It was a truly gorgeous thing and quite obviously not made by humans. Its mighty chain stretched up to the dark round hole up in the ceiling of the cavern.

Zoe said, ‘When a culture builds beautiful things, they do so for a reason. This thing is important. Ceremonial.’

‘I agree,’ Jack said. ‘This was constructed with reverence. But for what?’

Alby looked up the length of the cage’s stout gold chain.

‘By the look of it, it’s the only way out of this part of the Labyrinth,’ he observed.

‘What do you think, Lily?’ Jack asked.

Till that moment, Lily had been silent. She had been scanning the cage’s four gold columns and its floor.

Jack watched as she stepped back, to get a fuller view of the floor of the cage.

As she did that, Jack realised what she was looking at.

One large but very precise engraving covered the centre of the cage’s floor:

‘The eye of Horus,’ Lily breathed. ‘The Eye of Providence. Or . . .’

‘. . . the All-Seeing Eye,’ Jack finished.

‘Yes,’ Lily said.

Jack frowned. ‘So what does it mean here, kiddo?’

Lily seemed almost entranced as she gazed at the enormous engraving in the golden floor.

She looked up at Jack and the others.

‘This marking has been reproduced many times in the course of human history. The Egyptians put it on the capstones of pyramids. The Freemasons used it. The United States has it on their one-dollar bill. But no matter where it appeared, it always had the same meaning: that we are being watched, observed, evaluated by a higher power.’

Lily looked seriously at each member of the group.

‘This whole Labyrinth has been a series of trials, evaluations, tests of worth,’ she said. ‘Each maze so far has tested something about us. Nerve got us through the first entry maze. Knowledge got us into the Endless Tunnel and through it. Humility got us past the goldmen statues. And endurance got us through the rotating maze. This cage, however, is a different kind of test. A test you can’t overcome with courage or determination, wisdom or even action.’

‘What is it, then?’ Jack asked.

‘It’s the ultimate test of worth,’ Lily said. ‘An examination of our innermost intent.’

‘So how does it work?’ Alby asked.

‘It’s simple,’ Lily said. ‘You step inside the cage and rise into that hole up there in the ceiling. And then you are judged.’

The group was silent for a long moment.

Jack looked at the chain reaching up to the high ceiling of the cavern, unsure.

‘The ultimate judgement. I mean, what else did we expect?’

He checked his watch.

4:31 a.m.

Thirty-five minutes to Omega.

He pursed his lips. ‘There’s no knowing what’s up there, so we do this one at a time, in case something goes wrong. We can’t lose all of us at once.’

He swallowed deeply.

‘And this time I’m definitely going first.’