Daughter of the Naga

With my drawing pad in hand, I sketched an image of the ancient discus in a 3-D form. But then I noticed something strange about it. The first ri

ed like some kind of a jigsaw puzzle. On each circle, certain curves seemed unfinished or cut off where they

tterns were a c

him with Dr. Ivan at the other corner of the area, discussin

nk I see some clue on

, I held my drawing

Nikita," Dr. Ivan said, looking at

s actually matched each other," I said, poking at the dr

t grown-up, Dad always listens to what I have to say. I grabbed his wrist a

art of a stone on the first ring. "It looks like the scales of a snake

his eyes as he sta

wing, well..." he commented, scratching his white beard w

to do is just imagine those rings rotate back into their original positions. W

symbolizes timelessness and immortality. The

piral is some kind of

bly,"

e spiral can't be moved," Dr

ng, Doctor," Dad sa

to unlocking some hidden m

efore you tried to mov

ng guilty. "I didn't think

s couldn't be rotated

o the hole and see if it will cause any

owered his voice as if to avoid someone from eavesdropping. "I don't want too many people to

nowing that I would be disappointed if my hypothesis was rejected. Dr.

k wider. "But if nothing happens, we bring

n't be

hered around us as we carried the wooden chest out

team member asked as he and Dr. Ivan carried the chest out. The guy was in his thi

n on the ground. A few members shone their torch lights to hel

cently," Sam continued. "And the forest isn't sa

still have no idea what the spiral does. Now, there is a chance to find out. Let's giv

ok the Moonstone out, then handed it carefully to Dr. Ivan. The rest of us watched him in silence. He held the cry

ly above us. The silver light bathed over the stone featu

e to happen. But there was just a long-dead silence, except the singi

ound to face us and shrugged apologetically at me. I l

y." He stepped out. "I have an

l and put his hands on the st

tead?" Dr. Ivan asked as he

any bett

ot at th

l, my friend," Dad said then he turned to

pad. The remaining members watched us as they sto

ing him the picture again. "Do

ee it the way you could, so just tell us h

on it," I a

to work, everybody,"

work. Then I looked back at the patterns on the spiral again. It was

d second ring should be turned clockwise to

o through the ground as the team rotated the ri

atch up with the others and made a slight locking soun

works!" som

ng me an approving smile. My hands s

. They did as they were told and again, more patterns revealed. "Turn the fourth head and the sixt

attern re

ch of grown-ups, but knowledge is power; besides, everyone was as eager to se

even rings were correctly aligned, a full image of the seven-headed Naga was reve

ed. "This is the most magnif

. We admired the object for a long

pose of this spiral is, Doctors?"

quiet. Now what? I thought. It's not like the Angkorians just got up and built this spiral out of boredom,

t further research on it," Dr. Iv

clothes coming out of the wood. They soon surrounded us. All of them had guns pointing left and right.

't understand. We turned to see a masked ma

he say?"

tal ball," Sam said, his voice cracked a l

, having the courage of a bigfoot. Dad

g robbed," I whi

he said under his brea

retrieve my satche

knife," Dad whispered

hat are

hh.

nja with his black cover-up. He stared at us with dark cold ey

lish, pointing at me.

from his hand. He wrapped his arms around the

nst the man's throat. The man struggled against

argained, gritting his t

urned to our direction. I gulped, seeing that we were th

o that?" Another man stepped out from the sha

pparently, Dad picked the wrong man. Their leader walked towards us casually. The low

if you dare defy me," he said. "Give

rk for the UNESCO heritage. You'll ge

. "Hand over that stone, and you can go

d, "it's not worth it. Let

arms. I noticed our former captive was already bleeding at the throat. When push comes

d and punched Dad in the jaw, c

im but the same robber

hat freaking

chaeological team watched us with frightened eyes. Their hands placed over their hea

s covered the earth like a blanket. I looked up at the sky

an said from where he stood. "NASA di

r yelled as their leader kept wa

rned back and gazed at the crystal again. My hands were trembling as I reached over and

ied to withdraw my hands back, it was as if they were glued to t

asses on the ground and tossing tents around in madness. My head spun,

as a strong gust of wind began to blow aro

ice echoed through

is way towards me, but they grabbed

the spiral, he got kicked backward by a strong gush of air. I could hear everyone panicking and stepping away f

d like red-hot lava. The Moonstone burst into a column of blindin

tural brightness. Then a strange sensation spread through m

over the light of the Moonstone like a string puppet. I could see everyo

bers and pushed through the wind towards me, but this time, he w

in. It was as if my body was swimming in a

into golden energy dust. It drifted like wind-blown sand t

was engulfe