Romancing the Maya (English version ) Part three

        It was a few days after that Maria returned with the priest message, “Grandpa’s prayers have been accepted by the Goods. Wednesday night, with a propitious full moonlight, would a time acceptable by the Gods. The prayers and sacrifice would be officiated where the remains of the Feathered Serpent Temple are. We’ll meet the congregation of acolytes there.”

        We joined the congregations of priests and dignitaries. Grandpa was the supreme officiating priest and wore the regalia of his power, a colorful garments and a plumed hat reflecting the high hierarchy in the Mayan priesthood. The sacrificial altar had been prepared and it was a goat to be sacrificed to propitiate the supreme god, the Feathered Serpent and the spirit of Tula, Lord of Five Thunders, who was the last king of the city.

      One of the Priests, helped by two young novices, had prepared the infuse of the Ky, the hallucinogens mushroom beverage with other secret ingredients, and they poured into the Tzima, the old traditional sacred chalice.

      The acolytes, including Maria and I, sit forming a circle around the altar, with Grandpa at the centre was the main officiating priest and helped by the other ministers that intoned a hymn to the gods. Grandpa looked majestic in his officiating robes, richly embroidered in red and gold. For this occasion he wore a different taller hat. Symbolizing his supreme powers, it was the eagle and a variety of multicolored rare plumes representing his supreme vestiges as the sacerdotal Feathered Serpent’.

      Grandpa sang in a clear voice, an old melodious Maya hymn, to propitiate the Gods, and asked them to accept his humble offer of the goat and to listen to the prayer of the High Priest. He also invited Tula, Lord of Five Thunders, to come once more, and to be part of the congregation.                                

      The sacred beverage was shared by the presents and the youngest priest, who attended to the calyces, was asking the acolytes to drink. That beverage was offered around for three times and a sense of our bodies levitating in space was soon noticeable. After have drunk the sacred Ky the presents rose to sing hymns, and to invite the Gods to share the convivial. Thanks to the magic beverage and the many prayers, a vision finally appeared in front of us.

         Grandpa, the Great Priest, genuflected and solemnly proclaimed. “I give thanks to the God of listen our prayers. I also welcome Tula, Lord of Five Thunders. Thank you my Lord to kindly come and visit once more your people to keep alive the memories of your legends.”

       Strange but true, the majestic figure of Lord of Five Thunders was standing in front of us, sitting on a golden throne, and irradiated by a silvery light. He clearly replayed to the Great Priest invitation and with a crystalline voice said,

        “You are the direct descended of the City of the Moon and my people. I thank you all. As Mayans you must be proud for what we achieved in the past, we left to the posterity our wisdom and our knowledge of the sciences. We created the greatest civilization in out time.”    

         “My Lord,” Grandpa replayed “We have with us tonight a foreigner. He came from a far away land across the sea, and he wants to spread to his countrymen, at his return, the legends of your people and the grandeur of your empire.”

         At this point I hazarded “My Lord, I came across the City of the Moon and from your priest I learned about your kingdom and your conquests. But nobody knows how the City of the Moon was destroyed and why or if anybody survived.”

         Lord Tula answered “My reign lasted well over thirty years and over that time I consolidated the kingdom enlarging its territory and made it more powerful. We conquered nearby cities and created the vaster Mayan kingdom of the time and we finally connected our territory to the sea. From our port we saw merchant ships from across the sea, coming and trading with us. We could then exchange our maize with their vessels, gems, and garments.

        “We grew into a strong and wealthy nation, but we created also enemies from those faraway countries.”  

        Lord Tula continued “Our stronger enemy was Cawek, Lord of the Forest’s People.

          “In war against them we won the main battle and destroyed by fire one of his city and took back in chain many prisoners, including Cawek’s wife and his elder son. In our tradition we sacrificed to the gods our enemy’s son.”

        “And what had happen after that?”  I asked Lord Tula.

        The Lord kept narrating “We thought we have annihilated Lord Cawek and for many years we didn’t heard of him. He hid in the forest while trained a new stronger army while he revengefully planned to vindicate the killing of his son.

        “Astutely he planned to get us by deception well aware that he would never win in a direct confrontation on the open battlefield against our stronger forces.

         “He had sworn in his heart of never be in peace until he would revenged his elder son’s dead, with the destruction of The City of the Moon and kill me.

        “That was the reason why Lord Cawek kept hiding in the forest, away from any suspicious from our intelligence.

       “One day arrived to the City of the Moon a group of merchants. They took with them many presents to ingratiate me and asked permission to stay for a few days into the protecting walls of our city and sell their merchandises. In Bona Fide I granted their request.

        “That was nothing but the astute plan that Lord Cawek had devised to send some of his men, camouflaged in merchants clothes, into the walls of the city. Three nights after, when everybody was asleep, they assaulted the sentries and silently kill them.

       They opened the city gates and let Cawek’s warriors, who had traveled at night and hided at daytime, entered the city. They set the city ablaze and it was then, with all the noises and the lights of the burning city that I awoke. I took command of the palace’s guards and organized the defenses. Bravely we fought against an over-numbered enemies till midday. Many of my brave men perished in the battle and my group was left with only a half dozen people. While the enemies regrouped and temporally stop the skirmish, we could break away and tried to escape through a secret passage.

       “But the enemy followed us into the narrow passage. In the restrict space it was easier to control them. We kept battling and killed many of them and their bodies piled up in front of us. In the tunnel our backs were protected from the enemy assault.

         “We battle against the enemy till nightfall, but we had realized that our retreat to salvation couldn’t be possible and we had nowhere to go. That passage we were in was with a dead end into the palace’s archive. We were exhausted as well as our assailants that conceded us some truce. But our enemy, to keep us at bay, lighted a large fire in front of us. It was their astute plan to buy time while they build, further down the tunnel, a stone wall that entombed us alive.

          But at that time our fate was already signed. With me it was only left one of my sons and another officer and all of us had suffered so many wounds that in time bleed us into a miserably death. ”