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

Chapter 91: Kamchatka, Russian Wilderness, 1960

Kamchatka

Russian Wilderness

1960

The morning dawned with the rumbling of the mountains. Indy sat up and found Shorty kneeling over the fire.

"I fell asleep," he admitted.

Indy looked around. "Anything missing?"

"Not that I saw."

"Where's Em?"

Emily moved around the edge of their camp. "I was... checking the perimeter?"

Indy studied his daughter for a long moment. She had her hair down and messy, while sleep was still in her eyes. A slight smile was on her face and she looked very much like Marion Ravenwood. "You ok?"

"Yeah. But I think you should see this." She motioned them to the edge of the camp. "Remember when the thing confronted you and you said we needed to build a fire?"

"Yeah. It was only last night, Em."

"There were a lot of them," she pointed. "They made a circle around our camp."

Shorty shuddered. "What prevented them from getting in?"

"Holy ground," Indy murmured.

"What?" Shorty asked. "None of us are priests..."

"But we were in the Treasury," Indy replied. "We were in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant."

Emily looked up. "And according to the Greek translation of some of the ancient texts, the people who are loyal to the Holy One who is with the ark... wherever they go is holy."

"I'm not going to push our luck," Indy muttered. "I've seen what that gold box can do. I don't want to trust it to save my life again."

"But... if the creatures from the Temple of Doom are afraid of it," Shorty paused. "Maybe we should have brought it with us?"

"Dad would never let the Ark leave the Treasury," Indy replied.

"I had a difficult time getting him to give me the swords," Emily acknowledged. "But, you do have to admit - here's a fine example of ancient turf warfare."

"Thanks Professor," Indy grinned. "Now I know why the girls in my college classes would write, 'I love you' on their eyelids."

"Why's that?" Shorty asked.

"She's my kid, Shorty. Smart, funny, charming, lovely... like her mother. An' sassy. Sassy as hell. She gets that from Marion."

"I wish you'd brought Marion on our adventure instead of the blonde..." Shorty glanced at Emily. "I think we might have had more fun. And I wouldn't have such... difficulty about bringing a girl along." He looked at Emily. "I can't decide if I need to keep an eye on you to protect you, or if I need to just stop thinking of India."

Indy glanced back at Shorty. "Shorty - you're rescuing a girl by coming here. Concentrate on your lady Lizavet. Em's a good fighter. Taught her everything I know. She's nothing like Miss Scott. You've seen that by now. If we catch Edo, we're going to need all the help we can get. Especially since my sword arm is injured."