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

Chapter 334: Inner Sanctum, Underground Temple, City of Diya, Cave, 1960

Inner Sanctum

Underground Temple

City of Diya

Cave

Kamchatka Wilderness

Soviet Union

1960

A trap door in the ceiling opened and a blinding light shone into their eyes. Edo stood above them, grinning menacingly. "Welcome to our inner sanctum, Dr. Jones and Dr. Jones."

Indy glared. "Watch it, Em. He's embodied apkallu now. Just what you always wanted, right, Edo?"

Edo-apkallu laughed. "No, Dr. Jones. You have it upside down. I, the apkallu - wanted to inhabit Edo to better serve my master. As a human - or rather in a human body - wearing it as you wear clothing - I can cross both the seen and the unseen realms. I have what I desired back. Bring them up!"

Something unseen grabbed Indy and Emily - throwing them from the underground necromanteion chamber into the inner sanctum.

Indy swallowed, recognizing the inner sanctum. It was a smooth walled small chamber like a whitewashed tomb. Lizavet sat in the center on a large flat rock, emblazoned with the spiral symbol of the apkallu watchers. The rock lay on its side, grooves in it. Indy and Emily both recognized the pattern.

"This is a human sacrifice chamber, is it?" Emily growled.

"No. It is a marriage chamber." Edo apkallu gestured to the stone. "That is our marriage bed."

"Like hell," Emily growled, picking up her sword.

The apkallu laughed. "Dear Miss Dr. Jones - you are in hell."

"I ain't stayin' here!" She snarled, holding both swords.

"That much is certain," Edo apkallu smiled, nodding to his possessed henchman, Chiba, also being used as container for one of the apkallu. "You have chosen well."

Lizavet was quietly seated on the rock. There were tears flickering at the edges of her eyes. Shorty was being held down by Edo's possessed apkallu henchmen, struggling, a rag stuffed in his mouth.

"Kids?" Indy asked. "You ok?"

Shorty glared and struggled against the apkallu.

Lizavet looked up. "I'm sorry, Papa. I should not have used my shaman travel in the underworld. I didn't know what else to do."

"You survived," Indy murmured, connecting with the scared child emotionally inside the grown woman. "That's what matters."

"Is she the real Lizavet?" Emily asked.

"Yes. That's our Lizavet." Indy smiled gently. "Lizavet, are you sure you're all right? Did they hurt you?"

Lizavet swallowed. "Not yet. That will be later. I have seen this in my dream. The pain always comes when they kill me to enter the Unseen Realm and take the Seventh Sword of Diya from the Treasure Guardian."

Indy bristled, fury pounding through his body... all exhaustion gone. He knew what he had to do. "That won't happen, Lizavet. I promise you. That... won't... happen."

Author's Note: And SPOILER ALERT: The next chapter will contain what appears to be major character death. Keep in mind what was said about legendary symbolism, the Book of Enoch and resurrection in Chapter 330. 

Legendary symbolism (for me, because I've never seen a definition used as a writer technique) is when a writer takes parallels from ancient legends and texts and puts them into modern writing. Ancient writers and some ancient languages were image based. They used images as symbols to bring their mythology down to a level that could be understood. It's an advanced form of set up and pay off. 

An example of this is, "Set his face like flint." 

The person's face is not turning into a rock. Most people know that automatically. "Like" implies the characteristics of the thing compared to. So, what are rocks like? What are the characteristics of rocks? You won't get an answer if all you're thinking about is geology. You want to think symbolically. Rocks are hard, they don't move easily.... they are steadfast, determined, not easily moved. <--- These are character traits that can be applied to a person as well. 

Here's an ancient text example: In the Jewish book of prophets Isaiah (verse 50:7) says, "I have set my face like a flint." The context is that he's prepping to go do an impossible task that a lot of people are against him attempting to accomplish. The odds are completely against this task turning out in his favor. In the Christian Gospel of Luke, the writer describes Jesus (Luke 9:51) as "setting his face" toward Jerusalem. Jesus knows at this point that Jerusalem is a tough city and he's going to stir up a lot of trouble there - trouble that's probably going to get him killed. 

The phrase, "setting his face," would stand out like a famous movie line to the ancient peoples and they'd be nodding along going, "Yep - that's a reference to Isaiah setting his face like flint." And they would get the implied context that this is an impossible task that's most likely going to get the person killed. 

In chapter 329 of Diya, I did the same thing. Indy sets his face like flint. I have the ancient text backstory rattling around in my brain, when I write these stories most people don't, so I wanted to take the time to explain all this.