Sam racked his brain, but for once, he was stuck. He had no idea how to beat the pendulum. After a careful analysis, they came to the conclusion that there was no way to go over it, under it, or around it. The only plausible option was to somehow stop it.
Except they had no idea how. It looked like an unstoppable truck coming towards them again and again. Sam had spotted the mechanism responsible for the swinging somewhere on the left, barely perturbing from the wall, but they couldn't reach it to try to jam it, and didn't really have anything to jam it with.
As the time ticked by together with the pendulum, they searched for alternative doors along the walls not covered by tiny spikes, but only managed to find an exit out of the temple and into a large dune of sand, just as the corridor leading to the pendulum ended. After a few hours of digging, they'd secured their way out, but were no closer to fulfilling their task.
So they retreated to the burial room to rest, eating away time, batteries and water they couldn't afford. Going thirsty wasn't an option either. They needed to be able to focus, to have enough strength for the way back.
"We're so close. So damn close," Sam muttered.
"I have an idea, but it's morbid as fuck," Tom said from his spot on the floor. Everyone turned to him and he elaborated. "I'm thinking that uncle D's crashed side isn't a coincidence. Maybe we could stuff him into the mechanism and jam it."
Sam winced and was actually glad Jerry wasn't there for the first time. He'd probably die of outrage at the suggestion that they stick their dead relative in an ancient mechanism.
"Ew," Angie muttered.
"As much as I hate to say it, bones are sturdier than this furniture, and it's the only thing that would fit in there," Kyle said. "What?" he asked when everyone stared at him. "I've been considering throwing everything into that thing, including the sarcofagi."
Damn it, Kyle was right. There was nothing else that would fit and actually had the chance to stop it, even if it meant desecrating a corpse.
"Family vote? Who's for throwing uncle D into the trap?"
Everyone raised their hands, including the girls. He smiled, pleased that they considered themselves family. He wanted them to be, including Angie who was still putting such an effort into ignoring Tom for whatever reason. They could do this together.
"I guess that settles it." Kyle pushed himself off the wall and headed back into the hallway.
They all followed and crammed into the small space while Kyle picked up the corpse. There was no surprise when his legs fell off. What did surprise Sam was how little remorse he felt about it.
"Okay, we get one shot. Let's make it good," Kyle said to himself.
Sam held his breath as his brother took aim and launched the skeleton into the mechanism. A flaying arm hit the pendulum and flew off, into the wall above them. The rest of the body hit the target. For half a second, the ancient cog screeched before it launched a rain of bones and splinters upon them. They all ducked and covered their heads until the dust and bones settled.
"Well, that's that," Sam mumbled, straightening.
"Now what?" Jessie asked.
Sam bit his lip, trying to decide if his stubbornness to get information was worth all this. "We do have a way out. So it's either we find a way in there, or we just get out and admit defeat."
"We never admit defeat," Tom said, leaning against the wall. He jumped into sitting position as the tiny spikes bit into his skin. "We just need to figure out how to stop this trap."
"I may have another idea," Kyle said, his voice wary.
Sam knew that look. He knew the weird determination settling on his brother's face. "No, you're not doing whatever it is that you're thinking."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Kyle?" Kay took his hand and looked up at him. Her gaze was hazy, her pupils large, and sweat covered her brow.
Despite Kay's tone and her obvious intention to prevent Kyle from doing something stupid, it seemed that seeing her like that only strengthened his resolve.
"Look, we need to get out of here. And we can't have gone through all that, just to walk out. There's still something we can do, and if it doesn't work, then we can consider giving up."
Sam didn't want that to happen. Because whenever it did, Kyle took risks none of them could. And this time, it wasn't different. He pushed Kay aside and stepped back until he touched the spiked wall. His gaze had a focus so intense, it seemed to tear through the stone. Without giving them the chance to say a word, he sprinted forward and rammed into the pendulum right as it was coming towards them.
The impact between body and stone was louder than any sound Sam had ever heard. It seemed to reverberate through his every cell, twist his mind and his senses, even if it only lasted a second. The impact threw Kyle off his feet and back into the wall. His body landed on the stone below with a loud thud.
The pendulum screeched as if to mock their feeble attempt. Except Kyle's plan had worked partially. Even if it didn't stop, the mechanism slowed considerably. Like a ghost, Kay darted towards the skeleton, grabbed a femur, and once the pendulum swayed in the opposite direction, catching speed, she stuck it between the cogs. With a giant wail mixed with the sound of cracking bone, the pendulum stopped.
Kay spent only a second to admire her handy work then immediately rushed to Kyle. Sam shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. It had only lasted maybe five seconds, and now here they were, no traps left, no Kyle left.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Kay kept mumbling. "Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me now."
Sam turned her attention to her and joined the others next to his fallen body. He was obviously unconscious, on his side, blood seeping through his t-shirt on his side, looking like innocent humidity.
"Let me see." Skye knelt next to him and put her hand under his jaw, then around his wrist. "Okay, step one, he's alive. Step two." She turned him over on his front. His back was all covered in blood .
Sam's eyes moved to the wall, to the little spikes decorated with crimson, laughing at him as they savored their tribute.
"Jessie? Come on, we need to disinfect and bandage right now."
Sam moved out of the way, his mind spinning, his heart beating erratically. He'd done this. By failing to come up with a better plan, he'd caused this. Tom, Kay and Angie joined him, Angie holding Kay, Tom looking grim.
"He did it," he mumbled, then looked at Kay. "Both of you did."
"Why is he unconscious?" Kay sniffed.
"He took a pretty hard hit," Sam said, his voice choked. He looked towards the pendulum, hating it and the room it protected, yet feeling an undeniable need to go in there and get it over with.
"Go on," Tom said, obviously reading his mind. "Call us if you need anything."
Sam didn't think he did. He passed by Jessie and Skye who were working their miracles on his brother and climbed over the pendulum. As he crawled along it, he kept analyzing what had just happened. Logically, no one else could've hit that stone hammer hard enough to slow it down, but he still felt like it should've been him.
Was this even worth it? He got down on the other side, nibbling on his lower lip so hard, he drew blood. The entrance was right there, waiting for him to take what he wanted. And yet they price they'd had to pay was imense. How did Herrison get in here last time without Kyle? What did they actually do? Was a fresh corpse more resistant and they managed to stop the mechanism that way? Had their uncle tried the same stunt Kyle did, but found his death instead?
Those jewels were drenched in blood and misery. And still, they had a hold of him he couldn't resist. So he walked into the room that promised to hold all the answers.
This one wasn't a burial room, but a ceremony chamber, altars made out of stone flanking the walls. There was jewelry, pottery and other riches filling every corner of it, and it was obvious that someone had wondered around, dug through them to find... What? A lone stone pedestal in the middle of the room indicated the obvious place where the jewel had once been.
The thought of a young, slightly more innocent Sntich Gravel being in his position, searching that very room had Sam clenching his teeth. That wasn't the image he wanted to take away from all this.
He turned his attention to the walls. The hieroglyphs here were not colorful and didn't speak of rituals. They didn't speak of Isis either or of balance and righteousness. Everything was about Ra. Ra and his chariot flying over the horizon and bestowing his people with the seven jewels. As he studied the curve of the chariot, his heartbeat finally slowed down and he could take his mind off Kyle.
His brother was strong, resilient, and knew what he was doing. Neither Sam nor anyone else in their group could do what he did. So it was time to accept it, be grateful and focus on doing what he had to do, what no one else beside him could.
He found the inscription in the photo fast and took it from there. The people of Egypt took the gifts and polished them to perfection. They were the source of pride for the nation. Sam brushed his fingers against the drawings, enthralled by what he was reading. But keeping the stones sent a curse of fire upon the kingdom. They were gifts and needed to be paid forward. So they were hidden away from each other and... Sam frowned. He couldn't really understand what the symbols meant anymore. The language was very old and flowery.
They were taken away and given. Which makes sense if he completely ignored that the Aztecs became an empire thousands of years after Egypt was not one anymore. He needed to read the writing better.
So he took out his pocket camera and started photographing the walls, aware how much damage his flash was doing to the inscriptions. But this was it. The only clue they had going forward, both them and Snitch Gavel. No more stolen research, no more ideas from other sources.
Once he was done, he put the camera away and started searching the room properly. It was archaeology gold, but there was no sign of other jewels or doors leading into secret corridors. Although, after reading the walls, he wasn't surprised. They'd separated them, because together they brought the end of the world.
The idea sent an uncomfortable knot in Sam's stomach, but he held it down and decided it was time to focus on what was more important than anything in the world, even giant alien jewels. His family.
Skye and Jessie had finished strapping Kyle up by the time Sam climbed back over the pendulum, so he was now lying on his side, still unconscious.
"I think he'll be fine," Skye declared. "It just depends on how hard he hit his head."
"He will be fine," Kay said viciously, already sitting next to him, her hand protectively on his shoulder.
"I'm sure he will," Jessie assured her. "He's too stubborn to die. And too hardheaded. I'm surprised there's no crack in the wall."
Kay actually smiled and turned her exhausted gaze to Sam. "Did you find anything, Sam?"
"Just what I expected. No jewel and more information. Though I won't bore you with it now. We can talk later. It's not something groundbreaking and I couldn't understand all the writing. All that matters is that we won't find more jewels here."
Kay nodded and laid down next to Kyle, cuddling up against him.
"The sun's set," Tom announced. "I suggest we sleep in here rather than out in the sand."
"Yeah, sure. If Kyle wakes up, we'll get going tomorrow morning." He smiled in reassurance, squeezed Tom's shoulder, then made his way outside through the newly dug up exit.
He need the fresh air to clear his thoughts a little and help everything settle. The light of the full moon made the flashlight unnecessary and the stillness of the desert was more than welcomed. He paced around, kicking up small puffs of dust, trying to wrap his head around everything. This was the first time they'd completed a mission without finding a jewel.
Up until the incident with Kyle, they'd come out with nothing but minor bumps and scratches. If somehow Kyle pulled through without any lasting damage, this mission had gone as smoothly as any of its kind could go. The thought unsettled him. It felt like reaching a sort of end.
"Hey." Skye crawled up the sand dune and stopped a few feet away from him. "Can I join you or do you want to be alone?"
He took in a deep breath. "It's okay. You're probably freaked out about this entire day as it is."
Skye rubbed the back of her arm, her gaze fixed on the sand which glowed silver in the moonlight. "I'm not sure. Maybe I'm crazy, but I rather enjoyed it. Being part of a team like this is awesome. Sure, it was dangerous, but intriguing and..." She raised her gaze. "I hope Kyle will be okay."
"Me too." He analyzed her expression, but she seemed calm enough. Maybe she wasn't bullshitting him, maybe all of this really didn't scare her away. And he was sure that she'd tell him if something was off about Kyle.
She kept looking at him, a warmth in her eyes that felt welcome and foreign at the same time. When she looked away, focusing on the arm she was rubbing, he felt colder.
"What did you actually find?"
"Treasure. Inscriptions about the gifts from the gods as opposed to the lights of the gods."
"Maybe the gods want their lights to be gifts." She smiled and the night was suddenly beautiful. "The gifts that keep on giving."
The affirmation stirred something in Sam's mind, but he was too rattled to process it properly. "You were so brave in there. And so..."
"Useful?" she asked shrewdly.
He nodded, feeling bad for thinking it.
"I don't blame you, Sam. It's only natural that you'd compare me to Christine. And I'm glad that so far, it seems to be in my favor."
"It is. Everything is." His chest filled with a desperate need to hold her, to have her there to ease his turmoil. Let her know she could. "You're exactly what I always wanted."
Crap, that had sounded weird, but it was true. Skye was like Jessie, Kay and Angie. She was brave, resourceful and put him first. She was the kind of love he never wanted to let go. And as he watched her bathed in ancient moonlight, he realized he didn't have to.
Even if they hadn't died today, as much as he tried to block it out, every trap could have done it. They could get to Cairo and have Snitch Gravel waiting to pry the information out of them before ending their feud with a bullet to the head. And if that happened, Skye would never know what she meant to him.
"What is it?" she asked. "Snowflake, are you planning something reckless?"
He wasn't, but now that she'd mentioned it, he couldn't help it. He took a few steps closer to her. "Skye, what is your stance on all this?"
"On all of what?" she asked, mirroring his move and stopping less than an inch from him.
God, she was so beautiful. And funny, and smart and amazing in bed. "On being part of my life. The team. Everything."
"Sam, you should already know that I want all that. Your life is amazing." She put her hand on his cheek and let it slide down his face.
And in that moment it didn't matter that they were both dirty, that they'd barely come out of an ancient tomb. It was a time and place where everything was possible.
"It would be more amazing with you in it."
She laughed. "I am in it, whether you like it or not."
She wasn't getting it. Not how much he meant it, not the depth of the affirmation. "I don't want you to ever leave."
Her smile was so alluring, it hurt. "What's this, Snowflake? That romantic proposal you promised me?"
And those simple words said as a joke made everything click inside his head and bring forth a certainty he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever. Her questions opened the gates to a part of him that wanted to come out, be free, love and hope again. Be happy. She was the only reason he could. And he wasn't about to let that go unpunished.
"Well, now that you mentioned it..."
Her eyes widened when he dropped to his knee in front of her. He hadn't considered doing this until that exact moment. And as Skye herself had taught him, he should always trust his impulses because, unless he was delirious from pain, they were right. The warmth inside him grew as he took in the surprise on her face. There was no chance that what he was doing was wrong or that he'd ever regret it.
"Sam, what are you doing?"
"Skye, will you marry me?"
Her jaw dropped. "What? Are you kidding?"
"I'm not kidding. I'm down on one knee, aren't I? You're not taking me seriously because I don't have a ring?" He searched his pocket and took out the eagle ring he'd stuck in there. It fitted her finger perfectly. "There."
She stared from him to the ring on her finger then back, blue eyes glistening, her expression moving from shock to amusement, then finally settling on confusion. "Why?" she finally asked.
"Because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." A fact.
Tears filled her eyes, but the confusion on her face was still there. "You've never told me that you loved me before. You proposed to me before you told me that you loved me." Her voice came out more hysterical with each word.
"Do you need a paper bag or something?"
"Yes! Not to the paper bag, to the marriage thing. Yes!"
Sam stood, his face hurting from the intensity of his grin and hugged her. It had been a risk he'd willingly taken and having her not crush him, but embrace his craziness made everything a million time worth it.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I love you, too, silly Snowflake. And there's nothing more I want than to be part of all of this." She pulled away from him and admired her ring. "Can I not give this to a museum?"
He laughed and hugged her again. Yep, he loved her to bits and what was best was yet to come. They had this. As crazy as they both were at that moment, they would be fine. More than fine. They would be happy.
♠️
Kay's mind hovered somewhere between a state of deep sleep and total awareness. Different sounds kept registering. A whisper, the shifting of a body, distant voices. Footsteps, footsteps, footsteps. And yet...
"Kay, are you alright?"
She jumped into a sitting position. Kyle was still next to her, except he was leaning on one elbow now, watching her with concern very unfitting for the situation.
"Me?" she whispered, looking around wildly.
It would've been pitch dark if someone hadn't left the door leading outside open. Flashes of moonlight made the surroundings visible, even if grainy, so she could tell she and Kyle were alone in the hallway, where she'd fallen asleep.
"You were moaning in your sleep."
"Oh." Her face caught fire. She was convinced she wasn't actually sleeping. Not that it mattered right then. "How are you?"
"My head hurts and I feel like a pincushion, but other than that..." He winced as he pulled himself up in a sitting position. "Okay, maybe a few broken ribs as well." He glanced back to make sure there were no spikes in the wall before leaning his back against it. "What happened?"
Kay shuffled forward and cuddled next to him. She was beyond happy when he wrapped an arm around her. Seeing him so vulnerable, hurting... It tore through her. He was so tough, it was easy to forget that physical things could actually break him. This had been a terrible reminder.
"You managed to slow the pendulum down and I took advantage and... Sort of shoved your uncle's leg into the mechanism and jammed it. It's stopped now."
He leaned over and kissed her hair. "You're brilliant."
"I couldn't let you get hurt for nothing."
"That's the right attitude."
"I wish it didn't have to happen."
He pulled away a little to get a better look at her. "What? Taking attitude?"
"No. I could do that all day long. You having to get hurt to provide windows for others."
"Kay, we each have our role to fill. This is mine. I'll always be the first line of defense because I can take it."
"And I'll always be your backup because you need it."
He smiled and held her closer. "Backup on missions. First line in everything else."
Her heart swelled at his words. Yes, she wanted to be right by him and face life on the front line. With him. Forever. Because she'd learned a lot from what had happened. Yes, their life was stressful, but having someone to come home to, to share everything with was a blessing. And some things were more important than others. Trust. Love. Family. She wanted to be all that for him.
"You know, after all this is over, I can't wait to get back home and cook you something."
"Cook?" he asked with a chuckle. "Really? That's what you want to do?"
"Cook naked?"
He really laughed at that and squeezed her against him. "God, I love you."
"And I love you." She climbed into his lap and took his face in her hands. "I love that you're unbeatable, but let's try not to prove it for a while, okay?"
He didn't answer, just watched her, his eyes glistening with a trace of mischief. It morphed into the sort of focus that stunned her. He didn't get that look often, just when he was doing some very serious thinking regarding big things.
"Kay, what do you want from me?"
She jumped. "What?"
"From our life together. Where are we?"
The question made her heart flutter for some reason. She needed to give the correct answer to this one. "I think we're better. Because we were a little stuck in a rut and now we've overcome something big. What I want from you? Everything. Because that's what our life together means to me."
The smile on his face let her know her answer had been the one he was hoping for. "Good. Nice to know we're on the same page. And I promise I'll be more careful with us. Brutal honesty and communication."
"Right. Your brutal honesty." She let out a chuckle. "Almost forgot about that."
"No more fuck ups," he said and raised his hand between them. "Don't let go till we die."
She took his hand and entwined her fingers between his. "Till we die."
And when he leaned over and kissed her, she was sure they were better than ever. Because no matter what, some things did last forever.
♠️♠️♠️
And here we are. The mission is over and there was no jewel, like Herrison said. But Sam did find out some interesting stuff. It will obviously be very helpful going forward.
Also, you probably forgot everything about that after the ending. Surprised? Sam's got issues, lol. But could thing Skye is right aboard the crazy train with him.
So, semi-climax is over. Time for the next climax. IN SPACE *read in creepy voice*
Stick around for the final two chapters of this huge story and don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed.