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

Chapter 313: Cave, Kamchatka Wilderness, Soviet Union, 1960

Cave

Kamchatka Wilderness

Soviet Union

1960

Emily took a long breath. There was a rock wall in front of her, worn smooth by the dripping cave minerals. At the center was a large triangular boulder with a small passageway underneath it. She blinked. Darkness moved at the edges of her vision... Lizavet's poultice was wearing off. She was going to lose her ability to see in the dark.

"I don't like this," Indy murmured.

"Do you see anything, Dad?" Emily asked.

"Not in the supernatural. Close your eyes for a moment, Em. I want some light." Indy looked at Shorty.

Shorty stood behind her and lit his cigarette lighter.

In the small delicate flame Indy could see his daughter covered in mud and ash. The back of her neck was exposed and bleeding. She had stacked her usually strong posture into a slight curve from the pain and was leaning to one side, her arm tucked against her ribs, probably holding the makeshift bandages in place. The scars on her face were present and her expression was contorted, trying to hide the pain.

Shorty was staring up at the massive rock wall. The flame from Shorty's cigarette lighter started to tremble.

Indy moved toward his son and grasped the young man's hand, like he'd done with the young boy in India, steadying the lighter so they could both look around. "Shorty, what are you remembering?"

Shorty swallowed. "After the plane crashed in 1944... my crew needed shelter. There was a ruin near a lake... built out of those same type of shells. Stacked the same way. And that's where in the middle of the night, after we'd built a fire - the apkallu attacked." He blinked. "I'm remembering a little more. I don't know how she did it - but Lizavet showed up, with a sword and saved me."

"How did she know you were there?" Emily asked.

Shorty shrugged. "All I remember is seeing one the apkallu over me, ready to consume me - and then - there's this woman with a sword, threatening it. She had it pinned against the wall, threatening it in an ancient language. It screeched at her and she sliced it in half with her sword."

"The swords worked?" Emily blurted.

"Yeah. Hers did." Shorty shuddered, his hands trembling. "I want her back, Dad."

"We all do, son."

"There's one more thing I should probably tell you," Shorty swallowed. "The apkallu were mad at me for surviving the Temple of Doom."

"Yeah, they would be," Indy replied. "They're probably mad at me for the same reason. Don't let it bother you. The apkallu are pissed at all humanity. We're just a little higher on their hit list. I'll take that challenge. Means we're doing something right. "

"Dad?" Emily asked. "Can you describe what you're seeing of the ruins?"

"Sure, Em." Indy studied the ruins by the cigarette lighter's flame. "It's a curving wall, made out of stacked shells."

"Midden heap," Emily mused.

"Organized midden heap," Indy corrected. "Most midden heaps are garbage related, but there's a few I've encountered - and you know this too - there's a few that seem to mark the boundaries between the world of the dead and the living."

"Yeah. Mostly in indigenous societies," Emily agreed. "Some civilizations were taking them and building mounds. They didn't leave much behind, so it's always guesswork to figure out the midden meaning."

"Right," Indy smiled. "The wall is stacked in a curving pattern, floor to ceiling. Like an arch, on its side."

"How tall?"

"About forty feet high - twelve meters." Indy took out his own cigarette lighter to give extra visibility. "We've got standing stones..."

"Like the ones at Edo's camp?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. And..." Indy hesitated. "The Attu Barrow."

"What's that?" Shorty asked.

"A ruin that I found one of the Swords of Diya at in 1942." Indy swallowed. "Edo invaded the island looking for it. He was angry that I'd gotten there first. It's probably saved me - there's some connection between me finding that sword and being kept alive."

"You mean they want you alive for something else?" Shorty asked. "I don't like the sound of that."

"I don't either," Indy admitted.

Emily blinked. "It's a turf war, Dad. And we're invading their turf. This is the boundary. I think we just found the city of Diya."