The Third Temple by Christopher Cartwright

Author:Christopher Cartwright [Cartwright, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ashton Publishing Group
Published: 2017-07-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Mioli must have fallen twenty to thirty feet. Maybe more. He didn’t know. At some point his rope must have caught hold on something because he felt it go taut over his shoulder and break part of his fall, before a moment later, being ripped away from whatever it had taken perch on above. He continued falling and struck the ground a split second later.

His back struck first.

Then his head and pelvis, and his entire body filled with a pain so intense he didn’t know where his injuries were because everything hurt equally. Next to him he heard the deep resonant thud of rope falling to the hard icy floor, followed by a clanging sound as his icepick fell less than a foot from his head. The fall took the wind out of his chest and he was certain he’d broken his lower back, and possibly even his legs.

But he was alive.

Mioli realized he was unintentionally holding his breath. He forced himself to take a couple shallow breaths. They hurt his ribs like hell, but he was able to breathe at least. He made a small fist with each hand. The fingers worked, and like the rest of his body they were sending his brain millions of tiny impulses registering pain. He wiggled his toes next. The sensation made him want to cry. He could still move his arms and legs. That meant there might just be hope that he would still survive.

He fumbled in the total darkness for his helmet light and switched it on without moving from where he fell. He was inside a large tunnel. The walls were jet black and glassy. He grinned despite the pain – because he’d found his lava tube.

Mioli turned his head to the left. On the wall were a series of old cave-paintings. One of them depicted a man wearing nothing but a loin-cloth riding a woolly mammoth. Next to that painting was one of a similarly drawn primitive man fighting off a beast. It took Mioli a moment to realize the creature was a sabertooth tiger. He racked his brain trying to recall what his teacher had said about the two creatures in his ancient history class as a kid. They were both extinct – that much he knew for sure – but when had they died out?

His eyes darted to the top of the large tunnel where he’d fallen. It was made of ice and was at least thirty feet above him. He glanced back at the cave paintings. Only there was something different about them... There were no handprints. They were unlike any other Neolithic drawings he’d ever seen in previous ancient caverns he’d explored. He looked at a third drawing. It was of a young woman’s face. She had intense eyes and strong facial features. She wore something golden around her neck, like a pendant, but the lower part of it had been worn off over time. There was no doubt she would have been splendid in whatever time period she’d lived.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.