A Tomb-Keeper's Lot, Chapter 7
Fenuku led the Ishtar brothers along the dark passageway, which climbed steadily away from the dungeon-like embalming room the three had just escaped from.
There were few torches lining the walls in these lower passages, and the three had not yet come upon any guards.
Marik hoped their luck would hold.
It seemed it wouldn't however as they turned a bend in the dark to see the silhouette of a large, burly man at the far end of the passage.
Fenuku stopped and lifted his arm to halt the other two, leaning back against the stone brick wall and into the shadows of the corridor, out of reach of the distant torch light.
The man had not noticed their presence.
In the darkness, Fenuku motioned towards the door, and though it was hard to tell, Marik guessed that where the guard was standing was the entrance to the vaults. It was the lowest area of the tomb aside from the embalming chamber, and was usually heavily guarded. Inside were contained records of ancient Egypt, of the Pharaoh and his court, and hidden underneath it's floorboards in a secret chamber was the sarcophagus and mummy of the nameless Pharaoh.
Marik was shocked to see the room with so little protection.
Fenuku made no other motions as they waited, watching the guard anxiously as he stood before the door lazily looking around the lit hallway.
Marik looked over at his uncle for any sign of action, but Fenuku was staring hard at the man before them, and he looked unsure of what to do next.
Truth be told, Marik had no clue what to do either.
The minute they left their shroud of darkness, the man would most certainly see them, and they were too far away to stop him running off or calling out for help. They could try charging him and catching him at unawares, but that would create commotion and most likely bring other guards and unwanted attention. Besides, Marik still didn't believe that this man was the only person on look-out down in these tunnels.
Confusion and fear were creeping into his mind again, chipping away at the resolve he had only just gained. They had made it this far, but how was he to help his family when he couldn't even handle one guard?
Marik had no other option. He braced against the wall, getting ready to run and attack the man when his back was turned – if he could keep quiet enough it might work, he would just have to chance alerting any other guards.
Before he could spring however, he felt a familiar twinge inside his soul, but now the feeling brought hope instead of fear; suddenly the guard clutched his head, falling to the floor with a soft thump as he stopped moving, and behind him a gold light gleamed as Shadi once again appeared, transparent and hovering above the now still guard.
"Hurry," he called softly, motioning towards the men in the shadows, "time is slipping away; you must gather with the others before your absence is discovered. That man will soon go to reclaim you in order to force the Pharaoh's secret from you, and instead will find this man and the other guards disabled. I advise you to get to the higher levels before he can gather more men and trap you in this place. You must be prepared to face him."
Marik opened his mouth to ask for more information, but before he could make a sound Shadi had vanished, and Marik no longer felt the Millenium Key's presence.
"Well that's nice." Marik said exasperatedly, "he shows up to solve one problem and leaves us with a dozen more."
"Marik, he cannot complete our destiny for us", Fenuku chided.
The young man sighed, running a hand through his hair as he said "I know, I just wish he was a bit clearer with his instructions."
Odion smiled beside him, saying "He knows we're capable of figuring it out on our own."
Marik scoffed lightly, but walked forward towards the door to the vault, saying softly "Well we'll find out about that, won't we."
...…...
"There may be a way to help your brothers."
Inside the dim women's quarters, Ishizu sat on the dust-covered stone floor across from her cousin Sharifa, who was currently drawing vague outlines in the layer of dust on the ground.
"Here's a map of the main floor, where we are. This," she pointed to a second drawing, "is a map of the lower floor where the records vault is. That is where our family is."
Ishizu's face creased in confusion. "How are you sure they are in the vaults?"
"Jibade forces them to be there all hours of the day. Sometimes he lets them leave to sleep in their own beds, sometimes not. He has them looking for clues to the Pharaohs treasure."
"Treasure? But the bulk of the Pharaoh's worldly treasures have long since been removed."
"We tried to tell Jibade that. He didn't believe us."
Ishizu turned to stare at the map, studying the different passageways represented.
"So to reach our family we would have to take the main hallway; but that will most certainly be heavily guarded, and doesn't it go past the Chief's room? We would never make it this way."
Sharifa smiled suddenly, a knowing look in her eyes as she said "And that's where we have a chance."
She drew another line then, connecting the back of their room to the opposite side of the vault with a long J-shaped curve.
"We could never make it that way; so we must go another way. There is a secret tunnel that connects this room with the vaults. We found it a few years ago. It seems to be a secondary tunnel for escape from the lower levels, but it is very small and in bad shape."
Ishizu's eyes shown with hope as she turned to Sharifa, saying "This is just what we need! Why did you not mention this sooner?"
Sharifa's own smile faltered slightly as she said "I had to be certain you were willing to take the risk. This is a very dangerous passage; the rocks are unstable, and some parts are very narrow and difficult to get through. We nearly lost one of the younger girls in there the first time we used the passage, and because of this we do not use it often. But it is the only way for us to meet with the others and find a way to save Master Marik."
Ishizu listened carefully to Sharifa's warnings, but she didn't even need to think about her decision.
"Of course. I will do whatever I can to help my brothers."
The other woman smiled softly in admiration of Ishizu's courage.
"We should go now then."
Ishizu nodded resolutely, then said "Who all will go with us? There is safety in numbers, but from what you described I can't imagine us all fitting in that tunnel."
Sharifa shook her head, saying, "Only you and I will go. We're the only ones needed to tell the clan what has happened."
"Wait just one moment!" Monifa stormed over to the two women, fire burning in her eyes and her shoulders squared. "I will be going with you as well."
Sharifa rolled her eyes and turned to look condescendingly at her younger cousin.
"This isn't a pleasure trip Monifa. We are going to gather our family and try to rescue Master Marik."
"Am I not family? Do you not think I want to see Master Marik safe as well? I want to help!"
"You would only get in our way," Sharifa said, her tone stern, "you are too young and inexperienced."
Monifa was fuming.
"Young? Inexperienced? I have been through just as much hardship and heartache as you. Don't think that just because your father was elder means you are superior to me; my father is a great man, no matter what you say. He deserves your respect, and so do I."
Sharifa looked ready to retort, but Ishizu stepped in. "Please, cousins, now is not the time. We must meet with the other Tomb Keepers as quickly as possible. And… I would be glad of some extra help."
The two other women continued to stare each other down, but finally Sharifa sighed and turned away, saying "Alright Monifa, if you insist on being a fool and putting your life in danger… you can come with us."
"I don't need your permission."
Sharifa made no response, and instead turned to the other Tomb Keeper women, Panya and Ife.
"You two will need to carry on as if nothing has changed; don't let anyone become aware of our absence. And if something goes wrong, protect the other women."
The girls nodded, their faces resolute and fearless.
Turning to Ishizu, Sharifa said simply "Follow me" before heading to a dark corner of the room where a curtain-like tapestry hung. She moved it aside and slowly pushed against the stone wall behind it. Without a sound the wall swung inward, and she quickly motioned for Ishizu and Monifa to get inside.
Grabbing a torch from the wall beside the tapestry, she stepped inside the passage herself and closed the wall behind them.
The torch seemed bright in the small passage, and Ishizu was able to get a fairly good look at what was to be the key to her salvation in the underground caverns.
It was not promising.
The passage was barely wide enough for two of the women to stand shoulder to shoulder, and the ceiling was only a foot above their heads. Webs hung in every corner and draped across the passage in many places like a veil. They were thick and enmeshed with dirt and dust, preventing Ishizu from seeing very far into the tunnel.
Sharifa squeezed her way past Ishizu and Monifa, who fell into step behind her as she led the way further inside.
"Careful not to touch the walls – the slightest shift can disrupt the stone-work and bring the walls down on us. And watch your feet, for there are many fallen bricks and debris that could cause a nasty fall."
A small clacking sound accompanied by a yelp sounded behind Ishizu, and she turned to see Monifa hunched over and rubbing her foot which had just connected with a loose paving stone.
Sharifa turned a withering look on the girl, and Monifa responded with downcast eyes and a small humph of annoyance.
"I know, watch my feet."
Without a word Sharifa turned back and continued walking, but Ishizu watched the younger girl gaze after their leader with a surly look before picking herself back up and following.
They continued straight along the tunnel for what seemed like hours, and Ishizu was beginning to worry that perhaps they were going the wrong way, when suddenly the path turned sharply and started descending.
Sharifa paused at the curve and raised the torch farther in front of herself, trying to get a better view down the hallway.
Seeming satisfied, she turned back to the other two, saying "This part gets much trickier. As we go down further the tunnel becomes even less stable and also much smaller. However it looks that it is still intact since my last venture here, so we should be alright."
They followed her down the bend, and Ishizu started to notice a change in the passage; the ceilings were getting lower, requiring them to stoop as they walked, and the walls were also narrower than before, only allowing them to walk single file. There were also several sections where stairs had been carved into the rock, since the downgrade in these parts was too steep to walk otherwise.
It was getting more and more difficult to keep from touching the walls, and even Sharifa was forced to brace herself against it at one point as they climbed over a pile of rubble in their path.
They continued on in this manner for a while, and it seemed to Ishizu that they had gotten past the worst of it already.
Indeed, as they came to a seventh set of stairs, Sharifa let out a sigh of relief and turned to say "We are almost to the floor where the vaults are. Soon we should get to level ground."
They didn't have long to enjoy the news though, as they heard Monifa cry out in the dark behind them, accompanied by a heavy thud.
"Monifa!" Sharifa cried, dashing toward the sound along with Ishizu.
Monifa was on the ground, groaning in pain, a large rock near her on the ground.
"Cousin! What happened?" Ishizu said, checking the girl for signs of injury.
She moaned slightly, cracking her eyes open to look at the other women.
"I… I tripped and fell against the wall… I must have… jolted one of the rocks from the ceiling… it just grazed my head I think, but… ah! Ow…."
She clutched at her head in pain as she tried to get up, but she was stopped by Sharifa, whose worried face showed uncharacteristic compassion for her young cousin.
"Wait. Rest a bit before trying to stand."
"No…" she whispered, again bracing herself against the floor, "we must keep going… to get to our family."
"We can wait a few moments for you to regain your bearings." Sharifa said sternly, though there was no anger in her voice.
Monifa looked to her, surprised and grateful, and Ishizu watched them both with a smile as they sat in the flickering light, a new understanding seeming to pass between the bickering girls.
Suddenly a cracking sound met their ears, and they looked to see a freshly fallen stone beside them on the floor.
For a moment they could just stare at it, eyes wide, fearing what it meant.
They soon became aware of a dull thudding sound which seemed to seep through the stone above, and a few small rocks came loose to bounce off their shoulders.
Another sound, that of creaking rock, started to emanate from the tunnel, and the three women were shaken from their stupor as they quickly rose off the ground to stoop in the passage.
Monifa cried out and fell as she stood too quickly, but she was caught by Sharifa, who held her protectively as the walls shook.
"We have to get out of here. Now! The pressure in this part of the tunnel is too much for these loose stones; it will cave in any second!"
Sharifa and Ishizu carefully escorted Monifa along the passageway, traveling as quickly as they could down the narrow pass. Rocks were falling quickly now, large blocks falling from the ceiling and narrowly missing them. Dirt was pouring in as well from the parts where the rock had fallen away, kicking up clouds of brown that made the going even harder.
They struggled to carry Monifa down the staircase, travelling single file with the injured girl supported on their arms; but they could not seem to move fast enough.
Stones continued to fall and the clouds of dust were now almost impossible to see through. Sharifa cried out in frustration as her torch died in the chocking cloud, and she quickly dropped it to feel for the wall, hoping it could guide her instead.
They could no longer see their way, but they could hear the rocks starting to fall in the corridor ahead of them.
"No!" Sharifa gasped, her fear and desperation seeping into Ishizu, terrifying her. If the passage ahead of them caved in as well, they would truly be trapped.
That was of course if they didn't get crushed by an avalanche of rock first.
Ishizu's soul cried out in anguish to her brothers, her eyes clenched shut to block out the disaster enfolding around her.
Was this to be it? Would she never get to see her brothers again?
She had been through so much in her life, struggling so hard to keep her family together, but now it would all be for nothing.
She had failed.
As if in answer to her sorrow, she felt something stir in her soul, and a golden light flashed from behind her closed eyelids.
Not daring to hope, she opened them, and was met with a glowing light surrounding herself, her cousins, and filling the passage ahead of them, preventing the rocks from falling and acting as a shield against the dust and debris.
As she marveled she heard a voice, soft and familiar saying "You must go now. There is little time, and you are so close. Do not worry; I will protect you from this, but you must continue your journey. You will find what you seek."
"Shadi…" she whispered, gratitude filling her heart.
He had helped her not so long ago in her battles to save her little brother's soul, and now he was back once again to help her save the rest of her family.
She wondered how she could ever repay him.
Seeing the opportunity, Sharifa quickly pulled Monifa and Ishizu forward again and into the light, but Ishizu looked back one more time to see the outline of a man in robes and a turban, and whispered a heartfelt "Thank you" as they fled down the stairs and turned a corner, the golden vision fading from view.
*Author's Note:
Okay, so I know this is late. By like, a few minutes. Sorry.
What can I say, it was a holiday today! (Well, technically it was Sunday, but I had the day off from class. So for me the holiday was Monday.)
Anyways, I'm sorry to say that the Ishtar siblings won't be meeting up with each other this week. They had a few more individual challenges to face before they could be reunited. Poor babies.
Anyways, thanks so much for the continued support everyone! It really means so much to me! This story has really been a joy to write, and I'm so glad to see that others enjoy it as well! The Ishtar's really are just so much fun to write; they're each wonderful characters, and I love their relationship – it reminds me a lot of my own family.
But anyhoot, I'll have next week's chapter up in time! Promise! (I really shouldn't say that, I have no idea what's in the future. :P) So please, keep an eye out, and please keep reading! There's not too much left to go, perhaps another few chapters, but it should be wrapping up soon. And then I can work on finishing some of my other multi-chapter fics…. 0.0; Eheheheheh…..