The War of All Wars

by J. Eric Booker

  A few seconds later, he snapped, “Shut up—all of you! I’m trying to think…”

  The ones that heard him did stop talking. However, a vast majority had not heard, so they kept pleading for their freedom—before long, hundreds more voices joined in the folly, and now there were thousands.

  Screaming at the top of his lungs, Baltor said, “SHUT UP!! ”

  Hundreds did, but by that time, it was too late—tens of thousands joined in the begging.

  In that moment, Baltor felt as if he was literally going to lose his mind. He wedged his index fingers tight into his earholes, so that he could hear himself think due to the deafening volume, which semi-worked though not great. Nemis also was forced to plug her own ears.

  Telepathically, he said to Nemis, Okay, tell your friend that we’ll rescue just him. He can rescue someone else, who, in turn, can rescue someone else, and so on and so on…until everyone’s been rescued. And even after that last person is free, they cannot leave this area for three additional days of time—wait, that’s not going to work because there is no time. Wait, ya…tell them to count out 259,200 seconds in their head. Yes.

  In the same fashion, Nemis asked, Are you sure that’s such a good idea? What if it takes us longer than that to find the Arch-Devil? And what if there are guards who routinely check this place out?

  Baltor rolled his eyes in the back of his head, due to the sheer frustration of not knowing what to do now—a few seconds later, he said, Just do it—we’ll take the risk. This noise is driving me insane…maybe they’ll shut up when they see us rescuing your friend.

  As you wish, Baltor, she half-sang using telepathy, though her tune did not sound very happy about the risqué idea.

  With that, she said aloud to her friend the plan, who nodded his head both affirmatively and appreciatively.

  Right away, Baltor and Nemis walked over to Loris, just before they began to pry away the dirt surrounding the man.

  It was not until they dug below the area of his neck that they saw the futility of this rescue attempt—after all, almost everything below that neck was tattered and missing in a very disgusting and bloody way!

  Nemis fought back the urge to throw up upon seeing this—Baltor, also a bit sickened, dropped back onto his rear end, almost landing on the head of a lady.

  He stood back onto his feet and grabbed Nemis’ hand—the two began to navigate their way all around the other damned souls who continued to implore for their freedom! Those with arms tried to reach out and grab either of them.

  En route, he asked, Do you have some earplugs or a silence spell? I honestly don’t know how much more of this noise I can take—it’s driving me freaking nuts!

  She answered, Actually, you’re in luck!

  With that, he stopped in his tracks, so she could begin casting. Upon completion, a minute later, complete silence filled their area.

  “Much better,” Baltor tried to say aloud, but his mouth only mouthed out the words silently.

  Switching to telepathy, he repeated his last statement, and then he asked, Can you hear me, Nemis?

  I can, so let’s just hurry up and get over there. We’ve got thirty minutes before the spell wears off.

  Okay—climb on my back.

  Once she had, Baltor hightailed his way until they reached the platform, five miles away, which trip took nearly sixteen minutes because he had to maneuver around all the souls.

  After arriving within a foot of the first step, they took a closer look at the pedestal with the book on it—she stayed on his back.

  Perhaps a minute after their arrival, he was the first to ask, Do you think you could cast “detect magic,” so we can figure out whether these statues, as well if the book is magical?

  Not until the silence ends, Baltor, as I have to hear myself chant.

  Fine, fine. Unless you object, what we’re going to do is this: stay on my back. I’m going to snag the book, before running back for the staircase at top speed. We’ll take a look at the book once we’re back inside the pyramid itself. And if the Arch should come, we’ll just trick or fight him there until we get to the next plane. Okay?

  Okay, she answered.

  With that, Baltor ran up to the pedestal, picked up the book, and then booked back straight for the staircase without looking back one time to see if the golden statues had begun to move, or worrying if his feet kicked a soul. Twelve minutes later, they arrived.

  Just after he had climbed onto the third step, the silence spell ended, and the winds and the cries for help could be heard once again, because he just wanted to get the hell out of there, he continued to run up the stairs at top speed.

  Before they had rounded the corner that revealed the rope bridge, he stopped, and peaked his head around the corner to see if those monsters had returned—nope, no monsters, including that remaining rust monster.

  No longer could they hear the cries of the souls either, due to the seventy-mile winds. Still, as Baltor did not like this area at all, particularly because of those fifty-foot golden statues that could be in “hot pursuit,” he stopped in his tracks, and said telepathically, Step down, put this book in that pocket of yours and then climb aboard. I’m going to need both of my hands in order to cross the bridge.

  By the time he had finished speaking, she had already nodded her head, stood onto her feet, took the book, and put it into her pocket—once so, she climbed back on Baltor’s back.

  He made his way across the bridge and down the tunnel that led back into the pyramid—just as they were about to make the turn around the first bend, he stopped and turned back around in order to see if maybe those statues were following.

  No statues had been following, at least not yet.

  Not wanting to wait around and find out, he made all the twists and turns until they were once again at the starting point in the pyramid—the room with the four exits and the hole in the floor.

  It was there that he stopped.

  “Whew,” he sighed aloud. “I’m glad that part’s over.”

  “Me too,” she said just before she stood back onto her feet and next to his side. “Good job!”

  “Thanks,” he said, before sitting down so he could relax.

  Still standing, Nemis said, “I’m real curious about this book…should I take it out now, so we can check it out?”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

  After taking the book out of her pocket, she held onto the book just before sitting down next to Baltor.

  The book that they looked at was made of brown human skin—though the lettering on the front cover was the same foreign language as that written on the tapestries in the room with the mummies, Baltor’s mind just then began to translate the words written.

  He said it aloud, “The Book of the Dead.”

  She asked with shock, “How can you read that? I can’t.”

  “I don’t know. I just can. Let me see that thing.”

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because of the way you’re talking.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She answered, “Your voice just sounds different, that’s all.”

  “Come on, he said, just before he clucked his tongue.

  “All right,” she sang while handing him the book, again with that tune that did not sound thrilled at the idea.

  As soon as he opened it a moment later, strong gusts of wind began to blow through the room from the tunnel that they had just come out of—Nemis gazed in that direction, but Baltor did not as he looked at the first page.

  Although the wind died a few seconds later, she did not avert her gaze away from that tunnel. He continued to remain focused on reading the book.

  After a minute’s time had passed, he flipped the first page and began to read the second page.

  Perhaps two minutes and two pages later, he looked up at Nemis who was still looking intently toward the tunnel, and asked, “What’s wron
g?”

  “I don’t know, but I really don’t like this place,” Nemis answered, just before shifting her gaze to Baltor. In order to change the subject, she asked, “So what’s the book about?”

  “Well, according to the introduction without any author mentioned, this book’s just a collection of instructions, hymns, and spells—mainly to allow the deceased to safely pass through obstacles in the afterlife.”

  “Does it tell us how to get to the Arch-Devil?”

  “No, not yet.”

  She sounded nervous as she asked, “Well, can we go now?”

  Shaking his head balefully, he answered, “This place is probably the safest of anywhere else—it only gets worse from here.”

  “Great!” she said without an ounce of enthusiasm.

  “Aren’t you interested in learning the spells?”

  Just then, strange buzzing noises began to emerge from the direction they had come, noises that got louder by the second.

  It was only then that Baltor shut the book, handed it to Nemis, stood to his feet, drew his swords, and said, “I’d put that book away if I were you.”

  “Great—look what the hell you’ve done!” she exclaimed before putting the book back into her pocket.

  “What have I done?”

  Instead of answering his question, she said, “I’m going to cast a shield spell to protect us…I’m getting a very, very bad feeling!”

  “You have a shield spell?”

  Nemis answered, “Shh…let me cast.”

  She began chanting. The very second she had finished, a swarm of huge locusts entered the room from the entryway they had just come—hundreds of thousands of them! They were obviously the creatures making those buzzing noises!

  Fortunately, she had finished casting when she did, as the locusts flew around the invisible shield, revealing the five-foot-diameter circular shield, before continuing their way down the tunnel to their right.

  “Woooow,” Baltor said with a whole lot of sarcasm. He asked, “So what’s the problem with locusts? All they eat are vegetation.”

  “I don’t know, but there’s something really unusual and dangerous about these particular locusts, though I don’t know what,” she answered. “By the way, my shield spell will last only seven more minutes, so hopefully there won’t be any more locusts by the time it ends, or we’ll have to find out the hard way if they’re more than herbivores.”

  “Okay.”

  Five minutes later, the last of the locusts had passed, just before the shield spell ended.

  “Let’s get to the room with the ladder quickly, as I believe that going up is the solution and that those locusts will be coming back,” he suggested right away. “Hop on.”

  Without any further delay, she did—and the two were zooming toward the ladder room.

  About ten minutes later, they arrived at their destination—not a single pebble had disappeared.

  Nemis hopped off his back and stood to his side, before asking, “So why do you think going up is the solution?”

  After a chuckle, Baltor answered, “I don’t know that it is the solution—just a hunch, since I don’t think there are any floors below the one with all the souls buried in the ground. So let’s see if we can figure out this riddle now that we have the book.”

  For about ten minutes, they both studied the tiles with the runes, along with the book.

  Finally, Nemis broke silence as she said, “I have no idea…this doesn’t appear to be any sort of riddle I’ve ever seen before, unless of course, the runes on the tiles is something you have to recite or stand on in order.”

  “You’re right…I believe the solution lies in the book.”

  She asked, “Why do you say that?”

  “Because it mentioned in the introduction about it allowing safe passage through the afterlife…let me see it again, please.”

  She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it over.

  Baltor opened it, and again, there came another strong gust of wind, which lasted for about twenty seconds!

  After glancing at the title headings of each page, he finally came to the heading on page thirty, and began to read aloud:

  ‘SAFE PASSAGE—

  When the godly pharaoh and his mighty entourage run across a magical barrier that must be passed in the afterlife, this hymn must be sung exactly right by his High Priest, or doom shall fall upon them all and they shall be trapped in the Underworld forever.’

  Instead of continuing to read further, he pointed at a spot in the book on the following page, looked over at Nemis, and asked, “Do you know how to read musical notes like these?”

  “Actually, yes I do…strange that they’re identical to the musical scores written on my home planet. But I can’t read the words.”

  “That’s okay—while you sing each note, point at it, so I can match it with the corresponding word.”

  After clearing her voice a few times, she hummed the first note while pointing at it. And as she continued along through it until its end, she pointed at each note. It took about forty-five seconds to complete this task.

  “Beautiful voice you have…do it again,” Baltor complimented and suggested at the same time.

  She did—at the same time, in Baltor’s mind, he matched the words with the notes.

  Upon completion, he suggested, “One final time, please.”

  She did.

  “Okay, I got it now,” he said with a nod.

  With that, he began to sing, “Charu she manau, lemanu sheconai! Charu hasama, lami ta faru! Le shau mari, cha numau! Fala me nu! Poma ti esban, charu she manau!”

  As he sang each word in a deep tone of voice, the tiles began to glow brighter and brighter—and once he completed the song, every single one of the tiles levitated ten feet up in the air and pivoted vertically to the right, which revealed a bottomless black hole underneath. The tiles next shifted all around into new spots, just before pivoting horizontally and lowering back down on the ground.

  Nemis revealed with awe, “Wow, you have such an incredible singing voice, though I didn’t understand any of the words you said.”

  “Thank you,” Baltor said nonchalantly, just before he closed the book and handed it to her. “Let’s go.”

  With that, he boldly walked onto the tiles and toward the ladder. Once at the base of the ladder, he began to climb up—Nemis followed, after having put the book away in her pocket.

  Upon arriving at the second level, nearly a minute later, Baltor poked just his head up through the two-foot-by-four-foot hole, observing that the coast was clear. He simultaneously noted this room had four exits at each of the cardinal points, and that the floors were made of smooth sand.

  Without any further delay, he then stepped onto the surface. Nemis was right behind him, only a few seconds later.

  Nemis joked, “Well, this room looks exactly like the first room we entered inside this pyramid…makes me wonder if we’re going in circles.”

  “That’s why they call this a labyrinth,” Baltor said seriously.

  Shrugging her shoulders, she asked, “So which way?”

  “Let’s go to the right this time,” he said with a point of his finger.

  “Okay.”

  After going down that passage about thirty feet, they saw that this tunnel had eleven twists and turns at ninety-degree angles—about fifty feet later, they came across a T-intersection.

  Dutifully, Nemis pulled a white-colored pebble out of the bag, and set it below the entryway they had just come.

  Baltor made a right hand turn and Nemis followed.

  Twenty feet later, the tunnel veered right at a ninety-degree angle. Fifteen feet later, it veered left at the same angle. Ten feet later, right. Forty feet later, right again. Ten feet later, left. Thirty feet later, left again. Fifty feet later, left still again. Two hundred feet later, it veered right, etc., etc…

  Nearly four-dozen additional turns (left or right), fifteen miles, and three-quarters of an hour later, they cam
e across a three-way intersection—they could go right or keep going straight.

  Baltor made a long humming sound, trying to figure out which route would be best.

  Meanwhile, Nemis pulled out a white pebble and put it under the entryway from whence they came. She then pulled out a gray pebble, and silently waited for him to make up his mind, so that she could put it under the route that they did not take.

  “Let’s keep going straight,” he stated neutrally.

  Without a word, she put the pebble under the entrance to the right.

  Perhaps eight hours, fifty-three miles, five hundred turns (right or left), and not a single other intersection or room later, they arrived at a dead end.

  “Damn,” Baltor swore under his breath, while looking quite flustered.

  “It’s okay,” she replied, sounding sympathetic. “We can’t always be winners, right?”

  “I guess,” he answered. After sucking in a deep breath and releasing it, he said, “Hop on my back so we can get back much quicker.”

  She did—it only took two hours to return to that entrance in this same passageway, which now went left as they were coming from the opposite direction.

  Nemis stepped back down onto the ground, pulled out a dark pebble, and set it under the route they had just traversed—they then went left.

  Forty feet later, it turned right at a ninety-degree angle, before proceeding straight for at least a whopping distance of fifty miles.

  It was then and there that Baltor said, “Hop on…”

  She did.

  A little over two hours later they reached the end, noting that it turned right at a ninety-degree angle.

  After rounding the corner, they observed it traveled an additional twenty miles. Fifty minutes later, the tunnel turned left. One hundred feet from the last turn, it turned right yet again.

  “This place is insanely huge,” Nemis noted aloud with bewilderment.

  “Sure as hell is,” Baltor replied. He stopped for only a second at each corner to see what lay beyond.

  After they had rounded this next corner, they saw that it proceeded straight for twenty-five miles before turning right.