Cave
Kamchatka Wilderness
Soviet Union
1960
"Maybe the petroglyphs will tell us," Indy stepped forward, shaking his cigarette lighter, hoping to get a flame.
Shorty held up his cigarette lighter as well. "Lizavet, can you read these?"
Lizavet joined them as Emily shut her eyes from the light. Something was flickering in her vision. Her chest tightened. Her heart pounded. There was a rushing noise in her ears.
"Em," Indy spoke quietly. "You're safe. The memories don't have to come after you."
"I'm in the dark, Dad. In a cave. Underground. And I've got pain. Its not helping me stay present. Things are gonna drag me back to the tomb."
Indy squeezed her hand. "And I'm gonna be right here." He snapped his cigarette lighter shut. Shorty did the same.
"Tell us what you see, Em."
Emily blinked. The return to solid darkness felt comforting as the pain subsided allowing her to concentrate on other things. "Lizavet, the shaman drugs you gave me... do they make things move?"
"No. Not really. At least - they shouldn't." She paused. "Sometimes in the dark, our own minds make a chemical... I have seen many shamans go insane from it. It causes a crazy euphoria."
"Don't have that."
"And sometimes... paranoia."
"Oh." Emily swallowed. "I might have a little of that creeping in from my tomb experience. Too many things here remind me of that."
"If you start seeing creatures in the dark - you must let us know." Lizavet warned. "I have the antidote, but it is brutal. And it heightens pain."
"I... Don't need that..." Emily took a breath, feeling the cuts on her ribs stretch. "Ok. What do I see?"
"Petrogylphs," Indy guided her. "Concentrate on the petroglyphs, Em."
She swallowed. "Ok. Petroglyphs. Lizavet, do you know which direction to read these?"
"They are... not read... they are... what you would call... symbols?" Lizavet answered. "I have found them a few other places. Always sacred places."
"Like the standing stones at Edo's camp?"
"Yes. Like those. But you are presuming they tell a story."
"Why wouldn't they?" Shorty asked.
"Not all stories are like your cultures..." Lizavet replied.
"Lizavet, how does your culture tell time?" Indy asked.
"Time? Time is run by the seasons."
"Then its a cycle," Emily mused. "So the petroglyphs would be in a circular pattern.... Spring to winter. Darkness to light. Sunrise to the sunset."
"But we've entered the realm of the dead," Indy reminded her. "So things are different. Upside down. Because this is the underworld."
"But we're not in the realm of the dead, yet. Its a threshold," Emily insisted. "Which means things are different, but we can return to our normal world. If this was a ritual spot it has to be a semi-safe place for those not yet initiated. A place where the supernatural and the natural can exist. And in order to warn people and tell them of this... the communication would have to be of the normal world." She paused. "Lizavet?"
"I am afraid I cannot help you. I do not know my own culture. It was lost to me. You would do best to go with what you have learned from my ancestors and your archaeology. And your instincts."
Emily looked to the ceiling. "Then we start with the sunrise." She moved forward, carefully climbing on the cave formations. "There is the sun. The sun is usually male. Where's the moon?"
"You would be looking -"
The cave trembled. Emily hung on.
Water bubbled up from below as the sandbar under their feet sloshed.
Lizavet fell into Shorty.
Indy braced himself. "Onto the rocks! Climb! Now!"
YOU ARE READING
The Seven Swords of Diya: An Indiana Jones Fan Fiction - Part 2
FanfictionPart 2: Indiana Jones and his daughter Emily Ravenwood Jones continue their adventure in the frozen Soviet peninsula of Kamchatka, searching for seven mystical swords. With them is Indy's bodyguard from 1935 India - Short Round, grown up! And his re...
