Chapter 2

Our pleasant morning quickly gave way to a day of butt-numbing airplane and helicopter rides to get us to the village nearest the dig. As the helicopter took off leaving us alone, I was surprised at our reception. In my previous experience, villagers crowded around us, eager to see the new visitors. Children clamored around hoping to coax us into tossing food, candy, or money their way. Village elders always waited for us to come to them.

This time, though, it was the chief and shaman who greeted us. Everyone else stayed a respectable distance away. “Welcome,” they said in their native tongue, bowing to us. Their bows brought an immediate and similar response from the rest of the villagers. “We are honored by your presence,” the chief said solemnly. I’d spent enough time in villages that I’d previously witnessed a lesser chief greeting a greater visiting chief to recognize the situation for what it was. I wasn’t quite sure how they knew but I could make a fair guess.

“It is I who am honored to revisit the land of my ancestors and to be able to help,” I replied as I motioned for everyone to stand back up. My break with the normal protocol surprised them, especially when I greeted them as equals. I explained what was going on to Amanda as we were led into the village. When I tossed handfuls of the candies and coins I had stuffed my pockets with specifically for this reason, the kids quickly destroyed the solemnity of the occasion as they squealed and dove for the treasures. Seeing the huge grin on my face at the children’s antics immediately put everyone else at ease.

We were entertained clear through dinner. People from the dig showed up right before sundown with horses for us and for the supplies that the helicopter delivered. I was grateful to find out the dig was only an hour away as I hadn’t been on a horse for a several years and wasn’t looking forward to being saddle sore again.

When we finally retired for the evening, we had two final visitors. Chief Vakaki came by with a young woman I hadn’t noticed earlier. She had been made up carefully and wore a ceremonial jaguar skin robe. Standing behind her and blocking the doorway of our hut, which shielded the girl and us from the view of anyone who might happen by, the chief slipped the robe from the girl’s shoulders. Amanda gasped at the naked dark-skinned beauty standing anxiously before us. Seeing the disapproving look on my face the chief quickly explained. “Itzel has a gift. She foretold this day on the day she became a woman. You will need her help to defeat...” and the chief looked around nervously as if someone were trying to overhear us. “You will need her help to defeat he with whom you have come to do battle. She is here tonight because she chooses to be,” he explained nervously.

“You must take me tonight so that I may join you tomorrow night in your dreams,” she said in the ancient language. She smiled as the surprise registered on my face.

“Welcome,” was all I could say when the shock finally wore off and I stepped aside so she could enter.

“Goodnight Father,” she whispered lovingly to the chief as she turned her head and kissed his cheek when she retrieved the jaguar-skin robe. Seconds later, we were alone with Itzel. I guessed her to be in her mid-teens and she stood even with Amanda. She walked nervously to Amanda and pulled their faces together for a kiss, blushing hard enough it was readily visible on her dark skin. “I have never been with a man or a woman but I watched you last night with the yellow haired woman,” she explained nervously.

“You were able to watch us?” I asked, astounded.

Her blush deepened. “That is part of my gift. Unlike you, though, I am only able to observe. After ... after tonight, though, I will be able to join you in your dreams. I will be able to help with your battle, as well as preventing HIM from controlling your minds,” she explained.

When she was finally able to meet my gaze again, there was a fire in her eyes letting me know she really did want to be here, and not just for the reason she told us. While Itzel and I kissed, Amanda began removing my clothing. I could feel Itzel quivering under my touch as I gently caressed her soft feminine curves. When the last of my clothes disappeared, I pulled Itzel down with me to the makeshift bed in the middle of the floor and we began the ageless dance.

At some point after Itzel, Amanda, and I finished, our first dream was a group instructional seminar of sorts on what Pacotamxo had been able to do to people while he was alive. Next, our spiritual instructor guided us through a series of exercises enabling us to change our form at will in our dreams. He explained that the lesson he planned to teach us to connect with each other was no longer necessary, but he had Amanda and Itzel specifically connect with their shaman ancestor. It seems that all the elders of the entire modern Maya nation planned to be in communication with their ancestors the next evening to channel energy to me as I fought ”HIM,” as they referred to Pacotamxo, afraid even to mention his name.

After an extended time practicing changing our forms, we spent the rest of the night having dream sex.

I should have been exhausted in the morning, but it seemed that the more dream sex I had the better I felt when I woke up. Either that or I was going through that early phase of my relationship with Amanda where everything just seemed right with the world.

Itzel’s mother came by before breakfast, ostensibly to wake us up. Itzel confided to us that her mother was checking on her. Seeing her daughter practically glowing and grinning from ear-to-ear, her mother smiled happily, and left us alone as we prepared to depart.

The soggy ground from the seasonal rains made our ride to the excavation site a little longer than an hour, but not much. The last-minute addition of Itzel’s uncle Kaak, the village’s shaman, and his teenage daughter Nuk surprised me. Halfway to the dig I began to feel something ominous seemingly hanging in the air with the evaporating water vapor from last night’s rain. The girls felt it, too, and we completed the last half of our trip in silence.

When we reached the village, I didn’t need to search for the temple to know where it was. I could feel it pulling at me, almost pulsing, enticing me to enter. Visions of vast riches and hordes of naked women at my beck and call entered my mind. They disappeared when I started laughing at the mental offer. I spent less than half of what I earned each year and had at least five years’ salary in savings. My newest book would soon be on the market and the publisher called shortly before we boarded the plane to tell me the first printing had been extended to five times what was originally planned as colleges and universities heard about it based on word-of-mouth and called in orders. It, and subsequent volumes I was sure would be published, would never make me rich but they would easily provide a comfortable living for the growing family group I seemed to be collecting. The visions of hordes of women simply scared the crap out of me. The ones I had lined up currently were more than enough to fulfill any fantasies I--or they--could ever dream up. After the last couple of nights, I’m not sure there was much left about which I could fantasize.

Itzel smiled serenely at me at that point, almost as if she knew what I’d been thinking. I did notice, as did the girls, that the ominous feeling surrounding us suddenly vanished.

Work at the site had come to a standstill with everyone too nervous to proceed. Dithern showed me around, pointing out the temple and making sure he let me know they had left it undisturbed once they got my message. The western edge of the temple had previously been mostly uncovered, to and including what had been the entrance Pacotamxo used to take the three virgins inside for the temple’s dedication. I could still feel the energy pulsing from the temple much like one feels the heat radiating from a large bonfire. Nobody else could feel it though.

Between the heavy layers of clouds that seemed intent on hiding the stars from us this night, and the dense canopy of the jungle, darkness came early. We shared dinner with the remainder of the crew from the dig but nobody was in a talkative mood, everyone sensing that something terrifying and monumental was going to take place tonight. A couple of the students jokingly referred to us as the Ghostbusters but the joke was old the first time they used it.

We watched after dinner as the shaman mixed a concoction for us. I saw Itzel’s eyes widen when she saw what he was adding. I’m no ethnobotanist, but I knew enough about Mayan rituals and hallucinogens to recognize some of the ingredients--Morning Glory seeds, Wad toad secretions, one of the many varieties of Psilocybe mushrooms, and water lily bulb. I sure hoped he knew what he was doing, but I guess that was part of his job. Too much of any one of those ingredients could be fatal. Handing each of us a bowl he explained somberly while picking up his spear, “I will be here in case you lose the battle and HE takes control of you. HE cannot take over the mind of an innocent, so my daughter will be watching me ... just in case,” he added as his daughter solemnly took up her own spear. They both drank a different concoction, one he explained would keep them alert tonight. I wasn’t sure if his daughter understood what was supposed to happen tonight, but the determined look on her face told me she understood both the gravity of the situation and the task she had been assigned.

With a final nervous kiss, we each swallowed the contents of our own bowl. While not nearly as foul tasting as I had been worried it would be, it would never make it onto the menu of a fast-food joint. The girls bookended me, albeit still clothed since we had an audience. The next thing I knew I was floating somewhere before first Itzel and then Amanda found me and then disappeared again. I felt Amanda in my mind and somehow knew Itzel was watching us from just out of reach.

I felt his presence before I could see him. Then I felt pressure in my head. “He’s off to your right and not too happy because he can’t enter your mind with Amanda in there, too,” I heard Itzel coach. As I turned to my right, a Jaguar lunged from the fog surrounding me. I ducked and he missed my face but I felt the searing burn as his claws ripped through the flesh of my shoulder. Before I could react further, my right arm became a machete and buried itself in the soft underbelly of the Jaguar as his weight carried him past us. His shriek of pain was even worse than mine had been.

A second later, my arm was perfectly healed and the pain was gone. Unfortunately, the Jaguar was also back and healthy. He circled me warily, feinting several times trying to provoke a response. When he sprang this time, I turned into a huge porcupine and savored his second howl of pain. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be slowing him down any.

On the third attack, I went for Saber-tooth tiger. When I lashed out at the Jaguar, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. The real one hit me from behind as I started to spin, expecting the attack as soon as the fake disappeared. Fortunately, my current size prevented lethal damage but it still hurt like hell when he again caught my side. I managed to rake his face with my heavy-duty Saber-tooth claws as our deafening shrieks reached a crescendo.

“He’s hurt,” Itzel informed me as my wounds quickly healed. When the Jaguar finally reappeared, the deep red gashes in his face were still there. After several more feints, he struck again, this time changing into a snake as he struck. Score a victory for Ray Scissorhands.

Getting desperate, he finally appeared in human form, but still had the horrendous gashes across his face. A sudden flash of light blinded me momentarily, and I twisted backwards and to my right expecting his attack while I couldn’t see. The burn of something sharp pierced my shoulder and knocked me backwards. The wound healed almost instantly when he pulled his knife shaped hand out and concentrated on strangling me--or so I thought. His hand quickly became a knife again, directed at my throat as I struggled with him trying to keep it away. A sudden movement caught my attention when Itzel appeared, spear-hand penetrating Pacotamxo’s skull.

Instantly, we were back in the tent at the dig, with no residual effects from the drug. It took me a second to realize that we’d won. “Yes!” I whooped, pistoning my fist into the air. Instantly I was buried under two happily squealing girls. Amanda and I both turned on Itzel and smothered her with kisses. Only when we finally calmed down and looked around did we see the shocked look on the face of Itzel’s uncle as he stared at the severed human head skewered on his spear--a head with deep claw marks across the face.

“I realized that every time he attacked you he was aiming for your head. You just happened to dodge the attacks. Everything below your necks healed instantly. The damage you did to his face never healed,” Itzel gushed excitedly.

Her uncle had moved so that the head was over a bowl and the remaining blood was dripping into the bowl. “There is one more task we must perform,” he said solemnly. “We have to permanently seal the two portals in the temple.”

“Okay, how do we do that?” I asked excitedly.

“With the blood of the defeated, the blood of the victor, and the blood of an innocent,” he answered looking back and forth between his daughter and me.

“How much blood are we talking about?” I asked nervously.

“Not much,” he answered cupping one hand.

“I’m sure the camp’s medic can draw it,” I suggested.

“No, it must be done ceremonially,” he answered emphatically. My stomach lurched when Itzel’s eyes bugged out.

“When?” Itzel demanded.

“It will be dawn soon. We should go to the temple as soon after dawn as possible,” he explained.

“Fine” she huffed. “Wait outside and I’ll get them ready,” she ordered. Bowing slightly, her uncle turned and left the tent. Itzel hugged her cousin while they held a whispered conversation. Her cousin was nodding when they finished but her cheeks were streaked with tears. My stomach lurched again.

“This is going to be very strange and it’s going to hurt a lot, but everything will be okay,” she said as she hugged me tightly. Seconds later, she started removing my clothing.

“Ummmmm, we have company?” I half-asked nodding to Nuk.

“It gets stranger,” she answered. When my pants dropped to the floor, Nuk’s eyes were glued to my groin. Itzel pushed me down onto the floor and straddled my hips as she explained the process. I cringed with each new detail she explained. Evidently, there were lots of gruesome facts I didn’t know about the Maya. The ceremony hadn’t been practiced in centuries, but the seriousness of this situation, which began more than four thousand years ago demanded it.

I turned my head when Itzel removed Nuk’s dress. Nuk gasped when Itzel performed the mandatory exam to assure that she was still “innocent.” Assured that she was, she had Nuk straddle my lap and lower herself, albeit nervously, while Itzel held my cock flat against my stomach to insure that Nuk remained an innocent. Nuk’s eyes widened in surprise when she began sliding back and forth, my cock nestled in the valley between her young labia. It was only a couple of minutes later when Itzel motioned for Amanda to get her uncle.

With Itzel holding Nuk from one side, I held her other. I still don’t understand why I was the one that Nuk bit. I don’t really blame her, but damn it hurt being bit, though obviously not as bad as when her father pierced her engorged labia. After catching a drop of blood on a sheet of tissue-like paper, the rest dripped into the bowl with Pacotamxo’s blood. Itzel continued holding Nuk after they finished and while the uncle turned to me.

I was shocked to find that I was erect. I sure didn’t feel horny after watching what he just did, or knowing what he was about to do. Rolling up the edge of the blanket, I bit down on it just before the tip of the sharp bone knife skewered me near the base of my erection. Nuk reached over and squeezed my hand sympathetically. I have no idea how much blood he took. I’m not normally squeamish, but the thought of seeing my cock being pierced was a bit more than I was ready to think about. I didn’t watch any of the procedure until I felt the sting of resin from the Ek’ Balam shrub that he applied to stop the bleeding.

While he worked, Nuk and I redressed. Once he finished mixing the requisite herbs, he led us out to where he’d built a small funeral pyre. The gasoline he doused it with and the flares he added and shoved inside the skull made it burn hotter and faster. Once the flesh was gone, we left the fire to finish the job.

Using the Bobcat, it only took the crew from the dig a few minutes to finish clearing the entrance, so we could enter the temple without having to crawl through the small opening they’d previously crawled through. While everyone else waited nervously outside, the shaman and I entered the temple to seal the portals. I had to be the one to paint the blood and herb mixture along all four edges of both portals and was grateful for the chance to sit when it was time to let him do his shaman thing to finish the process.

First, he burned the two tissue papers, one with a drop of Nuk’s blood on it and the other with a drop of my blood on it. The scent of the burning blood was supposed to get the attention of the Gods. Then he began praying and chanting. Finally, there was what I can only describe as a slight shudder as the barely discernible crack in the rocks, the one outlining the two doors, seemed to press together tighter. Then suddenly, the joints in the rocks glowed with a silver glow and then simply weren’t there anymore. “It is done,” was all the shaman said before we exited the temple. I knew the girls would insist on details later.

The dream warfare last night didn’t have the same effect of leaving me energized as our dream sex did. In fact, I felt utterly drained. Between the battle, the bloodletting, and the ceremony in the temple, I wanted a good long nap before having to sit in that saddle and suffering for an hour with a pierced cock. I felt even worse for poor Nuk since she’d have to sit right on her piercing. I had to admit, though, she was already a beauty. I chided myself for being jealous of the man who finally got to go where I’d been so close to earlier. It wasn’t that I was attracted to her young body. I’d actually felt like a letch this morning just doing what we’d had to do for the ceremony. No, I just felt close to and protective of her for having shared what had to have been a very traumatic experience for her--hell, for both of us.

The makeshift bed on the tent floor rushed up to meet me as I collapsed in the middle of it, too tired to care about how gracefully I landed. God but it felt good to lie down. Also fully clothed and equally exhausted, the girls quickly bookended me. I was floored when Nuk asked if she could join us. After a slight nod and happy smile from her father, I held my arm out inviting her in as Itzel relinquished her spot to her cousin. I’m not sure if I was asleep before she snuggled against me or not.

I felt rested when Amanda and Itzel invaded my dream. One look was all it took to see what was on their minds. Protesting, I reminded them about the piercing. “Looks fine to me,” Amanda purred after checking and finding no sign of the piercing. “Note to self: real world injuries don’t carry into the dream world,” I thought. I was also relieved that the girls and I wouldn’t have to do without sex while I healed.

Itzel popped out of our dream briefly, returning with her cousin, pulling her down on top of me as Nuk assumed the position she’d been in just before the bloodletting. What followed was Nuk’s introduction to both sex and dream sex. At some point we were all snuggled together in a tangled heap of arms, legs, and assorted body parts. Then, suddenly, we were in a chamber with a stone floor, standing naked in front of dozens of people I didn’t recognize. “We understand that an offer of wealth and women was extended to you yesterday morning,” a somber and serious voice said, although I didn’t notice anybody’s lips moving.

It seemed like so long ago that I had to think about it for a second. “Yes, and I ignored it,” I answered.

“We know. We would like to know why,” the voice intoned.

“I already earn enough to support myself and a large family comfortably. I don’t want my children to grow up as rich brats, but rather to understand how to support themselves when they are old enough to be on their own. I’m already with one woman who seems to have latched on to me, and I have the feeling she will be adding a couple more to our odd family. That is already more women than I am comfortable with trying to keep happy so why would I want more?” I asked. I swear I heard chuckling from somewhere.

“What would you consider an adequate reward for what you did this morning?” the voice asked.

“I didn’t do it by myself,” I reminded them.

“We are aware of that. We are simply asking what you would consider an adequate reward,” the voice repeated sounding slightly annoyed.

“I would consider Nuk and I not having to ride a horse or walk back to her village in pain an adequate reward,” I answered letting a little of my own annoyance show.

“Hardly adequate,” a different voice grumbled. “What wish could be fulfilled to make you a happy man?” yet another voice asked.

“Since I have no idea what you are looking for, there are two things that would make me happy. The first is always to be able to make the woman or women who choose to be in my life happy. The second is to be able to help remove the shroud of mystery from the civilizations that have gone before us, that they may be known for what they were and what they did, not what the preconceived notions of archaeologists think they were like.”

There was a minute of hushed conversation before the first voice addressed me again. “We are pleased with your answers but we are still concerned that you may eventually use the power for evil purposes,” it said, finally getting to the point of this whole confab.

“Then take it back!” I exclaimed.

“We are not allowed to do that,” he answered a few seconds later.

“Then I have an idea. On the trip here, I considered asking Amanda to use the power to make it impossible for me to hurt anyone or to force anyone to do something against their will unless they were a threat to my family or me. I hoped she would agree to let me do the same thing to her. Now that Itzel can also use it, I will ask her to do the same thing,” I suggested.

This time the hushed conversation lasted longer. “We see now why the Gods chose you as their champion,” the voice said.

“What?” I sputtered. “I thought I just kind of happened to be in the right place at the right time and I agreed to do it,” I said, flabbergasted.

“Yes, it was your choice,” the voice answered soberly. “While the Gods guided events leading up to your choice, they are not allowed to take away anyone’s free will. Had you decided not to face the challenge, they would have needed to come up with another solution, one that would probably have cost many thousands of lives.”

My mind was on overload. “You keep referring to Gods. How many are there?” I asked. This time I know I heard chuckles.

“At least one; cultures that worship multiple Gods are frequently worshiping different aspects of the same Deity. Many of the Gods worshiped around the world are the same God being worshipped in different ways or by different names. Which God or Gods one chooses to worship and the manner in which one chooses to worship are unimportant. However, after today’s ceremony in the temple, there are two less Gods. They tried to circumvent the law about not taking away peoples’ free will and have paid the price.”

“We hope you will carry through with your decision to limit the power but you will need to wait a year to do it. You can’t alter two minds at once,” he explained before they left us back in our own dreams.

“I think I should explain his last comment,” Itzel said nervously. “I had Amanda stay in your mind last night because Pacotamxo couldn’t attack your mind with two minds there. Amanda and I were safe because we’re both pregnant and he can’t harm an innocent,” she said. The last part was spoken so quietly I almost missed it.

“What?” I gasped excitedly, jumping to my feet. I don’t think she could hear me over Amanda’s excited squeal.

It was the following morning when we woke up. Nuk blushed clear to her toes when I kissed her passionately. It was a pleasant surprise to find that my request had been taken to heart and we wouldn’t have to ride back to the village sore. The piercings were healed.

The last piece of business before leaving was to have the remnants of the temple destroyed. With the help of someone connected to the Maya who had been waiting for us, I’d managed to purchase C-4 and detonators before boarding the plane that delivered us to the nearby Mayan village. Using all the explosives, we blasted the temple, destroying for all eternity the most revealing evidence about what happened here so many thousands of years ago. When they woke up tomorrow, the archaeologists here would have forgotten most of the details about what happened here. They would only remember having to destroy the temple because it was so unsafe.

The ride back to the village was quiet, each of us caught up in our own thoughts. There were, however, many tender looks passed back and forth between us. It wasn’t until we got back to the village that I had the courage to ask Itzel if she wanted me to see about getting her a visa so she could join us. My heart sank when she said no.

“Amanda already took care of it,” she added quickly when she saw my disappointment.

There were at least three times as many people in the village when we got back as had been there when we left. Most had no clue as to exactly what we’d done, but knew we’d accomplished something extraordinary in an effort to keep them safe. Hearing that I already had two women, several girls spent a lot of the afternoon and evening hanging around hoping to be noticed. When they started getting more aggressive, Nuk asserted her presence--all five foot two inches--even scandalously parking herself on my lap for much of the evening. The fact that neither her father nor the chief had a problem with her behavior mitigated the censure from the women of the village, especially when her father’s quiet conversation with his wife led to her coming over and giving both her daughter and I a hug and kiss.

“I hope you have room for one more. You two just got her parent’s approval to get married,” Itzel chuckled.

“Can we dream again tonight?” Nuk purred in a voice way too sexy for a young teen.

We did dream again. Amanda introduced Itzel and Nuk to Becky and Janice. Itzel had met the girls last night but we’d been a little too carried away for introductions. I was surprised not only that they all got along, but at how well they got along--all night long. Thank God (Gods?) for dream sex. There was no way I could physically keep up with them in the real world.

When our plane landed in Villahermosa there was an American consulate official there with temporary papers for Itzel allowing her to come to the U.S. Her permanent paperwork would arrive within ninety days he promised. Amanda just grinned smugly when I looked at her questioningly since this was obviously not normal procedure.

We could have caught a redeye home, but I wanted some time to work out the kinks from the flights to Villahermosa before being stuffed into another flying sardine can for half a day.

In the morning, knowing we would be back that evening, we phoned Becky and she was waiting for us with (nearly) hot pizza for dinner. “I’ve had the strangest dreams,” she purred when she hugged and kissed me. She froze, staring at Itzel when she and Amanda came into the apartment.

“They weren’t entirely dreams,” I chuckled. Becky launched herself, collecting both Amanda and Itzel in an excited group hug and kiss. We did have to explain about the dreams while we ate, as well as why Nuk wasn’t with us yet. Itzel told us it would only be a short time before she would join us but that we could have her with us every night in our dreams until then.

I did call Ted at his home and let him know we were back and would make a full report to him in the morning.

As our dream sex marathon was winding down that night, Amanda told dream Janice we’d be at work in the morning. If she wanted to join us, she should wear something sexy to indicate her choice. Otherwise, we would pretend nothing happened and would leave her alone to live her life in whatever way she saw fit.

Everyone was clustered outside of Ted’s office when we arrived and began clapping when they saw us. Evidently, Dithern had called the day we left the dig to thank Ted for sending Amanda and me and told him that we had accomplished what we set out to do and the danger was gone. The native workers had returned and had made a small shrine outside of the tent we’d stayed in.