shoved the incense burner into his hands, sending him on his way with a nudge. “Go now,” she whispered, just as Captain Muluk arrived at the top of the stairway.
William held his breath when he passed by Muluk, waving the incense burner as he headed toward the steps. The warrior began to ask him something about the coming ceremony, and William had a momentary panic about what to say. But the sound of Teshna’s exaggerated crying near the chamber captured Muluk’s attention, and he moved on.
William felt a little awkward with the heavy mask on his head, staring out through the opened mouth of the jaguar like that. He still felt woozy, the after-effect of being drugged, and it demanded his complete attention to take each step down the stairway, while also waving the incense burner around in the half-assed manner that Ik- Tanil had shown him-like a fairy casting pixie dust, he thought. He worried that others watching from below would notice his odd performance, and he hoped that the advancing darkness shielded that view to some extent.
Upon reaching the last step and planting his feet upon the plaster floor at the base of the pyramid, William scanned the area ahead of him, trying to remember which side of the temple Ik-Tanil had said to go to. He noticed some guards looking his way, and William felt tempted to launch the mask off his head and take off in an all out sprint. Up ahead, he caught sight of Salmac and the others, and he detected a worried look on Lamat’s face, his teeth clenched as though he was about to witness a car crash. While pretending to stretch, Lamat subtly pointed to his left.
William understood Lamat’s gesture and followed the temple wall around the corner, where a man grabbed his arm and pulled him into a room at the base of the temple. He yanked off the stinky jaguar mask, and William recognized him. It was Axel, the guard who had stayed behind with the priest in Kinichna.
Axel shoved a pile of clothes into William’s hands and gestured for him to change. He rushed to the doorway to keep watch, fidgeting where he stood, looking anxious to get moving.
William felt something wiggling beneath his sandals, and he jumped back. He had been stepping on the fingers of an old man sleeping on the floor, beside ceramic vases filled with brown powder. A feathery dart protruded out the side of his neck, and William realized that it was the Jaguar Priest that Ik-Tanil said he had sedated from the dart of a blow gun.
While changing his clothes and situating the droopy feathered headdress that Axel had selected to shield his face, William became aware of odd things in the room; there were blades of varying sizes, stone axes, ceremonial masks, and strange costumes. Dead rodents, dogs, and bats hung from ropes tied to the ceiling rafters. It dawned on him that he was in the priest’s gruesome ready room.
“Hurry!” Axel said, urging him on.
Not requiring any further prodding to leave that horrible place, William bolted out the door, following Axel with his head down, rushing away from the pyramid.
Teshna felt a sense of desperation while being ushered out of Kohunlich, praying that Axel would succeed in his task of getting Balam outside the city without being discovered.
The Kohunlich warriors returned the weapons they had confiscated from the group the day before. “There is a good place to make camp up ahead,” Muluk said. “Follow the trail to the west, just over this hill.”
Teshna thanked Muluk for his assistance and agreed to his offer, while knowing they were planning to travel through the night-for fear of being recaptured once they realized that Balam had escaped. They hiked up the hill and picked up their pace toward the grassy clearing, where they planned to wait for Balam and Axel to arrive.
As William followed the guard, he noticed that Axel was also wearing different clothes to blend in with the local townsfolk. Although the darkness of night helped to conceal their identities even further, a half moon had made its way into the starry sky, reflecting off the plaster roads. Torches burned at various points along the way, providing even more illumination than they desired. They passed by residents of Kohunlich who were heading to the ceremonial center for the coming ritual, attracting strange looks from the townspeople who noticed their opposite bearing.
“This way,” Axel said, directing him away from the flow of the crowd, behind a market district around the outskirts of the plaza. Delicious aromas filled the air, and William’s stomach growled.
A cocoa bean trader was counting his inventory on a mat at the corner they rounded. “Greetings,” he said as they passed.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the old merchant at his feet, William couldn’t help but to look his way. The trader’s eyes bolted open and he lurched back, his mouth agape. When they ran off, William heard the cocoa beans spilling from the man’s sack and scattering on the floor as he called for the guards.
Knowing they had been spotted, they quickened their pace to an all out run, zigzagging through the residential areas until they made it to the outer reaches of the city. They skirted off the main road onto a dirt trail through the thick jungle, heading in a westerly direction. William began to feel lightheaded and called to Axel to wait. They stopped to rest for a moment; William was totally out of breath, gasping with his hands on his knees. Axel handed him his water jug, and William guzzled down most of its contents.
In the distance, seashell trumpets blasted; they exchanged a knowing look. William capped the jug, tossed it back to Axel, and they took off down the trail with haste, certain that they were now being pursued.
Teshna kept a steady eye on the moonlit horizon of the grassy field swaying before them, pacing along the border zone between their two kingdoms. She was nervous that so much time had passed since they arrived at the clearing.
A rustling noise became audible, followed by one of their guards returning from his lookout spot along the trail to the east.
“Why have you left your position?” Salmac asked.
“I heard voices echoing through the valley. Many voices!” the guard said.
A moment later, the other two guards came rushing in from their posts and reported a large number of Kohunlich warriors heading their way.
“Look,” Lamat whispered, pointing down the trail to the southeast where pin pricks of light danced like fireflies in the jungle, from the burning torches of the approaching men.
Teshna spotted William and Axel sprinting up the trail from the east. She hollered and waved her hands to get their attention. At the southeast end of the field, Kohunlich warriors emerged from the wall of the jungle and began launching arrows at the two runaways.
William heard Teshna call out to him, and he spotted her on the trail. Arrows fluttered by, and Axel took one right through the side of his head. He staggered several steps sideways and fell over. William glanced down at the poor guard as he rushed by. Axel was dead; he probably died before hitting the ground, William figured.
When William reached the path, Teshna jumped into his arms and held him tight. Lamat tugged at their shoulders, urging them on. They ran toward the edge of the jungle with native battle cries resonating behind them.
William shot a quick look down the trail and skidded to a stop, surprised to see Salmac and the other three guards charge off in the opposite direction to confront a number of Kohunlich warriors who had caught up with them. They engaged the warriors in a blur of activity. Salmac took down three enemy warriors; he sliced one man’s chest open with his sword, smashed another over the head, and stuck a dagger into the ribs of a third warrior. One of the royal guards fell, and Salmac rushed over, striking down the two warriors who had just killed him.
Another wave of Kohunlich warriors appeared at the top of the hill-at least thirty men flooding their way. William couldn’t believe it when he witnessed Salmac and the two guards refusing to back down, readying themselves to take on the onslaught of the advancing warriors. It was hopeless, William thought. Even if Salmac could stop half of the warriors before getting mowed over, the remainder would get by and catch up with them.
“Balam, come with me!” Teshna shouted, her hands flapping so hard that it seemed she might take off like a hummingbird.
However, William couldn’t move. He felt planted like he did during the Binding Ritual, when he became the ceiba tree. He couldn’t budge his legs; they were rooted in place from the anger that burned inside him. They had gone to Kohunlich in peace, with noble intentions, and it cost them the lives of good men; they had sacrificed themselves just to save
The bloodstone burned on his chest, fueling his rage. His anger further energized the stone, creating a combined hostile energy that exploded like throwing gas on a fire. William burst out with a deafening roar from the path. “Enough!”
