The Enchantments: Book 3 - The Key of Sorcen

Chapter 2: The Tablets of Pyramids

Simeneon felt the first pangs of claustrophobia the minute she realized the door was closed. It also could have been the fact that there was nowhere to go now after the creatures had blocked them. She shook off the feeling as best she could and began the search around the crypt for any way to either get out or continuing on.

"Simeneon they're coming in!" Shawn yelled.

Fin whirled around quickly and picked up the bucket of kerosene. With a swift lunge, he threw more of the liquid onto the door where the bony hand was heaving open the rusty metal. As fast as the liquid landed Marlanda was attacking it with the torch. The creature screeched in agony and yanked it back from view.

Shawn reached down to the gap on the bottom of the door and pulled as hard as he could to try and close the stubborn hatch. Fin dove to the dusty ground and lent a helping hand as they slowly began to make headway and close the door from the creatures outside.

"We can't hold on for long!" Shawn yelled again.

Simeneon had not heard a word that was going on, her concentration was elsewhere. On the back wall of the crypt, she had found a section that didn't look right, a place where the wall met the floor.

"What is it?" Fin asked as he saw the curious look on her face. He had seen that look before and he knew she was figuring things out in her mind.

"Something seems wrong over here." She said pointing at the floor.

"What?" He asked.

"See the scraping along the floor?" She pointed to a small track just near the wall. "That shouldn't be there. If this crypt is as old as I think it is, there wouldn't be any scrapings at all."

"What are you saying?" Fin looked into her deep blue eyes.

"Someone's been here before."

"Are you telling me that there's another way out of this dead zone?" Fin asked as he shot to his feet.

"Not a way out, just another location," Simeneon said moving over her and touching the scrapings.

"Then comes the next question, how do we get in?" Fin sighed.

Simeneon stood and stared around the crypt feeling out anything that could get them into the next area. She walked over to the torches on the wall and stared at them intensely.

"You see something?" Fin asked as he came up alongside.

"Something doesn't seem right on the torches."

"Nothing seems right to you." He joked.

"Take a look for yourself pencil legs." She pointed dramatically at the torch.

Fin stepped forward toward the metal cylinder and peered intently.

"What'd ya see?" Simeneon was leaning close to him now.

"Fire."

"Look at the bottom of the torch."

"Fine!" He peered closer to the torch a little more intently this time. Then it suddenly hit him. "The bottoms are scorched!"

"Right, how did they get that way?" Simeneon prodded.

Torches

Fin looked the other torches and deduced the same thing. He moved over to the other torches noticing they were about the same distant apart from each other and they all had the same markings.

Simeneon watched him intently hoping that he would figure it out. She wanted him to put the pieces together, she needed for him to become part of this more than he had been before. 'Come on figure it out!' She said to herself.