Chapter Two: Blinded By The Light

CHAPTER TWO

"Blinded By The Light"

Andrew lifted the torch and dusted himself off. Almost at once he had to shield his eyes. He lowered the torch and realized that he was standing in a large room that was painted in gold. The torch was reflecting light brilliantly off of the metallic coated walls, and Andrew was all but blinded. He rubbed his eyes in amazement. Cautiously he knelt down and felt the floor; it too was covered in the reflective material. He was surrounded by stone that was crammed with writing; not hieroglyphic but Greek.

In disturbing this ancient space he had hurled dust all around the room and it was sparkling in the glow from the gold creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The mustiness was almost unbearable and he pulled his shirt over his nose for relief. The walls were devoid of painting other than the bullion colored veneer. All of the writing was painstakingly etched. Andrew may have been the first person in 2000 years to set foot within the gilded chamber.

Down below Jahim and his men no longer needed their torches as the glow emanating from above illuminated the entire corridor they were standing in. At the sight of this, some of his men turned around and scurried out of the labyrinth, mumbling about curses and other maladies. Jahim watched his men nervously pack up and leave. Unfazed by their cowardice he wiped the sweat from his brow and turned back toward the opening in the ceiling.

The room was almost perfectly square and about 10 feet high. Andrew set his torch over the opening in the floor of the chamber to dissipate the flame’s light so that he could see more clearly. In doing so dust was dropped on his men down below. This prompted worried calls, seeing if he was alright above. After reassuring Jahim and what was left of his men, Andrew turned his attention to scanning the rest of the etchings. There was one area devoid of writing except for one word. Above this was what looked like a circle cut into the gold covered stone. He walked up and took a closer look. Having a professor of classical studies as your father was helpful in situations like this because he forced his son to read the Greek classics in their native tongue. Upon closer inspection the word below the circle was a name: Libanius. He couldn’t immediately place it.

Andrew studied the circle with great care and decided that it must be some sort of button. He dusted around the carving and it was obviously more than just an etching. Knowing that it could very well be booby trapped he decided to push it in anyways. He closed his eyes while he depressed the button expecting a large stone to drop on him or arrows to be flung from hidden firing holes.

The button slowly slid into the wall and stopped. Andrew opened his eyes to find his body, as well as the chamber intact. Directly behind him, on the other side of the room, came the sound of stone grinding on stone. He whipped around to see a small compartment being revealed on the opposite side of the chamber.

Andrew could hardly contain himself. He rushed to the other side of the room expecting some sort of magnificent piece of history. Instead when he knelt down and gazed in the compartment, he found what looked like a piece of leather, shriveled and bunched up sitting on a small gold pedestal. He studied the artifact looking for anything that may clue him in on its significance. He tempted fate and reached for the ancient relic fully expecting fire and brimstone once he removed it from its perch. This time like the last, nothing happened. He slipped it into his satchel and made for the opening in the floor without hesitating. He was not going to stick around and find out what trap he was going to fall into.

Andrew slid down onto the outcrop and beckoned for his trusty sidekick to come over. He climbed down off of the ledge, all covered in dust. Jahim helped him onto his shoulders. He immediately leaped to the floor of the corridor.

“Jahim lets get out of here!” Andrew gasped.

They exchanged excited looks and started running. Neither of them said a word.