Chapters (42)
- BENEATH THE DARK ICE
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Epilogue
- One
- Two
- Three
“It’s another message from the brothers. No, wait; I think it’s a farewell to one of the brothers from the other.” Matt ran his hands over the slightly raised markings on the wall and spoke softly. “Little brother. The gods rejoice at your bravery in battle. Your name will sound in the halls of Aztlan forever. I cannot hope to defeat Qwotoan and must climb back to the light to give my warning to the sun king. The Deceiver will not stay in Xibalba. It finishes with the sign for Hunahpu.” Matt looked down at the pile of stones. “Holy shit, this must be the grave of his brother, Xbalanque. It wasn’t a legend after all, it was all real!”
Matt dropped to his knees and began carefully lifting away the larger rocks and then the smaller stones until he was left to brush away pebbles. After a while he uncovered a small fossilised skeleton, no more than five feet long. Lying across the ribs was a small dagger made of a golden metal and what was once a short thrusting spear, it was now little more than a stain line of powdered wood and brown rust across the mineralised bones. Under the skull at the base of the neck were coloured stones and small pieces of gold that must have hung around his neck at one time. His arms and hands would have been folded across his chest, but it was obvious that his was no peaceful death. His left arm was sheared off above the elbow, leaving a splintered mess of his humerus. His left foot was missing and his skull showed multiple depressions—the tiny warrior’s death must have been a brutal one.
“Amazing, he made it all this way with just a sword and spear,” said Monica.
“Made it! He looks like he was hit by a fucking train. I hardly call that making it.” Silex was again working himself up to a state of high agitation.
Matt responded as calmly as he could to Silex’s fury. “Well, his brother had the strength to cover him up and write his death story. I figure Hunahpu headed back to the surface and we need to follow.”
“I think your stupid little Indian has probably been long digested over 10,000 years ago, and the trail will probably lead to nothing more than another pile of chewed-up, fossilised bones somewhere.”
Alex stepped quietly forward. “That’s enough, sir, this isn’t helping. You’ve got to pull yourself together or you’re not going to make it.”