"We are supposed to secure the third jewel and bring it back to the ship. We don't have much time...." "Yes," said Argo. "Hey, what about that nest of vampires down there," Urson said, thumbing viciously toward the black behind them. "They said they worshiped Argo. What have you got to do with them? I don't trust anything on this place very much." "The nature of the Goddess is change," said the woman, looking sadly toward the slope, "from birth, through life, to death," she looked back up at them, "to birth again. As I said, Argo has many faces. You must be very tired." "Yes," said Geo. "Then come with me. Please." She turned, and began to walk back along the rim. Snake and Iimmi started after her, and then came Geo and Urson. "I don't like any of this," the big man whispered to Geo as they came along. "Argo doesn't mean the same thing in this land like she means on Leptar. There's nothing but more evil to come out of this. She's leading us into a trap, I tell you. I say the best thing to do is take the jewels we have, turn around, and get the hell out of here. I tell you, Geo...." "Urson," Geo said. "Huh?" the big man asked. "Urson, I'm very tired." They walked silently for a few steps more. Then Urson heaved up a half disgusted breath, and put his arm around Geo's shoulder. "Come on," he grunted, supporting Geo against his own great form as they progressed along the rocky ledge, following the new Argo. At last she turned down a trail that dropped into the crater. "Walk carefully here," she said as they turned into the huge pit. "Something is not right," Urson said softly. "It's a trap I tell you. How does that thing go? I could use it now. _Calmly brother bear ..._" "_Calm the winter sleep, Fire shall not harm,_" continued Geo. "Says who," mumbled Urson glancing into the bowl of flame. Geo went on: "_water not alarm. While the current grows, amber honey flows, golden salmon leap._" "Like I once said before," mused Urson, "In a ..." "In here," came the voice of Argo. They turned into the dark mouth of one of the caves which pocked the crater's inside wall. "No," she said to Snake, who was about to use the jewels for illumination. "They have been used too much already." With a small stick taken from a pocket in her robe, she struck a flame against the rock, then raised it to an ornate, branching candelabra that hung from the stone ceiling by brass chains. Flame leapt from cast oil cup to oil cup, from the hand of a demon to a monkey's mouth, from a nymph's belly to the horns of a satyr's head. Chemicals in the cups caused each flame to burn a different color; green, red, blue, and orange white light filled the small chapel and played across the tops of the benches. On the altar sitting on one side of the room were two statues of equal height: a man sitting, and a woman kneeling. Iimmi looked at the altar. Geo and Urson stared at the candelabra.