A scream for help caught everyone’s attention from the group of divers that had just surfaced. When the boat neared, it became obvious that one of the divers was unconscious. Another diver in the group hollered to the dive master, “He passed out underwater!”
When they pulled the unconscious man onto the boat and began giving him CPR, William nearly fell over the railing, staring down at the diver with big eyes. “It’s my dad!” He rushed down the steps to the platform where his father lied. The dive master tried to revive him; he pounded on his chest, counting the strokes as he went, and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in between. “This is the trip where my dad died. Why am I seeing this?” William asked. “This isn’t real!”
“Oh, but it is, Balam,” Kinich Ahau said, now sitting cross-legged atop the upper deck of the boat like a monstrous version of Buddha in a peaceful yoga pose, with his clawed hands resting on his furry knees. His eyes had a bright orange glow as he gazed down at him with a mischievous smile.
William lurched back, startled to see the frightening creature there. “You’re making this up just to mess with me! I wasn’t even on this dive trip. How can you know about something that didn’t happen in your time?”
Kinich Ahau had a long and raspy laugh. He raised his hand, freezing the scene before them with the suddenness of pressing the pause button on a DVR. “As the sun shines upon all who inhabit this world, I have the power to see through the souls connected to me through the Ritual of Ascension. Time is irrelevant to me.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I am the Sun god! Through the power of the sun I illuminate the darkness. There is darkness within you, Balam. It eats at your soul, and it has changed your life’s course forever. It began at this place… and in this time.”
“What are you talking about? Who are you?”
The Sun god growled and spoke with a hint of frustration in his voice. “Your people see us as gods. By your standards, perhaps we are. We once traveled the universe, but are now bound to this world on a higher vibration. Beings such as myself have the ability to harness the elements of this world-to effect change on your physical plane by uniting with the energy of the souls that inhabit your world. Our kind may promote growth, or create chaos.” He pointed a sharp claw at William, and the scene continued before him, with the dive master thrusting his weight against his father’s chest.
“Please stop it,” William said, as he fought back the tears that began to surface.
“Passing through the Serpent Passage and binding the bloodstone to the soil plague created an imbalance. It has drawn the attention of the feathered serpents to our place in time. They seek to end our influence on this world… they will send the chupacabras for you and the bloodstone. You are to blame for this disruption,” he said. The color of Kinich Ahau’s eyes darkened from orange to red, and he glanced at the sun’s position near the horizon.
“How can it help for me to see this?” William asked, pointing at his dad.
“I will give you a chance-a gift-to redeem yourself, and to alter these events.”
“What? Anything!”
He leaned toward William. “Remove the bloodstone and place it near your father’s chest. It will draw out the destructive energy that now attacks his heart.”
William did just what the Sun god advised and held the bloodstone over his dad. A red mist rose from his father’s chest and was absorbed by the stone like a range hood collecting smoke off a frying pan. William held the bloodstone up to the Sun god; it buzzed like an electric razor in his hand and glowed in a pulsating manner-like a beating heart. Yet his dad still didn’t move. “It’s not helping!” William said.
“To save this one, you must transfer the damaging energy to another. Touch the stone to any other person on this boat. Do it now, before the sun sets.”
“What?” William asked with a worried laugh, hoping he had misunderstood. But the creepy smile on the Sun god’s face confirmed his fears. He couldn’t believe what he was being asked to do.
Teshna glared at the sky, watching with dread as the bottom edge of the sun made contact with the horizon. She studied Balam and Subiac, sprawled out on the hard stone floor, their arms and legs twitching like dogs running in their sleep. She tried to detect any change in their health, but couldn’t notice anything different. Teshna covered her face to conceal her sadness.
Lamat came near, placing his hand on Teshna’s shoulder. “Princess, I would stay and care for them until the very end. You should leave now. Go with Salmac and the others… while it is safe.”
When Teshna hesitated, Salmac threw his hand up. “Balam will be sacrificed either way-whether he awakes or not,” the Captain said, looking anxious to leave.
“Yes, I also heard King Snarl Tooth’s declaration,” she snapped. Teshna froze when the Jaguar Priest approached, making another ascension in his jaguar mask and robe, chanting and waving his incense burner on his way up the steps. The Jaguar Priest bowed to Teshna, entered the chamber at the top of the temple, and then returned back down the steps.
While watching the Jaguar Priest exit around the side of the pyramid, it occurred to her that his next ascension would be at sunset. She would have to ready herself for that painful moment when the light of the sun faded from Balam’s face. Teshna returned to Balam’s side and noticed a glow flickering from the bloodstone, renewing her determination. “As long as they live, there is still hope,” she said to the others. “We will wait until the sun sets.”
“You now hold a powerful weapon, Balam, that only you can wield,” the Sun god said. “The bloodstone may transfer death from one life to another. Use it now!”
“If I do this, my dad will live?” William asked, wanting to understand the implications.
“Yes,” Kinich Ahau said.
“The person I touch will actually die… right here?” he asked, a little confused. “It will be like my dad never died?”
“Yes, but you must do it before the darkness comes,” Kinich Ahau said, as the sun began to dip beneath the blue horizon of the ocean.
While holding the buzzing red stone in his hand, William found himself considering the idea, scanning the faces around him. In a simple touch he could erase all the pain that he and his family had suffered from the loss of his father. He could remove the guilt that he carried for not being there on that dive. Had he been there that day, his dad would not have gone so deep, and he would not have had a heart attack. Most agonizing to William was living with the knowledge that he could have been there, but he had turned down his dad’s invite to hang out with his stupid friends at the beach.
“Yet now you are here, Balam,” the Sun god said, as if hearing his thoughts. “The chance you seek is here before you.” To help William with his decision, the Sun god pointed out possible candidates to transfer ‘death’ to. “That man cheated others from their wealth. That woman hit her children in rage. That man is a murderer! He struck another while his mind was clouded, and he left his victim to die on the street.”
William moved toward the most obvious choice; an image of the man driving drunk and causing an accident flashed in front of him. He held out the bloodstone as he approached the stranger.
“No!” a voice called out from behind William. “Balam, do not do this!”
William spun around to see a familiar scar-faced man on the boat. “Subiac?” he asked, surprised to see him.
“How dare you come here and not heed my warning, old man,” Kinich Ahau said. “I shall deal with you when my business with Balam is complete.” He shifted his focus back to William. “The task… do it now!”
Subiac moved between William and the man he intended to touch with the stone. “Should you do this, Balam, it will alter events. Your life’s course will change.”