Facing off against Egypt’s denizens was about as crazy as he thought it would be. It felt like it had been a long time since he had to run, dodge, and jump like that during a fight. And of course, there was a certain mysticism about the place, especially if whoever came through here next loved reading Wilbur Smith as he did. It was so cool when the developers mixed fantasy and reality. It hit harder.
Tim didn’t know about the others, but his magical defenses were pretty bad. He assumed that was probably pretty standard across the board except for Cassie. All their recent fights included magical attacks of some kind, something new for them to deal with. Hopefully, some of their new gear would come with resistance. They were going to need something amazing, especially if the fights only got harder from here.
Cassie reached the small chest, and she looked back at Tim for approval before laying her hand on it. She was probably checking to see if it was a trap, and he hadn’t considered that before saying yes.
Her hand came down on the chest before he could shout a warning.
Cassie turned with a small square cube in her hand. “Five freaking gold and this hunk of junk.” She tossed the cube to Tim. “Eternia better have some fancy shit waiting for us, or I’m going to be pissed.”
“I’m guessing it will be the best gear we’ve seen to date.” Tim started looking at the cube. “This is what we came up here for. So, mission accomplished.”
The tank turned and headed back in the other direction. “It’s not what I came up here for. I wanted something shiny.”
“She gets cranky without her loot.” JaKobi rested his hand on the chest. “I’ll see if I can cheer her up. Maybe we can talk more about pizza. That seems to calm her down.” He ran to catch up with Cassie.
“That’s probably not a…” ShadowLily’s sentence trailed off as JaKobi sprinted away. She shook her head as she looked at Tim. “Have an extra heal ready for him when we catch up to them.” She laid her hand on the chest, then followed the others out.
Lorelei walked up to the chest with a smile on her face. “Five gold is five gold, am I right?”
She was totally right.
“Any loot is good loot.” He’d played a few games where loot only came at the very end of every long encounter, and it just didn’t feel right. He didn’t mind getting some of these epic quests done for amazing rewards, but he also liked the instant gratification that came from looting the boss.
Having a little extra coin never hurt anyone. Tim would always rather have the money and not need it than need the money and not have it. They all had bills to pay. Rent on their rooms, or taxes if they owned property as he did.
One thing he didn’t know about making a lot of money before now was how much it cost to start and maintain so many businesses. In many ways, he still didn’t feel the full brunt of the workload. Mr. Applebottom handled almost all of that for him. All Tim had to do was supply the startup money and get out of the way.
When he thought about it for more than a second, that poor guy probably deserved a raise. Tim looked over his bank account and sent a message to Mr. Applebottom to take whatever he was making and double it for now, with the understanding that if rents dried up or something went haywire, he might have to lower it again in the future.
The way Mr. Applebottom ran things, Tim was pretty sure he’d be doubling his salary again before ever having to consider making a reduction.
Tim laid his hand on the chest and collected the five gold before checking his inventory to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. There was nothing new in there except the cube Cassie had given him so he pulled it free to examine it on the way out of the room.
A dusty old bronze cube wasn’t much to look at initially, but after putting it in his inventory and pulling it out the cube was clean, and Tim could make out more of the details. On each side was an intricate design of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. On the cube’s top was a small raised bevel that looked like it could be inserted into something, and on the bottom there was only a small circle.
The circle reminded him of a certain box Pinhead liked to send out into the world.
He shuddered thinking about how badly some of those movies scared him as a child, but he had more realistic problems to deal with than the Cenobites. With the key in hand, they had everything they needed to reverse course and head back down to the pyramid’s lower levels.
Traditionally, there were three things at the bottom of a pyramid. An emergency escape hatch, servants to serve the entombed in the next life, and often a wife or priestess so they could enjoy immortality with the pharaoh.
Imagine watching as Anubis weighed your heart.
Tim shuddered at the very thought. Not because he was worried about the outcome but because of what the scales meant. It’d be like watching someone flip a coin to decide if they were going to kill you. On one side a heart and on the other a feather, it might as well have been heads or tails.
The others were waiting for him so he slipped the cube back into his inventory and hurried to catch up. He didn’t want to get left behind in a place like this. It was creepy enough, but probably not as bad as a mausoleum because of the sheer size. In a mausoleum, the bodies were typically packed in pretty close together. He’d always imagined them all coming to life and chasing him.
No big surprise that when Tim was left alone, his imagination tended to run away with itself.
Cassie was waiting for him in the tomb’s center, and everyone else was milling around the stairs on the far side of the room. “What do you think we’ll find down there?”
“Honestly, I have no idea.” Tim shook his head as they walked. “I thought we’d be facing off against Nemset in here, and not only his guardian. From here on out, anything is in play.”
Cassie pulled her bō staff free. “Do you think that cube will open the passage?”
“Eternia hasn’t let us down yet. It will get us there.” Tim didn’t know why he trusted the goddess so much. He simply knew that it felt right to put his faith in her.
Back in the real world, it depended on the time and place as to which gods or God you worshipped. The one thing all religions seemed to have in common was that if you followed another one, you needed to be converted. Merely hearing the word converted made him think of the Chronicles of Riddick.
There will be no conversions here.
Tim looked over at Cassie, grinning from ear to ear. “Finding out what's next is kind of like playing the lottery. You can’t win if you don’t play.”
“Then let’s stop dicking around.” Cassie picked up the pace.
It turned out none of them were too keen on trying to snatch any of the items on the way back down through the gallery. Tim hoped maybe he could buy something similar to them from the vendors in either Nar’ha or Naroosh when this was over. Part of him still thought the grand gallery’s items were a trap, mostly because they could touch them, unlike the mountains of coins in Nemset’s treasure room.
Maybe when they finished, Tim could lead Khalid here. There was no doubt in his mind the warrior would use the gold to help rebuild the kingdoms of Naroosh. Maintaining two cities and the needs of their people had to cost a fortune. His parents had enough problems feeding three kids.
They finished traversing the grand gallery and back down the single file stairs of death into the tomb's entrance. From here they needed to descend another single file staircase before finding out what was waiting for them below. Tim gritted his teeth, hating every second of being in the confined space. All he wanted to do was get to the boss. Dying in combat would be a million times better than getting crushed to death in a collapsing passage.
Cassie must have felt the same way because she was going down the stairs two or three at a time. ShadowLily was right behind her looking for traps, but at the rate of speed they were going, he doubted either of them would be able to stop in time if they saw something.
Either luck was on their side, or any traps inside had been disabled by other adventurers
' deaths long ago. Their group poured out of the stairwell flushed with excitement and from the exertion.
All of them were breathing hard, but JaKobi sounded like a fish on land.
“Next time, slower would be better.” The fire mage tossed himself on the floor, gasping for breath.
Cassie looked at Tim. “Don’t even say it.”
“If you’d been wrong, I wouldn’t have to say it. We’d all be dead.” Tim winked at her. “I didn’t want to be in that stairwell any longer than you did.”
“Seriously, cavers are the craziest people in the world.” Lorelei looked around the room and defended her position. “What? Imagine someone climbing into dangerous underground places for fun. Might as well write the obituary before you go.”
Tim got where she was coming from. He didn’t have the kind of courage it took to do something crazy like that back in the real world. That was why he did it here. It was also kind of cool to think they were exploring something no one else had seen before. Other than the people in the pyramid right now, it was possible no one had entered the place since Nemset was mummified.
“I wouldn’t last a second.” ShadowLily gave a nervous laugh. “If I was caving or scuba diving and my light went out, I’d freak. Panic would kill me before anything else.”
JaKobi laughed. It was a good, hearty sound that brought them all out of their grumbling. “Come on, guys. We’re in a fucking pyramid, and if we die here we can come back to life. Why don’t you try living a little?”
“So the scared rabbit passes the master.” Tim bowed his head. “You’re right. This place has been awesome, minus the stairs.”
JaKobi was feeling it now. “Magic elevators. Has to be a market for it.”
“You’re just the guy to make them.” Tim knew what the fire mage was doing, but it worked anyway.
Just like that, any funk Tim had been feeling since coming into the pyramid was gone, and he was ready to roll. It was amazing what a good friend could do for a person. Sometimes all it took was a laugh to readjust someone's perspective. If he wanted to be honest with himself, this place was pretty badass. He hoped that when they found the secret passage, it was bigger than the stairs and not the tight little tube the android crawled through in Aliens.
A noise sounded from in front of them and they all spun from where they’d been looking and zeroed in on it. It almost sounded like a cane or a staff tapping against the tiled floor and the scuffle of feet. Something was out there in the darkness, but Tim couldn’t make it out. They needed more light.
“JaKobi.” Tim didn’t have to finish his sentence before the fire mage had orbs of light flying through the air.
The room in front of them was smaller than the one above. Where that tomb had been the size of a football field this one was maybe half of that. The sculptures down on this level were as intricate as the ones above. The only difference Tim could tell in the amount of loot piled up was the quality and quantity. The tomb resting in the center of the space was also much smaller. Where Nemset’s final resting place looked more like a boss' size, this one looked like it was for an average-sized person.
Tim’s eyes moved over the tomb to the man beyond. He was older and bent over a scepter like it was a cane. He shuffled from one spot to another always looking up at the wall and muttering, “They stole it from me, and I want it back.”
What they stole and what he wanted back Tim had no idea. It was always a bad idea to disturb a ghost, but he had a feeling there was no way around it. “Excuse me, good sir, is there something we can help you with?”
There was no reason not to be polite.
He found it was always better to make things sound like a question. The last thing he wanted was to rile up this spirit if they didn’t have to.
The old man turned, and when he saw the adventurers, his eyes went wide. He stopped using the scepter as a cane and waved it in the air. His body solidified as it grew in size. Gone was the weak old man they’d seen before them and in his place was a nine-foot-tall man glowing with the radiance of youth.
Nemset himself glared down at them. “Return what you have stolen, thief, and I will send you to the afterlife quickly.”
This wasn’t going how Tim planned at all, and why was everyone calling him a thief?
Was looting really thieving?
It wasn’t like they were breaking down the windows of Target and running out with free clothes. When they killed a boss, they earned the treasure at the end. In his mind, whatever they scrounged up was bought and paid for by their victory. Saying that to Nemset wasn’t going to get them anywhere.
Tim thought it wouldn’t hurt to see if they could get around this situation without a fight. Sometimes in RPGs with the right dialogue options, a player could skip something that others wouldn’t be able to. “Maybe if you told me what you were looking for we could help you find it?”
Cassie elbowed him. “What are you doing?”
“Hoping there’s an easy way around,” Tim whispered back, eyes locked on Nemset.
The ancient Pharaoh glowered at them. “And yet you have the key to my salvation in your hands.” He pointed at Tim. “Give me the key, and I will let you scurry away like rats.”
Wow, the boss could tell he had the key on him? It must have been an extremely powerful magical item. So much for being tricky. Instead of coming here, killing some bosses, and summoning Khalid's army, their fate might simply be decided by what he chose to do with the key.
“What happens if I give it to you?” Tim looked up at Nemset.
It was highly possible he was wasting time with his questions for absolutely no reason. Even if Nemset had a sob story or a legitimate grievance and said their paths aligned. How could he trust him? If he handed Nemset the key, he could disappear, leaving them here to die.
It was too big a risk.
“If?” The ancient Pharaoh chewed on the word as if it had an unpleasant taste. “What I do with my property is no concern of yours, thief.” Nemset extended his hand. “Give me the key.”
“Listen here, Nemmy. We killed the guardian. The key is ours. If you want it back, you're going to have to take it.” Apparently, Cassie had finished talking.
Nemset lifted his scepter into the air, the polished head of Anubis shining in the light. “If you are begging for death, you’ve come to the right place.”
“I’ve begged for a lot of things, but death isn’t one of them.” Cassie turned and looked at Tim, waiting for the go-ahead.
They didn’t have a plan for this fight so he motioned for her to get to it. “Do your best.” He had no idea what to expect. Now that these bosses were using magical skills, nearly anything was possible.
Magical energy shot from the tip of Nemset’s regalia and branched out across the room. Beams of electrical energy shot between the open mouths of the statues lining the walls. There were about ten statues on each side with an open space between each pair of figures of nearly identical size. It looked like right now all of the beams were active, then would shut off for a few moments and reactivate.
It was a simple pattern to master. The real problem was the boss didn’t have to worry about getting cooked and they did. The arrangement also didn’t have to stay the same. If this was going to be a fight based on movement, anything was in play. After almost getting crushed by the mechanics in the last one, they had to be ready to battle on the move. Constantly moving during a fight also tended to have a negative effect on the DPS numbers, but they were all skilled enough to handle the challenge. The stairway behind them was sealed off.
Their only way through was forward.
Nemset waited for them at the end of the room with a haughty expression on his face. “You wished for death. It stands before you.”
“This is some bullshit,” Cassie grumbled. “I clearly stated that I did not wish for death.”
Tim pulled the tank close. “Make sure you don’t take a hit from one of those beams. I hope there will be a signal or something if the pat
tern changes, but be ready for anything.”
“Hit the boss, try not to get incinerated, all pretty standard stuff for an average Monday at the office.” Cassie was grinning now.
She did love a good fight.
Tim looked at the others. “Is it Monday?”
“Our leader doesn’t even know what day it is. Guys, I think we’re in trouble.” JaKobi slapped Tim on the back.
It was amazing how the days blended when you didn’t have to be somewhere at a certain time everyday. He was living a task-oriented lifestyle. Days were merely numbers on the calendar as they tried to save the world. Jack Bauer didn’t know what day it was. That motherfucker was living life one hour at a time.
“Go hit the boss and stop giving me lip.” Tim smacked JaKobi on the ass. “Get in there, tiger.”
Cassie led the way.
They made it past the first beam and stopped in the gap. Then went past the next and stayed in the gap. Were they going to do this all the way down the room? It was taking forever, and he was already bored.
“Go for two next time,” Tim shouted as the beams stopped.
They all ran forward, making it past two beams with time to spare. They took a second to catch their breath and did it again. The third time they made the run, Nemset moved. It seemed that even the bosses in this game ran short on patience.
The ancient Pharaoh moved through the beams of electrical energy as if they didn’t exist. It must have been nice for him not to worry about such trivial details as not being electrocuted.
One of the perks of being the boss, I guess.
Cassie ran forward a square and picked up the boss, giving them some separation. It was a good tactic. The two ranged DPS and himself weren’t taking any damage. He cast Curse of Giving and Behold My Power. The initial burst of the fight always seemed like the best place to drop his heavy hitter. It didn’t activate until well after Cassie had control of the boss’ aggro table, and normally the first ten percent of fights were relatively easy healing-wise.
Deserts Of Naroosh Page 52