Resurrection

An Omen

Prologue

During the night of the second new moon, a star fell from the heavens to land in the grounds of a pharaoh's palace. The Prophet Moses considered it an omen, a sign from God that the Boy King's reign was soon to end. An inferno burned for thirty days and thirty nights at the crash site. On the thirtieth night, an explosion rocked the palace walls, bringing a curious nineteen-year-old to the balcony of his bedchambers.

Something slithered unseen from behind the lush potted shrubbery, drawn to the young man by his body heat and the intoxicating scent of mating lingering on his skin. It rose up to stand on its tail, reaching knee height, a soft hiss escaping from its serpent-like mouth. The male spun on his heel to face it. With a yawn, the creature stretched its body thin, and dove into the open, waiting mouth of its stupefied host.

Bronzed skin rippled as the creature sent hair-thin tentacles throughout its host's body. The final chord breached the cerebral cortex, allowing it to take complete control.

"My King?" a young female called breathlessly from within the darkened room. When he failed to answer, she stepped hesitantly into the flickering light to join him. He sat on his knees, clutching his stomach. "Tutankhamun, my Love, are you ill? Shall I send for the healer?"

Searching the host's memory, the creature sought the information it required to communicate. "No," it croaked through Tutankhamun's mouth. "Help me... inside."

Tutankhamun staggered to the lavish bed with the aid of the concubine. Inhaling deeply, he smelled the arousal lingering within her nubile body and found himself suddenly overcome by desire. The creature's need to procreate overruled its mind. He threw her pearl wrapped body upon the bed and ravished her, taking her quickly and repeatedly throughout what remained of the night.

By first light, finally satiated, he slept the sleep of the dead, the seed of his progeny safely instilled within the womb of the female in his arms.

When the noon sun peaked, a servant entered the chambers to find both King Tutankhamun and his concubine apparently dead.

Egypt mourned the passing of the Boy King, and on the fortieth day his embalmed body was placed in a sarcophagus within the tomb that's construction began the day he became King. Along with food, herbs and spices to aid him in the afterlife, golden statues, figures and various treasures were also enclosed within the tomb. By the time it was sealed, the contents' combined worth was immense. In order to preserve this, traps were set within the maze of tunnels built into the pyramid.

Over the following years, numerous attempts were made to breach the seal, but anyone who set foot within the tomb died. Some by means of the traps set. Some by mysterious accident. Some simply dropped where they stood.

A vision, experienced by a prophet, prompted an inscription to be carved upon the tomb entrance, advising of the dangers. In later years it became known as The Curse of Tutankhamun.

"It is I who hinder the sand from choking the secret chamber, and who repel that one who would repel him with the desert-flame. I have set aflame the desert. I have caused the path to be mistaken. I am for the protection of the Osiris. This is to repel the enemy of Osiris, in whatever form he may come."

Howard Carter, perhaps the most noted of these unfortunate victims, breeched the top left corner of the tomb doorway. His men, after reading the inscription, begged Carter to leave the tomb and its treasures intact, fearing the curse would kill them all. Carter refused. A moment later, a sand storm blew in trapping Carter and his companions, Lord Carnarvon and his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert, inside. Never to be seen again.

From that day forward, no one has been brave enough to face the wrath of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun.