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

Chapter 332: Necromanteion Chamber, Underground Temple, City of Diya, Cave, 1960

Necromanteion Chamber

Underground Temple

City of Diya

Cave

Kamchatka Wilderness

Soviet Union

1960

Indy and Emily were thrown to the floor amid dust and thunderous crashing stones, boxing them in on each side. The sudden noise left them lying on a floor, trembling in total darkness.

Indy had his hand resting on Emily's back, trying to protect her. She whimpered for a moment. He reached for her braid of hair to soothe her with a gentle reminder of his presence, but realized the braid had been chopped off days ago. Instead he pressed the heel of his palm against her back. "Em?"

She took a shuddering breath. The noise echoed around the room, resembling a hissing snake.

Indy felt her curl into a ball as he fought back his own memories and deep fears.

"Great... it's officially a necromanteion chamber." Emily waited until her voice stopped creating an echo. "The walls... coming down... scared me.... I'm totally lost. Can't tell where I am." She reached upward and into the darkness - desperately feeling for something - and hit Indy in the face.

"OW!" Indy half growled.

"Sorry, Dad."

"It's not the first time you've hit me," Indy replied, adjusting his voice to the least amount of echo. "Em - your hand is in my nose."

"Sorry, Dad."

He paused, sniffing and testing the still dusty air, keeping his hand on Emily's back. "Any idea where we are?"

Emily coughed.

The noise made a shuddering monstrous echo that made them both wince.

"We've got to get outta here, Dad," Emily whispered. "I can hear the rushing in my head."

"That's not water coming in?" Indy asked. "I hear it too."

"No. It's our pulses. The body is trying to gather information - and it's gonna get overloaded on the lack of information and I'm gonna panic again. I hate panicking."

Indy took a breath and heard it roaring and rasping around the room. "Ok. At least it's not water."

There was a strange dripping noise.

"Did you have to say it, Dad?" Emily whispered.

"Say what?"

"Water? It's dripping in through somewhere - and it's overwhelming. Its a different noise from the sounds of our pulses."

"Dammit." Indy looked around the room, trying to see something - anything. Good, bad, evil, natural, supernatural - nothing was there. Nothing except that solitary shattering dripping noise... which was just at the right pattern to jerk a nervous system toward sound-based insanity and fearful overwhelm.

Emily flinched under his hand. He looked over. The white stones from the boundary line had formed around them. They were giving off an odd light. He took one. "Here, Em. Hold this."

"Why?"

"It's a touch based sensation you can use to distract you. Saw plenty guys use it to distract themselves from cigarettes."

She blinked. "Dad... do you see the dots?"

"Dots?"

"Uh-huh. Please tell me you see the dots... and it's not just my overwhelmed panic brain."

Indy paused looking around. "Em - there are lots of dots here. It's not just you. They're from the blue sandstone."

"Are they making patterns - or is my sanity slipping?"

"I'm not seeing a pattern, Em."

She played with the white stone in her hands, rolling it around. "We've only got a few minutes, Dad. You'll go crazy too."

"I know. But we have a few minutes." He swallowed. "What do you feel?"

"Floor's cool. Which means the volcano has sort of settled down. Floor's a little bumpy too. Like cobblestones." She swallowed as the noise bounded around the room. "Can I have a different rock?"

Indy reached over and handed her a second rock.

"Thanks, Dad." She started clacking them together, then winced and shuddered. "Forgot. Stupid sound depravation echo chamber. Does Annie still have her rock collection?"

"Uh-huh. Never left the ranch."

"We should take her a rock."

Indy recognized this as the voice and logic of a little girl. His little girl... who was eighteen, brave as hell and scared to death. "Ok." He reached for a rock and put it in his artifact bag. "Got a rock for Annie. What's next, Littlest Artifact?"

"We should try to get out."

"Working on that, Em... but I don't want to leave you, because I don't know that I could find my way back to you in the darkness."

She blinked, sitting up. "They are stars!"

Indy moved closer to her. He sat slightly behind her, his hand on her shoulder now. The small white dots were everywhere... oddly glowing... oddly arranged in a familiar pattern.

Emily scrambled to her feet. Indy caught her as both their worlds when sideways. There was no up or down, left or right... only darkness. Disorientating darkness. And their minds weren't helping them.

"Hon - don't move too much. Stay by me. I don't want you to fall and me not be able to find you."

Emily stared into the darkness. "The apkallu were also called wandering stars. And... Lizavet had quartz stone from volcanoes." She struck the white stones together. They created a strange momentary glow. "These are quartz... which means.... Cover your ears, Dad. This is gonna be loud..."

Indy reached forward and put his hands over Emily's ears, leaning into his own shoulder, bracing for the incoming horrific tidal wave of sound.

Emily threw the white stone. It slung its way through darkness, landing, striking and lighting up the room as it bounced off the column bases, creating moments of strange glowing lights. "The ancient Romans had a technique like this on their roads," she explained. "And Lizavet was aware that quartz crystals had special... properties."

Indy grabbed one of the white stones and threw it. It bounced across the floor, light rippling out in an odd pattern. "It's a spiral."

Emily grinned at Indy. "It's the Pinwheel galaxy, Dad, right next to the Great Bear."

"C'mon, Em. Take all the stones you can carry. We'll use 'em to strike a light and see our way outta here."