The Cult of Osiris

She huffed. ‘Only accidentally. But the second part’s not in this text?’

‘Not that I can see,’ Macy said. ‘It’s more like a warning than a prayer. There’s nothing about how to actually get through the arit.’

‘Oh, man!’ Nina complained, looking at Eddie. ‘You know what that sounds like, don’t you?’

‘Booby traps,’ they said together.

Nina put a hand to her face. ‘Just once, just goddamn once,’ she moaned, ‘I’d like to find an incredible archaeological site that’s not filled with Rube Goldberg death machines. Is that too much to ask? No collapsing ceilings, no crushing devices, no frickin’ cherubims waving swords at me!’

Macy was intrigued. ‘Cherubims? As in angels?’

‘Long story,’ said Eddie. ‘Okay, so we’ve got to get past the Lady of Tremblings. What else?’

Macy spent several minutes searching through the hieroglyphics. ‘The Lake of Fire - or Devourer by Fire, it’s talking about the same thing,’ she reported. ‘The Lady of Rainstorms. The Lady of Might, who “tramples on those who should not be here”, sheesh. The Goddess of the Loud Voice—’

‘Nina, they wrote about you!’ Eddie put in.

‘Well, yeah, I am a goddess.’

‘I can just leave, if you like,’ Macy said peevishly, before turning back to the ancient text. ‘So we’ve got the Goddess of the Loud Voice, the Hewer-in-Pieces in Blood, and then the last thing before you reach Osiris is the Cutter-off of Heads. Real subtle. They’re all mentioned in the Book of the Dead, but these descriptions are a bit hinky.’

‘It’s the other way round,’ said Nina thoughtfully. ‘The prayers in the Book of the Dead came from these - this was the source. The booby traps built to protect Osiris’s tomb eventually became part of the religion.’

‘We might need more than prayers to get past something called the Hewer-in-fucking-Pieces,’ Eddie said, shining his light down the sloping passage. ‘There’s nothing helpful?’

‘Doesn’t look like it,’ Macy replied. ‘The other text’s mostly “Osiris is awesome!” kinda stuff. Lots of curses, too. “Desecrate the tomb of Osiris and suffer a thousand agonising deaths”, yadda yadda.’

‘I don’t want to suffer one agonising death,’ said Nina, joining Eddie. The passage was also decorated, more Egyptian gods ominously watching anyone who dared traverse it. ‘Think we can make it through?’

‘Depends what state the traps are in,’ Eddie said. ‘Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here before us, so there’s no chance Indy or Lara’ll have set them off already - but after this long, they might not still be working.’

‘Right, like we’re ever that lucky.’ Nina looked back at Macy. ‘What do you think?’

She seemed surprised to be asked. ‘Me? I dunno, it’s your decision.’

‘It’s your life,’ Nina countered.

Macy considered it. ‘I came this far,’ she said. ‘And you’ve both kept me in one piece, so let’s do it!’ She was about to start down the steps when Eddie grabbed her.

‘Just one thing,’ he said, pulling her back. ‘Stay behind us, okay?’

The passage descended into the inverted pyramid, making two ninety-degree turns before a pair of ornate pillars marked the entrance to another chamber. ‘It’s the first arit,’ said Macy, nervous.

Eddie directed his torch beam into the darkness. ‘It’s big,’ he said. ‘Deep, too.’

‘A shaft?’ Nina asked.

‘Right on.’ He cautiously advanced on to a little ledge. The shaft’s ceiling was about thirty feet overhead, and below it dropped out of sight beyond the range of his light. Two large pipes made from hand-beaten sheets of oxidised copper ran down the height of the far wall, on which was painted a giant female figure, but he was more interested in another object - a long stone beam, extending across the shaft to another ledge on the far side.

‘That doesn’t look safe,’ said Nina. The beam was less than a foot wide, and precariously perched.

Eddie moved to get a better look at the slab’s sides. ‘You’re not kidding. Look at them.’ He illuminated the far end, revealing thick carved protrusions and also mechanisms built into the opposite ledge - two large stone cogwheels.

Metal shone dully in Nina’s flashlight beam as she directed it above the cogs. ‘They’re connected to something up there.’ A large cylindrical piece of stone hung on a chain from a pulley.

‘Think we found our Lady of Tremblings,’ said Eddie. ‘The weight drops down on the chain and turns the cogs - and they bang against those lumps on the bridge and make it shake.’

‘So what sets it off?’ Macy asked.

Nina smiled grimly. ‘We do. There must be a trigger on the bridge - too much weight, and there’s a whole lotta shakin’ going on.’

‘How do we get across, then?’

‘By holding on really tight,’ said Eddie, taking a rope from his pack. ‘There’s only so much chain, so once the weight gets to the end, it’ll stop. If I tie myself to the bridge, I should be okay.’

Nina wasn’t so sure. ‘And what if the entire bridge falls and takes you with it?’

‘Then I’ll die like Captain Kirk!’ Seeing that she was still unhappy, he went on, ‘It’s either that or stand here wishing we’d brought a twenty-foot plank.’

‘You’d better hold on really, really tight, okay?’

Eddie looped the rope’s end round the bridge, then tied it to his body. ‘Okay, here we go,’ he muttered, putting a wary foot on the slab.

Nothing happened. It seemed secure and solid. Kneeling, he pushed the rope a couple of feet across the span before crawling to catch up, then repeating the process. Nina watched nervously.

Halfway across, three-quarters . . .

The slab shifted.

‘Oh, shit,’ he gasped, clinging tightly to the stone as the chain rattled—

And stopped, the links chinking before falling silent.

‘What happened?’ an anxious Nina called.

He raised his head. ‘Dunno, but I’m happy about it!’ He quickly crossed the last few feet, then untied himself and looked round. A large crack ran up one wall. Several chunks of stone had broken loose, and one had come to rest wedged beneath a cogwheel’s tooth, preventing it from turning. He tested the stone to see if it was secure. It moved slightly, but the weight bearing down on it held it in place.

‘Crawl across one at a time,’ he said. ‘And slowly.’

Nina crossed first, followed by Macy. ‘Earthquake damage?’ Nina mused, examining the crack. ‘Or maybe it’s just structural stress.’

‘Egyptian builders,’ Eddie joked, helping Macy up.

‘As opposed to British builders?’ she said indignantly. ‘What have you got that’s stood up for thousands of years?’

‘Stonehenge?’

She pouted. ‘Okay, I’ll give you that. But it’s still not as cool as the pyramids!’

Nina saw another descending passage beyond the exit, this one with a sloping floor rather than steps. ‘What was in the next arit?’

‘The Lake of Fire,’ Macy remembered. ‘Or the Devourer by Fire.’

‘Either way, fire,’ said Eddie. ‘Great. Just what we want in a confined space.’

‘The last trap was broken,’ Nina said, indicating the rock jamming the mechanism. ‘Maybe we’ll get lucky again.’

He groaned as he started down the slope. ‘Why’d you have to say that? You’ve just jinxed it!’

The incline was steep enough to be awkward, slowing their progress. The passage made more ninety-degree turns; Nina realised their descent followed a roughly spiral path, making her wonder if the copper pipes in the shaft were connected to another chamber below. Eventually, more ornate pillars marked another room.

Eddie sniffed the air. ‘Funny smell. Not sure what, but I don’t like it.’

He illuminated the chamber. It was large and rectangular with another exit at the far end, the walls sloping