William took off his necklace and set the 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!”
Priest Quisac didn’t respond. He didn’t seem to hear him.
William looked up, expecting to see the branches of the tree over his head, but instead he stared into the unobstructed sky. When he looked back down, all he could see were branches. He tried to move his arms, and the branches shook below him. William could feel every branch and twig in the tree, as though he had a hundred arms and a thousand fingers-a strange, but wonderful sensation. Tiny ants scurried up and down his limbs, tickling him in places. He could not move his legs and it seemed as though his feet were buried deep into the ground, with his toes stretching out even further. He felt a tingling sensation where his stomach used to be. When he looked closer, he could see that it was where Priest Quisac held his real body against the tree trunk.
William gazed over the top of the palace and saw everyone scurrying about, planting the shrubs around the temples. He spotted Betty walking beside Teshna. As usual, Betty was talking up a storm-something about planting rose bushes in her grandmother’s garden, oblivious to the fact that Teshna could not understand her.
He felt so relaxed from his new perspective-all his prior concerns and worries seemed so silly and meaningless. Nothing really mattered when you were a tree, and he instantly wished he could remain a tree forever.
Suddenly, the mental grip he had on the tree-or the hold the tree had over him-loosened, and he fell down through the trunk, landing on the ground deep beneath the earth. He was back to himself again, with his arms, legs, hands, and feet. Funny, he pondered, to be wearing shorts and sneakers.
It occurred to William that he was in a dream state. He knew his real body still sat at the surface, at the base of the ceiba tree. Yet he felt awake as ever-breathing, smelling, and feeling. Even though no light penetrated the tunnel, he could see every object by its true color-brown tangled roots, light green chunks of limestone, and bright red ants that crawled around.
The tunnel appeared recently excavated. Rocks and soil fell like an uncomfortable rain around him. Above him, the giant roots of the ceiba tree dripped forth a black goop. With the acute vision from his dream-like astral body, William noticed wounds on the massive roots, like scratch marks from giant claws. In the center of the root there were teeth marks resembling a surf board bitten by a shark.
The trail extended in two directions, and he wasn’t sure which path led to the fields. A gross smell drifted his way, and William followed the scent through the tunnel, stumbling over clumps of rocks and debris toward the stink ahead. “Yum Cimil!” he hollered, his voice echoing. “Wait up, you forgot something.”
The horrible stink intensified as he scrambled through the passages. He heard a scratching noise off in the distance. “Yum Cimil… Au Puch…where are you? I have something to show you.”
The scratching sound was coming from just around a bend in the tunnel, where he also heard rocks falling to the ground, and a high-pitched voice of a man talking to himself. William peeked around the corner and blurted, “No freaking way!” There he was-the demon-a giant, lurking monster that filled the entire passage, digging with huge claws that ripped through the solid rock like it was clay. A thorny shell covered his back, with hooked spikes protruding along the center of his spine. His thick, slimy green legs looked reptilian.
The demon’s head shifted beneath a bizarre helmet of bones, as he ripped solid chunks of rock to his sides, muttering to himself all the while. “Oh, this is fine. Yes, this is nice. Work today, play tomorrow.” He laughed with a creepy high-pitched, “hee-hee-hee-hee-hee.”
“Yum Cimil,” William called out, his voice cracking from fright.
The beast stopped and cocked his head to listen for a moment before continuing to dig again. “No, no, must work. Plenty of work. Must finish my work.”
“Yum Cimil, I have something important to tell you,” William said.
The demon froze. He snapped his head around to see who was calling him. A giant skull-face with black eyes came into view. “Who is this that dares to interrupt my task?” he asked, regarding William. “I do not know you. Leave me at once, for I have work to do!” Black pus dripped from the sharp teeth of his jaw bone. He turned back and continued with his task.
Though frightened by the horrible creature that had just addressed him, William tried to convince himself that he could not be harmed in his current astral form. So he gathered up another helping of courage. “Yum Cimil, you missed some plants back at the temples.”
The demon spun around and charged at William, stopping within a few feet of him. “Did I not ask you to leave?” His hot putrid breath-the sick smell of death-enveloped William.
Yum Cimil’s expression softened. He put his bird-like claws under his chin, tilting his head. “Oh, I’ve frightened you,” he said in a girly voice. “Forgive me… oh, where are my manners, hee-hee-hee. I don’t socialize much these days for I have work to do!” he said with a blast of hot air that knocked William onto his butt. Yum Cimil tilted his head again. “How I would love to stay and chat, but leave me now!” The demon maneuvered his hulking body around and lumbered back to the end of the tunnel, muttering about the annoyance of being delayed as he went.
William got back up and followed the beast, realizing he would have to be more creative. “They are such beautiful flowers. The King waters them himself.”
The demon stopped again, cocking his head back to listen.
“The bees have such joy spreading the pollen of its colorful flowers all over the world.”
Yum Cimil spun around with a skeletal smile. Black drool dripped from his jaw. “Oh, do continue… tell me more, fine Sir.”
“There are fifty-two plants that are the most sacred to the King. They are planted around his temples to make everyone happy. People come from other parts of the world just to see them.”
“How beautiful… how wonderful… how splendid,” the demon said, mocking him in a creepy, sarcastic manner. “Ayah!” The demon screeched with a wild look in his eyes. He studied William for a moment. “What manner of being are you? Tell me, my friend, what are you called by?”
“I am… a spirit from another world. I go by the name of… uh… Jupiter,” William said. “I’ve been sent here to help you with your task.”
“Jupiter,” he said, drawing out the syllables of this made-up name in a girly voice, with his claws under his jaw bone and rolling his black sunken eyes around as he teased. “What a splendid name. How divine… how fanciful… how precious.” Yum Cimil scratched the side of his boney skull, looking skeptical. “Tell me, Jupiter, how is
