by Lan Dang
Chapter 17: The Great Sphinx
Eric wasn’t sure what to make of the creature. It was rather large. In fact, it was amazing that it could even fit in the small underground space. It had the face of a young woman, rather very attractive, the body of a lion, the wings of a bird and a snake-like tale. It politely looked him up and down and stopped to stare briefly at his red glowing pendant and then, at the sword he held in his hand. It was lying down but got up when it saw him. It yawned loudly and smiled.
When it spoke, its voice was rather charming and alluring. “I usually don’t get visitors in the middle of the night. You are the first.”
Eric, panted both in fear and exhaustion, for it seemed like he had been running for hours in the maze.
The creature continued to stare at him with amusement and curiosity. “What brings you here, little fellow? You look lost. Don’t tell me, you accidentally fell down here.”
Eric had to come up with a lie. “I am searching for someone.”
“Friend of yours?”
“Not exactly. But anyways, I am sorry to disturb you. I’ll be on my way back now.”
Eric wanted to get out of here. He was beginning to regret coming down to this dangerous place and not to mention, to meet this creature in front of him. He started to slowly take several steps back, retreating out of the creature’s view.
“Please don’t leave. I may be able to help you.”
The creature got up and sauntered over until it could see him again. Eric gulped and clung to the far end of the wall for safety reasons. He had a feeling it would not let him leave in peace and he was beginning to regret his rash decision to leave the safety of the Guilden Kingdom.
“Hmmm….If you are indeed looking for someone, then that person may have been missing several weeks ago. That was the time that someone approached me with a proposition. I was asked to guard this very door.”
It pointed at the closed door hidden behind its huge body.
“In exchange for meals.”
It indicated the several large carcasses that lied near its feet. Eric had not noticed them before but now, it made him break into a cold sweat.
The creature seemed to respond to his reaction.
“Well, I’m not exactly a vegetarian, you know.”
It watched Eric with great interest. Eric gulped. He couldn’t help it but he knew he shouldn’t be showing his fear in front of this obviously dangerous creature.
For some reason, the creature felt a need to explain its actions.
“The Guilden Forest is being slowly depleted of its food supply. Oh don’t look at me like that. I’m not the one to be blamed but I do admit that I tend to eat quite a bit, more than my fair share, I suppose.”
It smiled devilishly.
“The land is getting quite dry. Nourishment is not abundant as before, we are all essentially starving. I eat carnivores that eat other carnivores that eat herbivores. And if the land supplying the food for the herbivores are slowly diminishing, so will I eventually. I guess being on the top of the food chain really isn’t the best place to be right now.”
The creature looked sadly at Eric, who didn’t pity it in the least.
The creature seemed to sense the indifference for it continued, “Anyways, when someone offered to give me free meals in exchange for my service, I was more than happy to oblige. So here I am.”
It smiled broadly and large, jagged canines were revealed in this smile.
It added, “I do hope whoever you were looking for was not one of my meals.”
Eric gulped in fear but the creature appeared not to notice. Instead, it eyed Eric’s sword.
“Do tell me…who are you? Only descendants of the royal family can use Kaehlor.”
Eric stared blankly at him. “Kaehlor?”
It rolled its eyes. “The sword you are holding, little fellow. And yes in answer to your unspoken question, that is its name.”
Eric gulped. In his fear, he had forgotten about the Guilden Sword which he was clutching tightly. It was his only weapon which could be used against this creature if it decided to attack him. However, he was still not confident whether the sword can indeed protect him. He had not learned how to use the sword yet.
He replied, “The Elders gave it to me.”
Again, the creature rolled its eyes. “That was not my question. Who are you? You must be somehow related to the royal family.”
It eyed him. “And don’t lie to me either unless you want to end up like them.”
It pointed to the carcasses again. “I hate liars.”
Its sharp claws made a fierce mark, deeply imprinted on the ground.
“I am Zephler, the son of the late Guilden King. I’m afraid I don’t know much about my father or my royal family for that matter.” He sighed.
“Ah, the last of the royal family. It was rumored that you had died as a baby but apparently that was just a rumor. It is such a delight to see that you are still alive and well.”
It continued, “Since you have been so kind as to identify yourself, then I will tell you who I am. I am Celiste, the Great Sphinx.”
“I am pleased to meet you, Celiste.”
“As am I.” The creature made a slight bow.
“What, may I ask, do you know about Kaehlor?”
Celiste chuckled out loud. Her rumbling laughter caused the walls to shake and Eric felt himself trembling as well.
“It is just like the Elders to do that to people. Give them things they have no idea about. So that they end up underestimating its power or abusing it so that it eventually destroys them just so the Elders can take it back. That’s what the Elders are for. To safe-keep things for the real owner to claim it. But, they secretly wish for ill things to happen to the real owner because they covet what doesn’t belong to them.”
Eric boldly stepped forward, forgetting to keep a safe distance between himself and the creature.
“Wait. You didn’t answer my question. Tell me about Kaehlor.”
She smiled. “I apologize. I was sidetracked momentarily. I am more focused now. You are very fortunate to meet someone as honest as I. Kaehlor was made by a blacksmith several hundreds of years ago as a gift to the then-present king. That sword can only be used by a member of the royal family for if any commoner attempts to use it, it will only turn into a dull ordinary sword.”
“Anyone in the royal family possesses a powerful blood that changes things, even ordinary things like the necklace you are wearing, and gives it power to transform it to serve a greater purpose. Kaehlor is a sword, much like a scale, except it is not used for measurement. It is used to balance the age-long battle between good and evil. For every life it takes, either good or evil, it must take an opposite life, good or evil, to balance it out. For if the sword is used only to kill evil people, it becomes an evil sword and its user becomes evil. But if the sword is used to kill good people, the sword, itself, and its user becomes good. But only if the sword balances out good and evil, can it become a neutral sword and not possess the ability to overtake its user. The blacksmith who designed that sword asked for the king’s blood so that it binds both sword and user together, making it extremely powerful and very deadly.”
He listened with great interest. “Is there any way to prevent the sword from becoming evil?”
She shook her head. “Only if you don’t use that sword at all. Then, it will always remain neutral. I am assuming you have never used that sword before.”
“How did you know that?”
“I can tell by the way that you hold that sword, that it is still rather heavy for you. Don’t worry. The weight changes the longer you keep it but it’s faster if you feed it blood, preferably human blood, to lessen its weight.”
Eric shuddered at the thought. “I was just recently given this sword by the Elders. They have never told me about its history before.”
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br /> “Then you are lucky I warned you about it.”
Eric smiled and asked, “Since we have become acquaintances, is it possible for me to enter that door you are guarding?”
Celiste looked at him solemnly and arched her head until it touched the ceiling.
“It is true. At the very least, we have become acquaintances. I don’t think I have ever talked to a human this long without thinking of it other than food. Certainly, not someone from the royal family either. But I made a promise to guard this door with my life. I am not a noble creature but I am a creature that once I make a promise, I tend to keep it.” She looked apologetically at Eric.
“Who did you make this promise to?”
“That is also a secret. I cannot disclose that information.”
“I guess you can’t tell me either what is behind that door. Do you even know what you are guarding?”
She shook her head. “I honestly do not care what is behind that door as long as my meals are brought to me. I can be quite vicious when I am hungry.”
“Are you not in the least bit curious as to what is behind that door? That door is the very reason you are stuck here in this cramped tunnel.”
Again, she shook her head. “Not in the least bit curious. Plus, I am here voluntarily. Food is scarce in the Guilden Forest but here, I get fed on a daily basis. I don’t have to waste my energy to hunt.”
She stared at him. “But I am curious as to why you want to enter that particular door. What do you think is behind it?”
“My freedom.”
Eric looked down. He felt as if his hope of returning home had been extinguished by this very creature who stood in front of him, staring at him in a fascinated manner. She had no idea that the door that she was guarding could be the very door that would help him escape and return home. He was homesick; he longed to return home back to his family and friends. Meanwhile, Celiste continued to stare at him and seeing the sad expression on Eric’s face, she relented.
“There is an exception to this promise, however. If you can answer this riddle, then you can safely go through that door.”
She moved her large body so Eric could see what she was covering.
On the wall, written in neat letter was a riddle. This is what it said:
Many great men have lost their lives,
Searching for this.
Others have wasted away,
Who do have this.
And many more wish they had this,
Only to find out they don’t know what to do with it,
Once it is theirs.
What is this?
Eric read the riddle multiple times, both out loud and to himself. He searched his brain for an answer to the riddle but it was blank. He didn’t have a clue as to what the answer was. His puzzled expression, combined with his walking back and forth, only made Celiste smile as she closed her eyes and told Eric she would wait for the answer. She was quite confident that he would never be able to solve the riddle that has baffled many of her victims and thus, would never be able to enter the door that she was guarding. Eric continued to walk back and forth, pondering about the answer to the riddle.
An idea popped in his head and he glanced at the Great Sphinx. She appeared to have dozed off. She probably couldn’t hear him then. Eric took out his necklace and whispered a question to it.
“What is the answer to this riddle?” Eric read the riddle to the necklace in a low voice, careful not to wake her up.
Its red light burned a deeper red color and it echoed back just as quietly, “Immortality.”
Eric smiled and thanked the necklace for its help. He went over to Celiste and cleared his throat loudly, waking her up.
“I have the answer to the riddle.”
Celiste yawned and waited impatiently. She seemed annoyed that her beauty sleep had been interrupted.
“The answer is immortality.”
Her mouth dropped open, clearly not expecting the little boy to answer this riddle. She quickly regained her composure and smiled.
“It seems I have underestimated you, Zephler. I must say I am very impressed.”
She looked at the carcasses and sighed. “I gave all of them a fair chance to solve the riddle and they all failed. You, however, are different and you succeeded.”
She bowed her head in admiration, “It has been a pleasure meeting you. I will keep my word. You are free to enter this door.”
As the creature sauntered off, Eric heard a mumbled warning of “I do hope you don’t follow in your father’s footsteps” but he was too thrilled to make sense of what was said. He was about to leave this place and return home. That was all that mattered to him.
