Newt's Assistant: A Newt Scamander FanFic

Chapter Twenty Nine

"If you go down there, you will never come back," a deep voice from behind her said. Eleanor whipped her head around to meet eyes with Djedefre. 

"What have you done?" Eleanor spoke harshly to the prince. 

"I can not be associated with my fathers actions, but if I stand in the way he will have me killed. He is down there, but you must choose each step carefully and think your answers over  before committing to them. Getting back out is even harder than going in." The prince said and without another word, he turned around and walked away. Eleanor was so confused about what had just happened, but held onto his words about being careful about what steps to take. She learned about trap doors and other traps in her Ancient Runes class, but never thought she would ever have to deal with them personally. 

"Lumos," She said and lit up the stairs while descending down them. There were quite a few discolored stairs that Eleanor had to skip over deeming they looked a little suspicious. She was hoping she was getting to the bottom soon, but wondered when she would run into whatever the prince warned her about. 

She rounded a corner and narrowly dodged an arrow that went whizzing past her cheek. Eleanor's eyes shot in every direction trying to figure out where it came from, but didn't see anything in front of her. Another one came from the wall in front of her and she used her wand to deflect it. She then pointed it at the wall. 

"Reducto," Eleanor said and blasted the wall into a pile of ashes. "Merlin..."

Eleanor stood in front of a massive pile of gold, jewels, gems, and crowns. She did not dare to touch it, but ran past to see if she had gotten any closer to finding Newt. 

Instead she was met face to face with a beast. She stumbled back, not wanting it to feel threatened. 

"Another wizard?" It spoke curiously. Eleanor was shocked, but bowed her head and curtsied to the creature in front of her. She carefully observed it's body language as it's wings spread open and it stretched it's lioness body like a cat. Sphinxes were very rare to come by and was curious what this one was doing in a pyramid all chained up. Most likely guarding something. Eleanor wasn't sure what to say to the Sphinx because she knew if she said the wrong thing, it would eat her in one bite. It's a treacherous and merciless creature, and will kill those who cannot answer her riddle. 

"My name is Eleanor," She finally said and put her wand back in her pocket to prove she wasn't there to hurt the creature. She noticed multiple wounds and scars around the creatures face and body. Even one of her wings looked bent crooked. 

"Eleanor... can you tell me... What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?" The sphinx asked her curiously and watched in amusement. Eleanor thought for a while and was praying to Merlin that she was right with her answer. 

"Man." She began. "Man. As an infant, he crawls on all fours; as an adult, he walks on two legs and; in old age, he uses a walking stick." She finished and looked at the Sphinx who had a smug look on her face. 

"You are smarter than you look Eleanor." It spoke back to her. 

"Thank you," Eleanor said as she watched the creature move to reveal a doorway while the chains rattled on the ground. "Do you have a name?"

The creature looked taken aback at the question, but laid down silently and smiled. 

"My name is Herma," It said sadly. 

"Did King Khufu do this to you?" She asked while addressing the wounds and scars. 

"I have been down here longer than you have been alive Eleanor. I have endured pain given by those above. Those I do not know names of." Herma said.