The Cult of Osiris

by Andy McDermott

  Eddie directed his torch beam into the darkness. 'It's big/ he said. Deep, too. A shaft?' Nina asked.

  Right on.' He cautiously advanced on to a little ledge. The shaft's ceiling was about thirty feet overhead, and below it dropped out of sight beyond the range of his light. Two large pipes made from hand-beaten sheets of oxidised copper ran down the height of the far wall, on which was painted a giant female figure, but he was more interested in another object - a long stone beam, extending across the shaft to another ledge on the far side.

  That doesn't look safe,' said Nina. The beam was less than a foot wide, and precariously perched.

  Eddie moved to get a better look at the slab's sides. 'You're not kidding. Look at them.' He illuminated the far end, revealing thick carved protrusions and also mechanisms built into the opposite ledge - two large stone cogwheels.

  Metal shone dully in Nina's flashlight beam as she directed it above the cogs. They're connected to something up there.' A large cylindrical piece of stone hung on a chain from a pulley.

  Think we found our Lady of Tremblings,' said Eddie. 'The weight drops down on the chain and turns the cogs - and they bang against those lumps on the bridge and make it shake.'

  'So what sets it off?' Macy asked.

  Nina smiled grimly. 'We do. There must be a trigger on the bridge - too much weight, and there's a whole lotta shakin' going on.'

  How do we get across, then?

  By holding on really tight,' said Eddie, taking a rope from his pack. There's only so much chain, so once the weight gets to the end, it'll stop. If I tie myself to the bridge, I should be okay.'

  Nina wasn't so sure. And what if the entire bridge falls and takes you with it?

  Then I'll die like Captain Kirk!' Seeing that she was still unhappy, he went on, 'It's either that or stand here wishing we'd brought a twenty-foot plank.

  You'd better hold on really, really tight, okay?'

  Eddie looped the rope's end round the bridge, then tied it to his body. Okay, here we go,' he muttered, putting a wary foot on the slab.

  Nothing happened. It seemed secure and solid. Kneeling, he pushed the rope a couple of feet across the span before crawling to catch up, then repeating the process. Nina watched nervously.

  Halfway across, three-quarters . . .

  The slab shifted.

  Oh, shit,' he gasped, clinging tightly to the stone as the chain rattled— And stopped, the links chinking before falling silent. What happened?' an anxious Nina called.

  He raised his head. Dunno, but I'm happy about it!' He quickly crossed the last few feet, then untied himself and looked round. A large crack ran up one wall. Several chunks of stone had broken loose, and one had come to rest wedged beneath a cogwheel's tooth, preventing it from turning. He tested the stone to see if it was secure. It moved slightly, but the weight bearing down on it held it in place.

  Crawl across one at a time,' he said. 'And slowly.

  Nina crossed first, followed by Macy. Earthquake damage?' Nina mused, examining the crack. 'Or maybe it'sjust structural stress/

  Egyptian builders,' Eddie joked, helping Macy up.

  As opposed to British builders?' she said indignantly. What have you got that's stood up for thousands of years?'

  Stonehenge?

  She pouted. Okay, I'll give you that. But it's still not as cool as the pyramids!

  Nina saw another descending passage beyond the exit, this one with a sloping floor rather than steps. What was in the next srif?

  The Lake of Fire,' Macy remembered. 'Or the Devourer by Fire.'

  Either way, fire,' said Eddie. 'Great. Just what we want in a confined space.'

  The last trap was broken,' Nina said, indicating the rock jamming the mechanism. Maybe we'll get lucky again.

  He groaned as he started down the slope. 'Why'd you have to say that? You've just jinxed it!'

  The incline was steep enough to be awkward, slowing their progress. The passage made more ninety-degree turns; Nina realised their descent followed a roughly spiral path, making her wonder if the copper pipes in the shaft were connected to another chamber below. Eventually, more ornate pillars marked another room.

  Eddie sniffed the air. Funny smell. Not sure what, but I don't like it.'

  He illuminated the chamber. It was large and rectangular with another exit at the far end, the walls sloping inwards to the roof about fifteen feet above. There were several holes in the ceiling. One of them was large and chimney-like, but it was the smaller ones that immediately made him suspicious: something was clearly supposed to drop out of them.

  Except for a relief of a greyhound-faced god watching from one wall, the only objects in the room were several large globe-shaped copper bowls near the entrance. Directly ahead was a square hole in the dusty floor, about three feet across, which turned out to be a pool of some liquid; there was a matching pool by the far doorway. The rest of the floor between the two pools was fractionally lower than the section where they were standing, the perfectly flat expanse stretching the entire width of the chamber.

  Oh, something is so wrong with this picture,' Nina said. It was obviously another booby trap, but she couldn't see the danger. Where's the fire?'

  Maybe it went out,' Macy offered hopefully, advancing for a better look at the snarling god.

  Stay still,' Eddie warned as he crouched by the pool and hesitantly dipped a finger in the liquid. 'Just water.' He shone his torch into it, noticing that the pool was only walled on three sides.

  Four feet deep, maybe. Looks like it connects to the hole at the other end.' A tunnel?' said Nina. 'Weird. Why not just walk across?'

  You really think it's going to be that easy?

  Not even for o second. What's that?' She turned her flashlight to something between the hole and the lowered area, a bow-taut length of fine black twine running from floor to ceiling.

  Something I'm not planning on touching,' said Eddie. He directed his light into the tunnel. It's threaded across it. You want to go through, you've got to break it'

  Which I think would be an extraordinarily bad idea, don't you?' Her attention switched to the expanse at the room's centre, where she noticed more threads reaching up to the ceiling -and an absence of something. 'You see what's missing?'

  What?' Macy asked, moving to the edge of the small step.

  Gaps. There aren't any lines marking the edges of different slabs. It's like one giant block of stone/

  Eddie examined the walls. 'Biggest blocks here look about six feet by ten. But that floor's easily thirty feet long. It can't be all one slab, can it?'

  I don't see how.' Nina looked round - to see Macy about to take an experimental step. 'No, wait—'

  Macy put her foot down on the floor - and it went through it.

  She yelped, almost pitching forward before Nina grabbed her. 'What the helf?' Macy gasped as she hopped back, glutinous strands stretching from her boot's sole to the sluggishly rippling hole' in what a moment ago had looked like solid stone. She tried to scrape the substance off. Gross! What is this?

  Oil,' said Eddie, coming over. He dipped his hand into what was now revealed as a large pool, disguised beneath a layer of sand. The same thick goo dripped slowly off his fingers when he lifted them out. This crap's floating on top of the water, and then they sprinkled all this sand over it to make it look like part of the floor.'

  Nina looked up at the holes in the ceiling. And I bet if you break those threads, something up there catches light and drops into the oil. Whoomph! Roasted robbers.'

  Macy rubbed her sole across the floor, disgusted. So how do you get across without setting off the trap?'

  Swim under it,' said Eddie, pointing at the water pool, which was clear of the oil. The fire'11 only be on the surface.

  It can't be that easy,' Nina said, regarding the faux floor with suspicion. She looked round at the odd copper bowls, and shone her light into one. Aha.

  What is it?' asked Macy.

  There's something inside.' Nina
reached into the globe and gripped a handle fixed to its bottom - or, she realised as she lifted it up, its top. 'Know what I think this is?' She lowered it over her head until it touched her shoulders. 'It's a diving helmet!' she announced, voice echoing.

  Eddie knocked on it, drawing a yip of complaint. You won't get much air in there.'

  She lifted it again. 'You don't need to. Just enough to get across.' She gestured at the pool. I don't think the holes are connected by a tunnel - they're just ways to get in and out of the pool without touching the oil. Once the rim of this thing is under the surface there'll be air trapped inside it so you can breathe, and then as long as you don't raise it high enough to let in any oil you won't get burned. Then you go through the tunnel into the water hole at the other end, climb out, and hey! You're across.'

  Eddie sceptically examined another globe. 'It's too thin to keep the heat out for long.

  It's the only way to get across without being fried. I'm pretty sure there'll be something to stop people just swimming straight there under the oil.' She held up the primitive helmet. I don't think we have a choice.'

  Eddie made an aggrieved noise as he shook his head, but acquiesced. Okay. But I'll go first.'

  No, I will,' Nina insisted. Tf there are any obstacles under there and I bang into them, I'll need you to tell me which way to go.'

  Are you sure about this?

  No,' she admitted, going to the water pool. She hesitantly dipped a foot under the surface, then steeled herself and slipped all the way in. 'Oh, ew. I just realised this water's been sitting here for thousands of years.'

  Just don't drink it,' said Eddie. 'Although you could say that about a/!y water in Egypt!'

  Nina carefully crouched until her head was just above the surface, then reached up to take the helmet from Eddie, gripping the internal handle firmly.

  Last chance to let me go instead,' Eddie said.

  I'll be fine,' she replied as he gave her the globe. 'Hopefully.' Bringing it down to rest on her shoulders, she submerged.

  The helmet took a surprising amount of effort to hold down, wanting to float. The water level rose alarmingly as the air inside was compressed, but stopped just short of her nostrils. Acutely aware of her limited oxygen supply, she dropped as low as she could and shuffled into the tunnel. The helmet scraped against its ceiling.

  Something tugged across her chest, a momentary resistance . . . then it was gone.

  She had broken the thread.

  Eddie and Macy reacted in alarm as a scraping sound echoed from overhead. What is it?' Macy asked, trying to pinpoint the source.

  Sounds like a lighter,' Eddie began, before the sound's meaning struck him. 'Shit! Nina, you're going to have a fire any second!'

  He stared at the ceiling in horror as the sound spread, ancient rollers grinding against metal, producing sparks . . .

  Lights flared in the small holes.

  Something dropped from one, a wad of cloth trailing a thin line of grey smoke. Only a small piece of it had caught light, the glow barely more than an ember . . .

  But it was enough.

  The cloth hit the surface, the dusty oil rippling around it. For a moment nothing happened -then a flame leapt up, rapidly expanding outwards. More pieces of cloth fell. Many were unlit, the sparks not having caught the material, but it only needed a few for the surface of the entire pool to erupt.

  A lake of fire, just as the hieroglyphics had warned.

  And Nina was in it.

  She emerged from the short tunnel. The echo of her breathing and the almost total darkness were unnerving . . . but not nearly so much as the sudden light. The pool's floor lit up in rippling orange as the floating oil ignited - and she almost immediately felt the heat, the handle she was clutching warming with alarming speed.

  Oh, shit. Big mistake. Huge,' she gasped. Forced to crouch, the best she could manage was an awkward waddle, the water slowing her movements to a slow-motion nightmare.

  But this was no nightmare. It was real.

  Eddie watched, appalled, as fire surrounded the slowly moving globe. Oil had stuck to it when Nina surfaced, and that too caught light, turning the helmet into a spherical torch. 'Jesus! Nina, turn round! Get back in the tunnel!

  But she could barely hear him, the crackle of flames consuming all other sounds. Filled with fear, she pressed on. The pool was only thirty feet long. It wouldn't take long to cross.

  Would it?

  Another step, then another. Water lapped at her nostrils, making her splutter. Glancing through the globe's open bottom, she noticed markings on the floor. Hieroglyphs, the Eye of Osiris among them. They almost certainly served a purpose, but she had no time to think what it might be.

  The heat coming through the handle was becoming uncomfortable. Not painful, yet - but it wouldn't take long—

  The helmet clanged against something.

  Shocked, Nina almost let go of the globe. She tugged it back down and groped ahead with her other hand, finding a stone block that rose almost to the surface. As she'd feared, the pyramid's builders had ensured that nobody could simply swim straight across below the fire.

  She moved crab-like to the left, feeling for the block's edge. Her fingers found nothing but flat stone. Another couple of steps. Still nothing. She forced herself to slow her breathing, trying to conserve her limited air.

  Oh, God, what if the Egyptians had built a maze? If she went into a dead end . . .

  There had to be a way through. If the builders had wanted to stop anyone from ever reaching Osiris's tomb, they could have filled in every tunnel. The 'right' people, the priests who turned a king into a god, would have known the path. She just had to find it.

  Quickly. Very quickly.

  The hieroglyphs . . .

  Holding her breath, she tipped her head down into the water. The markings on the floor shimmered in the hellish light from the surface. She had no idea what they said, but the Eye of Osiris was a repeated symbol, its dark iris staring blankly back at her from each.

  Except for one.

  That iris looked to the left, along the length of the stone slab.

  She followed it, hand still outstretched. The handle was now on the verge of actual pain. She flexed her fingers, trying to stave off the moment when it became too hot to bear.

  Her other hand was still rubbing against flat stone, stretching on, and on—

  A corner!

  She gripped the edge, pulling herself round it. A look down revealed another Eye of Osiris, this time gazing up' towards the chamber's far end. She went in that direction, quickening her pace. A second upward-looking eye, then one pointing her back to the right.

  The smoke from the burning oil swirled up the chimney, but the room's temperature was rising. Arms raised to shield his face from the heat, Eddie watched the globe slide through the flames on a seemingly random path. It was over halfway across, but there couldn't be much air left.

  Nina was now fixated entirely on following the trail of eyes. The air was becoming foul -and hot.

  Another eye. Forwards. Pain rose in her fingers. How much further? Her chest felt tighter with every breath, a groggy sensation washing over her.

  Still another eye, directing her to the right. Her fingers were burning, her trembling hand shaking the globe. A bubble of air escaped from the rim, water rising to replace it.

  The next eye looked up - and she caught a glimpse of shadow ahead.

  The other tunnel!

  She pulled the globe back below the surface, ducking as low as she could to force herself through the low passage. The helmet clanged like a bell as it bumped against the stone. Just a few more steps . . .

  The air in the globe popped it sharply upwards as Nina cleared the tunnel and her burned fingers lost their grip. Stagnant water hit her face. She coughed, trying to stand. Her legs had turned to rubber. She fell against one side of the little pool, hands scrabbling weakly for the edge above.

  They found it. She pulled herself up, whooping for b
reath as she cleared the surface. She made it!' Macy cried.

  Thank Christ,' Eddie said. 'Nina! Are you okay?'

  She made out his voice over the rumble and snap of fire. 'Super fine/ she croaked, giving him a weak thumbs-up. 'There's a path on the bottom of the pool. The Eyes of Osiris look in the direction you've got to go - just follow them!'

  Eddie rubbed an ear. Did you get that?'

  Follow the direction the Eyes of Osiris are looking on the pool floor,' Macy paraphrased. Couldn't you hear her?'

  My ears are getting a bit dodgy,' he admitted. Too many explosions.' He surveyed the pool. Nina's path was clearly visible, a weaving line of disturbed oil. 'Til go next,' he told Macy, giving her one of the helmets. 'You get in right behind me, and keep hold of my jacket.'

  He lowered himself into the pool, took several deep breaths to get more oxygen into his system, then submerged and duck-walked into the short tunnel. Macy hesitated, then slipped in behind him and took hold of hisjacket's hem.

  Knowing what to look for allowed them to make the crossing more quickly than Nina -though the handle inside Eddie's helmet was still painfully hot by the time he reached the other pool. He stood and tossed the globe aside, breathing deeply as Nina helped him out. Ow, bugger,' he said, swishing his scorched fingers in the water. 'And that was my wanking hand, too.'

  Oh, Eddie,' Nina chided. Anyway, I should be enough for you.' Well, we've got a fire, we just need a rug

  Macy burst out of the water. 'Oh, my God!' she gasped, glowering at the lake of flames. The floating oil had now been mostly consumed, the fire dying down. 'What kind of twisted bastard would think up something like that?'

  You have to wonder,' said Nina as she checked that her waterproof flashlight had lived up to its advertising. 'But you know what's really worrying me?

  What?'

  'There are five more arits to go.'

  I can't wait,' Eddie said sarcastically, running his hands over his clothes to squeeze out the water. 'So what's next?'

  The Lady of Rainstorms,' said Macy, following his example.