7
"I cant believe we manage to sneak in so easily."
"Well, not that it was your work, Jase," Janelle replied. "Questilsa was crazy. How did she manage to sneak us inside this Pyramid this easily?"
"She probably has spent her entire life doing this," he flashed his flashlight across the wall. "Funny writing over here. The ancient Egypt are pretty funny."
"Those are drawings, dumbass," she replied and stopped in front of wall. "This is a dead end."
"Well, no," Jason pressed his shoulder against it and pushed it forward. The wall cracked and gave in, revealing a space for them to go in.
"A door," he said proudly. "Come on."
Janelle stopped. "Should we like… tell Questilsa and Katherine about it? I don't feel like going inside this secret passage without telling them."
"Ya right," Jason nodded. "Wait here. I will fetch them."
"Should we go together?" Janelle hesitated. "Being alone in this creepy place… not a good idea."
"I need you to call out when I come back so I can follow the track of your sound. There's no way I can walk through all the turns and still manage to return to this very door."
"Fine," she sighed. "Just be quick."
Jason nodded and sprinted off to where Questilsa and Kate had headed off. "Questilsa! Kate! Can you hear me?"
Once she was alone, she couldn't help shivering. She had always been a little afraid of dark, and being alone in the middle of a pyramid… it really freaked her out. She chewed on her lip and peeked inside the crack at the door.
Inside was nothing but darkness. She shivered, hoping Jason would be back soon.
After some time like forever, she heard a little voice. "Jason? I am over here!"
She heard the noise again. It was louder this time. She made out that it was a whimper instead of a yell.
And it was coming from behind the door.
She took a step back, her entire body cold. A whimper in a locked up pyramid, which was at the edge of collapsing? A living creature inside…?
"Help!" she could make out the noise now. It was a male voice, though very young. Not even an adult, possibly.
"Is someone here?" the voice cried out again.
"Hu….llo?" Janelle squeaked into the crack.
Then a hand shot out from the crack, seized her, and dragged her inside.
She screamed and slashed Aklasava wildly. She felt the blade hitting its target. The hand on her arm loosened, and then the thud of something hitting the ground was heard.
She clutched at her chest, panting. What the bloody hell was that?
She scrabbled around her body for the flashlight, but soon she realized she had dropped it when the person yanked her in. She looked back at the door and found no crack for her to go back out.
She hit her fists against the door and tried to shove it. It wouldn't budge.
"You cannot," a voice rang. The same voice that whimpered for help, "move it from inside."
Janelle swirled around, flinging her sword towards the speaker. She found her sword resting at the throat of a slump form of a boy.
Under the dim glow of her sword, she could see that the boy was around twelve or so, thin and pale, his eyes sunk deep into the sockets. His eyes were tired and were at the edge of closing them and never opening them again.
"Who are you? What are you doing in here?"
"Steven. Steven Compton. Put that thing away. I have no intention of attacking you. I have no idea why was I kidnapped into this place. The man you killed over there—" he pointed a bony finger at the ground, "—that's my dad. Thanks for murdering him."
"Oh, I…" she squeaked but didn't remove her sword. "I am sorry. I… but why are you here? What happened?"
"No. I really thank you for killing him. He was very thirsty. I thought he was going to drink my blood," the boy, Steven Compton, shrugged. "We were suddenly knocked out and thrown into this place with a bunch of others people. They got deeper into the pyramid and none get out. We learned that staying here is better than exploring this fucking place."
"Someone kidnapped you here?" she carefully removed her sword. He didn't even seem to notice. "For how long?"
"Four days already. I drained this thing yesterday," he pointed at an empty bottle on the ground
Janelle took out a water bottle from Zackline's bag and held it out for him. His eyes shone when he saw it and snatched it from her hand. All the water was gone in a few gulps.
"Thanks," he gasped. "I am so thirsty."
"Scott, what do you mean… this thing couldn't be open?" Janelle searched for a handle. None.
"This door was bloody heavy. It can only be pushed from outside with someone of incredible strength. There is no way we can pull it from here," he sighed. "So when I heard voices out there, I woke up and tried to call for help."
"And you did. I have friends out there. They will come here in any second…" her voice faltered when she remembered Jason saying he needed her voice as a guide. She opened her mouth. "Jason…"
"Don't call!" he grabbed her arm. His grip was surprisingly strong for a half dead person. "It will find you. It will come here and kill us. I don't want to die. I don't care why would you and your friends end up in here, but if you have friends, then they will come and save us. We can live. Don't call out!"
"What do you mean?" she found a match from Zackline's bag and lit it. The flickering flame was lonely in the darkness, a lone lamb lost in the wood.
"That thing," he stammered. "That thing."
"Which thing?"
"It is here."
"What?"
"Run!"
Steven got to his feet but almost collapsed. Janelle caught him and draped one of his arms around her shoulders.
"Go go go go go go go go go!" he yelled.
"To where?" she cried out.
"Anywhere?"
Janelle glanced back at the shut door. She decided to believe this boy and sprinted into the darkness.
They ran in the endless darkness of the pyramid. The corridors were like a maze—around a minute later, she was completely lost.
"Have you watched the Maze Runner?" Steven Compton suddenly asked.
"What?"
"Maze Runner, man. The dudes who run around in the maze."
"Never heard of it before," she panted and took a sharp turn to the left.
"That book was adapted into a movie! How come…"
"Please, if that Maze Runner thing is going to help us stay alive, tell me. If not, shut up!"
"Just that I feel like the idiots that are running in the maze with monsters running behind them. The of course the main character kills the monster."
"Kill the monster," she repeated softly.
She remembered something that she asked Jet when they were riding to this Pyramid.
Jet, what do you Unicorns eat for food?
It will freak you out.
Just say it.
Human blood.
What?
I said it would freak you out. After you cut off my horn… Relax. I can eat grass now.
She stopped and faced Steven Compton. "The monster… is it like a horse?"
"I think so. Wait, do you think you can take it with that sharpy thing of yours?"
"No. I can't. But I can hold it," she let him go and gave him a little shove. "Go ahead and run. I will catch up with you later!"
Steven Compton glanced at her. Then he hobbled into the darkness.
And screamed.
She froze and then raced forward.
And found herself nose to nose with a Unicorn.
"JANELLE!" Jason cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. "Little sis!"
"She isn't replying," Questilsa scowled. "Quiet up, guys."
She raised her left arm and whispered something. A Rune on her upper arm glowed.
"Rune of Hearing," Kate whispered into Jason's ear.
Questilsa closed her eyes. A few minutes later—it seemed like a few decades for Jason—her eyes snapped open.
"I can read your expression. You are not satisfied with what's going on."
"Don't pretend as if you know me, Lambert. But… yeah. Something bad's going on."
"Then what is it?" he grabbed hold of Questilsa's loose sleeve, who jerked back.
That's strange. He thought. She let Janelle touched her like that.
"Fighting," she replied. "This way. Come on!"
Questilsa raced down the corridor. Kate and Jason glanced at each other, then followed her down. Questilsa didn't hesitate at any bifurcation. She just ran.
Until they were at the door which Janelle mistaken as a wall.
The door was now closed, and Janelle was nowhere to be seen. Fear crept up his heart. No. Janelle must be fine. His baby sister must be fine.
"It's her torchlight," Kate said shakily as she picked up a broken torchlight from the ground.
"She isn't here," Jason looked around, trying to look calm. "I told her to wait."
"And you left her?" she whirled at him, her eyes blazing. "Jason Lambert, if we get out of here alive—with Janelle or not—I will kill you myself. With my bare hands."
"I can hear noises," Kate interrupted her threatening speech. "There are noises behind the wall. Questilsa, did you lead the wrong way, or Jason, did you remember wrongly?"
"Out of the way, girl," Jason shooed Kate away and pressed his hands against it. A little shove, and the door opened.
"Whoa," Kate raised an eyebrow and stepped inside, but Questilsa stopped her. "Wait, Katherine. There's something here."
Jason glanced at Questilsa as she flashed her own flashlight across the ground. Nausea washed over Jason when he saw the corpse on the ground.
Questilsa didn't make any screams or stuff. She just said "shine your torch at the body, Katherine" and bent down to study it.
"He is killed by a wound at throat," she said grimly. Jason didn't understand how could she bear fiddling over a corpse like that. He couldn't even bear glancing at it. "The wound very thin but deep. It is Aklasava."
"Janelle killed this man?" Kate frowned. "Is it a Demon or just human?"
Questilsa turned the corpse over so his back was towards her. She drew his collar down and studied the back of his back. "There is no Demon mark here. He is a human."
"Demon mark?" Jason asked. Questiksa ignored him as usual and shone her torch around.
"Every Demon had a black star mark at the back of its neck," Kate explained. "It is like a birthmark, and we all call it the Demon Mark," she stopped and looked at Questilsa. "Questilsa, are we going to look for Janelle or are you going to study this floor forever? Because I hear some noises…"
There was a guttery scream, clearly tore from the throat of a girl they all knew.
"Janelle!" Jason bolted towards the scream immediately, ready to kill whatever that was hurting his baby sister.
He followed her terrified screams as quickly as he could. He remembered telling her that he would trace her voice back to her, when they were outside the door.
Gods, he didn't mean this way.
When he saw her, he didn't stop running.
Something was lit on fire beside them—no doubt Janelle, so she could see clearer.
He could see Janelle on the floor, Aklasava in her left hand and another a small dagger in her right hand and she was slashing the small dagger at the creature atop her. Why didn't she use Aklasava? She could kill it at one strike!
Then he saw the creature.
A Unicorn.
So of course. She couldn't kill it. She had to wait until Jason came and cut off its horn.
She caught sight of Jason immediately. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could do so, she fell limp.
Anger rose in Jason's chest. He leapt at the Unicorn, his sword raised. But the Unicorn just slammed back at him and he crashed onto the ground.
Arms yanked him up. He twisted back and saw Kate, her face nothing but fear.
Questilsa had launched herself on the Unicorn already, holding onto its horn so not to be thrown off accidentally. Kate grabbed a knife from nowhere and threw it at the Unicorn. The blade buried into its side and it jumped, this time really accidentally throwing Questilsa on the ground. She landed right beside Janelle, her eyes glazed over. It would take her time before she could get up again. And as for Janelle, she was still motionless. Jason noticed a pool of blood spreading below her legs.
Jason raised his sword but Kate stopped him. "Wait."
Then she sang.
Ok now 1) he wanted to slap her. Then he realized she was singing magic.
He saw the clear blue sky, far far above, felt fresh air, the golden sunlight and silver moonbeam, the bright green grass, cold current swirling around them. She heard birds singing, cats purring, children laughing.
And most of all, he didn't want to kill the Unicorn anymore. Just leave it. He just wanted to lie down, close his eyes, and rested.
And then 2) Kate slapped his face.
He blinked and shook out of his dream. Kate was still singing, but she was jabbing her finger at the Unicorn.
Jason pinched himself and all the sleepiness slipped away from him.
He turned at the Unicorn. It was rocking back and forth, its eyelids drooping. He raised his sword and slashed.
The Unicorn howled and ran around. Its now hornless head slammed into Jason and he flew back until he hit the wall and landed right beside Janelle.
Janelle.
He crawled beside her and down to her legs. He could see that the left leg of her pants was torn below her knee and blood was bubbling out from there and rolling onto the ground.
"Janelle," he whispered. Questilsa was beside them already, her hands tearing at the fabric of her pants and started taking care of the wound.
Jason rest Janelle's had on his lap. Her face was glistering with sweat. Her eyes were firmly shut, as if she dared not to open them and faced the horrible life ahead of her.
But the worst thing was that she was completely white. Her skin was always flushed, but not it was so pale that she looked like death. Her lips were blue. Jason touched her cheek with shaking hands and found it cold like ice, which was so cold that it seemed to freeze his heart and made the world darkened.
Jason didn't know how to feel pulse or stuff, so he simply touched her chest. His heart sank. "Her heart wasn't beating."
Questilsa grabbed Janelle's wrist, clearly taking her pulse. Then she yelled out. "Katherine, find the Unicorn's horn. Now!"
"Can you feel her pulse?" Jason quickly asked.
"Yes," Questilsa nodded. Then she said quietly. "Around nine heartbeats a minute."
"Nine heartbeat a minute? How… how's that possible?"
"It is happening," Questilsa pushed up her own sleeve.
"Can she survive it?"
"No."
Jason felt as if his heart dropped into an endless pit, a hallow feeling at his chest that he had never felt before. "Then… what can we do?"
"We are going to save her."
Questilsa had a little dagger out now. She turned to Kate, who had returned with the horn. "Heal her calf."
Kate nodded and set to work.
Questilsa turned to Jason. "And you. Hold her hands. Both of her hands."
"Why?"
"One more moment delay, and the less likely I can save her."
Jason clutched Janelle's hands immediately.
"Good," Questilsa raised the dagger and cut opened her own wrist.
"What are you doing?" Jason squeaked.
Questilsa didn't reply. She raised her wrist over Janelle's lips and let the blood dripped down to her mouth. Janelle didn't make any reaction.
"What's that for?" Jason asked again.
Surprisingly, she answered him this time. "She lost too much blood. I am giving her some of mine."
"But… by drinking? That won't work! She's not a vampire! And your blood type… she is a type O, what…"
"Jason," she snapped. "I aren't human, Janelle isn't human, and you aren't human."
"Oh," he squealed softly. "Oh."
"And you holding her hands… you are both Power Nemisises and Power Nemisises are always stronger when together. She is now actually drinking in your power."
"I see… but, she didn't lose that much blood, did she? The puddle of blood under her…"
"No. The Unicorn drank her blood. The blood you saw… the wound simply continued to bleed after the Unicorn let her go. And it was only a small fraction of it."
"Oh, poor, poor Janelle," Jason stroke her hair and looked up. Then he scowled. "Questilsa… you look pale."
"I aren't, dumbass."
"Yes you are."
"I aren't, and shut up."
"Yes you are," Kate perked in. "Almost as pale as Janelle."
Questilsa closed her mouth. Her face was indeed very pale now. Though not as pale as Janelle, but still pale.
"You are losing blood as well, Questilsa," Kate was concerned now. "You have to stop. You are killing yourself!"
"She still is in danger until she wakes. I have to…"
Jason grabbed Questilsa's bleeding wrist, who turned back at him in surprise. He shoved her wrist at Kate. "Take care of her wound, Kate. I will help Janelle."
He took Questilsa's knife, which was dropped on the ground, and raised it. He rested the edge at his wrist, where the blue veins pulse. He took a deep breath and slashed.
It wasn't as painful as he expected. Just a stinging kiss at his wrist, a stab of numb pain, and blood was pouring down already.
He immediately placed it over Janelle's lips and let the dark red liquid dripped into her mouth. Though her face was still ghastly white, her lips were bright red now, covered with Questilsa's and his blood. She really looked like a vampire now. He expected her to snap open her eyes that had turned red and fangs would shoot from her lips.
He dropped the dagger beside her and held her hand tightly, imagining seeping his strength, his soul into her through their connected hands. Please, be fine, Janelle. Open your eyes. Open, open, open, OPEN!
Janelle drew in a sudden gasp.
Kate and Questilsa gathered around Janelle, studying her with wide eyes.
Janelle's beautiful blue eyes fluttered open and she raised them at Jason. Then she groaned in her precious and bell-ringing voice.
"Why am I always the one who got hurt?"
Jason stared at her, then pulled her up and crushed her with a bear hug, forgetting all about his wrist. He felt Janelle's weak arms going around him as well as he cried like a little boy into her hair.
After Kate took care of Jason's wrist, they turned back to the Unicorn, which still lay limp on the ground.
"It should be awake by now," Janelle frowned. She still felt as if she was a newborn baby with no strength at all. "Jet recovered much faster than it."
"This poor thing had been trapped here for many years already," Questilsa rubbed Janelle's calf. For some reason, this Unicorn's blood only stopped the bleeding, but not closed the wound, so it was still a throbbing pain. "Some people had trapped it inside this pyramid, though I had no idea who. It weakened it and that is why he bit you and drank your blood once it saw you. I have no idea how did it manage to live without blood in this cold place…"
"No. Someone had been kidnapping people here to feed the Unicorn," Janelle suddenly remembered Steven Compton. She had forgotten about it completely. She wanted to slap herself, though she knew she couldn't blame herself, as she was just brought back from the dead.
"So?" Questilsa studied her.
"A boy called Steven Compton," she rose to her feet immediately, but both her leg and head weren't ready and dizziness hit her so abructly that she would have collapsed if Jason didn't catch her. The look from Questilsa told her that she should stay down until her wound healed. "I… I killed his father. We talked for a few moments before the Unicorn found us. He escaped into the passage," she pointed. "But…. I heard him scream. He…"
Questilsa bolted off. Kate followed.
Jason let Janelle wrapped an arm around his shoulder and holding her close by the waist, just like that she did to Steven minutes ago. Jason was almost supporting her full weight as her legs were still jelly.
As they walked, Jason said. "We found a corpse by the door when we walked in. Is that the Steven Compton's father?"
She nodded solemnly. "Yes. He dragged me behind the door and I was so terrified that I killed him."
"Then the Steven Compton…"
"Janelle!" they heard Kate's yell. "Over here!"
The two hurried forward. Janelle held out a hand and extended her fingers. There was a tiny pang of pain, like a tingle. Then fire sprouted up from above her palm, but not touching it. The flames danced around until it was a ball of yellow fire.
"Whoa, cool," Jason's eyes widened. "Careful, coz', you know, I don't exactly appreciate being set on fire."
Janelle ignored him and raised her hand. The fire ball rose also, like a flaming torch. She saw others and she hurried to them, ignoring the searing pain at her shin.
She saw Kate soon, who ignored the yellow ball near her completely. She grabbed Janelle's other hand and pulled her down until they were both kneeling beside Steven Compton.
He was dead.
Janelle bit her lip. There was a small hole at stomach. The Unicorn must have driven its horn inside him when it saw him. And if she called him to remain at her side, he might still be alive. She should have protected him, but not sending him away…
"I don't care what you are thinking," Questilsa turned to Janelle, her gray eyes stern. "But don't you dare to blame yourself. I do not allow it. You hear me? Do not even think of it."
"How? How can I not even blame myself for it?" Janelle whispered.
"Do you remember when I said sending people out to fight for you is much more difficult than fighting yourself?" Questilsa suddenly grabbed Janelle's hand. Her hand was small but callused and icy cold. "And when the moment came—I mean the time when you truly become a Power Nemisis and lead human against the Power One—you need to send people to fight and when they die fighting, you still cannot blame yourself. You hear me? And you, Janelle Lambert, will start by stop blaming yourself with stupid things like this," she let go of Janelle's hand and swept an arm towards Steven's dead form. She had never been this passionate before. "You try to save him. That is what matters."
Janelle stared at Questilsa shakily, and then down at Steven. There was blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. His expression was peaceful, as if sleeping.
She wished he was sleeping.
Questilsa took her arms and pulled her up with her. "Janelle, you cannot develop feelings for a person you barely known. You are a Power Nemisis. People all around you will die, like my loved ones. I cannot ask you to be as cold hearted as me, but sometimes, you need to shut down your emotions. Compartmentalize your feelings and pity and love. It is hard, but that is the way you can survive. It is the only way."
Janelle nodded and knelt down beside Steven. She turned to Questilsa, forcing her voice not to crack. "Is he already dead when you arrived?"
"Yeah," Questilsa nodded. "His eyes were opened when I arrived. Those beautiful green eyes of his. I almost couldn't bear myself to close it."
Janelle glanced at Questilsa, not believing she had said something like that. Then she told the others every word that she and Steven Compton exchanged.
"He is kidnapped?" Questilsa turned to Steven after Janelle finished. "Then… that means someone knows that the Unicorn was here, and it is possible that it was the kidnappers that trapped it in here."
"And yet they kept it alive," Kate added. "By throwing food inside the pyramid."
"Food," Jason pulled a straight face. "Juicy food, isn't it?"
Everybody ignored him. "The Unicorn may know what was going on. If someone is helping the Unicorn, we should find them out."
Janelle opened her mouth to speak, but a wave of dizziness hit her with so much force that she almost blacked out.
When her sight cleared, Questilsa said. "You are still weak and it drained too much of your strength when you told us of Steven. Take some rest before you died of tiredness. Though I dislike you, I still don't like people dying all around me. It's annoying, you know. It is always me who need to clean up the mess they left behind."
"I am not resting until we got out of here," she said indignantly. "Jason, check on the Unicorn?"
She braced her hand against the ground when another wave of dizziness hit her.
"Just do not talk unless necessary," Questilsa ordered and turned to Jason. "And, yes, Jason. Do as she said."
"It is gone," Kate spoke up.
The others three turned and looked at her.
"I can feel it. It is gone. At least, not the same spot it was at. It must…"
Jason gave a muffled scream suddenly. All eyes went to him.
"Well?" Questilsa broke the ice.
"Can't… can't you hear that?" he whirled around and turned back to them, his eyes wide with absolute fear.
"Hear what?" Kate scowled.
"That voice?" Jason was trembling now. It was the first time Janelle ever saw him tremble in front of anyone but her.
She ignored her leg's protest and Questilsa's glare. She stood up, hobbled to Jason and hugged his arm with hers arms. "What did you hear?"
"A voice," he whispered. "A strange voice. It was very loud, so loud that I thought it busted my brain."
"Not your ears?" Questilsa asked.
"I…" his voice faltered. "I don't know."
"Ah," leaning heavily on Jason, Janelle called out into the darkness. "Come here, Unicorn, we won't hurt you."
First it was silence. Then the sound of hooves clapping against the ground.
A Unicorn stood there. Its mane was ink black, making the blood on its forehead startling silver.
"What's your name?" she smiled at it.
"Zac," it was Jason who answered. "It said its name was Zac."
Beside Janelle, Questilsa went rigid. Janelle wondered why. A few moments later, she understood.
Zac. Zack. Zackline.
She touched Questilsa's shoulder, but the Witch didn't look at her.
Jason stared at Zac for a few more moments, his mouth slightly opened with something between fear and surprise and awe. Then he turned to the others. "Can you hear that?"
"No. Only you can, dumbass, the way I can listen to Jet."
Zac made some weird sound. Janelle took a wild guess as a chuckle. It proved her right when Jason glared at it with an obvious shut up.
"Zac said it was a group of Dwarves that brought him here a few years ago," he stopped, his head turned to Zac with his brows scowled. "Okay, he wasn't sure if it was a few years or not. He never cares about time. But they throws human inside once a month to keep him well-supplied with food/blood."
"Who are those Dwarves?" Questilsa asked.
Jason listened for a moment. "Bloodsucker said that he didn't know…" Zac stepped onto Jason's boot. "Ouch!"
"I like you, Zac. Next time, bite off some of his hair. He won't like it," Janelle told Zac with appreciation, who looked back at her with something like a grin on his face.
"Good. You've got a friend against me now," Jason groaned.
Janelle grinned but then turned serious. "Zac, we need to find the Sword. Jason's sword. Do you know where is it?"
"He did," Jason translated. "Get on my back."
Everyone stared at him with a grin on her face.
"I mean," he corrected. "Get on Zac's back."
Zac neighed.
"Oh…" Jason frowned. "He said he was still weak from years of imprisonment in here. He could only carry three people."
"I'll stay," Janelle volunteered immediately.
"But…"
"With this stupid leg, I am totally useless. The piece of trash will stay behind. Zac, there is no danger in here, right?"
Zac nodded.
"See? Go, you guys," she shooed them away.
They scowled but reluctantly climbed on Zac's back. They rode away, leaving Janelle with her ball of fire and Steven Compton's corpse.
"The last time I left Janelle, she almost died," Jason protested as he rode.
Well, it is me who try to kill her, but as I won't kill her now, you can relax.
"You bloodsucker," he groaned and almost screamed when Zac came to a sudden stop.
Zac chuckled and announced, here we are! The Sword of Jason's Boiyafinam.
"Weird name," he frowned and slid off Zac. The others followed his lead.
They stopped in front of a huge stone door. Jason turned to Zac. "What is inside?"
No idea. I just knew it was inside.
Questilsa found the handle of the door and pulled. It didn't move.
"Let me try," Jason grabbed the handle from her and pulled as hard as he could.
He kept forgetting about his new found strength. He jerked so hard that the handle fell right off, but at least the door moved and left enough space for them to slip in.
Questilsa walked in first. Jason followed. A few feet behind the door strings dangled from the low doorway and touched the ground, forming a curtain of stained dark strings. Questilsa carefully pushed the strings aside and peeked inside.
"Oh, gods," she gasped and stepped inside. Jason followed and stared.
The first thing that caught his eyes were shining light.
All around the ground were hills of jewelleries. They were everywhere. Gold, silver, diamonds, crystals, beads, gems, emerald… everywhere.
"Gods, we are gonna be rich," he muttered.
"Don't touch any of them," Questilsa warned. "They might be cursed."
"I don't…"
"Just don't touch any."
"Guys," Kate called out.
Jason and Questilsa turned at her. She had her knife drawn, but instead of using it to fight, she was using it to wipe the jewelleries off something like a table.
"Your blade might be curse, Katherine," Questilsa told her.
"Good. I am going to leave it here. This stupid thing is unbalanced."
The other two approached her and Jason realized it wasn't a table.
It was a coffin.
Questilsa pulled on gloves and pulled the coffin out from under the jewelleries hills. Everyone stared at it.
It was golden, with pictures crafted onto it. Diamonds and pearls were inlayed into the surface, gleaming palely.
It would be the moment when Jason noticed that the room was filled of light. He was so awed with all those jewelleries that he didn't even notice the Light of Obvious shining around.
He glanced around and saw a window with bright light shining in. They were almost at the surface of the pyramid.
"The lid… there is no knob or hinge or anything holding it," Kate pointed with a trembling finger.
"It is a string that was holding the lid with the coffin," Questilsa noted.
Questilsa reached and trailed the silver string with a gloved finger. The string was very thin, so thin that Jason almost neglected it. But it was also very long, swirling all around the coffin. He saw something like a tube connected at the end of the string. On the tube was words that he didn't understand.
"Tilsa?" the word left his mouth before he knew it. Instantly, he received a blow at the back of his head.
Questilsa knelt down beside him and studied the tube. "to the Sorceress who lead the Bane of Power."
"That means…"
"Me," Questilsa frowned and touched the tube. When it didn't move when Jason touched it, it snapped around Questilsa's bare wrist instantly.
"What the hell?" Questilsa yelled and jerked her wrist back.
The string moved. It shrank towards the tube until the entire string was folded inside the tube around Questilsa's wrist.
Everyone stared at the whip. Questilsa flicked her wrist, and the string shot and slashed out, cutting the gold bar by her feet into two.
"It is not a string. It is a whip," Kate whispered. "A whip made for you, Questilsa!"
Instead of answering, Questilsa reached out and shoved the lid off the coffin.
"So only I can open the door and only you can open the lid. Great working with you, Witch," Jason turned away from her and peeked inside. "Uh."
Inside the coffin was a person wrapped up in yellowish white cloth like bandages that was stained dark with time, but the outline of a person was clear.
"A mummy," Kate made some whimpering sound. "I never thought I would see one with my own eyes."
Jason reached down. He had no idea where did that courage came from, but his eyes were on the sword, which was under the mummy's crossed arms.
He touched it and his hand jerked back. The power from the sword sapped at him so much that his fingertip stung. He remembered when Janelle touched her Sword for the first time.
Then he grabbed it and yanked it out of the mummy's grasp.
And the ground opened and swallowed them.
Jason fell and for a moment his life flashed in front of him. He saw a little Janelle running in her pink dress, her hair flying behind her. He saw the house 13, he saw Questilsa with her fierce gray eyes.
And stopped.
He looked up and realized why. Kate had a hand grabbing the back of his shirt and grabbing Questilsa's hand with the other. Questilsa was at the top, her free hand holding something…
"Are all three of you down there?" he heard Janelle's strained voice.
Janelle. His little sister. He almost sobbed.
"Grab the whip… tie it somewhere…" he heard Questilsa's tight voice. "Help me… grab the edge of the floor."
"I think I am about to let go," Kate squeaked.
Jason grabbed hold of her ankle with one hand and clutched his Sword with the other. "Then let go of me and grabbed onto Questilsa with both of your hands, bitch!"
Kate didn't protested. She grabbed Questilsa's ankles like Jason did so Questilsa could hold them up with both of her hands.
He shuddered when he realized Questilsa was bearing three people's weight. If she let go, all three of them are going to die.
He knew he shouldn't blame her if he really let go, but still, he would blame her.
Why was him thinking these?
He shook his head and tightened his grip on Kate's ankles. And when he looked up, he realized the floor was closing up above them. If it really closed, Questilsa would be forced to let go, and…
"Done!" Janelle's cry.
"Hold on tight, guys," Questilsa called down. Then they shot up like rocket.
He felt his arms brushing both edges of the closing floor as he sailed up. When he fell back and hit the floor, it was already closed.
All three of them sat on the floor, panting. Janelle was standing near, her eyes wide.
"How…" Kate whispered.
"I tied Questilsa's string around that thing," she pointed at the bars of the window. "And then I don't know what happened."
"I knew neither me nor Janelle was strong enough to pull all of us up, so I made the whip shot back into the handle," Questilsa explained. "And as it was tied to the bar, it pulled us up."
"Whoa," Jason collapsed. "Whoa."
"How did you come here?" Kate turned to Janelle.
"Zac came back for me after you guys went in here," she explained. "And just found you guys falling. I managed to seize Questilsa's wrist before all of you die."
Jason closed his eyes. He was that close to death.
"Jason… did you drop the sword?"
"No," he held it out. Then he grabbed the hilt and unsheathed it.
Instantly, golden light filled the room. It was nothing like Aklasava. It glowed pure gold, and instead of silvery light and white mist, it was fierce and bright, as if an aura of lava flames licked around it. Just as Janelle explained, he felt power surging through him, the hilt warm and cold at the same time, the wood sheath rough and smooth at the same time. He saw the letter j on the hilt. His initial, the same as Janelle's. he could also see the word Boiyafinam on it.
He saw Janelle raising an eyebrow. "Wow."
Jason found his eyes on Questilsa.
She was beaming.