Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (31 page)

"I wonder where that tunnel went," Michael said.
 
"I can't believe how vast this place is.
 
It's a bit mind boggling really."

Liam shrugged.
 
"Well," he said as he got up and dusted himself off, walking over to the lever, "do you want to do the honors, or shall I?"

"Oh, by all means…" Michael told him, content to sit and watch.
 
"Just make sure you aren’t standing on a trap door, I have a feeling it's a long way down."

Liam smirked at him before reaching down to pull the lever.
 
It wouldn't budge.

"Put your back into it," Michael suggested.

He grasped it with both hands, and pulled again, but it still wouldn't budge.

"Maybe I should have brought my baby sister along after all," Michael jabbed.

Liam frowned back, sighing in frustration.
 
"Do you want to come and do this?"

This time he leaned into it with all his might.
 
The lever screeched, moving along slowly before clicking into position on the opposite side.
 
A low hum began to emanate from the cable above, as it began to move into the wall.
 
The two boys looked at each other nervously.

They waited for almost half an hour, according to Michael's watch, before they noticed something emerge from the darkness way off in the distance.
 

As it came closer, Michael squinted his eyes to get a better look.
 
"It must be some kind of ancient cable car.
 
I can't believe it still works."

The car was plated in gold, with intricate Egyptian images and hieroglyphs along the sides, and reminded Michael of a royal chariot.
 
It came to a halt on the platform beside them.

"Looks safe enough," Liam said with a shrug.

Michael wasn't entirely convinced, but going back down that rope wouldn't be any less dangerous.
 
"Well, like you said, we didn't come up here for nothing."
 
He walked to the lever and told Liam to get in.
 
Once he did, Michael pushed the lever back and jumped in as the cart began to move forward.

As they watched the pier fade into the darkness behind them, Michael got a sudden rush of fear for Abigail.
 
Moving across the expanse of the cavern made him feel as if he were abandoning her.

Liam saw the pained look on his face.
 
"What's wrong?"

"My sister.
 
Maybe I shouldn't have sent her back."

"I'm sure she's fine," Liam assured him.
 
"She's a clever little thing, that one.
 
I know she'll make it back okay, I just hope she brings help while there's still time."

Michael smiled gratefully.
 
Liam was right, Abigail was a tough girl, and she was sneaky.
 
That annoyed him sometimes, but now it brought him comfort.

The boys didn't say much as the car travelled through the expanse of the cavern.
 
It would have been relaxing, Michael thought, if not for the fact that they were dangling helplessly above what was presumably a bottomless pit, and entrusting their lives to a contraption which had been beaten by time for several thousand years.

After a while, they entered a more narrow section of the cave, and could actually see the walls on both sides.
 
Michael recalled that he still had a few of the stones, which Abigail had picked up, in his pocket.
 
He took one out and dropped it from the side of the car.
 
They listened, but never heard it hit the ground.

A few more minutes brought them to another platform much like the one they'd departed, but this one was bigger.
 
They got out of the cable car, and stepped out to see a large wooden door, which hung from the cavern wall before them.
 
It's twin lay upon its face on the ground, which had fallen victim to gravity and its own weight sometime long ago.

Michael could hear the sound of trickling water falling upon the rocks nearby, but couldn't see where it was coming from.

"Well, here we go," Liam said, starting off toward the door.
 
The two maneuvered carefully into the passageway, climbing over the fallen door.
 
Michael could only hope they were on a path that would lead them to his parents.

The cavern tunnel was narrow, cold, and earthy smelling, but after passing through the boundless cave that lay behind them, it was nice to be on solid ground again.
 
Michael and Liam walked for a short while before coming to another set of doors.
 
These were inlaid with gold, and bore some of the images and hieroglyphs they'd seen on the cable car.

The doors pushed open with ease, and the chamber they entered was so breathtaking that Michael nearly forgot to breathe.
 
The doors swung shut as they lifted their faery lanterns into the air, watching as the entire place brightened with the warm sparkling of gold.
 
The gold plated walls were decorated with images of the gods, and the floor was paved with golden brick.
 
In the center of the chamber was a golden fountain, from which a clear stream ran.
 
A golden falcon with outspread wings perched on the top, protecting the water.

Liam's mouth hung open.
 
"What kind of a place is this?"

"I'm not sure," Michael responded, "but it has to be some sort of royal sanctuary.
 
Maybe some kind of an ancient hideaway for the Pharaoh."

Liam took a good look around.
 
"This place is really something else."
 
He walked over to the stream and stooped to take a better look.
 
The water flowed from the fountain through a narrow channel, which was level with the floor, and out beneath the cavern wall not far from where they'd come in.
 
He held his lantern close to the water, which shimmered and sparkled as the light shone through.

"Even the water channel is paved with gold," he said in wonder.

Michael scanned the chamber, and saw another set of doors opposite from where they'd come in.
 
"We need to keep moving," he reminded Liam.
 
"We may not have much time."

Together they walked to the doors, which were heavy and smooth.
 
Michael pushed, but they wouldn't move.
 
Not even the two boys working together could get them to budge.
 
They could find no handles or lock, or any other way of getting them open.

"Here," said Liam, pointing to the wall near the door.
 
Many of the tiles in the room had hieroglyphs, but the tiles here had three distinct images on them, and they appeared to protrude a little higher than the others.
 
One tile had an image of a cloud with rain falling down from it.
 
The tile next to it pictured a flowing stream.
 
The third tile showed the sea, with steam rising up.

"What do you think?" Liam asked, "could this be the way out?"

"Maybe," Michael told him.
 
"It kind of looks like a riddle.
 
If my dad or Uncle Link were here, they'd know.
 
One tile probably opens these doors, but the other two are most likely traps.
 
We'll have to choose carefully."

"Well, we might as well give it our best shot, which one should we press?"

"Let's see…”
 
Michael scratched his chin while looking at the tiles.
 
"Hey, I know.
 
It's got to be the stream.
 
There's a stream running through this room, so that
must
be the answer."

Liam shrugged.
 
"Yeah, that makes sense to me.
 
Keep your fingers crossed."
 
He reached up and pressed the image of the stream.
 
For a moment nothing happened, and then, with a gravelly screech, the tile sank down.

"Okay," Liam said cheerfully.
 
"That was easy enough."
 
He walked over to the door and pushed, expecting it to swing open, but it still wouldn't budge.
 
He put his weight into it, and strained with all his might, but nothing happened.

"Uh, Liam," Michael tapped him on the shoulder.
 
"I think we might be in trouble."

The fountain began to churn and bubble, and water spewed forth messily upon the floor.
 
The outlet at the end of the channel stopped up, forcing water to spill over both sides.

Michael raced to the doors where they'd first come in, but those were sealed tightly as well.
 
It wasn't long before several inches of water covered the floor.

"What are we going to do now?" Liam shouted as he frantically poked at the two remaining tiles.

"Can you open it?" Michael called back as he splashed through the water, which was now up to his ankles.
 
He examined the outlet, and sure enough, a stone panel had come down to block it off.

"This isn't working," Liam shouted as he hammered his fists upon the tiles.

Michael rushed to the fountain, looking for a lever or button, anything that would turn the water off, but he could find nothing.
 
"There
has
to be a switch or something.
 
In my uncle's stories there's always a switch."

"We're not in one of your uncle's stories, Mikey, this is for
real
," Liam snapped.

"Just keep looking."

Water was shooting up so forcefully that it splashed off the ceiling, and had now risen well past their knees.
 
Michael tripped on the side of the channel, falling on his face into the cold, wet liquid.
 
His lantern, which he'd been trying to keep dry, dropped into the water a few feet away.
 
It bobbed up and down before coming to a float upon the surface.
 
He rose back up, relieved to see that it had not been damaged.

They continued to splash through the room, looking for anything that might help them escape, but found nothing.
 
Now the water was up to their stomachs.

Now to their chests.

Within minutes they were swimming, and their feet no longer touched the ground.
 
There was nothing to do but wait, and hope that the water would stop flowing before it filled the entire chamber.

Michael's body began to shiver.
 
As he swam, his life flashed before his eyes.
 
He wasn't very old, however, so it didn't take long, and his thoughts quickly returned toward trying to escape.
 
Michael looked up to see that their heads were just a few feet away from the ceiling, and still the flood rushed in.
 
Glancing back down, he noticed something odd, a strange sparkle beneath the waves, toward the center of the room.
 
In actuality, nearly the entire chamber was sparkling with golden light, but this looked different, it had a bluish tint.

Michael grabbed his faery lantern, which was floating beside him, and pulled it underwater.
 
Thankfully, it continued to shine.
 
He took a few long, deep breaths, and dove to the center of the room.
 
As he approached the source of the light, he saw that it was emanating from the statue.
 
He swam closer, but the current began to push him back.
 
He struggled against it, reached out, and grabbed the falcon's wing, pulling himself down and around to the front of the bird.
 
Holding his light to its face, he saw that it's beak was open.
 
The falcon's tongue glowed brightly under the light of his lantern.
 
He reached inside and pressed, and his heart nearly leapt from his chest when he felt it click.

Almost instantly, the water stopped flowing.
 
As Michael swam up for air, he heard the grinding of stone, and prayed it was the outlet reopening.

Breaching the surface, he held out his hands to prevent smashing his head against the ceiling.
 
The water had nearly reached the roof, and Liam was holding his head sideways to keep breathing in the little space that was left.

"What happened?" he pleaded, as his friend's face emerged.

Michael gasped frantically for air.
 
It took him a moment to get his breath.
 
"I think I got it."

Before long they knew he was right, the water level was steadily getting lower, and after several long minutes of treading water they found themselves lying on the floor, soaking wet and exhausted.
 
The remaining water drained quickly from the room.

"I've got to hand it to you on this one, Mikey, you saved our skins, good work."
 
Liam breathed a sigh of relief as he lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling.
 
"How did you know what to do?"

Michael explained what he'd seen with the light of the lantern.

"Well," Liam told him.
 
"These little things have turned out to be pretty useful.
 
I never would have guessed a lantern could save our lives."

Michael agreed with him.
 
"We're still stuck in this room, though.
 
Unless we want to go back the same way we came."

"No thanks," Liam told him.
 
"Anyway, I think I've got this figured out."
 
He sprung up and walked toward the tiles.

"I hope you're right," Michael warned him.
 
"I'd assume if we messed this up twice the birds tongue would get us out of here again, but I really, really don't want to have to find out."