The Pharoah's Tomb: Part III
Tammy could see why people never returned. The whole structure was a veritable maze, carved out of rough sandstone and fortified with bricks. There were no differences between one passage and another, though Tammy continued to drop gems at the passages she had travelled down. Sometimes the halls would double back on one another, leading her to a previous crossroads. If she hadn’t marked her passages, she would probably never find her way out again. Yet even so, it was strange that no one had thought of marking the passages before. It was a relatively simple method that would have saved lives. She hadn’t come across any remains either, though that could be attributed to the extent of the tunnels. It was therefore not surprising that Tammy didn’t realize the gradual changes at first. The tunnels all began to become wider and slope downwards, deeper into the earth. The floor began to become smoother, almost slippery in its surface. A few alcoves placed along the walls signaled the locations where incense or candles may have once stood. She had found her way into the main part of the structure. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she entered yet another tunnel. This one seemed to slope down more steeply than the others. It also had carvings upon the walls, depicting different figures from B’Ahal’s history: cats, locusts, men with the heads of dogs, people bending over in respect to what looked like a Maharaja. She didn’t like it. The whole expedition had been too easy thus far and she was on edge. The passage finally began to level off, the floor turning from bricks to carefully shaped tiles. The carvings became more elaborate, faces carefully molded to resemble their long-dead counterparts. The ceiling slowly became higher, moving upwards into darkness that even Tammy’s eyes couldn’t penetrate. The passage slowly opened out into a large room. The walls were dotted with recesses, narrow and long slits in the wall which were elaborately decorated with carvings and flaking paint. No doubt they housed the bodies of the long dead, hopefully sanctified to prevent them from rising again. She supposed she should start searching. It was possible that the book had been buried with one of these bodies, though she didn’t think it was likely. If Shagan wanted it, more than a corpse would be guarding it. She began looking across the bodies wrapped in bandages, finding urns and bowls, but no books. It was after she had searched all of the bodies that a piercing shriek split the air. Well this was typical. Tammy whirled around, trying to locate the direction of the scream as it ricocheted off of the stone walls. She remained still as silence resumed, her eyes turning towards the passage leading from the room. It was coming from there. She could always turn back, but this was the only passage she hadn’t journeyed down as of yet. Tammy sighed quietly. Better get it over with now. She slipped into the shadows, moving quietly down the hallway and towards the sound. The darkness in the passage began to disappear as she approached a flickering light up ahead. She paused as she reached a corner in the passage, peering around it cautiously. What she saw made her stare. It was a woman. Ebony black hair spilled down her back and to her slim waist. She was clothed in clothing typical of B’Ahal; a loose tunic was belted over baggy pants and slightly pointed slippers. For the moment she was facing away from Tammy, looking towards a recessed shelf which held an intricately painted urn. This in itself wouldn’t have fazed her. After all, she’d seen far stranger. What did cause her to stop and stare was the fact that the woman was glowing. The flickering light emanated from her, a cool blue which danced along the walls and caused the shadows to recede into the corners. Tammy remained still. She had two choices before her; she could try to sneak by the woman or confront her directly. She certainly wasn’t about to turn back after coming all this way. “Do you know what you seek?” Crap. Tammy slowly examined the woman’s back, remaining silent as she waited for her to make some other indication that she was aware that someone else was in the room. “It’s impolite to not answer.” Well that seemed like a pretty clear indication. She smirked faintly before replying, “Not really.” The woman remained silent for a time, her back still turned towards Tammy. Only a faint nod indicated that she had heard. Her voice rang about the hall once again, “You were truthful.” “You sound surprised.” The woman shook her head briefly, hair shimmering faintly in the blue glow, “No. Your answer was merely different from the others.” This didn’t bode well, not that it was good news in the first place. She might as well get it over with. “So what happened ta the others? An’ what d’ya ‘ave in store for me?” The answer was quick and succinct. Tammy found herself a bit surprised. Usually this type liked to carry on with vague references. “They drowned. You will drown if you do not leave here by nightfall.” She supposed that explained the smoothness of the walls and the moisture in some areas of the temple. “Well there’s a book that I’m supposed ta get. Dunno what it’s ‘bout or where it is, but it’d be nice ta get it so I can get outta ‘ere.” The woman remained silent so long that Tammy was seriously considering that she had fallen asleep. Yet her voice rang out hollowly once more, “What type of book?” “There’s a reason I said ‘not really’ ta your question. Though it’s supposed ta be bound in leather with a star on the front.” The woman let out a long sigh, air whistling through what Tammy presumed were her teeth, “There is a reason ‘tis buried.” “I figured.” Tammy shifted from one side to another. It was a bit obvious what this woman was, but she might as well try. “So will ya tell me where it is?” Once again there was a long pause. Tammy couldn’t help but think she was relishing the chance to draw things out, “No.” Typical. “Fair ‘nough. Then I’m just gonna go ahead an’ search ‘round ‘ere if ya don’ mind.” “I do.” “Do what?” “Do mind.” The women shifted her head briefly, though her face still wasn’t visible from Tammy’s angle, “The book isn’t in this room. I shall tell you that much. But you will drown, nonetheless.” Tammy rolled her eyes. She was a bit melodramatic, to be honest. Her eyes flitted about the room, looking for the opening to another passage. She found nothing. “So if it’s not in this room an’ it’s not in other rooms an’ there’s no other room beyond this one…where is it?” Surprise, the woman was silent again. Tammy waited for a minute, two. Finally the woman responded, “It must be back where you were, then.” She slowly began to turn to face Tammy, dark hair obscuring her features until at last she was completely facing her. Flesh barely clung on bone which peered through rotten holes. Her eyes were merely black sockets in her head, set above a nearly missing nose. Her teeth were jagged with black gums. She screamed, “It’s mine!”
Tammy jumped back quickly and fled from the chamber. She wasn’t about to take her chances with that thing, even though she had been expecting something along those lines. She could hear the screams of the woman behind her, echoing along the passage, “It doesn’t matter where you go! You’ll stay here with me! You can’t leave!” Leather boots pounded against stone, thumping rhythmically to match the beating of her own heart. She eventually skidded to a halt, breathing hard as she looked over her shoulder. Nothing followed. She placed her hand against the slippery wall, and glanced before her. Typical. She had once again entered the room with the waterfall. The black water continued to churn below…but was it higher? Tammy squinted through the darkness, trying to remember how far below it was before. Yes, it was definitely higher. She sat down on the cold floor, resting her forehead on her hand. She needed to think. There was always the option of going back and coming back some other time, but she had the feeling that if she didn’t get the book, she wouldn’t be leaving. After all, why would the others stay in a tomb that was flooding unless they couldn’t leave? She had to figure out where the book was. Her mind raced. Had she overlooked a secret passage within one of the walls? No, she had gone too carefully. She would have noticed if there was a passage or secret hiding place. She looked towards the waterfall, the spray now easily reaching her as it crashed into the water. The room must have been specifically designed around the formation in order to… That was it. Tammy leapt to her feet, pacing around the ledge with her eyes fixed on the dark rock that the water leapt down from. The architects had to have known this was here. It wasn’t an accident that the temple filled every however many hours. It wasn’t an accident that the temple was built like a maze, meant to keep its rats inside just long enough for them to drown. Tammy had assumed that the room had partially collapsed due to the water, of course. But wouldn’t that be the builder’s intention? It would keep outsiders from looking too closely. But if she was right… Tammy’s eyes scanned the roughly hewn rock. They eventually eventually locked on a ledge which wound its way around to the opposite side of the room. It was narrow, certainly, and she wouldn’t have given any thought to it earlier. After all, why bother climbing a ledge to the other side when there was nothing on the other side, anyway? She moved towards the ledge, hands grasping rock, slippery from the constant spray of water. Only a few inches below her feet the black water churned with malevolent purpose. She slid along the side of the room, drawing closer to the falls. Her pace quickened as the water continued to rise. She came to the edge of the ledge and her heart sank. There was nothing here. A few inches in front of her, the falls landed. She ran her hands over the rock in desperation. Only cold and hard surface met her probing fingers. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. She rest her forehead against the rock. The sound of the river roared ever louder in her ears, reminding her of the inevitable. Damn it. She pounded a fist against the black rock in a futile gesture. It rang hollow. She jerked upwards, nearly toppling back into the river before regaining her balance. It was hollow. She tapped a few more time, listening to the sound with relish. There had to be a door somewhere. But where? She glanced around and saw nothing. The water continued to rise. It was almost lapping at her feet. Ah well. If she couldn’t do it the subtle way, she’d do it the forceful way. She unsheathed her sword from her belt, lightning crackling along the blade. Tammy felt the energy she needed, surging from her core to her arm. She held it for one, two, three seconds. Then with a mighty swing, she released into her blade and against the wall. At first, she thought that she had failed. But then she saw the cracks along the rough surface. Fragments of rock began to fall way and tumble inwards. In a few moments, a hole had appeared in the surface of what looked like solid rock. There wasn’t any time to waste. She crawled into the darkness inside, barely noticing the walls lined with lapis azul. She barely noticed the golden veins which ran through the sapphire blue rock, creating an effect that would be envied by the Maharaja himself. She barely noticed how columns made out of gold lined the room filled with treasures of all sorts. She barely noticed how the gems and gold glittered dimly in piles, perhaps buried for centuries. She did notice the book on the pedestal in the center of the room. It didn’t seem impressive. It was bound in very plain leather, with a star etched on the front. Bingo. Tammy grabbed the book, glancing towards the entrance. Water was beginning to trickle into the room, lifting gold bowls and sending them afloat like intricately forged ships. Shit. She tucked the book into her bag and made a run for it. Outside was chaos. The water seemed to have increased in its force. Foam churned about the entrance. Tammy glanced towards the passage where she came from. No, she wouldn’t be able to make it. She ducked back into the treasure room. There had to be an entrance somewhere…or an exit, in this case. She scanned the room, looking, looking. She finally looked up. At the room’s zenith was a trap door, set into the ceiling. That helped, but only slightly. She needed a ladder to get up there. That or… If anyone was watching Tammy at this point, they would have thought she had gone mad. She began heaping piles upon piles of gold from the sides of the room into the center. She built it up to a point and then grabbed the pedestal the book had lain upon and set it on top. With cat-like balance, she climbed atop it and reached towards the trap door. Her fingers brushed its surface. She stood on her toes, reaching higher as water poured into the chamber. She grabbed it and pulled. The trap door swung inwards and she swung herself upwards, just as the water swept the pile of gold into its swirling depths.
She found herself in another chamber. Yet this one has a clear door that exited into familiar tunnels. They looked like the same ones that Kaleesha had used, but Tammy wasn’t about to believe that just yet. She checked the book once more and closed the trap door. She heard something “click” as it shut firmly into place. If she didn’t know it was there, she would never have found it. It fit seamlessly into the other brick tiles of the floor. She stepped out into the tunnels, first wandering one way and then another. It was like being in a maze again, yet she didn’t want to stop and rest. Her heart was still pumping, and she wanted to find her way out. It was another hour before a familiar voice called out to her, “About time you got out. So did you get it or not? I don’t think I can stand waiting around for you again.” It was Kaleesha.
Tammy ran her hands over the leather cover of the book once more. She had already peered inside. Unfortunately, the cracked and faded pages didn’t tell her much. It was written in a strange language with looping curls and strange dots for letters. She held it out to Shagan with a faint smirk, “There ya go. No librarian required.” He took the book quickly, as if at any moment it would evade his grasp, “Apparently not.” “What? I don’ get a ‘thank ya’ for riskin’ my neck?” The priest didn’t even bother looking up from the book, “Well, you did owe me. So technically I don’t need to thank you.” Tammy rolled her eyes. That was gratitude for you. She waved a hand, “I’m headin’ back home. Take care’ve that book, Shagan. It was a pain in the ass gettin’ it.” “Don’t worry. I will.”
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Last edited by Archer14 on Aug 21st, '10, 06:24, edited 1 time in total.
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