CHAPTER 19
The Temple
AHold it Davey boy. I reckon we're goin' to need to know a lot more about what's happening here if we're going to be of any use, what do yer say we keep the old guy moving towards the snake, but we'll have a look around.@
Davey's answer was to shift back away from the mirror.
"Right lad, that's it, that's far enough back. Now give everyone the once over. If there's owt goin' on let's check it out."
"I'll start in the palace Uncle Paddy."
"It's as good a place as any lad."
They swept in through the balcony window into Lady Axa' quarters.
"Where is everybody?" asked Paddy.
The rooms were deserted, nobody remained.
"Maybe these flippin' Spaniards moved in and got 'em? Check the walls and doors lads, see if there's any signs of a struggle."
Davey examined the dividing walls and the barricaded doors but nothing was out of place.
"Hold on Uncle Paddy I remember, Lord Axa told Popacata to take them to the hidden city didn't he."
"Well done lad, I'd forgotten all about that, that flippin' snake'd make yer forget yer own name, yer right, that's were they've gone. Thank God they're out the way."
"Should I catch up to them?"
"Whiles we're 'ere check out these Spanish, sommat's brewing that's for sure."
They moved through the dividing walls and watched the nobles and elders entering the section of the palace occupied by the 'gods'. The guests wore their finest garments; colourful, beautifully woven cloths and feathers from the rarest birds adorned their bodies, their most precious jewellery decorated their limbs.
Davey continued to search around and spotted the last minute preparations for the capture of the nobles.
Troops stood to attention ready for inspection, all wore their full armour. The concealment of weapons was checked so that nothing might betray their sinister motives. As the men marched along a magnificent hallway into the great hall they were checked by officers for anything that might give away the weapons they carried.
The great hall had been decorated with beautiful paintings: artists had worked long days preparing works of art, from wooden beams which spanned the hall hung beautiful tapestries woven specially for the occasion; high above the beams the roof arched upwards, it was covered with thin leaves of gold which reflected the burning lights.
Bugles and drums thumped and blared out a battle song as the Spaniards entered the great hall.
"There's the priest!"
Father Salamanga studied watched the troops march into the hall, his eyes picked out the tell-tale signs of concealed weapons; a sword pommel protruded from a loosely tied robe, a knife scabbard poked through a man's trousers, in the corner of the room resting against the walls stood heaps of pikestaffs, he grinned to himself when he thought of the surprise the commander would be in for. The Incas would be first to strike, the Shaman had said he would warn his people. He moved nearer to Aquila, if the commander suspected anything he might need the protection of this warrior and it would not pay to get in the way of the Incas when they started, they had shown their fierceness in the arena.
He turned and looked at Aquila, Aquila returned his look with his sneering half-smile. Something about the smile unsettled the priest, he quickly looked towards the Inca nobles and elders. His eyes scanned their costumes, their clothes were worn to show their bodies off, not like the Spanish clothes which hid the wearer. He realised with a shock that they could not be carrying any weapons there was simply nowhere they could be hidden.
Realising that he had been outwitted the priest yelled a warning to the Incas. The urgency in his shout caused every head in the hall to turn towards him. He stepped forwards and started to speak but what he intended to say was never known, Aquila carried out his orders. Removing a short spear from beneath his cloak of feathers he strode towards the priest and speared him in the side.
As Aquila withdrew his spear and allowed the mortally wounded body to fall to the floor there was a deathly silence. Father Salamanga cried out, AThey shall look upon Him whom they have pierced,@ and turning towards his murderer said, Afool, your master has already condemned you....@
Francesco's shout of, "To arms!" was followed by yells of "Attack!" and "No Mercy!" which rang out as men shouted their battle cries and flung off the clothing revealing their weapons. Swords and daggers were dragged free, the doors to the hall were slammed shut and barred.
The scene was set for a massacre.
Francesco realised the mistake - without the nobles in their power they would have nothing to bargain with - but his cries were unheeded as he sought to call a halt to the slaughter.
Swords and axes were swung in fury.
Francesco determined that Aquila should die by his hand, he yelled his name, "AQUILA!" and charged through the mêlée, a desperate attack from an unarmed Inca nobleman prevented him from carrying out his intention. He slashed his attacker to the floor.
The assassin had planned his escape. Hurling his short spear into the body of a Spaniard who threatened him he ran to the pikestaffs, seized one of them and rested it against a beam high above the floor, swiftly he climbed up. Even as he reached comparative safety the scenes below him were unspeakable. He lifted up the pikestaff and used it to balance himself as he walked across the beam to a point where the vaulted roof was not so high.
Men occupied with the life and death struggles below paid no attention to him.
When he reached the far wall he swung the heavy pikestaff into a vertical position and began stabbing upwards with it into the roof, quickly a hole was formed. He was about to make good his escape but beneath him he saw Francesco. A horrible smirk crossed the Aquila's mouth as he lowered the butt-end of the pikestaff towards the man on the floor. With hands cupped around his mouth Francesco was shouting out, trying to call a halt to the bloodshed. The butt-end wavered for an instant before lining up on its target, then Aquila plunged the pikestaff downwards with all his force.
Francesco fell pole-axed to the floor, the men near to him looked up and saw Aquila, "Pikes!" they yelled seeing that he was out of reach of their swords. One man threw a dagger it but Aquila lowered his shoulder and dodged to one side, the weapon buried itself into the beams above his head.
Swiftly swinging the pikestaff through his hands he rested its butt end upon the beam then began climbing upwards along its length.
Pikes were brought and thrust up towards him but he was already too high, with surprising agility for a man of his size he disappeared through the hole in the roof and hauled the cumbersome weapon after him. As soon as he was outside he placed the axe-head between two stone columns and snapped the axe-head from the unwieldy shaft, armed with the murderous weapon he began to climb down.
AThis feller's dangerous Davey,@ said Paddy watching Aquila descend like a great cat.
ABut he knows now that the Shaman will kill him as well, surely he won't still keep trying to help him?@
AYer just don't know what makes people like him tick lad. One things for sure if >im and Axa ever meet up it'll be blue bloody murder but not of this helps us to sort out that snake."
"I'll go back into the temple Uncle Paddy."
The noise and yells of the murderous battle in the great hall was in stark contrast to the total silence inside the temple.
"Well done lad, yer man's got the message, look, he's goin' in with the skulls," he patted Davey on the back.
"Who is there?" asked one of the skulls.
The old man did not answer.
"There is someone near," said the skull, "I sense a presence."
"It is he who bears the mark," said another skull, "What do you want from us?" it rasped in its unearthly voice.
The old man asked, "Who are you? What do you wait for?"
"You know all the answers to these questions," said a skull, "you have dreamt the dreams, you have flown the ether."
"I have seen strange things, things th
at I do not understand," said the old man.
"You have flown the winds, you have worn the helmet of power, think and you shall know," replied a skull.
From a hole near to the floor the old man heard a scraping sound.
"The Shaman returns," said a skull, "stay that we may answer your questions together."
"It's the flippin' snake lad, and yer man ain't got so much as a flamin' penknife. I can't look."
The old man moved behind one of the large blocks of stone. The scraping sound grew louder until the head of the snake appeared. "Do you have her?" rasped a skull.
The serpent hissed, "I have her." Coil after coil of the reptile fell into the room, the old man's heart missed a beat when he saw a lump in the otherwise smooth lines of the snake.
"I don't believe it lad, this is 'orrible. The old man's got the message, look at 'im."
The old man was searching round for a weapon, anything to use upon the animal. The lump began to move. Muscles contracted as they flowed along its length, forcing the lump towards its mouth. The old man stood staring, too shocked to move, it was clear from the shape what was to be released from the foul incarceration.
She was not dead, the old man could tell that, "Thank the Lord," he thought to himself. He had seen someone fall into the sea in winter and after being rescued they had the same appearance; frozen to the bone, their skin hanging in thousands of little folds as though it were about to become as liquid as the water which had surrounded it.
His temper began to rise in him, like a white hot knife it seared into him, he looked down at the child lying in a huddle, he looked back at the snake. Its face and head were deforming, the face of the Shaman was taking shape. Soon tiny arms began to appear through the skin near to its head.
"This is not the way of men," shouted the old man stepping out from the safety of the stone blocks.
"What's he doing! He's given hiself away! The Shyman'll have him no bother."
The Shaman turned towards him but it was a skull which spoke. "It is the way of the Shamen. Have you not seen!"
The stone grey eyes of the snake looked at him, unfeeling, blank, without emotion. The old man shouted, "I have seen much I do not understand but of this I am sure, this child has hurt no-one, she is an innocent, to treat her thus can only be wrong in the eyes of God!"
"He has seen but does not understand," sang several skulls.
The old man walked towards the snake, the upper body of the Shaman had formed, the sinewy arms and talons of the Shaman were held up threateningly but the serpent's great tail still trailed across the floor. The Shaman raised his upper-body from the ground, his long forked tongue flicked back and forth towards the old man.
"Release this child or this foul creation will be shattered into a thousand pieces," said the old man, he took hold of a crystal skull a crystal skull and held it above his head.
The skull spat, "Beware my power, it cannot be dissolved, destroy me and I shall be absorbed into you."
In and out flicked the Shaman's tongue as he hissed, "We are eternal, the deaths of countless thousands preserve us, you carry the mark. Become one with us." As he spoke he slowly curled one of his coils beneath his body.
The old man's answer was to drop the skull into his other hand. His action caused the Shaman to spring at him, he moved so quickly that he surprised the old man and was able to take hold of the skull, his other hand gripped the old man's wrist. They struggled backwards and forwards but the Shaman had the animal strength of the snake, the old man's right hand pushed hard against the top of the Shaman's head in an effort to force him away.
"He bears the horns of the Devil!" cried the old man.
The shock of feeling the two boney projections piercing through the Shaman's skull caused him to lose his strength, the Shaman quickly overpowered him. The tail of the snake slid across the floor and curled its way around and behind him. When three such turns were completed the animal tightened its body. The old man was suddenly held rigid. It was impossible for him to move, the strength of the animal was enormous. Its sinews and muscles contracted so fiercely that they dug into his arms; breathing became difficult, blood was forced away from his heart, his lungs ceased to move. Soon he must suffocate.
"Perhaps now you will learn the truth of our power," said the Shaman. His eyes were taking human form, the thin slits of his pupils were shrinking back into round, dark black holes.
"The knife. Kill him with the knife," chanted the skulls, "he has been sent by the Gods to bring us untold power, the knife will release his soul and energy to us. Our work will be complete!"
Propelled by the thick body of the reptile the Shaman crossed over the floor to the bench upon which lay the sacrificial dagger, his arms were recovered but they were no longer needed to control the old man whose eyes were being forced from his head by the pressure, death was but a moment away. The Shaman took up the ugly jewelled weapon and turned towards his victim, as he raised the dagger a skull rasped a warning, "The child is...."
Chacuti smashed the skull she carried to the floor with all the remaining strength that she could find, it shattered into numerous pieces. An instant after it had fragmented a thunder clap and simultaneous echo were heard. Chacuti immediately felt stronger, she leapt towards another skull, the Shaman had barely had time to think but the body of the snake flung him towards the child, his hands with their talon-like nails dug towards her.
"KEEP BACK!" she screamed picking up the skull. She was quick, very quick, she moved with a speed which she had not ever known before. Her warning was not heeded, the Shaman darted in towards her forcing her to turned away and ran towards a corner of the cell.
AShe's trapped herself!@ cried Davey.
Without pausing Chacuti jumped up onto the wall and ran up to the ceiling, still clutching the skull in her hand she crawled rapidly across the cell above the Shaman. His talons lashed up at her but she eluded them and ran back down near to the door. She could have ran out but instead chose to stay and help the old man. "Let him go free," she said raising the skull. Her movements made clear her threat to smash it.
The Shaman slowly uncoiled, allowing the old man to fall to the floor, as soon as his chest was freed from restriction he began pulling in great lungfuls of air and slowly started to recover. Chacuti picked up another skull in her other hand, lightly she tapped them both together. The crystals made a strange sound as they clashed against each other.
The skulls hissed and spat, they urged the Shaman to attack. "The knife will recover the power, kill her, she is nothing. KILL HER!"
The Shaman hesitated, he could see the quickness with which the child moved. She was a threat to the work of centuries. "Your father is well," said the Shaman, "you would like to see him wouldn't you child?"
Her answer was to clash the skulls against each other a little harder.
"I warn you, stay away from me!" she shouted.
The Shaman moved slightly back from her but his eyes were narrowing into slits, within moments, perhaps because half of his body was still reptilian, they frosted over into the eyes of the snake. They transfixed Chacuti, she could see the eyes clearly, piercing into her thoughts, reading her mind, holding her still against her will.
"Look away lassie!" Paddy was bouncing upon the bed.
Chacuti sank into a deep trance.
Whilst the attention of the Shaman was upon the child the old man had moved, he had crawled slowly to the table and pulled himself to his feet, the skulls cried out in alarm when they felt the helmet being lifted, but it was too late, onto his head he placed it.
"I SEE THE SECRETS OF LIFE!" yelled the old man. Into his mind flooded images which astonished and bewitched him, into his body flowed the strength of the helmet.
"He sees!" screamed the skulls, "He knows!"
"I can hear him!" cried Davey. "I know what he is thinking. The helmet's letting him talk to me!"
The Shaman leapt at the old man faster than the human eye could take in, he
struck him full force in the chest with both fists. Although the fists hit him with a force which ought to have caved in his rib-cage, the old man did not even seem to feel the blow. He walked past the Shaman who again tried unsuccessfully to hurt him, again the old man ignored him as if he did not exist until he reached the girl. As soon as he laid his hand upon her she snapped out of the trance. She clashed the two skulls together.
"Careful child, take care not to break them, they are an evil power. Come, we shall find your father." He took hold of her shoulder and steered her out of the cell.
"Follow him! You must get back the helmet. It is the key!" yelled one of the remaining four skulls which sat upon the blocks.
"They must not leave the temple!" hissed one of the skulls which Chacuti carried.
She smashed the skull to the floor, again a deep thunder-clap and echo sounded. Chacuti leapt to one side and snatched another skull from its block.
ANO CHILD!@ shouted the old man, ATheir energy cannot be dissolved, it will enter into you! Come, we must leave this foul place!@
They walked along corridors pursued by the Shaman who spat spells and snarled incantations but they were wasted, nothing he could do affected them. He tried to attack the child but his force was not felt, she walked undisturbed within the bubble of protection which the old man's body extended around itself.
"We shall get your father child," said the old man softly to the girl. She walked beside him as if in a trance, a pathetically skinny figure with the two crystals held at the end of her thin arms.
The Shaman slithered after them on the body of the snake, watching for the old man to make the slightest mistake.
A guard barred the doorway to Axa's cell, he raised his club and swung it fiercely at the old man's head, the club shot backwards out of his hands. The power around the old man forced him to back away. "I cannot stop him!@ he shouted to the Shaman.
The Shaman did not reply. The body of the snake had left him now, only the tongue still betrayed it, he stood with his hands held like claws, his hooked talons curving viciously towards the child.
Without unbarring the door the old man pushed open the cell door, it hit the wall inside so forcefully that it was torn from its hinges. Lord Axa was battered and bloodied but his spirit was still with him, "What kept you old man?" he said. The old man knelt down and seized the wooden pegs which held him within the wooden block. The pegs flew from the holes with the same force with which they had been hammered home.
"Let's get you out of here," he helped Lord Axa to his feet, the warriors legs were quite numb.
"Father!" cried Chacuti, "It is I."
Lord Axa smiled weakly at her.
Outside the cell door the Shaman stood, watching them only the guard advanced threateningly, ASo. Uxmal the brave warrior attacks,@ said Axa. The guard was unable to pass within the bubble of protection, as they made their way along the dark corridors he followed closely behind.
"What kind of magic is this?" asked Axa ignoring the pain as the blood began to flow into his legs.
"I wear the helmet of the gods, its brightness fills me, its brilliance strengthens me! Take those foul skulls from your child, they are a danger to her, take care do not break them.@
Axa carefully took the skulls from Chacuti, as he did so he noticed the old man's eyes, they were lit up as if from the inside, they glowed in the dim light like the eyes of a jaguar at night. He glanced back at the Shaman, vaguely he could sense that some kind of battle of wills was taking place between him and the old man. The Shaman's eyes were horrible, his stare sinister.
"Axa's looking at the Shaman's eyes!" Davey warned the old man.
"The eyes! Take care!" said the old man as he turned Axa away from the danger.
The Shaman opened his mouth wide and began to make a strange sound. "Aaauughmmm."
The sound was completed when he closed his lips together. There was no gap in the sound, it took several seconds before each sound faded away, and was then immediately repeated. Over and over it sounded, "Aaauughmmm, Aaauughmmm..."
"Careful my Lord!" shouted the old man, "the skulls will add their sound to his, you must keep hold of them!"
The skulls in Axa's hands began to make the same noise, but for the old man's warning he would have dropped them. The sound was kept up until it echoed and bounced all around it was affecting the old man. "I have heard this sound before," he said in a strange voice.
Axa looked at him, the old man had the same faraway look in his eyes that he had when he was first captured by his warriors, the scar upon his temple pulsed, he shouted at him, "Do not leave us now old man, we depend on you!"
Chacuti became alarmed, "Please save us, I beg you, save us," she cried.
The sound made by the skulls and the Shaman increased, Axa took hold of the old man and shook him fiercely, "Take hold of yourself!" he yelled.
The image in the mirror was dropping towards the floor of the temple. Paddy looked at Davey, his head was lolling forwards, his chin was almost resting upon his chest. "What yer doin' lad. Get yer head together!" Davey jerked back upright. "Tell him to wake himself up or its curtains for the lot of them!"
"I hear you," said the old man. He seemed to take control over himself, he shook his head as if shaking it from sleep, the sound abruptly ceased.
Lord Axa kept talking to the old man trying to make sure that his mind should not wander again, he sensed the old man was weakening, "How do you know where we are going?" he asked, "every wall and every stone are the same to me, might we not be going deeper into this accursed place?"
The voice is within me, it guides me to the light," said the old man. He was still very vague and pre-occupied.
The warrior continued to watch him as carefully as the devil who followed in their wake. AWhat voice do you speak of?@ asked Lord Axa.
AThere is another who wears the helmet, he is with us. I hear you boy!@ called the old man.
AI can hear you,@ answered Davey.
Lord Axa had been weak before he started to carry the skulls but now he was growing stronger, he could feel his strength returning to him.
"The warrior takes my energy," snarled a skull.
"They must not leave the temple," said the other.
Lord Axa looked behind them, "The Shaman is gone old man. Only his guard follows."
"Where's he gone then?"
"I'll find him," said Davey.
They swept along passageways until they saw him standing, concentrating, focusing his mind upon a flaming firebrand set into the wall.
"What's he up to now?" the instant Paddy had said the words flames burst from the firebrand and engulfed the Shaman. He stood in their midst unmoved. "Flippin' eck."
The Shaman started running incredibly fast back down the corridors.
"He's going to get them, they'll be burnt!" yelled Davey.
"Let the old man know what's headin' his way lad!"
They shot ahead of the Shaman and waited with the old man, the warrior and the child.
The senses of the warrior told him that something was going to happen, "There is danger," he warned.
"Come close, hold onto me!" shouted the old man.
Father and daughter held onto him. They heard a roaring sound, suddenly a fire-ball shot along the corridor, it filled the narrow passageway with a heat so intense that the stones themselves blistered and cracked. Chacuti screamed as it hit them, they felt the wind of its passing and flames tearing at their eyes, hands and faces but they felt no heat, its energy did not affect them.
Screams burst into the passageway adding to the roar of flame. The body of the guard continued to jerk grotesquely until the fireball had passed over his charred and blackened remains. The fireball died down, from its centre the Shaman emerged, he did not even glance at the guard's body. His feet broke the pure charcoal shell of what moments before had been a living, breathing man, the shell crumbled into dust.
"In goes yer eye out!@ said Paddy, AHow far 'ave the
y got to go now?"
"Just round two more corners."
The great temple doorway beckoned. Lord Axa recognised it, so too did Chacuti. "We are nearly safe Father," she said softly. Lord Axa was not so sure but agreed with her. The Shaman would surely act again to prevent their leaving.
As they moved nearer towards the doors three guards appeared. Each was garbed in the skin of the jaguar, each carried toothed-club and shield. Axa moved ahead of the old man.
AWait Lord Axa. These men cannot touch you whilst you are near to me,@ said the old man.
The guards fanned out around them. ASo the noble lord is free,@ jeered a guard.
APerhaps he will fare better than his warrior Manco!@ laughed another.
AHe could not run but he did manage to put up a bit of a fight....for an old man.@
AFought better than the tracker Topac, Aquila didn't waste any time with him.@
Axa had heard enough, he left the protection of the old man, AYou men must die,@ he told the guards. It was not a threat, it was not boasting, it was not designed to intimidate, it was a simple statement of fact.
A guard swiped a blow at his neck. Axa rolled under it, the guard had expected to hit a target, the blow threw him off balance. Axa came up behind him and hit the heel of his palm against the man's jaw knocking him unconscious, he then snatched the club from the man's hand and used his limp body as a shield. The body did not prevent violent blows being battered towards him. One of the guard's clubs struck the shield with such force that he was unable to retrieve his weapon, Axa pushed the body towards the weaponless man and dispatched him. The remaining guard retreated, he had no wish to go the same way as his fellows, he took to flight.
The doors were extremely heavy, several men were normally needed to open them. Whilst Axa put his back under the bar and lifted, the old man and Chacuti swung it away from the door, he let it drop to the floor. "The door is barred to the outside, we cannot shift it old man," said Axa, Athree more men guard the other side.@
"Stay close, I begin to understand the power," the old man replied. He stepped back then slammed the flats of his hand against the door. Where he struck it the door splintered and cracked open.
Axa tore at the timbers until he cleared a space through which they were able to crawl. He carefully looked outside, ready at instant to withdraw his head the moment a guard's club whistled towards him. AThe guards have deserted their posts!@ he informed the old man.
Chacuti was the first to escape their prison, Axa urged the old man to follow, he would not. "GO NOW!" the old man roared. Axa passed the skulls carefully through the hole to Chacuti then dived through and rolled swiftly to his feet.
Outside it was night; screams, yells and flames rent the air. Figures were running past in flight, feet skidding over stones made slippy by a heavy rain. "Come child we must go and help in this fight," said Lord Axa.
"But father, what of the old man?" pleaded Chacuti.
Axa was torn between the two. He took the horrible skulls from Chacuti and looked back in through the cracked door. The Shaman had returned. In strange tongues the old man and Shaman spoke unearthly words against each other. Their eyes were locked together as if some form of unseen combat was taking place. For some time the combatants stood until finally the old man pointed his finger fiercely towards the Shaman, "It is I who have the power. It is I who shall damage you. Be afraid for yourself, I am not alone!."
The Shaman advanced menacingly, the old man stood his ground but he could feel the immense energy being thrown at him like a wave of filth which sought to drown him. Axa could see this energy, it was dull, lifeless and void. Suddenly he felt a terrific pain in his stomach, the Shaman was holding up his hand and squeezing it into a tight fist, as he twisted his wrist the warrior cried out in pain. Hearing his cry the old man turned and saw him, "Go Lord Axa, leave this dog to me!"
"I stay," said Axa ignoring the pain.
The antagonists did not make another move. They stood, as still as the stones around them, but the contest continued. Strange shapes grew and spread until they covered the walls of the passage. The air thickened; foul smells and mysterious sounds; racing screaming howling sounds were heard.
"The old man's losing Paddy! I can feel him weakening."
"Do sommat to 'elp 'im lad!"
"MY LORD PROTECT ME!" screamed the old man in his fear.
The huge stones surrounding the doorway were shaking, the ground they stood on shook. "Aaagh, Aagh, Aaagh, No, No, No, No, Wake Me from this!" cried the old man. "He has me, his power is of the dark, the skulls assist him, I cannot withstand him."
"You must fight on old man!" yelled Axa, "we are all finished if you fail."
The old man's body had begun to slouch down, to crumble before the onslaught but he took heart from the warrior and pulled himself up. The temple itself began to tremble. Faces of demons and devils appeared. They were solid, they had form. They battered upon the old man whose body stood in the midst of the storm.
"He's told me to go to the mirror!" cried Davey.
"But if we see what the future is we won't be able to change anything lad!"
"If we don't, they won't have a future Uncle Paddy!"
Within the chamber of the snake they peered into the smoking mirror.
The images blurred and altered, a vision of paradise was shown.
Beautiful birds fluttered under trees laden with fruit; friendly little animals ran free playing and chasing each other, gentle waves lapped against a coral beach. Set back from the beach, amongst tall palm trees, stood a giant stone head.
"Check that thing out lad! It sticks out like the wart on me mother's face."
The head looked down upon a pool of clear water, water so blue it seemed that the fish swimming within it floated in the sky. They looked into the depths of the pool, deep within it, practically embedded in its sandy bottom, were two crystal skulls.
"What are they doin' there? How the heck have they got there?"
Davey scanned back the time slightly and saw the tattooed man running towards the pool carrying the two skulls, he threw them into the water shouting, AThe water shall soak away your power and kill your evil thoughts. Remain in its coolness and allow the child to live!@
AIt's the tattooed man, he's chucked them in there! The water must take away their power!@