Gene of Isis

‘And how is it that you know so much about these supposedly secret brotherhoods?’ I had always suspected that my Lord Hamilton belonged to such an order himself, although of course he would not speak of it.

He smiled, and gave me his typical response. ‘Oh, I read.’

‘So our friend could have returned a sacred relic to this place, and then been trapped here?’ I suggested. ‘The question we should ask ourselves is how he became trapped.’ I looked back to the open exit in the distance.

‘Look here.’ Hamilton was down on his haunches inspecting the neck bones. ‘This man was beheaded…almost.’ The bone had held firm, but a mighty gash to the front of the neckbone revealed much. ‘The blow would certainly have been enough to kill him.’

‘Thank you for that insight, my love.’ I moved around the knight, and as my torchlight illuminated the huge room before me I caught my breath.

Continuing on from the entrance where we stood the red-gold path led through a round chamber, and at the far end was a large, golden arched door. In the centre of the room was a round platform, and two red pathways passed in opposite directions through it, forming a crossroads. Concentric rings, built in sandstone, radiated out from the central platform. The first ring from the centre formed an empty canal a few feet in depth. The next ring was wide and level with the height of the pathway: at each of its four quarters was an ornate pillar dedicated to a different Egyptian goddess. These mighty pillars supported the bulk of the domed ceiling, which sparkled like gold wherever the torchlight flickered upon it. The next ring was another canal, a little wider and deeper than the first. The final ring ran around the wall of the round chamber and was a plain stone pathway. Directly beside where we stood at the entrance, a large lever extended from the floor; we decided not to investigate its purpose just yet.

‘This has got to be the find of the millennium,’ Hamilton muttered under his breath as he gazed up at one of the four pillars. This particular one depicted Isis.

‘That’s probably what our knight friend thought,’ I commented as I passed my husband on my way to the central platform. ‘And yet, I feel sure he didn’t cut his own throat.’

‘No point in being alarmist, Mrs Hamilton.’ He followed me to the central platform to investigate what lay at the east and west ends of the red crossroads.

The chamber was so large that all we could make out from where we stood was that each path led to a darkened entrance, beyond which we could see nothing from this distance. One entrance was adorned with red pillars, the other with white.

‘Wait here,’ Hamilton instructed, heading off toward the red-pillared entrance. As he drew closer, I noticed the glyph for ‘fire’ inset above the doorway. As he passed into the small room beyond the pillared entrance, there was a cry of pain, but it was not my husband who cried out.

From the annexe emerged a dark spirit, moaning in unearthly agony. I gasped when I realised it was headed straight for me, whereupon it immediately changed course and followed the outer path around the wall toward the exit passage. When my fear ceased to drown out all my other senses, I realised I could hear footsteps and that it was no spectre I was viewing, but a human being wearing a long hooded black cloak. As the intruder escaped the chamber, I ran to see what had become of my husband.

‘Hamilton!’ I screamed, demanding a response if he could give it.

‘Don’t panic,’ he said, sounding preoccupied.

Through the red-pillared doorway was an annexe and there I found Hamilton inspecting an ornately decorated tablet inset in a plinth. ‘This appears to have held something of great spiritual import. “This Fire ignites the wisdom and strength of the Gods”,’ he read. ‘And see here…there is a small hollow which is obviously meant to hold something.’

‘That man was a thief, do you think?’ I asked. Then I noticed my husband’s arm was dripping blood. ‘Oh, my lord, you’re wounded!’

Hamilton explained that our surprise guest had wielded a sword to make a path to the door and had nicked my husband when he failed to move aside fast enough. He insisted that I not fuss, as it didn’t hurt.

‘Do you think he slipped in here before or after we entered?’ I queried, as Hamilton made for the central chamber.

‘Judging from his adverse reaction to the light of my torch, I’d say he’d been down here a while.’

‘How is it possible that anyone could survive in this place when it has been buried for centuries?’ I appealed, practically running to keep pace with Hamilton as he made for the white-pillared doorway.

‘I wish I knew,’ he replied as we approached the white annexe, above which was inset the glyph for ‘star’.

Inside the small room, inserted in the hollow in the top of another ornately decorated plinth and tablet was a small vial of unique beauty. It was filled with a fine white substance, much like the powder we’d used to get the exterior door open. The longer we stood staring at the treasure in the torchlight the brighter the substance inside seemed to glow.

Hamilton leant down to translate the glyphs on the tablet: ‘From this Star flows the eternal powers of the goddess’. Hamilton stood and reached for the vial, but it would not release from the stone tablet in which it was imbedded. ‘There must be a trick to it.’ He looked to the door, torn as to what to do next. ‘I should go after him.’

‘No, please…’ I urged my husband against it. ‘You have no weapon and what happens to me if you are killed? No find is worth our lives.’

‘He has no transport out of here.’ Hamilton was horrified, and he ran to prevent our unexpected company from stealing our lifeline back to civilisation—and our water.

I ran after Hamilton for part of the way, and felt some reassurance when he retrieved the sword from the dead warrior at the entrance to the tunnel. ‘Stay with the Star,’ he suggested more than ordered.

‘Be careful,’ I begged as Hamilton disappeared up the tunnel and out of my sight. ‘I’ll just hope that there aren’t any more nasty surprises down here,’ I added quietly.

The huge central chamber felt rather ominous without my husband’s presence and I moved back toward the white-pillared annexe to watch over the Star as requested.