"How... the hell… did you do that?" I said between heavy breaths, wondering how Nathan managed to save me from what was almost a fiery death. We took cover behind a large block of rubble, which explained why Mara wasn't shooting at us with her laser anymore. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and my heart beat fast as I lay on my back, not far from the edge I had almost fallen from.

"Years of practice?" Nate said with a laugh, breathing heavily too. "I saved you, but… Rosa got away. Crap."

"Dammit," I said in an emotionless whisper, though I was furious on the inside. I wished so badly she'd have fallen into that pit of fire for screwing us over in the first place. We could have been well on our way to finding the Jewel of Power by now, if only she hadn't looked into the Eyes of Mara. "How did she get away?"

"Grappled over to the other side the moment the bridge collapsed," Nate answered. "Didn't try to shoot or anything, just… took off."

"She'll get what's coming to her," I said with certainty. I sat up and wiped sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. "Thank you for being there, Nathan. This could have gone much differently had you not. So… thank you. Really."

Nate's expression softened and a smile took hold of his face. His eyebrows furrowed, as if he was almost sad about something. "We make a good team," was all he said.

I nodded, standing up and offering him a hand. "We do. And, despite our differences," I said with exertion as I helped him to his feet, "we work damn well together."

"Yeah. Let's get back to it," Nathan said as he dusted his hands off on his jeans. "We've got ourselves a jewel to find."

"And, yet, we've no idea of its whereabouts," I reminded him.

He grimaced, and ran his fingers hard through his dark brown hair. "All this crap we've been through and still no sign of it," he said with frustration.

"The journal," I remembered, looking to Nathan with hope. "Do you have it?"

"Er, not presently," Nathan said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I know where it is."

"You do." I said, dumbfounded. I was amazed that he managed to keep it safe, though I wouldn't have been surprised if a Trinity guard had taken hold of it by now. "Where is it? How did you keep them from finding it?"

"Oh, easy. I overheard them talking about a place that was off-limits. That's where I hid the journal, because I knew nobody would go looking for it there." Nathan seemed immensely proud of himself for coming up with such a good plan.

"…Without them noticing?" I said, surprised.

"I had to pull one of those 'escape sneakily and take everyone out by stealth' deals, but once they were all lights-out, that's when I made my move."

I nodded, understanding his situation from experience. "That camp must have been swarming with guards," I said. "I can't believe you did that alone."

"You'd better believe it," Nathan said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I do," I laughed awkwardly. "I just wish I could have helped."

He smirked and looked away. The bright orange glow of the hellish fire pit faded as we got further away from it. The open space turned into an enclosed one, with towering statues of king cobras adorning columns that held up the ceiling. The stone ruins were weathered severely, even after taking respite from the elements indoors for thousands of years. They seemed in worse shape than the ruins on the outside of the temple, though what could have caused that, I had no idea.

I craned my head upward to get a better look at the stone cobras: they were intricately carved, each one with a tail that slithered around the column and tapered off at its base. A chill crept up my spine as we progressed through the ruins, a long hallway lined with the cobra columns sprawled ahead of us. The growing size of the statues made me increasingly uneasy as we continued onward.

"Oh, just a sec." Nathan stopped at one of the columns and reached around behind it, sliding the top off of a wooden crate. "Journal's… in here… somewhere," he said as he struggled to reach the bottom. I poked my head in closer, trying to get a better look. "Just… a little… and… gotcha!" He pulled his hand out and thrust a dusty, decaying human skull right in front of my face.

"God!" I recoiled and instinctively smacked the skull from his hands. "Nathan! You're… ridiculous!"

Nate seemed to get a lot of enjoyment out of startling me, as he broke out into an instant and loud belly laugh. I shook my head and joined him in laughter, if only for a moment.

"Ok, fun's over," he said, bits of laughter sneaking past his lips. "But seriously, here's the journal." Nate reached in and out with ease, this time actually pulling the journal out from the bottom of the crate.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the journal from his hands. "Thanks, Nate," I said as I flipped open the book to the drawing that resembled our current location. "Ah, the snakes." I studied the sketches of the cobras, noticing writing off to the side.

"'Why did it have to be snakes?'" Nathan read Jones's scribbles from over my shoulder. "Ha, his phobia probably didn't let him get much farther than this."

"You're probably right," I nodded and flipped through the following pages. "Nothing else in the journal resembles our location, or even mentions cobras. He likely avoided this area."

"So did those Trinity guys," Nathan added smugly. "Which is exactly why I hid the journal here."

"Smart thinking. But if no one's been here…"

"…you think there's somethin' bad up ahead?" Nate looked concerned. We both turned our gaze toward the end of the hallway, where it ended in darkness.

"It's possible," I said solemnly and folded the journal closed, placing it in my backpack. "But it's worth checking out, isn't it?"

Nathan nodded, and followed as I started again toward the end of the hallway. It seemed endless, especially since there was nothing but darkness ahead of us, but the growing size of the snake columns told me we were making progress.

"So… what's up with the all the snakes?" Nate wondered aloud. "I've seen reference to them all over this temple."

"In ancient Indian cultures and religions, like Buddhism, the people worshiped Naga, or snake deities. They often took the form of king cobras, like these ones." I shuddered and looked up at the stone snakes, each one becoming larger as they passed. "And they often protected something."

"Oh," Nathan said slowly. "You think they put these statues up to scare off trespassers?"

"Maybe, if the skeletons, pits of fire, and laser beams of death weren't enough to get the job done. Or, maybe…"

"… 'Maybe' what?" Nathan looked down at me, crossing his arms just like I was, deep in thought. A wave of realization hit him and his eyes widened. "Maybe the snakes are a last-ditch effort to protect the Jewel."

I nodded. "Like the giant snake that guarded the Golden Fleece in Greek Mythology. And do you know what? The Golden Fleece was real."

Nathan laughed, remembering the news I shared with him. "You woke me up to tell me that you'd seen it with your own eyes. You and your dad were definitely onto something here, huh?" Nathan said.

"He was right, about all of it. I'd doubted him for years, thinking him a madman like Ana and the rest, until I realized the bastards she sided with were after the same thing I was." I turned away from Nathan. "They would kill to get a glimpse of what my father tried to warn the world about."

"They have killed," Nathan reminded me. "And they won't stop until they turn the world into their playground."

"Yeah," I said softly. I felt guilty for dragging Nate into my mess, my battle with Trinity. He'd never give me grief for it—he'd tell me he was happy to help me, that he enjoyed going on adventures with me. He craved the action, the close brushes with death, as did I. But I couldn't help but feel that if Trinity hurt him, it would be my fault.

Finally, Nathan and I reached the end of the hallway, which revealed a large open chamber that was roughly the same size as the Rotunda Calendar we'd passed through toward the beginning of the temple. The room glowed a pale blue hue, with a single shaft of moonlight shining into the space from a circular opening in the ceiling. Before us stood a massive stone statue of a king cobra, looming above us like regality. The cobra emanated a sort of magical glow that drew us closer.

"Look at that!" I gasped, mouth agape with awe. Not only was I amazed at the statue's size, but the intricacy and attention to detail that went into sculpting it. I imagined the giant effigy of Mara was once as ornate and beautiful before it began to decay. "I'm speechless. I can't believe it's in such great condition after thousands of years."

"It's incredible," Nathan agreed. He looked around the chamber for any sign of exit. "We've gotta be getting close, but I don't see anywhere to go."

"There has to be something," I said, thinking hard. I walked the perimeter of the room, my eyes darting about for any sign of what to do. I stopped and stared at the ground beneath Nate's feet, running my hands through my fringe as I thought. I thought back to Jones' journal, but remembered that he didn't get this far, so there was no information to go off of.

That's when I saw it.

"Wait…" I said, my eyes lighting up.

"What?" Nathan said, looking hopefully at me.

"Your feet, Nate!" I said, pointing at his shoes.

He looked down, lifting his feet and examining his shoes. "So I have big feet. What's your point?"

"No, under them," I said. I kneeled down and put my face close to the ground where he was standing."

"Are you okay?" He asked, squatting down to stare at the ground where I was looking, until he saw it too. "Ohhh," he said finally.

I reached my hand out and brushed my fingers against the stone ground, then gripped a protruding piece of metal firmly. With force, I pulled upward, and a small, circular slab of stone began to rise from the ground. Beneath it was a small mirror that was hinged on a metal axis, and could be rotated freely.

"Ha!" Nathan laughed. "Just like in the Hall of Promise."

"Exactly!" I smiled. I looked up at the ceiling, eyeing the shaft of moonlight that shone into the room. "The light—it's angled perfectly for me to reflect it onto the statue."

"Worth a shot," Nathan said. "Give it a try."

I nodded and rotated the mirror slightly so it caught the moonlight and redirected its angle onto the statue of the king cobra.

"Nothing's happening," I said, beginning to feel frustrated. I tried several different spots, but when the light was reflected onto the right eye of the snake, the eye began to glow a magnificent purple.

"That's it!" Nathan said. "But if there are two eyes…" His voice trailed off. He left my side, and I looked over to see him crawling on the ground across the room, looking intently for something. He grabbed hold of something, and pulled on it to reveal another mirror, identical to the one I was holding.

"…Then we need two mirrors!" I smiled.

"This one's different," Nathan called out to me. "It's got a couple mirrors… and it's box-shaped. Maybe try sending that beam over to this one?"

I nodded and turned the mirror so that the moonlight left the cobra's eye, and was instead directed toward Nathan and his mirror-box. The purple light faded from the statue's eyes as I moved it away, causing the room to return to darkness. I moved the mirror inch by inch, trying to guide the light directly toward the mirror that lay on the side of the box facing me. As soon as the light hit the box, beams burst outward in several different directions—each mirror split the light into two branching beams.

"Now what?" I called over to him.

"The beams are split," Nathan called back. "I'm gonna try aiming them at the eyes."

"Okay!" I nodded, holding the mirror steadily in position. I watched as Nate spun the box, but the beams of light weren't matching up with the statue's eyes. Until finally, when he turned it one more time, two beams made contact with the eyes of the snake, and the room glowed purple once again. Not only did the room glow, but the entire figure of the cobra gleamed brilliantly, with jewels shining and light bursting from etchings carved into the the ancient stone.

"I think that did it!" He called, his voice echoing off the ancient walls of the chamber.

The cobra statue began to glow a brilliant purple once more, and this time both of its eyes were illuminated. My mouth dropped open with awe, watching as each gemstone and jewel that adorned the statue began to sparkle with dazzling luminescence. Nathan and I both became consumed with the light, taking a few steps toward it to get a closer look. When nothing happened, Nate and I turned our heads, exchanging a confused glance.

"I don't understand," I said finally. "It's beautiful, but nothing's happening."

"Maybe that's all it is… beautiful. Coulda' been a shrine or something," Nathan suggested.

"Wait," I whispered, my stomach dropping. "Look." I held out my right hand and pointed at the statute. Bit by bit, piece by piece, the stone cobra was cracking and splitting apart. The statue was coming to life.