The coming battle with Calakmul was just ten days away-when Venus would appear as the evening star. They had planned to separate the enemy forces, to entice them in numerous directions, into scores of lethal traps set all about the area: pits with spikes below, fields that would be lit ablaze, women archers positioned in the trees, warriors with atlatls on the hilltops, and deadly snares all about. The details of the strategy had been rehearsed over the months. If everything went as planned, William thought they just might win. His attention drifted back to the one detail in the strategy that had not yet been practiced. It was the purpose for his being there at the women’s archery range that afternoon. William took a deep breath when he saw Yax approach.
“It is time, Balam,” Yax said.
Teshna left the line of women archers and made her way over. “I don’t like this, brother,” she said to Yax. “I am not going to take part in it.”
“You must,” Yax said. “You are one of our best archers.”
“Exactly. If this fails, I may be responsible for the death of Balam. Can’t it wait until the battle?”
Priest Quisac scolded Teshna with a stern look. “Balam requires faith in the bloodstone’s ability to shield. We must practice this now so that he has confidence during the battle as well.”
“It’s okay, Teshna,” William said with a brave smile. “I can do it. I want you there with the others. Take your best shot.”
Teshna regarded William closely, seeming to evaluate his confidence level. “Oh, okay. But only because you asked me.” She gave him a wink.
While following Teshna to the field behind the ballcourt, William observed more than a hundred women readying their bows, watching him with grim expressions as he passed.
“Good luck, Will,” Betty said from her position with the other women. She gave him a big thumbs-up
William proceeded to the other side of the clearing. He turned to face the long row of archers, feeling the intensity of their collective attention. Other citizens had gathered on the stands, gazing down from the eastern side of the ballcourt. William glanced over to Priest Quisac; he bowed slowly, reminding William to collect his scattered 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.