Absolute Chaos

Once Rakim had returned from escorting Theda back to Otamia, they set out to find Maia and Kaija whom hadn’t yet returned. It was well after midnight now and the two woman had been gone far too long, concerned for their safety after what they had all just learnt.

“We need to find Maia and Kaija, then we must find Lykus. We need to find the rib they uncovered, it is too dangerous, I fear he will destroy Otamia, or worse.” Amaunet stressed to her friends.

Heading towards the pyramid, Raijen leading the way, they skirted around the far side of the mountain, the moon sat high in its black starry dome, reflecting grey light off the huge boulders, casting long shadows behind them.

Maia and Kaija were only supposed to scout out the land around the giant granite and limestone structure to see if they had found any trace of Shesmu or Am-heh.

The people of Otamia called the pyramid, ‘The Temple of Temu.’ It had been erected many thousands of years before by the the sun God Temu. Hieroglyphs and the depictions littered the granite walls of the main chamber, telling the tale of Temu. The story been handed down for many generations, spoken to each child born of Otamia. Raijen knew there was some truth to these tales, nevertheless they always changed over time.

***

The deep blue inside Amaunet’s irises sparkled knowingly as they approached the imposing building.

The huge pyramid stood proudly at just under 280 royal cubits high, constructed of huge granite blocks encased with smooth white limestone.

The pyramid glinted like a huge diamond prism in the moons soft light. She knew there would be a vast confusing maze of tunnels and rooms below the giant structure, she very much doubted the layout would make a lot of sense to any of the Otamian’s.

Halting abruptly, the friends stopped near the short wall that surrounded the pyramid. Opening the wooden gates that led to its grand entrance, Amaunet turned to face Raijen and the others, “Are you not coming?.” She could feel their fear pouring from all four of them.

Ignoring the terror brewing in the atmosphere, she now moved through the short gates and walked down the granite path that led directly to the entrance. Moving under the huge blocks above her, she now stood just inside the dark passage.

The cool hard stone loomed far above her head, Amaunet drifted silently into the darkness, Raijen and Kaydir bowed behind her to their God Temu and followed her into the imposing passage. Rakim and Kaiya stayed outside the small fence, keeping watch as the three of them entered.

Walking slowly up the long, slightly ramped passage, Amaunet led the two men towards the main chamber.

Kaydir held a torch of fire behind them, casting weird shadows along the smooth rock. There were no pictures or hieroglyphs on the passage walls, only the straight edged red granite.

Once they reached the main chamber of the pyramid, they stepped out into a large rectangular room that stood directly in the centre of the massive pyramid, scanning the space rapidly, noting right away that Maia and Kaija were not inside.

Around each corner of the chamber ran a groove cut into the floor, it was stained with stale blood, smelling of torture and death.

In the middle of the ancient room stood an alter, knowing right away what it was used for, its purpose that of only slaughter and murder, the deep scars of blood had plastered the alters face and splattered the granite floor.

Temu’s soul would be eternally screaming at the horrors committed here, he would never have sacrificed a living soul himself, only ever killing an evil soul. Hundreds upon hundreds of years of sacrifice had been preformed here, the sickly blood a timely reminder of Otamia’s sins.

Circling the alter, Amaunet’s rage simmered hot inside her gut, she looked up at the walls, hieroglyphs and pictures littered the stone, they had not been too ravaged by time, she could still make out most of the diagrams and text.

She had seen enough, fury slammed amidst her heart, Amaunet swung her head to face the two large men, her tone rude and abrupt.

“There should be a shaft near here, it should lead to a tunnel, where is it?.” She demanded of the two men.

Raijen and Kaydir quickly exchanged glances before Raijen responded.

“Yes Amaunet, we will take you there.”

Trailing closely behind, the second born of the Divine followed Raijen and Kaydir back down the long passage.

As they walked out from the pyramids entrance, Amaunet noticed Rakim and Kaiya talking animatedly to one another. Approaching them, she quickly moved through the small gated fence, seeing they were quite distressed.

“By the Gods, what has happened?.” Amaunet moved to the tall couple whom were both breathing hard and fast.

“We saw a huge jackal Amaunet,...he attacked Lykus then ran towards the city, hundreds of other dogs and jackals are running with him.”

Grey mist momentarily clouded her eyes, the world around Amaunet started to spin, she had to find Temu’s ‘Rib of Chaos’, she needed to find it fast.