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.The girl was watching him, her body tense.Her eyes melted, andshe smiled.For a moment, the boy wished it would all happen again.The king looked to the priest, his old eyes hard as flint.He rasped out aharsh command.There was no other sound.The priest stood still, looking foran instant as if he would speak.Instead, he turned on his heel and descendeddown the mountain.No one spoke until the figure of the priest grew small onthe bare footpath on the far side of the volcano.He walked away from thecity, into the depths of the jungle.The old king bowed to Remo and then to Chiun.Page 55ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"No," the Oriental said, pulling the king to his feet."Tell him that my sonand I are not his gods.""But you are," the boy protested."Your magic powers ""That is strength and discipline and training.But not magic," Chiun said."Tell the king that Chiun, the Master of Sinanju, and his apprentice standbefore him.Not gods, but men like himself.Tell him."Po did as he was told.The king stared at the strangers, obviously confused."Now tell him that we want to know what the hell's going on here," Remo said.* * *"The priest's name is Quintanodan," the king said in the safety of his throneroom.He spoke haltingly, struggling for breath, as Po translated."But the story begins long before the appearance of the priest.Ten years ago,the great white god Kukulcan descended into this valley in his flaming chariotto bring to my kingdom enlightenment and prosperity.I ruled then, as I rulenow.Behind me in succession was my only son, Pachenque, who was prepared totake my place as king of the most advanced empire on earth.Pachenque's wifehad borne only one child, the girl Nata-Ah, but she was young, and expected tobear many sons."Although Kukulcan spoke little, he was a wise and just god.He and his divineservants who had come to earth with him gave us drawings to help us plow ourfields and plant our crops.He showed us how to make roads and constructbuildings that will last for a thousand years.He taught my people to read thestars.He gave us the gift of numbers.He cured the sick with his magic, thengave the healing magic to others to cure.All we now have, we owe toKukulcan.""This god," Remo said, "was actually here? I mean, alive?"The king nodded."That is his likeness." He gestured toward the statue of theman with the blank sphere for a head."Where did he come from?" Lizzie asked."I do not know.I cannot speak the language of the gods.But he showered mypeople with his blessings.He even drove the evil Olmec away from our land,past the fire mountain Bocatan, deep into the caves of death, into Xibalba,where lives the god of the dead.Kukulcan vanquished them with his magicspears of fire.""Uh didn't you think it was strange for a god to touch down in the middle ofyour city?" Remo said.The king blinked."But it was the prophecy.We expected the god, and Kukulcancame.""What prophecy?""The most ancient of the sacred writings.Long ago, it was spoken that a greatgod would come to guide the ruler of the kingdom of Yaxbenhaltun to greatnessover all other peoples.I was that ruler.This is the kingdom of theprophecies."Page 56ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"So the prophecies came true," Lizzie said."Not all.There is more.The sacred writings said that the god would visit,but that the voice of the gods would lead us to even greater heights, to aglory unimaginable in the eyes of mortal men."Remo looked to Chiun, who nodded to the king in mute understanding."Then the calamity happened.Kukulcan disappeared.Or deserted us.I did notI still do not know how I offended the good god, but he left with his friendsone day, past the fire mountain Bocatan, into the Forbidden Fields, and waslost to us forever.""Toward the Olmec caves?" Remo asked."Yes, but the Olmec could not have killed Kukulcan and his servants.""Why not?""The gods are invincible.The cave dwellers could not vanquish them.We waitedfor his return.We erected a temple around his flaming chariot and prayed toall the gods for his return, but he did not come.Instead, we found onlymisfortune [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]