"How did you get two pairs?"

"Honestly," he says with a sheepish grin. "I stole the other pair. I thought they were cool at first and then I thought, what the h.e.l.l, you never know."

"But, why two?" I ask.

The big guy actually blushes a little.

"I'm terrible with these things. I always lose them. I figure I better cover my a.s.s just in case I lost a pair on this Op. That's why I always buy the cheap knock-offs back home. Then I won't care if I lose them."

I'm too afraid to ask how much these cost. But I don't have to. Kane supplies the details for me.

"If you're wondering, each pair cost Uncle Sam about a mil," he admits.

"What? I'm wearing a pair of sungla.s.ses that cost a million dollars to build?"

"1.2 million, to be exact," he adds. "They are prototypes after all."

Shocked, I turn my attention back to the scenery around us. For the first time since we arrived I can actually see the detail of the world around us.

"But, that's not the worst news," Kane whispers.

"What do you mean?" I ask a little confused.

"We're not alone."

28.

"What did you see?" Dad asks.

We are all gathered around the edge of the precipice, peering out into the stone forest. Kane and I still have on our high-tech specs, both scanning for signs of movement. I see nothing, but Kane is absolutely convinced that he saw something. Something alive.

"Not much, just shadows, but there is definitely something out there," Kane says still gazing out into the stone jungle. "There isn't enough ambient light to cause that many different shapes. If there was we couldn't be using these," he explains pointing to his gla.s.ses.

"Everything about this valley has me on edge. From the drop into nothingness, the dead soldiers, the coded messages, and who could forget the stone wall that now has us trapped down in the Atlantean underworld..." Right as the words come out of my mouth I get an awful idea.

"It's h.e.l.l..." I say in a hushed tone.

Everyone stops and looks up at me. The blank expressions on their faces tell me they recognize that I'm serious.

"It all makes sense," I continue. "The bridge from one world to another-between the tunnel and the staircase. It's a symbol of crossing over the literal threshold. Whatever populace we are dealing with believed in the underworld so much that they built a physical version of it."

"So what you're saying is that we are currently trapped in h.e.l.l?" Kane asks.

"Pretty much," I answer shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, d.a.m.n. That just sucks now doesn't it," Kane says. He then pulls a Desert Eagle from his pack and holds it down to his side, like he's waiting for an attack.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Never better."

"I don't understand, aren't we supposed to be in Atlantis?" Nicole asks.

"I thought so. I mean everything here points to Atlantis-the multiple languages and pictographs for one. But...I'm not so sure anymore," I answer. "It seems like this place was deliberately made separate."

"The images in the tunnel showed what looked like an above ground city, where we are obviously underground," Dad adds. "I wonder if this is something else altogether."

The shocked expressions say it all, everyone is flat out stunned at the revelation. But there is also another look on everyone's faces. Fear.

Great, I think. Everyone's going to be on edge from now on. Last thing we need is a twitchy trigger finger to go off and someone accidentally getting shot.

"Ok, guys," I say. "Whatever is out there-whether it's just the shadows playing tricks on us or not-we need to get some rest. Besides, we have the high ground and can easily defend this position if needed." I glance over to Kane for rea.s.surance. "Right?"

He looks over to me with a look that says he's putting all the scenarios together in his head, trying to find a solution.

"Kane?" I ask getting a little worried.

He turns back toward the forest and shrugs his shoulders, "Sure."

Not exactly the answer I was hoping for.

He speaks up, still looking off into the distance, "Either way Hank is right, let's rest for half-an-hour and recharge the batteries."

"How about an hour," Dad says. "Some of us don't recharge as quick as we used too."

I smile, at least he's holding it together.

"Fine...an hour it is," Kane agrees with a look that says he isn't overly thrilled.

Everyone, minus Kane, goes back to what they were doing and starts prepping for the hour break. Nicole breaks out some protein bars and hands them out. We wolf down the snack and wash it down with some of our water reserve. Would have been better with a Sam Adams, I think.

I lay down facing the pyramid, propping my bag up under my head, Glock at the ready by my side. Omar is back up on the stairs taking photos. He wants to record everything he can while he's down here. I doubt he'll ever come back once we are done.

Dad sits down next to me.

"What are you thinking?" He asks.

"One thing has been bugging me," I say. "Why build a very elaborate city like this if what you believed in didn't actually exist? It makes no sense for an obviously advanced civilization to put in the time and effort to create all this."

"So you believe Kane?" He asks. "You think there's something out there?"

"Yes," I say with no hesitation. Why wouldn't I believe him? "He's a former solider. Those types of guys don't generally overreact and panic."

Dad just nods. He like me most likely has a million things running through his head.

"Get some rest people," Kane says still staring off. "We may not have another chance to do so for some time. I'll keep watch until it's time to move out."

"He's right," I continue. "Get whatever shut eye you can. I'm setting an alarm for exactly one hour."

I wait until everyone else gets settled and then shut my own eyes. I didn't realize how tired I was until I closed them. I a.s.sume it's my fried nerves and my slowly healing body that is giving in to sleep.

I roll over on my side facing away from the pyramid, fall dead asleep and slip into the craziest dream of my life.

29.

Maybe calling this a standard dream isn't the right description of what I'm experiencing. No, this qualifies as one screwed up nightmare. There's a voice in my head taunting me and a presence that is both foreign and familiar all at once. It sounds both distant and close, like it's an echo bouncing around in my head.

I open my eyes and jump to my feet, trying to find the source of the voice, but can't find it. I'm still on the landing where I last was, but my team is gone and the air around me is ice cold.

You cannot contain me. You haven't the strength or the ability to do so. If you even try you will burn, of this I can guarantee. Your pitiful mortal bodies are so weak and pathetic. HA HA HA.

The booming laughter mixed with the frigid temperature sends a horrible chill racing up and down my body. It's followed by a pulling sensation that is worse than any c.r.a.ppy state-fair ride I've ever been on. It tugs at my back trying to drag me away, deeper into this h.e.l.lish place.

"Who are you?" I ask it, looking around, but there isn't anyone else here.

You know who I am little one. I am the destroyer of your world, The End of All Things, and I will not let you or my brothers keep me imprisoned any longer.

Could this really be THE End? Or is this some twisted manifestation of a beat and bruised psyche?

I'm about to conclude that it's the later-when I'm pulled at a phenomenal speed, yanked off the platform.

I bash through tree after tree, feeling like I'm in a rollover wreck on the highway. The sudden bone jarring impacts rattle my teeth and pound my body, fading my consciousness in and out.

I'm about to pa.s.s out from the pain and nausea-when I'm shot out of the forest and thrown to the ground outside of a set of wrought iron gates, landing hard on my back. I sit up, wheezing and see that the gates themselves remind me of a medieval cemetery's front entrance, except this one is in the side of a pyramid.

It's a very dark and sinister looking building now that I'm close enough to see some detail. Shaped like an exact duplicate to Khufu, the Great Pyramid of Giza. Or is Khufu a duplicate to this? It's another shocking revelation I get to add to the couple I've already learned, and of many more to come I'm sure.

Khufu Sr. has the cla.s.sic step pyramid design, just like its relative in Egypt, except, the stone that makes up its design is perfectly preserved and polished, like it was built yesterday.

Still recovering from the physical toll this nightmare is dishing out, I slowly turn and take in the grounds surrounding the entrance. They are perfectly manicured with stone pillars, also black as night, lining the path to the gateway. Pillars line the main avenue that leads from me back to the stone forest. In between each pillar are statues, but these aren't the romantic ones you'd see in Rome or in the Louvre. These are ghastly creatures frozen in shouts of pain and anguish.

Ah, these put up such a struggle. How wonderful it was to watch them squirm.

"They were alive?" I ask, hearing my voice bounce off the jet-black stone around me. Some of the creatures I can't make out what they are and others look vaguely humanoid in appearance. A few look like a cross between a person and a type of animal species. Each one is its own Minotaur, with its own terrible combination.

Once yes, but everything must die eventually. There's a moment of quiet laughter and then the voice continues, Some sooner than others.

I'm pulled once again, this time through a dizzying spiraling pathway, and arrive in another underground chamber. This one is the size of a performance hall. Sitting in the center of the room is a dark rock formation and even from this distance I can feel the evil radiating off its surface.

Obsidian, I think. The volcanic rock shines like gla.s.s in the fire light.

That's when I notice the torches hanging on the walls. There are b.a.l.l.s of fire hovering in place with no smoke trail rising from their burning surfaces, like they are nightlights in a child's bedroom. Except, these aren't going to keep the boogeyman away.

Come to me.

I'm violently tossed like a rag doll towards the onyx shape and land with a thud. I gasp for air, once again getting the wind knocked out of me. How many times can that happen in a dream? I'm now about twenty feet from the center of the room, covering over fifty feet with the last shove.

It's then I feel something else too, something I've never felt in a dream before. Pain. My ribs are killing me-my back too. The latest slam to the ground, along with the repeated hits l took while bashing through the stone trees in the chamber above, reminds me of how bad shape I'm really in. I grunt and stand on wobbly legs, using every ounce of resolve I have left not to collapse.

The rock is about fifteen feet in height and looks like a bonfire frozen in time. A deep red glow emanates from within the rock, adding to its wickedness. It's beautiful, in a horrifying way considering where I am.

No sculptor in the world could duplicate this, I think. I take another step forward and see that there are no tool marks in the surface, its one seamless piece of rock.

Free meeeee.

I look around. I thought I heard someone whisper something into the wind. Almost like a half-muted screech.

Wind? I'm underground, there is no wind under- Free me, now!

I jump back and go to raise my gun and clench my teeth at the sudden movement, my ribs on fire again from the sudden movement. I look down at my empty hand. Okay, no gun. d.a.m.n.

Release me!

I'm again pulled towards the black rock, this time I stay on my feet and skid towards it. I will myself to stop and I do, now ten feet away. I'm visibly sweating from the mental strength and will power it took me to resist. But I did resist.

I lean on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

Ahh, this one is stronger than the last. He couldn't resist me at all.

I look up at my reflection in the polished rock.

"The...last?" I ask in between huffs.

Yes, the last human form I...commandeered. He was very weak-willed.

"Weak-willed?" I repeat.

Yes, he was very easy to manipulate.

"The will of the chosen to deny," I quietly say, thinking back to the ominous inscription, quoting it.

WHAT?!.