Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (32 page)

Liam thoughtfully gazed at the images on the tiles.
 
Reaching down, he carefully pressed all three at the same time.
 
After a moment, they all sunk down, and the boys heard a metallic click.
 
Liam pushed on the doors, and they swung open.

"I get it," Michael said.
 
"It's a cycle.
 
Water is constantly moving through the cycle shown on all three tiles."

Liam gave him a quick thumbs up, and they sped off through the doors.

Not knowing what to expect as they moved ahead, the two dripping boys proceeded with caution, lanterns held out in front of them, scanning for booby traps or other signs of trouble.
 
The trail led them to a large, limestone cavern.
 
Massive stalactites hung down like colored icicles, and the bottom of the cave could be seen far beneath them.
 
The path eventually narrowed down to a width of eight feet, hugging the cavern wall.
 
A scattering of wood shards littered the ground amidst a half dozen human skeletons.

"Look", Liam said as he stooped down to retrieve some shards.
 
"Arrows."

He was right.
 
There were a lot of broken pieces, and even a few that had remained intact.
 
"But where did they come from?" Michael asked as he looked out across the expanse.
 
His eyes caught something far in the distance.
 
Holding up his lantern, he was shocked to see several rows of archers standing with bows at the ready, aiming in their direction.
 
He stumbled over his own feet and fell against the cavern wall.

Expecting them to shoot at any moment, he shouted a warning to Liam, and scrambled around looking for cover.
 
He snatched up an old wooden shield from one of the skeletons.
 
It wasn't in very good shape, but it was better than nothing.
 
Liam found a metal shield that looked more solid.
 
Both boys lowered into a crouch; doing the best they could to hide from the line of fire.

Michael looked back to the archers, but they just stood there, motionless.

"Why aren't they firing?" Liam whispered.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Michael told him.

He watched them carefully.
 
Were they statues?
 
If they were, then where had all the arrows on the ground come from?

Liam lowered his shield.
 
"They've
got
to be statues."

"Yeah, I think you're right.
 
But they must be the ones who fired all of these," he said, pointing to the ground.
 
"It's got to be another trap.
 
Watch your step, and don't touch anything.
 
Better keep that shield handy too."

They each stood to their feet.
 
Michael took a good look at the statues, which were about a hundred and fifty yards away.
 
They were dark, dressed in ancient Egyptian clothing, but whether they were made of stone or metal he could not tell.
 
There were two rows of twelve, and over on the right was a man holding a sword into the air, as if giving the order to fire.

"Maybe they were men once, but got
turned
into statues," Liam guessed.

Michael shrugged; he wasn't convinced that these things were no longer a threat.
 
"Let's keep going," he told Liam.
 
"Just be careful."

They took up the path and followed it around a corner, where it soon ended at another door in the wall.
 
This one was made out of rock and sealed tight.

"Great," Liam growled.
 
"How are we going to get this bloody thing open?"
 
He began to pry on the door with his shield, but it was no use.

They searched around for quite some time, trying to find a lever or switch that would open the door, but found nothing, and both boys were getting very frustrated.

"Wait a minute," Michael said.
 
He peered off to the statues once again.
 
"Doesn't it look like…like arrows are stuck in a few of them?"

"Well," Liam said, squinting his eyes, "I think so, but it's kind of hard to tell.
 
I couldn't say for sure."

Michael took an arrow from its sheath and strung it on his recurve bow.
 
He aimed for the archer in the middle of the front row, and let it fly.

THWOOT!
 
It zipped through the air and found its mark, making a screeching, metallic crunch.

A split second later, over half the statues clunked into action, drawing back arrows and returning fire.
 
As the volley of wooden missiles sailed toward them, Michael and Liam dodged for cover.
 
Liam hid himself with his shield, but Michael, who had put his own down in order to fire, dodged out of the way and threw himself to the ground, arrows chinking off the stone all around him.

"Well,
that
didn't turn out so well," Liam whined in irritation.

"No," Michael agreed.
 
"There must be something over there I need to hit though, it's the only thing that makes any sense.
 
Can you see anything?" He scanned the archers.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, well, besides the attacking statues, that is."

"Hey, wait a minute," Michael said excitedly.
 
"Maybe I'm supposed to hit their leader."
 
He looked to the soldier with the raised sword.

"Makes sense," Liam told him.
 
"But I don't know how long our luck will hold out with all those arrows flying at us, so I hope you're right."

"I hope I am too."
 
Michael kicked away a skeletal arm that had gotten caught on his foot.
 
"Luckily for us, it looks like only about half of those things are still functional.
 
Get ready, this might not work."

Michael strung another arrow.
 
THWOOT!
 
It flew toward the archers' commander, but veered to the left, striking the statue beside him.
 
Once again, the ranks shot back, but Michael was a bit more prepared this time.
 
He hid behind his shield as best he could while the second wave of missiles dropped in around him.

"AHHRRR," Liam screeched.
 
Michael spun around to see an arrow sticking out of his left leg.

"Oh
no
, I'm sorry," he pleaded as he rushed to aid his friend.

"
Not- your- fault
," Liam said through clenched teeth.
 
"I stumbled on the way down and dropped my shield."

They examined his leg in horror.

"What do we do?" Michael asked.

"How would
I
know?" Liam shot back angrily.
 
He grabbed his pant leg, took out his pocketknife, and cut it open to get a better look at the wound.
 
It was bleeding, but not heavily, and there was about an inch of flesh between the entry and exit marks.

"It doesn't look
too
bad," Michael told him.

Liam gave him a very unfriendly scowl.
 
"Break off the tip," he said.

Michael wasn't too sure he wanted to do that, and he hesitated.

"Just do it!" Liam commanded him.

He howled as Michael snapped the arrow in half.
 
Then he howled again as he yanked the remainder of the shaft out the way it had come.

"There we are," Michael said cheerfully.
 
"Good as new!"

Liam looked like he might bite him.
 
"Get on with it then," he growled while pointing to the archer statues.
 
"And if you wouldn't mind, don't miss this time."

Michael laughed nervously, but strung up a third arrow.
 
"Well, third time's a charm."

"Or, three strikes and you're out," Liam retorted.

Michael winced, then carefully took aim and let loose his third arrow.
 
THWOOT!
 
It soared across the chasm to seek its mark.
 
They ducked for cover, but it hadn't been necessary, because the arrow fell directly in the commander's chest.
 
For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then the stone door began to grind aside.

With Liam hobbling along beside him, Michael grabbed their things and made a dash for it, and they disappeared through the doorway.

Michael helped Liam down the pathway, which continued to cling to the cavern wall.
 
They were moving a bit slower now, due to his injured leg.
 
The trail continued on for some time along the wall before heading into a small crevice in the side of the cave.
 
The boys found themselves in a low, narrow tunnel.

The faery lanterns were proving themselves invaluable.
 
"If it wasn't for these, there's no way we could have made it this far," Liam said.
 
Michael knew he was right.
 
They couldn't have asked for a better gift from Titania, and he wondered if she'd known how badly they would need them on this journey.
 
Perhaps she cared more about what happened to them than she'd let on.

It was only a few moments before the passageway opened up into another chamber, which had a floor covered in golden brick like the room with the fountain they'd come through a few hours before.
 
This place looked like some kind of royal bedchamber.
 
A wooden door lay crumbled near the opening where they'd entered, and a dozen large, clay jars were lined up against the wall.
 
There was an ornate but dilapidated bed across the room, various pieces of furniture, and rich decorations.
 
All had been beaten by the passing years, and most laid in ruin.

There were a few other exits from the room, and the doors had rotted away from all of them.

"What is this place, anyway?" Michael wondered.
 
"Some kind of living quarters?
 
It looks awfully fancy for a prison guard.
 
I hope we're on the right trail."

"Who knows?" Liam told him.
 
"I just hope there aren't any more stupid traps to deal with."

"I think we'll probably be safe in here.
 
We've got to be close to that holding cell now," Michael told him assuringly.

"Yeah, if that idiot Zuriel hasn't sent us off on some wild goose chase," Liam walked toward the other side of the room.
 
He wanted to have a seat and take a better look at his leg.

"I don't think he did."
 
Michael took a drink from his water bottle.
 
"There's no way he expected us to make it this far, he probably thought we'd be scared off or killed by now, but the joke's on
him
isn't it?"

"HEY," Liam yelled excitedly, making Michael jump.
 
"Come over and look at
THIS
."

Michael nearly knocked over the large clay jar he was about to open.
 
He went to look over Liam's shoulder.

Lying peacefully on top of the broken bed was the skeletal body of a man.
 
He was wearing khaki pants, hiking boots, and a bomber jacket.
 
A single arrow stuck through his shirt near the stomach, and Michael cringed to think of the pain this poor fellow must have gone through, as he knew his life was draining away from him.

Liam examined the arrow, and then looked down at his own leg.
 
He gulped, thinking about how lucky he was to still be alive.
 
And then it struck him.
 
"Mikey, I think this might be….
 
I think this could be…"

"Your Great-Uncle Shamus?" Michael finished for him.

Liam nodded.

Beside the body was a worn leather book, and something else that Michael recognized.
 
He picked up the book and handed it to Liam, and then he picked up the splintered and broken remains of an ancient wooden staff.

"This belonged to Horus," he said sadly.
 
"I saw Zuriel destroy it while looking through the statue."
 
He ran his fingers along the proud head of the falcon, and saw that its eyes were transparent and blue, just like the jackal eyes on Anubis’s staff.
 
He had seen them glow when Horus held the staff, but he somehow knew that they would never glow again.
 
The power of the staff had been broken along with the death of its master.

Liam thumbed through the book.
 
"How many journals did this guy keep?
 
Anyway, there are more maps in here.
 
We should be able to find our way around now.
 
Hey, you were right."
 
He smiled hopefully while pointing at something on the map.
 
"I'm pretty sure we're right here, and from what Zuriel said, I'll bet he's holding your parents in this chamber.
 
It looks like some sort of prison."

He continued to thumb through the pages, most of which were blank.

"Listen to this," he said.

My journey has unfortunately come to its end, here near the place where Horus died.
 
I'm sorry I have failed you, my friend.
 
My curiosity has always been my greatest strength, but it has finally led to my demise.
 
I should not have wandered beyond the safety of these quarters into the defensive perimeter, but my desire to explore got the best of me.
 
Who would have thought that such ancient mechanisms would still be functional?
 
Absolutely remarkable!