The Serpent's Cipher

Previously

…It clung to my tongue, a dry, gritty testament to centuries of stillness. Lyra had been right about the chamber, of course. Her knack for unearthing the obscure, for sifting through the detritus of history to find the glint of truth, was uncanny. This place, hidden deep within the jungle's suffocating embrace, pulsed with a faint, almost imperceptible hum. It was the Serpent's Cipher’s song, a melody