242
JUAN FRANCISCO BLANCO
“You really do know how to charm a girl,” Bardala scowled
before kicking Belleza into a run. She didn’t stop untill she was
halfway to the base of the pyramid. Seven limestone stelae, each
seven meters tall, stood lined up in a row in front of the pyramid.
Each told of a different Ruler-King, his Mayan day of birth using
the Sacred Calendar, the day of ascension to become King, the
number of days he ruled, and the day of mourning his death.
One other set of glyphs told how many captives he had acquired.
In back of the stelae was the impressive Kukulcán’s Pyramid.
Bardala would later learn its base measured eight hundred and
nineteen times the length of King Chak Tok Ich’Aak’s
outstretched arms, tip-to-tip. The eight hundred and nineteen
figures she learned came from multiplying three Mayan Sacred
Numbers together. Seven times nine times thirteen. Seven
stands for the number of pulses of divine light among the
Thirteen Heavens. That is considered by us to be days. The
number nine stands for the Nine Underworlds that were an
integral part of the Spirit world. The number thirteen stands for
the number of Heavens, and also what is called a trecena, a
group of thirteen days. Bardala computed the base of the
pyramid to be sixteen hundred and thirty-eight meters on a side.
Its height soared one hundred and thirty-two meters above the
plaza. Bardala, as she rode Belleza slowly in front of the carved
stelae, tried to think of how long it must have taken to build this
temple, and how many people must have worked on it. She let
her mind wonder as to how they cut and moved the massive
blocks of heavy stones. The rest of the crew rode up to the
intricate stone stelae with the same amount of awe in their
minds. Moka and Eegh jumped down off of Mañoso and climbed
up on top of the third stela to the south. The main stone