it that I did not smell these
William thought for a moment, pretending to be angry. “That ceiba tree… it clouded your senses… to trick you!”
“Oh, but of course. That must be the reason.”
“Maybe you can smell them now… back up the tunnel?”
The demon sniffed, his forked serpent tongue licking at the air. Black goop dripped from his mouth, splattering next to William’s feet. “Why yes… I do indeed smell them now,” he said, surprised. “How beautiful… how sweet… how full of life. Come my new friend, Jupiter, we have much work to do.”
Yum Cimil lumbered back up the tunnel. His large legs propelled him so fast that William had a hard time keeping up.
The demon came to an abrupt stop and scraped the dirt above him, revealing the roots from the first of the fifty-two plants. He licked the soil with his forked tongue. “Such a strange taste. What do you make of this my dear friend, Jupiter?”
“Maybe it’s, uh… fertilizer?” William said.
“What?”
“Like special water that helps the plants to grow better.”
With a creepy smile, Yum Cimil put his claws beneath his jaw bone again. “How extraordinary… how marvelous… how fabulous.” His expression changed to disgust and anger. “How about some of my fertilizer!” He snapped his head back to the plant, vomiting forth a blob of black slime onto the roots, causing them to shrivel and dissolve.
The demon continued clawing his way through the ground beneath the temples, spitting the black gunk from his mouth onto the roots of the plants. William tried to stretch out the task as long as possible by commenting on each plant, making up whatever story he could think of in the moment. Yum Cimil took great delight in listening to his stories, and he would follow them with sarcastic, cherishing remarks prior to killing each plant.
“Tell me, my dear friend, Jupiter-tell me of this one.”
“Well, now that plant was especially special to the King. Not for the beautiful colors or how the flowers swayed in the wind,” he said, getting into the mood of the game, and speaking with much emotion. “No, he loved this plant because it was a gift from his mother.”
Yum Cimil listened to William with a boney smile, resting his chin on his claws. “From his mother? I am going to cry,” he said in a pathetic voice, wiping fake tears beneath his eye sockets. “How sweet… how special… how thoughtful… how about you die!” He spit his black gunk on the roots and then turned back to William with a pleasant demeanor. “What fun… let us continue, Jupiter.”
Although William had lost track of time in the underworld, he guessed that some hours had passed in the physical world above. He grew weary making up stories for each plant to entertain the demon along his path of destruction. However, he had kept count as they proceeded, and he knew that they were approaching the last of the fifty-two plants. His task would soon be done.
Yum Cimil never grew tired of William’s stories. In fact, he was tickled by each, savoring the moments prior to the regurgitations of the black stink from his mouth.
“Jupiter, my brother of death, tell me of this one.”
Being the last plant, William knew he had to stretch it. He invented a long story about how the plant was found-traveling across the ocean, fighting giant serpents, and climbing a huge mountain. Then his tale continued in reverse, with more folly along the way. He stole bits and pieces from Star Wars, and ended the story with Yax planting the rare bush in a beautiful pot.
Yum Cimil appeared glued to the heroic tale through the first half, but he became bored as it went along. He rested his reptilian elbows on his knees and leaned his massive head against his clawed hands for the remainder of the saga. He tapped his sharp nails against his skull. “Are you quite finished then?”
William scrambled to think of a way to further delay him. “Would you like to hear how he found the pot?”
Yum Cimil bolted up, glaring at William as if he figured out what he had been up to. “That won’t be necessary.” Yum Cimil raised his arms, and William thought he was about to smash them down upon him. However, the demon’s expression changed abruptly. He became exaggerated with his compliments again, waving his claws about in a silly manner. “How courageous… how valorous… how dauntless… how you sicken me!” he said, spitting out his goop onto the roots of the final plant. “We are finished here, my friend Jupiter. Let us now resume our work in the fields. Come.”
“Well, Yum Cimil, I’m only here to help you with your work under the temples. I think it’s about time for me to head on out,” he said looking up, not sure how to pull himself out of the trance. “It’s time for me to go!” He gazed at the dirt ceiling above him, hoping that Priest Quisac could somehow hear him.
Yum Cimil moved in closer, coming face to face with William. He seemed annoyed. “I heard you the first time. No, you will go with me. I insist!” he said, inadvertently spitting black goop on William’s face. “Oh, forgive me, my friend. My manners again. Horrible… appalling… ghastly. It is settled, then. Climb on my back so that we may travel together.”
William nodded, wiping the gunk off his face; it burned a little, and smelled like something rotting in the garbage. He climbed onto the shell of the demon’s scaly back, held a hooked spike on his spine for support, and they maneuvered through the rocky tunnels together. They passed by the roots of the great ceiba tree and returned to the end of the tunnel where William had first met the beast.
Yum Cimil clawed away at the ground, tunneling for a long ways. Suddenly, they broke through the dirt wall ahead of them and discovered a large chamber-an underground palace with a rounded ceiling high above. A sweet smell of incense permeated the room. “What is this?” the demon asked.
William climbed off the beast’s back and studied the beautiful chamber; it had polished limestone walls and colorful plants that grew from the red-tiled floor. In the center of the large chamber, a short flight of steps led up a small pyramid to a raised platform. There, an odd-looking man, twice William’s size, sat cross-legged, smoking from a curved pipe. He had a big angular head and huge green eyes. Although his face looked boyish, he held a timeless wisdom in his gaze. “Good day, Au Puch.” He greeted the demon with a fancy wave, twirling his hand above his head. He took another puff from his pipe. “How nice of you to drop by.”
The demon marched up the short stairway, with William following behind. “Yum Kaax. Oh my, the Lord of the Fields is here. How impressive… how magnificent… how stupendous,” he said in his girly way. “I must behave myself in the presence of the
“Please introduce me to your friend,” Yum Kaax said, tilting his head toward William.
“Oh, forgive me your
“Jupiter, is it?” The Maize god chuckled. He gave William a sly wink as he took another puff of incense from his pipe.
“Come, Jupiter,” Yum Cimil said. “The Maize god cannot delay us on this day.”
“Feel free to proceed to the fields, Au Puch, but there is little point now, for the harvest is complete.” He motioned for William to join him on the platform.
The demon had already begun tearing a large hole in the limestone wall at the far end of the chamber. He spun around. “Do not play your childish games with me, Maize god!”
“I am afraid it is true, Au Puch. Yet I understand that you must continue with your task, for you are a slave to the curse of the soil plague. For that, I do pity you.”
“I do not believe you. You are a trickster.” He spotted William standing on the platform beside Yum Kaax. “Come, Jupiter. You will entertain me with your stories as we poison the land together.”
“Your friend, Balam, will not be joining you on your mission to poison the
“Balam?” he asked in a confused tone, scratching the scales on his back. “Where have I heard that name before?” His forked tongue licked at the air, and his black eyes rolled around as he tried to remember. “Why yes, that was the name I heard from above when… when I was summoned below the ballcourt.” He glared at William. “Balam?”
“Balam is the master of the bloodstone, Au Puch,” Yum Kaax said with a big grin, pointing at the demon. “I
