Chapter 11 #2
Nadirah dropped to her haunches to take a closer look. “How does it open? I don’t see any handholds.”
“Me neither, which leads me to think there must be some kind of mechanism we need to activate to open it.”
The comment piqued her interest. Who didn’t dream of being Indiana Jones, discovering ancient secrets and hidden rooms?
Phoenix began pacing around the steps, layer by layer, seeking something out of place.
A protrusion. An indent. Since he had the keener gaze and sense of smell, she let him go and sat on the bottom step.
The ruin didn’t have the same heat as the outdoors, the stone keeping the interior cool.
Too cold for her liking. Nadirah dug into her knapsack and pulled out her sweater, the same one she’d been wearing the night of their museum visit.
She shoved her hands into the pockets to warm her fingers and discovered the box she’d accidentally filched.
She pulled it free and stroked the carvings, wondering how to open it and what hid inside.
“I can’t find anything.” Phoenix startled her, and she dropped the box. It hit the floor with a thunk, and she leaned over to grab it. As she dragged it with her fingertips to get it close enough to grab, a grinding sound made her pause.
“Did you hear that?”
“I did.” Phoenix dropped down beside her. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. Just grabbed the box I dropped.”
“The one from the museum?”
“Yeah. Do you think it came from here?” Khalid had implied that some of the recovered artifacts in that storage room had been stolen.
“I don’t know. Can I see it for a second?”
She handed it over and wondered what he intended. To her surprise, he placed it flat on the stone and dragged it. The noise reoccurred.
Her eyes widened. “What’s happening?”
“I think we might have lucked out and brought the key.”
“Doesn’t look like a key.”
He held up the box and shook it. “Not in the normal sense. If I had to guess, the object rattling inside is a magnet, one strong enough to trigger the mechanism that opens this hatch.”
“Except it’s still closed,” she pointed out.
“Probably because it has to be moved on the stone in a certain pattern,” he theorized. He began dragging it left then right, up and down, then in circles, each pass causing noise but nothing else.
“Can I try?” she asked.
“Sure.” He handed the box back, and she studied the design that repeated on all the sides before placing it in the middle of the hatch and sliding it to mimic the whorls.
Crunch. Grind. Click.
Phoenix hauled her backwards as the stones she’d been kneeling on suddenly dropped, the whole section swung open as if on a hinge, and the box that had opened it disappeared, rattling as it rolled down the staircase they’d found.
“You did it!” he exclaimed.
She couldn’t help but grin. “I wonder what’s down there.”
“Let’s go find out.” He shone his penlight on the stone steps leading below ground.
Gulp. Kind of scary, but with Phoenix leading the way, she didn’t fear too much.
After all, a tiger could handle almost any predator.
Living ones, that was. She tried to ignore all the ghost stories Nenek told her growing up.
Ghosts weren’t real. But then again, neither were the harimau a week ago, a reminder that didn’t help her trepidation.
The narrow staircase descended longer than expected, a tomblike tunnel going into the Earth. The only noise that of her huffing breath and the scuff of their feet, loud and yet muffled at the same time.
“I found the box,” Phoenix stated, scooping it from a step.
He handed it to Nadirah, and she clutched it tight, hoping its luck would keep her safe.
After all, what were the chances she’d have the key to getting inside?
Probably about the same as the odds she’d meet a handsome man who happened to also be her favorite animal.
Nenek would probably claim it was no coincidence but fate and the gods guiding her.
For once, Nadirah wondered if that might actually be true.
“There’s a door,” Phoenix stated suddenly, startling Nadirah.
Her gaze focused on the spot where he shone his light. At the bottom of the steps, further passage appeared blocked by a door made of petrified wood, seemingly solid and without a knob or a lock to allow entry.
He glanced at her. “Do the box trick again.” He shuffled sideways so she could squeeze forward.
A deep breath in, and she once more traced the pattern, the grinding noise of the ancient mechanism letting her know it worked.
Click. The door creaked as it swung open.
“Ladies first,” he offered.
“I’d rather not.” She chose to tuck behind Phoenix instead.
“There’s nothing inside. By the smells of it, this place hasn’t seen anything alive in a long time.”
“What about booby traps?” She was too tired to outrun a rolling stone ball like Indy or duck and dodge flying arrows.
He chuckled. “I don’t think we have to worry about that, but I’ll go in first to make sure it’s safe.”
Nadirah hovered by the door as he entered and shone the penlight around, which refracted, making her blink.
“I don’t detect anything of concern,” he said. “And in good news, doesn’t look like this place got pilfered. Guess we’re lucky they didn’t smash that hatch open.”
With that exciting claim, Nadirah went inside the chamber, wondering if they’d find piles of treasure or ancient bones.
“Here, take the light so you can see.” He handed it to Nadirah, and she wandered to her left, aiming the penlight at the wall and then gaping at the drawings she found etched in the stone.
“There’s a picture of a tiger.” And inset within its eyes, jewels, the reason why the light bounced before.
Amber for the first feline she found, and as she moved sideways, the colors of them changed.
Green. Blue. Black. Before she’d made it to the corner, she heard a rasp and the room illuminated.
A glance over her shoulder showed Phoenix standing by a stone brazier, which he’d lit on fire. It smoked, but the fumes rose toward the peaked ceiling.
“Hold on,” he said. “Let me light the others.” He went around the room, lighting four of the five censers. The fifth one had cracked and leaked all the oil in its basin.
Even with only four, the room brightened and revealed its splendor.
Phoenix came to stand by her as they craned and quietly marvelled at the artwork on the walls. All tigers with different-sized heads, the eyes all jeweled in various shades.
“What is this place?” she murmured aloud.
“Judging by the altar in the middle, some kind of religious temple I’d imagine.” He drew her attention to the huge hunk of rock smoothed into a rectangle. Behind it, a rounded dais with a stone bench perched atop.
As she explored the space, she noticed niches in the walls holding figurines, much like the ones they’d seen in the museum. All of them people-shaped and featuring some kind of cat characteristic.
Interesting. Obviously related to the harimau. However, they weren’t a map to lead them to someone with answers, nor a message to explain his condition.
Phoenix sighed as he came to the same realization as Nadirah. “Guess we came here for nothing.”
“Not entirely nothing. We found an ancient temple.”
“I’ll admit that part is cool,” he offered a wan smile.
“Blame my dumb ass for thinking we’d find a clue.
Then again, given how long this place has been hidden away, doubtful it would have been useful.
I would imagine the tiger shifters in your country have long since abandoned their original homes and melded into the mainstream population. ”
He slumped onto the bench, and she sat beside him, not knowing what to say other than, “Don’t give up.”
“I won’t, but I’m at a loss to know where to go next.”
“We could try and find that village you told me about. The one mentioned in that traveler’s account.”
“Not sure there’s a point. The author claimed it was already abandoned when he discovered it.”
“We still have the clues in that poem,” she reminded.
“Clues that are too generic. Where would we even start?”
It took effort to not smack him. Sure, he was disappointed, but that didn’t mean he should give up.
She stared at the altar, noticing the back side had a tiger head carved on it, but unlike the others, this one had been put together upside down and sideways. As if someone twisted its features.
She sprang to her feet and fumbled for the box she’d shoved in her pocket.
“What are you doing?” he asked as she knelt by the altar.
“Possibly nothing,” Nadirah mumbled as she placed the box on the carved eyes, currently offset from where the chin should be. She slid the block, and a ring of stone moved. When the eyes were in their proper spot, she heard a faint click.
“Holy shit,” he muttered, crouching alongside.
She did the ears next, putting them in their place.
Click.
Next, the upside-down nose.
Click.
Mouth.
Click.
Then nothing. The tiger face appeared as it should, but nothing happened. Her turn to sigh. “Sorry. I was hoping I found something.”
“You tried.” He stood and gave her a hand, helping her rise, keeping her close.
She stared at him, fixated by his good looks, wanting to kiss him.
Shocked at the thought, she turned her head to the side, and something caught her eye.
“Um, Phoenix…”
“What?” His gaze followed hers to the top of the altar, where a knob—with a carved tiger’s head atop—protruded.
He grabbed hold and pulled, popping off a lid that revealed a hidden cubby and, inside, a stone tablet with many carved symbols.
“What is it?” she whispered.
“I don’t know but must be important if they hid it.” He took out his phone and snapped a picture before reaching in to remove it.
Phoenix held it up, and they had only a moment to admire their discovery before someone said, “I’ll take it from here.”