by Gary Gygax
"Aaah," the inspector groaned faintly as Inhetep touched him. "I'm charred all over, and those darts seemed to have boiled my insides, too. Leave me be—I'm finished, Magister. Get that rotten bastard for me. . . ."
"And I thought you knew something about heka," Inhetep admonished, only half joking. "When we've finished up with this affair, Tuhorus, you'd better take a sabbatical—a full year, I think. You need to develop more skill in dweomercraefting of whatever practice in which you have talent!" Inhetep reached inside the neck of his tunic and pulled out a silver chain upon which hung a little vial. He poured out tiny droplets of opalescent liquid, one for each portion of the chief inspector's maimed body. Head, neck, chest, abdomen, and then his four limbs. Eight drops. "Thoth is a healer, too, you know. I know the pain is terrible, but you'll soon begin to feel better. Just remain still and try to relax." He watched Tuhorus' face, and after a minute Setne saw a change, so he continued. "See? There is no more pain, and you can begin to breathe more deeply now." The detective managed a weak smile and a nod. "You saw where the enemy went? Can you tell me?"
"Yes," Tuhorus whispered. "He ran into the passage to the right—the one by the idol of Seker."
"Don't try to point it out, man! I can find it— there's only a pair to choose from. I'm going to follow that scum. I'm without my ankh, but it's now giving that serpent of perdition severe indigestion, I trust! If so, his wretched little kheri-heb will be at a low ebb of power, too."
"Wait for me," the inspector said, his voice now stronger.
The magister shook his head. "Not even a minute, and you'll need a few more before you're able to stand up and walk. I have to go now. Follow me as quickly as you feel strong enough to try, but don't push it. This will light your way," Inhetep added, putting a disc of pale onyx into Tuhorus' hand. "Think of seeing, and that will send forth a ray of moonlight." The policeman nodded, so Inhetep went off to where the dark tunnel mouth pierced the living rock of the Blood Temple's rearmost wall. A five-foot-wide passage ran straight into the stone, and the priest-wizard stalked ahead into that tunnel with deadly purpose.
After only a few steps, however, the floor turned from cold rock into a glowing bed of coals. The evil one was protecting himself ably. Magister Inhetep actually appreciated that, for the path of deadly heat led him directly to his adversary. Water to quench the coals would fill the way with scalding steam, but sand would smother them effectively. It was risky, of course, for one-foot depth of the rock overheard would be involved, but Inhetep didn't hesitate for a second. The bed of burning embers had hardly begun to eat away the soles of his sandals when he uttered the hekau needed to decompose the stone ceiling. Out went the magick, rock turned to grains of sand, and down rained a torrent to cover the coals. Inhetep was now covered with grit, and the sand underfoot made the going heavy, but he labored on as quickly as he could. Because he was contesting with a fellow kheri-heb, albeit one of Evil, countering the dweomers was easy—especially since his opponent was nowhere near his skill. It was almost the same as contending with a mirror image foe who was but half his strength.
"Wait! I'm coming!" Tuhorus shouted when he saw the hot glow from the passage and heard the magister saying something. He struggled erect and staggered to the place, getting a little stronger and more steady with each step, but still feeling weak and slow. By the time he managed to reach the place he thought Inhetep had called out, there was no more red light, so Tuhorus invoked the illumination of the little disc and waded along the sand-covered floor of the tunnel aided by its moonbeam ray. The footprints of his companion were distinctly visible as depressions in a line going straight away, ignoring the side passage to the left where no sand covered the floor.
The evil kheri-heb, one Vuhata na Tuphopis, however, had retreated all the way to the oblong chamber which was the sanctum of the Blood Temple's chief cleric—his own, in fact. Tuphopis hastened there at the first sign of able defense and offense on the part of his two adversaries. He had reason to do so. The whole of this place was no longer of interest to his associates. In fact, the high cleric and mage knew that they would cheerfully slay him to assure his silence, just as they had killed Prince Ram-f-amsu and the hem-neter-tepi, Chemres. He had been principally responsible for the death and sending of the Aufseru-zombie thereafter. His failure to kill the two detectives now hounding him spelled the evil kheri-heb's own demise, but only if he failed to escape.
Vuhata had to avoid not only Inhetep and Tuhorus, but he needed to get away from /Egypt as well, and quickly. Although he was half /Egyptian, his mother having been a kidnapped slave, the man thought of himself as a Darfurian. That was because there in his tribal lands the dark entity, Aapep, was lord of all. He had failed to promote the worship of the Greatest Evil Serpent here, but his work had not been entirely fruitless. There were converts, the sacrifices had strengthened Aapep, and Vuhata an Tuphopis had amassed a fortune in gold, magickal items, and precious gems. He had been discovered by the two men now seeking him because Vuhata had lingered in the subterranean temple to select, pack, and arrange for the transportation of his booty. Had he been able to bring it back safely to his homeland, all Darfur might have been brought under the control of his temple.
That was now out of the question, of course. Only that treasure which he could personally carry would go with him, which was why the priest-mage had so carefully sorted his wealth. Chests and bales awaiting portage would have to be sacrificed. Vuhata na Tuphopis would take with him all that which was most precious, and he would do so now. There awaited a secret escape route from the cul de sac room, beneath On to the Nylle, where a boat would take him upriver. Magick and the vastness of the Sudd, the great swamp, would assure none would successfully follow. It was merely a matter of gathering up the coffer and bundles he had selected, placing a last dweomer to obscure his route, and he would be off.
A groaning sound alerted Vuhata to the fact that someone was before the two massive doors which closed off his sanctuary from the complex of chambers and special cells for sacrificial victims which honeycombed the area behind the temple proper. Normally there would have been a half-dozen lesser clerics on hand to bolster defenses, but like Matiseth Chemres, all were dead. Vuhata na Tuphopis had personally slain the other five when he realized they would attack him—for reasons of greed or in obedience to others. Now he was alone, and nothing stood between him and the pursuing wizard-priest of Thoth other than the magickally closed valves.
"May the toad, Shogsoshog, devour you as you pass," the man hissed as he made hasty passes in the air, sprinkled powders upon the stone floor, and then used a reptile-skulled baton to trace a shape there. The malign native deities of
Darfur were intermixed freely with service to Aapep, of course, for such ones of Evil could be invoked to compliment one another. Thus he called upon one now. The twin panels bulged and the groaning came again. Magickal pressure from without was near to sundering the heka which barred them. Vuhata na Tuphopis uttered a word and blew. The colored powders on the floor were whisked up and away, gone. "We will meet again, Inhetep," he said, leaving that whisper lingering in the air so that the ur-kheri-heb would hear it and pause. Then would Snogsos-hog the toad-fiend strike, and perhaps the matter would end in the death of his foe. If not, no matter, for Vuhata would be well away by then. The servant of Aapep whirled, dashed to grab his burdens, and slipped out of the room into the narrow escape route. Even that was a maze, so that a close pursuer would blindly seek while the one familiar with the path could travel freely to safety. In seconds, Tuphopis was gone.
The crash of the falling sanctum doors actually masked the rasping and snickering closure sounds of the pivoting stone which the evil kheri-heb shut behind him in his escape. Because the magister hadn't his ankh, he had no option but to move ahead boldly, for there was no fast means to discover traps his foe might have placed in the short corridor. However, the two doors had fallen inside, and their panels provided him with some safety. No pit, at least, could claim him.
Inhetep stepped lightly onto one of the doors and bounded ahead to cover the ten feet in two strides. The toad-fiend materialized, splintering the thick wood as if it sought to swallow the man alive, but it was a fraction too late.
With a quick motion, the priest-wizard summoned a creature inimical to Shogsoshog, a cranelike being from Thoth's own realms. The great bird appeared instantly and struck at the fiend while Inhetep moved on further into the depths of the oval chamber, keeping clear of the combat. The long bill of the crane struck and stabbed, wounding the toad-fiend severely, but there was no hope in the contest, for Shogsoshog was an entity of great power, a demigod in its own right. The bird-being hurt it, but Shogsoshog shrugged off the punishment and hopped over to finish the battle. It croaked horribly as the bill pierced it in its soft belly, then came down to crush the crane, sending venom into the bird-creature's body with the many poisonous fangs in its mouth. The struggle ended then, and Shogsoshog devoured its foe with a single gulp.
By then Magister Inhetep had discovered that the place was devoid of the one who had fled to it. He turned back and prepared to fight the fiend. Shogsoshog grinned, for he knew the priest-wizard was lacking in reserves of heka. No protective aura shone forth. "Your spirit and soul," it croaked eerily, "will be tasty morsels to satisfy me."
At that moment, Chief Tuhorus came around the corner. He was nearly recovered by now, and his sword was ready. He used both hands to wield the leaf-shaped length of weapon, slicing the toad-fiend's spine from mid-back to the dorsal ending of its body. "Back to your nether pits!" he cried as he struck.
"Amazing!" his comrade said a second later as he stared at the empty place where Shogsoshog had squatted just before. "You sent it down to its own foul realm," Inhetep said as he looked at the policeman with new respect.
"The sword, Magister, the sword," Tuhorus barked as he hurried to where the ur-kheri-heb stood. "The weapon had greater heka bound in its metal than I imagined."
"Lucky for both of us, I think. We'll have to examine it later. Right now we must discover the means of egress the Darfurian used to escape us."
"You're certain of that?"
"Oh, yes. He's none other than Vuhata na Tuphopis, the vilest servant of the serpent-drake in all Darfur—and that's saying a lot, Tuhorus."
"I referred to his whereabouts."
"He was here right enough. He used a casting to hold fast the doors, then escaped by means of a concealed exit. Observe the scattered treasures and mound of abandoned loot. The fool gives away the location of the secret passage," the magister said as he strode to the place where the riches were spilled. "This bit of curving wall is closest to the only cleared space at this end of the chamber. He might as well have left the way open."
Tuhorus moved to assist the magister in his search for the triggering mechanism to the stone panel which hid a passageway. "This hole is where the catch must be," he cried.
Inhetep used his dagger and there was a metallic click. He shoved, and the seemingly solid rock moved to reveal a two-foot-wide opening. They entered immediately, the magister leading. "Use your moondisc, Chief Inspector. Well need that light." Tuhorus complied, and the two men began to explore the short series of dead-end adits which were the protective feature of the escape maze.
"Another secret doorway, Magister?"
"No, I doubt that very much. Anyone fleeing would not want to have to risk operating another—too complex and time consuming. The builders hoped to make pursuers stop and consider that, though. Ignore these blind alleys and look for a plain route." After several false turns, they discovered the true passage and followed it at a trot.
"Something ahead," Tuhorus panted. "A discarded bundle?"
"Not quite, Inspector," breathed Inhetep. He approached the object. "We have the kheri-heb of Aapep, Vuhat na Tuphopis .. . dead!"
—= 16 ——
UNMASKING THE EVIL
The dead man stared at them with eyes which had seen hell. "By all the gods, Inhetep! He looks just as did the governor and Matiseth Chemres!"
"Indeed, Tuhorus. That should tell you something—it does me. Have a look ahead. Is there anything there?"
The policeman stepped over the body and went a few score paces off along the underground route which Tuphopis had thought would lead to his freedom, not sudden death. "This tunnel had a subtle curvature to it, Magister," he called back. "I think its builders made it so in order to keep the pursued out of view of the pursuers, eh?"
"Come on back then, Tuhorus. You're undoubtedly right, and we have urgent need to get out of here quickly. I don't wish to be waylaid as was this man." The words echoed in the passage, fading quickly but emphasizing their setting in a most menacing manner. The detective returned with haste, as if he too were growing nervous. "We'll leave the corpse as it is, Tuhorus, but help me to strip it of valuables. We'll not leave such a fortune as this to his killer." Inhetep freed a large pouch from the dead kheri-heb's body.
"Where to, then?" querried the chief inspector. "Can we return—"
"Sssh! Let's speak in a whisper," Inhetep hissed. "The assassin might lurk nearby still. Have your blade ready, my friend. Our only safe exit now is along this very way the Darfurian meant to follow. The Blood Temple's avenue is surely closed to us, for I haven't the talisman to manage it."
Tuhorus nodded, not even daring a whisper. The two picked up the things the dead priest-mage had been carrying and began to walk rapidly off. Several straight side passages offered themselves, but Inhetep stayed on the curving route, assuming that it was the single and most direct way to the surface. After about a quarter-hour's brisk walking, they came to a flight of steps which stretched upward. "We've nearly made it, Chief Inspector. Go up and get that trapdoor open. I'll stay here to see that nothing assails us when we least expect it."
"Got it, Inhetep," the policeman called down a minute later. "We're in a ruined building, and dawn's just breaking outside!"
The ur-kheri-heb backed cautiously up the steps, watching the tunnel. No feral eyes glowed, no sound or movement came. They had been able, or allowed to leave unmolested. That didn't surprise the magister, either. Tuphopis' death had been all his assailant was equipped for. "Let's pile some rubble atop the trapdoor," he snapped, tossing a pair of bricks on it as he spoke. "I want to be certain that nobody will follow us from there."
"Someone was trailing us?"
"I am nearly positive of it, Tuhorus. The one who struck down the kheri-heb of Aapep would have stayed near to spy on us."
"Yakeem the Dahlikil?"
"None other. That fact alone now ties the whole thing up quite neatly. Let's get back to the Reedfields. I'll need fresh clothing, and I must get another ankh—thank Thoth that the gathering of kheri-hebu is here in On, Tuhorus. You'll need some proper attire too, for we must look our best when we lay the master criminal by his heels, Chief Inspector, don't you agree?"
Knowing that he'd get nothing more from the utchat-neb, Tuhorus shrugged and remained silent. It irked him a little that the magister seemed so confident of the resolution of this affair—and that he was still uncertain. After they had heaped a mound of rubble over the exit, the two went outside, walked along the riverbank to make certain that they would be able to locate the place again, and then plunged into the city. The policeman found a carter and hired him in order to get to his own residence quickly. "An hour or so, Inhetep, and I'll be back."
"Excellent, my friend," the magister called back. "I'll be ready."
Xonaapi and Subaltern Bekin-Tettu were sitting in the inn's main lounge when he entered the building. "What? You two still up? What are you sitting here for?"
The young guardsman stood up and took a nervous step in the magister's direction. Then he stopped, fidgeted, and looked back at the golden-haired girl. "Well?" Xonaapi urged, "Tell him!"
"You two have found true love," Inhetep supplied with a solemn expression.
"How did you guess?" asked the dumbfounded subaltern, his eyes wide.
The u
r-kheri-heb smiled stiffly in order to hide a laugh. "Ahem! I ... I am a wizard, you know." Both of the young people started to speak, but Setne held up a long-fingered hand. "Stop. Say nothing. It is all too clear to me! Go. May you find the great happiness you expect. I will ... manage. You have my blessing," he concluded, turning away.
"You mean that?" querried Bekin-Tettu.
Back still turned, the priest-wizard mumbled, "May the Great Thoth aid and guide you, children. I do mean what I said."
"He is a fine fellow," the young officer said as he led the now vaguely reluctant Xonaapi from the inn.
"I saw his shoulders quiver," she responded. "He was crying, I know." She hesitated a moment, debating with herself. The she looked at the young officer and smiled. "But he will get over the fact that you won me," Xonappi told him, hugging the subaltern possessively as they strolled off into the bright day.
Not caring if early risers heard him, Magister Inhetep allowed his booming laughter to roll forth as he went into his suite. "I am indeed a fortunate fellow!" he cried once inside, wiping tears from his eyes and grinning still. "The only problem left in this whole case has been resolved!" Then he hastened to the bath to get ready for the real work still ahead.
When Tuhorus arrived, they detoured to the place where the convocation of priest-mages was to be held. Inhetep acquired what he needed, and shortly thereafter the two of them hired an upriver barge. "We go to Innu, Inspector. There's where we lay this dirty business to rest."
"That's where you first spotted Yakeem," Tuhorus noted.
"Odd, isn't it? The city of On is the poor relation of the two. Yet Innu is the center of the web of evil which has been spun hereabouts of late, and your city lies like an insect caught by the strands."
"The Dahlikil is the spider?"
"Yes and no. He certainly moves along the lines of the web easily enough, but the bloated one at the middle is the greater evil and the true fabricator of the whole. But here we are, Chief Inspector Tuhorus. The quay there is nearest to the government buildings to which we must go. I think a call upon Prefect Pabar Ankh-ra is required."