The Seven Swords of Diya: An Indiana Jones Fan Fiction Part 1

Chapter 34: Flashback: Attu Island, North Pacific, 1942

"Hang on," Indy murmured, approaching the door. The boy tightened his grip.

The doors were ice encrusted with handprints amid the swirls.

Seal Child peered over Indy's shoulders. "Does it open?"

"It has to," Indy mused. He pressed his hands against the icy doors, hissing at the cold.

The handprints were large against his palms and had six fingers. The icy chill went beyond the cold of Attu's permafrost... this was soul chilling.

Indy braced himself and pushed the doors, his hands small inside the ancient impressions. He was also missing the sixth finger possibly required to open the door.

"There has to be a pattern," he mused, still searching the room. "Some sort of pattern to unlock these doors."

"What happens if we don't find the pattern?" Seal Child asked.

"Things fall down and we have to run really fast."

"Sounds fun! I like to go fast!"

Indy chuckled. "Sheesh, kid. I've lived it too much... it used to be fun. Now I prefer to walk out of the ruins alive and back to my wife and daughter."

"Boring... But important," Seal Child declared solemnly.

Indy was studying the doors. "Do you recognize this pattern from your family or tribe's legends?"

Seal Child reached forward and put his hands on top of Indy's and they both pressed against the doors.

There was a moaning sound from the wind, and Indy was certain there was the creaking noise of a rock shifting.

Ice coated everything in the flickering light and Indy thought he heard something loud outside.

Seal Child flinched. "What was that?"

"You heard it too?" Indy asked.

"Felt it."

They both studied the ceiling. "Everything looks secure," Indy mused, turning his attention back to the door.

Seal Child reached toward the swirls. His little fingers tried to clear the ice from the circle, "I think one of these is the sun... or something falling from the sky."

Indy watched the ice accumulate with every breath. He checked his watch. "We've been in here twenty minutes, Seal Child."

"Does that matter?"

"Well... if the ice is melting against your hand, we don't want it to help melt the ceiling."

"Oh. We'd get wet...?"

"We'd get squished," Indy corrected... realizing he was definitely a dad, because in the field prior to life with Annie... he would have never said 'squished.' He swallowed and pressed against the doors.

"Breathe on it, Uncle Indy!"

"What?"

"Press against the handprints and breathe on it. The heat from your breath will crack the ice and then you can push the doors open!" Seal Child explained. "They have to open, right? And we won't get squished?"

"Only one way to find out." Indy rubbed his hands together, placed them against the door inside the extra large six fingered handprints and pressed against the frozen stones.

His warm breath iced over the older ice layers and there was a sudden crack.

A cold wind rushed out of the dark chamber. Seal Child lifted the light and screamed.