the first of the four panels had extended upwards enough to allow a measured amount of water to rain down on them. This rapidly increased to a steady stream, swiftly followed by the opening of the second panel.

  ‘Hurry, Gillian. We have to get out before we drown.’

  The third panel lifted in quick succession, causing them to realise they were standing ankle deep in a rapidly growing lake and fast running out of time.

  Gillian wracked her brain. She was not familiar with the details surrounding this particular room in Mayan legend, but logic told her that there must be a way out. Recalling the legend would certainly assist, but if she was able to find the opening then perhaps it did not matter. She deduced that the doorway would not be in the roof or floor as these two surfaces were the main components of Kinix’s plan. He would not compromise the strength of the structure, so it had to be the walls.

  ‘Adam, check the walls! I’ll meet you on the opposite side!’ she shouted as she hurried to the entrance.

  She was now knee-deep in a rapidly growing lagoon which had been assisted by the noisy opening of the fourth panel.

  Gillian ran her hands along the walls, touching, feeling for anything that may resemble a lock or a clue. There was nothing and by the time she met Adam, they were waist deep.

  ‘Is this it?’ he asked.

  ‘Don’t be silly. We can’t give up yet. This is only the second room.’

  ‘Well, in that case, I would like to suggest that the Mayans were smaller than us, so perhaps we should look a little lower.’

  Gillian did not reply for Adam to understand what she wanted. He simply began searching even as the water had started to creep up and over his chest, made all the worse by the fact that they were stooping at a height they thought Kinix would have worked.

  Adam shouted first. ‘Gillian! Over here!’

  She waded across as quickly as possible and clasped his hand, following his direction to the indentation below the water line. It was definitely what they wanted and it took a few moments for her brain to process the square shape and connect it to the small tile she had uncovered in the box at Richard’s home. She rummaged about in her bag, swearing loudly, before she located the object and inserted it deftly into the slot. It fitted as expected, but nothing happened until she accidentally felt a series of lines and dots below the tile. Gillian pressed the ones representing three, indicative of the word zip and not a moment too soon as the water had reached both of their necks.

  A sudden rumbling beneath their feet caught them unawares and initially Gillian feared they had made a grave error, but this was quickly followed by a whooshing sound as the centre of the floor opened and the water was sucked out.

  Gillian looked at Adam and grimaced. They were one step closer to the prize, but she feared it wasn’t worth it. They were soaked, tired and each corner carried the possibility of death.

  Adam simply grinned, making light of the potentially deadly situation they had just faced. ‘I know as well as you that there is no way we can turn back now. Even if we wanted to, the doors are closed and unless you know differently, I don’t see any illuminated exit signs. Anyway, you wouldn’t leave even if you had the opportunity. This sort of thing is in your blood.’

  Gillian laughed aloud for the first time in a while. ‘Am I that predictable?’

  CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

  Without the sun on her back and no way to dry out, Gillian was feeling extremely cold. She was only thankful that they were in Guatemala and not the Canadian Alps where survival would be impossible without a snow suit.

  Adam was shaking like a leaf. He attempted a humorous grin but it froze halfway across his face before fading to an unhappy smile.

  ‘Mate, this is cold!’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Gillian as they stepped down a short flight of stairs, squeezed though a narrow hallway and crept towards an unusual stone door that was as impressive as it was detailed.

  Gillian viewed it with delight. It was covered in a panel of silver that had been etched and inlaid with tiny portions of mica to create a complete pictogram of a jaguar.

  ‘Wow!’ exclaimed Adam in amazement. ‘I’d love to have this at home. What do you think it means?’

  ‘The third room in the tale of Xibalba is the House of Hungry Jaguars.’

  ‘That’s not good. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of fighting jaguars for a lifetime. We only escaped the first time due to luck and I don’t like our chances a second time around.’

  ‘I agree. There are two options. Either Kinix has created some sort of mechanical jaguar or the room was designed as a den for the real thing. If it’s the second option, there is a distinct possibility that the den may be abandoned or overgrown, considering it was created so long ago.’

  ‘So, let’s find out. I don’t know about you, but standing around is not achieving anything and I’m getting colder by the minute.’

  ‘And I thought you were a hot-blooded male.’

  Adam grinned. ‘Yeah, baby … that’s me.’

  Gillian smirked and grabbed the lever, pausing at the last minute. ‘Are we ready?’

  Adam nodded as Gillian continued to press in a downward motion until they heard a resounding click and subsequent thump. The door sprang open, releasing a smell that made Gillian and Adam retch.

  ‘Ahhhggg,’ gasped Adam as they stepped inside.

  Gillian held her nose and looked about. The room benefited from a small amount of light that filtered in from a vertical shaft and spilt out onto a dirt floor. There were no well-sculptured figures, finely carved blocks of stone or even a tiled floor that they experienced so far, but Gillian was not surprised. Kinix had stayed true to the Mayan legend and emulated a jaguar’s cave to such detail that it required a trained eye to determine the difference between fa
ux and true nature.

  The rocks were a little too smooth and the walls too even although the penetration of tree roots and ground movement had erased the evidence considerably. Gillian noted that the original door leading to the outside had caved in and a number of jaguar bones remained, allowing her to conclude that it had been occupied for a quite a period as intended.

  The collapse of the outer door occurred many hundreds of years ago and the smell was a rotting carcass of a small monkey that had become caught in the shaft before deteriorating to an extent that the remains had fallen through.

  ‘It’s safe!’ said Gillian as she explored the interior, quickly discovering another puzzle inserted into the far wall.

  ‘This one is interesting,’ cited Adam. ’It reminds me of scrabble.’

  ‘Hhmm,’ mumbled Gillian as she viewed the two rows with deliberation. The upper level of the puzzle consisted of thirty singular tiles, each inscribed with a Medieval Latin digit. The lower level consisted of six square holes into which the upper tiles were positioned. The only problem was choosing the right ones.

  ‘Can’t you simply guess? There’s nothing stopping you trying a few combinations,’ suggested Adam.

  ‘No, it’s not as simple as that. If you look under each tile, you will see that it’s connected to the wall by a metal post. If the tile is lifted off and inserted into the line below the post, it will fall away. It is my guess that removing the required tiles in their correct sequence will allow the right posts to hit a concealed trigger. If we are wrong … who knows what will happen.’

  ‘How can we be wrong? The code will be “b-a-h-l-a-m”.’

  Gillian did not respond for a moment, eventually throwing her hands into the air in a gesture of surrender.

  ‘Bloody hell, I reckon you’re right. Bahlum was the code for the third box and it’s the right number of digits.’

  Gillian quickly removed the tiles and was rewarded with a resounding click and the swinging of a concealed exit.

  ‘Now, that’s one for me,’ said Adam smugly as Gillian conceded with a roll of her eyes.

  ‘Hurry!’ yelled Adam as the revolving panel swung inward, giving them less than ten seconds before it swivelled back into its original position. They raced, dodged and squeezed though the narrow opening, coming to an ungainly end on the opposite side. They landed in an embarrassing tangle of arms and legs and Gillian could not resist laughing at their efforts to free themselves. Unfortunately she also fell forward, accidentally hitting a narrow upright pole.

  She gasped in horror as the pole tilted forward activating an invisible switch that in turn made a series of previously unnoticed panels in the roof vibrate.

  Gillian watched in disbelief as the ceiling seemed to develop a life of its own and it took a few minutes for her to understand the reason.

  ‘Fuck,’ she uncharacteristically swore. The fourth room was the Bat House and it still fulfilled the purpose it was intended for. Thousand of bats lined the entire roof creating the impression of a vast expanse of velvet. It was an extraordinary scene.

  Unfortunately, the bats had been rudely woken from their sleep and they were disorientated and chaotic. They instantaneously abandoned their perches and flew around in absolute disarray, screeching, fluttering and clawing anything that was unlucky enough to be in their way.

  ‘Now what?!’ yelled Gillian as Adam grabbed her by the collar and wrenched her to the ground.

  ‘What was that for?’ Gillian demanded, requiring an explanation as to why her wet hair was covered in a layer of dust, and bat faeces.

  ‘We have no option but to crawl out. Any further movement will only agitate them and unless you want to be ripped apart like a piece of meat, this is the only way.’

  ‘I beg to differ. It looks as if we have activated something else.’ Gillian pointed to the rapidly descending grate at the far side of the cave.

  ‘There is no way we can make that.’

  ‘I don’t see that we have any choice!’ shouted Gillian as she jumped to her feet and ran. She moved like never before, pushing her legs until they ached with the effort. She noted that Adam was breathing down her neck, but even with him forcing her forwards, she did not think they were going to make it. The bats also impeded their progress, flapping about them, scratching any uncovered skin and tearing at Gillian’s hair. The pain of the fearfully sharp claws was similar to a slash from a knife and she resisted screaming in frustration and anger, choosing instead to channel her energies to her muscles.

  They had less than ten feet to go, but even at this rate, Gillian knew they would be lucky to make it.

  Five feet remained.

  Four feet.

  Three feet.

  Two feet and Adam yelled, ‘Drop and roll, Gillian! Do it now!’

  She obeyed and together they fell to their knees, dove onto their stomachs and rotated under the grate, which was less than a few inches above their faces and dropping.

  The posts scraped over her cheeks, forcing Gillian to turn her face sideways. Unfortunately this action also gave her a clear view of their new surroundings and she quickly understood that their troubles were far from over.

  Kinix was smart and their movements through the Bat House had set a series of events in motion that could not be stopped. The room they were entering was the Razor House, portrayed in legend as a space overflowing with blades and razors. Each tool moved about individually and was a created in such a way that it would be impossible to pass through without losing a body part.

  The room was an excellent adaptation of the ancient narrative.

  Gillian did not need long to note that the side walls sported at least fifty blades inserted into a series of holes. The roof accommodated an extra forty, extended from individual pivot poles that allowed the blades to swing freely.

  ‘It gets better and better. If we’re not skewered by those spears then we will be sliced in half by the swinging knives,’ muttered Adam in disgust as he attempted to stand.

  He yelped in pain, the scratches from the bats leaving numerous streaks of blood and puncture holes.

  Gillian realised that she mirrored Adam’s sore and sorry reflection. She was also covered in blood, had dozens of developing bruises all over her torso and a large bump on her head. She knew she was a mess, but for some reason, she did not really care.

  She smiled at Adam whose expression graduated from fondness to extreme fear.

  ‘Duck!’ he screamed as he leapt onto Gillian for the second time in a few minutes just as a blade was ejected from the wall. It flew in their direction, missing them by a few inches before imbedding itself into the plaster behind them.

  This was quickly followed by the sudden release of a swinging blade which also plummeted dangerously close to their position.

  ‘Time to go,’ ordered Gillian as they jumped to their feet, barely allowing a second to calculate the distance between their position, the open doorway opposite and the risk of being hit if all of the weapons were released at once.

  It was at this moment that Gillian understood Kinix’s intention. The purpose behind the open doorway was the same as offering candy to a child. It was meant to draw out those who wanted a quick way out. Unfortunately the reward was death.

  Gillian had to find an alternative route, something just out of the ordinary but not too different to attract attention.

  Adam tugged at her arm. ‘Gillian, we have to go.’

  ‘No, wait,’ she insisted as she studied the room with an intensity that surprised her. She drew in all of the room’s features from the tiled floor to the weapons, the plastered roof and brightly painted, rendered walls until her eyes fell on an uneven hidden panel to their left. It was the halfway point between their current position and the opposite exit.

  ‘Look … over there. It’s probably a doorway.’ She pointed it out to Adam. ‘I see it, but there are two issues. The large axe swinging just above the panel is obviously intended to assist in our escape, but if we are not careful,
the arrows pointed at the doorway will kill us,’ concluded Gillian.

  ‘Okay, so the only way to stop from being skewered is to release the arrows first,’ said Adam.

  Gillian scowled. ‘I’m not volunteering to run in front of those things.’

  Adam laughed. ‘I had something else in mind,’ he revealed as he grabbed an arrow from the ground.

  Gillian gazed at him quizzically as he eyed the floor, aimed and threw the arrow with the expertise reserved for a javelin thrower. The direction was true and the arrow landed in a small custom-made indentation on the floor, immediately releasing a barrage of weapons.

  Gillian was lost for words. ‘How’d you see that?’ she eventually asked.

  ‘If you look carefully, the entire floor is covered in grooves. Unfortunately they are so flat that anyone with normal lighting or vision would not be able to pick up the discrepancy. I was simply lucky that my torch reflected on the one that was the trigger.’

  ‘Well, aren’t you smart,’ Gillian chided in good humour as they both ran low and around the outer edge of the wall. They were minimising the chance of triggering a further barrage of deadly weapons but still found themselves doing their best acrobatic renditions as they ducked, twisted and weaved.

  They reached their destination in record time without incident and Adam used his spear-throwing skills to activate the mechanism that held the axe.

  ‘Duck!’ screamed Adam as they both fell to the floor in desperation.

  The axe plummeted from above, whistling loudly as it flung down, picking up speed until it slammed solidly into the plaster wall. The plaster burst outward, creating a cloud of white dust that covered them from head to toe.