The Cult of Osiris

tunnel!’

But she could barely hear him, the crackle of flames consuming all other sounds. Filled with fear, she pressed on. The pool was only thirty feet long. It wouldn’t take long to cross.

Would it?

Another step, then another. Water lapped at her nostrils, making her splutter. Glancing through the globe’s open bottom, she noticed markings on the floor. Hieroglyphs, the Eye of Osiris among them. They almost certainly served a purpose, but she had no time to think what it might be.

The heat coming through the handle was becoming uncomfortable. Not painful, yet - but it wouldn’t take long—

The helmet clanged against something.

Shocked, Nina almost let go of the globe. She tugged it back down and groped ahead with her other hand, finding a stone block that rose almost to the surface. As she’d feared, the pyramid’s builders had ensured that nobody could simply swim straight across below the fire.

She moved crab-like to the left, feeling for the block’s edge. Her fingers found nothing but flat stone. Another couple of steps. Still nothing. She forced herself to slow her breathing, trying to conserve her limited air.

Oh, God, what if the Egyptians had built a maze? If she went into a dead end . . .

There had to be a way through. If the builders had wanted to stop anyone from ever reaching Osiris’s tomb, they could have filled in every tunnel. The ‘right’ people, the priests who turned a king into a god, would have known the path. She just had to find it.

Quickly. Very quickly.

The hieroglyphs . . .

Holding her breath, she tipped her head down into the water. The markings on the floor shimmered in the hellish light from the surface. She had no idea what they said, but the Eye of Osiris was a repeated symbol, its dark iris staring blankly back at her from each.

Except for one.

That iris looked to the left, along the length of the stone slab.

She followed it, hand still outstretched. The handle was now on the verge of actual pain. She flexed her fingers, trying to stave off the moment when it became too hot to bear.

Her other hand was still rubbing against flat stone, stretching on, and on—

A corner!

She gripped the edge, pulling herself round it. A look down revealed another Eye of Osiris, this time gazing ‘up’ towards the chamber’s far end. She went in that direction, quickening her pace. A second upward-looking eye, then one pointing her back to the right.

The smoke from the burning oil swirled up the chimney, but the room’s temperature was rising. Arms raised to shield his face from the heat, Eddie watched the globe slide through the flames on a seemingly random path. It was over halfway across, but there couldn’t be much air left.

Nina was now fixated entirely on following the trail of eyes. The air was becoming foul - and hot.

Another eye. Forwards. Pain rose in her fingers. How much further? Her chest felt tighter with every breath, a groggy sensation washing over her.

Still another eye, directing her to the right. Her fingers were burning, her trembling hand shaking the globe. A bubble of air escaped from the rim, water rising to replace it.

The next eye looked up - and she caught a glimpse of shadow ahead.

The other tunnel!

She pulled the globe back below the surface, ducking as low as she could to force herself through the low passage. The helmet clanged like a bell as it bumped against the stone. Just a few more steps . . .

The air in the globe popped it sharply upwards as Nina cleared the tunnel and her burned fingers lost their grip. Stagnant water hit her face. She coughed, trying to stand. Her legs had turned to rubber. She fell against one side of the little pool, hands scrabbling weakly for the edge above.

They found it. She pulled herself up, whooping for breath as she cleared the surface.

‘She made it!’ Macy cried.

‘Thank Christ,’ Eddie said. ‘Nina! Are you okay?’

She made out his voice over the rumble and snap of fire. ‘Super fine,’ she croaked, giving him a weak thumbs-up. ‘There’s a path on the bottom of the pool. The Eyes of Osiris look in the direction you’ve got to go - just follow them!’

Eddie rubbed an ear. ‘Did you get that?’

‘Follow the direction the Eyes of Osiris are looking on the pool floor,’ Macy paraphrased. ‘Couldn’t you hear her?’

‘My ears are getting a bit dodgy,’ he admitted. ‘Too many explosions.’ He surveyed the pool. Nina’s path was clearly visible, a weaving line of disturbed oil. ‘I’ll go next,’ he told Macy, giving her one of the helmets. ‘You get in right behind me, and keep hold of my jacket.’

He lowered himself into the pool, took several deep breaths to get more oxygen into his system, then submerged and duck-walked into the short tunnel. Macy hesitated, then slipped in behind him and took hold of his jacket’s hem.

Knowing what to look for allowed them to make the crossing more quickly than Nina - though the handle inside Eddie’s helmet was still painfully hot by the time he reached the other pool. He stood and tossed the globe aside, breathing deeply as Nina helped him out. ‘Ow, bugger,’ he said, swishing his scorched fingers in the water. ‘And that was my wanking hand, too.’

‘Oh, Eddie,’ Nina chided. ‘Anyway, I should be enough for you.’

‘Well, we’ve got a fire, we just need a rug . . .’

Macy burst out of the water. ‘Oh, my God!’ she gasped, glowering at the lake of flames. The floating oil had now been mostly consumed, the fire dying down. ‘What kind of twisted bastard would think up something like that?’

‘You have to wonder,’ said Nina as she checked that her waterproof flashlight had lived up to its advertising. ‘But you know what’s really worrying me?’

‘What?’

‘There are five more arits to go.’

‘I can’t wait,’ Eddie said sarcastically, running his hands over his clothes to squeeze out the water. ‘So what’s next?’

‘The Lady of Rainstorms,’ said Macy, following his example.

‘Great. Like we’re not wet enough already.’ Dripping, they entered the next sloping passage.

23

The tunnel spiralled deeper into the pyramid. More Egyptian gods adorned the walls, warning of certain death for intruders.

Nina was less concerned about supernatural threats than physical ones. Experience had given her painful first-hand lessons that the more grand and important an ancient edifice, the more sadistically ingenious the traps protecting it.

And the Pyramid of Osiris was very grand and important.

Pillars marking the next arit appeared in her flashlight beam - but there was no new chamber beyond them, the steep passage continuing. ‘I just realised something,’ said Eddie. ‘This’ll take us underneath the room we were just in.’

Nina mentally backtracked through the turns. ‘Think it’ll be a problem?’

‘Well, the next trap’s about rainstorms, and we’ll have a big pool of water right over our heads.’

‘Good point.’ She directed her light at the ceiling. Unlike the painted walls, it was just blocks of plain stone. ‘I don’t see any holes.’

Eddie performed his own examination. ‘Ceiling looks okay . . . but these are new.’ He turned his light to the floor. On each side against the wall were recessed channels, about four inches wide and somewhat deeper.

‘They look like gutters,’ Macy observed.