important that you make it to Kohunlich. King Snarl Tooth will be pleased to see you.”
“Yes, I will see my old friend from the kingdom of the Sun god once more,” Subiac said with a serious gaze into the sky. He sighed and regarded Teshna with a melancholy face. “Allow an old man one last view from this magnificent pyramid.” He continued up the steps to the last platform at the top.
Teshna followed after him, worried that he might fall. “We can come here again… on the way back,” she said, as they reached the top platform.
Subiac sat on a short stone bench at the top of the temple. He gazed across the horizon, breathing with a raspy breath. “I regret that I will not be making the trip back,” he said matter-of-factly.
“What do you mean? Of course you will. We will return in a few days.”
“My time in this world is nearly complete.”
“If you are not well to travel, then you should have remained behind,” she said, scolding him.
Subiac shook his head and smiled. “My health is not the issue,” he said. He leaned closer, his war-torn face further exaggerating his intensity. “Last night I had a vivid dream… the masks of Kohunlich awoke and became the Sun god, Kinich Ahau. He warned me to stay away-threatened that if I were to look into his stony eyes once more, it would be my end.”
Teshna threw her hands up. “Yet you still came?”
Subiac laughed. “I have faced many challenges in my life. This will merely be my last.”
Teshna sighed. Without the Serpent Priest available to analyze his dream, she didn’t know what to think. “Your dream could mean many things, Subiac. I wouldn’t worry.”
Subiac stood abruptly, staring to the south. “Vultures!” he said, and shot a knowing look back to Teshna. “They have found a large feast… many bodies… not far from here.”
William took a deep breath, slung his pack over his shoulder, and made his way over to Salmac. “Is there something you want to say to me, Captain Salmac?”
Salmac glared back at him. The other guards took notice of the brooding looks between them, and they moved in closer for a better view. Salmac capped his jug and tossed it to the ground. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“We need to get along, Salmac, so we can work together.”
“You know what I think?” Salmac said, staring at William with contempt. “You’ve got everyone fooled… especially the Princess. You look different, and you sound different… but you’re no better than any of us!”
“I never said I was,” William said, getting angry. The bloodstone started glowing on his chest.
Salmac pointed at the stone. “If it wasn’t for that bloodstone around your neck you would be as helpless as that dead ambassador over there.”
William couldn’t believe what a jerk Salmac was. “Hey, I don’t need this bloodstone to prove myself.”
He heard Teshna hollering something from the pyramid and they both shot their attention her way.
“Vultures!” Teshna called out, descending the steps with the urgency of a park ranger reporting a forest fire. “Not far from here… just off the trail to the south. Salmac, scout ahead, and we’ll meet you there.”
Captain Salmac nodded to Teshna and then leaned over to William with a smug grin. “I don’t need a bloodstone either,” he said. “I prove myself every day without one. Can you?” He rushed down the trail, taking one of his men with him.
“What was that all about?” Teshna asked, noticing William’s annoyed face.
William threw his headdress to the ground, pulled off the bloodstone necklace, and stuffed it into his pack. “I’m going too,” he said, and handed his pack to Teshna. He took off in a sprint after Salmac.
Teshna called out to him as he ran down the trail, “Balam, what’s wrong?”
A light rain began to fall as William hustled down the path for several minutes, trailing behind Salmac and the guard like he was trying to catch up at a track event. He saw them slow to a stop, with frozen stares to the side of the road. By the time he reached them, the drizzle had become a heavy rain, drenching them as they gawked at the ugly scene below. A dozen slaughtered corpses had been picked apart by vultures. The other guard waved his spear at the birds, trying to scare them off.
“What happened here,” William asked, taken aback.
Salmac shrugged. “What do you care?”
“What do you want from me, Salmac?” William asked.
“I want you out of my way!” the Captain said and shoved William hard in the chest, knocking him back.
William slipped from the plaster road and tumbled down the embankment, rolling to a stop near the half- eaten bodies; vultures swarmed over his head. William gathered himself, struggled up to his feet, and wiped the mud off his shoulders. He exchanged a look of disbelief with the other guard.
Salmac marched down the embankment after him. “Not so tough without the bloodstone, are you?”
On Salmac’s next step, William heard a snap and noticed something move in his periphery. He shot his attention to his left and saw a spike-filled log swinging on a rope toward Salmac. “Watch out!” William yelled.
Salmac only had time to glance in the direction of the trap before William lunged forward and tackled him to the ground. The log swung over them both; the spikes whisked past, just inches over them. They stayed low for the log’s backswing and then crawled fast to get out of its way.
William shook his head with the relief one feels after the near miss of a car crash. Salmac got up and studied the deadly snare swinging back and forth. He approached William, gazing down at him with the usual scowl across his tattoo-covered face. But then he smiled and held out his hand. “I misjudged you,” he said, lifting William up.
While clasping their hands in a firm grip, William saw Teshna arrive along the trail, out of breath. She stared off the road with a flabbergasted expression-seeming more surprised by the bond between Salmac and himself than all the dead corpses around them.
“Go on,” Salmac said, motioning for William to go to her.
He nodded and went back up to the road, while Salmac stayed with the other guard to stop the momentum of the log. Teshna gave William a curious look as he approached. “I’ll tell you later,” he said.
By the time the rest of the group arrived, Salmac had deduced that the dead people were part of the group that had accompanied the ambassadors from Kohunlich. He found a white feather and showed it to the others.
“It’s from Honac-Fey’s white owl,” elder Subiac said with certainty. “He was here.”
“The other ambassadors are not among the dead,” Lamat said. “They have been captured.”
As the group prepared to leave, Priest Ik-Tanil announced that he would remain behind to tend to the bodies, and to provide proper prayers. He planned to join them later at their evening camp. Before they continued, Salmac ordered one of the guards, Axel, to stay and help the priest.
They continued on for several hours in a heavy downpour. When the sun finally broke through the clouds, mist arose from the plaster floor, giving the area a surreal atmosphere.
Salmac stopped, his hand raised in a halting gesture. Out of the mist ahead, a group of thirteen warriors appeared; their bodies were painted with orange and black spots, like jaguars. They stopped in their tracks upon spotting them.
“Kohunlich warriors,” Subiac whispered.
“Lamat and I will approach,” Teshna said.
“I must accompany you,” Salmac said. “It is not safe.”
William leaned forward with concern. “I agree, Teshna.”
“We must demonstrate our peaceful intentions. Come, Lamat,” Teshna said, walking toward the Kohunlich warriors. She raised her arms over her head and held her index fingers and thumbs together, forming a triangle. William assumed it was a symbol of good will, for the warriors relaxed in their stance as she approached.
When they had covered half the distance to the warriors, she stopped and spoke with a strong voice. “I am Princess Teshna of Dzibanche, daughter of the Great Jade Owl, sister to King Stone Frog.” She lowered her hands and bowed. Lamat did the same.
Two Kohunlich warriors stepped forward from the group, their spears still in hand as they came near. The taller of the two men spoke with a deep voice that carried down the trail. “I am Muluk, leader of this dispatch-sent by King Snarl Tooth. We seek our ambassadors.”
William couldn’t hear what they were saying from that point on, but figured she was explaining the situation to them. She pointed to the servants holding the litter, and signaled them to come forward. Muluk ordered his men to approach as well.
