Dawn of the Epoch

Chapter XIII - Waking the Dahjaat

“It’s just a man.” Tiyana said warily.

Her head was spinning. By this time, the fire from the candles had completely illuminated the room. The Prices saw menacing stone gargoyles rising up from pylons in the ground. One gargoyle guarded each corner of the squared, frozen display. In front of the display lay a large golden ankh, the Egyptian symbol of eternal life. In the soft candlelight, the radiant gold shimmered in effulgent waves. At the base of the ankh, a pedestal rose from the ground. An obsidian, silver, and jade statuette of the Typhonic creature rested on top of the pedestal.

As the Prices walked in slow circles around the exhibit, Tiyana inspected everything with an eye for traps. Hunter did the same, but with an eye for recognizable relics. After a few loops around the room, they came to a stop in front of the pedestal.

“There’s an indentation in the middle of the loop of the ankh.” Said Hunter.

“I know, I saw it.”

“I believe this statue goes into it.”

“Probably.”

“He might attack us.”

“Probably.”

“I’m going to do it.”

“Okay.” Tiyana said the word without hesitation. They would run out of water and die or they would die by a booby trap set for grave-robbers in this nightmarish tomb. Just like her husband, if she had to go down, she would go down swinging.

Hunter grabbed the statuette, which felt surprisingly light in his hands, and strode purposefully to the center of the ankh. He placed the statuette into the indentation and watched an all-too-familiar process begin. The statute shook. Then it began to glow. Then it melted into the hellish brimstone that they had seen in Cerberus’s lair. The rusty golden gelatin seeped into the hidden recesses of the floor. Then the liquid crept up into the gargoyles. They appeared terrifyingly lifelike as the glowing magma illuminated their bodies, giving life to their empty eyes. Soon, the Prices saw the bright liquid leaking into the frozen chamber in the center of the room. The display began to melt. When the ice crystals liquefied and receded into the floor grates, the human figure stirred.

“Here we go.” Hunter said nervously.

He reached over and squeezed Tiyana’s hand. They held hands and watched the stiff limbs become livid. After shaking his arms and legs, the man lifted his hands to his head. He took off the Typhonic helmet. Hunter and Tiyana stared mesmerized into a set of piercing ice-blue eyes. A silvery grey tint mitigated the intense blue of the probing irises. They observed the fingers slowly start to move as they ponderously stroked the top of the scepter.

“Fermech.” The figure said the word while only barely moving his lips.

The figure enunciated each syllable, but finished the word quickly. In an instant, a clear, circular wall dropped from the ceiling and surrounded the man, cutting the Prices off from him.

“Jeosen, kone ste vi.” The figure tilted his forehead slightly down and smiled using only the right side of his mouth as he said this.

Hunter glanced sideways at his wife who met his gaze. Then they both turned back to the figure. Hunter shrugged his shoulders slightly and raised his arms with palms upward in an expression of puzzlement.

Hunter replied, “We come in peace.”

Tiyana thought about rolling her eyes, but the image before her transfixed her. The figure’s smile morphed into an expression of skepticism. The figure remained silent for a few moments as it pondered what to do. The bony finger tapped the scepter.