Wardens of Eternity

by Courtney Allison Moulton

CHAPTER

  21

  I had waited eagerly on deck long before I saw my first glimpse of Abu Simbel. Our ferry approached the telltale mountainside, where at its feet wound the mighty Nile. As we rounded the mountain, I took in the glory of the colossi. Statues of Ramesses II and four gods seated in thrones protected the entrance of the Sun Temple. Just beyond it, the Temple of Nefertari welcomed us. This was the only temple in all of Egypt where the queen’s representation was equal in size and significance to the king. Nefertari had been that revered and one of a kind. Her noble likeness, depicted as the goddess Hathor, stood facing the sun along with five other figures.

  A steep river of sand flowing from above the cliffside separated the two temples, having not been entirely cleared from the excavation. Because there wasn’t enough land between the cliff and the river, the crew tethered our air ferry at the top of the mountain and released a ladder for us to climb down. The air was devilishly hot, and the wind blew only heat at my face. We all wore more kohl on our eyes than usual to protect them from the harsh sun. I lifted my hood over my hair and surveyed the endless expanse of desert before me. My home was a beautiful vision.

  Tariq handed everyone bundles of climbing gear and helped us get ready. I fitted my straps tightly and asked him to check my work. Falling to my death was far less illustrious than dying in battle. Not that I intended to do either. The funny thing about heights is you can’t predict your reaction to dangling hundreds of feet in the air until you’re actively dangling. My boots scraped the rock wall, and the tremendous pressure from the harness around my backside bit into my skin even through my layers. We were all tied together in one long chain of straps and harnesses.

  “Everyone always says don’t look down,” Sayer called from above me. “But it’s for good reason.”

  “Didn’t imagine you’d be afraid of heights, Medjai,” I teased him.

  “Not heights,” he corrected. “I’m afraid of my sister cutting the rope. Retribution for all the teasing I did growing up.”

  “Too easy!” Nasira bellowed. “I’m still plotting!”

  I laughed and continued my descent. When my boots touched soft sand, I breathed a sigh of relief and removed my harness. I didn’t wait for the rest of the Medjai to land and I wandered toward Nefertari’s temple, overwhelmed by emotion. It was as though I’d stepped back in time. They’d called this one the small temple, but the six sentinel statues stood as tall as my old tenement building. If they came to life, they could stomp me like a bug. Nefertari’s likeness wore the feathered and horned crown of the goddess of love, Hathor, symbolizing how fathomlessly her husband and all of Egypt had loved her.

  “The queen of kings,” Sayer said, stopping at my side.

  “Thank you,” I replied as regally as possible. “I am, aren’t I?”

  “Indisputably.”

  Cyrene marched past us and into the temple without stopping to admire the incredible relief. It would’ve been no surprise to hear she’d been here a thousand times before. If I recalled correctly, Sayer had mentioned she was quite the globetrotter. That kind of life sounded inimitable, and if I continued to train hard, I might get the chance she’d take me along with her. I craved adventure. I needed it like blood in my veins and air in my lungs. It wasn’t as though I wanted to leave an impact on the world. I wanted the world to leave an impact on me.

  Sayer’s hand on the small of my back reminded me of another craving. I needed love too. The kind of human connection I’d never had before. He was like me in every way, my equal. My match. Mine.

  He followed Cyrene toward the entrance and my eyes were glued to him.

  He was mine.

  He was my adventure.

  I entered the vestibule of Nefertari’s temple and found the interior to be a shock of cool air compared to the furious sun outside. I pushed the hood off my head and pulled down my scarf.

  “Tahen,” I cast, and an orb of netherlight formed in the air above my open palm, illuminating the temple’s beauty.

  The roof was held strong by six incredible pillars covered in hieroglyphs. Only faded traces of paint remained, but in my head, I imagined them covered in white plaster and their markings a striking splash of reds, yellows, blues, and greens. The vestibule was surprisingly short and led into an even smaller sanctuary. Treasure hunters would’ve assumed it empty, but they failed to understand the significance of the engravings covering the walls and the four statues carved into the sanctuary’s rear wall. Here, Hathor’s protection was ensured for Nefertari and Ramesses II. Having an immortal’s strength at your back was greater than any quantity of gold. I wondered if she’d had Hathor’s favor as I had the favor of Anubis.

  “What is it we’re looking for?” Tariq asked, certainly voicing what everyone else thought.

  “Clues,” Cyrene said. “Anything that might mention the sanctuary’s true purpose.”

  We scoured the chamber, looking over every inscription and painting on every last square inch of surface. I noticed how the beam of sunlight rose like the tide on the statues as the morning dragged on. Tangerine light crept closer and closer to their serene faces.

  Nasira hunched over a line of hieroglyphs, her tahen spell illuminating the inscription. “What about this? ‘Only her blood shall reveal the secret of her heart.’”

  “Heart?” Sayer asked, surprised. “The last canopic jar is supposed to be here, correct?”

  “I thought so,” Tariq said.

  Looking around, I considered the words, musing aloud, “Nefertari’s blood. My blood.”

  “Are you supposed to do something with it?” Nasira offered. She grimaced. “Bleed on something?”

  Sayer looked skeptical. “The ancients didn’t always intend their words to be taken literally.”

  “Perhaps they meant blood, as in relative, or specifically the scion, will unlock whatever is hidden,” I surmised. “Well, I’m here, whoever is listening. Now show me the secret. Please?”

  Nasira pinched my side. “I don’t believe anyone who could help us is listening.”

  “Your optimism will save us all,” I teased her.

  She shrugged. “I’m pragmatic.”

  No one seemed to have any ideas, and once my brain turned to scrambled eggs from all the translating, I exhaled and put my hands on my hips. I frowned and looked around me. Above the exit to the vestibule were several of Nefertari’s formal royal titles. The Great King’s Wife, the Lady of Two Lands, Sweet of Love, For Whom the Sun Shines . . .

  I paused and blinked. I looked behind me at the statues that had been slowly illuminated by the rising sun all morning.

  I thought of Rabaiya, the Amazigh woman’s words. “A queen’s heart shines in her eyes.”

  The sunlight was almost level with the painted eyes of Nefertari’s statue. I had an idea. To try it wouldn’t hurt anyone. The others wouldn’t even notice my left-field attempt. Still, there was a chance. I knew my numbers; I recognized when things started to add up.

  With a glance to my left and right, sure no one paid much attention to me, I slid one long stride into the center of the sanctuary and faced the rising sun. It warmed my chest beneath my clothing, then my chin, and then my eyes. A blinding flash of light flooded my vision.

  A deafening roar of sliding rock shook the sanctuary. The two center statues rattled, shaking free thousands of years’ worth of dust and cobwebs, and they sank into the stone floor. They disappeared, revealing a tunnel, leading into blackness.

  Stunned silence settled with the dust around us.

  “Who did that?” Cyrene asked, puzzled.

  Everyone looked at each other.

  “The sun had to meet my eyes,” I said, still shocked it had worked.

  “Well done,” Tariq praised. “There’s an interesting sun trick in Ramesses II’s temple as well. The sun shines on the sanctuary statues’ faces precisely two days a year. Supposedly it was designed purposefully to align with the equinoxes.”

  Nasira clapped a hand on my
shoulder. “Brilliant work, Ziva.”

  Cyrene’s tahen spell strengthened, and netherlight filled the narrow passage. We ventured forth, unsure of what lay ahead. In the darkness, I lost sense of time and distance. We could’ve walked a hundred miles and I’d never have known for sure.

  “Wait!” Sayer called from behind me. I turned, and he pointed above our heads. “There’s another inscription here.”

  I lifted my head, raised my netherlight orb, and found the hieroglyphs carved into a section of stone hanging from the tunnel’s ceiling. I read aloud, “If the seal is broken, all who pass the threshold will face the terrors of the world of the gods. Those who are not true to the Lady of Grace will find only monstrous death here.”

  “How delightful,” Nasira grumbled.

  “The ancients carved warnings into many tombs,” Cyrene said. “Don’t fear them. They’re meant to frighten off thieves.”

  I felt doubtful. “Why would it have targeted people who had no way of getting inside this passage? The seal needed me to break it.”

  Sayer nodded in agreement. “It could refer to Medjai who are or aren’t loyal to the queen.”

  “Then we have nothing to worry about, right?” I asked, hopeful.

  We continued, and the farther we walked, the denser the air became. Something else hung around our heads.

  “I sense magic,” I said, my voice tight with uncertainty.

  “As do I,” Tariq added.

  “There’s some sort of barrier here.” I reached out and my fingertips prickled with electricity as they brushed an invisible wall in front of us. My hand pushed through with no effort and no consequences. I turned to the others. “It’s safe to pass.”

  We crossed the magical veil and into a large chamber left untouched by time and raiders. Paintings covered the walls from floor to ceiling and the square columns were carved with Nefertari’s likeness. I stepped toward one to get a better look at the beautiful inscriptions, but a strange light grew in the chamber’s center only feet away from me.

  I froze. No one said a word. A shrill electric sound pierced my skull.

  A pool of eerie netherlight spread on the smooth stone floor. A large form emerged in the glow, rising through the floor as though the stone was water. Fine, glossy golden fur dappled with faint leopard spots sheathed a sleek, feline body that dropped into a muscle-flexing stretch, paws spreading and arching talons. Its cherubic girl’s face and round fuzzy ears were framed with black hair threaded with cobalt, carnelian, and gold. The beast was enormous; its wide emerald eyes, ringed with thick black lines, were level with mine. Its body was assuredly animal, but there was something in those eyes that whispered of cunning and acuity.

  It was no kriosphinx. Without a doubt, a true sphinx stared back at me. Its shadow stretched long across the floor. Braziers all around the chamber exploded with dancing flames of netherlight, casting an otherworldly glow across the faces painted on the walls.

  When its feminine, musical voice echoed through the ancient chamber, each word the distant, delicate press of a piano key, a chill swept through my bones. “You have come to die.”

  Nasira withdrew her asaya and extended it with a clack. “Never mind the warning of terrors of the netherworld and monstrous death,” she grumbled. “They are meant to scare people off.”

  “There are wiser occasions in which to be smug,” Cyrene grumbled, readying her own asaya.

  “Perhaps the next time we come across an ancient curse we heed it with a healthy respect?” Nasira suggested venomously.

  The sphinx’s human mouth opened, revealing not-so-human fangs. It roared, shaking the chamber floor. The muscles beneath its feline hide rippled and tensed. It launched, obsidian-sharp talons spread, and it slashed at the closest Medjai. Cyrene whirled, narrowly having her arm torn from the socket.

  The sphinx’s claws dug into the stone floor, catching its slide, and within a single bound, it met Cyrene again.

  “Sena!” the Medjai screamed, voice shredded, and her protective magical barrier stopped the sphinx.

  It reared onto its haunches and tore viciously at the spell with both huge paws.

  Nasira drove her asaya toward the sphinx’s ribcage, but she spun with a snarl, and charged. Sayer leapt between them and his taw spell collided with the sphinx. Her body slid across the floor, her talons dragging gouges into the stone. She was on him in an instant and with a slash, shredded his belted jacket. He screamed with pain and his knees hit the ground.

  I threw up my arm with all my strength. “Khet!” Fire exploded in a ring around me, splitting Sayer and the sphinx apart. She backpedaled, screeching, and turned her blinding green gaze to me.

  The vision of her roaring face through the flames was enough to give me nightmares. I hesitated with fear like a fool. Her power slammed into me, tossing me off my feet. My back slammed into the chamber wall with a crack and I crumpled to the ground.

  When I regained my sense, I lifted my head to watch the sphinx bring down Tariq. If this continued, we would all die. We were true to the queen, so then why are we being attacked? Perhaps we were supposed to prove our loyalty? I could think of only one spell to try, and it was a desperate move.

  I summoned my magic, igniting my spirit’s power, and I cried, “Sehar!”

  The sphinx paused, turning her bared teeth to me.

  “I stand before you without fear,” I declared. “I repel you. I lay you down!”

  She hissed, tail lashing with fury, and took a step backward. Then she settled to the floor on her belly, retracting her claws.

  I dared to walk toward the sphinx slowly with caution and confidence. “Through my veins flows the blood of your mistress, Nefertari. I am your mistress as well.”

  The violence fled the beast’s face and she watched me with a passive interest. I felt almost trapped in the sphinx’s endless emerald eyes as though they were divining crystals. If I searched them long enough, I might have uncovered the universe’s secrets.

  “Then you must forgive me, lady,” she said in the sweetest, most ethereal voice I’d ever heard. “I wish only to protect and serve the queen.”

  I looked around me, scanning the stunned faces of my friends. If I searched for directions from them, then it was a losing battle. Admittedly, I had no idea what I was doing. Sayer’s gaze captured mine and he gave me a supportive nod of his head, offering me courage to continue. If I made a mistake, the sphinx could take my head from my shoulders in one swing of her paw.

  “My name is Baket, lady,” she said to me. “May I ask yours?”

  “Ziva,” I replied.

  “I am yours, Lady Ziva,” Baket said. “Do you seek my treasure?”

  “All I seek is a necessary piece to Queen Nefertari’s resurrection,” I replied, choosing my words carefully. I was no treasure hunter or tomb raider and I didn’t want her to think me one.

  “Follow me.” Baket rose to her four feet and started toward the far end of the large chamber.

  Sayer caught up to me and remarked in a low voice, “Your surprises are endless.”

  I grinned at him. “Someone told me once brute strength isn’t always the answer when you’re up against something bigger and badder than you.”

  One corner of his mouth tugged into a smile. “Fair enough.”

  The sphinx led us through a vestibule and into another chamber with paintings on every last inch of the walls and ceiling. In the center of the room was a single rose granite pedestal. Atop it, glistened a gigantic uncut ruby the size of my fist, or rather, the size of a human heart.

  “What—what is this?” Cyrene sputtered.

  I was dazzled by the stone’s sparkling brilliance. Only her blood shall reveal the secret of her heart. Only something of the highest significance would have such a fearsome protector. “Her greatest treasure . . .” I murmured.

  “Yes, lady,” the sphinx said sweetly.

  “This is the queen’s heart,” Sayer whispered, astonishment hushing him. “The canopic jar isn
’t here at all.”

  “Then where could it be?” Tariq asked.

  “Is this a clue?” Nasira pointed to the wall behind the pedestal.

  Carved into rock was a clearly female figure raising a spherical object high over her head. The sun disk depicted in the sky showered rays of sunlight down on her and the ray which hit the sphere in her hand was refracted. The beam shot away from her and struck the chest of another female figure wearing the unmistakable vulture headdress of Nefertari. Her cartouche was carved next to her head.

  “I know what I have to do,” I said.

  I grabbed the ruby heart and we headed the way we came, with Baket following behind. Once we arrived at the passage entrance, I ran through the vestibule, praying we hadn’t taken all day to reach the sphinx’s lair. Outside in the soft sand, I took a great breath of fresh air and was relieved to see the sun had not yet set.

  “Please work,” I murmured, and raised the heart over my head.

  Sunlight warmed both my skin and the stone, and a moment later a flash blinded me. I turned my face away from the brightness and when it dimmed, I squinted to see what had happened. A red beam of light projected from the ruby and went seemingly on forever, or at least as far as I could see. Curious, I rotated the ruby, moved it around, held it behind me, raised it high—no matter which position I held it, the beam of light continued to point in the same direction.

  “I think it is literally guiding us toward our destination,” I said to Cyrene as she walked up beside me.

  “I think you’re right,” she replied. “Wonderful news.”

  “Do we take the air ferry and follow it?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “We can’t. The ferry routes don’t leave the Nile, and if we ran out of fuel out there we’d be stranded. The desert isn’t a very hospitable place, needless to say, even for us. We turn around. Head north to Aswan. We’ll continue by camel.”

  CHAPTER

  22

  The Nubian city of Aswan was neither as large nor as busy as Cairo, but one would never have known by glimpses of its train station and air and steamship ports. It served as the last major terminal between Egypt and Sudan, and the construction to the existing rock dam made travel more chaotic than usual. Feluccas drifted past scenic patios filled with potted flowers and palm trees on one side of the Nile and on the other, marshes filled with fishing birds and deeply fertile lowland.