The Seven Swords of Diya: An Indiana Jones Fan Fiction - Part 2

Chapter 229: Cave, Kamchatka Wilderness, Soviet Union, 1960

Cave

Kamchatka Wilderness

Soviet Union

1960

Indy was the only one awake in their small cave... except for the memories. The ash continued outside, blanketing the ground silent as snow, while the volcano blackened the sun. He rubbed his good arm against his injured arm and added another piece of wood to their fire. The fire flickered in the cave, popping and cracking, making him wish he were home with Marion. An occasional flame caught the blade of the six sacred swords of Diya. Shorty's shamaness lover, left behind in World War II, Lizavet and Indy's youngest daughter, eighteen year old Emily had stolen them back from from Indy's World War II Japanese spy rival Edo in what was supposed to have been a basic rescue mission.

Then everything had exploded - literally.

The volcanic valley that Edo and his spy ninja henchmen had camped in had erupted. Massive cracks in the ground had spat magma, and they'd all nearly been sacrifice victims to the ancient apkallu who'd been worshipped as feared gods of the underworld.

The Joneses, Shorty and Lizavet had grabbed six out of seven of the ancient swords and run. They were still running.

Ash clouds from the volcano, potentially filled with acid rain had forced them into a cave... while the horizon boiled red with smoke and yet the land was somehow dark. The earth rumbled - reminding them of what sinister boiling forces were beneath them. It was easy to believe the ancient superstition of the apkallu rising from under the earth.

Indy shuddered. They had the swords - almost all the ones in the legend - no one knew where the seventh sword of Diya was, so whatever plans Edo had were finished... if his rival wasn't buried in the still erupting lava. They could get home - if they could get back. But right now - they all needed rest.

Recently rescued, Lizavet had settled tentatively against Shorty's shoulder. Shorty had eagerly placed his arm around her waist. She'd moved it up to her shoulder.

"Kids..." Indy thought to himself. "Good job on holding your own, Lizavet. Young men need to be told they aren't the greatest thing in the world."

Emily slept beside Indy's leg, hiding her scarred face from the fire's light. He turned from guard duty, staring into the darkness, and checked the bandage on the back of Emily's neck... a wound from her fight against Edo's men. The only casualty had been Emily's long dark braid. Lizavet's healing poultice and the makeshift bandage was holding.

His fingers came back wet. He checked them for blood, twice - making certain that it wasn't other memories coming back. The day Emily had nearly died was all too clear in his mind and the physical scars on her face were a consistent reminder. Her eye had never recovered and she was half blind. But she was just as much as an adventurer as he was... and still sweet enough to be his little girl at eighteen years old.

Emily made a small cry. She was twitching in her sleep again. Her breathing increased in gasps.

"Em...? Hon?" Indy lifted the fedora off her face and watched her toss her head to the side revealing the scars. The scars from the tomb looked inflamed. There was another whimper.

He shook her shoulder. "Em, wake up. It's ok. Wake up."

Emily bolted out of her sleep nearly screaming, clutching Indy. "They killed you!"

"Shhhh," Indy soothed. "I'm right here." He wrapped his arms around her and tucked her into his chest. "It's all right. No one's going to hurt you."

"No, Dad! They're after you!"

Lizavet was awake, taking two of the swords. She moved to the edge of the firelight staring into darkness. "You know your place. Be gone."

The apkallu made forms of themselves in the thickly falling volcanic ash. "The dreamlands are still ours."

Indy heard the declaration of territory and saw the gray shadows. "Who are they? What are they? They're terrifying my little girl -" he snarled.

"Do not engage them in fury, Dr. Jones. You will not win." Lizavet turned to him. "A long time ago a man asked if your soul was prepared... what was your answer?"

"I never gave him one," Indy replied. "He died before I could think too much about it." He stared in shock. "How did you know that? I never told Em, or Shorty that story - Em wasn't born... I wasn't married... And that hadn't happened when I met Shorty!"

"I..." Lizavet paused, returning to the fire, her swords never far away. "I am the last daughter of one who carried a sword which can unleash hell. Did you think I would be... uncomfortable with the unknown?"

"I expected you to have some form of answers to this insanity!" Indy blinked. "I'm seeing things. Things that aren't there. I'm hearing things that no one else hears!" He looked at his broken arm. "I punched a stone when I heard and saw something come out of it and threaten Em and the rest of my family! I broke the damn thing. The stone... and my arm."

Lizavet stared at Indy. "What was the stone?"

"Mesopotamian boundary stone. Had one of the apkallu carved into it."

"Was it in its original location?"

"No. It was in the Penn Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.... In the United States."

"Do not move boundary stones," Lizavet murmured. "Do not stray from ancient paths. Do not..." she passed out and started shaking.