But there was a new scent on the wind, something its receptors picked up, something that was wonderfully delicious and had the coppery scent of warm blood, driving it forward.
Whereas most of its kind on average was marginally larger than half its size, this creature stood alone in its kingdom as its subjects avoided this brutal creature with the highest measure of self-preservation.
This taste in the wind was magnetically different and enticing, a new challenge to take down and devour.
As it made its way to the source, the lizard often stopped in its tracks and sent up its frill like the dish of radar, its receptors picking up signals and then conveying them to the creature’s brain, telling it how to follow through.
Knowing that it had no rival, it moved in the direction of its sonar without caution.
The temple was essentially a puzzle with open slots and recesses to be filled when the temple came alive by the movement of balances and weights. As one passage closed, another would open, thereby providing opportunities to move from one place to another freely.
When the temple walls shifted, a massive doorway opened, which allowed the creature access to new hallways and warrens.
So it hastened its way to meet a new challenge. The footfalls of its nearly two-thousand- pound body shaking the floor as it raced to meet its game.
They were moving to the center of the pyramid at a pretty good clip with Savage leading the way. Though they moved in silence, Alyssa was quite aware of her surroundings.
There were markings on the walls, ancient script, barely decipherable, but the general idea was that the temple was more than just a place of worship. It was also a library with the black silica panels serving as the pages of a book marking untold years of history onto mineral walls.
She was entranced as the ‘scientist’ in her lost focus to the dangers that were in pursuit or lying ahead.
“You look enamored,” said Hall.
She refused to dignify him with a response.
After a forty-minute march into the heart of the temple, they came upon what appeared to be a mausoleum entrance, suggestive of a baroque style with flowing designs and decorations. It had sweeping lines with bas-relief carvings surrounding the door. The bull, the lizard, the bear were all in perfect form. Surrounding the mausoleum entrance were several colored gem tiles with each one bearing a unique symbol.
Above the mausoleum door was ancient scripture:
∑ыбарতাসভ্যতার
স্থাপনা সমূহকেФіў,дра цоўলিকাএক টিতালিকাданьнеьайвыдаকটিপ্রাচীনকালেসালের ейшых паэтаў, філёзафаў, палкаводцаў, অবশ্যই вялікіх цহেলেনীয় ароўяк цтва
Alyssa stood looking upward, her mind working.
“Problem, Ms. Moore?” asked Hall.
“You could say that,” she said, pointing at the ancient writing. “It’s another riddle.”
“Can you decipher it?” asked Butcher Boy.
“I’m trying.”
Hall began to meander about looking at the stepping stones that led to the mausoleum entrance. Green for emerald, red for ruby, blue for sapphire — the tiles having unique and archaic designs on them.
“Don’t get too close, mate,” said Aussie. “’Aven’t you learned your bloody lesson from last time?”
Hall held his hands up in surrender and backed away.
“Well,” she finally said. “It’s definitely a riddle.”
“Can you decipher it?”
“Hopefully.” She stepped closer, but sensible enough to stay away from the colored tile. A lantern was raised to read the text. “Upon the thrones of a magnificent kingdom sit the three Kings of Man’s Self: Truth, Lie and Wisdom. The King of Truth always told the truth; the King of Lies always told a lie; the King of Wisdom sometimes told the truth, but sometimes told a lie. However, the three kings look exactly alike, so that no one could determine one from the other. In order to enter the Chamber of the Primaries, the riddle determining the three Kings must be decided by the answers to three questions. When the King sitting upon the throne on the left is asked: “What throne does the middle King sit upon?” He answers ‘I am Truth.’ When the King sitting upon the throne in the middle is asked: “Who are you?” He answers ‘I am Wisdom.’ When the King sitting upon the throne on the right is asked: “Who is the middle King?” He answers ‘I am Lie.’ Should you choose your answer and path wisely, move forward and the Primaries you shall see.”
“Are you serious?” said Hall. “How are we to figure that out?”
“With patience,” she answered. Truth, Lie and Wisdom, the three components of Man’s Self.
“All right, so what do we know thus far?” she asked in general.
Savage stepped forward, his eyes focused to the writing above the door. “We know the king on the left said that the king in the middle was Truth”
“And that means?” led Hall.
“It means that if the left King said that the middle one is ‘Truth,’ then the left King cannot be ‘Truth’ because there can’t be two ‘Truth’ kings,” said Savage.
“That’s right,” returned Alyssa. “So if that’s true, and if the middle King said that he was ‘Wisdom,’ then he cannot be ‘Truth.’ Therefore, that leaves the right King as ‘Truth.’”
Savage nodded. “And according to the right King, the King of ‘Truth,’ then the middle King is ‘Lie’—”
“So that leaves the left King as ‘Wisdom,’” she interrupted.
“Correct.”
Alyssa made her way to the colored tiles and noted the symbols on them. “So what do we have?” she asked rhetorically. “We have ‘Wisdom’ on the left, ‘Lie ‘in the middle and ‘Truth’ on the right”
She stared at the tiles. There were several on the left, but only one that read: The King of Wisdom.
She stepped on an emerald tile, the green overlay descending about an inch. Nothing else happened beyond that. That’s a good sign, she considered.
Behind her, everyone was holding their collective breath.
In the middle sat several ruby tiles. Only one, however, read: The King of Lies.
She took an immediate sidestep until she stood pat, another good sign when it lowered an inch and nothing happened.
That left the ‘King of Truth’ on one of the sapphire tiles to the right.
Three of the tiles, however, were difficult to interpret.
“Is everything all right, Ms. Moore?” Butcher Boy took a step closer.
“I can’t figure out which of these three tiles is the correct one.”
She tilted the light of the lamp every which way, as if the proper shedding of light would enlighten her. One of the tiles in question was beyond her capability to step on from her point. So it had to be the tile directly in front of her, or the tile behind her and to the right.
Which one? Which tile?
Her line of vision was alternating from one tile to the other, deciding.
Which… one?
And then it clicked. Should you choose your answer and path wisely, move forward and the Primaries you shall see.
The right side was the King of ‘Truth.’ So the answer could only be the truth.
Move… forward… and the Primaries you shall see.
…Forward…
Alyssa raised her foot and took a direct step onto the tile in front of her. The tile sunk an inch beneath her foot.
And then the earth began to shake.
Oh, no!
The apex-predator sensed movement.
The walls, the floor beneath its massive paws, shook and vibrated, telling it that they were once again on the move, shifting, the temple reconfiguring into new and wondrous shapes.