“Trapped”
sequel to: “Peace”
by: ssdangel
Disclaimer: I do not own Ardeth Bay, Rick, Evy or Alex O’Connell, Jonathan Carnahan, Imhotep, Anck-su-namun, or any event relating to The Mummy or The Mummy Returns, Stephen Sommers does. The other characters are mine.
Rated: F18
Note: Amenemhet’s Pyramid (per aMAZEingart.com) – according to the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus, who was one of only two eyewitnesses to the Egyptian Labyrinth whose account has survived – a vast structure on the shores of a large lake located seven days’ journey up the Nile from the Pyramids at Giza (southeast of El Faiyum Oasis). Pharaoh Amenemhet III (19th century BC) built this mysterious labyrinth, sculpting the interior of his pyramid into a life-size maze hewn from stone, complete with secret sliding doors, false passageways, and hidden chambers. Nearby was a vast palace complex consisting of thousands of rooms and twelve great maze-like courtyards, presumably intended to keep out unwelcome visitors. The walls were covered with sculptures, and the pyramid, decorated with colossal figures, was connected to the palace by a subterranean passage. Herodotus emphatically claimed this complex was a marvel that eclipsed the Pyramids of Giza.
In general, a maze is considered a left-brain puzzle, multicursal, with false passages, many choices, and dead ends, some with many entrances and exits; and a labyrinth, a unicursal maze, is a single path that winds into the center of the structure, with no tricks, no dead-ends, and no intersecting paths. There are several types of mazes, and many mazes both ancient and modern, are a combination of types. The idea that labyrinths have a single path, though, arose only in the last century. In the ancient world, a labyrinth was an inextricable construction that was chaotic and confusing for those trapped within it. The mysterious Egyptian Labyrinth is the classic example of an ancient labyrinth. It is generally thought that the earliest mazes were actually architectural monuments built in
As I often do, I’ve taken liberties with what is known about Amenemhet’s pyramid and maze to suit my story.
Chapter One
Ardeth woke suddenly, a chill shivering through him. He laid there for a moment remembering why they were lying there on the pillows. They’d made love, as always intensely, passionately. He was still lying on his back, right where he was when they’d finished, when she’d finished with him. She was no longer straddling his body as she had been when she, her beautifully made body, a body that was made only for him, fit him so perfectly, caressed him, devoured him so wonderfully, had brought them to such exquisite orgasm. She was now lying on him, at some point having edged down his body, her body now wedged between his legs, her head on his stomach as if she’d been kissing down his body when she’d fallen asleep, her arms pushed under him, hugging his body. They were uncovered and were both shivering from the cold of the night.
He looked around as if checking to see that they were alone, knowing they had to be. The guards would have announced anyone wishing to enter, but then, no one would be up at that time of the night. He caressed her cheek with one hand as he combed the fingers of his other through her long soft thick hair, fanning it out, enjoying how it felt on his skin.
“Little One…” he whispered, trying to wake her without startling her. “Little One…” he whispered again, smiling when she moaned as she slowly woke. He could feel how cold she was and knew he had to get her to bed and warm her.
“It’s so cold…” she muttered as she woke, nuzzling her cheek against his stomach as she hugged him tightly.
“Yes, Little One…we should go to bed” he said as he slowly sat up, pulling her up into his arms. “We must be getting old, Little One. We used to be able to do that…”
“And more…”
“Yes, much more…and not tire so.”
“I know…but I did enjoy every minute of it” she said, a satisfied tone in her voice, an amazingly shy smile blushing over her face.
“As did I, my love” he said as he pushed himself up and carried her to their bedchamber.
“Yes…I love what you do to me.”
As they crawled under the covers, both sighing at the warmth, “And I look forward to what you will do to me in the morning” he said with a smile. He pulled her up onto him, wrapping his arms around her as she wiggled into her usual spot.
“Then we’d better get some sleep…we will both need all the energy we can muster” she giggled as she moved her thigh against him, giving him just a hint of what she would do to him in the morning.
<<<<*****>>>>
“I can’t believe how cold it is” Alex said with a shiver as he sat with Kalil and Za’id at the fire.
“You have grown soft living in the city, my friend” Kalil said. “Nights are always cold in the desert.”
“I know that…you forget I’ve lived here most of my life…and you’ve never felt cold until you’ve spend a winter in London. The damp and fog seem to work its way right through you. But you have to admit, it is colder than usual the last few nights.”
“Yes, it’s just the time of year.”
“Now I’m glad Marie opted to stay in the village with mom.”
“I know mother was very happy to see them, and Jacob. She’s been looking forward to seeing them for months.”
“I wish I’d stayed at home…” Za’id groused, knowing he would not have.
Daya was due in only a few weeks and Kalil had noticed he’d become quite anxious and grumpy lately. “I am sorry, my brother, but we will be home within the week…in plenty of time.”
“Yes, well, if I remember right you would not leave Becca alone for a minute when she got close.”
“Daya is not that close yet. We will be home before you know it…and knowing Daya, she will probably be late anyway.”
“I just worry about her…”
“I know…and I’m sorry I dragged you both out here” Alex cut in, “I was just so excited about this palace…and especially the pyramid. There’s nothing much left of the palace or the mazes that surrounded it…there were twelve, you know…just enough to make it interesting. If you stand in just the right spot, you can almost see what it was like then. But it’s the pyramid that’s so exciting. That earthquake last year created just the smallest opening there on the south side. We haven’t had time to work on it till recently.”
“So, you have not been inside yet?”
“Just inside the antechamber. It took a while to dig it out enough to know we actually had something there.”
“But you knew where you were digging…that it was Amenemhet’s pyramid?” Kalil asked. All Medjai knew the pyramid and the palace grounds. But they also knew that it had long been plundered and possibly damaged beyond access. Tomb raiders, after having spent much time and endured much frustration penetrating the tomb’s many defenses, had made their way to the burial chamber, and after stealing the treasure, had set Amenemhet’s mummified remains on fire, thus ripping his spirit from his peaceful afterlife, leaving him to haunt this place, his most prized creation.
“Oh yes…that’s what’s so exciting about this dig. The inside of the pyramid is one giant maze. Can you imagine even conceiving such a thing…and then designing it and actually making it work?”
“I would not have considered such a thing” Kalil said, not understanding the fascination with such things, and he was sure Za’id had even less interest, “…and we do not know how many of the traps and defenses of the maze are still intact.” Much like his father had, Kalil had studied everything they had on the palace and the maze and burial chambers inside the pyramid, which, all considered, was precious little. He had studied everything the Medjai had on just about everything, every tomb, every city, ancient and new, every pharaoh and king throughout the ages. He enjoyed reading and enjoyed talking to the old warriors of their tribe. They were great sources of information not found in books and scrolls and parchments. Much of their history and the history of
“Fascinating…isn’t it?” Alex said excitedly.
<<<<*****>>>>
Later, as he lay in his bedroll, Za’id couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about Daya. He missed his little nightly ritual of talking to his little one as he kissed and caressed Daya’s growing belly. He was quite sure they would have a boy as the baby was so active, though Daya was sure they would have a little girl. She teased that she was only so active because her father insisted on playing, enticing her into movement with his caresses and his deep voice. He smiled to himself as he thought that his caresses and his voice, especially his lips on her delicate skin also excited Daya, her body coming to life at his touch, even now as she grew so large wanting him to touch her everywhere, wanting his hands and his lips and his tongue on her. He had to tease her that it was actually her, and her insatiable need, that provoked their child into action, often keeping them both up late into the night. She was gloriously insatiable. He did love her body, though she complained that she was getting fat in all the wrong places. Ardeth had told him that he loved Ani’s body when she grew with child. She simply glowed with pregnancy and he loved how she remained round and soft in all the right places after having the children. Za’id knew that he, too, would love the affects of pregnancy on his beloved wife.
He worried again, though, remembering the night before they left. He’d come home to find her in tears, again.
“I don’t understand why I’m like this Za’id…I can’t seem to stop myself.”
“You are fine, my angel…”
“No, I’m not. I cry over everything. My back hurts, my legs hurts…I can’t sit for more than a few minutes, or stand for more than a few minutes. I want our baby out of me, but I’m afraid of what it will be like when it happens…” she said, her voice quivering, before she simply gave up and threw herself into his arms and wept.
“I am sorry, my angel, but I believe it is as your mother said. It is simply the way your body and your emotions are changing as the baby grows. Even your mother cried a great deal during her pregnancy with Kalil…she said so, remember” he said, trying desperately to reassure her. But somehow he knew that he was little help to her and how she was feeling. He had talked to Ardeth about it and the only thing Ardeth could tell him was to be there for her when she needed him. He could not change what she was going through or how she was feeling, and neither could she. And now he was not there with her. He worried also about the birth of their baby. He knew Daya wanted their baby to be healthy and strong, that she loved their little one, but that she did indeed fear giving birth. He was sure she had been instructed by her mother, and probably every other woman in the tribe, about what to expect, what her body would go through. He had also talked to Kalil about it as Kalil had watched Nabil’s birth. And what Kalil told him scared him, how a woman’s body, so small and delicate, would wrench open and expand unbelievably so in order for the baby to be pushed from its warm safe haven, both the mother and then the baby screaming their way through the ordeal. Kalil had also told him that nothing he would ever see in his life would compare to the sight of Nabil’s head and then his little body slipping from Becca’s body, and that he would feel the same way upon seeing his child born. He hoped Kalil was right. He hoped, too, that he would be there with Daya when their baby was born, to see this wonderful miracle. He knew she’d desperately wanted him to stay with her and not leave with Kalil, but she would not ask him. Medjai women knew what their husbands did, and she in particular knew his devotion to Kalil, how he felt he had to protect him, as her Uncle Nafad felt the same about her father. Kalil was so much like his father, always watching out for everyone else, protecting and serving his people, that he rarely took the time to watch out for himself. Someone had to. But it meant he was not there with her, as he also felt he should be.
“I miss Becca, too, big brother…go to sleep” Kalil said from his bedroll. He could feel his friend’s concern and knew his thoughts.
“Tell me you didn’t worry about Becca when she was due, and I will stop worrying.”
“That I cannot do…you know that. But we will be home in time, I promise you.”
Za’id laid there for a while longer thinking he had been a bit moody since they left the village…well, maybe a bit more than a bit. But he couldn’t help himself. The prospect of being a father excited him as much as it scared him. Being a husband, trying to be a good husband, still scared him at times. He’d watched as Daya changed from a scared girl, her body changing, her emotions changing even faster, to the woman he knew her to be. She had indeed grown up in the few years he’d known her, but especially since they’d married. She turned from the bratty, stubborn girl he’d guarded, or at least attempted to guard, to the strong, sure, loving young woman who’d come for him when he’d run away to wallow in his anger and self-pity, to the woman he was honored to call his wife. She was so many things to him…a sensual, spirited lover, his strength, the tender, caring partner who listened to him and talked to him, not at him, and urged him to be the best man he could be. She was insecure at times, and yet the strongest woman he’d ever known, something he knew she got from her mother. Much like her mother, she could be frail and sensitive and yet strong and determined. He knew that the coming birth of their child frightened her, but he knew in his heart that she would handle it bravely. She would be brave for him, knowing that he would be worrying so for her. And he could picture her in his mind, the mother she would be. Their children would grow up to be good and honorable and brave, the best Medjai, the best of their people, because of her and despite him and all his shortcomings.
As sleep finally took him, he hoped she could feel him with her as she slept, as his heart was truly with her.
<<<<*****>>>>
After walking what was once the palace grounds, Alex guiding them through what were so long ago several of the twelve mazes that surrounded the palace, he led them towards the huge mound of sand, what was left of the pyramid buried beneath it. To anyone unaware of what was there under the sand, it would truly be difficult to imagine a grand maze, with traps and defenses and burial chambers deep within. The mazes surrounding the palace were designed first and foremost to prevent intruders direct access to the palace, forcing them to find their way through the twists and turns and dead ends of the mazes, frustrating and even crushing most attempts of attack or invasion, and providing great entertainment for the pharaoh as he watched both friend and foe attempting to find their way through any given maze. The twelve mazes were each unique and truly amazing in their design and construction.
But as fascinating as they were, they were nothing compared to the multi-storied maze hewn from stone within the pyramid, quite chaotic and confusing to those trapped within…and deadly for those unable to puzzle their way through the many chambers and passageways. Some of the layers of the maze were above ground level, some below – the layers below ground also containing the mummies of kings, including Amenemhet.
As they made their way to the south side of the pyramid where they’d finally been able to access one of the antechambers, Kalil motioned them to stop.
“What?” Alex asked.
“There should be guards here.”
Za’id motioned for them both to stay where they were, “Let me check the area.”
He walked about halfway down the length of the pyramid, finding the entrance to the antechamber, and then signaled for them to join him.
“Unless I’m missing something here, it appears our guards walked into the wall” he said as they approached. He was standing at the entrance to the antechamber, staring at the ground near the back wall inside.
Kalil examined the footprints that did indeed appear to walk right under the wall, one print, in fact, being cut in half by the wall. It appeared that the far wall inside the antechamber had opened and then closed once the guards entered the next chamber inside pyramid.
“Why’d they go in…” Alex asked, growing angry. “Why didn’t they come get us when it opened?”
“I do not know, my friend…but for some reason they felt compelled to enter” Kalil said as he ran his hand along the seams where the huge stone blocks met.
Alex also inspected the walls of the antechamber, muttering to himself as he deciphered the hieroglyphics, hoping to find some way to open the wall.
“Obviously, there’s a way in…” he said. “Either the guards deciphered something here…or…”
“Or?” Za’id asked.
“Or…the wall opened by itself, and for some reason the guards entered. Maybe they were curious…or heard something…saw something. I don’t know…”
“Get the door open, Alex…they may need our help…” Kalil said, now worried that his warriors might be in danger. He knew they couldn’t read the hieroglyphics; few could, so something else had lured them into the maze. They were probably not aware of all the dangers that awaited them inside.
“Za’id…I want warriors surrounding this pyramid. But no one goes in, not even if the whole thing opens up.”
<<<<*****>>>>
About an hour later, just as Kalil was about to lose his temper, his fear for his warriors growing, Alex yelled “I’ve got it…I think…”
“Don’t think…do it…open it…” Kalil said anxiously as he and Za’id moved up behind him. “Once you get it open, we go in and find our men…then we get out, so make sure the door stays open.”
“I’ll do my best…but I’m not sure that’s possible. It’s a maze, with tricks and defenses. One misstep and we could set off a chain reaction of movement…or just plain get lost in there.”
Kalil looked back at Za’id as if asking if he’d rather remain outside. He would not risk his brother’s life, not with Daya so close to delivering.
Though appreciating what Kalil was thinking, he snapped “You go…I go. Father will kill me if I let you get yourself in trouble.”
“Oh…sure…so he can kill both of us…if this place doesn’t kill us first” Kalil snarled back. “Have Ari stand by with the radio…we may need…”
“Ari doesn’t have the radio…Zaheer does” Za’id said.
“Oh…let me guess…” Alex snapped, “Zaheer was on guard duty this morning.”
“Yes…he was to relieve Ari this morning…so the radio is in there somewhere” Za’id said flatly. They had two radio operators, sharing the responsibility, and no matter their duties, the radio went with them.
“So do what you’ve got to do, Alex, and let’s get in there” Kalil said as he stared at the wall. He knew that Zaheer and Ahmed were to relieve Ari and Atum early this morning. He’d known them all since childhood and now worried the fate of his friends.
<<<<*****>>>>
Alex read the words, the pictures, that were still so colorful on the wall, and even knowing it would happen, all three of them jumped when the back wall suddenly rose with a distinct grinding, stone against stone, sound.
Zahi looked into the antechamber, “You ok?”
“Yes…keep everyone out, no matter what happens. If we’re not out in…what?” he asked looking at Alex.
“I don’t know. If they’re not in the next chamber, who knows how far in they’ve gone. It could take hours” Alex said, truly not sure what to tell him.
“Ok…” Kalil said looking back at Zahi, “…give us six hours. If we’re not out by then, send someone back to the village. Don’t come in after us…it is up to you to keep the men safe.”
Kalil’s cousin Zahi had indeed grown into a brave and capable warrior, proving himself on several occasions. Kalil knew the men respected and trusted him, as they respected and trusted his father. He was indeed much like Nafad, tall and strong, powerfully built and a bit dark and brooding. And much like Za’id, because of his size, he wasn’t quite as nimble as Kalil and didn’t have his finesse with the scimitar. But few could best him in a fight. The men would surely follow Zahi should he and Za’id not get out of the maze.
“I will do as you ask, cousin, but know that I do not like this. You should not be going in there…I should go.”
“No…but thank you. They are my men…so it is my responsibility to get them out.”
“As you wish” Zahi said with a respectful nod.
As Zahi turned from the antechamber, Kalil looked at Za’id and then at Alex and said “Ok…let’s do this.”
<<<<*****>>>>
Even with warning, preparing an entire village the size of theirs was difficult. It was the first sand storm of the season and it hit hard. When they’d received word from the sentries patrolling the distant perimeter of their region, Ardeth and Nafad rode up to the plateau cradling the west side of their valley. They knew the storm would come from the south, they generally did. South of their cozy little valley was a vast expanse of desert, as far as the eye could see, and then beyond. Through binoculars, they saw the huge wall of sand as it approached, knowing it would still take hours to reach them. With a sigh, they started their descent down the face of the plateau and hurried back to the village, knowing their people would already be preparing.
This was not their first such storm, nor the last they would endure. As throughout the rest of the world, seasonal storms were common.
<<<<*****>>>>
The next chamber was much like the antechamber, small, with hieroglyphics around the walls and the ceiling. But it didn’t take Alex long to realize there were differences. The hieroglyphics didn’t cover the walls. They were in designated spots around the walls and ceiling, obviously with a purpose. He sensed there must be a pattern, but he couldn’t see it. He was so fixed on the actual hieroglyphics.
“They probably indicate what to do to open each of the walls into the next chambers. Each will take us in a different direction. But which is the correct direction? Now the maze truly begins. What we need to do is figure out which one your warriors entered.”
“I am sure they could not read the hieroglyphics, so they could not have opened the walls. Look for footprints.”
“Good…but that begs the next question…who did open the walls?”
“I do not know.”
“Maybe it was Amenemhet…” Za’id quipped, knowing it wasn’t funny, and then “Here…” holding his torch down towards footprints. The men had obviously wandered about the small chamber trying to get out, but again distinct footprints appeared to disappear under one wall.
Again, Alex deciphered the hieroglyphics and they made their way into yet another chamber. “You know…any other time, this would be funny.”
“What?”
“If I’m reading this right, each wall opens into another chamber or passageway…probably then each wall there opening into yet more chambers and passageways. It’s a maze – chambers, passageways – that’s all there is, one after another, all connected in some way to the others.”
“So what’s so funny?”
“Amenemhet had a sense of humor.”
“Yes, well, it is said that he did enjoy watching his enemies…and often his friends…trying to find their way through his mazes. He found some perverse humor in it.”
“It’s like he’s taunting us…whoever…making us figure out which opening is the right one, only to then have to figure it all out again. Quite ingenious actually. It’s more than a maze as we know them. It’s a puzzle…a deadly puzzle. It could take you years to figure it out…”
“That would explain this…” Kalil said. They looked where he pointed his torch, seeing just the sandaled toes of a skeleton poking out from under a wall.
“So that tells us not to dawdle once we open a wall…some might shut quickly. I’d bet that some stay open, at least for a while…to give you a false sense of comfort and control…and then some don’t.”
“Our warriors didn’t go through this wall, then…” Za’id said, “…or they’d have moved that poor…man” not sure it had been a man. He supposed it could just as easily have been a woman.
“That poor man was probably a tomb raider…maybe even one of those responsible for burning Amenemhet’s mummy.”
“Ok, so, which wall, Alex?” For some reason there were no footprints in this chamber. They’d either made a mistake, though the footprints clearly ‘entered’ this chamber, or someone had dusted their warriors’ footprints from the sand. They were beginning to sense just how truly dangerous this place was.
“I think this one” he said as he looked again at each set of hieroglyphics.
As the wall began to move, the eerie whooshing sound that tended to accompany the opening of each wall became a deep moan; then the hot stuffy air wafting from the adjacent chamber turned icy cold, sending a strong shiver through each of them.
<<<<*****>>>>
As they made their way through more chambers, Alex realized there really was a riddle to be solved. He just wasn’t solving it. They slowly made their way down what looked like a long passageway, knowing that it might change at some point, Alex scanning the hieroglyphics along the walls. As they moved along, the cold air seemed to follow them, creating an eerie, but not necessarily threatening, presence. A ghost, perhaps.
“Alex?” Za’id called from one of several small chambers on either side of the passageway.
“Yeah?”
“This is different…I think…” Za’id called back. Now that he’d entered the chamber and realized that it was a little different, he wished he hadn’t.
“What’s different?” Alex asked as he and Kalil entered the doorway. They looked at each other, both realizing that it was different, and also that the cold presence hadn’t followed them. “You’re right…” he said as he moved toward Za’id, the hieroglyphics on the ceiling catching his attention.
“What does it say?” Za’id asked, moving a few steps to give them room under the inscription. Za’id’s weight shifted as he stepped down, a deep groan rumbling through the room. As he started to right himself, lifting his foot to look at the uneven section of the floor, the floor shifted and then slid open. Kalil and Alex jumped back, both trying to grab Za’id, but missing him as the floor slanted down forming a ramp to the chamber below.
They could do nothing but watch as Za’id slid and tumbled down the ramp, the sand covering the floor making it impossible for him to keep from sliding, it happened so quickly. And then the floor closed up tight, leaving them yelling through the floor, hoping that Za’id was not harmed in the fall and that he could hear their assurances that they would find him. They searched the floor for the spot where Za’id had stepped, but found nothing. The entire floor was flat and even.
Looking up at the ceiling, Alex studied the writings.
“What does it say?” Kalil asked, not truly sure he wanted to know. But he desperately wanted to find a way down to Za’id. Waiting only a few seconds, he growled “What?”
Alex looked back down at the floor, then up at the hieroglyphics, and then back at the floor.
Kalil looked at him, his temper about to explode. “Well!” he practically yelled.
“Well…the short version is ‘don’t step there’ he said pointing to the spot on the floor where Kalil was about to step, precisely under the middle of the inscription.
Kalil looked at him, then up at the inscription and down at the floor. “So…let’s give it a try” he said.
“It may not work again…or it may do something entirely different.”
“We won’t know unless we try…and Za’id may need us.”
“Ok” Alex said as he watched Kalil step down.
<<<<*****>>>>
After quickly looking around the chamber he now found himself in and slowly getting to his feet, Za’id yelled up at them, hoping they could hear him and understand that he was ok. He looked around the chamber again, more closely this time, but wondering why since he couldn’t read hieroglyphics. He did find them interesting, always had, but had never found the time or the desire to spend the time to study them. One wall was already open, though he knew he hadn’t done anything to open it. Hesitantly, he moved towards the doorway, not sure what he expected to happen, but didn’t trust that nothing would.
Outside the chamber was another passageway, but unlike the passageway on the level above, which seemed to go on some distance and then apparently turn north at the end, he could see the end of this one about a hundred feet down. There appeared to be several other doorways on either side of the passageway.
<<<<*****>>>>
Stomping on the floor didn’t work to open it again. Reading the hieroglyphics didn’t work. And not surprisingly, neither did reading the hieroglyphics while stomping on the floor. So, Kalil stomped on the floor one more time just for good measure, and to express his frustration, before they decided they’d have to find another way down to the level to which Za’id had dropped.
As they entered the passageway again, they noticed that the cold presence was again with them, following them down the hallway. It had not followed them into that particular chamber.
“That’s not just one spirit, is it?” Kalil asked. He was sure he could feel several spirits, the essence of several beings. When he stood completely still, he could feel them around him, circling him, moving through him as easily as they apparently moved through the walls. He felt a distinct queasiness as they passed through him. He could feel that they were not happy. They were probably angry at their intrusion, but for some reason they were not set on harming them…yet.
“No…I can feel more than one…eerie, isn’t it?”
“Yes…a bit.”
“I think they are just toying with us…for now.”
“Or they’re waiting for us to get to just the right spot, the right chamber. We still haven’t found Zaheer and Ahmed yet. Who knows how far they went…or were led.” Led where and for what reason, he wondered.
“I know. We’re not the only ones making this place change. Amenemhet has power over how this maze works. This place changing, leading us to wherever he wants us to go, may not depend so much on what I’m reading or we’re touching, as on how he works it. It’s his maze, after all. Even in life, he probably had ways of manipulating it despite what those trapped inside it did, or did not do.”
“Oh, well, that’s comforting. We have absolutely no control” Kalil groused. He was still angry that they’d lost two of his men, and he was now sure for some reason that they were dead, and then to be out of touch with Za’id. He could sense that Za’id was not dead, but he was equally sure that the longer they were apart, the more likely it was that they would not see each other again.
<<<<*****>>>>
Za’id listened intently, trying to determine if the sounds, the voices he could vaguely hear were Kalil’s and Alex’s. But he could not. Every few minutes, he yelled loudly, hoping that if what he heard through the ceiling was indeed Kalil and Alex, they would be able to hear him and understand that he was ok. But then there were what could only be described as moans and groans and the ghostly howling of the spirits trapped within the structure. What he heard could very well be the voices of the dead.
He remembered that Alex had said that the maze was filled with passageways, chambers, dead ends, cut backs, each with different sayings, puzzles, taunts, and each with different defenses, panels that opened and then closed quickly as if to smash those trying to cross into the adjacent chamber, ceilings that opened, floors that dropped out from under you, any number of possibilities, and some deadly ones. Alex had said that some walls could close in, reducing the size of a chamber to nothing.
He remembered, too, the stories that Ardeth and Rick had told of the abilities of the dead. Imhotep’s priests, though dead, were as strong and capable as any living enemy. Amenemhet was sure to have his army of priests with him here. He would not suffer alone.
“Well…” he said to himself, not realizing he was talking out loud, “you will not find them standing here.”
As he continued down the passageway, the voices followed, angry voices, as if taunting him. Amongst the groans and howling, he could hear odd words, ancient Egyptian words he did not understand. Again, he chastised himself for ignoring his lessons as a child. He should have paid more attention and actually learned the ancient tongue of his people. But then he thought how would he have known as a child that it might mean his life, or his death, at some point in his future?
He stopped about halfway to the chambers, the voices and more than one presence circling him, touching him, their touch burning him. He stood very still, concentrating on them until he could see them. Then he was amazed to see that they did materialize to a point, and as they saw he was finally seeing them, their anger turned to laughter. Not a good laughter, an evil laughter, as if they knew they scared him. And then they so easily raced around him, wafting through the air, their hands cutting through him, burning, but somehow not tearing his flesh as he thought it would, and then as suddenly as they appeared, they disappeared through the walls of the passageway.
He stood there for a minute, waiting for what he was not sure, and then said softly “You are taunting me, old ones…but you cannot stop me from finding my friends” – though deep down he knew that that was not true. Imhotep’s priests did his bidding and defended him fiercely, so he guessed Amenemhet’s priests would be equally dedicated to him.
<<<<*****>>>>
“This is fascinating” Alex said as he inspected yet another wall.
“What?”
“This says that the entire maze will change periodically…I believe on its own. We know we can affect changes in the maze…and I’m sure Amenemhet can make it change, even though he’s dead…quite possibly even more so in death than when he was alive. But if I’m reading this right, there’s a certain time sequence to certain moves. Parts of the maze will shift in time intervals now that we’ve activated the maze as a whole. We’ll have to watch where we step and what we touch. It’s quite possible that each time we affect something, we may even change the timing of those intervals. There are so many possible variations…the possibilities are overwhelming. I’m impressed that any tomb raiders ever made it into the burial chamber…unless it was simply time and happenstance that got them there…and then back out. It’s like a story…you can change any given little aspect and the story and the ending changes based on that one little point.”
“Maybe they just went back the way they came.”
“They may have tried, but probably not, because everything you do could change the way…which way each chamber opens up. Most mazes are designed to force you from one side to the other. Backtracking would probably only be possible for the one who designed it…and controlled it.”
“So…we may never find our way out of this thing. And what about Za’id. He doesn’t know what you and I now know. He could be in trouble.”
“Yes…we need to find him” Alex said, and then stood there thinking for some time.
Finally, again a bit angry that they weren’t making any obvious progress, Kalil said “What?” – the exasperation evident in his voice.
“I’m thinking this may be much like your vast desert. The sand can shift without anyone or anything affecting it. But then there are the storms that do affect it. Even travelers change it in ways, the dunes shifting as caravans and now heavy vehicles cross it. Even the sun and moon change it, at least the way it looks from any given direction and at any given time of day.”
“Yes…I see what you’re thinking. We need to look towards our destination, not the dune on which we stand. A lesson father taught me when I was barely able to walk. What is there one day, may not be there the next, or may be unrecognizable.”
They stared at each other for a few moments. Then thinking that though a great revelation, it didn’t help him much, Kalil said, “Ok…which way” hoping Alex had figured out how to open yet another wall, hopefully the right one.
As Alex took one more look at the hieroglyphics on the walls, he muttered more to himself than to Kalil “Or our old friend Amenemhet is just playing a really big joke on us and I haven’t figured out a single thing” garnering another exasperated look from Kalil.
Before Alex could say what they should do, the spirits of the dead again roared into the chamber through the walls. They were different this time, though, as they were now quite visible.
“Priests…Amenemhet’s priests…” Alex said with a groan.
As they watched, the ghostly forms swept around the room, howling angrily, spitting ancient words at them, striking out at them as they moved around them, their long sharp fingers swiping through them. They, too, could feel the burning sensation of the spirits’ touch. Alex looked at his arms where their fingers had passed through him. With his shirt sleeves rolled up, much like his father always did, he was amazed to see that the burning sensation left no marks.
“Any time, Alex” Kalil said, and then muttered to himself “How am I supposed to fight something that is there, but isn’t?” They both knew that angry spirits could indeed injure and even kill the living. For whatever reason, these priests had not yet truly harmed them, and they both wished to be out of the maze before they grew that angry.
<<<<*****>>>>
As they began to put the village back to working order and help those in need of medical attention, Ardeth was surprised that these new buildings he’d finally agreed to have built, to replace their cozy dwellings and community facilities, had held up quite nicely. Though he knew they were naturally sturdier than their tents, in the back of his mind, he was sure they would crumble with the first really big storm. He was equally sure they would not hold up well with the next earthquake, as they’d seen what happened when a minor earthquake struck during their initial building phase.
<<<<*****>>>>
‘I should have stayed put’ Za’id chastised himself. Even as small children they were taught that when lost, if they could find a safe place out of the beating sun, they should stay where they were, as their chances of being found were greater if they were not wandering around, making it more difficult for their rescuers to find them. Though the tortures of the sun were not a factor in this situation, the principle was sound and he now wished he hadn’t left the chamber into which he’d dropped when the floor so quickly slid out from under him. That lesson was again reaffirmed throughout their warrior training. Another lesson he’d ignored.
Now, since he hadn’t stayed put, he thought it best to continue on and hope he could find them. Maybe…if they were all lucky…they would simply run into each other somewhere in this impossible structure. Or, maybe by some stroke of luck, he would find his way through the maze. But if he did manage to get out, could he then find a way to help Kalil and Alex find their way out. He chuckled out loud at the thought that he would be the one to find his way out of the maze. It was highly unlikely, even ridiculous, since he wasn’t actually doing anything to open any particular wall, as if he’d even be able to determine which was the right wall to access in each chamber. He knew he was being led, as in each chamber he entered another wall was already open. But periodically, the maze simply changed around him. If it wasn’t Amenemhet changing the maze, it was likely something Alex and Kalil were doing.
As he stepped through into yet another chamber, the wall behind him slammed shut quickly, making him jump. He thought by now that shouldn’t spook him so much each time, but it did.
The next time the maze changed, two walls opening this time, he took a chance and hurled himself through the opening leading into another passageway, hoping that it would more quickly lead him through a good portion of the maze. He hoped if he kept a straight path through the opening walls, he just might do it. But the skeptic in him knew it wouldn’t be that easy – or the maze wouldn’t be the great test, and deterrent, it was built to be.
He looked into each chamber along the passageway. In the third, his eyes fell on their two warriors where they lay on the floor near the wall opposite the opening. He cautiously stepped into the chamber and walked slowly towards them, not sure what he was expecting, but half expecting to be attacked by whomever, or whatever, had attacked them. He knelt down by Zaheer and felt his neck for a pulse, not expecting one as he had a knife protruding from his chest, but somehow hoping to find one. He looked closely at him and inspected the knife. He knew he’d seen others like it, and then he realized that Ardeth had knives similar to this one hanging on his wall at home. A Medjai had killed them, though he couldn’t believe a Medjai would do such a thing. Ahmed had a similar wound in his chest, leaving Za’id to guess that he’d been killed first and then Zaheer. He also guessed that the assailant had meant for him, or Kalil and Alex, to find the weapon, possibly to instill fear in them, as it was indeed a large evil looking weapon. As was the big knife he carried, and every Medjai warrior carried, it was a weapon made to kill – there was no other use for such a thing.
As he prepared to leave the chamber, he looked back at his friends and said “I will return for you, my friends.” He worried that he would not be able to keep his word. He could not possibly carry them both out, if he could even find his own way out. And once he left this chamber, would he be able to find his way back to them – or would they simply become more skeletons lying about, victims of the maze.
<<<<*****>>>>
“Well, so far, so good…we’re not dead yet” Kalil quipped to Alex as he watched him again puzzling out the pictures on the walls.
“We’ve been at this for hours, Kalil, and I’m afraid I’m just leading us in circles. I can’t tell if we’re getting anywhere.”
“Yes…and it’s probably night now. There’s nothing in here to tell us how much time has passed.”
“Maybe we should rest for a while.”
“If the priests allow us to rest” Kalil said, and the words were no sooner said than the wicked spirits that had followed them from chamber to chamber, through passageways, quietly slipped through the walls, leaving them.
They looked around again and then finally sat, leaning their tired bodies heavily against a wall. Both suddenly pulled forward and looked back at the wall, amazed that it hadn’t suddenly opened as so many other walls had throughout their hours in the maze.
“So whose bright idea was it to give Za’id the only canteen?” Alex quipped. He truly would not begrudge Za’id the water.
Kalil worried about Za’id, and he hoped that he too was resting somewhere safe. At least he had Alex – Za’id was alone. And then as if he’d thought out loud, the priestly spirits were back, bursting through the walls. They both froze where they sat, hoping that the spirits were simply passing through. But they were not so lucky.
Thus far, they had been relatively harmless, only leaving them feeling hot and burned, but not truly burned or injured. Now, they attacked, hitting and shoving them, their forms quite solid, their contacts quite painful. As they tried to get to their feet, one large priest shoved Kalil back down and hovered over him, pinning him to the floor. Though he was sure it was impossible, Kalil was equally sure that he could actually smell the beastly creature’s foul breath as its evil laugh burst from it. It raised its arm, its hand fisted and as it began its swing to hit Kalil in the face, Kalil grasped at its arm, surprised that he could actually grasp it. For a dead man, the beast was strong, taking all Kalil’s strength to wrest the arm away from him. They struggled for what seemed like an eternity and then as suddenly as the spirits had burst into the chamber, they all rushed back out through the walls, the one struggling with Kalil instantly returning to its airy form and whooshing through his body and down through the floor.
He laid there for a minute trying to catch his breath and his senses. Alex moved over next to him, kneeling by his side, and gasped “You ok? That was scary. I’m sorry…I couldn’t move. It was like I was being held back.”
“I know, my friend. It seems our ghostly friends can take on form as they wish.” He had to admit to himself that that had been truly scary. And he was sure that the queasy feeling he had now was due to the spirit coursing through his body. He remembered having a vague queasy feeling earlier in one of the passageways when the spirits had cut through him several times, but he’d simply dismissed the thought. “Ok, so maybe we don’t rest.”
“Maybe not…” Alex mused. He pulled Kalil up off the floor and asked “You ok?”
“Yes…but I’m not sure I like the way I feel when they move through me…I feel weird each time they do it. Come on…let’s get moving.”
“No, wait…sit back down.”
“What? Why? I don’t think they want us to rest.”
“I know…well, maybe…just sit for a minute.”
“You going to tell me why?”
“I just want to see what they’ll do. Do they really not want us to rest, or was that just a show of force, letting us know who’s in charge down here.”
With a deep sigh, Kalil sat back down “Ok, but this time, you get to be the punching bag.”
“Hey! Some friend” Alex feigned hurt feelings.
Five minutes passed and no spirits. “All’s well so far...”
“So rest then, for as long as we can” Alex said as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
He didn’t know how long he’d slept, probably only a few minutes from the way he still felt, but Alex suddenly felt he should open his eyes. As he did, something in him telling him not to, he found himself face to face with the big priest, an evil grin on the beast’s face, only inches from his own, leaning down over him.
Without taking his eyes off the priest, Alex knew that Kalil was also very close. Kalil had moved so quietly, he thought that maybe even the spirit hadn’t sensed him, but his mind told him that that couldn’t be possible. And where were the other spirits, he wondered. As he’d moved towards them, Kalil had unsheathed his scimitar and now held it to the beast’s neck, and ever so slowly moved it to touch its neck, hoping that it had taken enough form to feel the point of his blade.
As he pressed harder, sure the beast must feel it, it did, in fact, slowly turn its head, its evil grin still set, and looked into Kalil’s eyes. It was the same priest that had attacked him earlier. Now its grin was for him. Then, it moved so effortlessly and tackled him so quickly that Kalil hadn’t even seen it move. As the beast again hovered over him, pinning him to the floor, he could see that his scimitar was thrust through its chest. But he didn’t remember actually stabbing it, thinking it must have simply happened as it tackled him. The priest looked down at his chest and then at Kalil, an odd look on its face, though Kalil could not say that the priest looked to be in any pain.
Again, its form changed and it whooshed through him and through the floor and was gone, Kalil’s scimitar still sticking up in the air. Kalil laid there – again – feeling that queasy feeling. He wondered just what those things did to a person’s insides when they passed through living bodies.
Again, Alex moved to his side, a feeling of déjà vu coming to mind, “You ok?”
“No…I wish that thing would stop doing that. Can we get out of here now?” He felt sure that the priest knew the affect his passing through his body was having on him.
“Sure…” Alex said, pulling Kalil up off the floor.
<<<<*****>>>>
Za’id found no more rest throughout the night than Kalil and Alex did. He also found that each time his weary body begged him to sit for a while, the priestly spirits attacked him. He was quite surprised to find that at times the creatures could, and did, manifest themselves as semi-solid beings, capable of hitting and shoving him. He now had a variety of cuts and bruises about his body from their attacks. Other times, they just darted around and taunted him.
He was still sure that he did nothing to open and close the various chambers he progressed through. It was Amenemhet who was orchestrating this entire game and his priests making the journey quite unpleasant and often painful. Za’id could almost feel the thrill Amenemhet derived from watching him struggle through his maze.
As he moved into yet another passageway, he realized that something about it looked familiar. Moving farther down the way, he recognized the writing on the walls. He had been down this passageway before, and he grew angry that he’d obviously been going in circles. Alex had said the maze was treacherous. There were many dead ends and cut backs. He thought maybe he should start marking the walls, but then he realized that Amenemhet could just as easily make any markings disappear.
He stopped and sank down to the floor, thinking to rest for just a few minutes. He would have to start memorizing the features and hieroglyphics, at least certain ones, in each chamber and passageway so that he wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Now he wished he had paid more attention when Alex was telling them about mazes. He chastised himself for his lack of attention to his education throughout his life. It seemed he had always failed to listen when others were teaching.
As he rested for a few minutes, his eyelids heavy and wanting to close, he hazily stared at the skeleton sitting opposite him. It looked as if that man had done exactly what he was now doing, sitting to rest, and had died where he sat. He’d seen numerous skeletons as he made his way around the maze, some looking just like this one, like they’d given up and just waited to die. A few, though, looked like they had died fighting, either with their fellow tomb raiders or possibly with the ghostly priests that had plagued him, one in fact with a sword still between his ribs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Trapped – Chapter 2