The Last Priest

by Amy Cross

  As Chris made his way over to the pile of backpacks, Duncan turned to the others.

  “Permission my ass,” he whispered. “There's noway we've been authorized to enter the tomb. The bureaucrats in these countries are way too tight-assed to let us do something like this.”

  “So?” Martha replied. “As long as we don't take anything, no-one's ever going to know.”

  “Come on, people,” Chris said as he headed over to the steps, “let's get moving. Remember, we still have to set up camp for the night once we've taken a look at the archways.”

  “Who put him in charge again?” Duncan muttered as the rest of them began to follow.

  “Charley's Dad,” Martha said with a smile.

  “Not exactly,” Charley replied defensively. “Chris was the one who led the team that applied for funding. He put it all together.”

  “And he showed your Dad all the paperwork, right?” Duncan asked, keeping his voice low so that Chris wouldn't hear. “All the permits from the ministry, all the documents showing that we have permission to be here and to enter the tomb?”

  “My father wouldn't have okayed the funding if there were any doubts,” she pointed out.

  “Sure he wouldn't,” Duncan added as they reached the top of the steps and made their way across the plateau. “Your Dad's, what, a millionaire? Billionaire, even? Some of the most honest, law-abiding people in the whole goddamn world, right?”

  “I want everyone to follow my lead,” Chris called out from ahead. “Sorry, but that's just the way it is. I've got experience with this type of project.”

  “Have you got experience with bringing about the end of the world?” Duncan replied, pointing at the pictograms above the archways. “Because that's what we're going to do if we keep going.”

  “What does it say?” Martha asked.

  “That part on the left,” he explained, “says that anyone who has come this far must immediately turn back and that this is the last chance to avoid bringing calamity down on all of mankind. And the part on the right says that if the tomb of Ah-Shalla is unsealed, a great force of war and death will cross the world from the east, destroying the land and churning all the people of the planet into bonemeal. Apparently we're in danger of bringing about the apocalypse.”

  “Dramatic,” Martha muttered.

  “It's a typical warning,” Chris said as he stopped next to the archway and peered into the darkness. After a moment, he turned back to face the others. “I don't think unsealing one tomb is going to bring about the end of the world, no matter how much the inhabitant of that tomb might wish otherwise. After all, thousands of tombs have been unsealed in the past, and they all had similar warnings.”

  “Don't blame the messenger,” Duncan replied with a smile. “I'm just telling you what it says.”

  “I keep reminding you,” Chris continued, as he took a torch from around his belt and switched it on, “don't let the nature of this place get to you. Those warnings were designed to sow doubt into the mind of primitive, superstitious people. We are not primitive, superstitious people, so let's try to stick to the scientific principles that underpin our work. If you feel doubt entering your mind, just remember to stay focused.”

  Taking a torch from her belt, Charley switched it on, while the others did the same.

  “Remember not to touch anything,” Chris added. “Follow my lead, stick together, and exercise extreme caution at all times. This is a marathon, not a sprint race, and we have all the time we need in order to carry out our work.” Turning, he shone his torch forward, lighting up the dark space on the other side of the archway. Taking a step forward, he began to look around.

  “Here we go, then,” Martha muttered, following him.

  “If the end of the world does happen,” Duncan added, stepping forward, “I just want everyone to remember that I relayed the warning from the stones.”

  As she and Henrik stepped through the archway, Charley saw that they were entering a large stone hallway with a high ceiling that rose at least twenty meters above them. Huge stone pillars dotted the room, supporting the vast weight of the pyramid, but for the most part the hallway was empty, with only a few inscriptions having been left on the stone walls. Stepping past one of the pillars, she swung her torch around and saw that the others were already starting to fan out and explore the space, as if each of them was already in awe of what they'd found. Again, she felt a little as if the others knew what they were doing, whereas she was feeling a little lost.

  “No vines,” Martha called out after a moment. “Have you noticed how the jungle hasn't really started to grow over the tomb?”

  “What would cause that?” Chris asked.

  “Hard to say,” she continued. “You'd think that with a thousand years of inactivity, this place would be covered in plant-life, not to mention animals. I don't see anything to indicate that there's been so much as a monkey in here. There has to be a reason.”

  “Take a look at this!” Henrik called out suddenly.

  Turning, Charley saw that at the far end of the hallway, Henrik was shining his light over a large stone door with two stone statues, one on either side. Following the others over, she saw as she got closer that the statues were of large men with their arms crossed across their chests, while the stone door contained another set of inscriptions, which Duncan had already started to examine.

  “These must be the first guardians left to keep watch over the tomb of Ah-Shalla,” Chris said, walking over to one of the statues and reaching up to run a hand against the stone. “They're supposed to terrify us.”

  “They are kind of creepy,” Martha replied, aiming her torch up at the head of one of the statues. “Look at the faces. The eyes are very large, and the mouth seems to be open, almost as if it's screaming.”

  “They looks like skulls,” Charley said, taking her camera from her pocket and starting to take photos.

  “Warriors of the dead,” Henrik explained. “Ah-Shalla's mastery of life and death was rumored to include the ability to raise dead soldiers and press them into eternal service. It was said that when one of his warriors died, that was only the beginning of their service to him. Once they'd been brought back from the grave, they could never be killed again, and they would serve their master for all of eternity.”

  “They'll also kill anyone who even attempts to open this door,” Duncan said, running his hands across the carved pictograms. After a moment, he turned to the others with a smile. “What? I'm just relaying what it says here. If we so much as start chipping away at this thing, these two guys are going to come to life and slaughter us. That's the theory, anyway.”

  “I think we're probably safe from stone warriors,” Chris muttered. “As for getting through the door, that might be a little more tricky.” He took a chisel from his pocket and symbolically hacked away a few pieces of stone, before turning to the others and smiling. “Looks like an empty threat, huh?”

  “It's not a door in the sense that anyone is supposed to pass through,” Henrik replied. “It's simply the spot where they sealed the tomb after it had been finished. Workers on the inside built the door, but it was never intended to be opened.”

  “On the inside?” Charley asked, turning to him.

  “They sealed themselves in,” he continued. “That was just one of the many perks of working for Ah-Shalla. He didn't want anyone to know where his tomb was located, so his followers were commanded to seal themselves in with him once his body had been laid to rest. And then, in the darkness on the other side of this door, they were supposed to use sacrificial knives to kill themselves. Ah-Shalla commanded them to cut out their own hearts, but I'm not really sure whether that's possible. They probably either stabbed themselves or drank poison.”

  “So you're saying that there are dead bodies on the other side of this door?” Charley asked.

  “There could be up to a hundred of them,” Henrik replied. “The final construction crew were all forced to die once they were done. There were
three priests, too, whose job was to ensure that all Ah-Shalla's commands were followed. Two of the priests would then kill themselves, and then the last priest, the main priest, would stay alive for as long as possible, trapped in the pyramid with all those bodies so he could oversee the final moments. It was the last priest who wandered the tunnels and corridors alone until, after a few days, either Ah-Shalla rose from his sarcophagus, or the priest died of dehydration. Ah-Shalla put all his faith and trust in that priest.”

  “Must have sucked to be him,” Duncan added. “Imagine being trapped in this place with all those dead bodies around.”

  “So how do we get this thing open?” Chris asked, pushing against the stones. “It wasn't designed for anyone to ever get past this point.”

  “The only way is to take it down piece by piece,” Henrik told him. “That's not going to be easy, given that it's most likely at least a meter thick.”

  “That isn't going to stop us,” Chris told him. “We haven't come this far only to get forced back by a wall. I brought some equipment that should be useful, we'll be able to get inside in the next twenty-four hours.”

  “Are you sure that's a good idea?” Henrik asked.

  “Worried about the end of the world?” Chris asked with a smile.

  “Or the armies of the undead on the other side?” Duncan added, tapping the wall.

  “We can get through without causing too much damage,” Chris continued. “I don't want to wait a year, maybe two, to get permission to bring imaging equipment to the site. We have to remove a few stones, but we can put them back once we're done. Honestly, no-one will ever know that we've been here unless we start shouting it from the rooftops. We can control the flow of information and, in theory, get the entire site excavated before even the local government finds out.”

  “That sounds ethical,” Martha muttered.

  “They can't guard it if they don't know where it is,” he replied, “and anyway, they'd just loot the place for their own benefit. If we keep it quiet, we can continue to come back as often as necessary, while pretending to be still searching. I know it's deceptive, but it's honestly the best way to safeguard the site and make sure we preserve it for science. The locals don't know what's in their own interests. We can't trust them to make the right decisions.”

  “Said a lot of white men over the years,” Martha muttered.

  “It's the best way to keep the site safe,” Chris said firmly, clearly not impressed.

  “And for Charley's father to make a profit,” Duncan pointed out.

  “Leave my father out of it,” Charley told him.

  “I just don't think we should be bypassing the local authorities on this one,” Duncan continued. “The whole thing seems a little... I don't know, imperialistic.”

  “I'm going to get some tools,” Chris replied, turning and heading back toward the archway. “I want to start loosening one of the stones.”

  “Don't you think I should run some tox checks first?” Martha called after him. “To make sure it's safe?” She waited for a reply, before turning to the others. “I'm going to run some tox checks, just to make sure there's nothing nasty around.”

  “The rest of us should start setting up camp,” Charley pointed out. “That's not the kind of thing we want to be doing in the dark.”

  “I can't wait to try sleeping next to a big old cursed tomb,” Duncan said with a smile. “I hope none of you fine folk are scared of ghosts.” He turned to Henrik. “Try not to let your imagination run riot during the night, big man. I know you tend to be a little more interested in that kind of thing than the rest of us.”

  “I'll start unpacking,” Henrik replied, clearly not amused as he turned and headed toward the archway.

  “What do you think?” Martha asked, turning to Charley. “Looking forward to getting inside this thing tomorrow?”

  “It's what we came for, isn't it?” she replied, forcing a smile despite the sense of deep unease in her belly. “To be the first people to enter this pyramid since the day the last priest sealed it from the inside a thousand years ago.”

  Chapter Five

  “Is he still at it?” Martha asked a few hours later, as they sat around a campfire that had been set up between the tents. She paused, listening to the sound of Chris chiseling away at the stones. “The man's obsessed.”

  Looking away from the fire, Charley couldn't help watching the dark forest for a moment. The sun had set an hour or so earlier, leaving the entire area in complete darkness. Having been trekking with the group for more than two weeks, she was well accustomed to the sounds of the forest, but now that their surroundings were completely silent, she felt strangely ill at ease. She waited, hoping to hear at least the faint call of a parrot, or the sound of something fluttering against the treetops, but there was nothing. Noises in the night had been unsettling at the start of the journey, but now she felt that the absence of those same noises was even worse. It was almost as if the area around the pyramid was completely dead, with no other animals daring to go closer.

  Turning back to look at the vast pyramid, she could make out little more than a dark shape silhouetted against the starry night sky, although a hint of light was coming from the archway at the top of the plateau, where Chris was still hard at work. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of him, chiseling away at the rock even though he should be taking a few hours to relax. One of the things that had most impressed her about Dr. Chris Abbingdon had been his absolute determination to get the job done, despite any supposed obstacles that fell in his way. The man was a force of nature, someone who didn't take no for an answer, and he had a reputation as someone who always got his way. Having always been a little timid and careful, Charley was hoping to learn from him.

  “You need to toughen up,” she remembered her father saying before the flight from London. “Don't be afraid to ask questions, but otherwise keep quiet and watch. That's the best way to learn.”

  “Do you think we should go and help him?” she asked, turning to Martha. “He's been up there for hours.”

  “Leave him be,” she replied, taking another bite of her protein bar. “I've worked with him on expeditions before. He just likes to get on with things. The man isn't big on sleeping, and he gets antsy if you start bugging him.”

  “I don't care what he gets like,” Duncan muttered, sitting on the other side of the fire, “but I'm not gonna be able to sleep if he keeps it up all night. That incessant banging is gonna drive me out of my mind.” Tilting his wrist toward the fire, he checked his watch. “It's almost eleven, for God's sake. If he doesn't pack it in by midnight, I'm gonna have to go and have a word.”

  “He's a brave man,” Henrik added.

  “How do you figure that out?” Duncan asked.

  “Staying up there all alone, with just a torch to light his work.” He paused. “Maybe brave isn't the right word. Maybe I should say he's dedicated, or the curse of Ah-Shalla is already affecting his mind.”

  “What's that supposed to mean?” Charley asked.

  “Just that the treasures inside the burial chamber are said to exert a powerful influence over the minds of man. Chris wouldn't be the first person to let his greed take over.”

  “He's not like that,” Charley told him.

  “Greed is like cancer,” Henrik replied. “It can grow inside any of us.”

  Before he could finish, a beeping sound suddenly starting emanating from one of the backpacks. It took a few seconds, but Charley finally recognized the sound.

  “The satellite phone,” she said, scrambling to her feet and hurrying to the backpacks.

  “Let her take it,” Martha said to the others. “She needs something to do.”

  Pulling the phone out, Charley hit the button at the bottom. “Hello?” she said, putting the phone against the side of her face. “This is Charley Manners.” She waited, but all she heard was static. “Hello?” she said again, making her way a little further from the trees, hoping to get a better signal. �
�Can you hear me?”

  “Hey,” said a familiar voice on the other end of the line. “It's me, David. Just checking in to see how things are going with you guys. I was expecting a call earlier.”

  “Hi David,” she replied, making her way around the edge of the campfire.

  “Who's David?” Duncan asked, looking up at her. “Your boyfriend?”

  Ignoring him, she made her way over to the bottom of the stone steps, preferring to get a little privacy. “We've been busy here,” she explained. “I thought Chris was going to call you, but I guess he forgot. He's working right now, I don't think he'd like to be disturbed, but I can fill you in on what's happened.”

  “It's cool,” David replied, “I just need to make sure nothing's wrong. I have status reports to write, you know. Five separate funding councils each think it's vitally important that they get a day-by-day account of what's going on out there, and they each have their own particular areas of interest. Plus there's Mr. Manners, who prefers to get his reports hourly. I swear, that guy is dead keen to find out how things are working out.” He paused for a moment. “So how are things going there?”

  “Not bad,” she told him. “Chris is working on the entrance at the moment, and in the morning we're hoping to get past the main hallway,which is when we can really start to see what we're dealing with. So far, the pyramid looks like a few others in the region, but it also has distinct differences, so we're not really sure what to expect. We also found some remains from the old Charles Ravenscroft expedition, so we're kind of making progress on multiple fronts. This time tomorrow we should have a lot more to report. I've got a lot of photos, but I guess it's hopeless trying to send them over this thing.”

  “Shame,” he replied. “Photos from the lost tomb would be a welcome distraction right now.”

  “Distraction?” she asked. “From what?”

  “I guess you guys didn't hear,” he continued, with a hint of concern in his voice. “It's been all over the news here, this warlord from one of the former Soviet states has managed to get hold of a load of nuclear and chemical weapons. Apparently he found them in some abandoned silo that the Russians forget even existed, down in something-stan, and now he's loaded them into a convoy and he's making his way toward Europe. Nothing like a maniac with a ton of weapons to help everyone sleep at night.”