Chapter Thirty-Two
The door grinds shut behind Dr. Mara. We pause and look back.
“That’s not good,” Torrent says.
“Maybe we should hoof it out of this hallway.” Smoke limps faster.
“Yes, but keep looking for clues. Tage and I will read as fast as we can.” The doctor stops to read the inscriptions over the newly-closed door. “Here it is, this is the ‘Hall of the Dead.’”
“No fucking kidding.” Ash is walking faster than the rest of us, but her feet weren’t burned, only her shoes and socks. There’s a closed door at the end of the hall, quite a ways down.
“This judge is … ‘Eater of Entrails of the House of Thirty,’ I think it says.” Tage took a step back from the inscription, eyes wide with fright.
“You think?” Smoke asks. “I hope those Egyptian guards don’t come alive.”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s what it says.”
“Eater of Entrails? Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Torrent hurries behind Ash.
“Clue, clue,” Ash shouts, stopping halfway down the hall. We catch up, and the doctor reads the glyphs.
“‘Earth, Air, Fire, Rite of Water oversees the filling of Holy Crocodile.’”
“Fuck,” Ash and Tage say.
“It can’t be a real croc, right?” Smoke asks, but he doesn’t sound confident.
Clack, clunk, clank.
The coffins are moving—or is it the walls? Starting with the door well behind us, each pair of coffins lurches toward each other, the doors fly open and skeletal mummies drop out—as if trying to catch anyone walking between them.
Clunk, clack, clunk.
“I knew that would happen,” Smoke says.
One after another, each pair opens, tilts and topples. The half-rotted mummies fall out of their wrappings, eye-sockets hollow, and old bones jutting like knives. They tumble onto the floor behind us with odd clacking and rustling of ancient trinkets there were buried with.
The girls scream and we run-limp as fast as we can.
I’m behind Ash when the two coffins in front of me lurch and tilt. A lid slams into my shoulder, knocking me off-balance, as two corpses jump me, burying me beneath the dust and stench of thousands of years. Bones jab my skin and a skull lands in front of my face where I’ve fallen, peering at me with its horrible smile.
I lash out on instinct and burst from under the pile, fear racing through my veins, bloody scratches on my arms and hands. Ash has managed to reach the door ahead, burning the animated figures that come too close to her. The others are shouting and screaming behind me. I turn to help Smoke up; he helps free Tage and the doctor from under the bones and bodies. We cover our noses, trying not to breathe in the stench from their still rotting skin that half-hazardly covers their bones.
The horrible clacking stops as the last pair lunge toward Ash at the far door. The narrow hall is filled with dehydrated mummies, their wrappings falling off, bones sticking out every which way. It’s slow working making our way through it, picking up and moving all the dead magically moving body parts.
“I hate this place, I hate this place.” Tage is hysterical.
“It’s okay, Bae, the trap is sprung, see? We’re okay. We made it,” Smoke calms her.
It takes us forever, but finally we join Ash at the door.
The doctor reads the inscription above. “Here it is, the confession. Repeat after me, soldiers: ‘Hail, Unem-snef, who comest forth from the execution chamber, I am not a man of deceit.’”
“Sexist, much?” Ash asks as the door automatically slides open.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Wait a minute—freeze.” The doctor is studying the top of the doorway. Ash has already gone into the tall square chamber. “Come back, Ash. This is the ‘Chamber of Crocodiles.’ We need a break first.” Ash rejoins us in the musty hall full of the dead. The door closes behind her. “Boys, clear a space, let’s take a break here.”
We obey, picking up the nasty bones and crumbling linens, tossing them into a pile behind us. We sure won’t be able to retreat through this if we need to. But it’s a mess all the way back anyway.
We clear the area so we can sit and rest in between the pairs of empty coffins on this end. We push the tilted coffins straight against the wall again. I shut the lids so we can see each other.
“Do we have to stop here?” Tage remains standing. “What if something else happens? I don’t want to rest with all these fucking corpses.”
“Don’t look at them, Tage.” Smoke tugs at her tunic, urging her to sit next to him.
“We’re better out here than in a new trap. We need to rest and eat. Who knows what the Chamber of Crocodiles has in store?” The doctor removes crackers and meat jerky for her lunch, getting her tiny burner going for fresh coffee. “As long as that door remains closed, I believe we’re safe. Nothing more should happen here.”
For some reason, I believe the doctor. At least this challenge wasn’t life-threatening. Thank you, Jesus, for helping us through each trial. We’re all covered with tiny scratches, though, except for Ash.
I dig into my pack for sweet halva and a fruit and nut trail mix, removing my own burner to make fresh mint tea.
“It looks okay in there.” Torrent is munching while peering into the dark room. “It’s rather small, a perfect square, but the ceiling is so high I can’t see it from here. Four columns are spaced evenly in the middle of the room, making another square. There are some kind of long figurines all over the floor as if tossed like dice.”
“What are those things?” I can’t tell in the gloom.
“I think they’re crocodile figures. Shall I grab one?” Torrent reaches in, balancing on one hand, trying to get hold of the closest statuette. It’s painted a dull green, about the length of a baseball bat.
“No, Torrent, leave it. Don’t touch anything.” Dr. Mara stirs her coffee.
“Well, if they’re just statues of crocs I think we’ll be okay.” Torrent brushes his hands on his jeans. There’s a thick layer of dust all over the stone floors. “Isn’t the Water Rite in the Chamber of Crocodiles?”
“I think so.” Smoke gets out his notebook and stands. “Does anyone remember the clue exactly? Otherwise I’ll have to go back through this shit and copy it.”
“It said the Rite of Water is with the crocodile, something like that,” Torrent says. “So it could be my Rite that I have to perform.”
“Let’s see, I remember ‘Earth, Air, Fire, Rite of Water … something about a Holy Crocodile.” I sip my tea.
“Damn.” Smoke begins clearing his way back to the middle of the hall. Torrent goes with him. We watch them struggle, wading through the figures that litter the floor—eventually they’re just kicking everything out of their way. Finally, they reach the spot we are looking for and both of them copy the clue before returning.
“‘Earth, Air, Fire, Rite of Water oversees the filling of Holy Crocodile,’” Torrent reads. “I would assume that means this chamber, right?”
“Probably.” The doctor leans against the wall, sipping her coffee. “We’ll rest here a bit more and mull it over. We want our minds and bodies sharp.”
“‘Oversees the filling of Holy Crocodile,’” Torrent yawns. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Who the fuck knows?” Ash lies on her side, using her pack for a pillow. “I can’t think right now. I need some sleep.”
With food and warm mint tea settling my stomach, my nerves finally relax and I fall into a deep slumber leaning against the wall between two empty coffins.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Is it Holy Crocodile, or Chamber of Crocodiles?”
“We won’t know for sure until we go in, Smoke. Then I can read the hieroglyphs inside, see if there’s a reference to a holy crocodile.”
My eyes are already opening as Torrent gives me a gentle kick in the leg. Smoke and the doctor are arguing about the clues, it seems. I grab a quick drink, then jump up, puttin
g on my pack. Everyone else is ready.
“Fuck it, I’m going in.” Ash enters the room and lights the brazier fires. Dr. Mara is right behind her, where she gets to work reading as quickly as she can, Tage beside her.
“Quickly, everyone.” Smoke is alert. “Scan everything for clues and for the Water Rite. It must have the water symbol in it, see what you can find. Keep your eyes and ears sharp for any trap.”
I step over a long, crocodile figure on the floor, walking around one of the columns as I search the writings.
“Wait a second.” I glance at the walls. “There’s no door leading out.” The room is about six meters across, each column about a meter wide. The walls extend high above us, maybe twenty meters high. The firelight doesn’t quite reach the top—the ceiling is in shadow. How strange, the columns don’t reach the ceiling. I walk around a pillar, peering up. “Guys, look at the tops of the columns.”
“I noticed that,” Torrent says. “They don’t go all the way up except for the outer ring of them. The center ones stop about twenty feet from the ceiling, would you say?”
“It looks like they have square platforms on top,” Tage says. “These couldn’t be weird altars, could they? Like a tiered wedding cake.”
“I don’t think so, I’ve never seen anything like it.” The doctor walks around each column, scanning the bright carvings for clues.
Torrent picks up one of the green croc figures. “I wonder what these are for?” There are seven of them strewn about the room. All of the others are made of stone, or some other hard material.
“Doctor, these glyphs here talk about this room.” Tage is studying the wall over the doorway. “There’s the symbol for water.”
Dr. Mara joins Tage. “Yes, good job. This judge is called ‘Water-Smiter of the Abyss.’ The sin he judges is being ‘loud-voiced.’”
“If that’s a sin, I’m fucked,” Ash’s voice echoes.
“This is no joke.” Dr. Mara looks at each of us. “Everyone, keep your voices down.”
“And look here, doctor.” Tage points to another section.
“Yes, Tage, this speaks of the Holy Crocodile. One of the Egyptian gods was a crocodile named Sobek. The Water Rite has to be in here somewhere.”
“Holy Scarab, holy croc—did they see everything as fucking holy?” Ash asks.
“I’m sure they saw many things as having the divine in them, much like the Native Americans, I’d guess. Their religion was intricate, and we don’t understand it fully. They were greatly revered and a deep part of the natural world.” The doctor continues with Tage, checking the walls.
My heart leaps at the familiar grating sound. The door shuts before Ash can get to it. We’re trapped.
“Fuck!” She hits the door, flames glowing from her fingers.
“Come together in the center, stay alert,” Smoke calls, keeping his voice in check.
We move the green croc figures out of the way and group in the center, facing out, nerves taut.
Won’t we ever get a break?
A rumbling echoes from above, then four cascades of water pour out of each dark ceiling corner. The floor is covered as the cool water rises to our calves, the seven croc figures somehow float as soon as the water covers them, bumping into our legs as the magical liquid continues to rise.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Torrent tilts his head up, hands extended, eyes closed.
Yes, stop the water, Torrent, please! But the downpour doesn’t stop, it doesn’t even slow.
Tage and Ash are trying to find a way to climb the columns, but they’re too wide with nothing to grab hold of.
“Rope, Tage,” shouts Ash. Her voice echoes over the crashing water. “Get your rope out and let’s use it.”
We’re splashing as the girls scramble for lines and we try to keep our balance in the rising waters. It’s up to our thighs already. The girls tie their ropes around the column and try to use it to shimmy up, but they keep slipping and falling back into the pool.
“Guys?” I look around. “Um, where are the crocs?”
We all stop. The water ripples and reaches our hips, but the floating wooden crocs are gone.
“Ahh,” Dr. Mara cries. “Something just brushed my leg.”
I shout as a rough force pushes against my own thighs, knocking me off balance.
“Quiet, everyone, we’re being too loud,” Smoke says, just loud enough for us to hear him over the downpour.
“The crocs, they’re real.” Torrent is trying to see into the water, but the dust of thousands of years swirls in it. I think I can make out several large shadows lumbering their way around us and the room. Dear God, help us!
“How is that even possible?” Ash’s voice rises.
“Shhh. It must be Egyptian magic.” The doctor’s face pales. “It’s an ancient tale about this particular magic, actually.”
“You didn’t think of it before?” Ash and Tage have given up on the rope and are quickly stuffing them back into their packs while trying to keep their balance.
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was real until they actually became alive. Who has heard of stone or wooden items turning into something living and breathing.”
A large croc swims right next to me, successfully knocking me off my feet, and I float, curling my legs out of the way. I’m shivering as my pulse races. The pool is now chest-high. “We have to get out of here now—one almost got me!”
“My shoes are weighing me down,” the doctor struggles in the water, bringing her feet up to untie the laces before kicking her boots off.
Tage screams. “Get it off, get it off—something scraped my leg!” As her screech bounces off the walls, several sets of ripples make a V right toward her.
“Tage, stop screaming,” Smoke whispers.
Abrupt silence follows a plop as Tage’s brown hair disappears below the water.
“Tage!” Smoke is scrambling near where she went in, searching, trying to see in the murky water. “Tage!” He dives.
Torrent holds his hands out, moving the water, piling it up against the walls—I think he’s trying to reveal the area where Tage disappeared.
“How are you doing this when your powers didn’t work before?” I ask. The raging spray hits me like a massive storm, making it hard to see or hear anything.
“Not sure, but I’ll take it.” Torrent’s brow furrows in concentration. “Maybe it’s this water now that the stone figures turned to wood.” The water crashes back into place as he dives.
Blood bubbles to the surface as Ash shines a bright fire in her hands, looking around, flaring the flames, her eyes blazing.
A column of water forms and shoots high into the air, then climbs higher still, reaching the top of the nearest column. Two bodies are forced on to the small ledge. Torrent descends with the water as it recedes. Smoke is hanging onto the small platform above; he scrambles up to join Tage, her legs hanging over the edge, one covered in blood.
As soon as Torrent reaches us, he pushes Ash on a new pillar of water, shooting her up to another column. She screams with the unexpected lift, then climbs onto the platform. Next, Torrent lifts the doctor onto the third column. I let go of the pillar I was trying to climb, keeping my legs curled up against snapping jaws in the dark, bobbing water, my mind racing in panic.
Something hits my legs as Torrent grabs me and we shoot high into the air, water spraying my face. I try to breathe but I’m thrown against the platform on the fourth column. I grab it and pull myself up. Torrent drops next to me, knocking me off. I grab and hang onto the edge, the water dropping into a mighty splash below.
“Help!” I shout. Torrent pulls me up; we barely fit together on the platform. We manage to sit, back to back, our legs dangling. I try to catch my breath, watching the rising flood.
“Thank you, Torrent, good job,” the doctor wheezes. From up here we can see long shadows zig-zagging hungrily through the water—seven of them; big, full-sized crocs.
Tage coughs and sput
ters while Smoke bandages her leg, awkwardly holding her so she doesn’t roll off. The animals continue to snap and try to lunge at us.
Good thing we each have our own First Aid Kit.
“How is she?” the doctor calls in a soft voice.
“She’ll live, the bite isn’t deep.” Smoke finishes securing the bandage. “As long as it doesn’t get infected. I smeared triple antibiotic ointment over it.” He cradles Tage’s head, her short, brown waves plastered to her cheeks. Her eyes are open, but she looks pale and dazed.
“I think she’s in shock, doctor.” Smoke moves the hair away from her face.
“She probably is. Check her pulse. She may just need time.”
“Yeah, her pulse is good,” Smoke says after a minute.
“I can’t believe we were in that.” Ash is standing on her platform, staring into the water. “How did we not get eaten?”
“I think they only attacked when we got too loud,” Torrent says. “Didn’t you notice they were just swimming around at first?”
“No, we were freaking out too much to notice we weren’t dying right away.”
“Um, guys.” I’m staring at the rising pool. “What do we do when the water reaches us?” It’s about halfway up the columns already. Soon it will cover the wall braziers.
Ash must have seen it too—she blazes a bright fire in her palm, holding her hand up to the ceiling. “It’s at least twenty feet up from here.”
As the ceiling lightens, we can see four square holes in the walls near each corner where the water is rushing out. But near one corner a square passage opens, about a meter high and wide.
“There.” I point. “That’s our way out.”
“Torrent, can you water-lift us again?” The doctor continues scanning and reading the walls in the new light.
“I’ll try, but I don’t know if I can bring the water up here and then even farther up. I was able to do it when we were on the same level.”
Earth Guardian (Deities Series Book 2) Page 11
