The Secret of the Stones by Ernest Dempsey (reading fiction .TXT) 📕

Tommy shrugged. “All I know is that this amulet is probably the next piece to the puzzle and…” While he spoke, his right hand reached over and grasped the stone disc, lifting it off of the podium.

As soon as Tommy had lifted the weight, the ground beneath them started vibrating. Ulrich and his cohort braced themselves by bending their knees and putting their arms out to their sides. Sean grabbed Tommy’s wrist and looked quickly at where the stone had just been resting a moment before. A small button protruded from the center of the pedestal.

“Not good,” Sean said quickly.

As he did, the grinding sound of stone on stone filled the room as the floor began slowly rising toward the ceiling

“Put it back, Schultzie!” Sean shouted over the noise.

Tommy’s obeyed immediately, realizing what was happening. He hurriedly put the disc back on the top of the stand. As expected, the floor stopped moving. It had risen about three feet closer to the ceiling.

“Don’t do that again,” Allyson requested.

Ulrich and the guard frantically looked around, concerned the floor might begin moving up again, and if it did, they were jumping back to the main floor where it was safe.

Puzzled, Tommy and Sean looked at the stone cube before them, trying to interpret the hieroglyphs.

“Always good to read the instructions before you activate a three-thousand-year-old death trap,” Tommy commented with a sideways glance at his friend. “Must be some kind of weight and counterweight system.”

Sean snorted a quick laugh. “Yeah. This looks like a story of some kind.” He ran his finger across the stone.

“Two men of truth, bring a gift to the great god,” Tommy translated. “By giving up what they had, it looks like the glory of the gods was revealed to them.”

Sean moved around to the other side of the pedestal. The epiphany hit him. “The other disc. We must have to put it on this thing with the other stone.”

Tommy stepped around to look at what his friend had found. A two-inch-deep circle had been cut into the stone. “It makes sense now. According to the story, whoever finds their way here must bring the first disc and leave it before they can find what they seek.”

Ulrich was now leaning in close to monitor the discussion while Flattop stood back, still uncertain about what was going on.

Feeling in his coat pocket, Sean produced the original stone disc.

“Boy, am I glad you brought that,” Tommy sighed, eyeing the artifact with relief.

“Yeah.” Sean crouched down to one knee. The circular indention in the stone podium mirrored the carving of the two birds, except that the two birds were raised, not indented like on the medallion. Quickly, he removed the spider disc from the top and slid the stone into place and pressed it down firmly. Somewhere in the cavern, there were a few clicks and then silence.

Nothing happened.

“What is the problem now?” Ulrich demanded.

Ignoring the question, Sean then took the medallion with the spider on it and placed it on top of the one Tommy had found.

The ground began shaking again, and the grinding sound of the ancient stones resumed at full decibel. This time, though, instead of rising, the floor began to sink.

“It’s an ancient elevator!” Tommy shouted over the noise as the enormous device continued to move downward.

Sean looked a little more suspicious but was anxious to see where the lift would take them.

The floor above was gone as they descended into a shaft cut perfectly into the sandstone. Then, around the edge of the moving floor, a gap opened up, growing larger and larger until with a thud, the old machine came to a thunderous halt. The eyes of its passengers searched the dark corners of the room cautiously. Resting on either side of the stone lift were two enormous golden obelisks pointing majestically toward the ceiling of the room. Their torches and flashlights flickered off of the walls.

Sean stepped off the platform toward something that looked like a bronze birdbath. With a quick nod, Ulrich motioned for the guard to follow Wyatt.

Arriving at the large dish, Sean looked inside it briefly then touched his torch to the material it contained. Immediately, the fuel roared to life, lighting up the entire quarter of the room.

What their eyes beheld was more stunning than anything they had ever imagined. Sean stepped backward a moment, nearly bumping into the guard, who stumbled briefly then caught his balance.

Before them was an entire wall made from square golden panels.

Tommy barely spoke above a whisper. “We’re here.”

57

Eastern Georgia

Tommy hopped down from the stone platform and rushed over to the wall. He ran his finger over the incredible pieces of yellow metal. It was more amazing that anything he had ever seen.

Ulrich, too, seemed in awe of the scene. He moved almost unconsciously from the platform of the elevator to the main floor of the chamber, his mouth slightly agape at the sight as he moved closer to the shimmering partition.

The wall made of pure gold stretched forty feet from corner to corner, reaching around twelve feet in height. Its shiny surface was covered with hieroglyphic pictures and strange text, similar in appearance to the words on the original medallion Tommy had found. Four other dishes accented the corners of the room. In between the dishes were four stone boxes resting on the floor. They looked like sarcophagi, but Tommy wasn’t sure. The large containers had the same odd-looking words chiseled into them.

“This…it’s incredible. I had no idea it would be so…spectacular.” His voice choked.

Sean smiled, half-excited, half-desperate to find a way for them to survive. He knew they only had a few minutes to make their move. Stepping over to the wall on his left with Flattop in tow,