The Queen Above Golden Sands - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Boy I did not expect 'Negotiate with the Sphinx' to end up winning! I was so convinced seduction would get picked I honestly didn't have any idea how I'd write the other options lol. Hopefully I managed to make something mildly compelling in spite of that, though y'all should let me know one way or the other regardless!

Ishala arrived in the Sulai Desert amidst a howling storm of sand and wind. The towering column of air swirling around her faded mere moments after her feet alighted upon solid ground but the cacophony lingered on for a moment longer, echoing across the empty dunes. Billowing clouds of sand continued to drift along currents left in her Queen's wake, obscuring much of the surrounding world until she cast them away with a spell of her own. Only when the furor had settled and the desert lay bare in all directions could she look towards the horizon and see her true goal looming over the rest.

Standing like a great mirage at the ends of the earth and yet shining clear through the heat obscuring everything around it Hetshapsul's pyramid remained a towering monument to a lost age. To the eternal pride and arrogance of the pharaoh who'd created it. And in the time since she last looked upon it so much more of the already corrupted stone had been twisted and marred by the magic seeping out from the tomb it was meant to hide. Once grand white stone as bright and clear as freshly fallen snow was riddled with blackened veins of pulsing magical energy. Even from so far away Ishala could see the magic coursing through the face of the pyramid. Every crack in the intricately laid surface was infected by the malice seeping out like some noxious tide leaking from a damn. The very air around it shimmered with a foul corruption as unmistakable as it was repulsive and the entire thing seemed to pulse with the same rhythm of her own heart.

But unlike all who laid eyes upon the fallen marvel of strength and power Ishala didn't turn away. She didn't avert her eyes and utter a prayer to her god. Instead she descended the great dune she stood upon and approached the shadowy pyramid. With blade in hand a newfound certainty in her heart she traipsed across the desert and towards the blight she'd long sought to eradicate.

“Why was Ishala sent away?” Maeve asked of Brylaia as the two departed the Queen's great chamber for a more quiet spot to rest, “What does Safiyyah desire from the pyramid?”

Brylaia's brow furrowed as she considered the question for a time before answering exactly as her companion hoped she wouldn't. “Truthfully? I don't know. Ishala has never spoken in detail about it and our Queen has said even less.”

“Oh...”

“You needn't sound so disappointed. You'll learn soon enough what they seek.”

“I suppose.. though it's difficult not to wonder. Especially when they made such an ordeal about some Sphinx she needs to pass.”

Both of them crossed the magical threshold into an overgrown jungle of dark, looming plants almost entirely desaturated of color and light. Only the softly glowing lanterns hanging from the fence running parallel to the path they walked shed any illumination at all. And even then they were pale and wan in their color and scarcely reaching beyond a few feet. Maeve couldn't help but shudder and wrap her arms about herself, although there was no chill in the dead air all around them. She was so distracted by the unnatural world around them she hardly noticed Brylaia laughing at her words and the near dismissive tone she'd spoken them in.

“You weren't raised in the desert were you?” She asked, already certain of the answer.

“No. I came her as a young woman. A younger woman. Why do you ask?”

“If you'd grown up among the sands you'd know the danger a Sphinx poses. Even the weakest among them.”

Walking through another magical barrier and into the empty void separating each bubble Maeve finally took a proper breath. Though she quickly braced herself for another shock as they neared another shimmering dome of energy, “If they're so great a threat why are you so calm? And why would your Queen only send a single warrior? Surely she has the means to send more?”

Another chuckle filled the air as Brylaia's smile widened even more, “Be sure to call Ishala a warrior the next time you both cross paths. You just might earn yourself a crumb of good will.”

Before Maeve could respond they passed into a much more comprehensible sphere of lush plants and babbling brooks. Stepping into a forest near identical to the one she'd spent the early decades of her life was a far cry from the lightless space they'd just left and the deserts she'd grown accustomed to over the years. Enough to put her in a far better mood as she let out a quiet sigh and even smiled, her pace naturally slowing as she basked in the comfort of her surroundings.

“You still haven't answered my questions.” She eventually remarked.

“No I haven't.” Brylaia replied, coming to a stop and leaning against the railing separating them from the woodlands all around, “I don't fear for my love because I know she can take care of herself. And while I cannot speak for my Queen I believe she knows that too. She has no need to send others when she has Ishala. Surely you saw her rescue of Amatiya?”

“I saw the aftermath.” Maeve remarked, her serenity shattered by the memories of blood and death and destruction, “Your lover is undoubtedly skilled at making a mess of raiders and bandits.”

“That she is.” Brylaia chuckled. Pushing herself off the railing and continuing their walk she led Maeve away at a deliberately leisurely pace, both of them falling into a lengthy silence until she added, “I may not know what they seek within the pyramid but I trust my Queen as much as I trust my love. They would not be so interested without reason...”

The sun was shrouded in a dense miasma as the sand writhed beneath Ishala's boots. Creeping tendrils of the same malignant darkness slithered towards her like so many outstretched fingers while she stood before the mouth of the great pyramid. All around her the air swirled and squirmed, stifling her every breath with an oppressive malice so thick and overwhelming she could scarcely see beyond. Were it not for the otherworldly glow of the energy spilling out through the cracks of the pyramid even that towering monolith might've been hidden from her sight. Yet still she pressed on, slowly approaching the small hole she'd carved into the stone upon her last visit.

Though it hadn't been more than a few weeks since her last journey much of the stone she'd destroyed was being pulled back over the yawning chasm she'd created. Countless tendrils of magical energy collected the shards scattered across the sands and countless more pulled them back into place in a slow but inexorable repair. What'd once been an opening large enough to walk through was now a tightly confined warren she'd struggle to manage.

So of course she held out her hand and grasped the small urn through which she channeled the powers given by her Queen. With a single word and flick of her wrist she conjured a deafening shockwave within the hole. The multitude of fragments already rent asunder by her first blast were reduced to ash in the face of another and even more of the stone around them cracked and crumbled away.

A long, low groan filled the air as the entire pyramid seemed to shift and rumble. Like some great, slumbering beast it awakened at her attack. All the magical energy swirling around the opening and from the cracks surged forth in a sudden wave. Ishala leapt back and slashed at the appendages grasping at her legs. Her blade seemed to pass through naught but empty air as it scraped through the sand and yet the tendrils were severed in a single clean stroke. Their remainder recoiled and that overwhelming groan deepened.

She spoke the same word as before and another blast of force ripped through the stones around the hole, shattering even more and reducing much of them to shards. Many of the tendrils attempting to repair the entrance were blown away too and she hurtled forward as they tried to recover. They groped at her clothes and burned away the edges of whatever they touched but she knew what they were capable of and darted inside before they could find any purchase. Before they could drain away her very essence. And she sprinted deeper into the all consuming darkness, never stopping for so much as a moment. Not until she reached the first turn of winding, crooked hallway she'd entered.

Only then did take a moment to breathe and collect her thoughts, kneeling down in the pitch black and retrieving one of the magical torches she'd brought along. With little more than a thought it sprang to life in her left hand and a radiant blue light filled white stone hallway. All the tendrils seething and winding closer recoiled from the power of her Queen's magic, stunned by her new tool and unprepared for it's strength.

Ishala spent a moment watching the malice recede and the darkness surge forth to the edge of the glow cast by her torch. It seemed to push and prod and stain against the dome of light all around her, as if pushing against the unseen contours in search of any weakness it might find. But she trusted in the gifts she'd been given and after a few moments she knelt down again to retrieve the moldering old map that'd led her to the 'entrance' in the first place. Even knowing it as surely as she knew the grounds of Meddah Al-Naruf she still made certain to familiarize herself with the maze like halls around her once more. If only to find her way to the door she sought and the deeper levels of the half buried pyramid lurking just beneath her feet. If her luck held she'd only need the golden scarab she'd left to find the last time. If it didn't she'd have a few choice words for Sultan Sirajid's 'brilliant' scholars.

Barely a minute later she was walking down the twisting hallways once more. Although the tendrils all around her slithered away and the darkness abated the moment her light arrived she was nonetheless forced to moved at little more than a brisk wall. The oppressive will of the pyramid itself only continued to grow stronger and stronger with every moment she trespassed and ever step felt just a little heavier than last. Nowhere near enough to stall her forever but certainly enough to see her slowing her pace and conserving her strength for the battles to come. Though her last visits had already spared her many a battle, the blasted and decaying bodies of countless undead lying in testament to her previous sojourns. Some tried to return to life or shamble closer despite their broken forms but she simply had to sear them with another beam of crackling golden energy to put them down much more permanently. Some were outright reduced to ash like their predecessors and the rest were little more than splintered bones and crumbling armor in her wake.

Finding no great fore or other impediment along her trip Ishala reached the massive, ornately carved doors that'd blocked her progress once before. The darkness trying to obscure it withered away beneath her torchlight and the hollow space in the center was revealed yet again. She produced the golden scarab Sultan Sirajid's men had helped her find and offered up a quiet prayer to her Queen. Once it was done she pushed the key into the lock and stepped back, blade at the ready and a spell on her lips.

Another thunderous groan filled the air and Ishala couldn't help but smile. She sensed the anger filling every moment of the impotent roar but felt not fear. Not as she heard the fear hidden in the depths of that monstrous wail. The fear that sent it fading away in a pathetic whimper before the door had so much as swung open. And the silence that followed as they parted before her and she gazed into the shadows beyond was even more telling. Her smile only widened as she took a step closer. Then another. Then another after that. Soon she was standing at the threshold and the malice within was retreating from her just like it had within the maze. She could see the sand strewn steps leading down into the depths of the pyramid and sense the evil radiating from within.

Taking a moment to steady herself for what lurked within Ishala slowly inhaled and whispered to herself, “Forgive my intrusion your eminence—your majesty? No... something more grand... I'll need to say something far more grand...”

“To what do I owe this unexpected visit?” A softly lilting voice asked, ringing out as Ishala's boots touched the final step of the staircase and she stood at the entrance of vast chamber not even her torch could hope to illuminate. “Is it riches you seek? Or something greater perhaps?”

“I seek peace your—”

“If you sought peace you only had to turn away from this place never return. Every point of the compass away from this place would give the peace you claim to want. What is it you seek?”

Leaving that final step and standing upon the thin stretch of stone just before the chamber Ishala took a breath and called back, “I seek a peace beyond myself. A peace for all who roam the Sulai Desert. I would end Pharaoh Hetshapsul 's curse.”

Her words were met with a lengthy silence before a strangely thrilling laugh filled the air. Though her heart raced and sweat glistened across her brow Ishala couldn't help but smile at the sound of that delight. And when it ended just as suddenly as it'd begun she was left the poorer for it's absence even as her wits returned and she braced herself once more. But no attack came from the darkness. No magical onslaught assailed her from the Sphinx's shadowy chamber. Instead it spoke out again in a voice both curious and amused.

“Enter and make your plea.”

Steeling herself once again Ishala raised her blade for a moment only to cast it aside in a show of respect. Before it'd even vanished into nothingness she was across the threshold and walking into the unfathomably large chamber beyond. A room so deep and cavernous she could feel the crushing weight of the nothingness all around her as surely as she felt her own heart racing. As surely as she felt the unseen gaze of the Sphinx watching her.

But it neither spoke nor appeared before her as Ishala walked deeper into the room. She heard only the faintest of laughs when she instinctively looked back at the stairway she'd left behind only to find empty shadows. On all sides she was surrounded by a truly pervasive darkness. Not the creeping malice infecting the rest of the pyramid or even the lightless expanse of a night bereft of moon and stars. This was something deeper. Something greater. A near primordial void that'd never known any light before her trespass. In a strange sort of way it was almost thrilling. Like discovering something never meant to be found and delving into a place never meant to be known by mortals. The darkness pushed back against the light of her torch and for the first time the dancing flames diminished. They flickered against the overbearing weight of the shadows trying to return to the space she'd carved out for herself and Ishala needn't wonder which would win.

Yet before she could do much more than wonder if she'd truly overstepped her limits she felt a palpable sense of expectation. As if the darkness itself was waiting for her to smother her torch. Though she knew it was truly the Sphinx. But no matter the source Ishala wasn't foolish enough to defy something so great and with nary a thought she snuffed out the light.

She was enveloped in shadows before she could so much as breathe. The darkness all around her rushed in like a flood and she felt it weigh upon her very soul as surely as the rest of her body. Though before she could regret her choice and wonder what sort of void she'd so willingly stepped into the pressure began to fade. Vanishing almost as quickly as it'd come it seemed to withdraw until she could scarcely feel it. In the blink of an eye she felt none of that oppressive weight bearing down upon her, not even malice of the pyramid itself and Hetshapsul's venomous will. Without the all consuming nothingness around her she might've even thought she was back on the surface in a more pleasant part of the world. Ishala could even feel the faintest hints of a breeze rustling her clothes and gently caressing her skin, although she knew her Queen had no influence in such an accursed place. Her heart was ever so slightly lighter as she stood waiting for the Sphinx to speak again. Waited for it do make it's presence known in some grand fashion like the stories had always spoken of. And she was not left wanting when it finally addressed her once more.

“Open your eyes supplicant.”

Confusion rippled through Ishala's body and her brow furrowed in confusion, “My eyes were never—”

The rest of her words faded away before they could reach her lips as she opened her eyes and beheld her surroundings. There was no great stone chamber intricately carved and decorated by thousands upon thousands of slaves. No majestic Sphinx sitting amongst the bones of those who'd tried to pass it by and failed. Instead she stood upon a small, rocky island surrounded on all sides by a raging sea. The waters were as black as the shadows she'd just left and roiling gray clouds churned across the sky in a fever. Rain pounded the jagged rocks beneath her feet and wind whipped at the already tumultuous waves yet Ishala felt little more than a faint breeze. Even upon looking down at her sopping wet clothes whipping madly in the gale. When she looked up again the divine guardian she sought was sitting upon the far side of the island, rent and shattered stones strewn about it in some great nest.

No part of it's body was so much as touched by the rain falling upon the island, it's golden red fur shimmering as if bathed in sunlight and it's fierce, leonine countenance entirely unaffected by the storm raging around them. It's face was all at once recognizably human yet completely bestial. A strange and almost alluring mix of both mortal divine. Strange markings glowed across it's inscrutable expression and disappeared into it's elegant mane while it's eyes glittered with a blue radiance near as bright as the sun itself. No part of it moved so much as inch and there was no mistaking it for a statue or even an illusion. It truly sat before her as she stood before it.

Without so much as a thought Ishala bent her knee and lowered her head. Happily giving the Sphinx all the respect it deserved she spoke in a tone of reverence and restraint, “If you would allow it I wish totravel deeper within the pyramid. I would find Pharaoh Hetshapsul's sarcophagus and cleanse him of the malice that's overwhelmed his resting place.”

“Why?”

The question was simple yet it carried an unimaginable weight as it rang out across the island. Ishala considered her answers carefully yet she knew better than to lie or stretch the truth, “Because my Queen wills it so.”

“And what does Safiyyah desire from Pharaoh Hetshapsul's cleansing? What does she stand to gain from sending you into peril and death?”

Once more left under the weight of so simple a question Ishala didn't immediately respond. Instead she lifted her head to look at the Sphinx, to meet it's inscrutable gaze for just a moment and in a bold gamble simply answer, “If you know of my Queen then you already know the answer to that question.”

For the first time the Sphinx moved, it's enormous head slowly tilting to one side as it regarded her with an unfathomable curiosity. Ishala held it's gaze for a while longer before lowering her eyes once more and awaiting whatever it might say. She couldn't help but tense for just a moment as another wave of all consuming darkness washed over her without the Sphinx uttering so much as a single word. But she held her fears in check long enough to open her eyes once more just as it finally addressed her.

“Then you come as a plunderer seeking to rob the Pharaoh's tomb. Another grave robber seeking riches unearned and spoils ill gotten, but at the behest of a greedy Queen in lieu of your own selfishness.”

The island they'd stood upon had vanished. And before she could discern when she was, before she could do little more than stare down at the ornate tile she knelt upon, Ishala heard the scrape of a boot against the floor. She looked up from her newfound perch and hurled herself backwards as an unfathomably massive heel descended upon her. Scrambling backwards on her hands and knees she hurled herself across the tile out from underneath it's great shadow. It landed with a deafening thud mere inches from her and she barely had time to look back before another shadow fell upon her. There was scarcely time to look up as she threw herself out of the way of a pointed heel crashing towards her like some towering blade. Though it caught the very edges of her clothes and tore away a piece she didn't stop to lament her torn garment. Like a rat fleeing a sinking ship she sprinted away from those towering figures in any direction she could.

Yet all around her more unimaginably tall entities danced. Moving and swaying in time to music only they could hear the scrap of their boots and heels accompanied the rustle of their lavish clothing in oddly rhythmic yet discordant melodies all their own. Ishala could hear nothing else and she could see nothing else as she sprinted away from one pair only to throw herself out of the way of another a few steps later.

Stretching so far into the heavens above she could scarcely make out the vaguest details the countless figures dancing all around seemed to move out of time with any rhythm or cadence she might've expected. There was no predictability to anything they did and Ishala could only rely upon her most desperate instincts as she tried to escape the floor. Even hurling herself into the arch of a woman's heel to avoid the rest before half crawling away. Her vision was endlessly blocked by repulsively decadent footwear and the hems of long, flowing dressing unlike any she'd ever seen. The movements all around her were only growing faster the longer she persisted and she could feel the Sphinx watching her throughout. Yet there was no reprieve and no explanation, only the maddening uncertainty and constant fear of every passing moment.

“I am no thief!” Ishala exclaimed, shouting of the thunderous footfalls and deafening rustle of fabric colliding like two continents slamming against each other, “I only seek to reclaim the power my Queen gave! A power rightly hers and a power stolen by your ward thousands of year ago!”

Narrowly avoiding another boot she crawled across the floor and rolled onto her back just as the other began to descend. Kicking herself across the stone as fast as she could she focused her thoughts on that very same power and conjured a whirlwind about herself. It swept her off the tiles and she darted out from under the shadow of the heel that would've crushed her, flying away as fast as she could. Yet she'd never be able to fly above the beings around her. She couldn't even fly above their footwear much less their impossibly towering stature.

Instead she hurtled in a single direction for as long as she could, desperately hoping she might reach some sort of wall. Or at the very least the limits of the extradimensional space she occupied. And when she was forced to dart away again she did her best to stay the course. Much as that was possible within a place so vast and unknowable she couldn't see either end beyond the gilded horizon.

“Why did she not reclaim it sooner? Why has Safiyyah waited so long to claim her own power if it was so rightfully her own?”

The Sphinx's voice was everywhere and nowhere as it spoke and there was a hint of anger within it's otherwise neutral tones. “I cannot say!” Ishala shouted back, “But my Queen would have it back now just as I would cleanse this pyramid and everything within!”

“Do not pretend nobility when you serve the whims of a selfish Genie. Your 'Queen' was content to let her power fester and rot within Pharaoh Hetshapsul for centuries.”

“I cannot speak for her wishes but I can speak to my intentions!” Doubling back as a shadow fell upon her Ishala hurtled into another shadow and narrowly avoided the heel descending toward her with unmistakable intent. Once more hiding in the arch for as long as she could she pulled away and flew in what she could only hope was the same direction as before. But another boot hurtled towards her so much faster than the rest and she never hope to outrun it, “I seek nothing more than stopping your Pharaoh's malice! I have no desire for treasure or plundering!”

Clenching the urn wrapped about her bracer and summoning her blade once again Ishala extended her hand and called forth twinned beams of crackling energy. She blasted the boot falling towards her in utter desperation and it seemed to falter in it's descent. Before it could resume she unleashed a second attack, then a third.

There were no signs of damage visible on the black material yet as long as it continued to falter she continued to blast away with her magic, With no time to recuperate her power she could only attack it in an unrelenting fury and try to move out from under it's shadow. But no matter how far she flew or how fast she moved she couldn't escape the boot trying to crush her. The shadow only seemed to widen with every passing moment. Every ferocious attack she unleashed upon it. Before long everything around her was shrouded in the darkness cast by the death she only barely held at bay. Ishala couldn't see anything beyond it and she never had a moment to consider what that could possibly mean. Not even as the darkness thickened and the boot seemed to fade away entirely.

The whirlwind around her disappeared well before it should've and without Ishala dismissing it, though she didn't drop the floor, or whatever passed for it in the welling shadow, as it vanished. Instead she was left standing as if it'd never existed. Surrounded on all sides by another void of empty shadow until she felt something beyond it's overbearing pressures.

Her eyes fluttered open as her heart continued to race and she held both sword and magic focus at the ready. Ash fell like snow all around her as rivers of thick, bubbling magma rolled past. She stood upon a lone spire of rock jutting out from the side of a raging volcano. A plume of billowing black smoke spewed from the mouth as surely as torrents of lava and every few moments the very earth would rumble and molten rocks would soar into the skies above. They disappeared into the ashy clouds blotting out the heavens only to come careening back down in a fiery blaze. Her clothes were stained with ash and marred with burning cinders yet every breath she took was as free and clear as they'd ever been. She could feel the faintest hint of the heat all around her and see the sweat beading on her skin but it was never felt as it should be. Of course she scarcely thought about such contradictions when another frightfully exhilarating crash tore through the volcano and sent even more erupting from it's fiery mouth.

Staring up at the awe inspiring sight Ishala almost didn't sense the presence of the Sphinx behind her on the same spire. Only after another earth shaking rumble had settled and the rocks spewing forth had crashed down on the land below. She could see almost nothing of the world around the mountain she'd been brought to and there was no time to try. Not when she beheld the Sphinx standing upon the rock nearly within arm's reach. If she'd been truly foolish Ishala could've struck it with her blade.

Instead she cast it away and momentarily released her urn, once more kneeling down in a sign of respect despite what'd transpired, “My Queen desires nothing but the power that was taken and I only wish for an end to the madness infesting Pharaoh Hetshapsul's tomb.”

“Do you seek to harm my Pharaoh?” It asked, a glimmer of curiosity hidden within it's booming yet emotionless voice, “To desecrate his sacred remains?”

“I need not even open his sarcophagus.” Ishala replied, “Though if his remains have left his resting place I cannot claim nothing will befall them when their power is taken.” She felt a swell of righteous anger from the Sphinx yet before it could act upon it's fury she hastily added, “But I would be honored to return the remains to his sarcophagus! And perform any rites you would ask of me!”

“And what of those buried with him? His wives and children and the soldiers who loved him?”

Nearly responding in much the same way Ishala hesitated for a moment, a strange sort of guess filling her thoughts and overtaking her instincts. Though it seemed truly absurd to be so bold moments when she still felt the Sphinx's anger she lifted her head and looked into it's eyes, “What would you have me do with them?”

It's anger started to diminish almost immediately as her words hung in the air and the barest glimmer of curiosity filled it's eyes. Ishala kept herself as neutral as she could be and as patient as possible as she waited for it to respond, to do anything. She was kept waiting for a truly unbearable length of time while the Pharaoh Hetshapsul's guardian considered her. Even with it's face so inscrutable she could see it considering a great many things. Just as she knew it surely detested what'd befallen the tomb it was meant to guard. But after what very well could've been eons spent kneeling in wait for so much a single syllable Ishala took another chance and spoke again.

“I know it must sadden you to see what's befallen your Pharaoh. I know you surely wish his tomb could be restored and the darkness within driven out. But you lack the agency to undertake such a task yourself. The Gods will not allow you to stray from your duty.”

“You know a great deal.” The Sphinx remarked, it's tone neither reassuring nor condemning.

“I did not come here on a whim. Nor would I put myself through such an ordeal for treasures better sought elsewhere. No matter how great his riches Pharaoh Hetshapsul's wealth would never be worth my very life. And if you know of my Queen then you know she has no need of anything he might keep within his tomb. Save the power he stole away so long ago.”

Her words were met with more silence yet she wasn't left waiting anywhere near as long, “I would see my Pharaoh's resting place cleansed.”

Excitement flickered through Ishala like a storm and yet she only gave a small, understanding nod as she spoke, “Then allow me to cleanse his tomb in your stead. Allow me to do the work you cannot and rid this place of his corrupted influence. On my word I will not plunder so much as a single coin. Nor will I leave the Pharaoh's body to molder outside his sarcophagus.” She paused for a few moments before swallowing past the welling lump in her throat, “And I will put down the soldiers and family brought to life by my Queen's stolen power.”

A strange swell of inscrutable emotions swirled around her. The Sphinx remained entirely motionless yet it's emotions raged in a maelstrom so thick Ishala could hardly weather it. Anger, regret, sorrow, relief, suspicion, gratitude, and so much more coursed through her as the unimaginably powerful being she sought to negotiate with let it's feelings loose. Of course she had no choice but to weather the storm of it's emotion and wait for it's response. If she couldn't bear the onslaught of conflicting thoughts and desires emanating from it there was little chance she'd be able to see through her promises. A reality the Sphinx undoubtedly knew and likely one it was using as a final test. Though Ishala wasn't foolish enough to pretend she could say for certain. She simply gritted her teeth and focused on her own resolve as best she could while another's feelings assailed her. Like a boat adrift in a raging hurricane she held fast and hoped for the eye of the storm. Or else a quick and merciful death.

“No harm may befall my Pharaoh's body.” It finally decreed, “And if his remains were animated by Safiyyah's corrupted power they must be returned to his resting place with honor.”

“Gladly.” Ishala replied, breathing a sigh of relief as the emotions around her faded.

“And you must slay every last member of his family.” It added after a moment, “By their influence was my Pharaoh corrupted after his death and by their influence he will remain corrupted. Destroy their bodies and grind their bones to dust. Leave no trace of them left within his sacred tomb.”

“What of his soldiers and the others buried with him?”

Ishala felt a faint sense of approval from the Sphinx and she lifted her head to see it looking at her with a certain intensity, “Cause no harm to those who might aid you. Destroy any who stand in your way.”

“Aid me? Some men still have wills of their own?”

“Their loyalty stretches beyond death and the Gods have granted them a chance to save their Pharaoh from his terrible fate. They seek to accomplish what I cannot. What you claim you can manage. I would see them rewarded for their loyalty.”

“I'll gladly do that. I only need to know how best to honor them once I've freed your Pharaoh.”

“I will teach you the rituals and the rites.”

“Thank you. I'll not—”

“But know this: if you stray from your word you shall suffer a fate worse than any your Queen could possibly fathom. She will never reclaim your soul and you will spend an eternity within a private torment of my own creation.”

“I understand.” Ishala replied, more nervous than she'd ever been in her entire life. “I will not fail you nor Pharaoh Hetshapsul.”

“See that you don't.” The Sphinx stated, it's voice grave and yet melancholy, “His tomb cannot suffer under the weight of this malice for long and I will not see it fall. Even if I must break my oaths to protect him.”

Momentarily stunned by the enormity of that remark Ishala was left humbled by such an unexpected display of loyalty. Yet rather than dwelling on the lengths the Sphinx would go to for her ward she turned her attention towards the best way to keep herself alive through the ever more complicated task her Queen had set for her. Starting with the rituals and rites she must learn to satisfy the Sphinx and lay to rest Pharaoh Hetshapsul.

“Tell me what I must do.” She said with a quiet reverence, “Tell me how I might honor your Pharaoh.”