Water slammed into me, pounding on my head like a giant hammer. I tried to twist my face away from it, but it was everywhere.
I lowered my left boot to another rock. It slipped easily into a foothold. Bracing myself, I took my left hand off the jutting rock and felt around for another handhold. A moment later, my fingers slid into a smooth gap.
Adrenaline surged through me. I lowered my right boot, felt around, and then maneuvered it onto a solid ledge. I shifted my right hand and found another smooth gap.
"The rocks." The rushing water nearly drowned me out. "They've been carved. You just have to feel around for the right spaces."
A giant burst of water struck my head. I choked but managed to maintain my grip.
My muscles grew fatigued as I worked my way down the rocks. My brain felt like jelly thanks to the skull-crushing water.
After a short climb, my boots plunged into a pool. Water swirled around them, moving rapidly.
I lowered my leg deeper into the icy liquid. My boot touched rock. I felt around with my toe. It was firm ground.
I pulled away from the waterfall and retrieved my flashlight. The beam illuminated a large cavern. Water covered about a quarter of it.
As Beverly jumped into the pool, I moved forward, curious about the water. I knew it came from the waterfall, but its drainage remained a mystery.
After a brief search, I discovered a series of tiny gaps in a nearby wall. The area was more like a sieve than a pool. Instead of a single drain, it contained hundreds of tiny outlets. Unfortunately, they were too small to use as passageways.
I heard a splash. Whirling around, I saw Emily land lightly in the water. Dr. Wu was next. Then Tum appeared.
Graham was the last to climb down the rocks. The rest of us gathered beneath him, ready to catch him if he fell. But he kept his balance the whole way down.
As he stepped away from the waterfall, I cleared my throat. "How many of these houses are there?" I asked Tum.
"Six," he replied. "We've seen Dark House and Rattling House. That leaves Jaguar House, Razor House, Hot House, and … oh yes, Bat House."
Air flowed from the opposite side of the cavern. I blinked as it pushed gently against my face.
No one had gotten close to the Library of the Mayas in centuries. Not Wallace Hope. Not anyone. And now, we were on the verge of discovering it. I could feel it, sense it.
I felt a rising desire inside me. Thoughts of retirement started to feel like distant memories. I wanted to see the library. I wanted to touch it, to hold it in my hands. The desire consumed me, occupying a part of my very soul.
"I assume those names are self-explanatory," Graham said.
"Pretty much," Tum replied. "Razor House had a little twist to it. Supposedly, razors and blades lived inside it. They were able to move about by their own free will."
"Okay." Beverly brushed wet hair from her face. "So, we've got four more houses to go."
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Xibalba had six houses but nine levels," Tum said. "Metnal was the lowest of those levels."
"What do you know about the other three levels?" Emily asked.
"I can't be sure they exist. But if they do, we should probably assume the cenote was one of them."
Heads bobbed, nodding in agreement.
"So, which level is this one?" Graham spun his head toward the cavern. "The water's cold, but it feels warm in here. Hot House, maybe?"
I shifted my beam. The area beyond the pool was uneven and littered with natural lumps of all shapes and sizes. Dozens of small, glittering objects rested between the lumps.
I cringed slightly. "This is Jaguar House."
"What makes you so sure?" Dr. Wu asked. "I don't see any jaguar corpses."
"Hunahpu designed this entire pyramid—this entire crater—to last centuries, maybe even millennia. Live jaguars wouldn't have fit with his plans. But dead jaguars, well, that's a whole other thing." I aimed my beam at one of the glittering objects lining the floor. "Those are jaws. Jaguar jaws. And they look sharp as hell."
Chapter 97
"I've been meaning to ask you something." Emily paused. "What does the Popol Vuh say about Xibalba's
fate?"
Tum stepped cautiously around a set of jaguar jaws. Although many centuries had passed since the creature's death, he still felt a hint of sadness. "What do you mean?"
She stepped over the last set of jaws and walked into the next tunnel. "Was it destroyed?"
"I'm not an expert." Tum followed her into the tunnel. "But as I recall, Hunahpu and Xbalanque only outwitted the death gods. I don't think they actually destroyed them or Xibalba."
"I guess that makes sense when you think about it. Obviously, Hunahpu thought the death gods were still alive when he enslaved them here."
Blood rushed to Tum's head. For the first time, he fully understood why Chaac and the other Maya gods had drawn him to Xibalba. His destiny was to finish the job started all those years ago by Hunahpu and Xbalanque. They'd enslaved the death gods.
Now, he had to kill them.
Chapter 98
"Holy smokes." Dr. Wu gawked at the ceiling. "Are those …?"
Grabbing his shirt, I yanked him back into the passage. "Yeah," I whispered. "Those are bats, hundreds of them."
"Looks like they're sleeping." Graham's face turned grim. "Let's keep them that way."
Just two minutes earlier, we'd passed through Jaguar House with little trouble. Beverly had tripped at one point. Fortunately, she'd managed to avoid the many sets of jaws that had been cemented to the limestone floor.
The doc's gaze remained locked on the ceiling. "They're giant. I wonder how they got so large."
"Could be evolution." I frowned. "Or radiation."
Faces tightened around me. They'd taken the news of a possible radiation risk reasonably well. But as we ventured deeper into the earth, I could see they were becoming increasingly concerned about it.
I allowed my eyes to adjust to the darkness. The bats were unusually tall with an average height of at least a foot. The tunnel in which they slept was on the short side, no more than five feet from floor to ceiling. Of course, it was difficult to say for sure, what with all that white stuff covering the floor.
"It stinks." Beverly wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I've ever seen so much guano."
"So, what are we going to do?" Dr. Wu asked. "Just crawl under them like nothing's wrong?"
I gave him a meaningful look.
"You're joking, right?" He frowned. "Tell me you're joking."
"I wish I was."
I turned away from Bat House and switched on my flashlight. Carefully, I blocked most of the beam with my hand. We stood in a long, curving passage, about fifty feet below Jaguar House. Despite the dim light, I saw twitching eyes, the licking of lips, and the itching of non-existing scratches. The others were nervous.
I didn't blame them.
"Come on, Cy." The doc winced. "That cave is at least fifty feet long."
"If we try to scare them, they might flood this tunnel. And for all we know, they're carrying rabies or some other disease."
Eyes twitched faster. Tongues flicked across lips. Itching turned into full-fledged raking.
"Let's make this quick." Dr. Wu shook his head. "I hate bats."
"Keep it down." Graham smirked. "They might hear you."
"Screw you, Dutch." The doc tried to control his breathing. But he seemed on the verge of a breakdown.
"No talking and no rushing. We take our time and stay as quiet as possible." I looked at everyone. "Agreed?"
Heads nodded.
I glanced at the doc. "Can you do this?"
He tried to speak, but no words came out. So, he nodded instead.
I glanced at Emily. "What are the odds of you having another episode anytime soon? Because this would be a really bad time for it."
She exhaled. "Unfortunately, they're impossible to predict."
I extinguished my beam and stuffed the flashlight into my satchel. Then I dropped to my knees and crawled into the cave.
Bile rose up in my throat as I entered the dark space. It reeked of guano and urine. Holding my breath, I crawled into a mound of guano. Before long, I was completely covered in the stuff. It felt soft yet crunchy, wet yet dry. The odor was even more disturbing. Every time I moved, it smelled like wet rats smashing into my nostrils.
Clenching my eyes shut, I continued to crawl. Guano worked its way down my shirt and up my pants. It got in my boots, my hair, my ears. There was no way to avoid it. No way to escape its revolting stench. Only two thoughts kept me going. Escape.
And the Library of the Mayas.
I crawled out of the guano mound and moved toward an even bigger pile. I shifted forward, taking care to be as silent as possible.
Tiny rocks, thousands of them, crunched under my knee. Too late, I realized Hunahpu had covered a section of floor with gravel. In the small space, it sounded deafening.
Slowly, I lowered my head to the ground.
This can't be happening.
Wings flapped above me.
Eek! Eek!
And then all hell broke loose.
Bats swarmed the cavern floor. Sharp claws dug into my back. Powerful teeth clamped down on my neck. Hot breath touched my cheeks.
Dr. Wu screamed.
Tum scrambled forward. So did the others. Before I knew what was happening, they were crawling over me, crawling over each other. Fingers clutched my legs. Torsos clambered over my back. Boots kicked at my face.
The bats grew more ferocious. They pecked me. Scratched me. Chewed me. Clawed me to shreds. I no longer felt pain. All I could feel was sticky blood pouring out of my body.
I struggled forward. The bats flocked to me. I smelled blood on their breath. Felt their wings beating against my face. I tried to move, but there were too many of them.
Dr. Wu screamed again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him jump to his feet. "No," I shouted. "Stay—"
His head slammed into the limestone ceiling. A soft, crunching noise sounded out and he crumpled back to the ground.
The bats left me and soared toward him.
I reached to my holster. Pulled out my pistol.
The bats tore at his clothes. Ripped at his flesh.
I lifted the pistol. Squeezed the trigger.
The blast rocked the cavern. A couple of bats dropped dead to the ground. Momentarily disoriented, the others sailed into each other. They beat their wings, gnashed their teeth. Then they flew straight up and vanished from sight.
I pulled out my flashlight. Aimed the beam at the ceiling. The light revealed several dozen small gaps. Presumably, the bats used them to reach the surface for hunting purposes. I just hoped the gaps weren't the source of the flowing air.
I twisted the beam toward Dr. Wu. He lay motionless in a pile of guano. "Doc?"
When he didn't answer, I snaked to his side. Adrenaline raced through me as I laid eyes on a deep, bloody gash on top of his skull. "Good lord."
Emily swallowed. "Is he …?"
I felt his pulse. "He's alive. But he needs help."
Chapter 99
"I just …" Dr. Wu winced as he touched his head. His eyes rolled backward and he looked ready to pass out. "I just need a minute."
"You're lucky you didn't crack your skull," Graham said.
"I know."
"I bet you've got a concussion. A bad one too."
The doc took a few deep breaths. Then he rose unsteadily to his feet. Graham and Beverly slid under his shoulders, propping him up.
A bit of air pushed against my face as we walked down a long, curving tunnel. At the bottom, the tunnel opened up into a small cavern.
A sense of revulsion came over me as I walked into it. It wasn't claustrophobia. Sure, the tight quarters, low ceilings, and endless limestone were beginning to get to me. But the odor was the real problem.
"It smells like," Graham sniffed, "rotten eggs."
"There must be a sulfur deposit around here." Beverly's nose wrinkled in disgust. "A big one too."
"The quicker we get past it, the better." Graham used his free hand to aim a beam into the cavern. "So, which houses are left?"
"Hot House and Razor House," Tum replied. "And possibly two other levels."
Ancient blankets were strewn across the floor, covering every conceivable inch of walking space. Others hung from the walls. Still others dangled from the ceiling or lay in heaps upon the ground.
I took a close look at one of the blankets. It appeared to be constructed from cotton. Various patterns had been painted on it. Although ravaged by time and insects, I could still see traces of the original dyes.
My gaze skipped past the reds, greens, and purples. It fell on a brilliant azure color.
"That looks like Maya Blue," Tum said.
"What's Maya Blue?" I asked.
"It was a blue pigment developed by some of the ancient pre-Columbian cultures. You can still find it at many Maya sites. It's incredibly resistant. It even holds up to chemical solvents and acids."
"How do you know that?"
"It's actually a famous mystery among ancient Maya scholars," Tum replied. "They know the materials used to make it—indigo and a clay mineral known as palygorskite. But the sources of those materials have long been a matter of debate."
"Well, I doubt we'll find the answer here." Emily took a few steps into the cave. "But maybe the library can—"
Dust kicked into the air as her boots struck the blankets. Hacking loudly, she stumbled forward a couple of feet. More dust shot into the air. Dust was everywhere, engulfing the cavern. The smell of sulfur was overpowering. I started to reach for my respirator.
That dust … it's sulfur dust. But that means …
"Run," I shouted.
Emily lurched forward. Beverly and Graham, still helping Dr. Wu, were close behind her. Tum and I trailed them by a considerable margin.
Dust swirled. Small shocks of static electricity jolted my body.
I picked up the pace. Static electricity struck my sides, my legs, and my arms. It accosted me from the blankets and from Tum. It seemed to come from everywhere at once.