That Which Darkly Glitters

It came in halting gasps did the old man's breathing. Hammadi glanced at Griffith dozing beside him. Hammadi closed his eyes. Within his mind he heard the Other speak.

We are close to home. A day no more, perhaps less. The air is as I remember it.

Hammadi repeated a wish uttered a hundred times since they had left Cairo. I beg you to seek another plan.

There is no other. I must survive and you must help.

Griffith is a good man. He does not deserve this.

I see I must remind you of your great sire's pact with me. Once again.

Hammadi's mind reeled as Abraxos, the one he knew as the Other, took control.

1880 in the Nubian deserts near the ancient city of Abu Sindel

The lantern flickered once and then died out for the second time. Moamar fumbled for his match. He cursed under his breath. Tomb robbing was not his normal occupation and he was discovering that the task took more skill than he had anticipated. Moamar took a deep breath and lit his match once more. He could hear his companion's movements as he set to work stoking a brazier full of coal and tinder. Moamar's lanterns provided too little light. Fortunately, his hired raider came prepared.

"For a man so skilled with words, Moamar, you are far clumsier than my worst apprentice." Talmet expertly blew small puffs of air at the brazier to hasten its flame. He was a large man with tight curly hair graying at the tips. His rough, sunburned skin testified to his work.

The pair presented quite a contrast. Moamar with his straight hair was spare and about a decade younger. His skin was taut and unaffected by the ravages of the harsh desert. He hailed from Cairo, city born and bred. Talmet was raised in the small settlement of Jhasif outside of Abu Sindel. Talmet was the first of his family to learn a trade and he was justifiably proud of that fact.

"I, Moamar Hammadi, am a lawyer not a tomb robber. Give me an argument to present to court and I will show you skill." Moamar replied. Moamar listened for other noises but heard nothing not even the ever-present desert wind's whistling lament. Before this assignment he had read all he could on ancient tombs. In no literature could he remember any mention about the absolute absence of natural sounds in a tomb.

"How did you know this tomb existed?" Talmet added more kindling..

"My client had the information. I am simply following his instructions." Moamar spared a quick glance at his companion. Were Talmet not so talented a stonemason and a proven raider, Moamar would never have considered him a worthy partner. Two hours spent in the coarse man's company was more than enough to grate on his every nerve.

Talmet stood up and surveyed the room trying to make out their surroundings. As he moved, his canvas bag hung on his shoulder. His tools clanged within. "Will your client mind that we have helped ourselves first?"

"Not as long as he gets what he wants."

"We have been here for more than an hour. I promised Mira I would be home before sunrise." Talmet brandished his lantern aloft.

"And you will be, Talmet. Your wife will forgive your lateness once she sees the treasures laid at her feet." Like Talmet he advanced holding his lantern high.

The combined light from the brazier and their lanterns banished the dimness from the room. They were in a small antechamber. A thick layer of unbroken dust and sand hid the entire floor from view. Brightly colored hieroglyphs made their way upwards from the floor to the ceiling. In the middle of the opposite wall was an engraved seal indicating the individual for whom the tomb was constructed. Moamar compared the insignia with something similar drawn in a small notebook lying open on his palm.

Talmet passed his lantern against the walls looking at the glyphs closely. Though he was no true scholar, Talmet had over the years learned to recognize certain glyph sequences and pictograms. "Did you not say that this tomb belonged to an advisor of Amenhotep IV?"

"Hmmm, yes." Moamar looked back and forth from the seal to the notebook. "This is a tomb of a minor administrator named Abraxos."

"He must have been an astronomer, too, then." Talmet ran a finger across a glyphic symbol representing astronomy and science. Further along he saw something that drew the breath out of him in a slow hiss. It was unmistakable. Its colors and form as vibrant as the day it was painted hundreds of years ago. It was an ibis or parrot-like bird holding a scribe's palette and stylus. Talmet knew that this was and still was the symbol of the worshipers of the god Thoth - the patron deity of wisdom and knowledge. It is said that it was Thoth who first created magic and then brought magic into the world of man.

Moamar reached inside his inside pocket and took out a small vial. Inside the vial was a blue liquid thick as oil. He then took out a small brush. "Talmet, come here. I need you to hold the lantern while I open the seal."

Moamar began to carefully brush the blue liquid over the ornate seal. As the liquid met the stone, it began to glow. To Talmet's eyes, it was as if the liquid had a life of its own. Soon the vial was empty and the seal was covered completely. After a few minutes of silent observation, the blue liquid glowed red and before their astonished eyes, the liquid seemed to seep into the very stone. The seal began to sink into the wall an inch or two. As the seal dug in deeper, a sound like rushing sand came to their ears. As abruptly as the sound started it stopped. The seal was no longer on the surface of the wall. It was embedded half a meter into the wall.

The two men looked at each other uneasily. The wall in front of them began to move aside as if it were a door being pushed aside. Cautiously, they advanced into the room. It was larger than the antechamber but not by much. In the middle was a rectangular crypt carved out of red sandstone.

"This is the burial crypt. Precisely where the notebook said it would me." Moamar approached the crypt eagerly. Talmet was a little more hesitant. "I need your help here. Hold the lanterns high while I make a tracing of the cover."

Talmet watched as Moamar first wiped loose dirt and sand off the crypt's cover. Satisfied that the area was clear of debris, he spread a long thin sheet of vellum from end to end. He rummage in his small bag for some chalk. Starting from the top, Moamar meticulously made a rubbing print of the engravings decorating the crypt. It was slow going. Talmet arms began to ache from holding the lanterns so long. To distract himself, he looked down on the images being revealed by the rubbing. The symbol of Thoth was plentiful both as an ibis and as a baboon. But there were other symbols that he did not recognize. He did not believe they were entirely Egyptian either.

Moamar finally rose and groaned clutching at his back briefly. "Thank Allah that is done. Now one more thing to do and we can depart this place." He rolled the vellum carefully and put it into a small circular case. He then took out a small knife. He used the knife to gouge out a small gemstone from the cover of the crypt. The gem was well placed and Moamar grunted in frustration several times. After a few more minutes, he was successful in dislodging the gem from its holder. Moamar held it up briefly.

"This is for my client." Moamar said. He looked down at the two other gemstones embedded in the cover. "The sapphire is mine but I believe Mira would appreciate the dark opal, Talmet." Moamar grinned then slipped the emerald into a velvet pouch. Moamar began to work on dislodging the sapphire.

Talmet fingered the black opal reverently. Never had he seen a gemstone of its like. In the light, the ancient gem still sparkled. The gem was large half a palm in size. Upon its surface was inscribed a faint symbol in silver. Mira and the entire family would be honored to possess such a stone.

A grinding sound made them look up. The stone door was sliding itself shut. The men rushed to the door. Both tried to stop the door from closing but human strength was to no avail. Moamar pushed and pushed against the door. Talmet, after a moment's reflection, took his lantern and began to prowl about the room.

"Come back here and help me open this door!" Moamar dug his fingernails into the door joints probing for any opening.

"You are wasting your time. That door is counterweighted by a heavy rock. An old trick to dissuade robbers. It will not open for us now." Talmet went to the far wall looking up and down rapidly scanning the hieroglyphs on the walls. He touched and pushed every wall. "There is another way out of this room. We need to find it quickly."

Moamar leaned against the door panting heavily. Perspiration from fear and exertion beaded on his forehead. "The notebook does not show any other entrances or exits out of here."

"One cannot learn everything from books." He looked at the crypt itself. He scanned the outside of the crypt carefully. Experimentally, he pushed against the crypt. The crypt did not move nor make any sound. His eyes fell on the lid of the crypt. "Come! Help me lift the lid off the sarcophagus."

"You are insane! There's nothing in there but a mummy's remains." Despite his words, Moamar walked towards the crypt. Too heavy to be properly lifted, they settled on sliding it sideways until it lay leaning against the crypt. They peered inside and saw the mummified remains of Abraxos.

"There ... you see ... that was for nothing." Moamar said.

Talmet held his lantern over the remains. His eyes looking everywhere taking in all the details. He rolled the mummy gently to the side. He drew back the decaying cloth underneath the mummy. The cloth hid a panel made of copper. "We need to lift the mummy out."

They removed the mummy and all the other contents of the crypt. Scattered about the floor were various figurines and other objects. But the two men were too intent on the panel to give the rest any notice. With hearts pounding and breaths coming in low gasps, they lifted the panel. Underneath was revealed a series of stone steps carved into the very rock leading down into darkness.

"This looks like the way out." Talmet said. He grabbed his lantern and put one leg over the side of the crypt.

"What are you doing?!" Moamar cried. "You don't know where that leads to."

"You stay here and I will look." Talmet started down lantern in hand. "I will return for you."

"Wait! It's better to go together." Moamar followed Talmet down. Was it his imagination or was the air growing stale?

The steps went down a long way. They found themselves in a tight hallway wide enough for only one man to advance at one time. The ceiling was so low that they had to crawl on all fours pushing the lantern ahead of them as they went. Time passed. How long neither man really knew.

"There! Do you feel it?" Talmet's voice rose in excitement.

"Feel what?"

"Air. It is slow in coming but fresh in scent."

"I knew we were on the right course." Moamar said. "Hurry up then!"

They scrabbled through the tight passage. The further they went the wider the passage became until they could both stand side by side. They came to the end of the passage. There they were confronted by a metal gate. The gate looked very solid with its thick bars running its height. A sturdy metal latch passed for a lock. Beyond the gate, they could see the faint outlines of a large room. The air here was cool with the faint tang of desert. The way out was clear.

Thinking only of his family and how he longed to see them again, Talmet took out his chisel and mallet from his bag and proceeded to destroy the metal latch. Moamar held the lantern aloft. The metal was soft and it only took Talmet a few minutes to break through. Talmet swung the gate open. One would think that a gate more than a thousand years old would make some noise but this door was silent. A chill ran through their bodies as they entered the dim room. A small red glow in the center of the room caught their attention and they moved towards it.

The glow came from the eyes of a lone figure, an ibis, set on a pedestal of marble. The eyes pulsed bright then dim then bright again. Moamar approached the figure eager and curious. As he got closer he could see that the body was pure gold and the eyes the finest of rubies. This was a prize worthy of all his efforts and hardships.

"Moamar, do not touch anything." Talmet implored. He had robbed many tombs in his time but this place did not feel like any other tomb to him. A skittering sound in the distance made him turn. But he saw nothing. His skin grew clammy. He fell to his knees as he felt his chest clench tight as if bands of metal were squeezing his very body. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Moamar doubling over in pain. He looked at the ibis and saw the eyes move to watch him. The pain was overwhelming and he collapsed onto his chest.

Splayed on the ground, Talmet heard the skittering noise again. It seemed closer. Ignoring the fiery pain coursing through his body, he flipped onto his back and turned towards the sound. His hand clamped hard around his chisel, his only weapon. He saw nothing. He trained his eyes on the edge of the darkness watching for movement of any kind. Then he heard the voice.

"You are mine!" The voice lacerated his mind deep as a whip on bare, wet flesh. "Mine!"

Talmet writhed on the floor. His words were raspy yet defiant. "No! I … I will not … dishonor my family. Never!" Darkness descended on Talmet Hamdi for the last time.

Moammar clawed at his chest. A voice filled his head. A bargain was sought. There was knowledge and riches to gain. It was a choice between life and death.

Moammar crawled out of the tomb. He was alive and he was not alone.