Nathan and I trudged forward, inching our way through a narrow passageway that seemed ready to crumble at any second; dirt and rocks fell from above, making faint crumbling sounds that echoed slightly. I was still trying to catch my breath following the run-in with Trinity—I'd hoped to never see them again, but I knew that hoping wouldn't stop their ruthlessness. My brain was still working overtime, trying to decipher who that woman was; her soft features and sultry voice replayed over and over in my mind. Whoever she was, I doubted she was in any real position of power—it was likely that she was fooled into thinking this way, but in actuality she was probably only doing the dirty work for the real powers that be.

We turned a corner and a massive room opened up in front of us, light shining through small holes that lined the domed rotunda. I stopped dead in my tracks, looking up at the ceiling with my mouth hanging wide open. I was in awe—the ceiling of the room was covered with a large, painstakingly-detailed painting of Mara with her eyes closed, and two snakes on either side of her.

"Would you look at that," Nate said, forcing me out of my trance. "It's amazing what these ancient civilizations were capable of."

"It's stunning," I breathed, shaking my head. "How they were able to achieve such a perfect balance of science and art is beyond me. Look up there!" I said, pointing to the middle of ceiling. Several holes lined a smaller domed part of the ceiling.

"Some kind of… clock?" Nate said, looking upwards. "Or maybe a calendar."

"Exactly," I nodded. "The holes are mostly blocked by overgrowth, but if I had to guess, I'd say the light would have shone through at various points in time and illuminated one of those paintings."

"And that's how the followers of Mara knew what to bring as a tribute."

"Right," I agreed. "And it could have even helped with their farming." I circled the outside of the room, running my hands against inscriptions and paintings that still remained on the wall. My fingers felt ridges and uneven textures where words were written. A sudden chill came over my body—how exciting it was to be standing in such an ancient space, actually touching words that somebody etched into that wall thousands of years ago. Moments like this made me remember why I love seeking out these places; these remnants and remains. My hand, connected with the wall, created a stream of energy that made me feel like I was connected to this place; I felt as if I could learn its secrets and its history just by pressing my palm against the rough, brown stone.

Nate lowered his head and looked around the large, open space. He raised an eyebrow and jogged over to the middle of the room, kicking up dust that slowly settled behind him. "Hey, come check this out," he called.

Once more Nathan's words pulled me out of a daze. I turned my head and pulled my hand away from the wall, curious to see what he had found. "What is it?"

He pointed to a large stone slab that was propped up by several poles of bamboo. The slab was covered with paintings of Mara and various other things, such as the three promises of treasure, eternal youth, and visions of the future.

"The piece of stone used to cover this open shaft. Look," he said, pointing down a dark abyss that appeared never-ending. "How far down do you think it goes?"

"Let's find out, shall we?" I said. I shook a glow stick and dropped it gently into the shaft. It fell for several seconds, its blue light cascading down and illuminating the sides of the shaft as it dropped. We both peered our heads over the edges and watched as it fell, anticipating the soft thud that sounded as it landed at the bottom. I squinted, barely able to make out a decaying skeleton that lay mangled at the bottom of the shaft, bags of gold coins and a rope were scattered around it.

"Yikes," Nathan whispered. "Look, here. There's a sign: 'Caution. Do Not Pull Rope! Handling Fragile Artifacts' it says."

"Huh. The poor sap. It looks like his rope was connected here," I said, pointing to a couple pieces of bamboo that looked to have provided support. "Hmm. I suppose someone didn't read the warning properly."

"You tell someone to something and they do the opposite anyway." Nate chuckled. "Never fails."

"Right," I smirked. "Just like how I told you to use the bridge instead of the stairs outside of the temple?"

"Ha ha," Nathan said sarcastically. "Just a lucky guess."

"Luck," I scoffed. "A don't guess, Nathan. Some might call it 'intuition.' At any rate, do you think it's worth looking down there? They obviously found something intriguing; they figured it was worth sending someone down the shaft."

"I don't know," Nathan rubbed his chin, his fingers against his five o'clock shadow creating a soft scratching sound. "Who knows what else could be down there? Booby traps, snakes… it's a distraction from our end goal. How close are we?"

I reached into my backpack and pulled out Jones' journal, flipping to the page that contained a detailed map of the discovered portions of the temple. "According to these diagrams, we're standing in what Dr. Jones and his crew called the 'Rotunda Calendar.' Just a little further and we'll reach the 'vestibule,' which will lead us directly into the 'Hall of Promise.'"

"Which is where we'll meet the Idol, 'Mara,'" Nathan said with air quotes. "And then we'll know for sure whether or not the Jewel is here?"

"It is," I insisted. "This place is far too grand and elaborate for a mere agriculture calendar and some decoration." I turned and leaned against the rocky walls of the shaft opening, sighing deeply. "If it's not here then it means so many people devoted their time for nothing. Jones, you, me… my father. I can't leave this place empty-handed, and I sure as hell can't leave knowing that Trinity has the upper hand."

"We're gonna stop them," Nathan assured me, nudging my arm with his. "I know how important this is to you."

I looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks, Nate. That actually means a lot. I can't do this without you—I mean, I probably could, but it is nice to have some help every now and again."

Nathan let out a small laugh and crossed his arms. "After seeing how pesky those Trinity guys are firsthand, I'd settle for just keeping the Jewel out of their reach. I can't imagine what they'd do with something so powerful. Makes me uneasy just thinking about it."

"Welcome to my world, Nathan," I said with a soft laugh. "They've been on my tail for years now. I don't think there will ever be a day that I'm not looking behind my back constantly, wondering if someone's following me home. They're part of everyday life for me now—it would feel odd if I didn't have someone with a gun chasing me through city streets and alleyways."

"That's rough," Nathan said. He shook his head and sighed. "What does it take to put a stop to these guys? We should go for it."

"Good luck with that," I raised my eyebrows at him. "We can kill as many of those bastards as possible, even that woman we met back there, but it won't destroy Trinity. They won't stop—not until they get what they're after, and luckily for me, what they're after is quite often the same exact thing I'm after."

"But we have the brainpower and the strength. Sure, we'd need some help, but I've got tons of friends I could call on." He started counting names on his fingers, listing their names. "Sully, Chloe, Charlie, you name it."

I smiled. "It would be quite the adventure, all right. But we've got to focus on the present right now—we need to keep our sights on who's after us at this very second. We can't do anything else until we deal with them first."

Nathan looked down at the ground, sighing deeply.

"Trust me," I said breathily and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Nobody wants to stop Trinity than I do, I promise you that. But we've got to be patient. They're far too intelligent and powerful. Their time will come. But for now, we have to be vigilant—we have to spend all our resources on the people who want the same thing we're after. Otherwise, this all will have been for nothing."

He nodded after a long silence. "You're right."

I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and walked away from the shaft. "Of course I am," I said, turning around and crossing my arms. "So, are you coming, or not?"

"Lead the way," he motioned with his hand to the other side of the large, voluminous space.

"Right," I nodded and started the walk to the other side. I shrugged my shoulders, trying to reposition my quiver of arrows—there were only five or so left, and I knew for sure that I'd needed more than that. "We haven't even gotten to the real meat of the temple and I'm already low on arrows. Damn."

"'Goodness me, Nathan!'" he mimicked my voice with a stereotypical posh accent. "I'll never be able to carry that many! We can make arrows out of sticks instead!'"

I glared at him over my shoulder "First of all, I don't speak like the Queen of England. And second, you might not know this, but I've become a sort of pro at crafting and scavenging for supplies. I can manage."

"Alright," he said. "But don't come crying to me when you're out of arrows and expect me to poof some into existence with my magic wand."

"As I said, I'll manage," I repeated with emphasis, still looking behind me. "Don't take me for a helpless girl who can barely wipe her own—…are you alright?" I furrowed my brow and turned 'round to see what Nathan had stopped to look at. I followed his gaze upwards, noticing an old film projector sitting high atop some bamboo scaffolding. I turned the other direction—the direction I had been walking—and was taken aback by the long room that the stood before me. "Whoa," I breathed.

"Yeah," Nate nodded in agreement. "This must have been their place of worship; where they presented their god with gifts. "And that projector," he said, pointing back up to where we were previously looking, "is obviously a piece Indy's crew left behind."

"Hmm," I took a step back to analyze the setup. "It's probably decrepit beyond repair, and we don't have the generator power to get it up and running even if it did work. Though, I'd love to see what's on those film strips."

"Unless…" Nathan scratched his chin and started climbing one of the rotting bamboo ladders to the top of the scaffolding.

I scoffed and watched him clumsily climb the rickety ladder, awaiting his fall at any moment, ready to laugh and then immediately pretend I felt bad for him (it wouldn't have been too harsh; the projector was perched only ten or so feet high). "Unless what?"

He hoisted himself onto the wooden platform, which made all sorts of ghastly creaking sounds, and knelt down beside the projector. He examined and tinkered with it for several moments, and then began to crank the handle. "Unless it's a simple crank-operated projector."

Much to my surprise, light flooded the dark hall as a white image projected itself onto the wall at the far end. "I'll be damned," I giggled slightly. "You actually did it."

Crackly, distorted sound began to play from the projector as the countdown began: 3… 2… 1… beep!

A man appeared, standing outside the temple entrance.

"Welcome, my friends, to the Temple of the Forbidden Eye! I, Sallah, shall now give you counsel to safeguard your miraculous journey."

"Oh, Sallah," I said. "I've read about him in Dr. Jones' journal."

Sallah began giving information about the vehicles that were to take passengers through the temple.

"What's the deal with those 'transports?'" Nathan asked curiously.

"I guess they were just a way to get more people through the temple at once," I said over the narration. "Once they realized they could profit from this, they wanted as many people as possible to come here."

"And then one idiot looked into the eyes and ruined it for everyone, huh?" Nathan said.

"That, or Mara got tired of being used for a business venture," I shrugged.

The rest of the safety film warned of the dangers of looking into Mara's eyes—it demonstrated that taking even a small peek could send your course directly to the 'Gates of Doom.'

"The 'Gates of Doom,' huh?" I crossed my arms as the video went black and the sound cut out. "What if…" I mumbled, my voice trailing off as I tapped my foot against the dusty ground.

"What if what?" Nathan asked, hopping down from the bamboo ladder.

I looked over to him as he landed and brushed his dirty hands off on his pants. "Oh, it's nothing," I said. "Just talking to myself."

"Like always," he joked.

I grinned narrowed my eyes. "It's an adventurer thing."