Chapter two: the temple
"Lumos" Harry whispered as he entered the temple. The faint light appearing at the end of his wand illuminated a tunnel crudely carved into the rock. Slightly luminescent cobwebs ahead blocked the way.
Satipo had entered behind him and lit his own wand. "Please Senor, this place is evil. We shouldn't stay, what do you want here? I can get it for you elsewhere."
"I doubt that," Harry muttered. Actually, all he had been given was a description. The Auror office had generally made a point to tell him enough background information that he had a fairly good idea what he was doing. Not so here, he had been given a half a map, a description of the medallion, and been told that it was vital he recovered it before the others, as he was not the only one searching for it.
"Diffindo" Harry whispered, the spell severed the cobwebs ahead cleanly, the fell to both sides like a curtain. Large black spiders fell from the ceiling and scuttled into the darkness. One landed on Harry's shoulder, but he brushed it off. He was used to spiders falling from the ceiling. Satipo, however, sounded like he was whimpering as he kicked at the spiders.
Leaving the spiders behind, Harry strode forward into the darkness, the soft ground shifting slightly beneath his feet. Ahead of him a ray of light fell from a small hole in the roof to make a round circle of sunlight on the ground, much to neatly to be accidental.
Harry quickly waved his hand through the light, and stepped back. With a swooping sound, long spikes extended from a hidden alcove in the side of the tunnel. Worse, there was a decaying body embedded on the spikes, it's head twisted around so it seemed to stare at Harry and Satipo, who jumped.
While Harry wasn't as shocked by the skeleton as his companion (the boy who lived had certainly seen worse) it still could not be a good sign. Though torn and rotted away, there was no mistaking the style of the black wizard's robes the body wore. The hooded robes of a Death Eater.
While some Death Eaters, the followers of Lord Voldemort, had certainly escaped the justice of the new Ministry of Magic, they had been highly inactive since the fall of their master and his most trusted lieutenants. Harry supposed that while it was possible that some had fled to Peru, it seemed highly unlikely that they would spend much time wearing their identifiable robes, or why they would be sneaking around inside an ancient temple. Though he supposed it could have been there since before the Battle of Hogwarts, the body looked fresh…
Harry waited two minutes, until the spikes, still carrying the Death Eater's body, retracted into the wall. Then, carefully skirting the pool of light, he continued onward, Satipo following him apprehensively.
The tunnel turned slightly to the left, still inclining upward. Before them was a deep hole, about twelve feet wide. Harry could see a flash of water below, while the drop would probably not kill him, he doubted there was any exit from the pit.
Whispering under his breath, Harry waved his wand over the pit. After a few agonizing seconds, a thin wooden board streached across the pit conjured by magic. Harry crossed quickly, the board had no handrails and creaked under his feet, but it did not give way. Satipo followed, he stumbled near the end, and would have fallen had Harry not grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him up.
Satipo's eyes widened as he saw the golden circle hung on the stone wall. As large as a dinner plate, it was engraved with a golden sun.
"Senor…" he began but Harry cut him off.
"That's not what we're here for." Past the sun plate was a short corridor, much better carved than the rest of the temple, more demonic faces set into the walls, with a tiled floor. Past that, a circular room, lit from above with sunlight spilling through another hole, and in its center, bathed in the light, a round pedestal, upon which something gold glinted.
"Stay here," Harry told Satipo, who seemed all too happy to comply. "Keep your wand lit," then Harry whispered "Nox" to douse his own light. Harry stepped onto the stone tiles. With whooshing sound a small wooden dart flew from the open mouth a nearby statue, Harry felt the breeze as it flew past his face.
Much more carefully, Harry examined the floor. He noticed that about half of the tiles were slightly higher than the others were. Taking a guess as to what triggered the darts, he stepped onto one of the lower tiles. It was solid under his boot and no dart was fired.
It took Harry quite some time to navigate the hallway, stepping only on the lower tiles. Twice he made a mistake and triggered darts, but both times he was able to dodge them. By the time he made it to the circular room, fifteen minutes had passed. He looked back to Satipo, who was leaning against the wall patiently, admiring the golden plate.
Harry walked the pedestal. On it lay the object he had been ordered to recover. A small medallion, made of pure gold, with a single ruby embedded in it's center, runes carved around it. There was a hook on the top, so the pendant could be worn as a necklace, as well as a small spike on the bottom, so the medallion could be easily placed on a staff.
Harry muttered a quick spell, designed to discover any magical protections surrounding the medallion. When he found none, he picked it up, stuffing it safely into his pocket.
When nothing happened immediately, Harry turned toward the exit. As he turned the pedestal began to sink into the floor, an awful rumbling, like some huge beast stirring in a cavern beneath their feet began, and the temple started to tear itself apart.