Sky Knife by Marella Sands Page B

The Bolon ti ku weren’t malevolent like Cizin, but neither were they particularly well-disposed toward mankind. They reigned over the nine underworlds, the fifth and lowest of which was Xibalba, the land of the dead. Sky Knife had no desire to meet any of the Bolon ti ku one hour earlier than he had to.
    Sky Knife ran up the steps of the Great Pyramid. From the summit, he scanned the plaza below. The crowd milled about in apparent confusion. The men who had run through shouting about the Lords of Night were gone.
    Another scream. Sky Knife strained to see the danger. Suddenly, the mass of people in the plaza began pushing against each other, trampling merchants’ tents and wares underfoot. More screams rent the air.
    A horrible growl rose over the screams, and echoed between the stone buildings that surrounded the plaza. Sky Knife trembled. A jaguar! A jaguar was loose in the plaza of Tikal.
    Something large and black leapt at a child. The child fell underneath the weight of the beast. A black jaguar. The child’s last scream gurgled into silence, and her blood splattered on the pavement, on the men and women running by. Sky Knife’s heart went cold in his chest at the sight of the dead child. She could be his sister—she was surely someone’s sister. Now she lay broken on the tiles of the plaza.
    The jaguar stepped over the body of the child and looked around as if searching for something. Sky Knife held his breath. No wonder the men had shouted about the Bolon ti ku —the black jaguar was their messenger. Only the black jaguar could make the journey between earth and the underworlds and return in safety. Only the black jaguar could speak for the Lords of Night.
    The cat sat down, panting. It sniffed the child’s body briefly, then resumed scanning the plaza. Two other bodies littered the ground of the plaza, blood from their wounds dark and wet on the pavement stones.
    The cat stood and stretched slowly. It yawned, blinked, and shook its head. Its gaze traveled to the only human left in the plaza: Bone Splinter. It took a step toward him.
    â€œNo!” shouted Sky Knife. He darted down the steps as fast as he could and tried to step in front of Bone Splinter. A fierce determination rose in his gut. No one else would die before his eyes today! No one!
    A thick arm blocked his way. “Stay behind me,” said Bone Splinter softly. Sky Knife halted, but remained tensed, ready to move, to spring, to do something.
    The cat’s gaze traveled slowly from Bone Splinter to Sky Knife. Its ears perked up when it saw him.
    â€œIt’s you,” said Bone Splinter. “It wants you.”
    â€œMe?” gulped Sky Knife. “But…”
    The great cat roared. Its glistening fangs looked yellow in the late morning light.
    â€œStand still!” called a voice. It took Sky Knife a long moment to place it. Stone Jaguar.
    Sky Knife looked away from the cat reluctantly. To his left, Stone Jaguar, Death Smoke, and Claw Skull spread out on the south end of the plaza. Claw Skull beckoned to someone. Sky Knife looked to his right. Several hunters, spears and nets in hand, fanned out on the north end of the plaza.
    â€œIt seems the priests’ plans for a jaguar sacrifice have gone astray,” said Bone Splinter. He sounded amused. Sky Knife couldn’t imagine how anyone could find the situation funny.
    The hunters approached the cat, which only acknowledged them with a flick of an ear. The cat tensed, still staring at Sky Knife.
    â€œDon’t move!” shouted Claw Skull.
    Sky Knife wanted to shout that he wasn’t moving—not an inch!—but he didn’t dare speak. Suddenly, Bone Splinter screamed and jumped toward the cat.
    The cat backed up, toward the hunters. One of the hunters jabbed at it with his spear, but the cat swerved and swiped the hunter with a paw. The man went down in a spray of blood and didn’t move.
    Another hunter lunged at the cat