“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 with a thud, landing on top of the container that had sputtered out after hitting him.
William lifted his hands from the water and cheered. “Ha! Take that!” He swam back to the shore and picked up another heavy rock to finish him off. But the feathered serpent already looked dead; he wasn’t breathing, and purplish blood oozed out the gash on his head. William tossed the rock aside, and it rolled beside his broken helmet. He studied the helmet with a sigh, realizing that his option to return home had just been smashed forever.
William skirted around the dead feathered serpent and went back to the cavern wall, grabbing a rope by the drizzling waterfall. He was about to start his climb out, when he remembered the sacred items. Priest Quisac would have been mad if he had lost them. William spotted a light shining beneath the creature’s tail, and he groaned, realizing that he would have to touch the dead feathered serpent to retrieve the sacred items.
He returned beside Gukumatz and lifted his heavy tail-letting out a grunt that a body builder would be proud of-and kicked the sacred items free. He pulled the flashlight loose, wedging it through his belt, and draped the rope-still tied to the anti-gravity device-over his shoulder.
“After awhile, crocodile,” William said to Gukumatz. He turned and climbed up the rope, resting halfway by bracing his feet on a thick knot. When he reached the top, William flopped on his back and rested there for a while, listening to the creek trickling beside him and splashing into the cenote below. He sat up and was about to leave, when a green webbed hand reached up from the edge of the cliff, grasping at his feet.
The feathered serpent’s blood-covered crocodile face sprang into view. “Not to leave!” Gukumatz said with a growl. He swiped at William’s feet while continuing to crawl up the edge of the cliff.
William scrambled back like a startled crab, kicking at the feathered serpent. Gukumatz lunged forward and bit William’s calf. Blood squirted down his leg as the beast tugged him back, digging his teeth deep into his flesh.
With no other weapon handy, he grabbed the sacred flashlight from his side. With all his strength, he smacked Gukumatz repeatedly on the head. Sparks shot out from the tube and a shrill whistle blasted. Gukumatz grabbed the end of the flashlight and jerked it from William’s grip. The creature’s hand shook as intense electricity flowed into him; the feathers on his head shot straight up and burst into flames. William groaned when the current passed through the creature’s teeth and jolted his leg, just before he pulled himself free. A stinky smoke drifted out the feathered serpent’s nostrils, and his eyes exploded inside his head. The creature’s jaw dropped with a bubbly froth oozing out his mouth. With a final kick to the face, Gukumatz slid over the side of the cliff and splashed into the cenote.
William crawled over to the edge and watched the creature sink. The sacred flashlight was still gripped in his hand; sparks lit up the cenote as he descended.
Becoming aware of the pain in his leg, he inspected the bite marks. The wound was deep, and he thought it might need stitches. He pressed his hands against the torn flesh for a moment, waiting for the bleeding to slow. Blood continued to ooze out beneath his fingers, so he ripped a strip of fabric from his loincloth and wrapped it around his injured leg.
A white flash drew his attention back to the chamber below, followed by another flash… and another. William staggered to his feet and gazed down with a perplexed look, watching the cenote light up every few seconds. “What the hell,” he muttered. More feathered serpents slithered up from the depths of the cenote. Three of them reached the shore, while more dark forms lurked beneath the water. One of the creatures caught sight of him and made an odd chirping sound.
William spun around and hustled up the passage, grimacing from the pain in his leg. By the time he made it through the first stretch of rough passages and entered a metallic tunnel, he heard a rush of footsteps behind him. The tube merged with another rough passage. William took a bad step, and he fell into the stream, scraping his hands and elbows on the rocks. Through the dim light of the fluorescent algae in the tunnel, he saw two of the feathered serpents rushing toward him.
A bolt of lightning whizzed over William’s head, straight down the passage with a deafening thunderclap. It hit the approaching feathered serpents, bursting them into a spray of green muck that splattered across the tunnel.