Dawn of the Epoch

Chapter VIII - Danger in the Deep

The ceiling to the huge circular chasm rose up to a magnificently tall dome.

Hunter commented on it, “The pointed ogive arch at the top is gothic. It doesn’t look Egyptian. Don’t ask me why they built it like this.”

“Or who built it like this.” Tiyana added ominously.

They all stood on land at the far side of the chasm. The area had no apparent exit or entry. On the far wall, a thirty foot tall glass-looking structure seemingly held frozen liquid. Inside the frozen display case, they saw a statue or model of a large, muscular, vicious looking three-headed beast. It looked disturbingly lifelike.

“Yana, this is amazing! Look at that big guy there! I think it’s a Fu Dog!” Said Hunter, using his wife’s nickname.

Tiyana added, “A Fu Dog? Fu Dog.” Tiyana shook her head, “what is a Fu Dog? Did someone worship this?”

“No, Fu means Lion. This is a Lion Dog. In Tibet they call them Snow Lions. They represent creatures that protect sacred places. It can’t be anything else with the white hair and the turquoise mane. It looks just like the one on the Emblem of Tibet except more... intimidating, ferocious. It looks a lot like the Chinese depictions. Amazing…”

“What?” Said Tiyana and Hongo simultaneously.

“It has three heads. Many mythical creatures in Asia have multiple heads or multiple arms, but you don’t see Snow Lions portrayed that way. In Greek mythology, however… you have Cerberus. He doesn’t normally look like that; he usually looks more like a dog and less like a lion. He doesn’t have the huge mane or the stocky build, but the snakes…”

Tiyana and Hongo looked closer and saw the beast’s back covered with slithering reptiles.

“Criminey…” Tiyana exclaimed.

“Kumbe…” Hongo exclaimed.

The image was breathtaking. From beneath the thick mane of turquoise hair, scaly serpents poked their heads out.

“They look a lot like the Nagas from the hallway back there don’t they.” Said Hunter.

Tiyana and Hongo said nothing; they just stared.

Hunter went on in a quiet and contemplative voice, “Cerberus guards the gates of Hades. It’s possible that he is guarding something here and that we are very close to it. In fact, this might be exactly what we’re looking for.” Hunter’s eyes filled with wild excitement.

“I don’t like the look in your eyes, dear; let’s get out of here before we worry about finding anything.” Tiyana said ominously.

“Yeah, yeah, we will.” Hunter said softly as if in a trance. Then he snapped out of it, “No, you’re right. Seriously, we will get out of here before we do any exploring.” Hunter had a wistful look in his eyes.

Copious amounts of writing in an unintelligible language absolutely covered every square inch of the walls surrounding the giant display. In the middle sat a pedestal with a Tibetan Dharmachakra wheel attached. In an elongated diamond shape around the wheel sat four more pedestals. Each pedestal was comprised of rich gold, ivory, gemstones, pearl, aluminum, and silver.

Hunter stepped up to the wheel on the pedestal in the center of the room. “Hongo, have everyone step back, I’m going to turn this baby and see what happens.”

Hongo barked orders and everyone stepped back and braced themselves. They knew that another trap might await them, but no one wanted to cross back over the acid lake.

“Here goes nothing!” Hunter said with gusto as he gave the wheel a Herculean turn. The wheel spun easily as if someone had greased it just yesterday. As the wheel spun, they heard the friction of gears turning. They saw two metal floor tiles in front of the pedestal separate. From below a new pedestal rose up. Four small, ornate statutes rested on it.