Cronin's Key IV: Kennard's Story by N.R. Walker

Author:N.R. Walker [Walker, N.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-25T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Six

“Run!” Alec said as the painted snakes all slithered down the walls to the floor and formed a macabre moving painted carpet, slithering toward them. They each grabbed hands once more and Alec ran straight at the painted door on the wall and, because things weren’t weird enough, they passed right through solid stone into a long, darkened tunnel. Kennard was the last through, and he turned around to see if any snakes had followed. Thankfully none had.

“Are we all good?” Alec asked. Everyone nodded. “Good, good,” Alec mumbled. “And I swear, if we come out at Platform 9¾, I’ll be paying J.K. Rowling a visit.”

Kennard was the only one who chuckled; no one else seemed to get the joke. “Right,” Kennard said. “If he’s still making Harry Potter references in four hundred years and no one takes the piss, I’ll be bitterly disappointed in all of you.”

“Oh, Harry Potter!” Eiji said. “Now I get it.” He looked at Kennard. “Harry Potter references are allowed. Saying ‘God’s hook’, not so much.”

“Eiji,” Kennard droned. “Remember that time when I said I was thankful for having you as a friend?”

Eiji nodded, grinning.

“I take it back.”

Eiji’s smile faded into a frown, and Jodis sighed. “Are you two done? I swear, somedays it’s like being a preschool teacher.” Eiji and Kennard both smirked.

“Where are we now?” Cronin asked.

“There are tunnels that run from the Pyramid of the Sun to the Pyramid of the Moon,” Alec said.

“These tunnels were only recently discovered,” Jodis explained. “But they were inaccessible because of huge boulders that had been put in place to block the doorways.”

“Huge boulders with painted doorways that Alec can apparently walk through,” Eiji added.

“Come on,” Alec said. “Let’s keep moving.”

The tunnel itself was only wide enough for single file, and poor Stas had to duck his head. “Are you okay, my love?” Kennard asked him.

“No snakes, so is good,” he replied. “Though I not like tunnels much. Like pits under Moscow church. Not much good comes from dark places.”

“The second one is just up ahead,” Alec said. “There’s another boulder blocking the way. We’ll need to walk through it, so hold hands.”

They formed a chain and, again, simply followed Alec through the stone wall into another large underground chamber. It was slightly smaller than the first one, and it too was constructed of stone.

“This is the Pyramid of the Moon,” Alec said. “Well, under it. About thirty feet.”

Instead of having snakes painted on the walls, this one had carved stone snakes instead. “Ah, Alec…?” Eiji said, staring at the walls, his pitch higher. “There are snakes. Like the cobras on the temple door in India. But stone.”

“I see them,” he said.

“And look,” Cronin said, nodding toward another pile of dust nearby. He nudged it with his foot and unearthed a wooden spike. He picked it up, inspected it, his expression one of horror. “It’s hawthorn.”

“The Illyrians?” Jodis hissed. “What the hell went on here?”

“When the hell did this go on?” Kennard added.

“I don’t know,” Alec said.

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