My Shadow's Mark [Slow Updates]

Chapter Eight

Undisclosed location in Egypt...

The early morning light just cracks above the horizon and the sound of machinery echoes in the valley. Men bustle about in a frenzy, their day started well before first light. Some had even worked through the night. And all the while the large sand-colored tent sat uninterrupted in its central location, until a pubescent boy goes rushing in.

"Commander, Commander," his voice squeaks as he runs through thick flaps separating spaces like rooms, aiming for the center. His greasy brunette hair is spiked in all directions and dirt covers the prominent freckles that spatter across his cheeks and nose. Panting, the scrawny boy yells once more, "Commander!"

"Here!" A deep voice bellows from within the depths and the boy follows the sound.

"Commander!" he throws open wide the final flap and falls into a coughing fit.

Large hands reach out, "Easy boy," the tall man clasps his back, "Breathe boy, breathe." The young boy inhales deeply, then nods. "What on earth got your panties in a wad?" He leans back onto his desk, crossing his massive arms.

The young boy looks up at the broad-shouldered, 6'2", red-headed man sporting a full beard and eyeing him through steel grey eyes. A large scar graces his left cheek, a token from a battle won long ago. The man was forged in battle, blossomed and plucked from the blood of their enemy and for a second the boy became jealous. His secret wish to be as powerful and confident as his Commander could not remain held within his thoughts alone. The pitiful look in his eyes gives it away. But a hard glare causes the boy to remember his place and his message. "You need to come and see, sir."

"See what?" His eyes are of cold stone.

"We found it. They found it."

The Commander jolts away from the desk he was leaning on. "Are you sure? How do you know?" He grabs the boy's shoulders and grips tightly, "Be careful with your words here boy."

The adolescent gulps. "W-Well," he stammers, "I s-saw it."

"You saw it?" The man's grip tightens on the boy's shoulders and he whimpers. "Sorry." He lets go. "Show me."

The boy leads him through the maze of machinery to a tunnel lined with dim lights beneath one corner of an ancient Egyptian tomb that lay hidden for thousands of years. Within its depths voices rise out like an otherworldly reckoning. As they travel nearer the voices become louder. Shouts ring out and vibrate against the hard-packed sand walls.

"Hey!" the Commander yells and all noises cease.

An older gentleman bent low from years of hard labor, wearing wire-rimmed spectacles, with tufts of wild-white hair protruding from random places on his balding head, approaches bravely. While wiping the sweat off his brow with a worn handkerchief he says, "We've found it."

"Are you sure?"

He nods.

"Show me."

He turns and leads the Commander, the boy, and all the others deeper into the cavern. A hollow wind whistles by and the lights flicker. "More of that will come the closer we get," the older man answers the unasked question. They move on in silence.

Suddenly the lights go out. "We're here," someone whispers.

A shiver runs up the Commander's spine and the boy trembles at his side. "Where is here?" the Commander asks. The light of a flashlight blinks on, moving rapidly until its target is found. Highlighted beneath its beam is the dry, brittle remains of a mummified corpse. "Where is the sarcophagus?"

"There isn't one."

"What?"

"Come take a closer look." The old man leads his superior to the twisted corpse. "Do you see? This one is deformed, misshapen. It shouldn't be here, and there are many more like this."

"More?"

"Yes. Be careful where you walk. You will trip on corpses."

The Commander edged himself closer to the blackened cadaver. Instinct tugged at him and using his booted foot he nudged it. "Careful," someone hissed, which he ignored, for the delicate remains had turned and on its backside was something he had never before seen.

"What is that?" the boy asked.

"I do not know," the Commander answered, "I do not know."

******************************************************

Ooooooooooooooo.  I just added another layer!  Woot!  Anyway.  Let me know what you think, if you have questions, whatever.  I appreciate your support, your comments, your votes.

Lots of love, Kalina Rose ;-)