Chapter 1

December 24, 454 A.D.

The superheated air squeezed the last shred of comfort out of the dying Mexican light. All around him, Xolotl could hear people humming along, working and counting, contemplating, and factoring. Outside the ceremonial chamber, he could just make out the sound of children playing. Their world was small and their cares were few.

It was during what would become known as the Classical Period, when Mayan culture spread across the land and great cultural advances were made. On the Julian calendar, the time was 454 Anno Domini.

Xolotl, an astrologer for the kingdom, was named after the Mayan god of lightning. It was the mythical god Xolotl who guided the Aztec dead, guarded by the Lord of Mictlan, who was said to be jealous and violent and hoarded their bones.

Aztec legends identified Xolotl as the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl, lord of the evening star and personification of Venus, who pushed the sun at sunset towards the ocean and guarded her during the night on her dangerous journey through the underworld.

Xolotl the astrologer toiled anonymously in Teotihuacan, site of Kukulcan's palace. As the Mayan supreme god, Kukulcan had his palace in the Pyramid of the Sun, where Mayans celebrated their holy days. With the celebration of the Five Lost Days approaching, Xolotl was working extraordinarily long hours. One of the astrologer's tasks was charting the complicated calendar that would lead his people into the future, and it must be completed before the celebration, which would mark the end of the Mayan solar calendar.