Authors: Philip Mcclennan
James realised the man he was speaking of was Lucius. “He was here?” asked James.
The man nodded. “He went into the jungle. And then…he raised an ancient temple. Something that has not been seen in these lands for centuries.”
James, realising the need for haste, turned to the others. “Come on, let’s move out.” Because of the thunderstorm that seemed to locate around the jungle, the group had to proceed on foot. The group began to jog in the direction of the jungle, which could be seen in the distance.
“Turn back, he is the devil I tell you. Turn back!” shouted the old man in an attempt to warn them. It was too late though, for the group had already disappeared out of sight.
The thunder and lightning increased in ferocity. A bolt of lightning struck the top of the temple, smashing violently against the stone walls yet leaving no mark. The agents, who were now advancing through the jungle at great speed, could see the lighting strike over the heads of the trees. The group cut any vines that blocked their paths with small machetes as they ran. Branches began to break off the trees due to the high winds. One of them narrowly missed the group as they headed towards the temple.
“Is it just me or is this storm getting more intense the closer we get?” said Chad.
“I guess he knows we’re coming,” said James. The other four agents, Sophie, Cody, Rachel and Jade shared a mixture of confusion and fear.
“What are you talking about James? Are you trying to suggest this guy has something to do with the weather?” asked Cody, who had been unusually quiet up until this point.
He is afraid,
James realised.
Just as Cody finished speaking, the group passed through the final section of trees that covered their view from the temple walls. The temple was much bigger than any of them could have anticipated, standing over two hundred feet high.
“Everybody, get ready…we’re here.” Said James. A serious look formed across his face.
The temple was raised up from the ground by a large crater, which had formed when the structure had risen from the ground. The stone looked old in age, much like the stone you might find in a pyramid. A large staircase led up to the entrance of the temple, outside of which, two large fire torches shed some light upon the night. The others required the torches to be able to see where the entrance was located as they now stood in darkness. Chad had no such concerns. His eyes worked better in darkness anyhow and he could clearly see the outline of the entire structure.
“We all stick together inside, understood?” said James. He was clearly concerned for the safety of the other agents. It would have been only him and Chad on this mission if he had his own way. As it was, he had to babysit the others too.
The others will be no match for Lucius if they come up against him. For that matter, am I?
“Alright, let’s go.”
The other fours agents picked out their guns in preparation. They were nervous for they knew they would be in for the fight of their lives. Chad had no such worries however. He felt great! The closer he got to the temple, the better he felt. It was a strange sensation. He could feel a great deal of power from within the structure and he was eager to get inside. James and Chad led the way, taking the first steps on the gigantic stairway, which led all the way to the top of the pyramid. Another lightning bolt lit the sky. Heavy rain followed shortly after. In a matter of seconds, the area was suffering from almost monsoon conditions. The storm seemed to focus around the temple itself. The group increased their ascent up the stairway in order to get inside before the storm became any worse.
Upon reaching the top of the staircase, Chad noticed that the two torches that the group had seen from the ground were still lit despite the heavy showers. The lanterns stood either side of an opening. It looked like the entrance to the pyramid itself. “Shall we?” said Chad who was the first to enter. As soon as each of them crossed the threshold of the opening, their radio equipment died.
“Looks like we’re on our own guys,” said Sophie, realising as much.
The two twins and Cody looked at each other. Each of them looked nervous at the prospect of having no outside help.
“Ok, stay sharp,” said James, as the group advanced further into the temple. The light was minimal inside, so Chad led the way, closely flowed by James. The three women, Sophie, Jade and Rachel were next and Cody watched the rear.
The walls inside were made of old yellow sandstone, which, despite likely being centuries old, looked completely unspoilt. Indeed, with his enhanced vision, Chad could quite easily have mistaken the walls as being brand new. The agents walked down a passageway. They were very narrow, only enabling up to three people to stand abreast at any one time. Through the shadows, Chad could make out symbols on the walls around them. He could also make out unlit fire torches, which hung high upon the walls. The agent could vaguely see the faintest of smoke coming from the top of them.
Chad began to concentrate hard. He raised his right hand up to around the level of his shoulder and moved it in the direction of one of the torches. In an instant, all of the torches lit themselves and the room was cast into light. The rest of the agents, besides James, looked around in confusion.
“What happened?” asked Cody.
“I’m not sure,” Chad lied.
Chad and James’ eyes met briefly in conformation that they both knew exactly what had just happened. Chad had used his extraordinary ability to manipulate fire to light all the wooden torches in the passageway. For the first time, the group could now see the passageway clearly. Small symbols were scattered across the walls in the area in which they walked. Another opening was visible ahead in the distance.
“I guess we’re going that way,” said James, looking at the opening ahead of them. The group continued onwards. Jade looked around at the newly lit passageway, and more so, at the fire torches which had curiously lit all around them.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” said the twin. The group had ventured a little further ahead when the girl finally took her eyes off the walls and she rushed quickly to re-join them.
The group reached the opening that had been ahead of them. James took a quick glance back and noticed that the passageway they had just taken had been gradually leading them downwards. In fact, they must have descended over twenty feet so far. James leant forward and spoke into Chad’s ear. “You recognise the symbols on the wall?”
Chad looked around at the walls once more. “Come to think about it, yeah.”
“Really? Where from?” asked James.
“I’m not too sure, what about you?”
“I’m the same. I’ve never seen them before, yet somehow they’re familiar…”
“Hey guys, look at this,” said Cody, who had spotted a small gap in the wall. The gap was big enough to fit one person through at a squeeze. The group gathered around it.
“What’s that sound?” asked Rachel. The twin was referring to the sound of movement from the other side of the wall. The movements didn’t sound too close however, they sounded in the near distance.
“Only one way to find out right?” said Chad who attempted to squeeze his way through the gap. He managed to get through, but only just.
“Well? What do you see?” asked James. There was no immediate reply from Chad. “Chad?”
“I think you guys better come and see this,” said Chad, finally breaking his silence.
Sophie was the first of the agents to make her way through the gap. Cody was about to follow but without warning the walls began to move and the gap in the wall sealed itself. James rushed to the part of the wall where the gap had been. “Chad! Sophie!” he shouted, but there was no reply. Not even so much as a sound.
On the other side of the wall, Chad and Sophie stood at the highest point of a large open cavern. The only way to go from here was to head down. The drop was so far down it seemed to go right into the depths of the earth. Only the faintest of a red light could be made out through the darkness of the drop below. Around the edges of the drop was a circular pathway that was visible through very large gaps in the wall as it descended. Through the gaps, the two agents could make out dark figures moving around. There were many of them, possibly even hundreds. They all seemed to be digging for something.
Sophie wanted to shout through the wall to James and the other’s but she daren’t make a sound in case whatever the strange things were became aware of her presence. For now, they were not alerted to her and Chad and she wished to keep it that way.
Chad could feel something else down here, something powerful.
Whatever these things are digging for has great power. It’s intoxicating…
“Come on, let’s go,” said Chad. He was eager to explore the area. He wasn’t fearful of the strange shadow like creatures in the slightest. Sophie, on the other hand, was far from happy leaving the spot where they currently stood.
“Are you kidding me?” she whispered to him, careful to not raise her voice in fear of being heard by anything below. “I’m not going down there Chad, what about the others?”
“They’ll be fine, they have James with them,” replied Chad, who didn’t even bother to look back at Sophie as he replied. Chad then set off down the pathway, creeping along as silent as a shadow.
“Chad! Come back here! Chad?” It was too late though; there was no stopping him. Sophie took a final look back at the wall that had sealed on the pair, hoping beyond hope that it would open up for her once more. No such luck. “Brilliant!” She muttered to herself sarcastically.
Sophie gave chase after Chad, who had just moved out of sight around a corner. Not wanting to lose him, she quickly rushed after him. Chad was stood against a wall to the left. Sophie stood behind him. Chad took a quick glance over his shoulder, realising Sophie had joined him. “What do you see?” asked the Irish girl.
The pathway in front of them descended in all directions. There were rock formations all around, and water dripped from the roof of the cavern. Strange dark looking creatures walked slowly about the pathway. They stood around eight feet in size and seemed to be wielding pick axes. A shadow like mist omitted from them, and as far as the pair could tell, they definitely weren’t human. They had no visible facial features either. The only features the pair could make out were small white eyes.
“What do you think they’re digging for in a place like this?” asked Chad.
“I wasn’t thinking about what they’re digging for,” answered Sophie.
“What then?”
“I was more thinking…what the hell are these things?”
“Let’s take a closer look then and find out!” said Chad, who set off down the pathway once more. Sophie rolled her eyes and followed. The two stayed close to the shadows, not wanting their presence to become known. Every so often, the pair passed large gaps in the wall to their left, enabling them to see right down into the earth’s core. They could also see that the creatures were digging on every level of the cavern going down as far as the eye could see. One of the creatures walked nearby. Chad quickly grabbed Sophie and pulled her against the wall and into the shadows. The creature walked by completely oblivious to the pair.
A loud screeching sound suddenly filled the caverns, which caused Chad and Sophie to quickly cover their ears. The sound was high-pitched and deafening and brought Sophie some genuine discomfort. The noise was originating from beneath them, a long way beneath them in fact. “What the hell is that?” asked Sophie as she held her ears to protect them from the foul sound. All of the creatures began to descend down the pathway with some haste.
A sharp shooting pain began to filter through Chad’s head. It felt like something was calling him. He looked through the gap in the wall once more and looked down. “They’ve found it,” he said.
“Are you ok?” asked Sophie, in reference to Chad’s sudden migraine.”
“I’m fine,” protested Chad who stepped out of the shadows. “I’m going to claim it!” Chad began to run down the pathway.
“Claim what? Chad what’s going on?” shouted Sophie, but it was too late, Chad was already halfway down the pathway.
Chad ran at great speed, using the enhanced muscles in his legs to full effect. Several of the creatures, who themselves, were descending down the pathway, turned around as the agent approached. Chad didn’t hold back, rushing towards them with no fear. One of the creatures began to run towards him as he approached. The agent quickly punched the dark creature around the area of its stomach and then tossed it over his shoulders as if the creature was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. Another creature quickly approached him and grabbed the agent from behind. Chad instinctively elbowed it in the stomach. He turned to face the creature, which launched its shadow like claws at him. Chad blocked the attack and threw the thing on top of the other creature he had just floored. Chad continued onwards down the descending pathway of the cavern.
The ferocity of the thunder and lighting outside could now be heard from inside of the cavern itself. Several small pieces of rock began to fall from the roof. Sophie, who was still stood in the spot where Chad had left her, looked up for a second realising this. She set off down the pathway herself and was soon confronted by one of the dark creatures, likely one that had escaped Chad’s wrath. Sophie pulled out her pistol and began to fire at it. The bullets went straight through the creature, almost as though it was not corporal. Sophie knew this couldn’t be the case as she’d just witnessed Chad take out two of them with his bare hands.
Sophie continued to fire until the gun had unleashed its eighth bullet. The Irish girl clicked the trigger of the empty gun three more times before realising it was empty. The creature wrapped its hand around Sophie’s throat and lifted her off the ground. It placed her up against the wall and began to choke her, slowly increasing the pressure. The creature was incredibly strong and Sophie struggled as she tried to fight its deadly grip. Realising the creature was overpowering her Sophie reached into her belt and picked out one of her trusted blades. In almost an act of desperation, she plunged the knife into the creature’s gut, fully expecting it to slip through the shadow like figure. To her surprise, the blade hit something solid. The creature loosened its grip. Sophie kicked the tip of the knife to plunge it further into the figures body.