Free The Lost Continent by Percival Constantine Page B

scoffed. “Don't make me laugh.”
    “Good.” Asami shoved him forward and Davalos cried out as he fell forward, his body rolling down the steps. Laki winced as she watched him fall into the darkness and heard his cries.
    “Did you have to do that?” she asked.
    “He'll live,” said Asami.
    “How do you know? We have no idea what's down there,” said Laki.
    “You don't, but I can see in the dark.” Asami's copper eyes seemed to glow as she smiled at Laki and then descended the staircase herself.  
    Laki shook her head. “What have I gotten myself into?”
    “Welcome to my world,” said Elisa. “Come on, let's keep going. Last thing I want is either of those two getting their hands on the tablets before us.”
    “I see that's some friend you made,” said Laki.
    “I've fought for my life more than once against things like her,” said Elisa. “I'm not exactly trusting of this, especially when kitsune are famous tricksters. But she seems to know a lot about this, so we need her help for now. And apparently, she needs ours.”
    “You mean she says she needs our help.”
    Elisa nodded. “When you're right, you're right.” She began her descent down the steps. “But what else do we have to go on?”
    “I know we don't have a choice,” said Laki as she began to follow. “Just saying I don't like it.”
    When Elisa and Laki reached the foot of the stone steps, Asami and Davalos were waiting. Asami gestured towards the only source of light in the area, a small opening a few hundred feet ahead. “Someone left a path for us.”
    “Or a trap,” said Elisa.
    Asami smiled. “Part of the fun is not knowing which.”
    “Right, of course,” said Elisa.  
    “Hold up,” said Davalos. He held his lighter up against the wall. “There's an inscription here.”
    Elisa and Laki approached him, trying to read what was written there. Laki squinted a little.  
    “Naga-Mayan?” asked Davalos.
    “No, Sanskrit actually.” Laki looked at the others. “Why would they leave this in a language that could be understood when the Churchward Tablets are written in Naga-Mayan?”
    “Or the Keystone for that matter,” said Elisa.  
    “There's an easy answer for that—it's fun,” said Asami. “Most people would simply turn back after they saw that inscription. Putting it in a language they could understand, that gives them hope that they could reach them. And then, even if they were able to pass all the dangers, they'd be in for a surprise when they found they had no way of reading the tablets.”
    “So what you're saying is the Naa'cal were sadistic,” said Elisa.
    “Not the Naa'cal, the Acolytes of Lemuria who built this temple,” said Asami. “And not sadistic, just crafty.”
    “So what's it say?” asked Davalos.  
    “Give me that.” Laki took the lighter from Davalos and held it over the inscription to read it better. “...that can't be right.”
    “What is it?” asked Elisa.
    “'It takes more than strength to reach the light,'” said Laki. “That's probably wrong, though. There's nothing between us and that door.”
    “Why would it be wrong? Isn't this your language?” asked Davalos.
    “It's an ancient dialect, best I can muster is a rough translation,” said Laki.  
    Elisa looked at Asami. “You're the one with the night vision. What do you see that we can't?”
    Asami shook her head as her eyes flashed. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Pillars and statues lining the walls but that's it. I can't see anything that's possibly threatening.”
    “Alright, then let's get moving.” Davalos stole the lighter back from Laki and began walking towards the lit door. As soon as he reached the center of the room, a rumbling echoed throughout. He stopped in his tracks and started to look around. “Someone please tell me that was their stomach.”
    The hall lit up and the rumbling continued as the statues started to twitch. They   moved their limbs and jumped from their platforms, moving towards the