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Victor nodded and then headed off toward the arena. Jacob summoned his magic and drew a glyph in the air with his hand.
“Cazador.”
“Yes, Great One.” The voice came through the glyph as if the other man were standing right beside him.
“Go to the chamber of the smoking mirrors. Make your way to the ruins of San Gervasio. There are American soldiers there. Kill all but a few. Find out why they are there. Victor is ordering soldiers to drive them out. See it done and then return.”
“Yes, Great One. It will be done.”
There was no doubt in Jacob’s mind that Cazador would be successful. Surely the jaguar priest would want to be present when the Jaguar Prophecies were fulfilled. But he was obedient. He would obey unswervingly. The obsidian mirror would bring him to Jacob’s resort in Cozumel, and from there he’d travel the jungle in jaguar form to reach the ruins. The Americans would not be allowed to linger on Cozumel.
Jacob gazed up at the pyramid and then began climbing it. He’d sent the victims ahead of time to be made ready for the sacrifice. They’d be afraid. They’d be helpless. That was the point.
His only regret was that he hadn’t killed Mr. Roth sooner.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
JAGUAR TEMPLE
CALAKMUL BIOSPHERE RESERVE
January 10
Roth gazed up at the massive Jaguar Temple glowing with the illumination of the kem äm. Two warriors gripped him by the arms, which were still sore from the beating Jacob had given him. The temple was larger than the famous Chichén Itzá, a hundred and fifty feet to the other pyramid’s hundred, and more complex in design and structure than the tourist trap.
Turning his head to the left, he saw Brower also being held by two warriors. There were five stelae at the base of the temple, each one carved with images of Maya kings, the grooves and glyphs radiating the now familiar magic as well, and servants carried torches with globes of it, to further light the scene. A crowd was gathered beneath, the nobles of the new kingdom about to be born, come to witness the event, their faces highlighted by the glowing stelae and glyphs in the vicinity. Roth scanned the faces, recognizing some from his time in the arena. They wore feathered headdresses and had runes painted on their arms and legs. Gold and jade and obsidian jewelry decorated their bodies as well. It looked like a glimpse into history.
There were several sets of stairs built into the front of the massive temple, and the base had stairs leading to a lower level as wide as the entire front. In the center of the temple, there was a main center aisle of steps going steeply to the top, with a single stela glowing from the center. At the top of the plateau, Roth saw three shining structures. He couldn’t tell what they were, but they were rectangular, unlike the obelisks of the stelae below.
A horn blared from somewhere above, and the crowd fell silent. It was the same sound that had initiated the death game. Roth’s stomach clenched with dread. The other leaders had been brought out, along with their warrior escorts, but the two Americans were going up first because they would be the first sacrifices. Roth saw a look of sheer terror in the German chancellor’s eyes as he glanced back.
Once the fatal tone from the horn subsided, the warriors gripped Roth’s arms and led him to the lower stairs. He’d recovered slightly from the beating and moved on his own power. The steps were narrow, and he’d learned in his studies that they were best traversed by angling the body perpendicular to the steps. Those who climbed the temple in an attitude of humility, not facing it directly, found it easier to make the climb. Roth watched as the warriors did this and then mimicked their footwork. Brower did the same, and they climbed up to the plateau that was level with the height of the stelae planted in front. The enormity of the edifice just stunned his mind. He’d visited medieval castles before, but this was so much bigger, more like the pyramids of Giza.
Another short set of stairs flanked each side of that level, and they were brought up to the next one, which was where the main stairs were located. Roth craned his neck. He couldn’t see the three structures on top of the pyramid anymore—the angle of the ascent was too steep.
“They’re making us climb to our deaths?” Brower said.
“It’s part of the ritual,” Roth explained.
“What if we refuse?”
“Do you think it would be fun to get dragged up there?”
Brower sighed. “Probably not.”
Helicopters thundered over the jungle canopy, but Roth couldn’t see them. The sound reminded him of being chased on Cozumel, but he didn’t think these were Calakmul’s aircraft. Still, they wouldn’t help them. They were too late, and the kem äm would prevent anyone from getting in.
The warriors barked a command in Mayan, and although Roth didn’t understand it, the implication was clear. Time to keep climbing. They walked to the wide center staircase and then started up the steep incline. After about a dozen steps, they reached a landing where the single stela was erected. It was in the exact middle and highlighted the staircase going up. The platform was about twenty feet in diameter and maybe five feet wide. Roth turned his neck and looked down at the crowd that had gathered closer to the base of the pyramid. They wanted to watch the human sacrifices, no doubt. Roth clenched his teeth and felt the warriors tug on his arms.
The center stairs were the tallest and the most narrow. Roth’s pulse was racing from the effort of climbing them, but he’d always liked hiking, and under less life-threatening circumstances, it would have thrilled him to climb such an ancient structure. The steepness of the angle and the relentless spacing of the steps soon had him gasping for breath, his leg muscles throbbing with the exertion. When they were halfway up, he made the mistake of looking back and felt a sudden rush of vertigo when he saw how steep it was.
He saw the Spanish ruler being dragged up the steps, struggling against the warriors holding him. He looked frantic, like he wanted to fling himself down the steps and commit suicide rather than face what was coming. There would be no compassion shown to him. Roth knew that. He turned away from the awful scene, looked up, and kept climbing.
By the time they reached the top, he was panting and out of breath. The warriors weren’t winded at all. The humidity in the air was stifling, despite it being January. It was probably seventy degrees. The three structures he’d seen from below were revealed now, all arranged on the plateau of the upper level. They were three smaller temples with front-facing openings, a sacrificial altar arranged on each one. To Roth’s surprise, he saw another part of the temple rising even higher behind the three buildings with another pyramid-shaped temple atop it. From the ground level, that temple was totally invisible.
The three structures were glowing with the kem äm. From the center one emerged another warrior. He surveyed the captives and then walked to the edge of the pyramid steps to look down. He nodded and turned back. A few minutes later, Jacob appeared up the steps. Roth’s face throbbed with pain from the memory of being beaten by the man.
“Are you ready to die, Mr. Roth?” Jacob asked smoothly, his eyes flashing with the desire for vengeance.
