by R. D. Brady
Patrick’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. Laney knew Patrick didn’t like the idea of anyone getting hurt. She sighed. She supposed with her new role he was really going to have to get over that.
“And then the rest of us will head to the entrance of the Serapeum,” Victoria said. “Patrick and I will wait outside while you three retrieve the ring.”
“Right,” Laney said, drawing out the word. “About that part. How exactly do we find the ring?”
“You’re the ring bearer,” Victoria said. “You already know where it is. You just have to think about it.”
Laney stared back at her. “That’s it? I just need to think about it? I pretty much did that for the flight over here with no luck. Anything more specific?”
“The last ring bearer to touch the ring hid it in the necropolis. You need to focus on her, and then its location will be revealed to you.”
Laney felt five pairs of eyes watching her. She swallowed. “Right. Just get in touch with my inner ring bearer and find a mythical artifact that’s been hidden for nearly two thousand years.”
Victoria nodded.
Laney felt her stomach bottom out. “Sure. No problem.”
CHAPTER 50
Saqqara, Egypt
Dawn was an hour away. The sun’s light was just beginning to peek above the horizon. Laney stood on top of the hill, twenty-five kilometers from Giza, unable to believe she was here. Down below, Saqqara—the City of the Dead—lay still asleep.
The Serapeum of Saqqara was not the only Serapeum built in Egypt. Laney knew there was another one in Cairo. But the Serapeum here was much older, dating to at least 1,800 BC. As Laney had learned, the word “Serapeum” refers to any building dedicated to Serapis, a god invented in an effort to join the Greek and Egyptian gods together.
And this Serapeum, like some other important spots, had an avenue of one hundred sphinxes that heralded its entrance—although most of them were still buried. Laney imagined them covered in dirt, waiting to be awakened.
“You good?” Jake touched her shoulder.
She looked over at him. “Yeah. I’m just thinking about how this place was discovered.”
Jake smiled. “Go ahead, professor. Tell me.”
She laughed. “All right. It was the sphinxes that led to its discovery—by Auguste Mariette, back in 1850. He’d traveled to Egypt on behalf of the Louvre to find some Syrian and Coptic manuscripts. During his trip, he decided to search north of Saqqara.”
“Why north?”
“He’d read Strabo’s description of the Serapeum and had been intrigued. It took him very little time to find a small sphinx buried in the sand. Many of the descriptions of the Saqqara spoke of an avenue of sphinxes, reputed to be over a thousand meters long. A year of excavations later, he found the entrance.”
Jake gestured to the landscape. “And the rest of it?”
Laney glanced around. “Saqqara is a city of cemeteries. It contains dozens of tombs and burial sites. It’s a city of the dead.”
“That an official title?”
“Actually, it kind of is. And Saqqara isn’t even the only ‘City of the Dead’ in Egypt. There’s another one in Cairo.”
A shudder ran through her: the City of the Dead. What a horrible name. It sounded as if the dead rose at night, going about their business, only to be chased back to their graves at the first sign of light.
“It’s going to be okay, Lanes,” Jake said.
She nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Side by side, she and Jake walked. Laney struggled to feel some sign of recognition. Helen of Troy had been here. Shouldn’t she feel something?
Laney strained to feel some connection to that old life, something that would prove to her that what Victoria had said was true. But the only memories she could come up with were of the times she had been here with her uncle and Drew.
She knew the ancient sarcophagi lay down deep just ahead. She’d told Jake the site was discovered back in 1850, but it was more accurate to say it had been re-discovered. Back in AD 24, the historian Strabo mentioned the Serapeum, calling it the greatest discovery in all of Egyptology.
He claimed that a thirteen-hundred-meter-long avenue of Sphinxes led the way to the entrance. He also mentioned that sandstorms could whip up at a moment’s notice and bury you before you reached the door. Even during Strabo’s time, the door had been buried deep in the sand, no longer in use.
Laney glanced ahead to where signs pointed the way to the entrance. She knew that, as a result of the massive decade-long restoration, the site was now home to a temperature-controlled environment, and each sarcophagus was secured by a metal vaulted skeleton that kept the rock above it from crumbling. A wooden floor had also been added for the comfort and safety of the necropolis’s visitors.
She followed Henry and Victoria through the sandy ground. Patrick and Jake were on either side of her, yet she felt alone. The burden of this outing was on her, and her alone.
Laney felt a chill despite the warmth of the air. Panic rose within her. Because she knew it wasn’t just this outing that was her responsibility. If Victoria was right, nothing less than the entire future of humanity lay at her feet.
Laney took a couple of deep breaths. Don’t think about all that. One thing at a time.
She could barely make out the entrance of the Serapeum in the dim light. Was Victoria right? Was this an ancient burial ground for the Fallen?
In her own fights with the Fallen, it was only through modern weapons—automatic weapons no less—that they had been able to kill them. Laney knew that that was because those weapons had the power to shred the heart before the Fallen could heal.
In ancient times, there was no equivalent. There had been no weapon in existence that could harm a Fallen so quickly and so thoroughly that the Fallen could not recover from their injury. Weapons, no matter how strong, were simply too slow in delivering their injury. Helen had found a way around that.
And she had the ring, a voice whispered inside her mind. A weapon more powerful than any gun.
Laney watched Henry help Victoria over the uneven ground. Laney didn’t think Victoria needed the help, not really. If there was one word she would use to describe Victoria, it was strong. Maybe not physically, but there was an inner strength that shone through her. Where did that come from?
Behind her, Laney could just make out the shadow of the step pyramid of Djoser, built by Imhotep. Reputed to be an incredible healer, able to coax medicines from plants and other natural remedies, Imhotep had been deified as a god, and you might believe it based on the grand structure he built.
The two-hundred-and-four-foot pyramid was alleged to have been the tallest building of its time back in 2041 BC. It was an incredible undertaking. What type of intelligence did it take to construct such a building? The world’s first step pyramid.
Laney smiled. At least, first that we know of. Laney had learned that, if anything, more history was lost than was uncovered.
Her smile dimmed. Was Imhotep a Fallen too?
She glanced ahead to where the entrance of the Serapeum was just barely visible. Walls of packed sand towered over the sides of the path leading to its entrance. Laney knew that just beyond that entrance, the twenty-four sarcophagi lay quietly waiting.
The site continued to baffle archaeologists in multiple ways. First, no one knew how the granite necessary for the structures had been imported. Each coffin weighed an incredible seventy tons. Collectively, that meant that whoever had built it had to move sixteen hundred tons—over three million pounds—of granite. How on earth had they transported that much weight?
That wasn’t the end of the bafflement, though. The passageways of the Serapeum were too narrow for the sarcophagi to have been moved through them using simple manpower. There simply wasn’t enough room to fit all the people necessary to move it.
And they didn’t have machines capable of moving them back then. In fact, even today, one of the twenty-four sarcophagi lay in th
e middle of one of the paths of the Serapeum below. That was as far as one team of scientists had been able to move it—with all of modern man’s tools at his disposal.
Doubts flooded Laney. Her predecessor was brilliant, strong, and fierce. How was she ever going to measure up?
Her eyes drifted back to Victoria; they seemed to be drawn to the older woman time and time again. Who was she, really? Where did all her knowledge come from?
Laney shook her head. Her biological mother was obviously the keeper of many secrets. But now wasn’t the time to push that issue. Maybe when this latest adventure was over, she could sit her down for some answers.
“This way.” Victoria said, leading the way down the hill. Jake and Henry followed in her wake.
Patrick waited for Laney to catch up with him. He took Laney’s hand when she came abreast of him. “Ready?”
She nodded, taking a breath. Time to see if all this destiny talk was real.
CHAPTER 51
They stopped a quarter of a mile from the path to the necropolis. Laney looked around. Not much had changed since she was last here. Up ahead was the path that wound down into the Serapeum. Nothing stirred, not even the air.
Patrick glanced at her and she nodded. “I’m good.”
He started down the path. Henry followed behind with his mother, taking her hand when she stumbled. Laney watched the interaction from behind.
“What?” Jake asked.
“I didn’t say anything,” Laney said.
“No, but you thought something. What was it?”
Laney sighed. She never could seem to hide anything from Jake. “It’s nothing. I just—” She paused. “Henry’s a good son. And they seem to have a good relationship, despite everything she’s put him through.”
“And?” Jake prodded.
“And I can’t help but wonder what my life would have been like if I had grown up with both of them. A big brother. A living mother. Don’t get me wrong. I love Uncle Patrick. I wouldn’t trade him for anything. I just can’t help but wonder if fate had twisted a different way, what I would have been like.”
Jake pulled her to a stop, tipping her chin up to look in her eyes. “You would have been you. I don’t think a different upbringing would have changed that. You would still be strong, defiant, stubborn—and amazing.”
Laney felt a lump in her throat. She liked his words, but she knew it wasn’t entirely true. A person’s environment had a lot to do with the person they turned into. She leaned into Jake. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I am so glad I did it.”
“Right back at you.” Jake leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
Hand in hand, they continued forward to where Victoria and Henry had stopped twenty feet ahead.
Victoria met Laney’s eyes as she and Jake joined them. Laney averted her eyes, though, looking instead at the walls of sand on either side of them. Somewhere under there the sphinxes lay sleeping. She glanced down toward the entrance. She could barely make it out even though it was only a hundred feet away.
Henry turned to Jake and Patrick. “Let’s go make sure everything’s clear. Laney, can you and Victoria wait here?”
Laney nodded as the three men set off down the path.
“You care about Jake a great deal,” Victoria said, once they were alone.
Laney looked over at her and saw—actually, she wasn’t sure what kind of expression it was. Hopeful, maybe.
But Laney didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t sure she was ready to share anything personal with Victoria yet. But then she remembered her conversation with Kati and her promise.
She looked back at Victoria, who was still staring at her with those strange eyes. “He’s everything,” she said simply.
Victoria nodded. “I’m glad you have him. He’s a good man. He reminds me of your father.”
Surprised, Laney darted a glance at her. She was about to speak when Victoria nodded toward the path. “I think we’re good.”
Laney glanced over at where Patrick stepped out of the entrance, waving for them to come.
Laney and Victoria made their way over to them.
“All good?” Laney asked.
Patrick nodded. “Yes. Henry and Jake just went inside to check it out and turn on the lights.”
As if summoned by their names, the two men reappeared.
“It’s quiet.” Jake looked at Laney. “Are you ready?”
Laney nodded, trying to put some enthusiasm in her voice. “Let’s go find us a ring.”
CHAPTER 52
Laney, Henry, and Jake watched as Patrick and Victoria made their way back up the path. The two of them had elected to stay outside, just in case their entrance had been noticed. Laney turned to the Serapeum, and flashed her light at the entrance only a few feet away.
She stopped right in front of it, her eyes looking for some sort of sign that they were in the right place. But there was nothing.
Not that there should be. Thousands of people had probably walked through this entrance over time.
Laney peered through the entryway. The lights in entryway were off but she could still make out a dim light further in.
“We kept the first bank of lights off. But about twenty feet in they’re on,” Jake said.
“Well, I guess it’s time to go.” Taking a deep breath, Laney stepped through the entrance. Immediately her foot got caught on the uneven ground, making her stumble. She landed unceremoniously on her butt.
“Ow,” she said, getting to her feet. If she was the destined one, her destiny sure didn’t seem to come with any grace. I bet Helen of Troy was a lot more graceful.
Henry followed her in, reaching down to help pull her up. “You okay?”
“Only hurt my pride,” Laney said, dusting off her pants.
Twenty feet in, they all switched off their flashlights, not needing them with the exhibit lights. And what an exhibit. Pictures of the dig lined the walls. They were in only the front entryway and already Laney had goose bumps.
She knew up ahead the path turned to the right and that the resting place for the sarcophagi was actually split into two separate areas. There were twelve sarcophagi, six on each side, at the beginning of the path, followed by another small hallway, and then the remaining twelve sarcophagi.
They moved ahead, turning into the main area of the exhibit. Here, the floor was solid wood, and the first twelve sarcophagi lined the sides of the path, each in its own carved niche in the rock wall. Up ahead, the light illuminated the second portion of the path, which held the remaining sarcophagi.
“You weren’t kidding about the size of these things.” Jake stood next to one, gazing up. The sarcophagus was another four feet taller than him. Henry walked up to another one; the sarcophagus towered over him as well.
Seventy tons of hewn granite, placed within its own arched niche. The metal skeleton above each sarcophagus held the ancient ground at bay. It also gave the space an almost alien look, as if they were on some weird spaceship.
Laney knew the containers were perfectly constructed, with ninety-degree angles inside. The lids fit perfectly on top of the bases, not a whisper of air escaping. She shuddered, imagining being trapped inside, no air. Not an easy way to die.
Although Laney had been here before, it still felt eerie. She supposed it was the fact that it was night, but still, the light was the same regardless of the time of day: there was no natural sunlight in here.
“It’s the stillness,” Laney whispered.
“What’s that?” Henry asked.
“I was trying to figure out why it’s so creepy. It’s the quiet. Last time I was here, there were workers, people milling about, lots of noise. Right now, it feels like we’re the only people on earth.”
Jake walked over to her and squeezed her hand. “So where do we start?”
Laney glanced up at him. “I’m not sure.”
Henry’s voice was low. “You know, Laney. You just have to remember.”
You
all make it sound so simple. She had been trying—the whole plane ride over here. And then again all through the night.
If Victoria was right and she was the ring bearer, shouldn’t this be as easy as they all made it sound? Shouldn’t she be able to tap into the memory with ease?
But that wasn’t the case. She didn’t even know whom to focus on. She’d dreamed of Joan of Arc, Helen of Troy, Makeda, and a half dozen other women. Who was the last one to hold the ring?
“Okay. I know I’m supposed have this great emotional connection to my past . . .”—Laney struggled for the right word—“. . . selves. But how about if we start logically? Helen lived around 1,500 BC, and Solomon around 1,000 BC—which would be when Makeda took the ring from him. Amaris was the student of Hypatia, who was the last librarian of Alexandria, around AD 600.”
“Wait—Hypatia?” Henry asked.
“Oh, right. It was actually one of my first dreams. Although I’ve had a few others since then about her. And the dreams weren’t about Hypatia, exactly. They were about this young girl. She was a student of Hypatia and Hypatia wanted—”
Laney looked up, her eyes going wide. “Hypatia gave her something from the library to hide. A small something. She’s the one.”
“You’re sure?” Henry asked.
Laney nodded. “Actually, I’m positive.” Amaris. It had to be. It made the most sense. She smiled and looked over at Jake and Henry.
They looked back at her expectantly and her smile dimmed.
She sighed. “How about you two look somewhere else? You’re making me feel awfully self-conscious.”
Jake gave her a small smile, tapping Henry on the shoulder. “Come on, Henry. Let’s go check out the pictures back at the entrance.”
Laney waited until they’d disappeared down the pathway. She let out a breath, shaking out her arms, rolling her neck. “Okay. I’m the ring bearer, destined to find the ring, fight the Fallen, and save the world.”