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
Monica came and stood next to him. “What’s it all say?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Damn, if only we had that other guy from Central America.” Monica elbowed Matt in the ribs and he laughed.
“Well, I can see the symbols for the brothers and also for that eye and coiled ropes which is the symbol of the deceiver god—the Qwotoan I mentioned before. And there’s more about following the path to the underworld. Other than that, at this stage it’s what we in the archaeology business call a vanished language; the images and symbols are mostly a mystery . . . and would be to ev-ery-one.” Matt turned and shone his torch directly into Monica’s eyes as she mouthed the word magic again.
“I wonder where they all vanished to?” asked Aimee.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing. And I’ve been wondering a few other things about those two warriors,” Matt replied.
The medics, Margaret and Bruno, had joined them now, and Matt turned to them. “You know, this could be just coincidental, but there is an ancient Mayan myth about the creation of the universe that described their version of heaven and earth and the gods and creatures within it. It also featured two brave twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, the sons of the blood moon. In the myth, they travelled deep below the earth to their Hades, a place they called Xibalba. Like a lot of ancient races, the Mayan myths were thought to have been handed down from even earlier populations. What if the legend of the brothers wasn’t all myth? What if it was one of those stories that was passed down over the millennia and was never a myth at all but the documentation of an actual journey below ground by these two warriors.”
Matt was breathing heavily, and he sucked in a deep breath before continuing. “Aimee, you asked where they all vanished to. I’ve been thinking about that as well. This could be another population disappearance. These Aztlans could have sent out parties to all corners of the globe—that would explain how their writing style was seeded everywhere from the Egyptians to the Mayans. But the rest seem to have just disappeared. The disappearances and the name Qwotoan—I’ve been racking my brain about it; I knew I’d heard something like it before. The first English attempt of settlement at Roanoke in 1587. Over a hundred people disappeared without a trace, and the only clue to their fate was the word Croatoan carved into a tree. Do you see the similarity—Croatoan, and Qwotoan? It could be the same word, but expressed in different languages. If there is one thing that will cross time, geography and races, it’s a warning.”