The Third Key (GUARDING THE LIGHT) (14 page)

Walls made from white
granite
stone were
now
a dark
brownish
-
grey
, marked by time
. The
massive
wooden
gate doors were
a
few centuries old,
protected by
hand-
made ornaments
of iron
.
If only the small staircase facing them could tell stories.

“
Locked
of
course
…
very
rarely used
. No one
has
entered here recently
”,
Gunnar
concluded after
a
quick look
around the entrance.
“In any case
–
the
guys will be here any minute
so we’d
better wait for them”
.

Jason
’s response was in a sharp tone, and Gunnar quickly realized that the warrior in him had awakened.

“
W
e can’t
wait!
Quabil
may
already
be
here
.
The
situation
is
clear
–
the key is inside the building,
bel
ow the altar. If you
can navigate, I can be in and out
with the
Third Key
. You
stay here and
wait for the team.
N
ow is the time
to test
our
techn
ology. Hope T-Mobile reaches
through
this
thick
stone “.

Gunnar
handed
him
a normal-
looking headset.
“We’d
better use this
one
. This
Etymotic
EtyBlu2
will
work
.” Gunnar’s ability
to think
a
few steps ahead of others
had served him well in business, especially when
hi-tech gear was involved.
He had snatched the
EtyBlu2 headsets
for later use
while they were
taking off from the
Web Room.

“Now, l
et’s hope for the best
. As soon they come
,
help them secure
this entrance, that exit, and
this
street.” Attaching
the Bluetooth headphone
to his ear
,
Jason
pointed towards
the locations, waving
like a tourist appreciating th
e beauty around
the
Tyn
temple
.

“K
eep
a low profile – we don’t want
attention
.
Just tell me i
f anything
looks
suspicious
,
don’t react – if you have to, make sure it’s a kill shot
.
Repeat
that
to Michael if you have to.
”
Jason was sure that Gunnar thought he knew what power his team was up against – they were tough guys – but this power was out of this world.
“
Most importantly,
I have to
personally
fight
Quabil
!
Whatever happens
,
if I do not
face him
,
the whole
plan may just col
l
apse
.”
Using his knife,
Jason
prepared to
open a
big
metal lock
with his knife, and eased open the large wooden door.

“
I leave
now,
may
the
Lord be with us.
Hope to see you soon
.
” S
aying this
,
Jason
hugged
his friend and entered the dark hall.

“
Me too.
Find the Key and come back safe”
, was Gunnar’s reply.

Part 5

Temple of
Tyn

XVIII.

It was dark inside, and confusing. The c
orridors
inside
showed eerie patterns of
red, blue
and green
light, reflecting onto the walls from the
huge
stained glass
windows
above
.
Jason moved swiftly
and silently
through the ancient
architecture, his mind outracing his feet.
From
the
outside
, the maze of corridors had been
clear to him –
f
rom the inside it was more difficult
to
locate the altar.
His
life depended on silence.
If
Quabil
was
already here
,
and Jason only carried a short
Tanto
*
knife, he would be nearly helpless before the demon horde
.
But in his heart,
he still had hope of finding the
Third
Key of the Diamond Gate
in time to stop the plan
of
t
he Demonic Alliance
.

Racing through
corridors
,
he came to a spot
that didn’t show
on the
map.
The m
ain tunnel
now led
to a small
er
space that separated
into
three separate tunne
l
s
,
not high enough for a
grown person.
Would one of those tunnels lead to the altar, or all three
?
Jason
didn
’t know
. Instinctively, he chose
the middle one but
then stopped.

“
I
’d
better check this with Gunnar
”, he thought, but the
familiar voice
began
telling
just what he was hoping to hear.

“
Middle corridor is the fastest way to go,
says the map”, Gunnar said
while looking at his
iPad
screen
.

“I simply love you.” Jason’s quiet
answer
echoed through
the corridors.

“H
appy
to help
.
Just keep going straight - ”
Gunnar’s instructions
took Jason further along,
“
… on
the
2
nd
crossing
, there
is a V-shaped split…
”
Gunnar paused
,
waiting for the pulsating point of
Jason’s
GPS
signal
to catch up
.

“
Now,
you should find some staircases -
”

“Yeah, up
and down”,
Jason
whispered.

“
You have to go left
, downstairs
.
”
Gunnar heard only light breathing.
Jason moved almost without sound.

“
Now, it gets
tricky
. Down there, when you arrive to
the
lowest
level I
see 1
, 2…3….
4 doors
, yes 4 of them
.
Y
ou will be there
in
a
minute or so;
I
doubt you will see anything
there… try
the
iPhone screen.
”

“Here, I see
…which way?” Jason silently pulled
out
his
Tanto
*
,
ready to
break
the
door lock
if needed
.

“Counting from your left, take the
Third
door.
L
ooks
like the
fastest
way
. Just one thing:
soon
as
you
enter that way, you’l
l enter
a zigzag tunnel
.
If anyone’s waiting for you, they’d pick that spot for an ambush.
”
Jason appreciated the warning from his ‘eyes and ears’
.

Gunnar
waited, knowing Jason couldn’t talk while navigating the zigzags – especially since he’d just warned him about possible danger points. However, patience was not Gunnar’s forte, and all he could hear was breathing.

“If I
just
had time to set a thermal imaging
gear
, this would be easier”,
Gunnar
said to release
tension.
He was afraid for
Jason – even if he hadn’t cared
about
Jason
personally
,
he would have been nervous. The fact that the f
uture of the world and everythi
ng in
it depended
on
his friend
just added to the anxiety
.

“
OK,
you’re approaching
the ending
of that corridor.
Dead ahead is a narrow oval-
sha
ped space…take the right wall. You need to find
a narrow tiny
space…y
eah
,
right there”.

“Nothing but
wall
here”,
Jason
whispered back
a
fter checking the spot with his fingertips.

“
Tiny
space
, tiny space!”
Gunnar
repeated, frantically checking
three different maps.
“Got to be there!”

Checking his perimeter very carefully and listening for the slightest sound, Jason replaced the knife into its holder
. U
sing the bright
flash
light
on his iPhone
,
he went over
the wall
s
,
inch by inch.
Nothing, absolutely nothing was there.

“Are you
sure
we’re
on the right spot
?”
–
Jason
wanted to raise
his voice but kept it at a whisper
, hop
ing that no one else could hear him.

“
There
has
to be that tiny space – there’s no other pathway to use!
It
lead
s
to a
corridor with a
spiral
staircase
at
the end of it. Those
stairs directly
connect to
the
main Ritual R
oom
that holds the altar
.
”

Jason
’s eyes found nothing.
But, searching for an answer
urge
d
him to look deeper. D
espite the unnatural light and conditions,
by iPhone light
he discovered
that some stones looked
just
a
little bit
different
than
others on
one part of the
old wall
. Using the
metal handle of
his knife
, he carefully tap
ped
the area.
Once he found it, Jason whispered a little louder: