The woman in white had joined the dark figure in the chariot.
“Do you see this?” Marias flicked his beam over the mosaics.
“Yes.” Lourds couldn’t help but feast his eyes on the artwork, on the sheer history that lay before them. Even though the stories couldn’t possibly be true, the artwork was a study in artifacts. But he was also grimly aware that Haros was at his side, and the boy was terrified.
“We should not be here. We should not be here.” Haros spoke in a thin, quiet voice.
Boris, I wish you had lived long enough to see where your trail led. You deserve the recognition for this.
Fitrat ordered three of his men to take up positions in the cave at the opening, but he sent Corporal Rahimi to the opening at the back to explore their options. The remaining soldiers moved quickly and efficiently.
“It is another tunnel.” Rahimi shone his flashlight into the darkness. “I cannot see how much farther it goes.”
“Then at least we have a way out of this place if things go badly. If we get lucky, the Russians will pass us by and we can double back and be gone before they know it.”
Lourds paid little attention to Fitrat and the soldiers, as he and Marias began exploring the cave.
“Thomas, over here.”
Lourds joined Marias at the back wall. As he got closer, he spotted the compartments carved into the stone. Inside the compartments were scrolls. His heart leaped for joy, and a new adrenaline rush swept over him.
“Look at this.” Marias tapped the end of the wooden roller of the scroll he held. The engraved image of a lion was unmistakable. “I saw this and it caught my eye. Do you remember the story of Philip II, the father of Alexander, and how he had the dream of sealing up his wife’s womb with a lion seal on it?”
Lourds shook his head. “No. On this one, you’re ahead of me. And I think I’d remember something like that.”
Marias grinned. “Shortly after Philip married Olympias, his fourth wife—the man had several—he had a dream. In the dream, he saw himself sealing his wife’s womb with the seal of a lion.”
“Not your everyday dream, that’s for sure.”
“There were a couple of different interpretations offered for the dream. One was that Olympias was already pregnant by the time of the marriage.”
“Explains the need for a wedding.”
“And the other is that Alexander was actually the son of Zeus, and Olympias was claiming demi-godhood for her son.”
“A popular claim back in the day.”
“Agreed. Anyway, I picked up this scroll because it had the lion on it and I thought immediately of Alexander. As it turns out, that was more prophetic than I had believed.”
“Well, this is the room of the Oracle. It’s a place for prophesies.”
Marias opened the scroll. “Look. This is the story of Alexander’s death. It says here that the scroll will tell the tale of how Alexander’s tomb was brought from the world and taken to the Underworld for Hades to reclaim the weapons and armor. The Oracle ordered men to find the tomb and bring it here.” He grinned at Lourds. “If it is down here, we will find it.”
“If we get out of this alive.”
Fitrat turned to them and spoke in hushed tones. “I hear them coming. Shut off your lights.”
53
The Underworld
Elis
Peloponnese Peninsula
Hellenic Republic (Greece)
February 23, 2013
“Colonel, they’re not in front of us anymore.”
Linko turned to Gedenidze, careful not to blind the man with his flashlight. “Did they get past us?”
“No, sir. They’re above us.”
Frowning, Linko looked ahead again and waved to the man he had running point. “Go ahead. See where the next intersection is.”
“There is no intersection. There is a cave, though.” The man shined his flashlight around. “And there are some steps here on the side.”
Linko glanced back at Gedenidze. “Are they still moving?”
“No. They are holding their positions.”
“Then we are walking into a trap.”
At that moment, a shot echoed in the passageway, and the man walking point fell dead, his flashlight skittering across the stone floor.
***
Kneeling beside the cave opening, Lourds looked down at the man shining the flashlight below. He heard the exchange between the Russians and translated for Captain Fitrat, who wanted confirmation of what they were saying.
“They know they’re walking into a trap.”
Fitrat nodded, took deliberate aim with his pistol, and fired.
The sound blasted Lourds’s ears, and he was shocked that Fitrat had fired. Still astonished, Lourds watched the man below tumble to the ground. The flashlight rolled away