Page 28 of Dark Voyage Matters of the Mind

When a section of the wall started to retract, Frankie wasn't surprised that Kalugal had figured out the sequence. He had repeatedly proven that he knew what he was doing.

When the wall stopped moving, a narrow entrance less than five feet tall was revealed. Even Frankie would have to duck to get through, and Yamanu would probably need to bend in two.

"Wait." Negal stopped Kalugal with a hand on his shoulder. "Let me go in first."

Turning, Kalugal blocked the entrance with his body. "I am grateful for your assistance, Negal, and for putting yourself in harm's way to protect me, but I am three-quarters god, and I really don't need protecting."

Negal frowned. "How can you be three-quarters god?"

Frankie wondered the same thing. As far as she knew, Annani and Toven were the only two gods other than Dagor and his teammates, and they were cousins who had never been romantically or otherwise involved. Also, neither of them was Kalugal's parent.

"That's not important," Kalugal said. "I'm going in first, and if you are so concerned about my well-being, you can follow right behind me."

Negal waved a dismissive hand. "You are the boss."

"Thank you." Kalugal smiled before ducking through the narrow entrance.

Negal followed and, a few moments later, reappeared to tell the rest of them that they could come through.

Frankie and Dagor entered behind Mey and Yamanu, with Jin and Arwel entering right behind them.

Frankie was surprised to see torches flicker, casting the stark chamber in soft illumination.

Kalugal hadn't brought them with him, so they must have been left behind in the chamber, surviving for centuries. Was there magic involved?

The hewn-out room was simple and unassuming compared to the elaborate decorations and contraptions they had encountered on the way.

Humidity clung to the air, making Frankie's breathing laborious. It indicated that there was a source of water somewhere in the underground because she doubted that the moist air had come from the outside. But then, she was no expert on caves and underground structures, and maybe the moisture from above was seeping through the earth and stone.

After all of Kalugal's hype, she'd expected the inner chamber that housed the amulet to be grand, and after Mey's revelations, she'd expected to find skeletons lining the walls, but the only two interesting elements about the place were the cleverly disguised entrance and the pedestal that stood at its center.

From where Frankie stood, it just looked like a column of rough stone with some symbols etched on its surface. Unless the amulet was housed inside a hidden compartment, it wasn't there.

"What does it say?" Jacki asked as Kalugal carefully approached the column. The subdued lighting from the flickering torches was not optimal.

"No clue." He reached out and tapped the top of the stone with the pickax. "The only thing I can tell you is that they are different than the ones that opened the way. My guess is that they are warnings."

"The map doesn't say anything either," Rufsur's mate said.

Frankie pulled out the copy Kalugal had given her and unfolded it to confirm, even though it made little sense to doubt Edna's assessment.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Jacki rubbed her hands over her arms. "Maybe we should just leave it be."

Kalugal turned to look at her with a frown. "How bad is the feeling?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I need to touch the column."

"Not happening until I determine that it's safe." Kalugal moved closer and tapped the column with the pickax again, more forcefully this time.

Leaning against Dagor's solid body, Frankie felt safe enough, but she shared Jacki's premonition of dread. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was there.

The question was whether it was just a reaction to what Mey had said, the buildup of anticipation, or something that she should actually heed.

Kalugal repeated the tapping a couple more times, and when nothing happened, he put his hand on the pedestal and shone his flashlight on its top.

"I think I’ve found what we came here looking for." He turned to Jin. "Can I have the gloves, please?"

She shook her head. "They won't fit your hands."