Torrent

"So, how do we play this ballgame?" Beverly asked.

"No one knows," Tum replied. "In fact, there may have been multiple versions of it. But the most popular version is believed to have been a little like volleyball, only using hips instead of hands. Teams would pass a small rubber ball back and forth until one of them hit it out of bounds or let it bounce too many times."

She nodded at the rings. "What about them?"

"Think of them as vertical basketball hoops. Putting a ball through one of them would've been a rare event and likely, instant victory for the team that managed it. But again, this would've been exceedingly rare. Most people figure the vast majority of games were decided by points." Tum rubbed his jaw. "Come to think of it, the Xibalba legend features a ballcourt."

I arched an eyebrow.

"Hunahpu and Xbalanque faced the death gods on a ballcourt," he continued. "The gods tried to use a ball with a blade in it, but Hunahpu stopped them. He and his brother threatened to leave. The gods agreed to use a rubber ball and the game continued until the two men deliberately threw the match."

"Why'd they do that?" I asked.

"Each time they lost, they were sent to a new house. The implication, if memory serves me correctly, is that they had to defeat all the houses in order to fully overcome the gods. The strategy worked until Bat House. They had to spend the night in it, surrounded by circling bats. So, they squeezed themselves into their blowguns. But Hunahpu got impatient and wanted to see if the sun had risen. He stuck his head out a little too early. Camazotz, a horrible bat god, decapitated him."

I was reminded of Dr. Wu slamming his head against the rock ceiling. "Pretty gruesome."

"The next day, Hunahpu's head was hung over the ballcourt. But his brother managed to retrieve it by substituting something else, possibly a turtle, in its place. Hunahpu was brought back to life. Then he and Xbalanque defeated the death gods."

"Odd story." Graham frowned. "How does it help us?"

Tum shrugged. "Beats me."

I edged further into the space. In the middle of the right side structure, I noticed a thin passage, sloping down into the earth. "There's a tunnel over here," I said.

"Be careful," Tum replied. "The death gods were fond of trickery, especially when it came to the ballcourt."

I pointed my beam into the passage. It was extremely skinny, barely wide enough to fit a single person at a time.

Exhaling softly, I squeezed into the passage and took a few steps. It sloped downward. The others fell in behind me and slowly we worked our way through it.

"I see something," I said after a short walk.

"What is it?" Beverly asked.

"A dead end."

"Anyway around it?"

"I don't see one."

"Then Tum was right." She sighed. "This is a trick passage."

"Wait a moment." I walked to a large slab. "This is definitely manmade. It doesn't extend all the way to the ceiling. And it doesn't touch the rock on either side of it either."

I shifted my beam. It illuminated two giant half moons carved onto the slab's surface. Hundreds of small stars surrounded them.

I studied the ground. A giant orb had been carved into it. Thick points shot out on all sides of it. It looked a little like a sun beaming in the sky.

I studied the area where the floor touched the slab. Then I stepped forward. Taking a deep breath, I leaned against the slab. It moved a fraction of an inch. At the same time, the ground under my feet shifted upward.

"The slab is connected to the floor in an 'L' shape," I said. "If we all lean forward, it should tip over and spill us out into the other end of the passage."

"That's it?" Graham said.

"Let's hope so." I cleared my throat. "Okay, everyone squeeze together and lean toward me."

The others crowded in until I could barely breathe. Ever so slowly, the wall tipped forward while the ground shifted upward.

"Push harder," I hissed.

Sweaty bodies slammed into me. The slab tipped over. With a loud bang, it crashed to the ground. The impact sent me rolling into the other side of the passage.

The passage had previously sloped gently into the ground. But now, it featured a far steeper descent and I found myself rolling over smooth rock at a high rate of speed.

Five seconds later, I skidded to a stop. Some bodies crashed into me. Others rolled right over me before coming to a halt.

"Well, that was fun." Graham sat up, rubbing his head. "Hey, does anyone else hear that?"

"It sounds like rocks scraping against each other," Emily said slowly.

I retrieved my flashlight and pointed it behind me. The giant sun carving, previously at our feet, had flipped upward and now faced us.

My jaw dropped as the L-shaped rock started to move. When we'd pushed it over, a set of ancient stone wheels had landed on the ground. Now, gravity was directing the whole thing in our direction.

I leapt to my feet. "Run."

The others jumped up and we raced forward. I shot a quick glance over my shoulder. The vertical part of the L-shaped rock was on the far side of the base. If the rock was about to run me over, I figured I could jump onto the base and ride it the rest of the way down the tunnel.

I looked forward. My heart skipped a beat. The tunnel didn't open up into another cave. Instead, it dead-ended at a wall. A closer look revealed a slot at the bottom of the wall. It was large enough to fit the wheels and base of the L-shaped rock. Effectively, anyone standing on the base when the slab hit the wall would be crushed to death.

Graham and Beverly darted ahead. They leapt to the left and vanished from sight. Emily was right behind them, followed by Tum and Dr. Wu.

Rock smacked against rock. The noise sounded close.

I doubled my speed. The L-shaped rock was so close I could almost feel its base pressing into my legs.

I spotted a gap on my left. I dove toward it. The rock hurtled past me, barely missing my body. Its base slid into the slot and its upper half smashed into the wall.

Beverly glided to my side. "Are you okay?"

My chest was bruised. Long, bloody scrapes covered my hands. "Never better," I replied.

"We made it." She helped me to my feet and looked around. "This must be Metnal, the ninth level of Xibalba."

"Cy," Graham said. "You've got to see this."

I turned toward him. My tongue expanded, filling my mouth. My eyes bugged out as I stared at the magnificent sight. "Is that …?"

"Yeah." He shot me a toothy grin. "We did it. We found the lost Library of the Mayas."

PART V The River

Chapter 105

Shiny gold, distant yet unbelievably close, glittered under my beam. It was brighter than anything I'd ever seen in my life. Speechless and half-blinded, I wandered forward.

"Be careful," Beverly said. "There could be another trap around here."

But I knew she was wrong. This time, there would be no traps. No bats. No shifting platforms. No rolling L-shaped walls.

I shifted my beam. Gigantic stalactites reached down from the ceiling. Humongous stalagmites reached up to greet them. The cavern was gigantic, easily the largest one yet. I couldn't even begin to estimate its massive size or its incredible height.

A vast river flowed through the middle of it. Its dark waters gurgled loudly and I realized it was the same waterway Hunahpu had used to create his artificial marsh. But I barely looked at the water. Instead, my gaze was fixated solely on it.