Curse of the sands, p.25
Curse of the Sands, page 25
‘I must prepare the body,’ Thoth says, opening the chests one by one.
The priest lays Osiris’ body upon a vast table in the centre of the room as if it were an altar. I cannot bear eyes upon it, my husband’s body dishonoured and defiled, limbs torn from shoulder and hip, head severed at the neck. I will see Set burn for what he did.
‘Go,’ Thoth instructs me, seeing my discomfort. ‘I will summon you when the ritual is ready.’
I long to stay, to never leave my husband’s side again, but the shouts of alarm from the halls above draw all attention.
‘I need time,’ Thoth tells us.
‘And you shall have it,’ I promise him.
Anubis, Rivonous, and surprisingly, Diona, stand with me.
‘I will see this done,’ Diona says, spear in hands.
‘Do you know how to wield that?’ I ask of her, drawing a swift thrust into the air from my servant.
‘Rivonous is not the only one to receive training in how to defend our queen,’ she says, forced smile through her fear.
‘Upstairs,’ Anubis instructs, leading the way.
In my hands are daggers. I spent too long and lost
too much recovering my husband’s body to let it fall into the clutches of Set and his minions again.
We return to where we feasted and witnessed the deaths of so many; the main hall of the palace. All of us stop and look on in horror at what we find. Hanging above the centre of the room, wrists and ankles held suspended by chains is my sister, Nephthys. Her clothes are stained bloody and stinking. She must have been here for days.
‘What have they done to you?’ I utter in shock.
‘Sister…’ her weak voice calls to me. ‘Sister….run…’
‘It’s too late for that,’ a voice mocks from the balcony of the hall.
‘I knew you would return to us,’ another states.
They were waiting, Set’s bodyguard, Silas, and the Nubian queen Kyleece, a group of six guards waiting with them.
‘You have returned to where your husband died, right here in this very spot,’ the Nubian queen taunts. Gone are the chains that held her when first she entered this hall. The golden crown, my crown, is now atop her head.
‘You will pay for your treachery,’ I warn them.
‘I don’t think so,’ Silas replies, his cruel smile once more upon his lips. ‘I was hoping that we would meet again. You escaped me before. Well, not all of you. Your friend…’
‘Paydun,’ Anubis says his name through gritted teeth.
‘Paydun, yes, that was it,’ Silas says, smile growing broader. ‘He still drew breath for a time after you abandoned him. I threw him to the jackals. His screams were unending.’
A roar of anger and hatred bellows from Anubis as he throws his spear with all the strength of his arm. The weapon flies across the hall, Silas ducking away, but the spear impales in the chest of the man behind him.
Rivonous, Diona, and I roar as lions, senses lost to bloodlust and we charge the traitors. Anubis is with us, crossing blades with Silas as Rivonous and Diona face his men. I focus only on Kyleece. She snarls like a wildcat, leaping towards me with clawed nails. They tear across my cheek, warm blood flowing across my face. My daggers swing near but she is too fast, spinning away and clawing at me again.
‘You were not worthy of this crown!’ she spits at me.
‘Maybe,’ I tell her, ‘but upon your brow it is tainted.’
I throw one of my daggers, but this time she is too slow, the blade tearing into her shoulder. Kyleece screams like a feral beast, drawing a club from her belt. She swings it again and again, and it is my turn to back away from her reach, but she is faster than I, the club hammering into my arm. The bone cracks and a cry of agony escapes my lips. She swings again and catches the side of my skull, the force of the blow sending me tumbling to the floor. More of my blood flows free. My world continues to spin even as my body ceases movement.
‘Queens must be warriors,’ Kyleece leers, cackling like a hyena. ‘You are just frightened child.’
I say nothing, the agony of my head and arm clouding all. I can see the bone puncturing the flesh of the limb, blood covering the floor.
‘And look,’ Kyleece says, gesturing towards the ongoing fights around us. ‘You will not be entering the afterlife alone.’
I see Anubis facing Silas and two of his men, spears surrounding the warrior. It is not he who draws tears from my eyes, but the sight of my guardian and my closest friend. Rivonous and Diona lie still upon the floor, blood covering them, their arms reaching out to each other in their last breaths.
I see them, Rivonous and Diona, Oxa and Paydun, Nephthys and Anubis, and of course, my husband, Osiris. All are lost or soon to die. All has been taken from me. No more tears will come, all shock and sorrow forgotten as burning rage overwhelms me.
The roar from within me is unlike any other. With my good arm, I grab my remaining dagger and charge at Kyleece, ramming the blade through her heart. Her smile finally ceases, but I do not stop, drawing the dagger free and then thrusting it into her body again.
‘Isis!’ Anubis yells to me, snapping me from my madness.
Rising up, I tear the dagger through the throat of one man and, ducking beneath the swinging spear of the other, ram the blade through his chest too. Anubis takes his chance, hitting Silas over and over before wrenching the spear from his hands and thrusting it through the eye of the villain. Silas’ dead eye looks on in disbelief before Anubis forces his body back and over the balcony, crashing down to the ground far below.
‘You will burn forever in the underworld for murdering our king!’ Anubis calls after him.
My head spins, the agony of my arm and head threatening to overwhelm me. Anubis hurries to Rivonous and Diona, his head shaking.
‘Silas reached them before I could…’ he sadly says.
‘Their souls will be together in eternity,’ I say, stumbling and almost falling before Anubis catches me. ‘Go to my sister. Cut her down and get her to safety. Save her life if you can.’
‘My Queen!’ Thoth’s voice echoes from the chambers below us. ‘My Queen, the time is upon us!’
‘The ritual,’ I utter, steadying myself and forcing my steps on.
‘Sister…’ Nephthys calls weakly to me as Anubis tries to free her of the chains.
‘We will be reunited,’ I tell my sister, but I cannot focus. Staggering on and falling several times I make my way down towards the servants’ chambers, one word repeated from my lips.
‘Osiris.’
Thoth has already begun the ritual. The chamber is covered in candles, barely lighting the chamber, yet I can see all. My husband lies atop the table still, his body wrapped tightly in cloth, his face covered in a jade mask. Three jewels rest at his feet; crimson, sky blue, and amber. At the centre of each is what appears to be an organ; brain, heart, and others I cannot name. Each emanates a pulsing glow like a heartbeat, its speed slowly growing. Beneath the jewels are gatherings of papyrus, pages that flutter in the non-existent breeze, spells etched across the scriptures. In each corner of the table is a golden coin, all spinning without slowing.
‘Ra, let your light guide him,’ Thoth says, voice deep and not his own. His eyes are rolled back in his head, body twitching, tremoring as he speaks.
‘His heart, mind, and soul return to him. Use this Book of the Dead to guide him from the afterlife. Ra, let your light guide him.’
Red flames erupt from Thoth’s palms, though the priest shows no sign of pain. The flames spread across the room and reach out to envelop the still body of Osiris. I scream his name but cannot move, watching in stunned awe. A deep boom sounds above us, the palace trembling, the stone walls and floor beneath feet shaking as if they will tear apart. Lights flicker in the chamber, blinding me. The booms sounding again and again as the jewels flash brightly.
‘My Queen,’ Thoth calls to me, his voice returned
as he takes my wounded arm. ‘My Queen, we cannot stay here.’
‘No, I must stay with him,’ I say. ‘I must stay with my husband.’
‘My Queen, we must go!’ Thoth cries.
Though I try, I cannot fight him, my strength gone. The priest half carries me out of the chamber. We hurry on, the palace still trembling, seeking the nearest escape before the stone walls fall down upon us.
We escape into the night beyond the palace, rising sands covering the streets. Once we are clear, the palace finally crumbles and falls. The building where I spent most of my life is gone.
‘Osiris,’ I cry with a whisper, my voice unheard as a great booming crash of light tears across the sky. Fire ripples above us, and though it is the middle of the night, we see the sun emerge, bathing all in light and heat. Around us, the people of the city begin to emerge, amazed at the sight overhead.
The very city shakes, the sky fire falling to strike among the ruins of the palace. It blinds all in the city, striking again and again. The tremors grow until many buildings in the capital begin to collapse. I see it rise from the ruins of the palace just as I think the very ground beneath us will crack open and swallow us all. Stone, perfectly cut and carved, layer upon layer, rising high and destroying the last of the palace and the surrounding buildings. Its pointed summit shines brightly, the crystal peak reflecting the sun’s light. Only when it towers over us does it cease its ascent, a mighty pyramid standing tall.
He is there at its summit where the entire city can see him. His skin is pale, his wounds where flesh and bone were parted now marked with scars and his face shaded pale where the mask had rested. He staggers with his first step atop the stone pyramid, his eyes slowly opening and shining golden. I fall to my knees, as do all in the city, shocked and stunned at his return, a low chant now echoing.
‘OSIRIS. OSIRIS. OSIRIS.’
He looks upon the city below him, confusion in his eyes until he sees me. A smile flutters across his lips and he walks slowly, uncertainly, climbing down the stepped side of the pyramid. I do not wait, running to him, climbing the vast steps as fast as my legs can carry me. My wounds are forgotten in my desperation to reach him, but as I near, he holds a hand up to stop me.
‘Isis?’ he says, confusion and fear in his eyes. ‘I thought myself lost to the underworld for all eternity. I saw it, all of it. How can I be standing here now? How can this be?’
‘I don’t care,’ I tell him, closing the distance between us and embracing my husband tight. His skin is cold to touch. He kisses me fiercely as if more than time had parted us. I never want him to let me go.
‘Ra granted my return,’ he states as our lips part, his confusion lost and the certainty and passion of my husband returned. ‘Ra granted my return but it was you who led me back to the living.’
‘I could not live parted from you,’ I tell him.
‘Your wounds,’ he says, looking to my head and the bone of my arm.
‘I don’t care,’ I repeat, but he takes both in his hands, warmth emanating from them. As he lifts his hands I see that the damage is undone, not even scars remaining where the flesh was torn and bone broken. It is as if I was never wounded at all.
‘How?’ I ask in disbelief.
‘I do not know,’ he says before suddenly looking beyond me towards the horizon.
‘Set?’ I ask.
‘My brother approaches,’ he confirms, though there is no fear in his words. ‘We do not have much time.’
‘Then we must flee,’ I tell him. ‘Flee and give you chance to regain strength.’
‘That was not my meaning,’ he says. ‘I do not have much time. It will not last. Ra’s strength that returned me, I feel it fading. I have only this one night.’
‘No,’ I say. ‘You are not returned to me just to be taken so soon.’
‘Ra has shown me the way,’ Osiris says, kissing me again. ‘We will not flee. We have this one night before Set’s arrival. Let us not waste it.’
Behind us, the stone of the pyramid parts, revealing tunnels and chambers within. Osiris takes my hand and leads me inside, fire rippling in the sky above us.
46
ADAM—Still in the bunker, right next to the sun or the sun or the fires of hell by the heat down here
My thirst grows with every passing moment. I may have been here for days, weeks even, I have no idea. I’m almost thankful when a voice calls out to me over a speaker.
‘Mr Adam Hunter,’ the voice says, the accent European, German or Swedish maybe. ‘How are you today?’
‘Bored,’ I reply with sarcasm.
‘It is good to see that your mind is still with you after all you have endured,’ the voice tells me. ‘It was quite the accident you had out on the runway. My name is Professor Karl Vietnar and I just wanted to thank you for bringing the Egyptian crystal to us. It is quite the discovery, one that I was not permitted to exam when we first acquired it.’
‘Not without unleashing the curse,’ I reply.
‘Exactly,’ the professor says. ‘The effects of such a small gem are quite remarkable. It draws down tremendous extreme weather patterns, a homing signal for insects and vermin and so much more. I do wonder what would happen if all three crystals, the heart, soul, and mind of Osiris, were reunited, but that is a test for another day. No, today’s test is just as intriguing.’
‘I’m not going to help you,’ I tell them.
‘You won’t have a choice, my friend.’
The door of my cell swings open, two of their thugs marching in and forcing something into my hand. I know what it is just by the touch; the amber crystal. The men file out of the cell, securing the door behind them.
‘Now what?’ I ask. ‘Surely the storms have already started?’
‘Yes, they have,’ the professor says. ‘Thunder, lightning, earthquakes, and more. Rest assured, we are quite safe down here in this bunker, far below the surface. That is not why we are here. My friend, you were in a plane crash. It is lucky that you and your pilot survived. In fact, Mr Paul Jacobs has broken over a dozen bones in his body. You though, you crawled out of the wreckage without a scratch on you.’
I had wondered about that. How is it possible that the only thing damaged were my clothes?
‘This is not the first time you have pulled off such a miracle,’ he says. ‘At the British Museum you survived a pane of glass smashing down onto you from a tremendous height, also without suffering a single injury.’
‘How do you know about that?’ I question.
‘We have our contacts among your friends at the museum,’ Professor Vietnar says. ‘That was why my employer sought to reclaim the crystals from you and your colleagues in Paris and Stockholm. We had to know more of your miraculous survival. We had to conduct tests. Now, judging from the bruising on your face from your interactions with Mr Hank Buchanan, you are not indestructible without the crystal, but…’
His words stop as fire erupts in the corner of the room, nozzles across the ceiling pumping flammable gas inside. Quickly the flames spread across the cell towards me. I try to back away but my chains hold me in place and unable to escape. All I can do is force my eyes shut as the fire engulfs me.
Amazingly, I feel no pain, the blaze surrounding me but not burning my skin. Stretching out my empty hand, I open my eyes to see the flames wrap around it, weaving between my fingers. Still there is no pain, but heat emanates from the crystal in my other hand.
‘Remarkable,’ the professor exclaims as the fires extinguish.
Though the flames did not burn me, they certainly burned away everything else, leaving me butt-naked but for the ash of my clothes.
‘Are you crazy!’ I scream at him and anyone else watching. ‘You just barbecued me!’
‘Can we get him some clothes?’ the professor says as I quickly try to cover myself. ‘Thank you, Mr Hunter. This has been very enlightening. You see, the writings on the golden case that held the canopic jars, they revealed more truth than we previously thought.’
‘Death shall follow the steps of those who disturb his rest and on swift wings the world shall tremble. The thief shall be damned, forever haunted by the loss his actions reek upon the world.’
‘You see, the one who holds the crystals, the heart, soul, and mind of Osiris, the thief shall remain unharmed whilst the world around them suffers from the unleashed plagues. Their friends, their family, all would suffer whilst the thief remains unharmed but forever alone.’
A curse upon the thief that would unleash great plagues wherever they went, killing all and any they love. They would never be able to love or find comfort with anyone, forever alone. It’s a horrifying defence to protect the tomb of Osiris. The warnings should have been listened to.
‘A punishment worse than death,’ I state.
‘Exactly, Mr Hunter,’ the professor says. ‘Now as you can expect there are many uses we could find for such items. All we need is to find your friends from the museum. Rest assured, we shall take back what was unleashed upon Paris and Stockholm.’
‘Good luck with that,’ I state with a dark grin. Emma, Matt, Dave, and Gabriel won’t give up the crystal gems easily.
A loud bang sounds from somewhere above us, the room shaking briefly and then again, stronger and louder.
‘Feels like that storm’s getting worse,’ I say.
‘We are quite safe down here,’ Professor Vietnar states with confidence. ‘We are done for now. Thank you, Mr Hunter. I shall return for further testing when the time is right.’
As the two guards enter my cell with clothes, the lights suddenly go out, the bunker shaking as the storm rages beyond the walls. When the lights return, I see one more person in the cell, towering over us all. He draws his battle-axe, and for a moment I think this must be my execution. Instead, the axe hammers into the other men.
‘Get dressed,’ Eric orders, throwing me the clothes.
‘If you have to,’ Jesse’s voice calls from the doorway, peering over at me.
