Cursed Times - Only Yesterday! Sequel to Wattys 2015 winner!

Chapter 57: Metjen - Haunted Halls Part 2

End of last chapter: 

  The voices of his fellow high priests were fading out. You should not engage if it is too dangerous. Call us like you did now. Create a local portal close to the Device of Life. But we cannot risk that more of these horrors come through, so don't...Ouch! 

***

The projection stopped abruptly and Metjen swayed on his plinth, reeling from a vicious mind-explosion that had not been intended for him. He could only hope the others had survived that blast. If Imhotep had been behind it, he might no longer be batting for the home team. And if that was the case, how was Metjen ever going to measure up to his ancestor? Had Imhotep really gone rogue? Or was he just another pigheaded technocrat on the rampage? The possibilities swarmed through Metjen's mind, the buzzing turning into the rushing of his blood, drawing along the bitter taste of anger and failure.

You have not lost anything yet, but you will if you keep sitting there snorting like an enraged bull. The others are almost at the landing. Decide what you want to do and do it, in the name of the Lady Hathor!

Iseret had an unfortunate way of expressing herself, but as usual, she was right, Metjen ruefully thought as he disentangled his numb limbs, slid off the sarcophagus and strode towards the entrance. There he stopped and waited to see how his three friends were doing.

Metjen corrected himself. Two friends and one stubborn teenage idiot of a king.

From what he could see of them, they were not doing badly. They had stopped at a safe distance from the monster chasm and were arguing over their next steps. Having ignored a lecture on his misguided knife-throwing activities, Khy was trying to convince the other two he could use the remaining stones to reach the other side.

Seisi's smooth tenor interrupted Pharaoh's agitated squeaking with a determined 'Even if you don't fall in, what are you going to do over there?'

The king had no answer to that but continued arguing nevertheless. He would probably be a good man in a couple of years or so. Right now he was a royal pain in the patootie.

Trueth was ignoring her male companions completely. Her eyes all scrunched up; she darted waves of invisible energy into one opening after the other. She would not detect him unless he wanted her to, so Metjen stayed where he was, absorbing the wave as it came. It felt like she was running diagnostic scans of her environment rather than on a patient.

So she can adjust her talents to her need, Metjen thought. Interesting.

There was something else. Something new. Before, Trueth's sun-flow had always felt cold, soothing and, in its visible form, had shown as blue to their gold. Metjen now sensed a new element, a crisp freshness, a touch of green.

Green? That's weird. He filed this new information for further reference just as Trueth accomplished her analysis and snapped at the other two to stop their arguments and listen. Tempers were fraying and Metjen could not blame them. He had better draw the aggression to himself. That should not prove too difficult. Still invisible, he stepped onto the threshold and started talking.

'So glad you could make it, I was wondering what kept you.' His voice boomed into the shaft, making Khy jump, nearly losing his balance and the other two tense and grab each other's hand.

Metjen could not resist the temptation of teasing them. 'Gosh, look at you two. How sweet!'

Trueth squinted once more and before Metjen knew it, a turquoise-golden bubble of light burst in his face.

It must have at least shown his outlines, as Khy pointed straight at him and cheerfully cawed, 'Your Wisdom, what are you doing over there?'

A grin flitted across Seisi's usually impassive features as Trueth released his hand, put her fists into her sides and started shouting. 'You lamebrain! You piss me off. First you just disappear without a word. Then you give us lip without showing your sorry self. Either we are a team and we're all in on it. Or we can go home and you do your shit on your own. Take your choice!'

Oh dear, are the peasants revolting already? Iseret's voice seemed to come from the ceiling.

Metjen refrained from sending any strand of his consciousness up there. Instead, he ensured he was visible again and floated across towards the left door.

'Sorry! I was a bit preoccupied,' he said.

'Well, don't be.' Trueth lashed back. 'Otherwise we might as well all just jump into that hole. The end would be a lot quicker and most likely more merciful.'

'Nobody dies on my watch,' Metjen responded impatiently. 'We'll go and check out the hall but we seem to have a few issues, so we might have to withdraw.'

'Pray, what do you mean by a few issues?' Seisi asked. 'When you use expressions like this, affairs usually have come to a total impasse. I would like to know what you know before I move any further.'

'We must get to Kemet!' Pharaoh stipulated from the safety of his step. 'Withdrawal is out of the question!'

Seisi turned around. 'Your Majesty?'

'Yes?'

'We are not your bodyguards. If we decide to advance, we will. If we decide to withdraw, we will do that too. Do you wish to attack the demons on your own?'

Pharaoh regarded his priestly foe with a rebellious expression on his face but kept his mouth shut.

Metjen felt another headache coming on, the last thing he needed in this place at this time. He had to regain control of his team. 'Calm down all of you. Amasis is not with us anymore and might not return in time. The support from the circle might be enough to pull us all through. Or they might even not be able to help us at all. I'm not sure what Imhotep is up to. If they can't give us a hand, we'll have to return. It all depends on what we find in the hall, so we'll see if we can get in there without waking up the resident welcoming committee. I can do this. I would, however, prefer to work with some backup. So what shall it be?'

Trueth waggled her finger at him. 'Oh no, don't even try. You're in the wrong and you know it! What part of "I'm sorry" do you find difficult to part with? Anyway, let's go and check out this unholy mess. And before we do I suggest you kindly respond to Seisi's request and give us some proper intel!'

Metjen found it prudent to share a brief summary of the hamster's bad news, which seemed to satisfy Trueth's and Seisi's curiosity. Pharaoh unsurprisingly was not appeased and started waving daggers around, a juvenile son of Kali. Trueth had to share some of her fortified weird-coloured energy to cool down the king. Only then could Metjen mind-shift him across the abyss without the risk of losing his precious cargo due to an outburst of emotion at an inopportune moment. The other two joined hands, created a mind-bridge and joined Metjen in the anteroom to hell.

He would never tell them, but he was impressed.

Once they had all crept into the anteroom, Metjen strained his ears for strange noises other than the rushing of his blood. But he didn't hear any of the hissings that once had announced the arrival of the Cobra platoon.The room was cloaked in half-light, but as far as Metjen could see it was not hiding anything in any of its corners. At least not for the moment.

At the very end, the familiar super-sized manhole was encircling a large part of the lower hall's ceiling. It was from there, that the source of light came, a deep, thrumming, pulsating glow. It was not red. Nor was it black. So maybe it was not demon-made. If it was not that, what was it?

If you liked this story, please leave me a vote or a comment. Or both XD. Wattpad writers write for feedback. We thrive on it! Thank you so much. If you REALLY liked it - maybe you can tell your friends about it?

===

This chapter is dedicated to @ginabuelva. Thank you for binge reading. And voting XD 

Image is from DeviantArt Copyright armawolf