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Chapter Thirty-Seven
"I'll get these ones," Angelaria states. She takes a step forward, but pauses a moment to reflect on the beauty of the frescoes adorning the walls. "Look at these hieroglyphics. They're painted in almost every color imaginable. Here...I think this is the pharaoh's burial procession. And over here? He's sitting on the throne with the curved wand of rulership in one hand. I think this is supposed to be him in the audience of the sun god, which is why the sun's rays flow down over his shoulders like raindrops."
"Naturally," Correldon says.
"Why do you say that?" I ask.
"Because gods love to give golden showers to those that are beneath them," he replies with a smirk.
Golden showers indeed. That makes me giggle, but Talen just rolls his eyes.
Angelaria manages a smirk. Then she takes hold of the ornate handles and tugs them open revealing a large room with torches ensconced upon the walls. Flickering light reveals decorative arches and wall dressings. High above, a domed ceiling glows in an unearthly white light. It lends an otherworldly feel to the chamber, and our footsteps echo off the curved surface playing tricks with my hearing. The only other decoration in the room is a towering statue of a giant man with the head of a jackal painted black; jewels are set into the pupils of each eye.
"Those must be worth something," Talen says. "Do you think we could get them down?"
"We're not here for that," I say. I glance around the room, but don't see another door. "This can't be all. There has to be a way into the pyramid from here."
"Rubies," Angelaria utters. "The eyes are rubies. Isn't the Jewel of Destinies a ruby?"
"Yes," I say, realizing what she's suggesting.
"Well, let's check the statue," Talen says.
I search with my hands along the bottom; my palms rub across some carved pictographs. Otherwise there's nothing that causes a door to swing open in front of me. That's when Talen says, "Eureka!" and I hear the tumbling of gears beneath the floor. Slowly the statue pivots to one side revealing a pit underneath it some ten feet wide and twenty feet deep and with writing placed on the aft wall.
Talen and I enter; we both squint at the writing but neither of us can read it. We look back at Angelaria who's standing with hands on her hips.
"Oh stand aside," she says. "Someday you're going to have to learn to read. It's ridiculous that you're as old as you are and can't comprehend the simplest of things."
"I agree," Cory says, taking a stance by the door. "I'll keep watch for guards."
I smile at her, waiting patiently while she studies the stone. "It's in ancient Sulasian. It says 'Here lays the entrance to the river of the dead, where kings and gods seek the eternal light of the holy kingdom for which they are meant to rule.'"
"What's that mean?''
"I'm not sure," Angelaria declares. "There's magic here. Maybe it's some kind of transportation magic."
"What's transportation magic?" I ask.
Talen giggles at me. From over my shoulder I see Cory shake his head, and I swear I hear him utter, "Dumb as a stump but at least he looks good..."
"Really?" Angelaria asks.
"What? It's a legitimate question," I say defensively.
She clears her throat. "Transportation magic... you know... transports people out of the tomb?"
Okay that really makes me feel stupid.
"How does it work?" Talen asks.
"Try closing the door," Angelaria tells him.
"If I close the door, we won't be able to get out. Remember when we fell in that trap back in the mountains and ended up slaves to a bunch of squid heads? I don't want to repeat the process," Talen says.
"Well...how about one of us tries it?" she offers.
"I'll try it," I say.
My friends look at each other, weighing the situation. "All right. We'll try it with just Kian and then if it works for him, I'll follow with Talen and Cory."
With that settled, my friends vacate the chamber leaving me alone at the bottom. I hear Talen grumble once. Shortly afterward, the stone statue begins to slide into place again just as slowly as it pivoted out of the way in the first place. I start to feel a little claustrophobic, but then Talen sticks his head in the breach as it's closing and says, "Relax, churn. We'll get you out if this doesn't work." Then the bottom of the statue seals me in taking all the light with it; I'm plunged into utter darkness.
A tingling sensation begins at my feet and crawls up my legs and body. A moment later, bright light floods in on me, and I see I'm standing on a raised dais at the top of a ramp that descends to the temple below. This must be the entrance to the tomb! I hop down and walk over to the arch in the side of the pyramid so as to get a better view. That's when I bump my head against an invisible wall of force that blocks me from freedom. But the view of the oasis sure is grand, and from this vantage point I can even see that the domes on the top of the temple are flaked and cracked from years of weather and wind.
A moment later, Angelaria appears on the platform, followed by Talen, and then Correldon. The elf tightens a strap on his boot and then unslings his bow.
"Where are we?'' Talen asks.
"At the entrance to the pyramid," I say excitedly while lifting myself up and down upon my toes. "I don't think people are meant to enter by climbing the ramp. It doesn't look like it's been used for some time, and there are no guards in the courtyard. It's probably a magical protection meant to mislead thieves that seek to enter the holy site by just climbing over the wall."
"A virgin tomb," Talen says with wonder.
"I love going where no man has gone before," I say to him with a smug grin.
Cory sighs and Angelaria pushes past me, grazing my arm with her boob. As I watch, she backs to the rear of the chamber. Once there, she follows the wall to a hall that leads into the darkness.
"Shall we go on?" she asks.
"I suppose," I say, catching up with her.
She utters a few arcane words, and a soft glowing blue-white light appears over her shoulder. Angelaria adjusts the intensity of it to that of a regular torch and then sends it down the hall ahead of us.
"Is that a difficult spell to cast?" Talen asks.
"No. It's a cantrip. That's a minor spell. Someone of your intelligence might even be able to master it."
I snicker while Talen just gives me a sideways glare that highlights all the beautiful things I love about him (even though he's plain angry).
The four of us enter the next hall and find that it's a vast room of cool darkness with a flat ceiling some twenty feet above us. Support pillars, four on a side, stand ten feet from the east and west walls. I note that both the walls and the pillars are carved in intricate designs, none of which are like the one in my dream.
"Whatever we're looking for...it's not in this room," I say. "Let's keep moving."
As we proceed deeper, however, Angelaria's magical light illuminates the statue of a gigantic stone man; a regal headdress frames his face.
"This is the statue of the Pharaoh Djoser," she says. "I recognize him from the temple paintings in the hall just beyond the xirasian guards."
We skirt the statue, which is no small feat because it's so wide and huge; the top of its head brushes the roof above. On the far side and carefully hidden from direct view lies another passage, this one ascends into the darkness. The cool breeze flowing by my hand makes me realize that somewhere up there is a place where air is allowed to enter.
"It's damp," Angelaria says. "I feel moisture on my skin."
Spurred on by the cool touch of wind, I push on. We come across a chamber which holds a circular shaft thirty feet in diameter. The shaft has wet, slime-covered walls and it drops into the darkness below. Looking up, it rises another thirty feet to a domed ceiling. Talen steps up next to me and peers toward the bottom. I make to shove him in and he swats my hand from his back. "Cut it out. What do you suppose this is?" he asks.
"I haven't a clue," I tell him. "There...the passage continues past this chamber." He follows my finger toward the far side where an opening in a wall ascends once again into darkness.
"Groovy," Talen declares.
The four of us edge our way along the circular well and eventually arrive on the far side. As one, we sidle up into the drier corridor, which exits on the far side of the water room. Once there, it doesn't take long for the air to get a lot drier. Then up ahead, Angelaria's light illuminates a double pair of bronze doors sealed shut and barring the way through.
I approach the doors and hold my fingers carefully over the bronze, searching with my eyes in the manner I've trained all my life to look for traps and other hidden things. I feel a slight tingle; it's a sensation I've never felt before and it raises the hair on my neck. I can only liken it to an electrical charge like the kind you might feel prior to being struck by lightning.
"There's something here," I say in warning. "I can't quite make it out, but I think the door's got some kind of ward or trap on it. I'm just not sure how I should proceed."
Sweat breaks across both Correldon and Talen's forehead, but Angelaria stays cool as a cucumber.
"Proceed carefully," she says.
"I plan on it." That's when I notice something: it's a bit of lead protruding from an indentation that runs the full length of the door. Carefully, I withdraw a single candle and have Angelaria light the wick with one of her cantrips. It sparks and sputters and flares to life in my hands. Then I hold the open flame up to the lead which starts to melt away in silver rivulets revealing a glowing glyph. "What do you make of this?" I ask once I can see more.
She shakes her head. "I've never seen anything like it. I could try to dispel it," she offers.
I nod, indicating that what she said sounded like a good idea. I stand back and Angelaria hurls a spell at the door. Her light instantly winks out, plunging us into almost total darkness save for the candle in my hand. But then, hot wax drips over my fingers, and I drop it too plunging us all into the black. Angelaria mutters to herself under her breath. "Sorry guys, I'm gonna have to learn to move the light first before I do that." Then I hear the all-familiar incantation resound off the walls and the blue-white light appears once again.
"I'm glad you don't need to see to cast that spell," Talen says, skin a little pale.
Is he afraid of the dark? Now that I think about it, I don't much like the dark either.
She rolls her eyes. "If I needed light to cast a light spell don't you think that it would be self- defeating?"
"Don't get cross with me. I'm just saying that it's comforting to know that you don't need any light at all. Otherwise we'd be stuck here in the dark fumbling around like a bunch of fools."
"I'd find our way back," I say to him. "I've excellent senses."
"There's worse things than being stuck in the dark with Kian," Cory says with a wink. "Imagine all that groping."
"I'm afraid of the dark," Talen says, unwilling to participate in the flirting.
"What?" Angelaria asks. "You CAN'T be afraid of the dark. You're a thief and an assassin."
"I'm not afraid of the night," Talen clarifies. "Just the complete absence of any light at all. That frightens me. It has ever since we left the underground lair of those squid-faces. The dark, like the kind you get in deep caves, gives me the heebie jeebies. It makes my skin get all clammy, and my chest tightens up like I'm having a heart attack. Besides," he says somewhat defensively, "what does being a thief have to do with being afraid of the dark? It's a choice of profession; not a choice of instinct."
"Like you'd know the difference. Sometimes the way you behave makes me think like I'm babysitting a child."
"I resent that," he says. "You're getting personal, and I've done no such thing."
"Would you two shut up," I say. "I'm going to try the door."
I reach out and push on it with my hands. Too late, I realize the enchantment's still in place and a bolt of lightning strikes me full in the chest. The next thing I know, I slam into Talen's body and both of us go tumbling down the passage and over the edge of the water pit far behind us. My skin burns underneath my shirt. To make matters worse, on the way down I strike my head against a rock and split it open. Blood runs into my eye; I feel cold clammy water break my fall. That's when I get sucked down and start to drown.
I press my hand against the wall, dizzy at first, but this quickly dissipates. Talen's hand wraps around mine. I feel his strength hauling me up and together we break the surface exhaling loudly.
"Are you all right?" Talen asks me.
I nod. "But I think I cut my head open on something," I say.
A moment later the blue-white light appears above us. It's Angelaria and she's staring down at us from the opening in the wall. Cory's wrapped a rope around her waist and is anchoring her body as she leans over the cistern.
"Thank the gods the two of you are all right," she says. Shortly after, Cory drops another rope to us.
I wait in the cold water which surges around us while Talen ties the end of the rope around his waist. The water behaves as if being drawn somewhere.
"You're not bleeding, Kian," Talen says. He pushes my hair out of place with his fingers. "I can't see a cut."
Strange, I think to myself. Talen climbs the rope and I follow him up. When we reach the top, Angelaria opens my shirt (which is burned through on the front). Underneath's nothing but fresh, smooth skin.
"I don't understand," she declares. "You should have third degree burns. But you don't."
Talen glances from my face to hers. "Maybe the pyramid acts as some kind of cosmic focal point, infusing the water with healing properties."
Angelaria puts finger to chin and thinks about this for a moment. "If that's true then this is a great treasure indeed." She slips my knife out of my left boot sheath and then cuts open her finger. Next, she wrings out my shirt with her wounded hand. Before our eyes, the cut seals itself and then vanishes. "Miraculous," she says. "Kian, this water is invaluable."
I nod looking down. "And there's lots of it too. That explains why the xirasians are guarding the tomb. Do you think the Caliph of Kaibar knows about this?"
"I would think so," she states. "The assassin that worked for him that was called the Voice of the Desert--he had in his possession a holy symbol of Modru. This means the Caliph of Kaibar is allied with the dread god. I bet the caliph intends to sell the water to the armies of the God Slayer if he isn't already doing so."
"The desert tribes would be an excellent place to build an army," Talen states. "You could hide countless hordes in the sandy waste of Balsora. With the aid of the healing waters of the pyramid, the armies would be almost invincible."
"Xirasians come from across the ocean," Angelaria states. "Very close to Cassiterides. The Disciple of Modru is probably supplying them as guards over the well."
I wipe water from my face and look up the passage. "It's nothing we can do anything about right now," I tell them. "Wait here. I'm going to try the door again."
"Be careful, Kian," Talen says. "And try not to hit me if you catch one in the chest again."
I grin and walk back up the passageway to those bronze doors, which are now scarred by black marks where I'd placed my hands. I turn to one side, close my eyes, and brush my fingers across the metal plating.
Nothing.
Good. I open my eyes again, breathe a sigh of relief, and begin my search for a way to get them open. When this fails, I whistle at Talen to come up the passage. A moment later (and with his help) I manage to pry the doors apart using Karandras' magic sword. Beyond them the passage continues into a large octagonal chamber filled with painted hieroglyphics. The four of us enter and comb the room with our eyes. A few heartbeats in and I see it: a panel depicting a scene that's haunted my dreams for a while now. There's a single island resting on the ocean under three suns; this is Tethyr's Island. The place where I'm going to rise as a powerful Black Dragon Assassin and cement my legacy as the most feared man alive. There'll be no one that picks on me after I go there. No one that'll dare harm my loved ones. And no one that'll ever say the words "All that you're good for is pleasure" and really mean it. If they do, they'll end up dead.
I begin to inspect the wall.
There's no indentation, however. Only writing which I'll need translated. "What's this say?" I ask Angelaria. I bet she gets tired of that question.
She walks over, pushing her black hair from in front of her eyes. "Let's see. It appears to be some kind of riddle. There's magic here too; I can feel it in the walls. Here, I'll read it out loud and you tell me if it makes sense. 'All of the people who live in the east side of Tegel tell the truth all of the time. All of the people who live on the west side never tell the truth. During the day, when both east-and west-siders mingle in the shops and streets of either end of town, it is impossible to tell one from the other by appearance alone. If you get lost in Tegel, what one question could you ask that would tell you correctly which side of town you were on?' Hmm...that's clever," she remarks.
"What do you think?" I ask Talen. He's great at riddles.
"Oh it's not hard. You'd ask one of them if they lived there. Depending on the answer you'd instantly know if they were lying or telling the truth. If it looked like they lived there and they said, "No" then you'd know you were on the west side and vice versa."
"Well, if you're so sure," I say to him, "give the answer."
Talen looks at the wall and says the answer to the question, but nothing happens. Next, my boyfriend tries placing his palm flat on the painting but still nothing happens.
"Maybe the Jewel Bearer has to do it," Correldon suggests.
Leave it to the elf to come up with an answer the rest of us are oblivious to.
"I was going to think of that," I say to him.
He shakes his head, silver hair brushing his jaw line. "Of course."
I withdraw the ruby from one of my belt pouches, and right before our eyes it bursts into a red glow.
Talen arches an eyebrow, "It's never done that before, has it?"
"No."
"Well, that's probably a good sign that we're in the right place," Angelaria adds. "Place your hand on the wall like I did and say the answer to the riddle."
Timidly, I do so half expecting to receive another lightning bolt in the chest. To my surprise, the stone panel and the painting on it move and slide to one side, revealing another painting of the island with the suns shining down upon it. Only this one has an indentation on it the size of the jewel in my hand. Quickly, I put the ruby in its place, and when I do the whole world lying before us changes forever.
Chapter 38 Next Week. The end is coming up. Have you enjoyed the tale?