Eldest the Ancients

By Daniel Michalak II

The last scion of an ancient clan inherits his power and title, that of Guardian. Becoming trained in the arts of war and sorcery, Kamrea goes to war against those that would render this and all worlds lifeless, barren, desolate. He wields his power and his skill against old friends and far-removed family, those that wield their own power to the design of ultimate chaos and destruction. He must travel through time itself, searching for those that will aid him in his efforts. Friends and family and beings long vanished from this world aid him, teaching him, helping him through the growth of his person and his power. Through the course of his efforts, Kamrea evolves into a new being, at once himself and more, becoming the guardian of not only this world but also all worlds, becoming the Eldest.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640272729

Book preview

Chapter 1

Ihave read pleasing reports about our influence and trading power throughout the entire region of my empire, Master Architect. What do you have to say about the ongoing project at Giza to unearth the buried Temple?

I am pleased to report, O Pharaoh, that we are months ahead of schedule. The Sphinx will be unearthed sooner than previously anticipated, the Master Architect, foreign and looked down upon yet an acknowledged master of his crafts, replied with respect and correct subservience, all the while hiding his contempt from everyone. The Pharaoh, highly pleased with the day, was about to leave the audience chamber to his private rooms, a satisfied expression on his face, when something occurred that, on any other occasion, would have ended in the death of the trespasser.

The gold-gilded doors were thrown open without any announcement or warning, despite the guards at the entrance, and a worker ran in and prostrated himself before the living God sent to rule Egypt. If it pleases the living God of Egypt, O Pharaoh, I bring news from Giza. We have reached the stone surface at the Temple’s base sooner than expected and found a door, a door covered in text from when the Gods still walked the earth. I recognized the text, having seen samples of the glyphs from my father, who was a scribe in the Temples in my youth. I ordered the others to stop their work, for they were about to break the seals on the door, and rushed to inform you of the status of the project.

The writing the worker referred to, used only by the first true Pharaoh, was used only when in reference to the Flying Masters, something that only the current Pharaoh and his chosen successor and the Priests were to know.

When the Pharaoh stood up and grabbed his staff of office, a relic from the days of Chalmara that was still imbued with a touch of real power, he silently told the intelligent worker, a rarity in Egypt, who was privy to knowledge that most people would never know existed, to take him to the door. Not only was this unheard of, but it was also much to the shock of the other members of the court.

The Master Architect turned white with fury as the two of them fled the palace, for he knew that his plans for the Sphinx, the raising of himself to the status of Pharaoh, were to be dashed to pieces. Leaving the room, he encountered a Priest of Thoth who was more than he seemed. The priest smiled coldly and said, You were never meant to be Pharaoh, and the power you were about to unleash upon this world would have destroyed you. The power there must sleep for now, until those worthy to serve that power return to this place.

The priest vanished from his sight in a wave of shadow, and the architect promptly fled the palace and city, never to be seen again.

* * *

When Khufu arrived at the door, he read the inscription carefully several times to make sure that he had translated it correctly, having not used that language for several years, and, with a suddenly white face, instantly ordered the Sphinx reburied so as to seal the temple away from the touch of any man. When Khufu himself began to shovel sand and stone chips, everyone followed suit, for they knew that this was a project that must be done to the Pharaoh’s wishes as fast as possible.

When the temple was once again blocked from the touch of mankind, Khufu was satisfied with the efforts, believing that the entity within would be unable to reach out to those around the structure. When Khufu died, the workers, who had never forgotten how their beloved Pharaoh worked in the dust and stone of the desert with them, hollowed out the biggest of the pyramids as his tomb with an unknowing destructiveness. It was later that the other two pyramids were carved out, further upsetting the delicate balance of sorcery and technology that the Chalmarans had created.

The destruction of the heart of the pyramid upset its internal balances and function, for it served as a welcome-home sign as well as a power-channeling device. This device was made up of all three pyramids, working together as one to channel the Creatures’ power back into the cosmos from where it came, placing it into the three stars of which the pyramids were aligned, to be then dispersed into the general region of space. When one ceased to function, all three ceased to function. With the destruction of this mechanism, the power of the Creature was able to begin to build up again within the crystal structure, which was the Creature’s body. The Creature, for the first time since the Magi sealed it away in its Tomb, subjected to the leaching spells built into the Giza Pyramids, came into its power.

Chapter 2

Napoleon and his army had found the Rosetta Stone during their military maneuvers, and the language of the Egyptians was decoded and again made known to the world. But the stone itself was but a fragment of the original, something that continuously puzzled the world. It showed three languages: Greek, Hieroglyphic Egyptian, and Coptic Egyptian. This way, the language of the ancient Egyptians was translated backward from the known Greek language. However, the world was not aware of the true extent of that stone, for it also was supposed to contain an accompanying translation in the language of the Flying Masters.

Only one person suspected the importance of the missing inscription, and she was ostracized by the other archeologists. In 1975, Agatha Imra was regarded as the best in her field, but she followed her own path and was said to be an eccentric. Only four individuals knew differently.

* * *

Madam, I beseech you, leave this dig and return to the Valley of the Kings. There is no secret passage inside this pyramid, a government official pleaded to a beautiful and intelligent female professor who, for all her good looks, worked in the dust and sand as wholeheartedly as any other. Even more so than her husband, who was outside, working with the other members of that particular excavation.

"No, Mr. Ramal. I am sure that the translation found in the papyrus scrolls discovered within the Cairo Museum reads,

In my Chamber, a fortune not in gold,

Beginning in Khufu’s pyramid of old.

It gives you the knowledge of the gods,

Hidden in a single room.

Make haste, make haste,

The Creature is awoken in its Tomb!

I am sure that it is reference to the Flying Masters’ inscription in the Book of the Dead Prophecies, stated Agatha Imra, the highly talented Egyptologist that was on loan to Mr. Armana Ramal from the University of Cairo.

I know how intelligent you are, Agatha, and I also know about this so-called prophecy. Despite compelling proof of the factual nature of the prophecy, the Sphinx’s tablet and its unknown language—

That is the very point that makes my search worthwhile! The language is completely undecipherable despite the best efforts of all the linguists in the world. That tells me a piece of the Rosetta Stone might be found here. If not the rest of that particular stone, then something like it may be discovered, a stone that could shed light on this language that, despite its looking like Egyptian on first inspection, resists deciphering! intervened Agatha.

Fine! Waste your time and expertise here in this empty tomb. I will not be party to this foolish and outright waste of a talent such as yours, Mr. Ramal said, and with that, he arrogantly left the pyramid and the woman in his shadow.

Shaking the unpleasant encounter from her mind and squaring her shoulders to the work that she believed to be hers and hers alone, she bent to the task of investigating the Great Pyramid of Khufu. She picked up her diary and went to work, inscribing her discoveries in its pages.

And they were to be discoveries that would have shaken the very foundations of the archeological world. Inscriptions never before recognized were discovered under Agatha’s careful and intense scrutiny, and these new inscriptions, when translated, were startling and dangerous. So dangerous were the inscriptions that Agatha refused to publish her work, instead keeping them close to her person and hidden from any other who would be able to read them, everyone but her husband. Despite the demands that she publish and share her finding, she did not, willingly exiling herself from her peers.

Several years passed, and Agatha bore a son. Kamrea Imal Imra was a more brilliant Egyptologist than his mother was, and he was also skilled in ways that no one could imagine. As he grew, Kamrea began to show signs that he was unique in ways that no one could predict. Agatha, knowing what she did about the Creature and warned about Kamrea’s gifts by her husband, who was murdered under unusual circumstances and whose death was still unsolved, was more than aware of his potential than anyone else.

Chapter 3

Kamrea, you have surpassed my abilities as an Egyptologist, and since my health is failing, you must move into the world as the expert you are and live your life as your own, said Agatha as she reclined in her bed.

Kamrea, now thirteen years old, was able to translate inscriptions in only a few short moments when it would have taken Agatha several long minutes to do so.

No, he said with unaccustomed force. I may be intelligent, but nobody will hire me. I don’t have any scholarly certifications. I won’t be able to use my intelligence for the benefit of anyone. I also seem to be learning more and more about many things—faster every day—something that makes my classmates and teachers more than a little put off. Mom, I have to tell you something that will probably sound quite strange. After a pause, Kamrea continued in a quiet voice, begging to be believed with. Mom, I can make things move without touching them. Seriously, I can make things happen with my mind! he said after he misinterpreted Agatha’s look as one of parental skepticism.

Of course you can, Agatha replied in a calm and collected voice.

Really, I can. Watch. Kamrea reached out with his heart and mind, stretched his fingers, and an empty water glass flew into his hand from across the room. See, Mom?

I didn’t doubt you, for I already knew that you were able to do this. You remember the legend of the Creature that I told you when you were younger and the amount of power that it contains? Well, there is another legend, about the Creature’s one true enemy, a legend that I told only your father when he pressured me into revealing it to him, a legend about the one person throughout all of time that can destroy the Creature. It is in that journal there, the black one.

Kamrea looked in the specified book, the same one she had received years ago from Ramal, and on the last page was a sprawling expanse of hieroglyphics from a source that Kamrea was completely unfamiliar with, yet they seemed to exude a familiarity that disturbed him. A copy that, like all others in Agatha’s journals, was a perfect reproduction of the original. It translated as

I am the Creature, invincible,

But have one enemy, I do.

His power rivals mine,

He knows all about the Ancient’s world

And must defeat me

To save all.

What does that mean, Kamrea? asked Agatha, an intense look on her face, and a peculiar strain in her voice, after Kamrea had translated it aloud for her benefit.

It means that only someone who knows everything about the ancient world and has power to rival the Creatures’ can defeat the Creature.

Not just someone, Kamrea. It is you. Only you can defeat the Creature, and only you can know everything about the world of the ancients. For that manner, you have the potential to know everything about everything. I know more than most in my field due to my passion for the ancient past and my willingness to devote nearly my entire life to it, but you already surpass me in that knowledge. Only you have the potential to know everything about the Ancient’s world, and only you can have the power needed to destroy the Creature.

Chapter 4

"What do you mean you? Do you mean to tell me that this inscription is about me?" exclaimed Kamrea in a voice filled with disbelief and horror.

That is exactly what I mean, Agatha said with only a little exasperation. Only the man in the legend you just read, translating it in only a few minutes while it took me an hour to assemble a workable translation due to its complicated composition and degraded structure, could do what you just did. You, Kamrea, have the power equal to or maybe even greater than the Creatures’. It is your duty—or rather, your responsibility—to learn and fight. Listen closely. There is a secret room in the Great Pyramid, a room that has remained hidden for so long it only exists in legends that no one but I believe. Take all my notes and papers and find what I could not. It will lead you to the truth. Go now, for your destiny calls.

How can this be true? I have no real power, and I have read many articles about people that can do what I just did! Maybe one of those others is this person that you seem to think I am, Kamrea said, his voice subdued and troubled.

No, Agatha said with complete conviction, you are the one in the prophecy. Your father was just like you in all ways, but you are far more gifted than he was. He told me before he was killed, not long after you were born, that you are to be the one that can destroy the Creature. You and you alone have the power to do what must be done. These other people you mentioned, they are most likely the descendants of the original Magi from the time before Egypt. Those people, with great sacrifice, that first sealed the Creature away in its tomb. They have power—some quite strong if they are trained correctly by one who is similarly skilled—but you are the one that must actually fight the Creature.

What about you? What will I eat? How will I pay for things?

There is enough money here to keep me comfortable and cared for. You, I am sure, will find the hidden room in only days. I believe that the hidden room is your true home. Mr. Armana Ramal, director of the Department of Antiquities of the Middle East, owes me a favor for some services that I have provided for him over the years. Tell him to allow you to study the pyramid for a chamber. He will know it is the Chamber I looked for. He will let you in to repay his debt to me through you. I want you to camp in the desert during your search, staying away from other people as much as possible. But once you find the Chamber, you should stay there, because you will be safer there than anywhere else. Go, before the Creature strikes! Agatha exclaimed in exasperation at her son’s unwillingness to leave.

It can’t. It is sealed in its tomb, said Kamrea with unthinking and complete belief.

Physically, yes, it is sealed away. However, as it did long ago, it can still influence the world with its own desires.

What do you mean, Mom? asked Kamrea, shuddering slightly as he suddenly and without cause felt a chill of the deepest cold creep down his spine.

What I mean is that the Creature is going to try to kill you by any means. You won’t be safe until you are in the secret room. Your father told me that once there, you will not only be safe, but you will also be taught how to wield your power. He was never able to explain this to me, but I believed him. It was the Creature, acting through an outside agent, who killed your father. He was murdered by drowning in the very heart of the desert, away from any source of water great enough to bring about his death.

But—

Go now! It’s started a fire! Agatha suddenly shrieked.

Sure enough, the oil lamp, with a slight shimmer, as if a heat mirage was forming, had burst apart on the table across the room, and the entire living room was engulfed in flames that glowed with a sickly greenish hue. Instead of leaving, Kamrea concentrated on his and his mother’s safety. Not knowing how he did what he did, acting on an inborn instinct that seemed to be a memory of past knowledge awakening in him at his sudden need, he vanished with Agatha, arriving in safety at Armana Ramal’s office in Thebes, two hundred miles away.

In their home, they shimmered and wavered as Kamrea utilized his power. They vanished from the room just as the flames engulfed the entire structure. Not realizing what he had done or how he did it, he took Agatha’s hand, which was shaking with the shock of what she had just witnessed and experienced, and walked through the door.

Chapter 5

Agatha, what a pleasant surprise! cried Mr. Ramal, jumping up from his desk. As he did so, he quickly pushed several objects into a drawer before either of them could see what they were.

It’s nice to see you, Armana.

Who is this young man? If he can dig and behave responsibly, I could use him at a new site we just discovered at Giza, a site that has all the promise of explaining just how the pyramids were constructed and just who those workers were.

May I introduce my son, Kamrea Imra. He is quite strong, both physically and mentally, and is a better Egyptologist than I ever was, Agatha proudly stated while privately wondering at Ramal’s obvious nervousness at their sudden appearance.

He’s a bit young to have gotten a degree in archeology from an accredited institution, Ramal said in a teasing tone. How can you claim he is an Egyptologist when it takes at least six years to become one?

With that statement, Ramal began to speak in the language of Egypt, a language that was many thousands of years old, a language that Kamrea, after looking at Agatha for permission—because she had told him not to speak that language in front of others—began to speak in with no hint of hesitation.

After talking with Kamrea for several moments in the Ancient Egyptian language, Ramal, impressed and astonished, said, Kamrea, welcome to the team! You’re welcome to come too, Agatha. It will be quite good for you to be back out working in the sun.

Thank you. I will come. Who knows? I just might unearth a clue to my search for the Flying Masters before I die!

It was a statement that was met with a slight coloring of Ramal’s face, which Agatha took for angered irritation at the mention of the laughable myth only she believed in and which Kamrea saw as peculiar.

Kamrea tentatively asked, Mr. Ramal, may I have access to the Great Pyramid for several days? I am intrigued by its architecture and wish to study it firsthand.

Of course. You are more than welcome to explore the pyramid. Your mother may accompany you if you wish. Maybe she’ll even find that passage after all these years, eh, Agatha? he added, teasing, which masked his slightly red face as something ordinary.

Leaving him softly laughing at his desk, Agatha and Kamrea went down to the nearest local restaurant to get something to eat. After their meal of vegetable stew and sweet Arabic coffee, they walked to the Antiquities Department and waited for the rest of the team.

I’m sorry, sir, ma’am, but this is a private transport. You’ll have to wait for a public car, a man announced distractedly as he slowly walked up with a large crate of charts, picks, and brushes balanced in his arms.

Excuse me, but I am here waiting to leave with Mr. Ramal. This is Agatha Imra, and I am the new member of the team, Kamrea explained politely to the older and obviously winded man.

Impossible! Agatha Imra, yes, I remember you. I worked with you several years ago at Karnak to preserve the temple from erosion and local vandalism. But the new member has to be much older. I say this because Mr. Ramal said that he is a master of the old tongue, and you are too young to be a master of anything, the man said in a condescending tone.

As he was walking away, Kamrea calmly said in the language of ancient Egypt, Age matters not, but what does matter is intelligence and ability.

Did you hear something? asked the man as he turned around, puzzlement written on his face. He looked quickly at Agatha and Kamrea and was astonished at what he witnessed next.

Not only heard but said, Kamrea said in the same dialect. While Kamrea stood in the sun, the man looked at him with surprise. Then the look changed to one of contempt.

How can you, a child, speak with such ease in a language that took me years to grasp with any competence? Agatha, are you telling this boy what to say? Or are you maybe just tutoring him with particular words?

Agatha merely looked at him as she flatly said, John, my son, Kamrea, knows more than you ever will. He has already mastered the Egyptian language in its entirety and has become fluent in many other languages besides it. He is still learning too. Agatha added the last bit in a slightly wondering tone.

With that knowledge, how can he not be known to the world? He should have written books, given lectures, toured the world! John exclaimed in deserved exasperation at what he was told.

Who needs to tour the world when your world is your home? replied Kamrea with natural conviction and honesty.

John looked at him and smiled in a friendly way. I apologize, for only a philosopher and scholar would have said something like that with that tone. Allow me to correctly introduce myself. I am Dr. John Robble, Professor of Archeology at Cambridge University. I will be aiding Mr. Ramal on this dig.

Chapter 6

After the basic introductions, Kamrea, Agatha, and John waited for the rest of the team, which consisted of Archeologists and Linguistic experts and Ramal himself. Soon, John introduced Kamrea to the rest of the team: Professors of Archeology Howard Brown, Dian Wellington, and Carrol Ronstow, who were on loan from Harvard, Oxford, and Yale respectively, and Linguistic Experts Jannice Taro and Mary Ralto, who came from the Louvre in Paris and the Smithsonian.

All welcomed Agatha back to the field, for they were all old friends and colleagues in the realm of Egyptian archeology, and also welcomed Kamrea to his first hunt, as they called the digs out of humorous respect to the English heritage of archaeology. John, apparently second in command to Ramal, said, Well, now all we need is Ramal to show up so we can get this party started.

So for the better part of an hour, the team waited. Only the seated Kamrea showed any sign of worry. Seeing the look on her son’s face, a look that was a strange mix of stress and elation, Agatha quietly said, Don’t worry, Kamrea, Armana is very nearly always this late. It is a running joke among those that know him closely that the only thing that the man will be on time for is a good meal.

His timing isn’t what is worrying me. Ramal isn’t calm. He is agitated. I can feel his agitation from wherever he is. Something is extremely wrong. I don’t trust him, Kamrea said with quick conviction, a foreign look in his eyes, a look that seemed to hint at knowledge that he was unaware of or that showed him as something other than what he appeared to be.

As Agatha was about to question him on what he meant by that comment, a messenger boy trotted up. After getting paid, he delivered the message he was given to recite aloud to the group: Sorry to keep you waiting. Already at Giza. Come meet me at the Sphinx. Ramal.

So that is where he is! exclaimed John. Okay everyone, let’s get moving. As he turned around, he saw that only Mary, Agatha, and Kamrea were awake, the others dozing in the shade of the date trees. Mary, help me wake them up, he said in clear exasperation tinged with dry humor.

After ten minutes of them grumbling, their jeep was on its way. When five hours had gone by, time spent dodging cars and camels as well as three minor breakdowns, Kamrea felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach, not a disturbing one, but one of comfort, almost as if he knew that he was just about to come home after a long time away. Right away, he knew the Chamber was near.

Sitting back in his seat, he closed his eyes slightly and let his mind drift to the beat of the jeep traveling down the road. The feeling of welcoming comfort spread until he had a smile on his face that would warm anyone’s heart. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that Agatha was looking at him with a speculative set to her eyes. He nodded and said, The room is close—at least it feels as if it is—but I don’t know for sure. I can tell you one thing, though. I have never felt anything like this before. It’s as if I have come home after a very long journey, almost as if I have returned after a necessary time away.

Agatha said nothing but silently wondered again at her husband’s words: He will be the savior of this world and us all and will guard us again as he did once long before.

Chapter 7

A few minutes later, Kamrea saw the structure that had influenced the construction of the majority of the Western worlds’ structures for thousands of years and would most likely continue to do so for many more years to come: the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Standing solid and immovable as it had been for thousands of years, it was a statement of the permanence of man’s effects on the natural world. A statement of the grandeur of man’s attempt to grasp the intangible, the perfection of form.

As the group exited the jeep caravan that they had formed, Ramal walked up to them. You got my message. Good. Since we are now all here, let’s eat our dinner. When we are all settled in, we should get some sleep, because tomorrow we will all be busy. As Ramal turned back to the fire, John and Howard grinned at Dian, who giggled under her breath while trying to subdue it with her hands.

After a splendid meal of roast lamb and fruit, the team packed away all their supplies and settled down for the night.

The next morning, after a quick but satisfying breakfast, the entire team began to work. Right away, Kamrea began to translate and catalogue his discoveries with something that could only be called perfection, much to the surprise of everyone except Ramal and Agatha. Kamrea himself was so engrossed that he didn’t notice any of the looks that came his way, and if he did, he would have been aware of envy and pride and fear and even the most intense emotion present: hatred.

Hey, Jannice, Mary said quietly that afternoon as they watched Kamrea carefully dig into the sands of Egypt, looking for any other artifacts he might have missed earlier. How long did it take you to learn all the proto-African languages?

I don’t know them all, just a handful, and I’m one of the best. My specialty is Egyptian, but this kid knows more than me by a long shot, Jannice answered, an awed look on her face. In the background, a shadow that was seen by no one detached itself from a tent and drifted away. Ramal looked up with a slight frown and a wrinkled nose as if he smelled something undesirable that he hadn’t encountered in a very long time, and Kamrea, glancing around in puzzlement, shivered as if a cold wind had blown down his neck.

When it became too dark to work, John and Howard saw Kamrea walking to the Great Pyramid with floodlights and a pack that contained a tent, a sleeping bag, and a day’s worth of dry food and water. With puzzlement and apparent conflict on their faces, they looked at each other then back to the receding figure of Kamrea. Not wasting a second, they went in search of Ramal and found him in the preservation tent.

Ah, John, Howard, look at this. Dian told me herself that never before had she seen such ability in anyone. Not even her own students—or myself, as she pointedly remarked—have ever shown the level of expertise Kamrea has had today. Everything is translated, tagged, recorded, and arranged according to their dynastic origin. I believe Kamrea will make an excellent asset to the team! What do you two think?

We both think highly of his abilities, Howard said, his voice quiet but vibrant, but Kamrea is also a thief and must be reported to the authorities.

Ramal said quite simply, Explain.

Well, John started in a hushed voice that wouldn’t carry out of the tent, we just saw Kamrea take a pack and floodlight equipment toward the Great Pyramid. He seemed to be sneaking away but was making no effort to hide his movements. That equipment is worth thousands.

Yes, I know, Ramal quickly said, appearing to be tired and irritated, in a voice of authority, which prevented any discussion. I gave permission for Kamrea to camp at the pyramid as well as to study it. He didn’t steal anything, and I believe that at no point in time would he have done so. Agatha raised a son that shows the greatest respect to everyone around him and would ask permission to use anything that wasn’t his, were it even a hairbrush.

In that case, John sheepishly stated with a flushed face, we apologize and hope his study is fruitful.

They left Ramal at the tent, where he stood looking at the stars with a wistful expression on his face. When he was alone, he said, I don’t. He then walked away to his own private tent, rubbing high up on his arm as if it pained him. When he got there, he entered his dark tent and lit a fire in his hand to light his lanterns. That done, he took off his light coat and revealed a shimmering diamond on his arm, just where he was rubbing it, which seemed to shift randomly with color as the light moved across the surface of his skin.

With a slightly unhappy look on his face, he turned his eyes to a clear crystal and, with a sigh and a look of loathing hatred at his strange tattoo, began to watch Kamrea from a distance while wishing with all his heart and mind that the boy, who was beginning to grow into something that could perhaps be his first real friend in an extremely long time, would find nothing.

Almost as soon as Kamrea entered the pyramid, he felt right at home. Without pausing, he walked down the corridors to the subterranean chamber, and once there, having set up the floodlight to allow him plenty of light, he pleasantly gazed around the room. Looking intently at the southernmost corner, he noticed a small circle of raised stone.

Archeologists had initially thought that this was the last piece of a raised hieroglyph. But it was, Kamrea instinctively knew, put there as a marker. When the marker was turned so that it would be upside down, it would show the path to the Ancients’ Door. This led to the Chamber long sought after by Agatha. Kamrea knew this but was unaware exactly how he knew it, which troubled him greatly. He then left the pyramid with plans to return the next night.

When Kamrea walked out of the pyramid, he suddenly shivered, despite the fact that the night was still warm from the bright sunlight that day. A shapeless shadow passed behind him and noticed his reaction to his presence and thought to itself that the boy would have to be dealt with soon, before his power awoke to the extent that he could not only feel the shadow but also see it. And from seeing to fighting. The shadow was about to strike the boy dead, but Ramal suddenly appeared, and the shadow backed off into the deeper shadow of the pyramid out of a desire to remain unseen.

Ramal entered the pyramid and went into the subterranean chamber, where he found nothing that was worth anything. All he saw were some old relics of hieroglyphics, pieces that were so degraded they were unidentifiable. Frowning, he wondered why Kamrea would be so interested in the room. He moved into the King’s Chamber higher in the structure and felt a noticeable amount of power, something he had never experienced before and quite intrigued him. Shrugging, he left the pyramid and moved back to camp, where everyone else was already deep asleep, telling himself he would examine the pyramid again the next night, when Kamrea would have gone to sleep.

The formless shadow kept to the deep shadows near the pyramid but still did not move, out of a continued desire to remain undiscovered. Ramal again made a face as if an unpleasant odor was near his nose but did not pause in his return to the tents. The shadow followed him back to the camp and stayed the night with no movement outside of his tent. Taking no food or drink and not sleeping the entire night through, he too was aware of the use of power somewhere near him but, to his irritation and disbelief, was unable to locate the source.

Not making a sound, the shadow maintained its vigil through the night, alert for any hint that the power was coming from someone within the camp. As dawn approached, the shadow drifted away, knowing that should anyone see it in the bright light of the new dawn, it would be forced to take action before it was ready to do so.

Chapter 8

The next morning dawned bright and clear, a touch of coolness in the air: the perfect day to dig. Jannice rose early that morning and, with Dian and Howard and Agatha, began to discuss just where they would dig that day. With Ramal’s approval, they chose a site that was about a hundred yards from the Great Pyramid, a location that for one reason or another had remained unexamined throughout the uncountable years of the pyramid’s existence.

For hours the team dug into the sand of