Three days after the pizza convention Trueth once more found herself in an all-too-familiar location, a location she would have liked to ban from her memories. Having crossed the Saqqara site, which seemed to have gone into hibernation, the rugged mass of the step pyramid rose right in front of her. Towards its side, she could just about make out the walls enclosing what had been the professor's excavation. Instead of revealing the secret of Imhotep's grave it had eventually yielded the access to another world. Not that their world knew or cared about such fantastic discoveries: Wrappers and drinks containers had blown up against those parts of the forlorn ruins she could discern from a distance and danger signs, covered in spray-painted graffiti, sprouted from the walls. The authorities had gone as far as barring the steps with wooden planks, but those had been forced apart, the broken ends of the wood bristling splintery indignation at the offense.
Trueth was not looking forward to another long slog through the magical corridor. A corridor they had found behind the underground wall at the far end of what used to be the Al-Nour excavation. She was even less thrilled about the trek as it would ultimately take her into the headquarters of their demonic opposition. So many obstacles had stood in her life's path recently, and she had survived them all. It had made her feel curiously attached to her continued existence, and now she was again risking it all for the greater good. If Iseret was reliable, and she tended to trust their old menace a lot these days, there was some additional firepower waiting to join their ranks. Assuming it all worked out the way it was supposed to be. The fact that Metjen still could not divine anything useful among the available futures was less than reassuring.
I must remember to stop doing this shit, Trueth thought as she surreptitiously wiped her clammy hands on her jeans. And maybe she should rather listen to that niggling little voice which kept clamouring for her to run back home. There was only one problem--she did not know which way to run.
Just one more time and be done with it. Trueth forced her unwilling legs towards the pathetic remains of the archaeological site that should have been the crowning point of Professor Al-Nour's career. In a way, it was--he had found who had been searching for. Just not quite the way he had imagined.
'Where do you think you're going?' Metjen's voice sounded behind her.
Trueth stopped in her tracks but did not turn around. 'To the wall. Then to the corridor. Where else would I go?'
He sniggered. 'You wouldn't get very far, dear. They have filled it all in. The experts could not agree on what it was they had on their hands. As they could not find anything behind our wall, they decided to bury the dig.'
Trueth felt her jaw stiffen with annoyance. 'Thanks for sharing, oh big white chief.' She pivoted to face his Nuisance. Some of his mannerisms seemed to be so deeply ingrained not even the fact that he needed their help to overcome their ancient foe prevented him from indulging.
Metjen had the grace to appear embarrassed. 'Sorry, I thought you all knew. We will be using Iseret's entrance. Has the advantage it's much faster as well. She's taken off the curses, and we can just pop in. Follow me, please.' His lapse already forgotten, he crooked and waggled his index finger, smiled his dazzling smile and strode towards the other side of the pyramid, leaving the dig behind in the distance.
Trueth took a deep breath and noticed that Seisi was waiting for her. He grinned briefly, shook his head and made a cutting motion across his throat. So she was not the only one who had not been exposed to the finer details of their battle plan. Together, they followed Metjen, who had stopped next to the pyramidic pile of bricks that once had been the epitome of Kemet engineering.
Seisi was doing a full turn, scanning their environment. 'Guards?' he asked. 'They should not see us enter.'
Taken care of, Iseret's voice sounded from the pyramid's flank they were facing. They will not bother us this time.
Trueth's hyperactive imagination chose this moment to invent a stone rolling and a footfall behind them. 'Did you hear that?'
Seisi shook his head, from the other two she got no reaction and no response.
'You are very fraught,' Seisi said kindly. 'Better to hear things which are not there than not to notice what is. This happens to me all the time when I am on a mission.'
Once more, Trueth wiped her hands on her jeans and opened the front of her fleece jacket, flapping the shirt underneath. She did not dare to drink anything to moisten her dry mouth; they had not taken too many provisions with them. The plan was to get down there, secure the support of the spiritual guardian, open the portal and dash into Kemet under the protection of the circle. If it all went well, she would be back at the parallel Nile in just a few hours. From experience, their plans tended to go awry quite a lot, so she had insisted on bringing along some basic supplies where Metjen would have preferred to travel ultra-light.
'Right, can we get a move on?' she said just as the sands below Metjen's feet started shifting, circling and sinking as if sucked under by a giant drain. 'Follow me!' he shouted before his head disappeared under the surface. Seisi grabbed Trueth's hand, and together they sprang into the whirling opening to the underworld. Tiny particles of sand pricked her face as the world first went ochre, then dark and just a heartbeat later she landed on solid rock. Familiar rock—they had found another one of those sparkly grey magical tunnels that seemed to honeycomb the Saqqara plateau, unnoticed and untraceable by science. Trueth checked her watch which, as expected, had stopped working when it hit the time warp curse. Next, she examined he roof of the tunnel they were standing in. Some grains of sand trickled from the ceiling, but the access hole seemed to have closed.
'Is that shut now?' she asked. 'We don't want any tourists to fall through.'
It will take too long to curse it again, so I left it. You would need sun-flow to open this, and none of the guards have it. And those have been spelled to stay away. There are no tourists at this time of the year. So do not worry, sister.
'Where exactly are we?' Seisi asked.
Close to the burial chamber, in Djoser's pyramid.
'Huh?' Trueth said. 'Metjen and I scanned that whole bloody pile of rubble. There was not even a trace of magic. We nearly gave up at that point, until we worked out the trick with the wall.'
Iseret guffawed once. I did not want you to use this entrance. So I kept my curses secured and you went where I wanted you to go.
Metjen swatted at the air with his hand. 'You could have saved us all so much time if you had just told us what was going on instead of manipulating everybody.'
Pah! You were not ready. None of you were. No more of this now, we must not procrastinate.
'Have you talked to Amasis yet? Is she going to help us?' Seisi asked. Trueth did not like the anxious undertone in his voice.
Not here, we must proceed beyond what used to be my chamber. It was only the lower staircase Amasis and the warriors guarded, there we should find her.
Trueth could hold back no longer, she ripped her container from her backpack and drank. Wanting to put the flask back, she fumbled with the straps, but her fingers refused cooperation.
Seisi stepped across and helped her. The expression on his face showed that he understood her concern only too well.
'When we were searching for the headrest you told me the demons had taken posession of your chamber?' Trueth voiced what was on her mind.
I do not know what we will find! It was out of the question to come here and search for that headrest when there was an option. And we did find the walking stick. But now we have no choice but to go and see what there is to be revealed.
Iseret's voice was echoing from further in the corridor, and Metjen followed in its wake without ever looking back.
'Shit,' Trueth said. 'This does not exactly brighten my day.'
'Ass Dung,' Seisi agreed. 'Let's go and get this over and done with.'
Together, they followed the tall shape of Metjen, clad all in black and striding confidently ahead of them. All she heard was their footsteps shuffling on the stones. The sound morphed into a soft rushing that seemed to come from behind them. Trueth stopped, whirled around, but there was nothing, just the endless glimmering ribbon of a corridor that seemed to illuminate itself. They were going down at an angle, and their path was curving ever so slightly, it was impossible to make out more than a few metres. Trueth listened for a moment longer but heard nothing. She squared her shoulders and hurried after Seisi.
Ahead of them, Metjen had stopped at an ugly blemish on the grey stone which turned out to be an opening. Mercifully, it was not blocked by magical walls, translucent tendrils or anything, the corridor just ended here, what lay behind was couched in darkness.
Metjen pointed at the opening. 'Iseret tells me we are now on the other side of that chaotic underground hall we found when Rani-Ra disappeared with the scarab ring. I mean, the side where the enemy forces once went in. It's a bit messed up, and the lighting spell does not work, so make sure you follow me very carefully.'
'Demons?' Seisi asked briefly.
Metjen shook his head. 'Not up here apparently. Iseret is gone ahead, to check out her chamber. From there she can call Amasis.'
Some of the pressure that had been constricting Trueth's breathing went away. If Iseret was lucky with her scouting expedition, they might stand a fighting chance of surviving whatever was down here. Or at least, there would be some warning.
'Should we wait?' Seisi gave voice to her thoughts.
'Nope, it's not a good idea to have her separated from me too long. She can't stray too far either. It's my ka that gives her strength, on her own she is quite vulnerable. She will not be with me forever, you know,' Metjen said wistfully.
He straightened and his eyes lit up like a chandelier. 'Okay, let's go.'
He bent under the doorway and carefully picked his way among the stones strewn across their path, the eerie illumination from his eyes outlining the sharp contours of their broken environment. Trueth looked up only once and noticed the other, the familiar side of the hall where she had come in with that first expedition. Some of Iseret's pathetic band of leftover priests had been with them, her old friend Eje among them. Eje - Trueth sent a quick prayer to his ba. Maybe he would hear and protect her. Just a little bit. She did not dare ask for more.
Metjen, Seisi and Trueth emerged from the shadows in single file, their breath forming wispy clouds in front of their faces. This place was still as icy as it had been and the traces of burning acid in the air were already coating the back of her throat. They crunched their way through the rubble until they reached the steep, covered stairway. The broken steps led down to the landing in front of what had been Iseret's underground retreat in her time as high priestess of the last temple of Ra. The whole setup was eerily unchanged, a perfect match with the images in Trueth's memories. She did not know what she had been expecting. To be honest, she had not dared to think too much about it.
The demons had come through here, but they had left behind no visible trace of their passing. The flaky residue remained blown against the walls; the smeared footprints showed in the soot as before and the walls were covered in the broken and burnt curses Imhotep's teams had left behind to protect this place.
Iseret? Metjen mind-called but got no response. Instead, Trueth imagined breathing from the direction of the opening they had just come through. Seisi twitched ever so slightly, then pressed her hand in warning. He had heard it as well, and so had Metjen, who did not move a muscle but instead materialised in their brains.
Somebody has been following us. I wondered when they would show themselves.
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This chapter is dedicated to Wolfsbane68. Thank you for reading and voting on Cursed Times