The cavern itself cried out with the shaking earth, and it spurred Ali into motion. He took two steps and leaped out into nothing, stretching his right arm out. Rabia, knelt and their fingertips touched. She locked wrists with him and somehow held him aloft long enough for Zahra and Baahir to pull the cord tight and backpedal up the steps. Rabia bore the rest of Ali’s weight by herself and, quite literally, dragged him onto the staircase.
Once she had both hands locked around his wrist, Zahra and Baahir dove forward and grabbed whatever they could, and continued pulling him up. He fell into Rabia’s arms, and she squeezed him tight, and they rode the wave of shaking earth together. Once it subsided, the duo gingerly climbed to their feet.
“Geez,” Zahra said.
“Yeah, guys. Get a room,” Baahir finished.
It was the first time that Zahra had seen the woman look embarrassed, but she didn’t let go of Ali. They moved apart while Zahra reeled in her line, watching building after building, and Damned after Damned, disappear into the molten earth.
The thought made her shudder, and she turned and hurried to catch up to the others. If the cavern’s structure completely collapsed, they’d be royally screwed — dying by asphyxiation or getting squeezed like a lemon.
Or just swiftly charbroiled.
They eventually found themselves on the landing that overlooked the Temple of Anubis. From here, it looked like lake of liquid fire. Zahra watched as the last of the buildings, roadways, and the long-dead Anubis victims were swallowed.
“That’s it,” Zahra said, turning back and looking over her friends. “They’re all dead…” she shrugged. “For good, this time.”
Chapter 107
Zahra
They took the hike to the surface at a steady pace. All of them wanted out as soon as possible, but Zahra finally felt that they were no longer in danger, unless the magma continued to rise.
Zahra prayed it wouldn’t. She wasn’t sure she could move any faster than she was now.
“I’m not running for a month after this,” Baahir said, getting a chortle out of everyone.
Zahra agreed. “Two months for me.”
“I could go for a beer.”
They stopped and turned their attention to Ali. He shrank back. “What?”
Rabia wrapped her arm around Ali’s waist, earning a grimace from him. “I’ll buy the first round.”
Deal, Zahra thought. She looked forward to seeing a different side of Rabia after the woman got a few drinks in her.
They marched past the rooms of the main corridor, paying them no attention. The next room was the space they had proclaimed as a ‘torture chamber.’ Zahra refused to even look at any of the bodies. Her nerves were frayed, and she needed to stay strong until they made it outside. Then, she’d allow her emotions to burst forth, and flood like the Nile in the summer.
They walked through and reached the man-killer pit room, taking the dilapidated landbridge slowly. She didn’t know if the scorpions were back in their holes, or if the collapsing cavern down below had scared them off.
No one wanted to find out.
Zahra had been beyond lucky to survive the fall she had taken the first time, and no one wanted to run it back for a second chance.
“Watch your footing,” Zahra reminded the group. She bounded over the break in the bridge.
The group took turns leaping the small gap, then stopped for a moment just outside the next tunnel.
“Um,” Baahir said, pointing back the way they had come, “what’s that?”
Zahra felt the heat hit her face as she turned to look. The lake of magma had, indeed, risen.
“Time to pick up the pace again!” she shouted.
The first set of spiraling stairs passed by in a blur, but whatever momentum they had gained came to a screeching halt once they entered the trap room. Thankfully, all they had to do was avoid the central floor’s trigger Baahir had stepped on earlier, and they would be scot-free.
Zahra lifted her foot to begin the next phase of their ascent and felt her leg turn to mush and then cramp up. She pushed through it — it wasn’t a good time for her body to fail her.
Everyone struggled up the topmost spiral staircase. They trudged along, looking over their shoulders every few steps for the incoming sulphuric glow.
It moved toward them ominously, but slowly.
And suddenly she saw something else.
“Guys, look.”
Daylight.
The others let out a collective sigh and finished the climb in silence. The low sun was there waiting for them, as were Elyas and Tajj. They were leaning against a boulder, looking downright bored — which was good. Hopefully, it meant they hadn’t seen any action.
Still, she was a bit jealous — she wished they could split the action she’d experienced between the two groups.
Neither man said a word. They saw the state of the team and immediately rushed forward, tossing out bottles of water and protein bars.
Ali waved them off when they asked how injured he was, but he did accept a handful of painkillers.
Everyone else easily gulped down their bottles of water, and then sat or laid down.
“What about Ayad?” Tajj asked.
Zahra sat up on her elbows, having opted to lay on her back. “He’s gone. The Scales of Anubis are no more.”
Chapter 108
Zahra
The climb down the pyramidal mountain was a rough one. They followed the path they had used earlier that day. Zahra couldn’t believe she hadn’t pass out from exhaustion. The water had helped immensely, keeping her upright and conscious. As did the snack. It was enough sustenance to get them back to solid ground.
Ali and Rabia gave Elyas and Tajj the short version of what they had discovered down below, including Anubis and the Damned. The full truth would be kept secret from the rest of the world, at least for now, but Ali’s men deserved to know more than most.
They came upon an abandoned four-door SUV that must have belonged to Khaliq and his men. Zahra grumbled a string of expletives when she remembered that they didn’t have a car of their own. Cork had dropped them off.
“Anyone know how to hot-wire this thing?”
“It’s new,” Rabia said. “Won’t work.”
Damn.
“And we need to get our things from where we hitchhiked into town.”
She was right, but it was going to be a long, long walk. And then what? She wasn’t sure Cork would even be able to land on these roads, and Zahra was damned sure the pilot wouldn’t be able to carry everyone back with her. They had an extra body with them now.
“Oh,” Elyas said as if reading her mind, digging into his pocket, “I found this on the man that Rabia shot.”
He held up the grandest thing Zahra had ever seen.
A car key.
She sighed in relief, and the six of them piled into the vehicle, happy to see that it sported three rows of seats. Zahra and Baahir slid into the rearmost seat, while Rabia helped Ali into the center seats. Elyas sat up front, and Tajj drove.
Minutes after grabbing their discarded gear, Zahra, Baahir, Rabia, and Ali were fast asleep.
Thankfully, Zahra’s subconscious decided to spare her the nightmares of what she had seen down below in favor of a more peaceful slideshow.
She dreamt of Levanzo, Italy. She dreamt of the cottage, and the view it offered.
She dreamt of a peaceful paradise.
Chapter 109
Ajmal
For the first time in his life, Ajmal had no purpose. Like Khaliq, he had been born into the Scales of Anubis. His late father had been a scholar, and someone that had been held in high esteem within the organization. But Ajmal was not academic at all — he had been an athlete, the biggest kid in his class. When his middle-school growth spurt hit, he had grown taller and thicker than most of his teachers.