It wafted over him like a curtain, brushing against his face, hair, and arms. He pointed his light directly ahead, but all he could see was a deeper black beyond the frame of the corridor walls. Frowning, Dak pushed onward until he reached a lip at the end of the tunnel where the ceiling and walls abruptly ended. Something straight ahead of him glinted a shiny yellow color.
The frown on his face deepened, pinching his eyebrows together tightly as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
Dak emerged from the crawlspace and dusted off his pants and shirt before raising the light again and sweeping it over the new area.
He stood in a chamber, cut out of the mountain in a perfect square. The walls were smooth, unlike those of the corridors he'd seen thus far. The room was far more refined, and whoever constructed it had specifically reserved their best work for this space.
He turned around 180 degrees and held the light up so he could see what was written over the doorway.
Hieroglyphics unlike any he'd ever seen adorned the stone surface over the doorway. He recognized some of the cultural references in the drawings as coming from the Sumerian civilization. Amid the images of animals, people, deities, and shapes, Cuneiform script filled in some of the gaps between, giving the viewer not only a picture story of the past, but the words to go with them.
Dak couldn't help feeling a tingle of excitement as he stood there in the chamber, staring up at images and words that were carved and painted thousands of years go. This room was easily one of the oldest known archaeological sites in the world, at least based on the scant information he gleaned so far.
He spun around, shining the light on the rest of the interior, and found what looked to be a sarcophagus in the center, resting atop a solid limestone table. Vast treasures surrounded the burial table and sarcophagus. Golden statues resembling animals from all over the world lined the walls, along with gilded boxes, bowls, plates, and jewelry. One treasure chest to the right overflowed with riches, including diamonds and other precious jewels. Gold coins were scattered around on the floor at the base of the chest.
On the far end of the burial chamber, Dak noticed the two imposing, golden guards standing on either side of a darkened doorway. Each of the figures possessed the bodies of men, their heads covered by crowns with horns protruding out in two directions. The detail that went into creating the golden statues was astonishing, right down to the veins and muscles in their arms and necks. Dak thought for a fleeting second that the creatures might actually come to life if he disturbed the sacred room. But he wasn't superstitious, and the terrorists had already begun pilfering the chamber of its precious items.
Dak looked to the right and found two more figures just like them. To the left were two more. A seventh one stood at the head of the sarcophagus, as if hovering over the interred in permanent judgment of their earthly deeds.
"What is this?" Dak said out loud.
His feet moved involuntarily, carrying him deeper into the burial chamber. He paused when he reached the foot 0f the sarcophagus and gazed down onto its form.
The massive container stretched nearly eight feet long. It was at least three feet wide. The expertly carved lid displayed every possible detail of the dead man inside. The shirtless body exhibited huge pectoral muscles, biceps, and abs. A skirt draped over the dead man's private area, giving way to impressive legs sticking out of the bottom.
The figure's head wore a crown of golden leaves and a necklace that hung low around the neck with toothlike barbs clinging to it.
Dak reached out his right hand and ran his fingers along the smooth metallic surface. He crouched down low and pointed his light so that the beam illuminated the sides of the limestone burial table. He hadn't seen the designs carved into the stone before, but now he could see them clearly, and Dak couldn't believe it.
He stood and slowly ambled around the sarcophagus, inspecting every inch of the limestone table before coming to a stop where he began.
The images depicted a man, one of great physical prowess, standing on the bow of a boat, holding a staff to the heavens as a storm raged around him. Several people stood behind the man atop the boat's deck. The picture also displayed more animals, some of the varieties that could be seen on the walls of the chamber, but also with species that Dak had never heard of, save for in myths or legends.
"This isn't possible," he whispered, his voice suddenly taking on an air of reverence. "That was far too long ago."
He lifted the light and shone it on the walls, higher now than he'd looked before. Giant waves revealed themselves along every wall. Mountain peaks poked out from beneath the watery scene. Dak leaned close to the wall nearest him and narrowed his eyes. There were people in the water, some sinking beneath the surface, others still swimming for dear life.
Dak had studied this event many times in his life. The first time he saw it was as a child on his mother's knee as she read stories to him from the Bible. Later, he revisited the tale in high school, church, and then in college.
The story bore striking similarities in a vast number of other cultures and it seemed as though every nation in the world had one of their own—with varying degrees of differences here and there in the details.
No doubt flickered in Dak's mind. He'd let go of that long ago. He believed in the story, in
