For Love or Gold

CHAPTER 2

"I dare say that this is not the vacation I had imagined!" the young British woman said as she examined the ancient tomb wall covered in Egyptian Hieroglyphs, "There is not one detail explaining the significant of both Raven carvings here at all."

The brown hair woman turned to her red haired companion, "Have you found anything, Kay?"

Kayla had her dark red hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, the sand colour shorts and tops kept the girls cool during the hot days in the desert. But the poor black raven that slept in the cool corner hated the heat with a passion.

The women had made their journey here a month ago, in search of a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. They didn't take long in rediscovering the empty tomb. The rooms were barren, raided by tomb robbers centuries ago. What artefacts that could give new clues were lost in time.

"I know there's something here, Emma, I can feel it." Replied Kay as she too looked at the inscriptions painted on the walls.

"Well, in my years of studying the Egyptians, I had never come across that script before. Only here it has been seen." Emma said as she looked at another wall.

They didn't notice a long and slender form slither into the room, the creature stuck its forked tong out and tasted the air. It could smell the little sleeping bird in the corner of the room. The humans were too occupied in the structure to notice it begin to slither slowly towards the unexpecting raven.

"It's here, we just have to find it." Kay looked over her area again, she felt she was missing something.

"I don't want to stay here all night again, that charming American James has asked me to join he and his archaeology group for a few toasts of whisky and some fine dancing."

"That sounds like fun, I promise I won't make you stay with me."

"His friend Andy asked about you, he would like to see you there."

"Not interested." The large reptile moved closer to the sleeping bird.

"Come now Kay, all work and no fun makes Kay a dull girl!"

"Still not interested."

"There's a boy back home, isn't there?"

"Not a boy…a man, sort of."

The fifteen foot anaconda reached the bird, it shrunk its head back ready to strike at the bird.

"It that the one you moon over at night? What's his name? Mark?"

"I do not moon! I…"

The giant snake struck at the bird, smacking its nose just hard enough to shake the poor bird from his dead of sleep and into a squawking and fluttering terrified ball of flapping feathers.

Kay and Emma jumped at the sound of the bird freaking from its fright. Kay tried to calm the frightened bird as Emma placed her hands on her hips and starred at the snake, who seemed to have her head down in shame.

"Elizabeth!" Emma shouted as she gently grabbed a hold of the serpent's head to look her in the eye, "That is not lady like! Ladies do not frighten other animals!"

Kay had Reaper by his body, but the large raven was still flapping his over extended wind span, "I don't think Beth is a lady…"

Emma grabbed the snake, allowing the animal to wrap herself around her mistress' body, "Elizabeth is a very well behaved young lady, it just seems that she had gotten into a few sports of trouble back home."

"Reaper!" Kay tried to calm down the bird, but to no avail.

The bird shrieked as his movements caused Kay to fall off balance as she tried to hold him, the momentum threw her off balance, knocking her off her feet and into the far wall. Her hands released the bird, who in turn tried to attack the exceptionally large reptile, who was still curled up around Emma.

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD REAPER!" Kay shouted as she raised herself from the floor, unaware that her hand had pressed down on a certain stone that sunk lower than the other stones on the floor.

"Down boy!" Kay called again as she tried to grab a hold of the angered raven.

But as she tried again to grab the bird, Reaper unknowingly knocked her back. No one heard the century old mechanics move, nor the slate of stone that moved from behind Kay. As the young witch was thrown back, there was no floor to catch her. She fell through the hole, Reaper, Emma, and Elizabeth had stopped their fighting and was now looking into the darkness of the hole.

"Kay!" Emma shouted as Reaper squawked down the hole, "Are you hurt?"

"Just my ass." She heard from below.

"What do you see?" Emma asked again.

There was a moment of silence, "Black…I see black everywhere."

"What?"

"I have no light!" Kay shouted back, "Hand me a flash light."

Emma ran over to their pile of equipment they had moved into the tomb and retrieved the light. She turned it on and threw it gently into the hole.

"Got it!" Kay shouted back, "Oh my goddess…"

"What?" Emma was getting excited, "What is it?"

"You should get down here."

Emma spoke a few magic words and leaped into the hole, floating gently as a feather until her feet touched the ground. She looked around in amazement, the two witches were in a hallway of sorts, with the walls covered from bottom to top in Hieroglyphs.

"What is this place…" Whispered Kay as Emma began to read the glyphs on the wall.

"We seem to be in the main chamber of this tomb…" Emma looked around at the paintings on the walls, "This is amazing! I do not expect anyone has been down here after the owners had sealed it."

"Well, it seems to lead to the East." Answered Kay as she began to walk towards the darkness.

"Kay!, Hold up!" Emma shouted as she realized that her pet was still with her, "Go back up, Elizabeth."

The snake did as she was commanded and began her way back up the walls as Emma caught up with Kay, they looked around in aw until they reached a door. They looked around at the edges of the door. Emma's face turned excited as Kay pulled out her amulet. She looked at the little wooden carved raven holding a skull in it's talons. She looked back over the door, there was a larger carving of her amulet over the door.

"This is it!" Kayla grinned, "This is what we've been looking for!"

Emma took a look at the writing on the walls, "It says here that this room was reserved for the goddess Isis herself…and Anubis?"

"Who?" Kay looked at her childhood friend, "Who's Anubis?"

Emma still examined the wall, "Anubis is the god of the dead to the Egyptians. I have never seen his symbol associated with Isis' before."

Kay looked at the large stone door, there was a carving of her amulet on the door, "Ok, so how do we get in?"

To be continued.