The team is exhausted by the long, long climb up the stairs. Their thighs and calves burn and they feel they can walk no more. Laying in the hot jungle sun or sprawled in the tall grass under a tall jungle tree, they listen to the sounds of the jungle all about them. The buzz of insects, the strange cries of the birds and the distant growl of a jaguar sound all around them.
Then, there it is again, gunfire and shouting in the distance!
Antonio looks towards the sound. "They have broken another pillow, it would seem. Should we try to go to them or hurry to the temple? We might only get one chance to go inside before them."
"Anyone breaking these things aren't here to help us, I think. Let's get to the temple, see the state of it, and make a plan there." Abraham murmurs, his whole body aching from exertion even after the rest. It was almost beginning to make the trenches pleasant. Almost.
The team limps through the jungle back towards the temple. The sounds of battle shake the distance. Far off you hear a wail of fear and pain suddenly cut off. And then there is silence.
As you return to the central glade, you see the temple, now further pushed up through the earth, increasing the impression that it is a giant screw driven upwards. The door now stands wide open.
"Well I'll be damned..." Abraham muttered as they ended up back at the temple, the door already opened. He would make his way over towards the temple door, looking over the ground carefully. Tracking people with steps in the ground was not his specialty but the freshly churned earth may help, right?
Seeing Abraham scanning the ground, Enoli walked towards him, "Good idea Abraham, I'll see what I can see as well."
Enoli start from the edge of the forest and moves towards the temple, moving in wide swaths trying to see if there are tracks and how many.
Enoli, a master tracker, surveys the area. Picking up leaves and examining the fall of the soil, he determines that no one has been here since your group last left.
The sun is striding down the western sky, already lost in the dense foliage. Soon it will be evening.
"Let's get up to the door before it gets dark. I'm not as lithe as Miss Ashford, so it might take me a bit." Antonio helps at least one of them climb up before he tries to make the ascent himself.
Minerva helps the Father climb up to the door. "Come on Father lets see what's worth killing and dying for in this place."
She looks at the door carefully. "I hate to say this, but perhaps we should try to close it behind us. It might slow down those who would follow us." She looks into the darkness beyond the door. "We also might trap ourselves inside with whatever is waiting for us."
I really don't want to be here. I want to go back to New York and have a cool bath, a drink or four to forget about this gods forsaken jungle and whatever it is we're supposed to be dragging out of it.
She turns to her companions and studies each of their faces for a long time. "I really hope we come out of this sane. I don't want to be crazy, because I'm seeing things that break my mind." She looks almost like a child who has been lost for a moment, and then that British we can endure anything spirit kicks in. "Right. Let's complete this mission shall we."
The door just isn't there. It's gone.
The team climbs up the long incline spiral to get to where the door was, and there is only an opening into darkness. Another tunnel winds its way counterclockwise down into the tunnel.
Abraham stares down into that unending darkness and tries to quiet the primal part of his mind that screamed for him to run away. He couldn't stop a little shudder as a breeze blew through the jungle, echoing in the dark tunnel that led deeper into the ground below.
Minerva speaks up and he can see the fear in her face, it wasn't unfamiliar to him. It was the kind of face the new recruits had before they went over the top, not knowing if the next moment they were going to live or they were going to die. He tried his best to hide his own fear but it reflected there in his eyes behind a face of grim determination.
"Let's get it done. Follow my lead." He muttered, turning on his flashlight again and taking his pistol out as he began to go down the steps into the hungry darkness below.
Minvera nods and follows Abraham down into the darkness with her pistol out. Hand on the wall so she doesn't trip.
Enoli lifts his rifle in a ready position in front of him, still feeling the pain of the bullet wound in his shoulder.
Enoli whispers, "I will cover our rear, but if I shout down try to get on a knee so I can fire over you if need be."
Antonio moves in the middle of the group with Minerva. The priest shines his flashlight into the darkness and says a prayer before entering. He carries his shotgun in the other hand, held up and resting on his shoulder, though he realizes that he can't fire it while carrying the flashlight. He just hopes it doesn't come to that. "I can pray that we find salvation in here, but my own feeling is that there is nothing like that in this place."
The corridor is narrow and unlit, winding its slow clockwise way around the outer surface of the temple, like a hideous corkscrew. The walls and floor seem almost like something -grown- rather than carved.. Your flashlights show narrow slices of light amidst the stygian dark and reveal garish bas-relief carvings similar to those in the pit of the formless spawn.
Suddenly, something seizes Abraham's shoulder and starts to grab him!
Abraham walks in the front, the light filtering onto the corkscrew corridor that just seems to go on and on. The darkness seems all-consuming as he turns to say something to the others a moment before he feels something grab a hold of him.
"The hell!" Abraham hisses out, fighting to get free from whatever it was that was grabbing onto him.
Abraham hurls the thing off of him, only to realize it is a snake. It has fallen from the ceiling. And more are starting to squirm through small holes in the ceiling and walls!
"Snakes! Of course it had to be g%$!#%n snakes! Everyone, move!" Abraham didn't know enough about snakes to know if this snake was venomous or not. What he did know was that it was better to assume that they were rather than assume they were not. Moving faster now, trying to get out of the falling snakes, he dashed up ahead.
"Serpientes!" Antonio rushes forward, trying to get past. He grabs a snake as it falls from above, hurling it away from him. He pushes Minerva ahead of him, forcing her away from the mass of snakes.
Enoli runs along with everyone else, but also trying to see if he can tell what kind of snake it is while running
As Abraham rushes forward, a flashing silver blade slices down out of the wall!
Enoli, some of the snakes are non-poisonous, but you recognize at least one as a coral snake. You've heard of these "20-minute snakes", so named for the time it takes the poison to kill a man!
Yes. Abraham? Luck or no luck?
The ancient blade flashes out, straight for Abraham's throat! At the last instant, it slows, creaks and stops, close enough to shave with. Millennia of disuse have worn down the mechanism!
Continuing on down, more and more snakes slip, slide and pour from holes in the ceiling and walls. It is enough to give even the most stalwart hero the willies.
How do you proceed?
Seeing the blade narrowly miss Abraham, Enoli shouts above the din of hissing, "The place is trapped, look out for any raised portions of the floor and any cracks or holes in the walls that could look to uniform, as if made by tools."
Enoli wonder if he should be using the strange flame thrower to drive the snakes away, but he doesn't know exactly how to use it or how many times he can.
"Just keep moving. A penitent man is humble before God. And God will protect him." The priest touches the rosary to his forehead, whispering to himself more than to his friends. He keeps moving down the steps, trying not to think too much about the mass of writhing snakes around them.
Minvera does a funny hop step as she rushes down the stairs trying to avoid stepping on any snakes. "Now we have swords coming out of the walls?" She cries as she ducks under the blade that almost took Abraham's head off.
You continue down into the depths of the ancient serpent temple as more and more snakes slither forth. In the narrow confines of the tunnel, you come at last to a section absolutely carpeted in slithering, writhing and venomous snakes.
How do you proceed?
"I hate this place." Abraham mutters, looking over the floor. He did his best not to think of the life & death situation he had just avoided a moment ago. Turning back towards the others, he flashed his flashlight around quickly for any old torches that may have been placed in sconces. Snakes didn't like fire.
"No one likes fire, you idiot. This heat is getting to you." Abraham thinks to himself as he studies the walls for a moment. If he finds one, he takes his lighter and tries to set the torch aflame and use it to get the snakes to part. Otherwise, he turns towards Enoli and gives a nod.
"Enoli, get up here and bring that flamethrower! We need to burn them out of the way!"
Enoli moves towards the front past everyone, "I'm not exactly sure how to use this but I can try, how did you use the strange pistol? Was there a trigger?"
Minerva moves out of the way of Enoli. "Father take a step back. We don't want caught in the flames."
She continues to swing out with her pistol at any snakes that get to close to her.
As everyone steps back, Enoli examines his gear for a trigger. Just like Abraham's silver pistol, there isn't one.
Antonio steps back away from the mass of snakes to avoid being cooked, though he considers that they don't actually know what this thing might do. It looks like a flamethrower, but that doesn't mean it is one. "Just be careful, Enoli. We don't know what it actually does."
"It just..." Abraham struggled to say, his brows furrowing for just a moment before looking back at Enoli. "It just knew. I can't explain it. Just give it your intent. Hurry."
Enoli hears Abraham and understands, the intent is what Grandfather told him was important with some of the prayers he was taught. He aims the flame thrower and wills the flame towards the snakes in front of him.
When Enoli puts his will into the silvery device roars to life. Green flames shoot out of the nozzle, searing the mass of serpents and clearing the passageway. The few snakes that remain are easy to avoid.
That's when you hear sounds coming down the passageway behind you! Footsteps and voices!
Antonio shields his face from the flames. Whatever odd green fire it was, it burned the snakes away just the same. He whips his head around as he heads voices nearing. "Hurry, someone is coming!" He begins to move farther down the tunnel, looking for a potential place to hide.
The green flames burn the snakes away, clearing the pathway for them all. There was no time to process those strange flames or celebrate the victory of getting past the horde of slithering, cold flesh that had laid before them. There were footsteps and voices approaching, coming faster and faster.
Following the priest's lead, he moves down the hallway further now looking for a place to hide and stay out of sight. If the soldiers were coming, they were outnumbered and also outgunned.
Chakos brushed the sweat out of his eyes with his left hand and lifted his lantern with the right. He was still a little shaky from the after effects of his adrenaline high following the whirlwind of the last several hours. The jump, the arrival at camp, and being rushed to the caves. He slowly moved forward and called out in Latin, ”Father Peña? Antonio Peña. My name is Chakos, I am here with Elliott, we are newly hired by Caduceus, and sent here to join team. We were told to authenticate ourselves to you by the phrase, ‘Et tu Caduceus?’”
He turned to Elliott, ”He’s a Priest right? Surely he speaks Latin.”
Anyone listening carefully might hear a voice growing gradually louder - probably not an enemy soldier or the like, judging by the words...
"...you see that blade protruding from the wall there? Nasty booby trap. Hope it didn't injure the folks we're looking for. Better keep a sharp eye out in case there's more. Do you smell that? Like a... barbeque... and not the good kind."
When Chakos calls out, then turns to him with a question, the archaeologist shrugs. "It's likely. Hey... are those snakes? Still smoking... musta used a lot of gas to burn out this many. They can't be much further ahead now."
Minerva spins and points her weapon up the stairs. "That's not Spanish. Who is it?" she asks as she recognizes the word Pena in the words.