The Minoan Legacy

by R G Peterson

  “Anyway, it says, ‘One will surpass the other and obtain his rightful place with command over all. After twenty days water adopts wind’ – at least that’s the way we read it – ‘upsetting nature.’ ”

  Nick turned to the third section of the wall and went on, “ ‘Water turns to wind, wind turns to fire, fire becomes earth and earth absorbs everything, its advent after three hundred-sixty days, with the rival’…here again you can use either ‘surpass’ or ‘vanquished.’ ” Nick shrugged.

  He stopped reading and remained perfectly still. Everyone turned to Nick and gave him a ‘what’s up’ look.

  Finally Maddy said, “Go on then. Tell us what the last part says.”

  “Um, I can’t.”

  “Whadayeh mean, yeh can’?”

  “I understand some of the symbols, like this one and this one and this one,” Nick said as he pointed to the various hieroglyphs around the fourth wall. “But they’re in combinations I don’t quite understand. You’ve got to realize, although I’ve been able to read most of this stuff and it comes easier to me than most people, it’s not the same as the Minoan writings.” He paused and then restated what they had already learned. “Like I said, whoever passed on the ability to read the Minoan script also passed on a little of the ability to read a lot of other languages like this, but not to the same…uh, uh.”

  “Degree?” Grace offered.

  “Yeah, that’s it. It’s a lot harder for me. It takes time to figure it all out.”

  Grace took charge. “Okay, AJ, you and Anthony take pictures of the room. All of it, just to be sure. But in particular take close ups of this wall.” She pointed to the fourth and last wall in the enclosed room. Then said, “Get a few large pictures and then zoom in on sections, then individual glyphs. Okay?”

  The two boys nodded, pulled cameras from Grace’s backpack and began shooting pictures. Anthony focused on the first three walls and let AJ concentrate on the fourth. When AJ had finished, they switched and started over again.

  “There,” AJ said when he put the cameras back. “Let’s go.”

  They turned to the closed wall and stopped. Everyone turned to Nick who examined the wall from afar then up close. When he stepped back again, he shook his head and raised his hands palms up in an I-don’t-have-a-clue motion.

  “Quit screwing around,” Terry said to Nick exasperated.

  “No, seriously, bro. I don’t know. There’s nothing there. Look.” He pointed at the wall as if Terry could read it as well as he could. Terry shook his head in disgust.

  Grace sidled up to Nick and wrapped her arm inside of his and whispered, “You’re not kidding. Are you?”

  Nick shook his head and turned to look at her. “Unless there’s something hidden in the glyphs to tell us, I really don’t know.

  AJ, who had crept up to overhear the conversation, cried out, “Oh man. Here we go again.”

  To which Anthony asked, “How much air do you think we have left?”

  Chapter 44

  “My brain is futzy”

  It didn’t take long to answer the question as the seven of them realized they were using what little air there was much too fast.

  Grace once more took control. “Anthony, look for something on that end. Terry, you’ve got the next section. Miriam, you’ve got that end over there. Maddy, you’re next to her. Then AJ. Nick, you’ve got the middle. I’ll start here.”

  They examined the wall through which they had entered. They searched by sight, by feel and even by placing their ears against the wall. They stood on tiptoes and knelt on the ground. They switched positions as each took on a new section of the wall. They pushed and pulled on various parts hoping to open the door by sheer force. More than an hour later they hadn’t discovered a way to exit the room. Looks of fear and panic crept across everyone’s face. No one wanted to state the obvious. They were trapped and about to die. A feeling of resignation overcame the room.

  No one spoke until Miriam moaned, “Wow, I feel light headed.”

  She took a wobbly step and went down. AJ caught her and lowered her gently to the floor. Seconds later Maddy, Anthony, Nick and Grace slumped to the floor as well.

  “I don’t feel so good,” Grace said. She held out her arm and showed everyone how her muscles were twitching.

  After laying Miriam down, AJ took a few steps back and leaned against the opposite wall. He and Terry were the last ones standing in a battle of wills to see who was the strongest.

  Maddy looked at AJ, then Terry and said, “Yeh two are bein’ stupid. Sit down before yeh fall down and hurt yerself.”

  AJ slid down the wall until he was seated cross-legged and said, “Man, I can’t think straight anymore. My brain is futzy.”

  Maddy, slumped on the floor across from him, raised her head to look at AJ and perked up. She crawled across the floor and put both hands on either side of AJ’s face. He smiled at her weakly thinking she was going to give him one last kiss.

  Instead she tilted his head to the side and smiled. She turned to look at Grace. “What did yeh say earlier ‘bout thinkin’ the answer would be found in the sixth pyramid, Gracie dear?”

  She placed her fingers on a barely discernable outline of a small Mayan symbol and held out her hand signaling for Grace to hand her something.

  “What?” Grace asked confused and groggy.

  “The statue, my dear.”

  Grace handed it to her and Maddy swept away the years of dust covering the wall where she had placed her fingers. With shaking hands she placed the image on the outline and, with an effort so great she grunted, she pushed it into the wall and it gave way, opening into another even smaller nine-by-nine room with a six and a half foot ceiling.

  They stepped in and gulped in foul smelling but oxygenated air. Once again the door swung closed after a minute. And once more they played their flashlights off the surrounding walls.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” AJ exclaimed.

  Chapter 45

  “This one is different. I’m positive.”

  The same Mayan symbols adorned the walls. As Nick scanned the room he said, “See here is where the mural starts. And like the other room we just left, it’s the same…”

  “What is it, Nick?” Grace asked.

  “Well, it’s the same up to here. But this wall looks different than the last room. I can’t be sure because my brains a little futzy,” he said with a chuckle mimicking AJ.

  “AJ, Anthony, do your thing, please,” Grace said, pointing to the wall Nick had referenced.

  When they were done she said, “Okay, let’s move on. This should be the fifth pyramid wall. One more to go.”

  They scanned the far wall from where they entered and soon located another place to insert Grace’s icon. She placed it in the slot and pushed once more. The wall moved forward and they ducked and entered a large chamber. The room was twice the size of the first room, with another wall to ceiling mural. Nick turned and examined the wall painting. He stepped toward the wall to his left and looked up to the far corner. He scanned it and moved clockwise as he read. He continued on to the next wall and slowly moved along its length. When he reached the corner he made one more right hand turn and continued to read in silence. Turning to the fourth wall he glanced up at the top most corner and stopped. He stepped back moving to the center of the room, folded his arms and contemplated the fourth wall. Everyone stepped behind him to give him unencumbered access to read it.

  After a minute he began to shake his head. “This one is different. I’m positive. It seems like the fourth wall in every room says something new. You know what I mean?”

  He glanced around at the others who were nodding.

  “You have any idea?” Terry asked anxiously.

  “Sorry, no. I’ll need some time to examine them, I guess. Hopefully, it’ll be clearer once I have the translation book in front of me to help. Sorry,” he added a second time.

  “AJ, Anthony,” Grace announced.

 
The two took numerous pictures as they had before, first of the whole wall and then sections of it followed by close-ups of the individual glyphs.

  “Okay,” AJ said when he had put the camera away. “Let’s go home.”

  Everyone turned expectantly to Nick. “What? Hey, I’m just as clueless as the rest of you.”

  “Oh man,” AJ said expressing the exasperation everyone else felt. Without another word they all started to search for something that might signal their way out. They scoured every inch of the walls, but saw nothing that looked like it might lead to a way back to Balankanche Cave.

  After ten minutes Grace suggested, “Look for a place on the floor like in the Cherney Maribel Cave.”

  They looked down at their feet. They could see the dust accumulation of thousands of years and the areas where they had all tread since they had arrived. Grace dropped to her knees and began wiping away the dust to see what lie beneath. The others soon joined her.

  Miriam, who was inches away from the far wall, shouted, “Here!”

  The rest made their way to where she knelt and saw a slight indentation in the floor where Grace’s statue would fit once more. She placed it on the spot and gave a gentle push. A wormhole opened.

  AJ started to jump through, but Nick grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Wait a sec. I think I should go first. Just in case.”

  “Just in case, what?” AJ asked.

  “In case we have unwanted greeters.”

  “Unwanted greeters?”

  “Is yer brain still futzy?” Maddy asked him as she tapped him gently on his head. “We don’ know what Thanatos is playin’ at. He might have sent his goons ta do somethin’ when we get back ta the cave, don’ yeh think?”

  “Um, oh yeah. I guess.” Left unsaid was AJ’s lack of powers to do anything about it if there were indeed other Elements waiting for them. Dejected, he stepped behind the others, as far away from the wormhole as he could possibly stand.

  While they had been discussing it the wormhole closed once more.

  Grace removed the statue from its resting place, waited a few seconds and positioned it back on the floor. As she pushed it again, the wormhole materialized. Nick started to jump through but Terry grabbed his arm.

  “Let me go first. They think I’m The One and they won’t hurt me.” Nick nodded and Terry jumped through.

  It had taken so long that the wormhole closed once more. “Quick, open it again. Terry’s in trouble.”

  Chapter 46

  “Get the bottle of water out of your backpack”

  Nick received a second vision and amended his order. “Get the bottle of water out of your backpack.”

  There was something in the way Nick said it that made Grace hesitate.

  “Hurry!” he ordered.

  Grace extracted the half-gallon bottle of water and handed it to Nick who was now holding the icon in place on the floor. He counted to eighteen in his head, said, “I love you,” and jumped through the wormhole taking Grace’s icon with him, leaving the rest stuck there.

  As Nick landed in the vestibule he took in what was happening. It was just as his vision had shown. Thanatos held Terry as he and four of his loyal Elements waited for the Clan to arrive. When he realized Nick would be the only one, Thanatos said, “Destroy him.”

  As they moved to obey Thanatos’ command, Nick tipped his hand and poured the entire contents of the bottle of water on the vestibule floor. He gave a backhanded wave and the water rushed forward toward Thanatos’ men as if it were a heat-seeking missile. Undeterred, Water and Wind marched through it in unison, determined to overpower Nick. As the water neared Earth and Fire, however, they backed away, feared etched on their faces. The water stalked and overtook them. Nick bent down and froze it, encasing them up to their ankles in ice. As they tried in vain to extract themself, they yelled to their friends for help. Water turned back and bent down to unfreeze his friends.

  Terry kicked off his flip-flop, reached out his foot and sent a strong electric current into the trapped Elements. Earth, the closest Element to Terry, received the brunt of the charge. He began to shake violently, his head began to smoke and his hair caught fire. The intense heat coming off his body thawed the ice. The electrical charge threw Water backward toward Nick.

  Earth, his whole body engulfed in flames, stumbled blindly around the vestibule, turning this way and that, his arms extended in front of him desperately seeking help, while his screams of pain and terror bounced off the walls.

  Nick looked on in horror and revulsion as the sight propelled his mind back to Westford, Massachusetts, when he had done something similar to Thanatos’ man who he thought had killed Grace.

  Thanatos retreated as Earth lurched toward him beseeching him for help. Earth toppled forward, knocking Terry free of Thanatos’ grip.

  Thanatos looked upon his fallen servant and Nick heard him say, “Oh well. That is unfortunate,” but without sincerity. Thanatos recovered and reached out to take hold of Terry once more, but before he could grab hold of him, Terry morphed into a black panther and sprinted toward Nick.

  As everyone stared aghast at Earth, Nick received another vision. Seeing his friend perish, Fire would redouble his efforts to attack and obliterate Nick, determined more than ever to turn him into a second human torch.

  As Fire came out of his stupor, he jumped to his feet and lunged at Nick, screaming, “Tha se skotoso! Tha se skotoso!”

  Nick didn’t need Grace’s translation app to know what Fire was yelling. The hatred and fury in Fire’s eyes said it all, “I’ll kill you!” When Fire was but a few feet away, Nick twirled his arm overhead in a whip-like motion. A whirlpool of air swirled around the vestibule temporarily blinding everyone as they threw their arms in front of their eyes to protect them from the stirring grit and debris.

  Fire peeked around his forearm and inched toward Nick. With his other arm fully extended he reached out, desperate to make contact.

  When he was mere inches from touching Nick, Terry intervened. He leapt from six feet away and took a vicious swipe with his claws. The attack was so swift and sudden that it took a second for Fire to realize his hand was missing just above his wrist. He screamed out in pain and pulled his injured arm into his body. Terry took a second swing at him and sliced his stomach wide open, eviscerating him. Fire looked at his torn body in horror before he dropped to his knees and landed face first on the floor. His eyes blank. Staring at nothing. Once more Nick looked on in shock seeing his brother kill a second man with little hesitation or regret.

  As Thanatos watched the events unfold, he smiled then reeled away from the twins. “I think it is best I leave,” Nick heard him say. He scurried to the hidden door and out of sight.

  Nick and Terry stood between Thanatos’ two remaining Elements – Water and Wind – and their escape route. Water bent down, touched the water pooled on the floor and swept his arm upward. It formed a barrier meant to protect he and Wind. Terry morphed back into his human form, stepped up to the wall of water and stopped. He reached out his hand and sent a powerful electric current through the water, but because neither Element was in direct contact with it, it did no good.

  Nick watched mystified at Terry’s futile attempt. When Terry pulled his hand back and gaped at it as if it had betrayed him, Nick stepped forward through the barrier and brought it crashing to the floor.

  Wind shouted something to his partner in Greek and they turned to run. Nick and Terry reacted at the same time.

  Nick reached out and lightly poked Water in the chest. All of the air rushed from his lungs and he began to gasp for breath, he dropped to his knees as his hands flew to his throat, his eyes bulging as he gasped for breath that failed to come.

  The Wind Element morphed into an eagle, but as he launched himself, Terry reached up and electrocuted him, stopping his heart. Wind turned back into his human form in mid-air and clutched his chest. A look of agony spread across his face as he crashed to the earth. His body drooped and he laid fa
ce first on the concrete floor, dead.

  As he fell, an enraged Terry spun and reached out to send an even stronger electric charge through Water, but before he could touch him, Nick screamed, “That’s enough. They’re done. Let him go.”

  With a mighty effort Terry pulled his hand back and glared at Nick. He spat out in malice, “We should kill them all. Every last one of them.”

  Nick shook his head and calmly added, “There’s been enough death for one day. Besides, we need him alive to send a message back to Thanatos.”

  Terry’s fierce glare turned distant. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  Nick reached down and touched Water allowing him to breathe once more. “I hope you understand English. Tell your boss to leave us alone, but if he wants a war, tell him we’re ready.” Nick stared at the last remaining Element for a few seconds then added, “You’d better be gone by the time we get back. Oh, and make sure you take your buddies with you.”

  To make sure he understood, Nick pointed at him then the three dead Elements and mimed for him to take them back with him. Water took in large gulps of air as he scrambled away from the twins not sure if they would change their mind and kill him as well. He cowered against the wall with his knees pulled into his chest and his hands up pleading for mercy.

  Terry gave him a disdainful glare. Nick tugged on his arm and motioned for him to come along. They raced to the World Tree and entered the code for the pyramid near Puebla. They used Grace’s statue to make their way back to the others. When the door to the sixth pyramid swung open, Miriam, Maddy, AJ and Anthony all greeted them excitedly. Grace didn’t.

  “What happened?” AJ asked in eager anticipation.

  “We’ll tell you once we get back home.”

  Grace would not be mollified. She glared at Nick and refused to let him touch her. When he tried to take hold of her arm, she jerked it away so hard Nick thought she was going to throw out her shoulder.