The House of Bats

The Hero Twins had survived the House of Gloom, the House of Cold, the House of Jaguars, and the House of Fire. Now only the House of Bats remained.

They entered a cave filled with shrieking darkness. Giant bats with razor wings circled endlessly, and at the center sat Camazotz himself—the Death Bat with obsidian blade wings and an insatiable hunger for blood.

Hunahpu and Xbalanque crawled inside their blowguns for protection. All night the bats swooped and slashed, but the brothers remained hidden.

As dawn approached, the bats grew quiet. Hunahpu thought it safe to look out and see if morning had come. The instant his head emerged, Camazotz struck—and Hunahpu's head rolled across the floor.

Xbalanque was alone. The Lords of Xibalba took his brother's head and hung it in the ballcourt for the next day's game.

But Xbalanque was cunning. He called the animals to help. A coati found a squash the exact size of Hunahpu's head. A rabbit agreed to hide nearby. Xbalanque carved the squash into a face and placed it on his brother's body.

When the ballgame began, the Lords threw Hunahpu's real head as the ball. But the rabbit leaped past, and the Lords chased it, thinking it was the ball. Xbalanque switched the squash for his brother's real head.

Hunahpu lived again. Together, the twins defeated the Lords of Death.