After surveying the area from a distance and discussing their options, they decided to investigate the empty camp. William found it odd to be walking right into the heart of the enemy base, while following the group down the hill. He worried that it might be a trap-that the Calakmul warriors could be hiding in the surrounding jungles, waiting to ambush them. Yet Priest Quisac had assured everyone that the vicinity was clear, and so William pushed his trepidation aside.
The once massive Calakmul army had occupied an area spanning the length of a couple football fields. Hundreds of recently erected huts were filled with the personal belongings of the temporary residents. A thick stench of burning food permeated the air, drawing William’s attention to the remnants of a large campfire, where blackened clay pots had cracked from cooking too long, spilling their contents; the food had burned to a crisp on the hot coals.
“I’ve seen some ghost towns in my day, but this one sure takes the cake,” Betty said to William, scratching her head.
“What do you make of this, Priest Quisac?” William asked.
The Serpent Priest scanned the area and picked up a spear from the ground. Weapons and armor were scattered everywhere, as if dropped right where their owners had once stood. “They would not leave their weapons behind if they intended to attack from another direction,” Priest Quisac said.
“It is the same as the farming village that disappeared after the lights,” Etznab said, studying the area with suspicious eyes.
“Take your men and search the perimeter,” Priest Quisac said. “Look for any signs of their departure.”
Etznab motioned to Salmac and the other guards, and they ventured further into the camp, scouting the edge of the clearing.
William followed Priest Quisac as he rummaged around the camp, observing how he searched for clues. The Serpent Priest deduced that a degree of panic had existed at the scene: he pointed out footprints that had stirred up the ground in an erratic manner. Yet nothing could explain how such a large army could vanish.
After investigating for nearly an hour, Priest Quisac plopped down beneath the shade of a tall zapote tree; he looked worn out, as though he had just survived the battle that everyone had been expecting to come. William sat beside him with a relaxed smile spreading across his face; it was a huge relief to discover that there wouldn’t be a battle. He began to fantasize about the idea of settling down with Teshna. “I know this isn’t what we planned, Priest Quisac, but if King Aztuk is no longer a threat, then maybe we can rebuild somewhere else. We can leave this dead land behind us.”
Betty came over, holding a big piece of overcooked meat that she found on the coals of a smoldering fire pit. She ripped off a chunk and tossed it to William.
Priest Quisac shook his head with unease. “Something larger is at hand. It approaches like a great wave.”
“What do you mean?” William asked.
The Serpent Priest stood with a bewildered look. “Do you hear that?”
“What?” William asked. He could only hear the crispy meat crunching in his mouth as he chewed.
“Do you not hear the humming noise-like a bee hive?”
William swallowed his bite and listened closer. “Oh yeah, I hear it. It’s getting louder.” He bolted up.
They looked in all directions, but couldn’t tell which way the noise was coming from. Suddenly, a flash of light drew their attention to the south. When they turned, William spotted the royal guards sprinting toward them, about a hundred yards away. A shadow enveloped the land around them as a dark cloud moved in. The humming intensified as the cloud drifted closer; it seemed to be following them. The dark cloud shimmered for a moment, and then blasted out bright orange bursts of light, vaporizing the guards on contact. Salmac ran as fast as he could, but the dark cloud moved faster. Another flash of orange light lit up the ground, and Salmac vanished.
“Holy smokes!” Betty screeched.
“It’s coming for us,” the Serpent Priest said. “Balam, the sun shield-focus the shield above us. Do it now!” He grabbed Betty’s wrist and pulled her closer to him.
As they huddled together, William tossed his helmet off and removed the bloodstone. He angled the broad side of the oval stone toward the sun. “K’in Chimal, Hanab Pakal,” William chanted. While rotating the bloodstone over his head, he redirected a focused wall of light above them, just as the dark shadow of the cloud enveloped them.
While a grating noise buzzed like a chainsaw, orange bursts of light bounced off the sun shield. Through the foggy filter of the sun shield, William could see a large object inside the cloud above them.
The bloodstone became heavier the longer he channeled the sun shield. He flexed his muscles to push through the pain, twirling his arm in counter-clockwise circles. His arm trembled; he couldn’t hold the sun shield much longer.
Abruptly, the buzzing and flashing ceased like a switch had been flipped. The cloud moved on; it passed over them and continued out of sight. William lowered his arm, deactivating the sun shield. He rubbed his sore muscles while contemplating the crazy event. “I’ve seen a lot of strange things since I’ve been here, Priest Quisac, but what the hell was that?”
The Serpent Priest returned a blank stare in response.
“How can you be so calm? That cloud just killed twelve people!”
“I did not sense their deaths. They were… taken.”
“Taken? What does that mean?”
“There is no time to discuss this now,” Priest Quisac said, with an intense look in his silver eyes. “The cloud is moving to Dzibanche.”
William threw his arms up. “Teshna… Yax… It’s going to take them!”
“But why?” Betty asked.
“That is what we must determine,” Priest Quisac said. “We need to return.”
Without further deliberation, they grabbed their packs and charged through the enemy camp, scurrying up the embankment and onto the trail that would lead them back to Dzibanche.
After marching for a few minutes down the path, seven Calakmul warriors jumped out of the brush ahead of them, armed with spears; they moved in, surrounding them.
“Oh, crap,” Betty muttered.
“Well, is this not a fortunate reunion,” a familiar voice spoke from behind them. Betty and William turned to see the man with the diamond tattoo on his forehead.
Priest Quisac stared at the traitor with a hateful glare. “Honac-Fey,” he muttered with contempt.
Honac-Fey chuckled. “This is simply too good. Not only have I captured the great Serpent Priest, but also Balam, Bati, and the bloodstone,” he said with exaggerated gestures. “This will bring me great respect in the new world order.”
“King Aztuk has been using you, Honac-Fey. When he has what he wants, he will discard you,” Priest Quisac said. “Perhaps he has already done so, for why is it that you are not with him now?”
“He… he sent me to scout for…” Honac-Fey appeared a little off balance as he thought about Priest Quisac’s comments. “King Aztuk has ascended to take his place with the gods. I was left behind to capture you. When we join them, my success here will secure a position of high status for me.”
“It is not too late to reverse what you have done,” Priest Quisac said.
Honac-Fey laughed. “You are in no position to demand anything of me. I will possess the bloodstone. When I do, King Aztuk will be begging for my services.”
“If it’s the bloodstone you want,” William said in a daring manner, “why don’t you come over here and try to take it from me.”
Honac-Fey moved in a few steps, glaring at William. “You don’t deserve the bloodstone. I killed its former master, the Great Jade Owl.” Honac-Fey became livid. “It took years of planning. The bloodstone is rightfully mine.” He glowered at Priest Quisac. “If our helpful Serpent Priest had not run off with the bloodstone just before…” He growled and shifted his attention back to William. A cocky smile spread across his face when he lifted an obsidian dagger from his side, waving it in little circles as he spoke, “I regret to inform you, Balam, that in order for me to possess the bloodstone… you must be dead. However, I can see that you are in no rush to die of old age. Allow me to help you with that minor detail, to free you of the bloodstone’s heavy burden.” With his dagger, he waved his men forward.
The Calakmul warriors closed in with their spears. Honac-Fey gritted his teeth as he approached. On his next step, a fluttering sound ended in a crunching thud, with an arrow pierced clean through Honac-Fey’s back; its bloody tip jutted out through his right shoulder blade. He shrieked from the pain, dropped his dagger, and spun around to see his attacker; a shocked expression spread across his face.
William could not believe it when he saw Teshna there, crouched beside a tree; she held a focused rage that he had never seen in her before. “Our father, the Great Jade Owl, sends his greetings, Honac-Fey!” she said. She launched a second arrow, impaling another warrior in the chest. Teshna readied and released again, catching a third warrior in his neck.
In the moment the arrows began to fly, Priest Quisac jerked a dagger from his belt and-with the reflexes of a cat-slit the throat of the nearest warrior. He sprang toward the next warrior, jamming his blade into the man’s back.
William ducked under the swing of a club, while simultaneously snatching a spear from the ground. Thrusting up, he gouged the weapon through his attacker’s chest. He tried to pull the spear free, but it was stuck in the man’s ribs. As Priest Quisac finished off a warrior near them, William glanced over to Teshna and spotted the last of the Calakmul warriors rushing at her, about to strike her down.
Teshna hurried to set another arrow, but her fingers slipped, and the arrow dropped to the ground. She held her bow out, preparing to block the warrior’s attack. Before William could even call out, Teshna’s attacker caught an arrow dead center in his forehead. He turned with an empty stare before falling by Teshna’s feet.
William glanced to his left and saw Betty with her bow held out. A startled look spread across her face; she seemed stunned by her accomplishment. “Great shot, Betty!” William said as he rushed over to Teshna.
Betty shook off the jitters of what she had just done and said, “I was actually aiming for his gut.”
William lifted Teshna from the ground with a big hug, relieved to have her safely in his arms.
Teshna pulled away from him, scanning the dead bodies. “Where is he?” she asked.
William spun around, searching for Honac-Fey with wild eyes. Somehow the man with the diamond tattoo had snuck off in the heat of the melee. “He’s not getting away this time!” he said. William grabbed his pack from the ground and yanked out the sacred weapon. He ran down the path, following Honac-Fey’s trail of blood. William stopped and scanned the area, but he could not see him anywhere.
A scream broke the silence as Honac-Fey came storming out of the jungle, swinging his arms wildly over his head. His white owl had drawn him out; it appeared to be attacking him. The owl fluttered above Honac-Fey, slashing its sharp claws at his face. When the owl spotted William, it flew off.
Honac-Fey broke free from the jungle and staggered back onto the trail. Wounded and half-blinded from the owl’s attack, he stumbled along the trail, about fifty yards away. William aimed the sacred weapon at Honac-Fey, just as Teshna and the others caught up.
“Balam, no!” Priest Quisac yelled from behind him.
Feeling the intensity of the bloodstone’s fury, its demand for revenge against the man who had cast the soil plague on it, William couldn’t resist pressing the button. A tremendous thunderclap rocked the ground as a bolt of lightning burst forth from the sacred weapon, chasing Honac-Fey down the trail, ripping through his body, and exploding him into a million little pieces-splattering fragments of his skin, bone, and blood across the jungle.
William felt a deep anger burning in his heart as the bloodstone glowed vibrantly on his chest. “That’s it!” he said. He gripped the bloodstone in his left hand, with a glazed look on his face. “King Aztuk started this, and he must also die. We will find him and kill him!” William glared at the sky. “We’re coming for you! Do you hear me, you bastard? We’re coming for you!”
The white owl caught William’s attention; it appeared above the trail, soaring right at him. He thought the crazy bird was going to attack him-like it had with Honac-Fey-and he reached for his dagger. But instead, the owl flew within a few feet and paused, hovering just before him. The bird locked eye contact with William, and for a moment he found that he was staring back at himself through the owl’s perspective. He could feel the strain of its flapping wings and noticed its rapid breathing. William had inadvertently activated the bloodstone’s possession skill. Strangely, he also perceived the owl’s thoughts; it felt rage for Honac-Fey, just as he did. Like William, the owl’s urge for vengeance was also coming from the bloodstone.
“Balam,” the Serpent Priest grabbed his arms, shaking him. He immediately lost his link with the white owl, and it flew off, soaring high above the trees. “Release your anger at once. The bloodstone is feeding on your negativity and intensifying it.”
Teshna held William’s hand, and her soft touch helped to subdue his rage. He released his grip on the bloodstone and its radiance diminished.
“You must keep thoughts of vengeance from your mind,” Priest Quisac said. “We must act calmly for our mission to succeed.”
“Our mission?” William laughed. “We’ve been preparing to fight a normal army. How are we supposed to fight that cloud thing?”
Priest Quisac considered that for a moment and then turned to Teshna. “Did it come for our people?”
Teshna rolled her eyes with a baffled look. “What are you talking about? I left our camp not long after you. What cloud are you referring to?”
“We have to get back,” William said.
Without another spoken word, the four companions began the journey back to Dzibanche.
During the hike, William told Teshna about the dark cloud that appeared, and how it seemed to be blasting everyone into oblivion, although Priest Quisac insisted that it was taking them-a concept he still could not comprehend. They marched east for several hours, until the familiar buzzing sound vibrated the ground beneath them; they stopped in their tracks.
“It is near,” Priest Quisac said matter-of-factly. “We must proceed with caution.”
As they approached the clearing where the Dzibanche army had been waiting for the attack, the buzzing noise increased in its intensity. Darkness enveloped them under the shadow of the large cloud. They peeked around the trees, staring at the western side of the clearing with shocked looks. The entire army was gone.
“What happened,” Teshna said. “Where are they?”
“They have also been taken,” the Serpent Priest said.
“No. Surely they fled into the jungle,” she said, almost in tears.
“Look.” Priest Quisac pointed to the eastern edge of the clearing. “Their weapons lie where they last stood.”
Colorful lights sparkled beneath the cloud just before a beam of orange light struck a spot in the middle of the clearing, creating a blinding glare until it dissolved.
“It knows we are here,” the Serpent Priest said.
“You think,” Betty whispered sarcastically. “Hey, someone’s there now!”
“It’s Yax,” Teshna said, and began to run out to him.
William grabbed her arm, holding Teshna back. “It may be a trick.”
Yax spotted them and began to approach. He stopped after a few steps, his arms held out in a welcoming gesture. “Do not be frightened, for now I understand. All is well. Come, I shall explain,” he hollered from across the field.
They moved from their hiding place behind the trees and met up with the King in the middle of the clearing.
Yax smiled when they neared. “I am pleased that you have returned, for I am delighted to tell you that our great fear of this day has been misunderstood. Our ancestors from the stars have arrived to take us home… to the world where we come from. They sensed your worry, and so they sent me down to welcome you myself.”
The Serpent Priest gave a suspicious look at the cloud. “The stars did not speak of a reunion such as this. This is unexpected.”
“What about King Aztuk?” William asked, still feeling a twinge of the bloodstone’s thirst for the man; they needed to sacrifice him to end the curse.
Yax gazed at the cloud above. “They say he is there, with all his people too. They told me that King Aztuk was very disturbed by all this. He demanded to be made a god… to be given the powers he thought he deserved. So they subdued him-preserved him inside a crystal chamber. These beings do not understand his negative urges, and they wish to study him.”
“Then you’re leaving,” William asked, feeling confused. “You’re going with them?”
“Not only us,” Yax said. “Those who have been faithful to the gods in all the kingdoms of these sacred lands may go. However, many will be relocated in the north to strengthen Chichen Itza… for the continued protection of this world.”
There were many other confusing matters that William still couldn’t piece together, and after everything they had been through, he wanted answers-to understand the purpose of it all. “The bloodstone… the soil plague… the Sacred Cavern… this cloud… what’s the connection between all this, Yax?” William asked.
“Perhaps it would be best if they explain it to you,” he said, and gazed up at the cloud above them. He raised his hands to the sky, and a golden light flashed. The land around the clearing dissolved from view-immediately replaced by an incredible sight. They found themselves standing on a platform atop a pyramid that sparkled from the light of a blue-green sky. The sky had an artificial appearance; it shimmered as though it were being viewed through a giant prism. William noticed that the spear and sacred weapon he had been clutching a moment before had vanished from his hands, as did all the weapons that they had each been carrying.
An enormous collective cheer rose from the base of the pyramid. The entire population of Dzibanche seemed to be there, gazing up at them from the courtyard below. Rows of huts spiraled out from the pyramid as far as he could see. In unison, they began chanting, “Balam! Balam! Balam!”
“So the cloud is a spaceship?” Betty asked.
William recalled how he had seen a dark object hidden inside the cloud when he viewed it through the lens of the sun shield.
“Yes, we are inside their craft, Bati,” Yax said.
“But it looks like we’re still outside,” Teshna said.
Yax smiled, raising his arms to quiet the crowd. “I was also confused upon my arrival here. At first, I believed that I had died and had ascended to the heavens. But then they explained what happened. A large portion of this vessel has been designed for the comfort of our people while we travel through the stars to our new world. This area where we now stand has been constructed to suit our needs. It is much the same as our lands that we know-complete with plants and animals as well. Yet this area is but a small chamber on the craft. I am told that if we were to travel from this city center, a large wall would be encountered.”
“Sounds kind of like a big cage,” Betty said with a raised eyebrow.
“Where are these ancestors of yours?” William asked.
“We are here,” a voice answered in his mind. William jumped and looked behind him. The others had similar reactions. Teshna’s nod confirmed that she had heard it too. “We speak to you from another location. There is much to explain. Proceed to the rising transport.”
The crowd at the base of the pyramid scattered when a green triangular pillar rose up from the ground. An opening materialized at the base of the object, where a tall slender figure stepped out in a tight-fitting white uniform; it had long arms and legs, a shiny head with a single black eyeball, and a large grey beak.
“Good grief,” Betty muttered. “What is it?”
As it approached, William could see that the bizarre appearance was actually from an odd-shaped helmet on its head; tubes were connected to the helmet from a pack on its back. The citizens dropped to their knees and bowed down before the strange being.
Its gaze slowly drifted up to the top of the pyramid, and it stretched out its hands as if welcoming them. “I am known as Jensik. Do not fear my appearance, for I am not accustomed to your atmosphere, and merely dress in such a manner so that I may interact with the people of your world. Beneath my uniform, I am much the same as you. Please come with me. I will take you to the others of my kind.”
“Who are these people?” William asked, as they descended the steps.
“They may indeed be our brothers from the stars, Balam,” the Serpent Priest said.
“Priest Quisac is correct,” Jensik spoke in their minds. “We are… brothers. Yet not all gathered here comprehend what has occurred. It is why we developed this simulated world, complete with landscape and habitations that you will find familiar-to avoid the shock you might otherwise experience. You will spend much time here with us, and those who remain must be adapted to the conditions of our world. In time, all will be made to understand our purpose.”
As they reached the base of the pyramid and approached Jensik, William surveyed the people gathered around them. “Jensik, there were a number of men taken that I had expected to be here-Etznab, Salmac, and many others from the royal guard. Are they here somewhere?”
“Come,” Jensik said, seeming to ignore the question. He stepped into the brightly lit room inside the triangular monument. “This transport will take us to another level within our craft.”
They followed him inside the triangular pillar, and the opening to the outside dissolved, enclosing them. A humming sound resonated.
“Feels sort of like an elevator,” Betty whispered.
William glared at Jensik, having a hard time trusting him through his weird helmet. He wondered what Jensik really looked like.
Jensik turned to William, noticing his disturbed look. “To answer your question about your missing friends, Balam… not all the people of this land are required. Only those with… desired qualities… will join us. Some will be transplanted back to your world. We are evaluating those we have collected.”
“Collected?” William asked, not liking the way he put that.
The elevator’s humming sound faded and an opening materialized. A silver chamber could be seen from beyond. Jensik stepped into the shimmering oval room, and they followed him in.
Jensik moved to a white table in the middle of the room, grabbed a handful of metallic-looking collars on the table, and handed them out. “Place it around your neck. It will enable you to breathe in the next room.”
The collars were decorated with colorful little stones. When William stretched open the collar and put it around his neck, the stones began blinking beneath his chin. He tried to remove it, but it seemed to be locked in place. William began to feel like a circus animal being prepped for captivity.
“The atmosphere in the next room contains the molecular properties of your world and ours. This device attracts the elements that you require to breathe,” Jensik said, pressing another button on the wall, dimming the light to half its brightness. He placed his hands at the base of his helmet and twisted a knob; it made a popping sound, like opening a bottle of soda. He slowly lifted the helmet off his head. They all stared at him with anticipation, wondering what they would see behind his strange mask.
Teshna gasped when Jensik’s long grey face and big bug-like eyes came into view. She grabbed William’s arm with a nervous grip. Jensik looked sort of like an alien from the X-Files, William thought.
“I thought you said you looked like us,” Betty said in a somewhat rude tone.
Jensik pulled a lever on the wall, and mist entered the room, pumping up from vents along the floor. He appeared to hold his breath while waiting for the mist to fill the room. Opening his thin slit of a mouth, he took in a deep breath; it sounded like he was sucking through a straw. “What you see before you is not the original appearance of our people,” he spoke in their minds, not moving his mouth. “In the beginning, our bodies were similar to yours. The color of our skin and the elongation of our features are the result of living here for generations, where our reproduction methods have evolved us into what we are today.”
“What are your reproductive methods?” William asked.
Betty jabbed William with her elbow, and he realized it wasn’t an appropriate question to ask.
Jensik gave William a blank stare as he removed his gloves, exposing his grey rubbery hands that seemed to have only four fingers. He grasped a knob protruding from the wall and slid it to the left, causing a mechanical sounding clatter to reverberate through the chamber-like the noise of an automatic garage door opener. The ceiling parted down the middle, and the walls sank into the floor, leaving the group standing in the center of a dark misty chamber; the visibility was limited to a few feet in any direction.
“Where are we?” William asked, holding Teshna’s hand firm so he wouldn’t lose her in the fog.
“We are in the control center… with the others,” Jensik said.
Dark forms began to take shape amidst the fog. They approached the group, gathering around them in a semicircle. Dozens of beings with the same greyish appearance as Jensik studied them with blank creepy looks. It became apparent that the bulk of their attention was focused on William. He felt uncomfortable with their collective stare, hearing the word “bloodstone” repeated softly in his mind.
The tallest of the aliens-in a bright red uniform-stepped out of the crowd. He glided gracefully forward, while taking a moment to study them.
Jensik gestured to the tall alien, extending his gangly arm toward him. “I present our leader, Master Seblinov.”
“You are welcome here,” Seblinov greeted, and then turned to his men who continued to gawk at them. He waved them off; they faded away back into the fog. Seblinov turned back with a gentle gaze, blinking his big eyelids several times. William noticed that they had two sets of eyelids; a transparent inner eyelid blinked just before the outer one did. Seblinov reached out with his hand and extended a long finger, motioning for them to follow.
As the group followed Seblinov through the foggy room, they passed by several of the grey aliens who stood beside tall metallic posts with light covered panels that they poked at with their slender fingers, casually rolling their black eyes toward them when they neared. A bright light filtered through the mist ahead. They proceeded forward until they reached a huge tinted window that slanted up from the floor. The light was from the setting sun, visible beyond the dark glass.
“Beyond and below are the lands where you have lived,” Seblinov said, pointing his gangly arm to the darkening sky outside the window. He motioned to the padded seats nearby. “Sit. Let us commune together.” He studied William and Betty carefully. “You two are not like the others here, yet you possess the bloodstone.” Seblinov waved a grey finger at William. “Tell me how this can be.”
Priest Quisac cleared his throat. “They have come to us from our future, through a portal known as the Serpent Passage. It is activated by the sun on the solstice days. We believe the passage has been used by other advanced beings-the feathered serpents-a race that assists in the growth of civilizations on this world.”
Seblinov clasped his hands together and cocked his head curiously. “Yes, we know of the beings that you speak-those that live in the underworld of this planet, who are unable to ascend for long. These creatures indeed seek the growth of the surface dwellers… but for their own purposes.” He paused for a moment, almost seeming disturbed about the creatures in question, making a wheezing sound as his breath accelerated. Seblinov shut his eyes for a moment. When his eyes opened, they were focused on William. “Why is the bloodstone possessed by this one?” he asked again.
“Balam saved our city from the invaders of Calakmul,” Yax said. “I awarded him the bloodstone and named him as our royal protector.”
“Why is it damaged?” Seblinov asked with concern. “The bloodstone was used by Calakmul to set a curse on our lands,” Priest Quisac said. “It killed our crops and the surrounding jungle.”
Seblinov and Jensik exchanged a knowing glance. “Yes, we are aware of this,” Jensik said. “It is why our vessel is unable to penetrate the area over your kingdom; the negative ions disrupt our controls. It is also why we could not gather you all until now, after you had moved your people further from the city center. The people in this region must either join us or relocate.”
“Where is your home world?” Betty asked with a raised eyebrow.
Seblinov stood, looking into the sky outside the window. “There was a time, long ago, when our world became unlivable. Many of our people left in search of new worlds, to begin again. But many of us remained behind, living in the protection of our vessels, attempting to correct the damage to our world.”
“Why come back for these people,” William asked, feeling concerned about their motives.
Jensik and Seblinov exchanged subtle nods to each other; they seemed to be sharing a private conversation. They both looked back at the same moment, their heads spinning in unison. “We have devoted our lives to restore our world,” Jensik said, “to make it livable again. Yet we have evolved to a point that prevents our ability to adapt to the climate. We are unable to reproduce in the normal manner, and we survive through molecular extrapolation.”
“Does he mean cloning?” Betty whispered to William.
William shrugged and nodded. “I guess so.”
Another grey alien wandered over to Seblinov, appearing out of the fog with a blue disk held in his long fingers. Seblinov tapped at the disk, while they had a hidden conversation. The alien left, disappearing back into the mist.
The leader turned back to William. “The people of this land carry the seeds of our race. The chosen ones shall be taken from this land, and they will be… adapted… to the new world.”
“It is true, Balam,” Yax said. “Our people have been saved today. Had we fought Calakmul, perhaps we would have all perished. You saved our people, Balam. You saved us so that we could live to see this wonderful day-when our brothers from the stars returned.”
“That is what the legends say, Balam,” Teshna said, trying to reassure him.
“We have been studying the people in these lands for some time,” Seblinov said. “Over the years we have witnessed a great disintegration in their culture. The collection had to take place before the required bloodlines dissolved.”
“Yet it is also important for the future of this world that the people of this land endure,” Jensik said. “The bloodstone promotes growth, and it must be cleansed. We have agreed to assist you in this endeavor. King Aztuk shall be delivered to you on the evening of the lunar eclipse so that you may reverse the infection.”
“Seblinov, there are others below who you did not collect,” Priest Quisac said. “Hundreds of children and elderly, who could not take part in the battle, are still in the city center.”
“We will send you back to make arrangements for their collection,” Seblinov said.
William didn’t like the cold way the grey men discussed the Mayan people, like they were animals being rounded up for a new zoo. But all things considered, their arrival had occurred at a calculated moment in time to prevent a battle that would have cost the lives of a lot of people on both sides. He only hoped that their intensions were sincere, and that the people would be given the option to stay behind if they chose to.