made in other times… as promised, I will show you the sacred items.” Priest Quisac reached into the pack and retrieved a golden tube. He twisted one end of the tube, causing a bright light to shine.
“It’s… a flashlight,” William said, unimpressed, expecting something much more magical.
“The light has never dimmed.”
“Well, that’s a good thing… hard to find batteries around here, I’d imagine.”
The Serpent Priest put the flashlight back, and he stood as he pulled out an object that looked like a metal Frisbee with a handle and buttons on top. He pointed at the large rock William was sitting on. “Try to lift that stone.”
William laughed. “You know I can’t.”
“Try.”
William bent over and strained his muscles, but he couldn’t budge the heavy boulder. The Serpent Priest placed the disk on the rock and pressed a few buttons; tiny metal spikes poked out from the bottom of the disk, making contact with the rock. He pressed another button, and a high-pitched humming noise became audible. Sparks traveled up and down the metal spikes against the rock. “Now try to lift it.”
William picked up the boulder as though it was made of Styrofoam. He waved it around, feeling like he had superpowers. “That’s incredible!”
“As you can imagine, this would be a useful item for construction purposes,” Priest Quisac said. William set the stone down. “It has another use that I shall demonstrate.” He gripped the handle and pressed a button; the disk pulled him over the top of boulder. Priest Quisac deactivated the device before it launched him over the side. “I suppose that feature could assist in climbing a great mountain.” He glanced at the lagoon. “It can also propel you through the water.” He put the disk back in his pack.
“This last item is the most powerful,” he said, holding the handles of a metallic object with three crystal spikes jutting out. He pressed some buttons, causing the object to hum as he aimed it at the lagoon. A bolt of lightning shot out from the device, followed by a loud thunderclap that rocked the ground, drawing the attention of the other priests nearby.
William jumped. “Awesome!” he said, transfixed by the weapon. “It’s like a laser gun. Is this what King Aztuk wanted to steal?”
“Yes,” the Serpent Priest said. “Imagine the damage such a weapon could inflict if in the wrong hands.”
“With this weapon, couldn’t we easily defeat Calakmul?” William asked.
“We will indeed use this sacred weapon against their advancing army. It will kill many with each blast. However, it is only good for two such blasts, and then it must remain in the sun for a full day to regain its power.”
The Serpent Priest glanced up at the sun. “We must make use of the remaining light to travel to the Sacred Cavern of Jade. I will take you through the tunnels to show you the cavern with the underground cenote so you can determine if it is the same passage that brought you here.”
Priest Quisac said his farewells to the others. He appeared to be fighting back his emotions, as did the other priests when they parted. “Ensure that the mission of the Solar Cult does not end here in Bacalar, my brothers,” Priest Quisac said, with a bow.
They all bowed in response.
The Serpent Priest turned away from the lands that he had known since he was a child, and he did not look back, as he and William began their journey to the Sacred Cavern of Jade.
Chapter Eleven
Hiking back the way they had come before, William and Priest Quisac followed the trail south along the shores of Bacalar lagoon, stopping to fill their jugs at the Cenote Azul before continuing on. Rather than veering east into the hills toward Dzibanche, the Serpent Priest maneuvered through a dense section of jungle without any trails to guide them.
“Isn’t there a better path to the Sacred Cavern?” William asked, after being whipped in the face by a leafy branch.
“The jungle conceals its location from those outside the Solar Cult.”
“Then how does King Aztuk know about it?”
The Serpent Priest retrieved his atlatl and hacked through a thick section of brush that blocked their way, slicing off foliage from a bushy coffee tree. He reached down and picked up a branch, examining the red beans that dangled in tight clusters. “Before becoming the King of Calakmul, Prince Aztuk was once a student of the Solar Cult.” He plucked a bad bean off the branch and tossed it aside. “We banished him due to his behavior-his thirst for power. It is also unfortunate that he met Yax’s uncle then. It is when they began their alliance, and their plans to overthrow the ruling family of Dzibanche.” Priest Quisac stuffed the branch of coffee beans into his pack and continued on.
They trudged through a muddy section of the jungle for a while. Combined with the advancing darkness, William lost his footing a couple times along the slippery ground. The Serpent Priest stopped and pointed to a rocky knoll covered in vegetation, just beyond a swampy wetland stretch ahead of them. With a grand announcement, he said, “There lies the Sacred Cavern of Jade.”
William squinted, staring at the small bump in the ground that rose perhaps twenty feet above the steady contour of the land, wondering if he was looking in the right direction. “You mean that hill? That’s it?”
“Yes, that is it,” the Serpent Priest said, confirming.
“I thought it would be much bigger.”
“It is merely the entrance. Come.” Priest Quisac plodded forward through the mucky swamp.
“Where is the entrance?” William asked, unable to see any visible openings on the hill as he splashed through the wet marsh. Their progress slowed due to the water that rose to their knees at one point. He grimaced at the feeling of the silt squishing through his toes, while keeping an eye out for any creepy critters that might be lurking just under the surface.
“It is on the other side, near the top.”
Just as dusk settled in, they broke free from the swamp, back onto solid ground, and arrived at the obscure little hill hidden in the overgrowth of the jungle. Ferns, short shrubs, and flowering vines blanketed the hill. Agave plants grew throughout; their thick pointy leaves formed clusters of bluish balls that looked like ornaments from the distance.
After following Priest Quisac to the other side of the hill, William watched him climb up the embankment using the vines for support. William tried to follow his lead, but he slipped on the way up, swearing under his breath when he scraped his knees on the rocks. Once situated at the top, he spotted a shadowy area amidst the vegetation. Priest Quisac cut away the brush that he said had grown over the entrance since his last visit there. “Based on the growth, I would guess it has been several years since anyone has been here,” he said.
Mesmerized by the shape of the opening, William moved in closer to get a better view. “Did your people carve it like that?”
“Like what?” he asked, hacking off the last few vines with his dagger.
“The entrance is completely round,” William said. “The edges are so smooth.” He ran his hand along the curve of the five-foot diameter opening. Instead of a rocky texture that he would have expected for the entrance to the cave, it felt more like the slick surface of a Teflon frying pan.
Priest Quisac shrugged. “It has always been as such.” He retrieved the sacred flashlight from his pack, casting its beam inside, lighting up the green mossy walls of the cavern’s interior. William peeked in. “The initial descent is steep,” the Serpent Priest said. He beamed the light further into the tunnel; it went down at a forty degree angle into the darkness below.
“Maybe we should wait until the morning,” William said, feeling a little uncomfortable about exploring creepy caves at night.
“We will make camp in the caverns.”
“Down there?”
“It opens up below,” Priest Quisac said. He fished around with his free hand and grabbed a rope just inside
