“Is it as if you are looking through a fog?”
“Exactly!”
“Then there is nothing to worry about because it will clear.” Rose stepped out of the car, then took a picnic basket out of the back along with a small carrier bag. Kate followed Rose as she walked around the pile of rocks until they were both standing by the stairway within the first pylon of the Ramesseum. Kate now knew exactly where she was. This was the mortuary temple of Ramses II.
Gadeem was already half way down the steps as they arrived. It took Kate a few moments to come to terms with the fact that he walked right through the bars of the modern metal gate by where they stood. “Did you bring it?”
“A hello would be nice.” Rose was smiling as she said this.
“Okay, sorry. Hello, did you bring it?” Rose handed over the small carrier bag. Gadeem had a quick glance inside, said “Wonderful,” and immediately walked back up the stairs.
“We do not have the luxury of being able to walk through metal bars, so we have to walk this way.” Rose lead Kate to where they had to clamber over boulders, some the size of a small car. They passed the picnic basket between them at particularly difficult parts, though they made it to the top without incident. Ramses and Gadeem were already seated, and both had, as was only to be expected, a glass of red wine in front of them. They were seated on rocks rather than chairs, because ancients could not sit on anything modern.
So, this was where Kate was spending her afternoon. On the very top of the first pylon of the Ramesseum, the mortuary temple of Ramses II, with Ramses II, his good friend and advisor Gadeem, and of course Rose. She wondered if life could get any better than this.
As Kate took the very last bite of the very last scone, Ramses started to tell her about the times when this was the most luxurious temple Egypt had even seen. “Gadeem and I used to escape everyone by sitting up here. In those golden days this was not open to the air as it is now, it was a room … our private room.” Ramses walked around as he pointed out where the walls had been and how the guards, who were on watch above them, never knew of the existence of this special place. As Ramses moved, Kate could clearly see where the first pylon had subsided. At times he stood at least ten centimetres above the blocks as they were now. “This slit,” Ramses pointed to a wide opening like an enormous letterbox, “was much smaller in my time. We could sit here and look over the whole temple complex. What is more, we could hear all that was being said down there.” Ramses paused as if in reflection of times past.
“We had some good times up here.”
“We most certainly did, Gadeem. Such good times … I shall drink to those times.” Ramses raised and emptied his glass in a single movement.
Kate had so many questions she wished to ask, though she did not know how to ask any of them without either annoying Ramses or Gadeem. She thought and she thought, only to have her thoughts broken by Gadeem.
“You look worried. Is there anything we can do to help you?”
It was out without a second thought. “Yes, stop beating about the bush and tell me how to destroy the warlock.”
Gadeem was more than a little taken aback by the aggressive way Kate had asked her question, but it was he who had asked if there was anything they could do to help her, so he thought for a while before answering. “Well … let me take this back to the beginning.”
“Oh, do you have to,” thought Kate, “the short version will do.”
“The warlock was nothing more than an ordinary baby. He was born to a family where his father was a warlock, so he became a warlock. As he never became a pharaoh, his name does not appear on any ancient text or artefact, so removing him from the afterlife would be just the same as removing any ordinary ancient. Remove all instances of his name, which he will have on little pieces of papyrus …”
“Oh, do come on,” thought Kate, “we all know how to remove him from the afterlife. It is why you have not done it in the last three thousand years that I need the answer to.”
“… then he becomes nothing more than bad memory to anyone who had the misfortune to have known him.” Gadeem paused for just a little too long.
“So why on earth have you not removed him from the afterlife rather than lock him up? That seems crazy to me.” Yet again it was out before Kate had time to think.
“It is crazy to you, Kate. I can see that,” said Rose. “Without your ancient memories in focus, Gadeem is doing his best to explain. Think about it, if it was so easy to rid ourselves of the warlock, we would have done it by now. It is dreadfully important for you to have your own experiences.”
“Let me take it from here, Rose.”
“Okay, Gadeem, if you are sure.”
“It is only his magic which stops us. He was an ordinary man who was made extraordinary in life, and now also in death, by his knowledge of ancient magic.”
“But you also know ancient magic,” said Kate as she tried to place her hands anywhere except on her hips.
“Some, yes, quite a few spells and incantations to be truthful, but nothing compared to what he knows. Warlock families guarded their spells and passed them from father to son, generation after generation.”
Kate did not know where it came from, but all of a sudden she was convinced she knew why the ancients needed her, as well as Alex and Cairo, if the warlock was to be defeated. “Gadeem?”
“Yes?”
“Ever since I arrived here it has been …” She searched her mind for the right word. “It has been emphasised that I must have my own experiences. The same can be said for Alex and Cairo. Time and time again we have been told this.” Kate was suddenly not as sure as she had been. She struggled again to find the right words, though nobody interrupted her whilst she thought. “You need us to come up with a plan which none of you know about.” Kate paused again, during which time Gadeem, Rose and Ramses remained impassive. “The warlock knows what you are thinking … no, no, the warlock knows when you are thinking of harming him.” The faces around her did not change much, though small signs told her she was correct. “He has some sort of early warning spell which has always allowed him to block your attempts to get rid of him.”
Now there were nods and smiles all around, and Kate was pleased with herself, extremely pleased. “But you really could have told me that, even if I was supposed to work it out for myself. You could have told me if it was safe to do so ...” Kate thought, and then it came to her. “You could not tell me because anyone you tell is automatically brought under the same spell. The warlock would then know of our planned attack and thwart it.” There were bigger smiles all around and Kate was yet again very pleased with herself.
“More wine anybody?” Ramses was already pouring his beloved red wine into four glasses in celebration of Kate working out this most important fact, though just a drop went into the fourth glass which was passed to her. Ramses proposed the toast “To victory.” Even Rose took a sip. Nothing more of the warlock was mentioned. Ramses and Gadeem explained what it was like, the Ramesseum, in their time. The magnificence of the temple, its opulence and of course the backstabbing. How nobody ever lived with certainty. Every day of his life as ruler of Egypt, Ramses had to worry about plots against him, about the people around him wanting Egypt for themselves, craving the power.
As the afternoon wore on, Kate could see the importance of the hidden room, the importance of where they were now. She also realised why they were all together where they were. It was her ancient memories coming into focus which had allowed her to understand more about the warlock than she had ever heard being spoken. She did not want the day to end, so she was extremely pleased when she saw Ali’s car bumping down the track towards them.
Two waiters from his restaurant, Africa, got out and with an ease of getting up through the boulders which had been denied to Kate and Rose, they were soon laying out many dishes with wonderful aromas. A wave, and they were off back to Africa.
Kate was going to have a wonderful dinner after which she woul
d watch the sun turn bright red as it sank out of sight behind the Theban Hills.
Chapter 6
-
Unplanned Action
“This way,” shouted Quentin above the rumbling and noise of rocks falling all around them. One large boulder, for a boulder it was, crashed down with so much force that it bounced over them like a killer beach ball. Had it caught either of them, it would have been instant death. “Now, Alex, move now!” Moving on all fours, Quentin quickly reached the entrance to the tomb of Ay where, without a moment’s thought, he threw himself down the stone steps, only to crash heavily against the locked metal door.
Alex followed, crashing just as heavily.
Quentin, bloodied, bruised and winded, franticly checked his pockets. “Got it,” Alex heard him say.
“Whatever you have got, act quickly,” shouted Alex. It was as if the falling rocks were following them. There had been none where they were a moment ago, now the steps looked like a waterfall, as thousands of small stones cascaded towards them. With every passing second the stones increased in size. If they survived this, they were both going to be black and blue. Alex felt as though there was not one part of his body which had not been hit, though having been hit so many times he was now somewhat numb to the pain.
Quentin struggled to get the key into the padlock. “Wrong one!” he shouted. He yet again fumbled through his pockets. “This is the right one.” He held it up, only for a flying rock to knock it from his hand.
Alex immediately reached for where he saw the key fall, managing to get hold of it at his first attempt. Working on his knees, he slid the key into the padlock which fell away into the stones.
Quentin was ready to move, though with the pressure of the stones and rocks which in such a short time had built up against the door, he was unable to slide the oversized bolt to one side. He pulled, whilst Alex pushed, the bolt was not budging. A massive shake of the ground allowed the entire arching rock face to finally fall. It also caused the door to vibrate quite violently, momentarily releasing the pressure on the bolt. With Alex still pushing, it shot back. They not only fell into the tomb, they carried on down the wooden covered slope. Half rolling, half falling, they were in the burial chamber of Ay in no time at all. They were only semi-conscious and in far worse condition than Aggie had been when she had fallen in this tomb.
Alex was unsure how long he had been lying there before he registered a yellow flickering light where there should have been no light. He failed to find the energy to wipe the blood from his eyes, yet he was sure he had heard voices. Eventually he found the strength, wiping them with the back of a hand, though this made little if any difference to him being able to see. He felt a gentle hand go behind his head and a wet something wipe his face. He was coming back to the land of the living. He knew this as he now felt his own pain. Everywhere there was pain.
Flaming torches burst into life all around the burial chamber. Now propped up against the cold grey granite of Ay’s sarcophagus, he looked into the eyes of a young lady or an ancient god, he did not know which. She was beautiful, an angel in his eyes. Looking beyond her, he could make out a Thoth, ancient soldiers and a mean looking Ra-Horakhty, none of which he had ever seen before. Thoth and the soldiers were different, though similar, to those he had met. Ra-Horakhty, however, was quite different. He was taller, broader and looked so much meaner. An impressive hawk headed man with a solar disk on his head and whose uniform was entirely made up of golden feathers. “We have invaded a tomb, we are in serious trouble,” Alex thought, though he said, “We didn’t mean to enter your tomb, it was the rocks. We had no other option.” He issued forth several moans of pain as he said this.
“Best not to worry about that,” said Thoth, a Thoth, presumably Ay’s Thoth. “You had better finish getting them both bandaged as we need to move quickly,” he said to the young lady. She set about the task both quickly and carefully.
Alex was soon on his feet. The young lady left him to attend to Quentin, who was now sitting propped up against the sarcophagus, though he was facing away from the ancients. “Well, if you had wanted to kill us, you would have done so by now.”
“Kill you, Alex!” said Thoth with incredulity. “Nothing could be further from our minds. We have all read the article about you and your friends securing Pharaoh Nakhtifi in the afterlife. Congratulations to you, one and all. It was the most wonderful news. That warlock is a curse to us. Actually, it was more than an article as the whole of ADD was devoted to you. I must say, you look much more rugged in the flesh.”
“Yes, well, bruises and blood do tend to have that effect, I suppose. What is ADD?”
“Why don’t you ask your father what it is?” replied Thoth with a wink.
“I don’t think so. He mustn’t see you or I will never be able to explain all of this.”
A large piece of the ceiling fell, it shattered into a million pieces as it smashed against the top of the sarcophagus. “It is happening quicker than I thought it would,” said Thoth.
Ra-Horakhty turned to his soldiers and told them that plan B was now in action. Two immediately withdrew the daggers from their chest straps. Alex thought, “This is it, this is where I die.” The look of fear on his face was clear for all to see.
“I told you not to worry, Alex. We intend you no harm, quite the opposite in fact.” As Thoth was saying this, the two soldiers threw their daggers to the ground before all the soldiers stepped back into the walls.
“I must also go, but it would be an honour if you would accept this.” Ra-Horakhty held out a large though extremely strong looking dagger. No gold, no gems, just a fearsome looking weapon. “It has served me well.” Alex took hold of it just as the ancient god stepped into the wall. This left just him, Quentin, the young lady and Thoth in the burial chamber.
Without a word being spoken, Quentin reached out to take hold of one of the daggers. He then rolled over, and whilst lying on his side started to hack at the wall below the hunting scene. “Come on, Alex, we must get out of here.”
“You are going to tunnel to the surface using an ancient dagger?”
“No … I’m going to get us into the gold room where we will be safe.”
“I think your father could do with some help.”
“Thanks, Thoth, get the boy to move.”
As his father frantically hacked at the wall, the words ‘thanks, Thoth’ kept rattling around Alex’s head. Had his father really said that? He stood as if in a trance.
“ADD stands for Ancient Deity Digest, it is the ancient gods own newspaper. I have been featured in it twice in the past. Unless we both want to feature in the obituary section, you had better get down here and help me.”
“But we do not have an obituary section, Quentin, we are already dead.”
“Now is not the time, Thoth. Get him working.”
“Where, Dad?” said a very confused Alex as he joined his father on the floor.
“We all agree that this is where the gold room should be, so there must be a section of this wall which is made to be removed easily. We just have to find it.”
“Thoth can tell us, he must know where it is.”
“Oh no, that is one thing I cannot do. I cannot work directly against my pharaoh.” Thoth then mumbled, “Even if I hate his guts.”
There was a short silence before Thoth asked, “Alex, could you please autograph my copy of ADD?”
“Not now, Thoth, I’m in a little bit of a panic.”
The young lady asked Alex if he could possibly spare a moment to sign Thoth’s copy of ADD. “It is so important to him, and it may well be the last thing you ever do!”
Alex rolled over to place his signature on the paper, only to notice that Thoth had been using his foot to scratch a line in the ground. Unable to tell him where the false wall began, this was a clue, admittedly a blatant clue, though nevertheless a clue which Alex had worked out for himself.
“You must sign the paper to keep things correct,” called ou
t the young lady.
He scrawled Thanks, Alex on it, then started to work into a seam of soft plaster. Another large piece of ceiling came down, showering them in small fragments of stone. It was quickly followed by a much heavier piece. This broke the top of the sarcophagus in two, as it punched its way through. They did not have much time.
Alex called out to Thoth as he worked frantically, “Why don’t you get dad to sign whilst you can, because it doesn’t look as if we will be making it out of here.”
“Good idea,” he said as he stepped closer to Quentin, though not close enough for him to be able to reach the newspaper.
“Alex, get a grip. Forget autographs at a time like this.”
“Move this way and sign the paper, Dad.” Alex said this whilst pointing to a very faint line on the floor which Thoth had made.
Quentin shuffled over, scrawled a large Q on the front of the paper along with a tick, a sign of thanks, and within seconds he was also removing a line of soft plaster. They had located both sides of the entrance to the gold chamber of Ay. Upon reaching a height where the wall became dense rock they started working towards each other. Whilst the burial chamber was collapsing around them, they had located a doorway, though a doorway which was still far too solid to move. “We need something to knock it out with,” said Quentin, really doing nothing more than speaking his thoughts out loud.
It registered with Alex that the ceiling was coming down with enough force to remove the section of wall, if it could be made to hit it. Looking at the broken lid of Ay’s sarcophagus he knew what had to be done. “Quickly, Dad, we need to get this down at an angle.” Quentin could see exactly what Alex was trying to achieve, and it worked. There was no way anyone could lift even the smallest broken piece of the sarcophagus lid, but the two of them managed to get it to fall and land at an angle. This deflected the falling rocks so that they hit the gold room wall. It was down within seconds. Once they were all safely inside, the noise stopped and the ground shook no more.
Luxor Lost and Found Page 4