Ralph entered the chamber cautiously, staying away from the light on the floor and following the curved wall to the left as the others watched anxiously.
"The light seems to be coming from just above the awning," he said. "Which, now that I'm seeing it from here, looks like a snake's head."
"Snakes, snakes. It's always snakes," Colt muttered to himself, looking at his feet.
Ralph took another couple of steps and the light on the floor grew brighter. Looking back over his shoulder he could now see the eyes of the snake head above the arch, and they were growing even brighter. Sensing the danger he jumped back a moment before a green beam burst from one of the eyes, hitting the ground right where he'd been standing. Fortunately it was only a few more steps to a pillar along the wall which he could stand behind, creating a barrier between him and those glowing green eyes.
"Well that's a problem," Ralph observed dryly.
"Maybe we actually want to stay in the light," Maddie observed.
So far her instincts had proven true, so Vivienne agreed. Colt continued to be distracted by his own feet, mumbling about snakes and bad ideas.
The two women walked purposefully into the room and towards the helix-like structure at the center. Just before reaching it, the light on the floor began to get brighter.
"Watch out!" Ralph warned.
The women turned and stepped away from one another just as another beam of light scorched the floor between them.
"Um, now what," Vivienne asked of no one in particularly as she scanned the room for places to hide from those eyes.
"Aaaarggh!" came a yell from across the room. Turning back to the arch everyone saw Colt sprint into the room. A beam of light hit the floor right at his heels as he rushed forward, darting between the two startled women and climbing up onto the first step of the helix. "Get to the other side of this!" he shouted.
In theory that sounded like a good plan. That is, until most of the helix crumbled away as if it were made of plaster of paris, something massive buried underneath beginning to... uncoil itself.
"Aaahhhh!" Colt screamed as he came to the realization that what was emerging was a snake, a snake so massive that the scale of it was hard to comprehend. It was something between a dinosaur and a mythical sea serpent capable of capsizing a ship. Fortunately for Colt his fight-or-flight meter pegged well into the red in the flight category as he threw himself backwards just in time to avoid the serpent's huge maw attempting to swallow him whole.
Ralph opened fire. The thing was so big it was almost impossible to miss. But his first shot... simply bounced off its thick scales. The second punctured, though didn't appear to go deep into the creature. The third, however, seemed to find a sweet spot and put a solid hole in it.
Maddie ran, turning to fire her shotgun but losing her balance in the process and firing up into the ceiling. Vivienne was a bit more intentional, giving it both barrels of her shotgun and blasting a dinner-plate-sized hole int the area just behind the serpent's head before she too turned and ran.
To make matters worse another beam of light shot out from the glowing green eyes above the arch, though it again missed, seemingly unable to catch up with the quick-moving heroes.
With the serpent distracted by the shotgun toting women, Colt pulled out the stick of dynamite Ralph had given him earlier, lit the fuse half way down, and with a manic look in his eyes jammed the sparking boomstick into the hole Ralph's shot had punched in the side of the snake. He then ran and threw himself to floor.
The explosion was deafening, but the result was worth it, a massive crater having been blown into the side of the creature. It spun in a rage, its head lunging for Colt who was on the ground in the fetal position. But it's head was so large that the top and bottom of its mouth slammed into the floor on either side of Colt.
As it raised it's head in rage at its inability to swallow him, it instead caught a stick of dynamite in its mouth courtesy of Maddie, the explosion blasting apart its lower jaw as it writhed in agony and rage.
Colt got up and tried to run, but the creature's whipping tail caught him in the midsection, launching him across the room and crashing into the wall near Ralph with a wet crack.
Seeing Vivienne rushing to Colt's aid, Ralph ran into the room firing, attempting to distract the serpent. But this time he wasn't paying attention to those glowing snake eyes on the wall and a beam of light struck him in the chest, sending him to the floor, scorched and paralyzed.
Colt was coughing up blood when Vivienne got to him. Frankly she was stunned he was still alive, even if just barely so. Looking over her shoulder, though, she saw the serpent looking at them, blood pumping from the area of its missing lower jaw but its eyes still afire with malice. "I'm sorry we're going to die like this," Colt coughed.
And then.... the upper part of the serpents head exploded in a welter of bone and scales and gore. Just off to the right stood Maddie, a determined look on her face and a smoking sawed-off double-barrel shotgun in her hands. The remainder of the snake's head hit the ground with a splat.
A burst of gunfire came from Ralph's prone form as he regained some of his motion, and he shot out the glowing eyes on the wall, ending the threat of the death beams.
Maddie administered some first aid, a skill she'd honed working all those years on the farm where you didn't have time to wait for a doctor to arrive. Everyone got themselves together as best then could. Vivienne picked up one of the shattered pieces of the snake eyes, while Maddie scraped away some scales from the serpent itself, figuring they might be of interest to Caduceus, assuming they ever got out of here alive.
Looking up to the top of what remained of the helix they could see the figure that had been on the throne was gone, and climbing up to the top realized it had been made out of what appeared to be shed snakeskin. The seat of the throne was actually a hole leading to shaft that looked to go down about fifty or so feet, ending in a room with a faint green glow. Handholds in the walls made the prospect of climbing down there much less daunting.
Climbing down they found themselves in square chamber about 30 feet on each side. The walls were covered in murals depicting a the same serpent woman priestess they'd seen in the rooms beneath the ward, wearing a serpent crown and carrying a scepter. The writing was also similar to what they'd seen as well, though none of them could decipher it.
In the center of the room was a massive block of solid marble, upon which lay a female serpent person who looked to be about seven feet tall. Maddie reached out and touched its arm and was assailed with visions of this being as a priestess. "This is her," she said quietly.
"Is it alive?" Ralph asked.
"Is she alive," Vivienne said, shooting him a look. "She's female."
Ralph looked a bit confused but shrugged. "It's a mummy."
"Yes, she's alive, but her strength is coming back very slowly," Maddie said.
At one end of the marble slab was a stone chest. Inside they found a red robe that seemed the right size for the mummy. There was also a large scroll and a frightening looking whip. Two wood boxes were inside as well. One contained a three-foot gold scepter with snake motifs and topped by a pearl the size of a fist. The other had an empty space that seemed to be perfectly designed to hold the crown the priestess wore in the various carvings and paintings, as well as in Maddie and Colt's visions, but with no crown inside.
After putting the robe on the mummy, they gathered all the items and slowly climbed their way back out of the shaft, Ralph managing Tyrannish with a fireman's carry.
Just as Vivienne, the final one to climb out, emerged, they heard the sound of slow clapping from one part of the room. There stood a Bolivian officer with one of the disturbing serpent hounds panting next to it. Two dead Bolivian soldiers sat up against the wall, both with multiple tourniquets tied around their limbs, their arms and legs covered in snake bites.
"I'm sure those liars at Caduceus neglected to mention that there would be other parties interested in obtaining the mummy," he said, shaking his head. "You have no idea what they're all about, do you." it was more of a statement than a question,
Colt began to climb down the helix. "And who the hell are you?"
"We are the Inner Night, and with Tyrannish's help we will help usher in a new era of prosperity. You can be a part of it if you'd like to join us," he said. Then, looking to Maddie, "Ah, I see, you have been touched by the priestess. You are truly blessed, child." With that he began to speak to Maddie in a language the others did not understand, though it reminded them slightly of what it sounded like when Maddie had spoken to the monkey the day before.
"Leave these weaklings behind, child, and come with me. Tyrannish has touched you, so you clearly have value."
Maddie followed Colt down to the floor of the chamber. Vivienne watched as Maddie's hands disappeared inside the seemingly endless folds of her garment before emerging behind her back, a stick of dynamite in one, a lighter in the other.
"How would we leave?" Maddie asked the Bolivian, responding in the same language.
"I have a means of transportation," he replied. "But it is only big enough for two. You and I," he replied.
Maddie seemed to consider this as she lit the fuse behind her back.
"No thanks," she replied in English, tossing the stick of dynamite underhand and shoving Colt to the ground.
The Bolivian, who they were certain was also a serpent person wearing human skin, registered a look of shock. The serpent hound, however, jumped up and grabbed the dynamite out of the air, then turned to face its master, clearly expecting a reward. And then they both exploded, spraying gore across the chamber.
Returning to the top of the temple was fairly straightforward. The snakes in the pit parted for them like the Red Sea. Further up they encountered a pair of dead Bolivians who had tripped the same blade trap that almost killed Maddie. Reaching the top and looking outside they saw more carnage - four more dead Bolivians and a crater covered in black goo - likely another formless spawn.
They returned to their radio hut and called Caduceus, who advised two planes were already on standby in Florida and would be dispatched to the airfield, arriving the following morning.
From there they went to the aid camp, where Maddie and Colt were able to get some medical attention. The doctors told them the the Bolivians had left early in the morning and hadn't left anyone behind in the camp, which was unusual. They were relived when told they shouldn't expect the soldiers to return.
After advising them where to find the radio, the team took one of the mules, loaded up the mummy, and headed toward the airfield. They opted to keep moving through the night, wanting to get to the planes as soon as possible. Just after daylight they encountered another team of Caduceus operatives walking their way, a half dozen serious military-looking men who escorted them back to the airfield.
One of the two planes was outfitted with all kinds of strange looking equipment being tended to by men in white lab coats. Tyrannish was loaded into a metal box connected to all sorts of tubes and wires, and while the team were told to take the other plane with the soldiers, Maddie insisted on accompanying Tyrannish, and the scientists sheepishly agreed.
With that they fired up the engines and began the trek back to New York City...