The professor hesitated for a second until Will stepped closer and stuck the barrel into his chest. “After you, Professor.”
Firth obeyed and moved towards the deactivated mechanism. He still looked at it with a certain degree of fear, as if it might somehow come to life again. Slowly, he wedged himself between the giant hammer and the wall and wormed his way along the floor. Will followed closely behind, mimicking Firth’s movements and keeping the gun forward as he progressed.
“Will and your friend are coming through, Wyatt,” Lindsey shouted, making sure Sean heard him. “If you try anything stupid, I will execute the girl and the rest of this rabble.”
Sean heard the threat as the professor appeared on the other side. He stepped over and reached a hand out to help the older man through. The next thing he saw was Will’s hand, the one holding a black pistol. Sean stepped back to make sure Will didn’t perceive him as a threat, instead turning his attention to the inscription on the wall.
“What can you make of this, Doc?” he asked and shone his light on the message.
Firth stared at the strange language while Will pulled himself up off the ground and stayed at a safe distance on the other side of the corridor.
“Give me a moment,” Firth requested. After a minute of running his finger along the lines he believed he had the translation. “This one says that only the strong shall pass through to taste of eternal life.”
Sean frowned at the answer, and then looked back at the wide pit. He flashed his light down into the dark cavity; the bottom didn’t appear.
“Only the strong?” he wanted to clarify. “That’s it?”
“That’s what it says.”
Behind them, Will said nothing, keeping a wary eye on both men.
Sean eased back over to the lip of the drop and scanned the walls carefully. It didn’t make sense. Sure, if he were a little stronger, maybe the jump would be possible. But he didn’t think even the most powerful Olympic jumper could clear that without a running head start. In high school, he’d seen a few of the track stars jumping pretty far from a standing position. But this was too far.
He stared across at the other side. While the jump was long, the distance was short in relation to how far they’d come over the previous few months. He thought about how Tommy had discovered the clue in north Georgia that had led them to the first chamber of gold. They had unraveled a mystery as old as any in North America. And they’d gone beyond. Whether he died or not, Sean had to finish the journey.
His eyes drifted to the wall on the right, catching a glimpse of something he hadn’t seen before. About waist high, a notch had been cut out of the wall, just large enough for someone to fit the tip of a shoe. He looked further up the rock face and saw another notch, and another. It reminded him of the rock climbing wall at his gym, except with less friendly hand holds, and potentially much worse implications if he fell.
Sean moved over to the rock face and tested out the notch, shoving the toe of his shoe into it. He put the small end of the flashlight into his mouth, holding it with his teeth, and reached up to the next notch.
“What are you doing?” Firth wondered.
“To get to the other side, I’m going to have to scale this wall,” he said through teeth still gripping the light.
Will moved closer to make sure his prisoner didn’t try anything.
Sean grabbed the slit above his head with his left hand and pulled up. He shot his right hand upward, feeling for another grip. His fingers found it, directly above his head. He pushed them into the groove as far as they would go and pulled hard with his right hand, simultaneously moving his left foot up to where the left hand had been. Sweat began to form on his fingers and palms. He was glad the rock was dry in that part of the cave, though he wished for his chalk bag he used to carry when he would go climbing on Saturdays in college. He was thankful for that experience as a rock climber, as he continued to replicate the movement, going higher and higher, moving out and over the deep abyss.
One of the things he’d always told himself was never to look down. Always look up. Never put the possibility of failing into the mind. Just look at the wall, and the next place to put your hand and foot.
He had nearly reached the top of the wall, halfway across the gap, when his left foot slipped in one of the edges. The movement caused his body to drop slightly, putting all his weight on the fingertips barely clinging to the highest cut in the wall. The jarring motion loosened his jaw’s grip on the flashlight, and he dropped it, sending beam tumbling down the shaft, disappearing into the darkness below.
Firth was still shining his light on Sean’s location when he slipped and nearly fell. The professor watched Sean’s light drop into the cavity, forgetting for a moment that his own light drifted off of Sean’s location.
“Doc?” Sean yelled in a strained voice. “I need that light up here.”
“Sorry!” Firth sounded genuinely apologetic as he turned the beam back on Sean’s position.
Sean struggled, but found the foothold again with his feet and was able to take the weight off his hands for a second.
Descending was another animal altogether. Going down could be tricky, possibly more difficult than climbing up. That was one reason they had always just repelled back to the bottom of a climb when he’d done it in college. At this point Sean would have gladly accepted the luxury of a rope with an easy descent.
He maneuvered his left foot over and jammed it back into a notch then cautiously lowered his left hand to the next grip. The going was precipitous. And at this stage, he had to look down to find the next place to put his feet and hands, bringing into view the terrifying drop below. Sean’s only true fear in life had always been heights. Over the course of the last few months, he’d found himself hanging over a number of high places. He’d not gotten accustomed to it.
After several minutes of careful movement, Sean’s feet landed safely on the other side of the gap. He squatted down for a moment, taking in rapid breaths. Staring down gunmen didn’t seem to bother him. But the possibility of falling unnerved him. He knew it didn’t make sense. He just figured it was his thing, and everybody had a thing.
“Well done, old boy,” Firth shouted across the pit.
Sean eyeballed the narrow column in front of him. The piece of stone appeared as though it would stretch across to the other side and was wide enough to walk on. It was already leaning slightly towards where Will and the professor were standing, requiring only a little more energy to tip it over.
“Stand back,” Sean shouted across the pit. “I think this thing is a bridge.”
The other two moved back towards the huge hammer as Sean stepped around behind the stone column and leaned against it. He bent his knees and pushed his back into the stone, and was surprised to feel it give a little. The movement encouraged him, and he shoved harder, feeling the quads in his legs begin swell. He let out a grunt as the heavy object reached the tipping point and began to topple over.
A loud thud boomed through the corridor and out into the first room. Dust erupted all around Will and Firth, shooting a horizontal plume of debris out to where the rest of the group stood waiting. The entire room shuddered from the crashing stone.
It was the only moment Adriana had to break free. Kaba had flinched for a second, moving the weapon away from the Spaniard’s head to see what had happened. Adriana whipped her left arm up, knocking away the hand that held the weapon. The second shot came from her right fist, going straight to Kaba’s jaw. Metal clanking on stone echoed through the cavern as Kaba’s gun fell to the floor hitting just before she did.