Dawnkeepers

Copyright Page

Dedication

GLOSSARY

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Banol Kax
—The lords of the underworld, Xibalba. Driven from the earth and locked behind the barrier after the last Great Conjunction in 24,000 B.C. by the many-times great-ancestors of the modern Nightkeepers, the
Banol Kax
seek to pierce the barrier and wrest control of the earth from mankind.

boluntiku
—The underworld minions of the
Banol Kax
, the
boluntiku
are lava creatures that draw their energy from the molten mantle of the earth. They can come to earth only when the barrier is very thin (during a solstice or eclipse), and then only at the expense of great magic. The creatures are killing machines that can sense magic and royalty; they travel in an insubstantial vapor form, turning solid in the moment they attack, using six-clawed hands and wicked teeth.

Camazotz
—A member of the
Banol Kax
also known as Sudden Bloodletter, Camazotz is the ruler of night, death, and sacrifice. His sons are the seven death bats responsible for ensuring the completion of the demon prophecies.

Daykeeper
—A Mayan shaman-priest responsible for keeping track of the calendar and using divining rituals to make horoscope-like predictions.

First Father
—The only adult survivor of the Nightkeepers’ exodus from Egypt, this mage bound the slaves into
winikin
, and codified the Nightkeepers’ beliefs into the writs and the thirteen prophecies, in order to guide his descendants over the next five millennia until the end-time.

Godkeeper
—A female Nightkeeper who has undergone a ritual near-death experience followed by a sexual encounter with a Nightkeeper male, leading to her being bonded with one of the sky gods. Channeling the gods’ powers with the help of their Nightkeeper mates, the Godkeepers are prophesied to form the core of the Nightkeepers’ fighting force during the 2012 doomsday.
itza’at
—A female Nightkeeper with visionary powers; a seer. The
itza’at
talent is often associated with depression, mental instability, and suicide, because the seer can envision the future but not change it. The visions will always come to pass.

Ixchel
—The goddess of rainbows, loomcraft, and fertility. May also be associated with medicine and the moon. Often depicted as an aged grandmother with jaguar ears, but may also be seen as a beautiful young woman.

Kulkulkan
—The winged serpent god, later known as Quetzalcoatl. An extremely powerful god, one of the creators, Kulkulkan has both light and dark halves. The light half is associated with learning, logic, medicine, and art, while the dark aspects are associated with war and rage.

makol
(
ajaw-makol
)
—The earthly minions of the
Banol Kax
, these demon souls are capable of reaching through the barrier to possess an evil-natured human host. Recognized by their luminous green eyes, a
makol
-bound human retains his/her own thoughts and actions in direct proportion to the amount of evil in his/her soul. An
ajaw-makol
is a
makol
created through direct spell casting by the
Banol Kax
or the human host. The
ajaw-makol
can then create lesser
makol
through blood rituals on earth.

Order of Xibalba
—Formed by renegade Nightkeepers long ago, the order courted the powers of the underworld. Its members, called Xibalbans, drew their power from the first layer of hell. The order was wiped out by the conquistadors . . . or so the Nightkeepers believe.

winikin
—Descended from the conquered Sumerian warriors who served the Nightkeepers back in ancient Egypt, the
winikin
are blood-bound to the Nightkeepers. They function as the servants, protectors, and counselors of the magi, and have been instrumental in keeping the bloodlines alive through the centuries.

Places

Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM)
—A system of subterranean waterways and caves in Belize that contains numerous ceremonial relics of the Mayan shaman-priests, as well as a series of hidden submerged tunnels and caves sacred to the Nightkeepers.

Chichén Itzá
—Arguably the most famous ruin of the Yucatán Peninsula, this city was a religious center built and inhabited by the Maya in the seventh through tenth centuries A.D., and later incorporated the more blood-thirsty practices of the Toltec through the thirteenth century. Today it is a huge tourist attraction aboveground. Belowground, the Nightkeepers practice their rituals and magic in a series of subterranean caverns that run beneath the ruins.

Skywatch
—Built in the 1930s and renovated when the Nightkeepers were reunited, the training compound is located in a box canyon in the Chaco Canyon region of New Mexico.

Xibalba
—The nine-layer underworld of the Mayan and Nightkeeper religious systems, home to the
Banol Kax
,
boluntiku
, and
makol
. The spiritual entrance to Xibalba is found in the darkest spot at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The religious (metaphorical) entrances are the passageways at the tops of Mayan pyramids, as well as natural caves, especially those leading to subterranean rivers.