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They had come three times to what seemed a dead end only to discover hidden doorways, and twice they had descended secret stairways into lower levels of the labyrinth Soin point, and at others it see circles

The diamonds or lack thereof had not failed them yet Not once had they had to retrace their steps Yet Drake had wondered if the trail without dia them to the center of the labyrinth or to soht they were clever and ended up instead broken after a fall through a shaft in the floor

There had been dozens of shafts After Drake had come around a corner and had to hurl hi corners more carefully now The air that cah that each of them had built up a sheen of sweat The deeper they descended, the uess this is what co into the skin of a volcanic island," Jada had said the first time she touched a wall and pulled her hand away, surprised at the heat

But it didn’t slow her down If anything, it spurred her on so that half the tiet too far ahead There was no telling when soh a series of narrow openings, nearly missed a turn made invisible by the placement and coloration of stone, and had to backtrack when they discovered they had entered a tunnel hted themselves, they found a tunnel so low that they were forced to crouch to pass through

Once they had reached a place where they could stand again, they found themselves at a fork where both tunnels sloped doard at steep angles, the first tinificant drop without stairs

"How deep are we?" Jada asked as she looked for the ht into the darkened passages

"Good question," Sully replied, studying the walls inside the left passage "Look at this"

Drake crouched to get a closer look at the engraving Near the floor, just inside the door, was an octagon inside a circle like the ones they had found in Crocodilopolis Just one, which iven that only in the worship chan that seened by Daedalus But this one was different in another way Etched inside the octagon was the sah this labyrinth

"What the hell is that flower?" Drake asked, but it was a rhetorical question None of the his light on the stone above the door

"Jada, come on," Drake said "It’s this one"

He poked his head out and saw her standing just inside the entrance to the right-hand passage of the fork She wore a puzzled expression

"Hey," he said "What’s up?"

Jada looked at hi to catch up He gestured for Jada to take the lead, and she did,her flashlight to study the floor in front of therew steeper until only the roughness of the surface gave the down into the dark

The noise of the surf grew louder as they descended, and Drake wondered if they possibly could have gone so far froe was a stone’s throw froone underground? The question see water increased

"Anyone notice the temperature difference down here?" Sully asked

"Ithe wall," Jada replied

Drake tested it, placing his palh to burn hian to level out, they found theh with circular vents Unlike the shafts they had seen on the upper levels of the labyrinth, these seehts," Drake said

Jada cast an odd glance his way, but when Sully shut his flashlight off, she coh dilow

"We really are on top of a volcano," Jada said softly

"Did you think it was an urban legend?" Drake asked

She clicked her flashlight back on "No It’s just so hard to iht all be obliterated at any tiive up a lot for paradise," Sully rulanced at hi you’ve ever said Seriously"

"Inside this grizzled exterior is a great philosopher," Sully advised him

"I’ll try to reh the ss and switchbacks, the water growing louder Only a ht bearabbed Drake’s arhts back and found the precipice half a dozen feet ahead Part of the labyrinth had collapsed, opening up a cavern thirty feet above them and at least sixty feet wide Stone blocks and what looked like the remnants of walls painted with frescoes were aht beaated

They were in a sea cave, but no light caht have been an opening, but the entrance to the cave was subed The water crashed on the rocks not in waves but in a churning ebb and flow that re If this had been the path to the center of the labyrinth and the worship chambers, they would have been out of luck

"The earthquakeof the labyrinth apart," Jada said

"Some earthquake," Sully said "I’m sure there’ve been a hell of a lot of them since the island blew up in the first place"

For several seconds, they just stared at the sea cave and the salt water washing over the rubble far below the precipice Drake thought he could make out some of the details on the shattered frescoes down there There were iht his eye: a veiled wo a chalice He would not have been able to e if not for the fact that he’d seen one quite like it in the labyrinth of Sobek Then the water washed over it, falling against the debris, and he reminded himself that whatever they were supposed to find, it would await them at the heart of the labyrinth

"Co time Don’t want to miss our taxi"

Sully took point as they retraced their steps After the s volcanic vents, the three of them had to make their way up the steep tunnel Bent into the effort, so their hands to steady themselves on the severe incline, they climbed back toward the fork in the maze