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Egypt The Path of Madness

Collapsible Myth

The Cake is a Lie
Retired Admin
Falling was just one of the many dangers in her profession, falling into a never before known tomb was something exciting and terrifying all at the same time. "Kierwin, you alright" his voice thundering in the small chamber as she coughed "I'm fine. Just be careful around the opening" luckily there were no traps of sharpened sticks or a plethora of other nasty traps the ancient Egyptians tended to put into their tombs to keep out grave robbers.

Picking up the flash light she swung it around to illuminate the pitch black path before her "Donovan, set up a line and get the device. I'm going to see where this path leads too." She knew that Donovan would be quite worried for her safety and she knew of his romantic feelings towards her but, he was a dedicate member of the order and would do the job professionally. Looking at the walls the feeling of dread filled her for a moment. It had been a very long time since she had felt something such as that. It had been her third expedition into the Yucatan jungle, searching for remnants of a lost temple when she had found the pool of filth. The villagers nearby had told her tales of men going mad with a black sickness and ravaging their families before the rest of the tribe would kill them. She inadvertently released a small filth infection into a large village whom her guides were from. The two weeks had dragged as she watched men, women, and children fall so far into inhuman atrocities. Escaping by hiding deep within the temple and calling in the slaughter of hundreds by having Temple Hall firebomb the area to stop the spread of filth. There were nights she could still hear the screams of children being torn apart by their parents, the dread she had come to realize that if the filth were allowed to spread throughout the world. It would be deafening as millions upon millions of innocent people would fall victim.

The sloping ceiling of the path had been slowly drawing closer the further she went. The walls were bare of any hieroglyphs only troubled her more, the Egyptians would adorn the walls or entry of a tomb to ward of spirits or to direct the spirit of the person inside up towards the afterlife. The beam of light from her flash light shone over a crumbled bundle of cloth. Resting on her stomach she inched forward slowly. Removing the expandable baton from its holster. With a flick of her wrist it extended out with a sharp click. Gently she prodded the bundle with the end of the baton, keeping an eye on her surroundings for slight signs of movement from any concealed traps.

The cloth wasn't Egyptian, it's stitching something more along the lines of the last thirty or forty years. It's soft brown coloration was from the dye and not from age, the bundle wasn't attached to a trigger as Kierwin lifted it completely from the ground. Looking at it closer she saw the two small emblems. One appeared to be the national flag of the old USSR, the other was one that she hadn't seen before. A pattern of interlocking lines.

Letting it fall to the ground it's form was revealed to be a military jacket. Deep brown stains covered the upper portion around the collar, a stain she knew quite well to be old dried blood. "Hey Keirwin" Donovan called to her from the opening she had fallen through. He had secured a rope and had made his way down holding a small wooden box in one hand.

"Take it we're not the first huh?" his cheery outlook on things brought a small grin to her lips "doesn't seem like it and this poor fellow had a bad time down here" she shone her light further down the hallway "question is, where is his body?"
 
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Collapsible Myth

Collapsible Myth

The Cake is a Lie
Retired Admin
Pushing herself through the narrow space Kierwin felt the cold caress of the soft breeze "there must be an opening further in" she said over the grunting of Donovan trying to make his way past the narrow crawlspace. Wondering in how much further they could move as floor and ceiling felt to squeeze ever closer. Pushing on Kierwin moved her flashlight further in, suddenly it disappeared bathing the two in overwhelming darkness. They both heard the clang of it hitting a solid surface, it's beam of light casting unusual shadows around it "we're going to need to set up another line here." She could hear Donovan sigh as he slowly backtracked "just don't go anywhere" he said leaving her to smirk to his concern.

Letting the atmosphere of the tomb overtake her, the light below highlighting what seemed to be smoothed stone floor. Clumps of cloth laid out in random piles at the farthest reach of the light. Guessing in how large the chamber could be Kierwin hypothesized in that it had to be at least fifty feet deep from where she was to the far end. Roughly twenty feet below her flashlight rested. The cold breeze seemed stronger in the chamber, reaching her hand out. Her fingers becoming wet from the moisture in the air being moved. She smiled in the moment of this discovery, never before had she been inside an ancient Egyptian tomb that had a steady stream of cold, damp air. Her mind raced in theories of what all of this meant. Was there an underground oasis that these tomb builders knew about and had constructed around it or perhaps it was something that had occurred after.

Resting there on the edge of the drop-off was somewhat relaxing. Her eyes fully adjusted to the darkness around her. The flashlight casting its cool bluish white light, she wondered in what artifacts could be found within when the beam of light shifted slightly. Almost dismissing the fact that the flashlight had just moved she stared into the dark. Again her mind raced, did she imagine it moving. Maybe her work was finally beginning to catch up and exhaustion was slowly settling in. No, she hadn't imagined the movement as she watched it move once again. Her pulsed quickened knowing that something or someone was down there. Without making a sound she slowly began to push back away from the opening. Continuing to keep her eyes trained on the flashlight as it moved even more. Catching a glimpse of dark shadow that appeared to be a clawed hand.

"Oh, hey, I'm getting the rig setup to..." Donovan's face fell as he saw the look on Keirwin's face. Nodding once understanding the situation that caused her to return to the entrance. "Was hoping that we would have a simple, peaceful, expedition" he said lifting the wooden box. Opening it, Kierwin lifted the small spherical device that had been resting inside on a pillow of crushed red velvet. She whispered a short incantation as the device rose an inch above her palm, hovering in the air on its own power. As she worked with the device, Donovan made his way back up the rope waiting for her. His sharp gasp alerted her, staring up the shaft, Donovan's eyes were wide in terror. He coughed twice, blood covered his mouth as she watched the life fade from his eyes. His body leaned over the opening she saw the bloodied blade protruding out of his chest. Moving to the side she watched him tumbled down landing with a heavy lifeless thud at her feet in the sand. "Forgive me if I don't stick around Mrs. Carden but, I do have business to attend to. I thank you for doing the hard work" Staring up to Donovan's killer she scowled "I will make you pay for this" the venom in her voice as she spoke "No, you'll be as dead as your friend quite soon."
 
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