The Serpent Passage

energies.

William took several deep breaths, preparing himself for the skill that King Pakal had last used in battle-when the bloodstone was still a beating heart in his chest-a technique called the sun shield. He removed the bloodstone, feeling it heat up as he raised it over his head. Following Priest Quisac’s instructions, he shifted the stone in his hand until he could see the sunlight striking its center, and then chanted the command to initiate the sun shield. “K’in Chimal, Hanab Pakal,” he said over and over while moving the bloodstone in a counter-clockwise circle.

“Ready!” Teshna yelled, as she and the other women archers stretched back their bows; the tips of their arrows aiming up, in William’s direction.

The bloodstone burned in William’s fingers as the light from the sun reflected through the stone, growing into a concentrated wall of radiance just ahead of him. He continued to chant, “K’in Chimal, Hanab Pakal,” while increasing the velocity of the stone’s rotation on each pass. The sun shield spread out like a giant umbrella of light opening before him.

Teshna shouted the final command. “Away!”

Through the shimmering distortion of the wall of light, William observed a blur of arrows arcing through the sky. Like meteors entering the atmosphere, the arrows burned up in the heat of the sun shield, creating a shower of flaming needles that disintegrated into puffs of ashes.

A loud cheer jostled William from his focused concentration. He lowered the bloodstone and the sun shield faded.

Teshna rushed over and jumped into his arms. While holding the Princess with one arm, he pumped his fist with the bloodstone in the air, celebrating his accomplishment.

Priest Quisac gave William a proud smile. Yax clasped his hands over his head, with a confident and determined gaze.

A rare moment of exuberance spread across all those gathered, for they believed that victory was possible after seeing William perform the sun shield-an important element of their battle plan against Calakmul.

The upbeat mood might have lasted the remaining days leading up to the battle if it were not for the strange thing they witnessed right after William’s demonstration. Everyone shifted their attention to the eastern horizon, transfixed by sudden bursts of orange light flashing up from the depths of the jungle beyond.

Chapter Fifteen

From his position in the field, William had a clear view of the jungle’s expanse to the eastern horizon, where the odd lights flashed along the treetops like a laser light show. Bright orange bursts illuminated the jungle and each flare shot a beam into the sky like a beacon. After several minutes, the flashing stopped, and a long silence followed.

“What the hell was that?” William asked.

Priest Quisac turned back with a startled expression. “The energy was similar to lightning… yet there was no thunder.”

“Many of our citizens live in that area,” Yax said. “We must investigate.”

William didn’t always look forward to the war planning sessions, but the meeting that night took on an interesting angle when Chief Etznab announced what they discovered in the outskirts of town where the lights had been flashing. An entire village of farmers had vanished. Over two hundred residents of Dzibanche appeared to have fled without a trace, leaving all their possessions behind.

“Did the lights scare them off?” William asked. “Or were they captured?”

“There were no indications of a struggle,” Etznab said, glancing over to Captain Salmac for his confirmation.

“That’s right,” Salmac said with a nod. “We scouted a wide area around the village. There were no signs to follow.”

Yax thought for a long while. The torches in the North Palace flickered across the dark shadows of his disturbed face. “It must be a trick. King Aztuk means to frighten us-to put us off balance before launching his attack.”

Priest Quisac shook his head, disagreeing. “I do not believe Calakmul was involved with this incident. They would not attack before the evening star.”

“If we continue to lose our people like this, we won’t make it until the evening star! ” Yax said.

Later that night, the King ordered all the citizens to move in close to the city center-to avoid losing more people outside of town to the strange lights.

Several days drifted by without further incident, and sitting alone atop the Temple of the Lintels-the same pyramid where they had first made their appearance known to the people of Dzibanche-William watched Venus become the first visible light in the darkening sky. Funny, he thought, how a mere prick of light could cast such a wave of dreadful anticipation through the entire population.

“There you are,” Betty said, her voice echoing from the base of the pyramid. “Teshna’s been looking for you.”

William gave her a wave in return. He leaned against the steps with a calm smile, watching Betty approach. She sat beside him and said, “I haven’t been up this pyramid since the first day we got here.”

William gazed out at the tranquil jungles beyond the plaster courtyard, watching the palm and mahogany trees sway in the breeze. “From this peaceful view, it’s hard to imagine that by sunrise tomorrow all hell’s gonna break loose.” A group of elderly Mayan women had set up their backstrap looms near the trees, attached to the low-hanging branches, weaving colorful brocade designs into the fabric of the huipils they were making. Apparently, the coming battle wasn’t going to get in the way of their daily routines, he figured.

Betty stared at the evening star with a perplexed look. “I still don’t understand what Venus has to do with anything. If that stupid King Aztuk had any brains, he would’ve attacked us before we had time to get ready. Waiting for this planet to show up in the sky, giving us so much time to get prepared, seems like a mistake. Not that I’m complaining, of course. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Maybe Betty was right, William thought. He could understand that Calakmul would want to wait long enough for Dzibanche to weaken from reduced supplies, but to plan the attack on a specific day that everyone knew about removed the advantage of surprise. Why had they waited? Silly superstitions or rules from the gods? William preferred to go on instinct. “Priest Quisac says that they plan everything around the stars-when to harvest, where to build, and when to go to war.” Something caught his attention in the western horizon. “Did you see that?” he asked, pointing to his left. He stood for a better look.

Betty’s eyes narrowed as she studied the sky. “Wow, look at that!” She stood abruptly and moved further up the pyramid steps for a good look.

From the top of the pyramid they witnessed another round of flashing lights in the sky. “We’d better get back,” he said. “We need to tell the others.”

They hurried down the pyramid steps and ran up the path to the King’s palace. When they arrived, dozens of nobles were already outside, staring at the sky with startled faces. William spotted the bald head of the Serpent Priest amidst the crowd and called out to him. “Priest Quisac, did you see it?”

The Serpent Priest nodded with a baffled look.

Yax and Teshna raced over from the arched entrance of the palace to join them. “What is it?” Yax asked.

“Another incident,” Priest Quisac said. “Flashing lights appeared in the west… in the direction of the Calakmul army.”

“So it was Calakmul before,” Teshna declared. She went to William’s side and took his hand. “They must have a new weapon… They used it to destroy our people in the east. Now they will use this weapon as they begin their attack from the west.”

“Would they attack before sunrise?” William asked. Priest Quisac blinked twice as he considered the