The Seven Swords of Diya: An Indiana Jones Fan Fiction - Part 2

Chapter 306: Cave, Kamchatka Wilderness, Soviet Union, 1960

Cave

Kamchatka Wilderness

Soviet Union

1960

"Lizavet!" Shorty lunged for the edge of the cliff, his voice echoing above and below.

Indy hauled him back. "She's not there, Shorty. She opened a door to the Unseen Realm."

"In the world of the dead, that's bad news," Emily murmured.

Shorty turned to her, holding his cigarette lighter. "We've got to find her!"

Emily winced lowering her fedora. "I know, Shorty. Dad... what do you see?"

Indy paused. "I hate doing this."

"You're the only one who can see into the Unseen Realm," Emily reminded him.

Indy shut his eyes to the darkness.

They all listened to the odd silence of trapped water dripping through the cave, while ice seethed and groaned around them.

"LIZAVET!" Shorty yelled.

"Nothing," Indy murmured. "I can't see a damned thing. Em?"

She moved to the edge. "Nothing. But if she fell..."

"We would have heard a splash... or a crack... and a... scream," Indy finished.

"No!" Shorty moved to the edge, laid down and yelled into the chasm. "LIZAVET!"

Indy turned to the strange glowing eye-like spirals, staring through the convoluted rock formations. "The spirals are fading. If we don't get there soon, we're not going to get out of this cave system."

"We're just leaving?!" Shorty blurted. "You wouldn't have left me in the Temple of Doom?"

"Shorty!" Indy grabbed the young man by the shoulders. "She's not here. Lizavet is not in the cave system! She used her shaman skills to help her survive - and we've got to trust that she's surviving somewhere."

"In... in the weird, unseen....realm? With the apkallu?" Shorty's voice cracked. "I want her with us!"

"Yeah. That's all we've got. That's all we can see with the evidence before us." Indy paused. "I guess this is where some faith comes in... we have to trust that Lizavet's instincts will let her survive."

"They will," Emily answered. "The apkallu wanted children with me. He said so. Which means, they'll have to keep her alive. At least for a little while."

"I don't like that! I don't want her hurt like you are!"

"No one wanted that, Shorty," Indy replied. "Least of all Em or me."

Indy took the rope. "Em... how's your vision?"

"The shaman stuff is wearing off. I do have some extra that Lizavet made," Emily reached into her bag and took a hard swallow of something. "Aw, this stuff is awful. You want some? I think we should all have a chance and ability to see."

"No," Indy answered. "You take that for yourself as you need it. There's no reason that Shorty and I need to see if we're following you." His hand bumped hers, "Take the rope, find the end, we'll tie it around each other and you can lead us through."

"To the glowing spirals?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. I've got a bad feeling we have to go through that before we can get out of this hellhole," Indy replied. He looked at their swords. "They're not glowing anymore."

"And Lizavet was wearing two of the swords," Emily remembered.

"Damn!" Shorty snarled.

"That means they have two of the swords," Indy mused. "Plus wherever the seventh one is."

Emily looked at her father. "That means they'll try to take a hostage, right?"

"Its what the Nazis did with your mother. And evil plays by the same book throughout history."

"Good thing I've read other books," Emily replied. "Ready? Secured? Belay?"

Indy tightened the rope at his waist. "Ready. Secure. Shorty?"

"Ready. Secure. Belay on. We have to rescue Lizavet!"