Chapter 5

The first thing I felt was the weightlessness of my body and then a sudden crash that knocked the air out of my lungs. A dry groan arose from my throat as the pain shot through me.

I tried to force my heavy eyelids open and once I succeeded, the world spun around me in my blurry vision.

After a while, a shadow brushed past my face, followed by cold silver light. I looked up to find the full moon, waxing and gradually casting its radiant glow again after the eclipse.

As my eyes adjusted, I realized I was inside a stone structure. There was a huge rectangular hollow in the ceiling, big enough to show the view of the moonlit sky.

For what seemed like a long time, I could do nothing but lay motionless on the cold ground. There wasn't an ounce of strength in my body as if I was paralyzed.

An unfamiliar scent of burning incenses floated in the air. With a great effort, I was able to prop myself up. I rubbed my temple to clear the haze.

Glancing around, I realized I was inside what seemed like an empty stone chamber. It was enclosed by four narrowed walls that joined together at the top. I felt as if I got stuck in a prison cell or some dark pit. The soreness on my back caused me to flinch as I staggered onto my feet. The cold silver light shone over the raised floral carvings to reveal figures of gods and goddesses on the stone walls, but there was no exit anywhere.

Where is this place? I thought.

"Hello!? Dad! Dr. Ivan! I'm stuck down here. Anyone hears me up there?" I cried, my voice bounced off the walls. I called them again and again but it seemed there was nobody at the top.

Obviously, I had to get out and find my Dad. I wondered what had happened to our archaeological team and the robbers. It was such a nasty storm as I recalled.

With another moan, I dragged myself off the stone floor. My hand found my brown satchel dangling from my shoulder as always. I stumbled my way to one of the walls and looked around again.

There were still no doors or windows, not even a hole my size that I could squeeze through, except the one at the top. But I was no Lara Croft. How was I going to get out of this hell hole?

But I noticed there were seven stages topping each other like a giant staircase. I only had to climb one step at a time.

"Okay, let's pretend it's like going rock-climbing, Nikita," I said to myself. I had done that a few times with Dad and two years in Girl Scout should be able to help me survive this.

I took a deep breath and rubbed my hands together to summon my strength. Then I put my foot in the gap between the stones and pushed myself up. I felt my way cautiously and got past the first step after a painstaking while later.

"Oh well," I breathed. "One down, six to go."

The next steps were harder since space started to narrow towards the top. I lost my footing twice but managed to cling onto the stone. By now, my fingernails were successfully ruined. My hiking pants got torn up, and my knees had burning scratches.

By the fourth step, I took a short break and sat down. My lungs almost burst from the labored breathing. The aches in my back and shoulders worsened. I wondered if I would die here. This was just too much for a seventeen-and-a-half-year-old girl to go through.

The light from the outside world started changing shades once the moon drifted away. As darkness slowly disappeared, a slight hint of hope surged in my heart again. I couldn't give up just yet. I rose to my feet one more time and continued my journey up to my freedom.

"How could people build such a thing and didn't make an exit? Were they thinking of a sacrificing pit or what?" I muttered to myself. And with a little strength from my anger, I pushed myself harder and harder until my hands reached the last sandstone.

At last, I was able to hook my arms over the edge of the opening and pulled myself out of the pit. Thank goodness, I was light for my own sake, otherwise, I might have fallen to my death.

Once I crawled out, my mind whirled in exhaustion. I dropped to the floor and for a long moment, I just lay down and breathed, thanking myself for being alive after all. But how did I end up here in the first place? The questions still haunted me.

When the first light of dawn broke, I managed to sit up and looked around again. Nothing seemed familiar to my eyes. No tents, no Dad, or Dr. Ivan. All I saw were the treetops. Behind me was a giant Lingam made of bronze —the symbol of Shiva, another Hindu god my Dad had told me. There were fire torches burning brightly over the surrounding stones. Four sculpted lions stood guarding each corner of this strange tower-like building.

I had no idea how that could be possible, but I was somewhere high above the ground and everything appeared quite new yet very ancient at the same time. I remembered the intricately carved patterns on the walls of the pit. They also looked fresh and sparkling.

From where I sat, I could see sugar palm trees and forests around the area.

Since I didn't trust my balance yet, I decided to crawl on all fours towards the edge. Maybe I could call for help from up here. But then I witnessed the thing that no sane person could imagine. My jaw dropped at the sight.

"Oh. My. God," I breathed, eyes taking in miles after miles of vast areas below.

Sprawling before me was a colossal city, showing hundreds, if not thousands of wooden settlements, gardens, man-made ponds, roads, and urban blocks. They were organized into a solid metropolitan glamor with stunning stone temples, shrines, and giant water reservoirs and canals crisscrossing around the farmlands.

I was speechless.

The building underneath me was actually a seven-tier pyramid, rising high above the plains. It shaped like a Mayan temple. As I inspected the details some more, I recognized it from our tour guidebook as the Prang Temple of Koh Ker —a temple for sacrifice.

Now stranded on a newer version of this pyramid temple, I had a hard time explaining to myself whether it was a dream or reality.

"No freaking way," I murmured, staggering back to my feet. "This is a dream —I know it. Definitely a dream —yes —what else could that be? That's alright, Nikita, you're fine. No panicking! You're going to wake up in no time."

And to prove it, I pinched myself. It hurt.

"Right, a dream," I said, trying to suppress the panic chill in my bones, yet my state of hallucination was too surreal.

"Dad, where are you?" I whimpered. My throat tightened. "Help me!"

The sun began to rise over the summit of a mountain range far away. The light slowly illuminated the city, which was still there even after I blinked several times. I could see the smokes rising from the nearby villages.

At last, I backed away from the view in a daze and sat down with my back against the bronze Lingam statue.

"No, this can't be happening to me," I muttered, hugging my knees like a crazy person.

Then memories started pouring into my mind: the Moonstone, the ancient spiral, and the lunar eclipse. And here I was in the pit of a pyramid temple, not to mention being stuck in a strange city and worse —probably in a different time.