The main chamber had not changed. The strange pressure again pulsed with each turn of the three-layered crystal heart. The odd glyphs spun and rolled in thousands of combinations as the sphere hovered in the center of the domed space. Beneath the massive sphere, two smaller ones glowed—a rich crimson, a vibrant silvery blue. The emerald had grown so dark that it almost looked black.
Jake dropped to one knee for a closer look, while Marika hovered at his shoulder.
“Does it look like we’re too late?” she asked.
Jake studied the stone. “I don’t know.”
The core of the emerald sphere swirled with dark shadows, an inky whirlpool that screamed of corruption and death. They didn’t have much time.
Jake straightened and glanced up to the pyramid’s main entrance. The tunnel angled upward, dark as pitch. At any moment, he expected to see demonic grakyl come pouring out.
“C’mon,” he said, and led them to the mouth of the tunnel, then turned to Marika. “You stay here in the chamber. I’ll bring Bach’uuk farther up the tunnel. You know what you have to do?”
Marika’s eyes were wide with fear—some of it reserved for Jake. “Be careful.”
Jake nodded, but his plan was the farthest thing from careful. As he began to turn away, Marika suddenly lunged forward and hugged him tight. Then she let him go.
Jake warmed and blushed. He opened his mouth and found no words.
“Go!” she said, and pushed him away. “What are you waiting for?”
Jake blinked. He still had no words. So he swung around and hurried up the slanted tunnel. His heart pounded in his chest, but in a good way.
Once he was halfway up and almost out of sight of Marika, he halted again and told Bach’uuk, “You have to stand ready here. I must go up alone.”
Bach’uuk reached over and grasped Jake’s forearm in the typical handshake of the Ur. Jake returned the shake. They were all taking a huge risk, one that could cost them their lives.
Jake continued up the last part of the tunnel on his own. The dark passageway grew lighter as the opening appeared ahead. A starry sky filled the pyramid’s round opening.
He slowed his approach—and with good reason.
Shadowy shapes blotted out the stars. Jake heard hisses and squeals, along with the leathery beat of wings and scrape of claws on stone. The grakyl horde gathered just beyond the opening.
Jake edged forward until a strange tingle swept over his body. It stood the hairs of his arms on end. He had felt the same when he’d jumped through here before, like he felt when he’d passed through the Broken Gate, what seemed like a lifetime ago. Only now the tingle was barely a whisper of its former strength. It was all that remained of the shield. But it still seemed strong enough to keep the grakyl horde out of the temple. At least, Jake hoped so.
He just waited, bathed in that tingling.
Jake stared out over the valley. From his high vantage, he could see all the way over to the eastern wall. The skies had already begun to lighten. He had no more time to spare.
Jake cupped his hands over his mouth. “Hello!” he shouted.
In response something huge dropped from above the doorway and landed on the step below the opening. The dark shape swung around and brandished a long black blade that looked like a glassy shard of obsidian. Wings unfurled and cut out the sky.
A grakyl lord.
Jake dropped to his knees, making sure to stay within the tingle of the fading shield. Pinched black eyes stared back at him.
“I am Jake Ransom!” he yelled out, hoping the bat-faced monstrosity understood. “One of the newcomers.”
The grakyl lord climbed the step to stand at the threshold. Jake was close enough to note the cracked yellow nails of its claws and the squashed snout of its nose. Its sword rose to point at Jake’s chest.
Jake shivered in his armor, but he had to buy an extra moment. So he reached to his sides and unbuckled the bronze breastplate. He let it clatter to the stone in a clear sign of surrender.
This last idea had been Marika’s. As Jake stared at the razor edge of the grakyl lord’s sword, he began to doubt the wisdom of her strategy. But he was committed now. There was no turning back.
Jake lifted his arms. “I surrender!” he yelled out to the monstrous figure. “But only to your master! Only to Kalverum Rex!”
The grakyl lord leaned closer. Its slitted nostrils flared open and closed. Beyond its wings, the eastern sky continued to brighten as sunrise neared. Dawn had been the deadline set by the Skull King for the surrender of Jake and Kady.
They had no more time.
“I give up!” Jake yelled. He coughed to clear his throat. His chest had seized up in fear. Still, he repeated his one ultimatum. “But I’ll only surrender to the Skull King!”
The grakyl lord studied Jake a moment longer—then swung around with a sweep of its bone and leather wings. An ear-shattering cry erupted from its ghastly mouth and echoed out over the valley.
The call was repeated by others in the horde. Soon the whole valley rang out with the horrible cries. The message was being spread.
But would it be answered?
Yes or no?
Both answers terrified Jake.
The waiting stretched to an agonizing length. Jake’s heart climbed into his throat and pounded there. To make matters worse, he felt the tingling fading from his skin as he knelt at the pyramid’s opening. The shield was almost gone.
The grakyl lord kept his distance on the outer steps, but for how much longer?
How much time do I have left?
Jake studied the sky. To the east, a rosy glow seeped upward from the horizon. Sunrise was fast approaching. The deadline given by the Skull King was about to pass. Jake’s fear grew sharper. His worry for Kady weighed like a cold stone in his belly.
All he could do was wait.
In a matter of moments, the first rays of the sun would shine brightly upon the pyramid’s entrance. Despite his pounding heart, Jake remembered the significance of such an orientation, something he’d learned from his father. All Mayan temples were built to greet the first light of the new day. And for that matter, the great stone cathedrals of Europe also faced their front doors to the east.
As Jake knelt, he wondered if that tradition traced its origin to here, to this very structure. Before he could ponder the mystery any further, the cries of the grakyl horde cut off. The sudden silence felt like a blanket thrown over the entire valley.
Concerned, Jake climbed to his feet. Out on the steps, the grakyl horde ducked low and bowed their heads. Their wings folded behind their backs. Jake spotted something sweeping across the sky. The breadth of its wings stretched impossibly far—and it grew larger with each beat of Jake’s heart.