Read Online Herculean (Cerberus Group Book 1) by Jeremy Robinson, Sean Ellis - Free Book Online Page A

something a little more twenty-first century, and take a picture of it.”
    Pierce made a face. “You know what the problem with twenty-first century solutions is? Batteries die.”
    “I’m at ninety percent.” She waggled the phone at him, then clicked a picture of the front side of the Disc. “That should give us plenty of time to get in and get back out again. Turn it over so I can get the other side.”
    When she was finished, Pierce used the Disc to open the door again. They retraced their steps to the second intersection, where their hypothesis was proven correct. The symbols on the wall indicated that they should continue straight. Soon thereafter, they reached yet another junction, this time with three possible choices, all marked with Phaistos script, but only one corresponded to the expected sequence found on the Disc.
    “If the Phaistos symbols do represent actual letters or phonemes, could it be possible that the Labyrinth could have been a sort of literacy test?” Fiona asked. “Someone who knows how to read them would see the difference between real words and gobbledygook.”
    “Makes sense,” Pierce said.
    “What do you suppose happens if we make a wrong turn?” Fiona asked.
    Pierce flashed his light down one of the alternate tunnels. “Best case, we get lost and follow the maze while keeping a hand on the wall, eventually making our way back here...which could be miles of walking.”
    “And worst case?”
    “I suppose the very worst case would be something like the Minotaur, but my guess is that there are probably some booby traps.”
    “Nice.” Fiona held up her phone, zooming in on the next set of symbols they were seeking.
    The passages were not uniformly straight or flat. Some meandered back and forth, up long inclines and down spiral staircases. Only the reliability of the Phaistos symbols, marking the way every hundred yards or so, kept Pierce’s anxiety in check. As they neared the end of the spiral, apprehension gave way to anticipation.
    The final intersection presented them with a choice. Up or down. They emerged from a passage onto a broad landing, which appeared to be in the middle of a spiral staircase.
    “Down,” Fiona announced, checking the symbols against the picture of the Phaistos Disc. “This is it.”
    She started down the descending staircase.
    And vanished.

 
     
    7
     
    As darkness engulfed her, Fiona felt her stomach rise into her throat. Her first thought was that she was falling, but this was more like being in a fast elevator. Her feet were still on solid ground, but she was definitely descending. A sudden heaviness signaled the end of her downward journey, and then all was still.
    “Fiona!”
    Pierce’s frantic shout echoed in the air overhead. She looked up, searching for the source. She saw the faint glow of his flashlight, at least fifty feet above her. The light was not nearly bright enough to illuminate her surroundings, but just being able to see it filled her with hope.
    “I’m down here!” she called. The iron walls created a weird reverberation effect, like shouting down a metal pipe. “I’m okay.”
    “What happened?” The glow intensified into a bright star, shining down into her upraised eyes. “The stairs disappeared.”
    “Did they? I can’t see anything.”
    She blinked, forcing herself to look away from the pinpoint of light. “Was this a trap?”
    “I don’t know.” Pierce’s voice sounded fainter, as if the distance separating them was increasing. She knew it was not; the light above remained unchanged. “Don’t move. I’ll figure something out.”
    “I know I picked the right symbol,” she insisted, more for her own sake than for Pierce’s. To reassure herself, she raised her phone again, intending to double-check the symbols. “Oh, duh!”
    She thumbed on the phone’s built-in flashlight, and the darkness retreated.
    She was standing in a small square room with walls that rose up into the black void overhead. There