Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (33 page)

In regard to the task at hand, I was able to mend the breach in the gateway following the instructions you provided.
 
As I'm sure you have heard, I also managed to seal the passage from the burial chamber of Horus before the excavation site was closed.
 
This should keep any future explorers safe until you are able to fix the problem once and for all.

I was able to retrieve the item you requested from our moonstruck friends.
 
They didn't seem too happy to part with it, but it has been safely set aside for your retrieval.
 
You will find directions within this journal.

If you ever read these words, then know that I have tried my best to aid you in your quest.
 
My hopes and prayers are with you as you continue on without me.
 
I am tired, and failing quickly.
 
May the good Lord bless and keep you until we meet again in the next world.

Your friend, S.M.

"Look here," Liam said, handing Michael the book.

A roughly drawn map was etched upon its pages.
 
After a moment, Michael knew exactly what he was looking at.
 
These were directions to the staff of Anubis inside McGinty Castle.
 
There were no words on the map, just some ambiguous signs and pictures.
 
Someone would definitely have to be familiar with Shamus McGinty, his castle, and the staff to make heads or tails of this map; it would have been useless to anyone else.

"Who do you think he wrote this to?" he asked Liam.

"Don't know.
 
I guess its possible that Zuriel had
him
fooled too."

"Well, Zuriel didn't say anything about having his help, but he is a liar isn't he?
 
Anyway, Shamus seemed like a pretty smart man, do you really think Zuriel could have fooled him into helping?"

"Well, he did a pretty good job fooling us."

"That's true," Michael said, looking down at the skeleton.
 
He had a feeling that Shamus McGinty was much too intelligent to be tricked into aiding an evil man like Zuriel.
 
Maybe it was possible that some unknown ally would turn up who could help defeat him.
 
He hoped so.

"This is a good place for him," Liam said, looking down solemnly.
 
"I mean, I'm sorry that he died like this, but I can't imagine he could ask for a more fitting resting place."

Michael nodded.
 
From what he knew about Shamus McGinty, he would be content to have his remains entombed here.
 
He gently placed the remainder of Horus's staff down into McGinty's hand.

"We need to keep moving."

Liam picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

Michael took a look through each of the doors.
 
"Well, those two lead to other rooms that are part of these quarters."
 
He walked back over to the doorway he determined was the exit and stood there waiting with a frown.
 
"I don't think you're going to like this."

Nursing his leg, Liam scuffled over to take a look.
 
A long stone stairway rose up before them.

By the time they got to the top of the stairs, Liam's leg was throbbing in pain.
 
It had also started to bleed more heavily, and part of his pant leg was soaked with blood.

"How are you doing?"

"I've been better, but I'll be alright."

Scanning around, they saw that they'd just come into a rectangular hall.
 
Large, stone pillars rose up to the roof.
 
The place was empty except for some old torch stands and a long stone table in the center of the room.
 
Far away at the end of the hall, they could see a pair of rusty, iron doors.
 
As they walked along, Michael counted six small, rounded doorways on each side of the room.
 
Shining his light into one of them, Michael saw that it was a simple cave, about ten feet wide and across.

"Strange," he said to Liam.
 
"They must be some kind of holding cells."

They got to the large iron doors, which appeared to have rusted shut long ago.
 
The doors were about twelve feet high, and looked very heavy.

"Do we really want to mess with these things?" Liam asked.
 
"I'd really hate to have 'He exited this world as a Scottish pancake' written on my tombstone."

Michael shuddered at the thought.
 
"Well, look at this."
 
He held his lantern up to the door, and scratched some of the rust away with a small, sharp rock.
 
"I think it's completely rusted through right here."

Liam sat against the wall, and Michael set his bow and backpack down beside him.
 
He went back to the door, and began to pull small rusty chunks away from the hole.
 
After a few minutes he had a gap cleared that was large enough to fit through.

Michael carefully stuck his head in to see what awaited them on the other side; it opened up into another large cavern, just like the map showed.

"Alright," he said, going over to Liam.
 
"I'll help you through first, then I'll pass in our packs, and then I'll come thr—"

A low, creaking moan began to rumble from the door behind him.
 
Michael turned around just in time to see the thing come crashing down with a thunderous boom.
 
A cloud of dust flew into the air around them.
 
Michael's heart nearly stopped.
 
He held his hand over his chest and closed his eyes.

"Never mind," he said to Liam, who looked back with his jaw hanging open.
 
Michael's heart was racing.
 
"Alright, are you ready to keep going, or do you want to rest for a moment?"

"Might as well keep going."
 
Liam climbed back up to his feet.

"Wait, did you hear something?"
 
Michael raised his head in a way that reminded Liam of Sir Nigel, right before he would run off to see who was knocking at the front door.
 
"Listen," he said, raising his finger to his lips.

They both stood there silently.

A few moments later, Liam smiled and nodded.
 
"I heard something, it sounded like a woman yelling."

Michael had to restrain himself from sprinting off.
 
"Come on," he said excitedly, taking up their packs.
 
He let Liam set the pace, who despite his injured leg, was moving pretty quickly.
 
Michael felt as though he were about to jump out of his skin.

They ran along the path as it wound through rock formations and stalagmites; the voice growing louder as they went.

"Hello, is anybody there?" it came drifting through the air, gently echoing off the rock around them like a song.

"MOM," Michael yelled as they ran.
 
"MOM, IS THAT YOU?"
 
Michael couldn't help himself; he overtook Liam and bolted ahead.

After running for several minutes, he came to the end of the cavern, navigated another small flight of stairs, and passed through the cavern wall into a large cave, which was lined with a dozen cells, covered with iron bars.

"MOM," Michael shouted, "DAD, ARE YOU IN HERE?"

"MICHAEL, is that you?"
 
Her voice sounded weak, but it was definitely his mother.

"MOM, WHERE ARE YOU?"
 
He had no more yelled it than he saw her fingers poke out from behind a set of bars.

He ran over and touched her, trying to get his hands through the narrow spaces between the thick bars, but they wouldn't fit.
 
Holding up his light, Michael saw that his father was there too.
 
He pointed to the middle of the room "Son, over there, you need to pull that switch to unlock the cell."
 
Michael rushed over to a row of large levers.
 
He saw that one was pointed in a different direction than the rest, and he grabbed it and pulled.
 
They instantly heard a click, and his father pushed the door open.
 
Michael sped back to them, where they both caught him up in a fierce embrace.

"Liam?" his mother said in shock.
 
Liam had just entered the cave; he took a few steps toward them before collapsing onto the floor.

They frantically rushed to him.

"Be…behind," the boy mumbled.

"We need to get him to a doctor," his father said.
 
"Our equipment, it's in that open cell next to the one we were in, grab it for me."

Michael ran over to the cell and quickly returned with their things.

"Do you know how to get back out of here?" his father asked as he fastened on his gun belt.

"Not even planning to say goodbye?" came a voice from the shadows where the boys had come in.
 
It was Zuriel.

Zuriel stood before them with an arrogant grin.
 
There was a hunger and viciousness in his eyes that Michael hadn't seen from him before, and it frightened him.

"So you actually made it here after all," he said to Michael.
 
"Your friend doesn't look so well, though, does he?"

"What do
you
want?
 
And what did you do to Liam?"
 
He curled his hands into fists.

"I didn't do anything to him.
 
Well, that's not entirely true, I did wrestle this away."
 
He held up the leather diary they'd taken from the body of Shamus McGinty.

"I've spent weeks interrogating your parents and MacDonald about some of the information contained in this book.
 
I had a hunch that McGinty may have written down the details and carried it with him, but due to certain, let's call them- restraints, I've never been able to enter that section of the catacombs and search for myself."

"And what information would that be?" Michael barked at him.

"He wanted to know how Shamus McGinty was able to seal the crack in the gateway," his father told him weakly.
 
"He thinks that knowing how it was sealed might help him reopen it."

"That's right.
 
And I've just found what I'm looking for right here in this journal.
 
I want to thank you all for your help.
 
I couldn't have done it without you."

He turned his gaze to Michael, strode toward him, and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.
 
"Especially you, Michael.
 
I would never have obtained the staff or this diary without you."

His mother rushed forward.
 
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SO—"

Zuriel backhanded her across the face so hard that she crumbled to the chamber floor.

Mark's eyes burned with fury as he sprung forward with a roundhouse kick that cracked across Zuriel's chin.
 
Before his foot touched the floor he'd drawn his six-shooter, pushed it into Zuriel's chest and pulled the trigger.
 
A resounding BOOM filled the chamber as Michael was pushed away, falling backward onto the floor as a deafening buzz filled his ears.
 
Zuriel crashed into the cavern wall behind him and crumbled like a sack of potatoes.

Michael had never seen his father do anything like that before.
 
He couldn't believe his eyes.
 
And then he saw something else that he couldn't believe.
 
With a heavy guttural laugh, Zuriel rose back to his feet as if nothing had happened; smoke still billowing off his chest where the gunpowder had burned his shirt.

"Do you people know who I am?" he sneered.
 
You can't kill me.
 
If that were possible I'd have met my demise a
long
time ago.
 
You aren't the first bugs I've ever stepped on."
 
He brushed the dust from his clothes.
 
"I'm impressed, though.
 
I've got to hand it too you, that kick would have broken the neck of any mortal man, and you're a pretty quick draw.
 
I used to do a little gun-slinging myself, although I must admit, I do have a bit of an unfair advantage."

He looked at Michael's mother, who glared up at him from the ground. Blood was streaming from her lip.

"Oh, I see," he glanced back up at Mark.
 
"I've offended you by putting your wench in her place.
 
My apologies for that.
 
I'll let you smack her big mouth yourself the next time she speaks out of line."
 
He laughed at them mockingly.

Michael's father had holstered his gun.
 
He reached down to his wife and son, pulling them both to their feet and shoving them behind him.
 
He backed away slowly, pulling both of his guns and pointing them at Zuriel's head.
 
"Maybe I can't kill you, but you're not taking me down without a fight."

"You mortals," he retorted, taking a step toward them, "I have grown so very, very weary of having to put up with you.
 
Sure, every now and then I meet a human I can get on board with, but none of you are around very long."
 
He twirled Anubis's staff, threw it in the air, and caught it like a baton.

"I could kill you all right now, but to be honest, I don't have the time to mess with you.
 
You can all stay here and rot in the depths of the necropolis."

As he headed for the door, he paused for a moment to examine Liam, who had gone unconscious.
 
He sighed, and gave them a worried frown before kicking the boy hard upon his wounded leg.
 
"Enjoy starvation, I hear it's to die for."