Chapter 4

I sat on the trunk of a fallen tree not far away from the main tents. The digging site was visible to my right and I could still see the spiral. With my drawing pad in hand, I sketched an image of the ancient discus in a 3-D form. But then I noticed something strange about it. The first ring came with the biggest snakehead, the second ring had a smaller one, so did the third until the seventh ring. But they laid in various positions.

After I finished shading over the outlines, it drew my attention even more. The carvings on every stone looked like some kind of a jigsaw puzzle. On each circle, certain curves seemed unfinished or cut off where they should have been continued. I stared hard at the penciled features and then a shock jolted me up to my feet.

Right! Those patterns were a complete picture!

"Dad!" I yelled, scanning around the area for him. Then I saw him with Dr. Ivan at the other corner of the area, discussing something. I picked up my brown satchel and ran over to them.

"Dad! Dr. Ivan! I think I see some clue on the spiral!" I cried.

Once I reached them, I held my drawing up to their noses.

"Oh wow, easy there, nice drawing, Nikita," Dr. Ivan said, looking at it blankly. "But what is it again?"

"You know, when I drew this, I just realized the patterns actually matched each other," I said, poking at the drawing again and again. "Can you see it? Can you see it?"

"Honey, slow down and tell us what you're getting at," Dad said. Unlike most grown-up, Dad always listens to what I have to say. I grabbed his wrist and towed him along towards a refreshment table and put my finished work down.

"You notice this carving right here?" I said, pointing to the raised part of a stone on the first ring. "It looks like the scales of a snake and the same with the other stone down here but at a different angle!"

Dr. Ivan squinted his eyes as he stared at the drawing.

"You wouldn't see it clearly on the stone, but in the drawing, well..." he commented, scratching his white beard with a thoughtful look. "I guess you're right, little one."

"Yes! The spiral is like the inside of a clock rotating," I said. "All you have to do is just imagine those rings rotate back into their original positions. When all the seven rings are aligned, it would reveal a hidden image of a snake!"

"A Naga," Dad corrected. "A seven-headed Naga symbolizes timelessness and immortality. The Nagas are also guardians of sacred entrances."

"So does it mean the spiral is some kind of an entrance?" I asked.

"Possibly," he said.

"Well, but the problem is the spiral can't be moved," Dr. Ivan sighed. "We've tried."

"You forgot one thing, Doctor," Dad said. "The Moonstone."

The Moonstone was the key to unlocking some hidden mechanism inside the spiral.

"Did you take it out before you tried to move the spiral?" I asked.

"Yeah," the man said, looking guilty. "I didn't think of it that way at that time."

No wonder why the rings couldn't be rotated because he took it out.

"How about we put the Moonstone back into the hole and see if it will cause any movement to this ancient relic?" I said.

"Chandramoki Moni is a precious stone. Many people want to get their hands on it," Dr. Ivan lowered his voice as if to avoid someone from eavesdropping. "I don't want too many people to know about the crystal ball. We have to return it to the National Museum as soon as possible."

"But don't you want the answer to your research, Dr. Ivan?" Dad said, knowing that I would be disappointed if my hypothesis was rejected. Dr. Ivan seemed to ponder it for a full minute and then he looked back at me.

"We do it tonight." He smiled. I smiled back wider. "But if nothing happens, we bring the Moonstone to the museum. Are we clear?"

I couldn't be happier.

When the night came, our team of archaeologists gathered around us as we carried the wooden chest out of the tent and brought it towards the stone spiral.

"Doctor, don't you think it's a bit risky to bring it out like that?" a Cambodian team member asked as he and Dr. Ivan carried the chest out. The guy was in his thirties with rough dark skin and thin figure. We stood by the spiral, watching them.

"I know that, Sam," Dr. Ivan replied as they put the chest down on the ground. A few members shone their torch lights to help lead our ways. We didn't want to attract unwanted attention.

"The news about the spiral has spread so much recently," Sam continued. "And the forest isn't safe from intruders either. I'm just afraid, sir."

"We'll be quick, don't worry," Dr. Ivan said to his colleague once again. "Besides we still have no idea what the spiral does. Now, there is a chance to find out. Let's give it a try and see if the new theory works." He turned and winked at me. I smiled back.

The rest of the team nodded with no further questions. Dr. Ivan climbed onto the spiral. Sam opened the lid and took the Moonstone out, then handed it carefully to Dr. Ivan. The rest of us watched him in silence. He held the crystal ball and crept towards the hole. Slowly and gently, Dr. Ivan placed the Moonstone back into its rightful place.

I looked up at the sky and a full moon rose almost directly above us. The silver light bathed over the stone features, making the carved patterns stood out more than usual.

We waited for a moment, hoping for something magical like in the movie to happen. But there was just a long-dead silence, except the singing crickets from the surrounding trees and the murmurs among the crew.

"Nothing?" one of the members said. Dr. Ivan turned around to face us and shrugged apologetically at me. I looked at my father. His brows creased in contemplation.

"Maybe it doesn't work that way." He stepped out. "I have an idea. Someone help me, please."

My Dad walked up to the spiral and put his hands on the stone. A few men followed suit.

"You're going to move it instead?" Dr. Ivan asked as he stepped off the spiral again.

"You have any better ideas?"

"Well, not at the moment."

"Sometimes, you have to be less theoretical, my friend," Dad said then he turned to me. "Nikita, can you bring me your drawing?"

I grabbed my satchel bag and fished out my drawing pad. The remaining members watched us as they stood around the mounds. I flipped to my latest work.

"Here it is, Dad," I said, showing him the picture again. "Do I need to explain to them, too?"

"No, dear." He shook his head. "We can't see it the way you could, so just tell us how these rings should be rotated, alright?"

"Okay, I'm on it," I assured him.

"Good, now let's get to work, everybody," Dad said to the others.

I stared at my own drawing for a few seconds and put my imagination to work. Then I looked back at the patterns on the spiral again. It was similar to solving a Rubik's Cube, the spiral should be just the same.

"The serpent head between the first ring and second ring should be turned clockwise towards the one on the third ring," I started.

The grinding sound of heavy stones began to echo through the ground as the team rotated the ring. The earth underneath my feet shook a little.

To my utter surprise, a few raised carvings began to match up with the others and made a slight locking sound that sealed them. Everyone's face lit up in amazement.

"It really works!" someone cried.

"Keep going, Nikita," Dad said, giving me an approving smile. My hands shook a little as I held the drawing.

"Now the third Naga head between first and last should be turned back from the middle one," I said. They did as they were told and again, more patterns revealed. "Turn the fourth head and the sixth head to the right. No, move it to the left a little...that's right...slowly, slowly...okay stop!"

Another pattern reconnected.

It was kind of funny that I was acting like a captain, giving orders to a bunch of grown-ups, but knowledge is power; besides, everyone was as eager to see the result as I did. We continued the process, spinning one ring at a time.

Gradually, all the patterns completed each other, and sure enough, once all the seven rings were correctly aligned, a full image of the seven-headed Naga was revealed. Everyone stepped back from the ancient spiral, all with their jaws dropped.

"Oh my god," Dr. Ivan breathed. "This is the most magnificent thing I've ever seen!"

There was an awed silence among us. We admired the object for a long moment before someone spoke again.

"So now, do you know what the purpose of this spiral is, Doctors?" Sam asked. "What is it exactly?"

Good question, I thought. Even Dr. Ivan looked like he just caught on. I looked back at Dad, who was also quiet. Now what? I thought. It's not like the Angkorians just got up and built this spiral out of boredom, right? There has to be something special to it. But even after we aligned all the rings, nothing happened.

"Well, maybe we'll have to conduct further research on it," Dr. Ivan said, trying to be optimistic.

Suddenly, we heard a gunshot into the sky. Everyone jumped with a yelp. Then we saw a dozen men in black clothes coming out of the wood. They soon surrounded us. All of them had guns pointing left and right. Panic erupted among our archaeological team. They rounded us from above and pushed everyone to one side.

A slurry male voice spoke something we didn't understand. We turned to see a masked man walking towards us. Dr. Ivan looked at Sam.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"Sir, they asked you to hand over the crystal ball," Sam said, his voice cracked a little in fear. My Dad pulled me to the back.

"Tell them I said 'no'," Dr. Ivan said, having the courage of a bigfoot. Dad's face didn't show any emotion either.

"Dad, we're being robbed," I whispered behind him.

"Stay quiet, Nikita," he said under his breath. "Get your bag up."

I stooped down to retrieve my satchel from the ground.

"Give me your pencil knife," Dad whispered and I did as was told.

"Dad, what are you..."

"Shhh..."

The same gunman walked to us. He looked like a professional ninja with his black cover-up. He stared at us with dark cold eyes, turning from Dr. Ivan to Dad, but then his gaze fell on me.

"You," he said in English, pointing at me. "Go fetch the stone."

Dad quickly rushed forward and knocked the gun from his hand. He wrapped his arms around the robber's neck, pinning his wrist to the back.

Dad already had the tip of my pencil knife against the man's throat. The man struggled against my Dad's grasp, but Dad was taller and stronger.

"Let everyone go," Dad bargained, gritting his teeth, "or I'll kill him."

The sound of guns snapping erupted in our ears as they turned to our direction. I gulped, seeing that we were the only three people on the other end of their barrels now.

"Oh my friend, do you really think we would do that?" Another man stepped out from the shadow, pushing his comrades aside to get through.

The man was tall and almost as big as Dr. Ivan, but he sounded younger and fiercer. Apparently, Dad picked the wrong man. Their leader walked towards us casually. The lower half of his face was covered with a red scarf. He spoke to us in accented English.

"I will kill every single one of you if you dare defy me," he said. "Give us the stone or die like a street dog!"

"You wouldn't dare," Dad spat. "We work for the UNESCO heritage. You'll get your butts on fire if you kill us."

"I don't care who you are!" he spat back. "Hand over that stone, and you can go home alive and not in a box. Understand?"

"Dr. Azarov," Dr. Ivan said, "it's not worth it. Let them have the Moonstone."

Dad was silent for a while and as he thought better of it, he released the guy from his arms. I noticed our former captive was already bleeding at the throat. When push comes to shove, Dad really knows how to push and shove, but now it seemed like a lost cause.

Our former captive turned around and punched Dad in the jaw, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Dad!" I went over to him but the same robber pulled me by the elbows.

"You go get that freaking crystal. Now!"

He gave me another hard shove, and I stumbled towards the spiral. Our defenseless archaeological team watched us with frightened eyes. Their hands placed over their heads as the gunmen guarded them. I gingerly climbed onto the surface of the stone again.

But once I reached the middle of the spiral, thick darkness covered the earth like a blanket. I looked up at the sky to see a black shadow slowly loomed across the moon's face.

"How strange is that," I heard Dr. Ivan said from where he stood. "NASA didn't inform us of the eclipse today."

"Oh shut up, old man!" the robber yelled as their leader kept watching me with greed-filled eyes.

"Get the stone, sweetie, or your dad will taste my bullet," he threatened. I quickly turned back and gazed at the crystal again. My hands were trembling as I reached over and grabbed the crystal ball. But a slight glow seemed to shine from within the Moonstone.

I felt the heat crept up my palms and gasped in shock. When I tried to withdraw my hands back, it was as if they were glued to the stone by an invisible force. The glow got brighter and hotter.

Out of nowhere, several whirlwinds raged across the area, uprooting grasses on the ground and tossing tents around in madness. My head spun, and I had trouble breathing as the air whizzed hysterically around me.

"Dad, I'm stuck!" I cried. The trees swayed as a strong gust of wind began to blow around the area, growing wilder by the seconds.

"Nikita!" Dad's voice echoed through the waking storm.

Dad pushed the robbers and elbowed his way towards me, but they grabbed him back and kneed him in the stomach.

While they were distracted, Dr. Ivan knocked two of them to the ground and ran towards me, but when he reached the spiral, he got kicked backward by a strong gush of air. I could hear everyone panicking and stepping away from the spiral. Even the robbers seemed to stir with fear. Some already fled screaming that the stone was cursed.

Then my eyes widened when every outline on the stone blocks glowed like red-hot lava. The Moonstone burst into a column of blinding white light. It shot up into the sky towards the lunar eclipse.

I turned my face away, squeezing my eyes shut from the unnatural brightness. Then a strange sensation spread through my body. I felt lighter as if the gravity had lost its grip.

My hands were free but my body rose several feet into the air, hovering over the light of the Moonstone like a string puppet. I could see everyone fled the area from sheer panic while others just stared in total shock.

"Dad!" I cried again. My father punched one of the remaining robbers and pushed through the wind towards me, but this time, he was blown ten feet into the air and fell back onto a tent's roof.

I heard myself screaming from a flaring pain. It was as if my body was swimming in a river of flame. Tears burst from my eyes.

Within seconds, I actually watched my fingers disintegrated into golden energy dust. It drifted like wind-blown sand towards the sky. Other parts of me followed like burning ash.

Then my mind was engulfed in darkness.