Ch. 4: Heart of Steel
Well, this is Chapter 4 of Sands of Time. Not much to say except I hope you enjoy it!
She didn't know if it was the sound of the engine purring underneath the hood of the truck, or if it was the setting sun on a backdrop of blood red that reminded her of her true love. She fancied neither as an explanation, but Anna knew that one way or another, she would have to come to terms with the reason they drove her on.
They'd left camp only fifteen minutes ago, gear and mechanisms ready to help do their work. Her heart had pounded in her ears when she climbed into the passenger side of the cab, but her excitement was waning. Now, she simply hung her head out the window, watching the dunes pass by, a dreamy glaze over her eyes.
She praised the gods that Mimi had decided to drive as they followed Vinny, Kida, and Milo. The Norwegian woman knew when to leave her alone, and right now, she needed to let her mind wander back into the past.
In the truck behind them, Zahalm carried the rest of the team. Audrey sat in the passenger seat while Sweet and Moliere took the back. None of them enjoyed the ride, the roads were yet to be worn completely down, so every rut, hole, and stone was felt as they jounced on behind the others.
"Zahalm...I don't wanna sound rude, but is there something wrong with Anna? She's hanging her head out the window like she'll just jump or something," said Audrey, turning to the Egyptian.
"Miss Anna is probably in deep thought. She's not had what you might call a desirable life."
"What do you mean? I probably shouldn't ask, but..."
Zahalm smiled, dark brown eyes cutting to her. He saw the glint of curiosity in her; he knew it would need to be satisfied.
"There is no need to say such things, Audrey. Anna's mother died when she was four. Her father was a drunkard, and living in the conditions they did in Russia, I'm suprised she didn't die as well."
He took a sharp turn, avoiding a rather large sidewinder before continuing.
"Barkovich never cared for his daughter. He never provided her with clothing or food. He never even so much as gave her a blanket to keep her warm during the winter. He swore that he had no daughter and that she was the bastard child of another man. All essential things were provided by her grandfather and her uncle on his side. They were the ones to raise her during the war."
"Her grandfather was a wealthy man, proud of his first son who'd gone into the practice of medicine. Barkovich was jealous of the love his father had for his brother, but he had no ambition of his own to out do him. Anna became close to her uncle and grandfather, and they paid to send her to the best of schools and academies."
"When Anna came to the age of sixteen, she was sent to a superb academy to learn more about Egyptology. She'd shown much interest in the subject early on, but until then, there were no true ways to study it at her grade level. She and Barkovich had a row about it a week before she was to leave and she wasn't seen for a month. When confronted by his father and brother, Barkovich's temper flared. After being asked why he would deprive his only daughter of an education, he shouted that he had no daughter and that if Anna was his child, he would not have raped her."
There was a still silence that hung in the air. Audrey's eyes were wide with shock while the two in the back sat slack-jawed. Zahalm glanced at them, then returned his attention to the road.
"When they found out about this, the two took custody of her and sent her to the academy. When she returned, she begged them to let her learn self-defense, so her grandfather hired a tutor. Anna became fascinated with weapons and how to turn ordinary objects into things she could use to kill a man. That was when she learned how to weild her tools."
"When her grandfather passed on, he left her a large sum of money for inheiritance; money that might have gone to her father had he not died a mysterious...brutal death. She won't admit to it, but I have a feeling she had something to do with it. Anyhow, she left that money in the care of her uncle and traveled around the globe, changing her last name to Gay XIII. Keeping with tradition, she held on to the last names of all her ex-husbands, thus the extended name. She claims now that men don't matter to her anymore; that her true love is her work," he finished.
Audrey stared up at the large man for a moment before turning back to face the road. All of a sudden, the oddity of her employer seemed to make sense. Any woman would be strange after something like that, no doubt about it.
"If you tell her I told you this, I'll deny it."
"Of course I won't! It's just...wow..."
"Watch her when she digs. The fury and vigor that she puts into it...is unnatural. She shouldn't have to, you know?"
The latina nodded. Looking out of the window, she realized they'd left the road some time ago. Up ahead, Vinny had pulled to a stop in front of a cliff-like wall of rock.
Anna felt the truck jolt under her, sending her flying into the present. Eyes traveling to the wall, her somber mood disappated. Hopping out of the cab, she sprinted over to Milo, Vinny, and Kida.
"Is this it? Is this where the entrance should be?"
"From what the book and the new maps say, this is the place. You said there was a mineral deposit inside there that they used?
"Yes. If you pay the absurd amount of attention I do, you'd see that they used wet-chemistry to create their make-up. I've reason to believe this was a key part of their industry," she said, twitching.
With that, she ran towards the face of the wall, ripping the gloves from her hands and running them over the cold, hard surface of the stone.
Vinny simply shook his head, taking out a match and placing it between his lips.
"She's got an energy level only rivaled by a toddler on a sugar cookie high," he sighed.
Audrey watched all of these goings on, wondering how a woman with a heart of steel could seem so loving to a rock. Shrugging, she began to help the few workers they'd brought unload the equipment.
To the suprise of almost everyone, Anna did not argue when Mole shouted that he'd found where the entrance had stood. Instead, she simply drew her axe and took a good, hard swing at the spot. When a bit of the rock crumbled away, she shrugged and walked away, shouting in Egyptian to the workers.
It was quite late before they broke through the barrier and into the main cavern of the mine. Anna had warned them not to enter immediately, the stale air being a deadly, caustic substance to breath. Once she deemed it safe, the team ventured into the the large room.
The dank air stung their noses, sending Audrey, Milo, Kida, and Sweet into coughing fits. Vinny had grown used to tomb-opening, as had Moliere and Anna. Once the others had become accustomed to the air, they proceeded to assist Vinny in dragging Mole deeper into the structure, rather than leave him spending the rest of the evening cataloging every bit of ore that had been dropped centuries ago.
"But...zey are so beautiful! Please, just a few more minutes!" he begged as they took him by the waist.
After carefully searching through the tunnels, they came to an opening that had collapsed at some point. Leaning into the lamplight, Anna ran her hands over the large boulder-like rocks that blocked their path.
Behind her, the others gaped at the long scars running along her arms, for it was the first time they'd seen the flaws.
Feeling their eyes on her, the albino shrugged and turned to face them.
"Things happen. Now, as for this rock, it will have to be removed. The ceiling may look as though it caved in, but if you look closely, you'll see that it was carved to seem that way. These rocks were put here to keep others out. It was probably sealed to keep robbers out of their mines," she stated matter-of-factly.
Removing the stones took quite some time. Most of the machines Moliere had brought were much too large to fit inside the tunnel, so most of the work was done by hand and axe. By the time the last stone was carted away, half of the team was worn out completely.
"Anna, I'm tired! Can't we rest some? Besides, I'm hungry," whined Mimi.
"Oh, you're hungry, and yet you try to kill me with crackers and peanut butter? You deserve nothing, you piece of Norwegian scum!" cried Zahalm.
"How dare you!"
"Both of you shut your mouths! We need to keep moving. That means no breaks," Anna snapped.
Grabbing a torch, she led them into the dark room. None could see but maybe three feet in front of them, so when Audrey found an oil-fill route, Anna was encouraged to light it.
Fire ran through the stone route at a speed no one could describe. It illuminated their surroundings, disappointing them greatly when the room was discovered as nothing more than a round branch off of the main mines. There was, however, a point of interest.
Lying on the floor was a large body, sprawled out as though it were sleeping. Peering closer, Anna pointed to the moving chest of the beast, for this was certainly no human. No, instead it bore the body of a lion with large wings at either side. The head was obscured from view by the long black locks that fell into the face.
"How could something live down here so long with no air, food, or water?" whispered Milo.
"I could hazard a guess that it got plenty of food, Mr. Thatch," Zahalm said quietly, pointing to a pile of human bones.
The linguist's stomach tightened before expelling his earlier dinner. Wrapping her arms around his waist, Kida drug him closer to the back wall.
"Carrots! Why is it always carrots? I don't even eat carrots!" he cried.
"Perhaps this creature is like our leviathan. Could it not be possible that our ancestors gave your people the technology to create one?" she questioned the large chef.
"It's possible, but what is it, Anna?"
The Russian woman's face paled as she slowly backed away from the creature, taking light steps as she did so.
"Um...Zahalm, Mimi, Vinny, I just wanted to tell you guys that I love you very much...like family. If anything happens, I just want you to know that, okay?"
"What is it, Anna?" Zahalm's voice became more urgent.
"We're in the presence of the almighty sphinx. Wether it be truly living, a leviathan, or even half and half...we are so screwed," she murmured.
The body twitched fitfully, the head rising from the floor. Shaking the mane of black hair from its face, the sphinx revealed it's head to be that of a young woman. Her piercing yellow eyes scanned the room around her.
"I suppose the masters have sent more food..." it murmured, rising and daintily making its way to the door.
With a swift kick, several large rocks came crashing down from the ceiling, effectively blocking the way, although not completely.
"Shall we follow tradition or cut to the chase?" she asked curiously.
There was a momentary stunned silence followed by Anna's approaching the beast. Her hands trembled as she clutched her axe, desperatly hoping no one would do anything stupid.
"T..tradition is a good thing, miss."
"Then tradition we will uphold. I will give you three riddles. Solve them all correctly, and you will live," the beast replied.
Anna nodded her head vigorously, motioning to the others to come closer.
"Riddle one: Born at the same time as the earth, destined to live as long as the world, and yet it is never five weeks old."
Anna stared, wide-eyed. Her mind was drawing a complete blank as she stood there, repeating the riddle.
"There were many things born at the same time as the earth, but if that is true, how could it not even be five weeks old?" she murmured.
The sphinx swished her tail impatiently, narrowing her eyes.
"Time is running out, mortal."
Anna's eyes suddenly lit as it came to her. It was not age the beast mentioned, but length of time it appeared!
"The moon! Born at the same time as the earth, destined to live as long as the world, yet it's never five weeks old! The moon!"
The sphinx sneered, but nodded in approval.
"Very good. Riddle two: It is always before you, for you control it, yet do not see it."
"Oh, that's messed up! Can I call a conference on this one?"
"If you wish..."
Anna ran to the others, huddling with them to come up with a suitable answer.
"Just so you realize the importance of answering correctly, if I don't, she'll eat us," the albino whispered.
"Could it be fate?" queried Sweet.
"It might, but I doubt it. You can control fate, but you can also see signs of it when it happens. My philosophy teacher taught me that," piped Mimi.
"What can't we see signs of, but control before our very own eyes?" muttered Zahalm.
"Well, I don' know what'da answer could be, but the future's lookin' bleak," said Vinny, taking out another match to chew on.
"That's it," cried Anna, "Vinny, you're a genius!"
"I try..."
Returning to the sphinx, Anna gave her answer to the rigid creature.
"Perhaps you aren't as brainless as you look. Last riddle: I cannot be seen, cannot be felt; cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. I lie behind stars and under hills, and empty holes I fill. I came first and follow after, I end life and kill laughter. What am I?"
"Can I...?"
"No. You must answer this with no help."
"Damn! What am I supposed to do now?"
"Human, your heart seems to be an empty hole. You seem to regret everything. Why not give up now?"
Anna turned her gaze to the sphinx's golden eyes again. They seemed hard, heartless. She found herself becoming lost in those eyes until all around her became black.
"Darkness... You are darkness," she murmured.
The sphinx jumped in suprise, causing Anna to come back to reality.
"Well done, human. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meal to attend to," it purred, brushing past her and towards the others.
"Wait a minute! You said if I answered them correctly, we'd live!"
The beast turned back to her, grinning insanely.
"I said you would live. I never promised anyone anything about this lot," she replied.
w00t! Another chapter done! I thought I'd leave you all with a cliffy since I'm just mean that way. Hope you enjoyed it and keep a lookout for chapter five! Phwee! Riddles from and They are in no way mine and I do not take credit for them.