Article suitable for Top Juniors and above

‘The Sinister Road: the Nine Levels of Mictlan’ by Gonzalo Zacaula Velázquez (7)

17th Apr 2023

Mexicolore contributor Gonzalo Zacaula Velázquez

Chapter 7...
The NOTES explain how the story fits - or doesn’t fit! - the illustrations and documented stages.

But the guide didn’t reply: he had already landed and was running at full tilt, pulling him along with the rope still attached, zig-zagging to avoid the arrows.
As soon as he too touched the ground he followed suit. He thought he could see hands, with bows and arrows being shot, but he was unable to make out the faces of his enemies; cowards they were, but he didn’t stop to face them, he ran behind the guide as fast as he could. An arrow lodged in his thigh, stabbing him with pain and he collapsed into a thicket, trying to protect himself. Quickly his friend arrived, and without warning yanked the arrow from his leg, making him cry out sharply.
‘Don’t worry, the arrow didn’t cut any tendons, you’ll be ok to continue.’
Package said nothing, wincing with the pain. He got to his feet and set off at a pace, limping and zig-zagging as he went. Now he understood how to dodge the arrows’ trajectory, by seeing them coming and jumping from one side to the other. The guide smiled, but on the contrary, he grew more and more angry.
‘Damn it! Who’s trying to kill me?’ he shouted, but his cry faded into the landscape.

Not waiting for a reply he pressed on, more determined and courageous than before. The arrows grew fewer in number, but he didn’t stop to check. They were now no longer running but walking slowly, trying to recover, but there was no sign of anywhere to stop and rest. The guide kept looking to each side, agitated. Something wasn’t right; in the distance he made out a lake but it was far away. He looked for the sun, but it wasn’t to be seen. Perhaps it was hiding amongst the clouds, yet the sky was clear and he couldn’t tell the time of day: his shadows were short, it could be midday, but he wasn’t sure. He almost crashed into the guide who had stopped dead.
‘What’s up?’ he asked, alarmed.
‘Quiet. Do you hear that panting sound? That breathing doesn’t bode well…’
‘How can you hear breathing? There’s no-one to be seen for miles around…’
But a shiver of fear ran suddenly down his spine as he made out in the distance black figures moving swiftly in their direction. It wasn’t the howl of dogs, they looked more like cats, but the fright made him cry out: ‘They’re jaguars! They’re after us!’
‘Run to the black lake over there, as fast as you can!’

Instinct made him hurtle off, blind to the fatigue and wounds gripping his whole body. He could feel the penetrating stare of the approaching felines. He tripped on a loose stone, the contents of his bag scattering on the ground. Urged on by the guide, he got up, starting to gather his belongings.
‘Leave them, run! They’ll kill us both…’
Managing to bag everything he set off running, sensing the jaguars ever closer. They were almost at the lake: one more final effort…
The guide made it first, and turning round saw a jaguar had caught up with the poor guy, making him reel and lose his balance. Both fell into the lake, but the jaguar wounded Package with a blow to the chest, causing him great pain.
He lost consciousness, the black water engulfing him completely…

NOTES:-
• The Codex Vaticanus A-Rios calls this stage of the journey Temiminaloyan in Nahuatl (‘Where Someone is Shot With Arrows’) and the jaguar doesn’t feature until the next challenge. The Florentine Codex, as noted before, refers to this stage as the Place of the Obsidian-Bladed Wind.
• Gonzalo faithfully follows the first codex version.

Picture sources:-
• Flying arrows: photo downloaded from https://www.22and5.com/the-new-puritans/
• Main illustration by Steve Radzi/Mayavision for Mexicolore
• Chichen Itzá panel: downloaded from the internet, but we’ve mislaid details of the source!
• Jaguar photo courtesy of Nicholas Saunders (on our Panel of Experts).