The 13th Gate
Ch. 4
A chilled wind swept over the ancient land of Egypt as a caravan of trucks, jeeps, camels and people made their way slowly over the loose sand towards a large cliff, banked with high walls of sand reaching hundreds of feet into the air. The caravan made its way towards the large, imposing wall, led by two siblings, Isis and Malik Ishtal. Isis sat in the front most jeep, her smooth, dark legs crossed over, as well as her arms, her younger brother sat beside her, staring intently ahead, lost in thought about the new tomb they where minutes away from going inside of, "Malik...Malik...Hello, Malik, wake up!" Isis lightly hit her younger on the back of the head, bringing him out of his fantasies, he glanced over at her, she's beautiful, even now, her hair was up in a tight bun with several of the long dark strands flowing like water down her shoulders, had it not been his own flesh and blood he would have been absolutely infatuated with her. He shook his head, and pushed away some of his khaki hair, he stared back out at the growing wall, that's where the dig site was, already, workers could be seen, milling around, doing different things, pulling camels around, digging, mostly just standing around, waiting for the approaching caravan. Long white clouds flitted across the clear blue sky, occasionally hiding the sun from view, giving everyone on the ground a short reprieve from the unbearable heat. Isis reached into her khaki green shorts and pulled out a small silver cell phone, she opened it with a click and stared at it a moment before placing back inside her pocket, Malik once again glanced over at his older sister, "Waiting for a call?" she looked over at him and smiled, "I'm not sure actually, just an odd feeling that someone's going to call me, that's all, making sure I didn't miss anything." He nodded at her answer, ever since she had had the Sennen Necklace, traces of it's power lingered inside her, the same with himself, even though the Pharaoh now had the Sennen Rod, Malik had quite a strong influence on people, often being able to make them do what he wanted them to do. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair, he'd forgotten to call Yugi about the hieroglyphs, but it was ok, he'd be seeing them in person today, he'd be able to make more sense of them. Something interesting had happened earlier that day though, while on their way to meet the caravan, Malik ran into an old man, Isis hadn't wanted to just leave the man like Malik did, so they treated him to a quick lunch, the man didn't speak much, and his long, raggedy beard ended up with the most food, it was disgusting, but right before they parted ways the man had taken Isis hand and looked into her eyes, his eyes where cold and piercing, like a falcons eyes. They stayed that way for a moment before she gave a gasp and pulled her hand away from him, he chuckled and managed to cough out, "So, you two are on your way to Kuru Eruna, eh? I suggest you two stay away from there, evil now resides there...you two are so young too, don't throw away your lives..." with that he walked away, and turned into an ally, leaving Malik and Isis standing there, dumbfounded by his odd "thank you". That had happened early in the day, they had both now forgotten that, getting caught up in the excitement was something nearly impossible, more so as they where no almost on top of the site, the huge cliff rose before them, blotting out the sun, casting a cold, dead shadow on them, but that didn't fade anyone, Malik finally brought the jeep to a stop near a large brown tent, they hopped out while the rest of the caravan spread out among the compound, going to where they'd been told to go. Suddenly, a little, plump man with a large curly beard in to tight khaki digging clothes and a large straw hat ran up to the two siblings, a large smile on his face, he grasped both their hands and shook them vigorously, "Hello hello, Mr. and Ms. Ishtal! Welcome welcome! It's so great to finally be able to meet you! I am Toya Istiskashi! The sight manager, do you remember me Ms. Ishtal; we spoke over the phone last weekend." He looked over at her with his little beady eyes, she nodded, "Yes, I do remember you Mr. Istiskashi, I remember you quite well in fact..." she gave a Malik a quick wink, she did remember him, he was a happy man in his late fifties, always looking for something new, some kind of adventure, he was an awkward old man, "Oh good good, ok then, if you two will please follow me, we'll get you ready to go in, ok?" He looked from one to the other for approval, Malik shrugged, he'd worn his usual clothes, black boots, khaki pants, a black tank top, and his trademark jewelry, Isis was in a pair of khaki green shorts, and a button up khaki green shirt, she looked great, even out here in the wasteland. They followed the little man into the brown tent, he went in through the makeshift screen door and held it open for the two of them, inside was a small wooden table with a large piece of brown parchment on it, a short dagger held it onto the table, a small kerosene lamp lit the room dimly, "Mr. Istiskash, have you made us a map?" Malik spoke up after they walked in, but Mr. Istiskash was busy rummaging through an old wood trunk, he turned around to them after about a minute, "Huh? Map? Oh yes yes, I have prepared a map, it more than likely though isn't completely accurate though, so you will need to be extremely careful down there, here..." He handed both of them what looked like a dirty pair of brown overalls, Isis unfolded them and stared at them, she raised an eyebrow at them and looked over at Mr. Istiskash, he gave her a big smile, "You don't want those pretty close ruined do you?" She looked over at Malik who gave a sigh of defeat, whatever, they might as well go along with the short man. He helped them get into the overalls and button them up and then handed them both a face mask, "What in the world are these for?" He held it up to get a good look at it in the dim light, "Well it's so you can breathe of course!" He walked around and patted Malik on the back, "Now we must hurry no going down if it's dark out!" He bustled out of the tent, Malik looked over his shoulder at Isis and gave a sigh, "I'm already worn out..." They made their way towards the cliff, giant hieroglyphs covered most of the cliff face that could be seen above the sand banks, it was obvious though, that they more than likely went right down to the very base of the cliff. Mr. Istiskash turned to them and handed Isis a rolled up piece of paper, she unraveled it and narrowed her eyes, "Is this correct?" he nodded, "Yes ma'am it is, I was just as surprised as you are now." Malik raised an eyebrow, surprised about what? He looked over his older sisters shoulders at the map, it wasn't difficult to read, there where only thirteen rooms in the tomb, it was a straight line from the entrance to the main room, it was circular, with the thirteen different rooms breaking off from it. An odd design for an Egyptian tomb, or even temple, how strange, "Well, it's weird, but that doesn't mean it's not really Egyptian...right?" His sister nodded in agreement, "Ok Mr. Istiskash we'll go down now, we have an accompanying team, correct?" Mr. Istiskash bounced his head up in down, happily, "Yes, of course you do, I've tried to rally the best workers around here, they'll be a great help! Now get along, these men will see your safe passage into the tomb...Bye bye for now, and good luck! Bring back some good stuff!" He waved to them while a group of men gathered around them and hurried them off towards the cliff. Malik shivered, even in the extreme heat of the desert, being under the cold shadow, it put a heavy, dead feeling on a person, a feeling of desperation, claustrophobia. HE brushed some of his hair from his face and shook the feeling from himself, get over it. Isis watched her brother, he had gone pale for a moment, she called his name, "Are you okay? You look a little sick..." She had a motherly look upon her face, he smiled to her and shook his head, "Nah, it was just the temperature change, that's all..." She stared at him for a moment, then looked back towards the giant rock wall in front of them, they had reached an opening in the bank of sand, the men handed both of them a small backpack, they had a small shovel and other various packs attached to them. Malik adjusted his onto his back, just as he finished, another group of men ran over to them and ushered them to the entrance of the tomb, two large statues of a solemn man looked down at them from the cliff walls. Hieroglyphs ran all the way up the statues and the cliff face as far as they could see. They where pushed forward toward a group of waiting men and woman, it was a fairly small group compared to the other, having only six people in it, they where hurriedly introduced all around before a fog horn erupted in the air, silencing everyone, Malik and Isis looked over at one another, what was that for, the group they had just been introduced to gathered round them, a short, balding man came up beside them, "That's to let everyone know we're goin in, so they'll stop digging, ready? Well, "he chuckled, "Ready or not, it's time ta go." He pushed them forward gently, Malik stumbled, but Isis, always her graceful self, began walking forward, into the dark opening of the tomb. They where in, it was still only the entrance, and even though the tomb entrance had been open for some time now, the musty smell and fell still hung heavily in the air, they all pulled their masks up over their faces, a tall man from America was in the lead, "Okay everyone, if you don't know me yet, I'm Leroy, stick together, once we get inside, do your things, gather your information, set all your walkies to channel three, I'll beep you all twice when it's time to leave, remember your training, okay? Ok then, lets go..." he turned back towards the long cavern, and began to walk towards the end, they all followed him into the darker depths, they reached a large hole at the end of the cavern, above the hole was a large figure eight, and a large axe, Malik shuddered, that's what he'd seen before in the pictures, a long rope hung from the ceiling above them and disappeared into the dark hole in the floor, Leroy walked up behind Isis and put a hand on her shoulder, "Ma'am, your Ms. Ishtal, correct?" she only nodded, she was busy looking around at all the ancient drawings covering the walls, "Ma'am, would you like to go in first, or would you prefer me to get down there and set some lights up?" She looked up at him, he was a tall man, probably in his early forties, his hair was dark except for some grey along his sides, he was in what looked like a beat up camouflage outfit, she smiled, "You may go ahead and set up lighting Mr. Leroy...thank you." He nodded and spoke up to the rest of the group, "Okay, I'm goin down, I'll set up lighting, and then you can all come down, one at a time, the Ishtals first, got it?" The group nodded, and Leroy turned to the hole and grabbed the rope, he swung out over the hole, Malik watched him, once you got closer to the hole, you realized how big it was, from a distance, it looked small, but in fact, it was quite large. Leroy gave them a confident wave and slid down the rope, into the dark, some of the people began to chat excitedly, others just stood around, waiting for the signal, Malik walked up next to Isis and looked down at her, although he was younger than her, he had grown quite a bit taller than her, "So, why didn't you want to go in first?" She looked up at him and closed her eyes, "Because that would be the reckless dangerous thing to do." She patted his arm lightly, "Don't worry Malik, we'll be down there soon enough..." He gave her a heavy sigh, at which she smiled again. After a few more minutes of small talk Leroy's voice echoed up to them from the hall, suddenly light streamed up through the hole, Isis walked over to it and looked down, "Are you sure?" "Of course I am, come on down!" "Ok, coming down then, watch out!" she looked over her shoulder at Malik, "I'll call up to you when I'm ready for you to come down, ok?" He nodded, she grabbed the rope and swung out over the pit, she slowly slid down the rope, until she disappeared from view, Malik stood around, listening to the others talk amongst themselves, he kept hearing one word over and over again, cursed. Isis voice floated up to him, he yelled down to her, "Ok, I'm coming!" he reached out and grabbed the rope, he tightened his grip on the old string, he swung out above the open pit, light flooded up around him, he loosened his grip slightly and slid down a few inches before he tightened his grip on it again, he continued this until his feet hit the bare, compacted sand floor. Isis walked up to him and pulled him out of the way, the next person was already on their way down, he took a look around the room, there where thirteen doors alright, huge columns rose from the side of each of the doors, all of them connecting at the center point of the slightly arched ceiling but the center room was huge! It must have been at least thirty to forty yards in circumference, it was a compact space though, the ceiling must have only been twenty feet above them, he narrowed his eyes, odd, most of the doors had been broken open, he looked over at Leroy, "Where those doors like that when you came down here?" He nodded, "Yeah, all I know is that humans didn't do it, no one alive has been down here in hundreds of thousands of years" Malik rolled his eyes, he knew that. He walked over to the door that was directly in front of them, it was still intact, he counted the other doors, only two others where still, in what seemed to be, good condition. Great, just great, he gave another heavy sigh and put a hand on the door in front of him, it was ice cold, he jerked his hand away and shook it slightly, it stung, he jerked his head around to look over at the group, all of them where down here now, they had gathered around one of the smashed doors, their voices echoed over to him, "It's empty..." "Empty?" "Yeah, empty, nothing, not even an alter, just a couple pieces of rotting wood...damn, this was just a bust..." "Yeah...this sucks, man, I took time off school for this..." Malik scratched his head, nothing in the rooms? Great, that's what they needed, this was a bust, he looked down at the sandy floor, he turned back to the stone door, even the door was blank, nothing on it, "Damn....damn damn damn...geeze, nothing, absolutely nothing!" he kicked the door hard, a long crack raced up it, reaching the top, it crumbled, he stood there, now staring at another, much more ornate door, large carvings covered the entirety of it. He stood there, his mouth hanging open, "Hey! Hey! Everyone...over here!" He pulled his gaze away from the door to look over at the group, but they weren't there, in fact, noting that was there a moment before was there now, not even the rope, "Hey...where'd everybody go?" a cold wind swept up around him, was it just him, or was it getting hard to breath? He ripped the face mask off and took a deep breath, but as soon as he did, he wished he hadn't, a putrid smell filled his nose, like rotting flesh, it was growing darker too, very dark, he shivered and took quick breaths. Puffs of steam began to form every time he breathed out, and the smell had grown stronger as well, the darkness settled around him, what looked like moonlight streamed in through the hole in the ceiling, he shuddered, it was like when he was little, having to live in that horrible cave, "Hello...is anyone there?!" He began to shiver, it was cold, he was alone, it was like a nightmare, a gust of hot air hit the back of his neck, he spun around, nothing was there, "Hello!? Is someone in here?" nothing, just his own echoing voice, a heavy, dead silence, and that smell, that horrible horrible smell. He began to back away from the door towards the beam of bright white blue moonlight, but suddenly stopped, the door he'd kicked earlier, it was opening, just slightly, but it was opening, a black fog began to issue from the bottom, a loud, screech echoed all around the room, then came a voice, a cold sinister voice, "Little Malik Ishtar...how long I watched you grow...in that hell hole you and your sister called home for so many years, and Lishido...yes, I've watched him as well...hahaha..." At this, Malik fell over, the voice was like thunder, commanding, yet relaxed, confident, "W-who are you?!" he stammered loudly, "No need to yell little one...I'm right here..." The voice had come over his left shoulder, he spun around, now on all fours, no one was behind him, nothing except the beam of moonlight. He swallowed hard and glanced around the room, it was just his imagination, that's all, his imagination. He took a deep breath and steadied himself back on his feet, he looked around again and began to walk towards the bright beam of light, he tripped and hit the ground hard, something had his leg! He turned around to see what had a hold of him, nothing, nothing was there, nothing to grab him, trip him, nothing at all. He looked around, cold sweat now drenched his face, "W-what do you want!? Tell me! Is it money, what?! Just leave me alone! Let me go!" "You are a fool...you intrude into my home, and then tell me to leave!? How dare you..." "What...w-what are you talking about?" 'You are in my home...my prison, Kuru Eruna, home of the thieves, bandits, rapists, murderers...sinners..." "T-this a tomb..." "Hahaha....so perceptive...Would you like to see me?" "Y-yes...show me yourself...t-then we can help each other get out..."with that, Malik spun around, still, nothing behind him, he took quick, heavy breaths of the cold, appalling air, the small puffs of steam rising in front of him, he turned to look at the door he'd kicked earlier, it was now fully open, black fog billowed out, reaching over the sand floor, crawling towards him, it quickly made it's way to him, enveloping him, only his shoulders and head where visible above the fog, he jumped up, it was cold! He looked around, then back at the door, was that where he was supposed to go? Was that the way out, was the voice trying to help him after all? He took a step forward, of course it was trying to help him, what did he do to it, he wanted to leave, it wanted him to leave, that was good right? Right, so he continued towards the door, a bright light began to grow from the center of it, it was drawing him in, he was curious, what was it, was it the outside, could he free himself again, like he had when he was younger? A dark figure blocked some of the light, creating a tall silhouette, it began to make its way toward him, it was so warm, it was a woman, he could tell, she was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, he reached out to her, she was almost his height, why am I going towards her like this, like I'm in love with her, why? Why didn't matter, why never matters, only who, always who, now and forever, she stretched out her arms to him, he still couldn't make out her face, not even much of her body, but beauty radiated from her, finally, they reached each other, he pulled her close to himself, and she to him, they held each other for a moment longer before they pulled back from one another, he looked into her eyes, his own eye widened, pools of lavender filled with fear, her face, it was rotten, flesh hanging loosely from the head, the few hairs that where left where stringy and flew everywhere, her skin was rotten, and giant holes here in it, a large hole in her cheek revealed her brown rotten tongue and yellow decayed teeth, maggots crawled from another hole in her head which exposed her blue black brain, her dress, or rag, was brown and matted with dirt, he pulled away from her, but her hands where locked together tightly around his back, he shoved against the loose grey skin, knocking whole chunks off, he shrieked, "Get off! Get off!" the horrible creature smirked, "But Malik...I thought you wanted me to come out?" the voice was still the same heavy voice from before, "No! Get away from me! Get away! Please!" He struggled against it, but it was no use, it was too strong, even with its rotten, bone exposed arms, "Malik...you have set me free upon the world once again...I shall rule over you absent minded mortals, and you shall be the first to bow to me..." the putrid zombie monster leaned up to him and pressed its grey, rotten lips against his own, he shoved with all his might, but still, it held them together, locked by their lips. Suddenly it released it's grip, letting Malik fall to the floor and scramble away backwards, spiting and whipping his lips, he screeched, "Stay away from me you monster! Stay away!" he pushed himself backward, his legs where cold and wouldn't move, as if they where frozen, the monster began to walk towards him, skin falling to the floor, its baggy brown dress trailing behind it, its two pure white eyes stared at him, as a smile came across its face, "Malik Ishtar....haha...you are my first..." "Malik! Malik! Malik!" Isis shook her younger brother as he screamed, he began to spit and wipe his lips, "Malik! Wake up!" she had him in her lap, while she sat on the ground, she had began to cry, the group of explorers had gathered around her, suddenly his eyes snapped open, the big purple eyes filled with tears as they met his sisters already tear filled blue eyes, he grabbed a hold of her and pressed himself into her warmth and began to shudder, "W-where were y-you?" he cried into her shoulder, she sat there, gently rocking her brother back and forth as he quietly wept into her chest, she looked up at the spectators, she narrowed her eyes angrily, "Find out what happened, he was over there!" she pointed towards the open doorway he'd been standing in front of earlier. The doorway where he'd kicked the door, however, there was no longer a door of any kind.
Ch. 4
A chilled wind swept over the ancient land of Egypt as a caravan of trucks, jeeps, camels and people made their way slowly over the loose sand towards a large cliff, banked with high walls of sand reaching hundreds of feet into the air. The caravan made its way towards the large, imposing wall, led by two siblings, Isis and Malik Ishtal. Isis sat in the front most jeep, her smooth, dark legs crossed over, as well as her arms, her younger brother sat beside her, staring intently ahead, lost in thought about the new tomb they where minutes away from going inside of, "Malik...Malik...Hello, Malik, wake up!" Isis lightly hit her younger on the back of the head, bringing him out of his fantasies, he glanced over at her, she's beautiful, even now, her hair was up in a tight bun with several of the long dark strands flowing like water down her shoulders, had it not been his own flesh and blood he would have been absolutely infatuated with her. He shook his head, and pushed away some of his khaki hair, he stared back out at the growing wall, that's where the dig site was, already, workers could be seen, milling around, doing different things, pulling camels around, digging, mostly just standing around, waiting for the approaching caravan. Long white clouds flitted across the clear blue sky, occasionally hiding the sun from view, giving everyone on the ground a short reprieve from the unbearable heat. Isis reached into her khaki green shorts and pulled out a small silver cell phone, she opened it with a click and stared at it a moment before placing back inside her pocket, Malik once again glanced over at his older sister, "Waiting for a call?" she looked over at him and smiled, "I'm not sure actually, just an odd feeling that someone's going to call me, that's all, making sure I didn't miss anything." He nodded at her answer, ever since she had had the Sennen Necklace, traces of it's power lingered inside her, the same with himself, even though the Pharaoh now had the Sennen Rod, Malik had quite a strong influence on people, often being able to make them do what he wanted them to do. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair, he'd forgotten to call Yugi about the hieroglyphs, but it was ok, he'd be seeing them in person today, he'd be able to make more sense of them. Something interesting had happened earlier that day though, while on their way to meet the caravan, Malik ran into an old man, Isis hadn't wanted to just leave the man like Malik did, so they treated him to a quick lunch, the man didn't speak much, and his long, raggedy beard ended up with the most food, it was disgusting, but right before they parted ways the man had taken Isis hand and looked into her eyes, his eyes where cold and piercing, like a falcons eyes. They stayed that way for a moment before she gave a gasp and pulled her hand away from him, he chuckled and managed to cough out, "So, you two are on your way to Kuru Eruna, eh? I suggest you two stay away from there, evil now resides there...you two are so young too, don't throw away your lives..." with that he walked away, and turned into an ally, leaving Malik and Isis standing there, dumbfounded by his odd "thank you". That had happened early in the day, they had both now forgotten that, getting caught up in the excitement was something nearly impossible, more so as they where no almost on top of the site, the huge cliff rose before them, blotting out the sun, casting a cold, dead shadow on them, but that didn't fade anyone, Malik finally brought the jeep to a stop near a large brown tent, they hopped out while the rest of the caravan spread out among the compound, going to where they'd been told to go. Suddenly, a little, plump man with a large curly beard in to tight khaki digging clothes and a large straw hat ran up to the two siblings, a large smile on his face, he grasped both their hands and shook them vigorously, "Hello hello, Mr. and Ms. Ishtal! Welcome welcome! It's so great to finally be able to meet you! I am Toya Istiskashi! The sight manager, do you remember me Ms. Ishtal; we spoke over the phone last weekend." He looked over at her with his little beady eyes, she nodded, "Yes, I do remember you Mr. Istiskashi, I remember you quite well in fact..." she gave a Malik a quick wink, she did remember him, he was a happy man in his late fifties, always looking for something new, some kind of adventure, he was an awkward old man, "Oh good good, ok then, if you two will please follow me, we'll get you ready to go in, ok?" He looked from one to the other for approval, Malik shrugged, he'd worn his usual clothes, black boots, khaki pants, a black tank top, and his trademark jewelry, Isis was in a pair of khaki green shorts, and a button up khaki green shirt, she looked great, even out here in the wasteland. They followed the little man into the brown tent, he went in through the makeshift screen door and held it open for the two of them, inside was a small wooden table with a large piece of brown parchment on it, a short dagger held it onto the table, a small kerosene lamp lit the room dimly, "Mr. Istiskash, have you made us a map?" Malik spoke up after they walked in, but Mr. Istiskash was busy rummaging through an old wood trunk, he turned around to them after about a minute, "Huh? Map? Oh yes yes, I have prepared a map, it more than likely though isn't completely accurate though, so you will need to be extremely careful down there, here..." He handed both of them what looked like a dirty pair of brown overalls, Isis unfolded them and stared at them, she raised an eyebrow at them and looked over at Mr. Istiskash, he gave her a big smile, "You don't want those pretty close ruined do you?" She looked over at Malik who gave a sigh of defeat, whatever, they might as well go along with the short man. He helped them get into the overalls and button them up and then handed them both a face mask, "What in the world are these for?" He held it up to get a good look at it in the dim light, "Well it's so you can breathe of course!" He walked around and patted Malik on the back, "Now we must hurry no going down if it's dark out!" He bustled out of the tent, Malik looked over his shoulder at Isis and gave a sigh, "I'm already worn out..." They made their way towards the cliff, giant hieroglyphs covered most of the cliff face that could be seen above the sand banks, it was obvious though, that they more than likely went right down to the very base of the cliff. Mr. Istiskash turned to them and handed Isis a rolled up piece of paper, she unraveled it and narrowed her eyes, "Is this correct?" he nodded, "Yes ma'am it is, I was just as surprised as you are now." Malik raised an eyebrow, surprised about what? He looked over his older sisters shoulders at the map, it wasn't difficult to read, there where only thirteen rooms in the tomb, it was a straight line from the entrance to the main room, it was circular, with the thirteen different rooms breaking off from it. An odd design for an Egyptian tomb, or even temple, how strange, "Well, it's weird, but that doesn't mean it's not really Egyptian...right?" His sister nodded in agreement, "Ok Mr. Istiskash we'll go down now, we have an accompanying team, correct?" Mr. Istiskash bounced his head up in down, happily, "Yes, of course you do, I've tried to rally the best workers around here, they'll be a great help! Now get along, these men will see your safe passage into the tomb...Bye bye for now, and good luck! Bring back some good stuff!" He waved to them while a group of men gathered around them and hurried them off towards the cliff. Malik shivered, even in the extreme heat of the desert, being under the cold shadow, it put a heavy, dead feeling on a person, a feeling of desperation, claustrophobia. HE brushed some of his hair from his face and shook the feeling from himself, get over it. Isis watched her brother, he had gone pale for a moment, she called his name, "Are you okay? You look a little sick..." She had a motherly look upon her face, he smiled to her and shook his head, "Nah, it was just the temperature change, that's all..." She stared at him for a moment, then looked back towards the giant rock wall in front of them, they had reached an opening in the bank of sand, the men handed both of them a small backpack, they had a small shovel and other various packs attached to them. Malik adjusted his onto his back, just as he finished, another group of men ran over to them and ushered them to the entrance of the tomb, two large statues of a solemn man looked down at them from the cliff walls. Hieroglyphs ran all the way up the statues and the cliff face as far as they could see. They where pushed forward toward a group of waiting men and woman, it was a fairly small group compared to the other, having only six people in it, they where hurriedly introduced all around before a fog horn erupted in the air, silencing everyone, Malik and Isis looked over at one another, what was that for, the group they had just been introduced to gathered round them, a short, balding man came up beside them, "That's to let everyone know we're goin in, so they'll stop digging, ready? Well, "he chuckled, "Ready or not, it's time ta go." He pushed them forward gently, Malik stumbled, but Isis, always her graceful self, began walking forward, into the dark opening of the tomb. They where in, it was still only the entrance, and even though the tomb entrance had been open for some time now, the musty smell and fell still hung heavily in the air, they all pulled their masks up over their faces, a tall man from America was in the lead, "Okay everyone, if you don't know me yet, I'm Leroy, stick together, once we get inside, do your things, gather your information, set all your walkies to channel three, I'll beep you all twice when it's time to leave, remember your training, okay? Ok then, lets go..." he turned back towards the long cavern, and began to walk towards the end, they all followed him into the darker depths, they reached a large hole at the end of the cavern, above the hole was a large figure eight, and a large axe, Malik shuddered, that's what he'd seen before in the pictures, a long rope hung from the ceiling above them and disappeared into the dark hole in the floor, Leroy walked up behind Isis and put a hand on her shoulder, "Ma'am, your Ms. Ishtal, correct?" she only nodded, she was busy looking around at all the ancient drawings covering the walls, "Ma'am, would you like to go in first, or would you prefer me to get down there and set some lights up?" She looked up at him, he was a tall man, probably in his early forties, his hair was dark except for some grey along his sides, he was in what looked like a beat up camouflage outfit, she smiled, "You may go ahead and set up lighting Mr. Leroy...thank you." He nodded and spoke up to the rest of the group, "Okay, I'm goin down, I'll set up lighting, and then you can all come down, one at a time, the Ishtals first, got it?" The group nodded, and Leroy turned to the hole and grabbed the rope, he swung out over the hole, Malik watched him, once you got closer to the hole, you realized how big it was, from a distance, it looked small, but in fact, it was quite large. Leroy gave them a confident wave and slid down the rope, into the dark, some of the people began to chat excitedly, others just stood around, waiting for the signal, Malik walked up next to Isis and looked down at her, although he was younger than her, he had grown quite a bit taller than her, "So, why didn't you want to go in first?" She looked up at him and closed her eyes, "Because that would be the reckless dangerous thing to do." She patted his arm lightly, "Don't worry Malik, we'll be down there soon enough..." He gave her a heavy sigh, at which she smiled again. After a few more minutes of small talk Leroy's voice echoed up to them from the hall, suddenly light streamed up through the hole, Isis walked over to it and looked down, "Are you sure?" "Of course I am, come on down!" "Ok, coming down then, watch out!" she looked over her shoulder at Malik, "I'll call up to you when I'm ready for you to come down, ok?" He nodded, she grabbed the rope and swung out over the pit, she slowly slid down the rope, until she disappeared from view, Malik stood around, listening to the others talk amongst themselves, he kept hearing one word over and over again, cursed. Isis voice floated up to him, he yelled down to her, "Ok, I'm coming!" he reached out and grabbed the rope, he tightened his grip on the old string, he swung out above the open pit, light flooded up around him, he loosened his grip slightly and slid down a few inches before he tightened his grip on it again, he continued this until his feet hit the bare, compacted sand floor. Isis walked up to him and pulled him out of the way, the next person was already on their way down, he took a look around the room, there where thirteen doors alright, huge columns rose from the side of each of the doors, all of them connecting at the center point of the slightly arched ceiling but the center room was huge! It must have been at least thirty to forty yards in circumference, it was a compact space though, the ceiling must have only been twenty feet above them, he narrowed his eyes, odd, most of the doors had been broken open, he looked over at Leroy, "Where those doors like that when you came down here?" He nodded, "Yeah, all I know is that humans didn't do it, no one alive has been down here in hundreds of thousands of years" Malik rolled his eyes, he knew that. He walked over to the door that was directly in front of them, it was still intact, he counted the other doors, only two others where still, in what seemed to be, good condition. Great, just great, he gave another heavy sigh and put a hand on the door in front of him, it was ice cold, he jerked his hand away and shook it slightly, it stung, he jerked his head around to look over at the group, all of them where down here now, they had gathered around one of the smashed doors, their voices echoed over to him, "It's empty..." "Empty?" "Yeah, empty, nothing, not even an alter, just a couple pieces of rotting wood...damn, this was just a bust..." "Yeah...this sucks, man, I took time off school for this..." Malik scratched his head, nothing in the rooms? Great, that's what they needed, this was a bust, he looked down at the sandy floor, he turned back to the stone door, even the door was blank, nothing on it, "Damn....damn damn damn...geeze, nothing, absolutely nothing!" he kicked the door hard, a long crack raced up it, reaching the top, it crumbled, he stood there, now staring at another, much more ornate door, large carvings covered the entirety of it. He stood there, his mouth hanging open, "Hey! Hey! Everyone...over here!" He pulled his gaze away from the door to look over at the group, but they weren't there, in fact, noting that was there a moment before was there now, not even the rope, "Hey...where'd everybody go?" a cold wind swept up around him, was it just him, or was it getting hard to breath? He ripped the face mask off and took a deep breath, but as soon as he did, he wished he hadn't, a putrid smell filled his nose, like rotting flesh, it was growing darker too, very dark, he shivered and took quick breaths. Puffs of steam began to form every time he breathed out, and the smell had grown stronger as well, the darkness settled around him, what looked like moonlight streamed in through the hole in the ceiling, he shuddered, it was like when he was little, having to live in that horrible cave, "Hello...is anyone there?!" He began to shiver, it was cold, he was alone, it was like a nightmare, a gust of hot air hit the back of his neck, he spun around, nothing was there, "Hello!? Is someone in here?" nothing, just his own echoing voice, a heavy, dead silence, and that smell, that horrible horrible smell. He began to back away from the door towards the beam of bright white blue moonlight, but suddenly stopped, the door he'd kicked earlier, it was opening, just slightly, but it was opening, a black fog began to issue from the bottom, a loud, screech echoed all around the room, then came a voice, a cold sinister voice, "Little Malik Ishtar...how long I watched you grow...in that hell hole you and your sister called home for so many years, and Lishido...yes, I've watched him as well...hahaha..." At this, Malik fell over, the voice was like thunder, commanding, yet relaxed, confident, "W-who are you?!" he stammered loudly, "No need to yell little one...I'm right here..." The voice had come over his left shoulder, he spun around, now on all fours, no one was behind him, nothing except the beam of moonlight. He swallowed hard and glanced around the room, it was just his imagination, that's all, his imagination. He took a deep breath and steadied himself back on his feet, he looked around again and began to walk towards the bright beam of light, he tripped and hit the ground hard, something had his leg! He turned around to see what had a hold of him, nothing, nothing was there, nothing to grab him, trip him, nothing at all. He looked around, cold sweat now drenched his face, "W-what do you want!? Tell me! Is it money, what?! Just leave me alone! Let me go!" "You are a fool...you intrude into my home, and then tell me to leave!? How dare you..." "What...w-what are you talking about?" 'You are in my home...my prison, Kuru Eruna, home of the thieves, bandits, rapists, murderers...sinners..." "T-this a tomb..." "Hahaha....so perceptive...Would you like to see me?" "Y-yes...show me yourself...t-then we can help each other get out..."with that, Malik spun around, still, nothing behind him, he took quick, heavy breaths of the cold, appalling air, the small puffs of steam rising in front of him, he turned to look at the door he'd kicked earlier, it was now fully open, black fog billowed out, reaching over the sand floor, crawling towards him, it quickly made it's way to him, enveloping him, only his shoulders and head where visible above the fog, he jumped up, it was cold! He looked around, then back at the door, was that where he was supposed to go? Was that the way out, was the voice trying to help him after all? He took a step forward, of course it was trying to help him, what did he do to it, he wanted to leave, it wanted him to leave, that was good right? Right, so he continued towards the door, a bright light began to grow from the center of it, it was drawing him in, he was curious, what was it, was it the outside, could he free himself again, like he had when he was younger? A dark figure blocked some of the light, creating a tall silhouette, it began to make its way toward him, it was so warm, it was a woman, he could tell, she was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, he reached out to her, she was almost his height, why am I going towards her like this, like I'm in love with her, why? Why didn't matter, why never matters, only who, always who, now and forever, she stretched out her arms to him, he still couldn't make out her face, not even much of her body, but beauty radiated from her, finally, they reached each other, he pulled her close to himself, and she to him, they held each other for a moment longer before they pulled back from one another, he looked into her eyes, his own eye widened, pools of lavender filled with fear, her face, it was rotten, flesh hanging loosely from the head, the few hairs that where left where stringy and flew everywhere, her skin was rotten, and giant holes here in it, a large hole in her cheek revealed her brown rotten tongue and yellow decayed teeth, maggots crawled from another hole in her head which exposed her blue black brain, her dress, or rag, was brown and matted with dirt, he pulled away from her, but her hands where locked together tightly around his back, he shoved against the loose grey skin, knocking whole chunks off, he shrieked, "Get off! Get off!" the horrible creature smirked, "But Malik...I thought you wanted me to come out?" the voice was still the same heavy voice from before, "No! Get away from me! Get away! Please!" He struggled against it, but it was no use, it was too strong, even with its rotten, bone exposed arms, "Malik...you have set me free upon the world once again...I shall rule over you absent minded mortals, and you shall be the first to bow to me..." the putrid zombie monster leaned up to him and pressed its grey, rotten lips against his own, he shoved with all his might, but still, it held them together, locked by their lips. Suddenly it released it's grip, letting Malik fall to the floor and scramble away backwards, spiting and whipping his lips, he screeched, "Stay away from me you monster! Stay away!" he pushed himself backward, his legs where cold and wouldn't move, as if they where frozen, the monster began to walk towards him, skin falling to the floor, its baggy brown dress trailing behind it, its two pure white eyes stared at him, as a smile came across its face, "Malik Ishtar....haha...you are my first..." "Malik! Malik! Malik!" Isis shook her younger brother as he screamed, he began to spit and wipe his lips, "Malik! Wake up!" she had him in her lap, while she sat on the ground, she had began to cry, the group of explorers had gathered around her, suddenly his eyes snapped open, the big purple eyes filled with tears as they met his sisters already tear filled blue eyes, he grabbed a hold of her and pressed himself into her warmth and began to shudder, "W-where were y-you?" he cried into her shoulder, she sat there, gently rocking her brother back and forth as he quietly wept into her chest, she looked up at the spectators, she narrowed her eyes angrily, "Find out what happened, he was over there!" she pointed towards the open doorway he'd been standing in front of earlier. The doorway where he'd kicked the door, however, there was no longer a door of any kind.