CHAPTER 1

Daniel fell to his knees atop the pyramid of Kukulkan and looked up into thedark heavens. "Where are you?" he whispered, twisted from within by abewildering conflict of yearning and anger. "Where are you?"

Lightning cracked through the black and orange clouds across the sky. Deep wavesof thunder rolled in from every direction. Torches still burned down the side ofthe pyramid, and more fires fed the glow of impenetrable smoke that hung overthe ballcourt to the west. The smell of seared ions and sulfur filled the air.Daniel looked out over the wide field that glistened in the incessant rain. Thebodies of most of the dancers and supplicants had begun to evaporate; theirloincloths and axes, their headdresses and the jewelry they wore were strewnabout in the mud. A small man wearing a gray cape slogged slowly from point topoint with a stick, probing the remains.

Daniel breathed deeply, allowing his pain to flow through him. He could feel hissoul expand and contract like a bellows, searching for relief while trying toexhale the conflict that surged like a sea within him. His heart raced. Beneathhis drenched clothing, the surface of his entire body hummed like a tuning fork.He had been promised he would never be alone again. Yet it seemed thatthroughout his journey the gods had abandoned him at every crucial turn. Now inthese final moments he wanted to shake his fist at the heavens and shout, "Howdare you? How dare you?"

In a matter of hours, the sun would arise from its southernmost point, preciselyaligned with the center of the Milky Way, as the Maya had prophesied more thantwo thousand years before. With it would come the end of the Fifth World age.But most important, the serpent Quetzalcoatl, later reborn as the immense whiteeagle Quetzal, had promised that if the Maya—indeed, mankind—would learn totranscend duality, humanity would once again become one with the All at thisfinal hour. Whole!

"Will oneness ever prevail?" Daniel asked, the sound of his thoughts rimmed withdoubt. Clinging to the taste of divinity the gleaming Quetzal had given him, foryears Daniel had sought to understand in his heart the nature of Good and Evil,of Light and Dark, to find the wellspring of nonduality, oneness. He hadjourneyed across the land to share Quetzal's vision with all who would listen.But not enough hearts had been reached, and now the struggle had brought them tothe very edge of their lives. Even the guides who speak to him from within hadsaid Time has run out.

It seemed as if the aroused earth was moving up through the pyramid and into hisheart. Under growing pressure from the approaching alignment, volcanic fissuresdeep within the earth had begun to rupture. Already, fire and molten lava boiledover onto the land in other fractured parts of the world. Here, smoke darkenedthe sky, and sparks shot through the blackness, incandescent, blown by powerfulwinds. To the north, trees ignited with a burst as if drawing their firstbreath. This the Maya had not prophesied. It seemed a more terrible end was athand.

Daniel fell against the outside of the temple that crowned the pyramid. A smallfire burned within it. Rain cascaded over his body and onto the stones beneathhim where pools of sacrificial blood had once collected. From somewhere amongthe charred trees beyond the playing field, a voice called Auxilio! Auxilio! Thehollowness of the sound, the anguish it carried, sent a wave of sorrow throughDaniel's body. The voice of one man calling for help, but surely the voice ofall the world's suffering, which now would go on forever. Over the years, hadDaniel spoken with greater passion, had he sooner accepted the intolerablemystery of darkness, had he embraced the divinity he had been shown, he mighthave helped free their souls.

He would willingly die to change that.

CHAPTER 2

The heat of the day had crested, and most of the tourists had found their wayback to the main road into the city. Far to the east, a rainbow floated before abank of dark clouds. Along with the lengthening shadows, a stillness began todescend over the land. Daniel opened his window to feel the cooling air and hearthe crunch of pebbles under the tires. Rebecca, his wife, rolled down her windowas well, and they drove up through the saguaros in silence. It was a route theyknew well, as few others did, leading to their secret promontory overlooking avast expanse of desert to the west. In a canyon along the way there was a metalgate that park rangers kept closed to divert outsiders from a dangerous stretchof road that had been washed away. Rebecca got out and simply swung the gateaside for Daniel to drive through, then closed it behind him. Early evening airhad begun to push in along the sides of the hills, carrying the smell ofwildflowers and sage mixed with the sounds of birds feeding before the end ofday. They steered a steady, wordless pace above a dry riverbed, around thewashout, then up the steep and narrow route to the end of the road. Withsweaters tied around their waists, they locked the vehicle and began the shorthike out to their secret ledge. Already, a sliver of brilliant silver hung abovethe horizon, cradling a round, ghosted moon. Then, not far along the path,leaning in the brush, they saw a bright green mountain bike. Through a sharedand intricately connected expectation, their hearts sank as one. They wanted tobe out here alone to make a wish and blow out the sun.

They looked at each other and wondered if they should go on. For weeks Danielhad looked forward to being out in the desert, to watch the sunset far from thenoise and fumes of the city, to lie on the earth as close to nature as he couldget. Already the bike contaminated the purity of that experience.

At last Rebecca said, "Come on. We'll make the best of it."

Her words felt good.

They walked on and soon cleared the ridge above the promontory. Looking down onthe flat rock that hung out over the desert, they saw the long shadow of a youngman sitting with his legs crossed facing west. Again their hearts fell. Of allthe places there were in the desert to watch the sunset, this stranger, thisinvader, had taken the very spot that was theirs. This was too much. As theywere about to turn back, Rebecca's heel dislodged small stones that cascadeddown the hillside and onto the stone outcropping. The man seemed to jump. Heglanced to each side, then twisted and looked up to see the couple holdinghands, their faces orange in the sun. The man surveyed around himself for a longmoment, then with a cocked head looked back up at the couple. "This is yourplace, isn't it?"

"No," Rebecca said. "This is a public place."

"Yes, it is," Daniel blurted out.

"Here, come on down. I have to be leaving anyway."

"But you'll miss the sunset," Rebecca said.

"If it gets too dark, I'll miss the whole way back," the young man said."Besides, I've been sitting...