As he drew Betty near, she grabbed hold of his shoulder for support. He pointed down the long circular tube, just as another red flash lit up the tunnel. Betty nodded her bird-like helmet, seeming to understand which way to go. The directions were pretty obvious at that point, as there were no other options but to go straight ahead. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before letting go and allowing the drift to carry her through the Serpent Passage.
While watching Betty’s progress through the tunnel-lighting her way with the sacred flashlight-he became aware of the pivotal moment before him. He could easily choose to go through the passage and return to his simple life as a kid back home in the future; he only had to let the current take him. Or, he could turn back and take responsibility for the challenges of the past. Of course, he had already made up his mind long before. He loved Teshna, and he would have stayed there just for her alone. Yet his decision to remain in the past was much more involved than young love. At the core of his soul, William sensed that he was supposed to be there, with the ancient Maya… to achieve something great.
He was tempted to wait until flashing lights whisked Betty away, but figured he had better get out of the passage while he still could. Once Betty passed a certain point in the tunnel, the Serpent Passage would activate, and he worried that it might pull him through.
With the click of a button, he started the anti-gravity device; it made a muffled rumbling noise. He pressed another button with his left thumb, and the device propelled him ahead. After angling his body in the opposite direction, William maneuvered out of the Serpent Passage.
He glanced back, noticing how the red flashes came in faster intervals. The light brightened to orange and then to yellow. Just as he had feared, a strong current pulled him back. While fumbling with the controls, the tunnel drew him back. He braced himself at the entrance of the passage, pressing his feet against the teeth of the serpent carving. William pressed the accelerator button to the maximum setting, and he began to pull away, feeling like his arms might rip clean off his shoulders at one point. He aimed the device upwards and broke free from the suction with the suddenness of a rubber band snapping, launching him out of the water like a dolphin leaping from the sea. William landed with a hard belly flop; the device shut off when he lost his grip on the handles. As he paddled to the shore and climbed out, a dazzling white light from the cenote lit up the cavern. In that moment, he knew that Betty had completed her journey through the Serpent Passage; she had made it home.
He shut off the air supply, popped the pressure seals, and pulled his helmet off; he set it on the ground. After shifting the breathing container off his back and crawling out of the suit, a content smile spread across William’s face. He felt a sense of satisfaction for finally accomplishing what he had set out to do six months before, when he tried to save Betty from drowning in the Cenote Azul. At last, he had rescued her.
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.”