Chapter 26: A Pyramid Scheme
Seth, Kendra, Warren, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus all turned around and gazed back at the colossal pyramid that was situated behind them.
"So, what are we supposed to do now?" asked Seth. "I mean, Matthew and Hespera are inside the pyramid, no doubt trying to find a way to take that onyx that's on top so that they can stick it in that hole," he said, pointing back to the large pit in the ground.
"The sooner we can stop them, the better," said Warren. "I don't have the slightest clue as to what placing the onyx in the hole would even accomplish, but if Matthew and Hespera are so intent on doing it, it can't possibly be good for us."
"Do you think we should go into the pyramid and snuff them out?" asked Kendra. "Or wait outside and ambush them?"
"There could be multiple entrances for all we know," said Warren. "And who knows? For all we know, they're in there looking for some sort of super weapon that could kill us all in a flash. We need to hunt them down. The sooner we stop them, the better."
Raxtus and Geminus brought the knights around to the front of the pyramid, where the entrance still remained open. Situated in the center of the base, the entrance appeared to be about one story high, and lead into a darkened hallway.
"Brace yourselves," said Warren, as he accepted his bazooka from Clover. "Hopefully we can sneak up on them from behind a corner and just get this whole thing over with."
The group proceeded to venture inside the pyramid. As they moved in, the ceiling of the passageway started to block out the blistering sun in the sky. Soon the only light came from the path leading outside, and several flickering braziers that were attached to the walls.
"Sound may echo in here," said Warren softly. "So take light steps, and try and talk as little as possible. Matthew and Hespera already have an idea that we're onto them. We can't afford to give ourselves away any more."
The others all nodded, and proceeded to traipse down the passageway. After walking for several yards, the group came across a three-way intersection.
"Right or left?" asked Warren, looking down both ways.
"Is this place a maze?" asked Seth.
"Might as well be," replied Raxtus. "There doesn't seem to be any clues as to where we should be going."
"Let's go right," said Kendra. "I don't know if it's actually better, but I can't see any reason to be going the other way instead."
"What makes you so sure?" asked Seth. "Your fairy-sense tell you so?"
"No," replied Kendra. "It's just what I decided on."
"Why?"
"I don't know," answered Kendra. "Maybe because I'm right-handed."
"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Seth.
"Do we have to stand here and argue?" asked Bright. "If Kendra says we should go right, and we have no reason not to object, then as fairies, we're inclined to follow her lead."
"Fine," said Seth. "Nobody listens to me anyway," he said under his breath.
The group proceeded down the pathway to the right, when suddenly, they could hear the sound of stone sliding behind them. They turned around in time to see that a wall had shifted behind them, blocking the path back to the intersection.
"Aw, great," said Seth. "Does that mean we're being forced to continue, or are we in fact trapped?"
"If this is a trap, we can blast our way out of here," said Bright. She proceeded to clasp her hands together, but nothing more happened.
"Bright, what are you doing?" asked Clover.
"My magic. I... I can't get it to work!"
Clover clasped her hands together, but she too accomplished nothing.
"No!" she cried. "Something's cancelling out our magic!"
"Must be an effect of the pyramid," said Warren. "If they can mount an irremovable jewel atop of it, nullifying magic shouldn't be too much for them either."
"So how do we get out?" asked Clover.
"My bazooka only has one shot in it, so I'd rather not waste it, since Bright can't retrieve more ammo so long as she can't use her magic. So blasting the wall with it is out of the question."
"And a wall like that is too sturdy for small dragons like us to demolish," said Raxtus. "That goes double for you, Seth."
"Well, unless there's a munitions store in the neighborhood, we might as well continue down this way and see what we find," said Warren.
The group proceeded down the passageway for several yards, until they reached a corner that veered to their left. Before them stood another, seemingly barren hallway.
"What's the point of all this anyway?" asked Seth.
"I don't know if there even is a point," replied Kendra. "Either way, I don't care."
As the group ventured down this next hallway, they were taken by surprise when a wall slid in front of them at the far end. The sound of more sliding stone came from the rear, prompting them to look back and see that another wall had closed behind them, trapping them inside the passageway.
"Aww, great," moaned Seth. "Are we really trapped?
Just when things couldn't get any worse, the side walls slowly started to press their way in towards the center of the passageway.
"No!" exclaimed Raxtus, as he leaned against one of the long, sliding walls, trying to hold it back with zero success.
"We're gonna get crushed!" shrieked Kendra.
"Help me!" screamed Raxtus, unable to prevent the sliding wall from pushing him back.
Geminus stood next to Raxtus and helped press against the wall, but even their combined strength was not enough to stop it. Seth too joined in, but as soon as he placed his claws upon the wall, he could tell that they'd never overcome it with their strength.
"The Translocator!" gasped Kendra.
"Magic doesn't work in here," commented Warren.
"Why is this happening?" cried Clover.
Everyone seemed to shrug in response, as the walls continued to grow closer and closer together. The hallway, which had initially been a good fifteen or so feet wide at first was now only about eight feet and shrinking.
"We must've triggered something," said Warren, trying to stand at the center-most point of the narrowing hallway.
"All I did was step on a loose rock," exclaimed Geminus. "But I don't see how that's related to this!"
Warren gazed down at the floor, and began examining where they had been walking. "There better be a way to reset the trap."
Before long, the passageway got even narrower, and it was only a few feet wide. The dragons were now starting to get squashed in between the closing walls.
"HELP!" shrieked Seth.
Kendra, Bright and Clover were all ducking on the floor, covering their heads with their arms. Kendra looked over at the dragons, and could see their bodies slowly starting to get compressed between the walls. It was hopeless. The walls were closing in, and there was nothing she could do to help.
Suddenly, as if there had been a miracle, the walls began to retract away from each other, as they slid back towards their original positions, as did the walls that had appeared in front of and behind them.
"What happened?" asked Seth, relieved to have been rescued.
"I found the release button," said Warren. "If you wish to thank me, I accept hugs, kisses and most major credit cards."
Everyone took a deep breath.
"Where was the switch?" asked Kendra.
"Back here," said Warren, directing the group to a brick in the floor that was raised marginally higher than the others.
"Uh, I think I may have stepped on that," said Geminus. "I'm sorry, but I'm a dragon! I've got these huge talons, it's hard to notice a little stone like that."
"So, the same switch that enables the trap also disables it?" asked Seth.
"I guess they figured that once the walls started closing in, people would panic to avoid getting crushed, and fail to realize that the solution was right there under their nose, literally," said Kendra.
"Note to self," said Raxtus. "Look out for uneven floor tiles."
The group continued down the hallway, and followed it as it twisted around several more corners.
As the group came around the next corner, they could see several sarcophagi lined up against a wall. The lids of the sarcophagi all slid open, and a mummy staggered out of each one. From what Kendra could tell, there were at least ten of them.
"Mummies?" asked Kendra.
"Does someone want her mommy?" asked Seth.
"She's your mother, too," noted Kendra, as the mummies began to approach the group.
"I wouldn't take these mummies lightly," said Warren, clenching his sword.
"Why?" asked Seth. "They're just dead guys in bandages!"
"He's got a point, said Raxtus, raising his fist in the air, "Our magic may not work in here, but we've still got our strength."
Raxtus marched up towards the approaching mummies, then swung his tail around and slammed it into the front-most one. However, both Raxtus and the mummy remained where they were standing.
"Raxtus?" asked Geminus, only to get no response, as the mummies all made their way around Raxtus and began to close in on the group.
"Why's he just standing there?" asked Kendra.
"They've cursed him," said Warren. "Now Raxtus can't move. Not even his mouth, so now he can't talk."
"Do something!" screamed Geminus.
Kendra looked back and saw that another wall had already closed in behind them. They were now trapped in the corridor with the mummies.
"Shoot them!" exclaimed Clover.
"I can't get a clear shot," said Warren, trying to keep his distance from the mummies. "I might hit Raxtus if I do."
"Maybe we can make a run for it?" asked Kendra.
"You might not make it," said Warren. "But at this point, I'd be willing to risk it."
The mummies had now spread out, and were covering the corridor from wall to wall, blocking the way forward, as they loomed even closer.
A stream of fire suddenly shot out from where the group was standing, and proceeded to scorch the gang of mummies. Everyone looked at the source of the fire, and saw that it was coming from Seth, who was spewing it from his mouth.
Kendra smiled with glee as each mummy burst into flames upon being hit by the fire, and almost instantaneously crumbled to the ground. Before long, nothing was left of the mummies but several mounds of ashes.
"What... happened?" asked Raxtus, shaking his head in awe.
"You were cursed by a mummy," said Warren. "However, the mummies were no match for Seth's fire breath. But, because the mummy who cursed you was destroyed, the curse was lifted."
"But... how did Seth use magic in here?" asked Kendra.
"Magic?" asked Raxtus. "Dragon fire isn't magic. Lot of our other powers are, but not fire. I'd have torched those mummies if only I could breathe actual fire.
"Well another problem easily solved," said Seth. "Hold your applause."
"Let's just carry on," said Warren. "I don't know how on Earth Matthew and Hespera got through all of this ahead of us if this place cancels out magic."
The group continued progressing through the pyramid, which was in actuality, one huge maze. It was impossible to gauge whether or not they had been going in circles, as soon Kendra and Seth had both lost their sense of direction.
"This can't be right," said Warren. "This hallway doesn't look familiar, but we've made left turns four times, each turn at a ninety-degree angle.
"Maybe this place is like the Dreamstone," said Seth. "That place defied all logic and physics with its layout.
"We got through there by just pushing forward," said Kendra. "But will that work here?"
"I don't know," replied Warren. "But right now, forward seems to be the only option we really have."
After several more minutes of walking, the group eventually found themselves at the bottom of a shaft. Looking upwards, they could see another level at the top of the shaft.
"Are we supposed to climb up this thing?" asked Kendra, when suddenly, the whole group found themselves being hurled up into the air by an unknown force. Before hitting the ceiling, their bodies were flipped upside-down, so that the ceiling now acted as the floor.
From what Kendra and Seth could see, they had fallen into a huge room that took up most of the upper section of the entire pyramid. As they were technically standing on the ceiling, what appeared to be the floor got deeper and deeper towards the center of the room; the inverse of the pyramid.
Everyone looked down towards the upper portion of the pyramid, and saw an enormous crocodile dressed in gold plates creeping around. Down there with the crocodile were Matthew and Hespera, who were both lying around, seemingly unconscious or possibly dead.
"What's going on?" asked Kendra.
"Did that alligator kill them?" asked Seth.
"Crocodile," said Kendra. "We're in Egypt, remember?"
"Crocodile, alligator, who cares?"
"He does," said Warren, pointing to the lower section of the chamber. "Because I think may have heard you."
The crocodile, which seemingly rivaled Navarog in size, began to climb up the pyramid, facing towards where the knights were standing.
"Maybe we should rethink this," said Seth, looking up towards the shaft that they had fallen through, only to see that it had now been sealed off.
"He's coming for us!" cried Kendra.
"I'll handle this," said Warren, aiming his bazooka down at the approaching crocodile. At no more than twenty feet off, Warren fired the bazooka directly at the crocodile's face, causing a small explosion. The crocodile shrugged the smoke away, then loud out a loud hiss. Scales were now missing from the his snout, leaving his flesh exposed.
"Wow," said Seth.
"This thing really can do damage," said Warren. "So long as it actually hits something."
The crocodile reached the ledge that the knights were standing on, and lunged its tremendous jaws at them, almost biting them in the process.
Kendra, Seth and Warren all dashed off, while the fairies and dragons drifted after them. They ran as far away from the looming crocodile as they could, until they reached a corner, then turned and continued down the next ledge.
"Where are we supposed to run?" asked Kendra, as the scurried down the ledge. Given the shape of the pyramid, they were ultimately running in a massive square formation.
"Look, I'd blast the croc a few more times, but I'm out of ammo!" exclaimed Warren.
"Then I'll blast him!" said Raxtus, flying back towards the crocodile's head. The others watched as Raxtus flew up towards the crocodile's swollen face and slashed his claws along the open wound.
"Of course!" said Geminus. "this thing may be large, but he's not invulnerable!"
Geminus proceeded to fly over to where the crocodile was trying to snap at Raxtus with his jaws. But Raxtus managed to dodge him akin to a fly avoiding a swatter.
Soon the two fairy dragons were both going at the humongous crocodile's open wound. Compared to the dragons, the crocodile was fairly slow and clunky.
"That looks like fun!" said Seth.
"Stay here," said Warren, drawing his sword. "I understand your desire to help, but you're still inexperienced in the body of a dragon."
Grasping the sword in his hand, Warren darted over towards the crocodile, and flung his sword directly into the beast's eye. Blinded the the pain, the crocodile lost track of everyone attacking him, and soon lost the grip his claws had on the ledge.
The crocodile roared in agony as he fell down towards the top of the pyramid, only for his body to get stuck between one of the narrower upper levels, close to the bottom.
"He's down!" shouted Warren. "Let's go in for the kill!"
Warren and the dragons flew down towards the crocodile. Kendra, Seth, Bright and Clover and peered down over the top ledge that they were on and watched as Warren and the fairy dragons continually slashed at the fallen crocodile.
After about a minute or so, the massive crocodile suddenly vanished.
"Where'd he go?" asked Clover.
"Is he a chameleon too or something?" asked Seth.
Kendra pulled out a pair of binoculars and held them up to her eyes. Gazing down, she could see Warren and the dragons hopping down to the lowest level of the pyramid, where Matthew and Hespera were still lying.
Just then, the two sorcerers stood up and blasted Warren and the dragons with dark energy, thrusting them against the wall.
"STOP!" shouted Bright, as she transformed in her unicorn form. Her hooves began to glow vibrantly, as she rapidly spiraled down the pyramid, leaving a rainbow in her wake. Kendra, Seth and Clover stepped onto the rainbow, but due to its steepness, lost their footing and slid down as though it were a huge slide.
They whirled down and down towards the bottom of the rainbow slide, just in time to see Bright blast a rainbow from her horn at Matthew and Hespera.
"What's going on?" asked Kendra.
"Defeating that crocodile seems to have uplifted the pyramid's block on magic," said Warren.
"My power," said Bright. "They're too strong for me!"
"Foolish fairy thinks she's so tough," said Hespera. "Doesn't she know when she's had enough?"
Clover blasted Hespera with her magic, only for it to fizzle away upon making contact with her.
"We gotta get out of here," said Warren. He pulled out the Translocator and twisted it, and as if on cue, all of his allies touched it. Before Matthew or Hespera could respond, the Translocator whisked them away.