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She craned her neck upward, wincing at the number of stone steps she needed to climb in the ever-growing heat.
By the time she reached the top, her thighs burned. She pushed against them as she gasped for breath, completing the 200th step.
She wavered for a moment on the top of the pyramid, sucking in deep breaths. “Why did they put so many steps?”
“Come on. Quit dallying. Let’s get inside.”
Paige arched an eyebrow at Dewey’s enthusiasm. “Give me a minute. I’m nearly dead from that climb. And hauling you all the way up, too.”
“Another reason to get inside. So I can get out of this thing.”
Paige circled around the flat platform on the top, seeking a doorway. She found one on the third side of the rectangular structure making up the top and ducked inside. Cool, damp darkness surrounded them.
She unzipped the carrier, and Dewey flew out, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Whew. It’s hot in there.”
“Try being out here,” Paige complained as she rummaged through her backpack for a large flashlight.
She flicked it on and waved it around. Mayan symbols covered the walls. A long stairway led down into the blackness.
“Oh, great. More stairs.”
“But these ones are going down. Let’s go,” Dewey said, darting down them with more energy than Paige could fathom after the hike through the jungle and climb up the pyramid’s side.
She heaved a sigh and started down the stone steps. They reached a landing only fifty steps down which turned into a long hallway.
Dewey snatched the flashlight from Paige’s hands and studied the walls, covered with Mayan symbols.
“Wow,” Dewey breathed out as he continued down the passageway.
“Anything about the mirror?” Paige called, her voice echoing off the stone.
“How would I know? I don’t read Mayan.”
Paige ground to a halt. “Well, how are we supposed to learn anything?”
The light bobbled up and down as Dewey shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, if we see a giant mirror, that’s probably it.”
Paige rolled her eyes and trudged behind him. The passage veered to the left, descending down even more stairs that snaked around the interior walls before exiting into a large rectangular chamber with plain walls.
“Must have run out of paint,” Paige said as she studied the bare gray stones.
She focused on the room’s center. A stone altar stood in the middle. She wrinkled her nose at it.
Dewey flew toward it, shining the light onto it. A stain covered the top on one end.
“Ugh.” Paige gagged. “That’s probably blood.”
“Probably,” Dewey noted. “Someone got sacrificed in here.”
Paige waved him away from the gruesome scene. “Come on. Let’s keep going.”
They ambled to the opposite side of the large chamber.
Dewey shined the light along the wall, failing to find an exit. “Must have missed it. I bet it’s on another wall.”
Paige leaned against the cool stones as Dewey flew around the room in search of a doorway or passage.
