The Serpent Passage

Epilogue

While packing his gear in preparation for the hike back, the sound of a splash caught William’s attention. He scanned the surface of the underground cenote, but didn’t see anything. He brushed it off, figuring a rock had just fallen into the water. As he stuffed the suit inside his pack, he heard the noise again. It was more of a pop than a splash-like a bubble popping at the surface. Another bubbly pop came from the middle of the cenote, and William shot his attention there. He imagined the bubbles were being caused by the energy from the Serpent Passage.

The bubbles began to surface closer to the shore. When he leaned forward for a better look, he saw a dark form moving beneath the water, growing larger as it ascended. Two little lumps rose out of the water before eyelids snapped opened, exposing yellow glassy eyes that rolled from left to right. The eyes became transfixed on William. A snout surfaced, and he could see the tips of its nostrils. William gasped at what appeared to be the head of a crocodile. “Oh, that’s just perfect!” he said with annoyance. William recalled the crocodiles that he had encountered on the other end of the Serpent Passage, and he assumed that one of the giant reptiles had somehow made its way into the cavern through the tunnel.

He grabbed his things and hustled to the side of the cavern, tying his sack to the end of a hanging rope so he could haul it up after he climbed out. Before leaving, he glanced back, aiming the sacred flashlight-still attached to the anti-gravity device-at the cenote, to check on the crocodile’s position.

When the crocodile reached the shore an odd thing happened. Two long green arms reached out from the water and gripped the rocks. The entire body sprang up from the water with a giant splash, right into a standing position-at least nine feet tall-steadying itself on its thick legs. It shook the water from its plume of yellow feathers on its head and neck, while glaring at William with its crocodile-like face.

William beamed the flashlight along its body. It wore rubbery green and red clothing that resembled a shorty wetsuit; its scaly tail poked out the back. It lumbered closer-swaying from side to side between its long strides. “No freaking way,” William mumbled, while shining the light at its head.

The creature threw its webbed hands up, shielding its eyes from the glare. “Off the light!” it said in a low raspy voice, speaking in a choppy Mayan dialect.

William aimed the light away and stared at it with astonishment. “Let me guess,” William said in Yucatec- Maya, “Gukumatz?” He remembered the name from the story Priest Quisac had told to him… the creature from the ‘Legend of the Serpent Passage.’

It halted within several feet of where William stood. Its reptilian body shifted, while its eyes rolled around in thought. “Much time, last called. Of you… the Balam?”

“Yes, that’s right,” William said, astonished that he knew his name. “You’re a feathered serpent, aren’t you?”

“Called by many ways, by many peoples,” Gukumatz said, as he moved in closer. William shined the light at his face again, and Gukumatz stopped, shielding his eyes. “Off the light!”

“What do you want with me? Why are you following me?” William asked, holding the light on his reptilian face.

“Off the light, and I tell you.” After lowering the beam, Gukumatz glared at him. “Of you, disturbed the passage… altered time… impacted my kind. Of you, have I searched. Must not, of you, to leave here!”

“Hey, take it easy,” William said, threatening with the light again. “Look, this passage pulled me in here. I didn’t ask for this.” Gukumatz took another step forward and William held the light steady on his face.

“Off the light!”

“Move back, and then I’ll lower the light,” William said. Gukumatz complied, staring at William with hostile eyes, his feathers standing up at the back of his head. William lowered the beam again, not sure how much longer the flashlight defense would work. He thought he would try to reason with Gukumatz. “I know you have some kind of agenda here that I can’t even begin to understand; the grey ancestors of the Mayans said so. But maybe we can work something out?”

Gukumatz seemed to get even more upset, as his raspy breathing accelerated. “Know you, of the Grey Ones?”

“Wait… how do you know about them?” William asked. “They just got here… and they’re leaving the planet soon.”

A low chirping noise came from the back of his throat; it sounded like he was gagging. However, William sensed it was his way of laughing. “Of this world, are the Grey Ones… of the north. Ancestors are not. Is reversed.”

“What do you mean… reversed?”

Gukumatz ignored the question, looking frustrated. “Of you, the seed to harvest,” he said in his deep scratchy voice.

“What are you talking about?” William wished he had brought a weapon into the Serpent Passage with him, but he didn’t expect a confrontation on this leg of the journey.

Gukumatz picked up a rock, pointed at his head, and then at William. As if the rock was William’s skull, he pretended to pluck something out, holding the imaginary object in his webbed hand. “The seed to harvest.”

William had a sudden revelation. “You smashed those skulls that we found here before… because you were looking for me?” William’s heart raced. He knew the feathered serpent intended to kill him, just like the others who had been sucked into that cavern in the future, whose bones were tossed all about.

A creepy smile crossed his face. “Of the Balam, searched of many times. Seed of bloodstone, to harvest,” he said, as he threw the rock down. It bounced into the cenote with a crack and a plop.

William cringed. Priest Quisac had said that the seed from the Tree of Life was inside him now. Gukumatz wanted that seed… and it appeared that he planned to take it out of his brain. He had to think fast. Scanning his surroundings for anything that could be used as a weapon, his attention focused on a large serrated rock beside his equipment, and an idea surfaced. “Do you want the bloodstone too?” William asked. “It’s in my pack.”

Gukumatz glanced at the sack beside the cavern wall. “Of the bloodstone?”

“Yes. You can have it.”

Gukumatz moved to William’s bag of equipment in three long strides and tore through his things. He tossed the helmet and breathing container aside and removed the folded suit, squishing it between his hands like he was feeling for the bloodstone in the material.

“It’s there… inside the suit,” William said, while moving closer. As Gukumatz focused on unraveling the suit, William picked up the big rock, lifted it over his head, and slammed it against his feathery skull with enough force to split the rock into pieces.

Gukumatz dropped to his hands and knees. His bloodied head swayed in a dizzy manner, while his tail whipped around like it had a mind of its own. William rushed to grab another rock to finish him off, when the creature’s tail smacked him hard across the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He tripped and fell into the cenote, coughing from the water he swallowed.

After catching his breath, William swam back toward the shore, knowing he had to kill the beast while he still could. However, Gukumatz started to get up, and William dogpaddled back to the middle of the cenote, hoping the creature wouldn’t see him there.

While rubbing his bleeding skull, the feathered serpent made a high-pitched chirping noise. He spun around, snapping his eyes in every direction until spotting William in the water. “Must not, of you, to leave!” Gukumatz growled. He grabbed William’s helmet and slammed it against the cavern wall, shattering the faceplate. Still venting, Gukumatz snatched the breathing container. He held it up for William to see, and jerked all the tubes out in a single yank. Gas shot out from the broken connections and the container took off like a rocket. It soared through the cavern, bounced off the stalactites on the ceiling, and raced straight down-like a heat-seeking missile-smashing with a dreadful crack into the side of the feathered serpent’s head. Gukumatz staggered a few steps and fell over