Chapter 8 => Reawakened Feeling

Spacious…? Wide…? I can’t think of any other descriptor so, again, spacious…?

This singular room—room may be too much of an understatement—trumped every other structure I’d seen in this tomb by a wide margin.

It wasn’t even close!

The ceiling was so high. What is it, like sixty feet up?!

As for the width of the space… I felt as though I were a tiny ant dropped right in the middle of a huge bowl. Without a doubt it was more than a hundred feet wide.

And the length… I couldn’t even bring myself to think it was hitting close to two-hundred feet!

The scale of this place was absolutely ridiculous. Who even needs this much space in the first place?

Sadly, there was nobody around to answer my questions. If I could find who or what built this place, I’d ask what was going through their heads.

But, to be honest, people have always built absurdly large structures.

The Burj Khalifa. The Eiffel Tower.

Those are just a few of the many manmade sizeable structures in the world. Heck, where I come from, several skyscrapers poke the sky, and people live in them.

But in a setting like this… I can’t see much purpose…

Glancing around, I could see several therianthropic statues—they appeared part human, part animal.

The same crisscross of rays illuminated the entire space, allowing me to spot the numerous hieroglyphics carved into the vast walls enclosing the entire space.

Then I faced straight ahead.

What had caught my attention was an ornate pedestal, basked in a steady beam of what looked like sunlight from above, dead center of the room.

Through the specs of golden dust drifting to the air, I could see it.

Hovering above the pedestal was a carving, a spitting image of the symbol that represented the Eye of Horus.

I couldn’t see any strings holding it up. It wasn’t an illusion, either.

The thing seemed big enough to fill a grownup’s hand. Attached to it was a chain, indicating that it was designed to be worn like some sort of charm, or amulet.

And beyond that, what flashed in my vision—just like the first time—affirmed its authenticity.

EYE OF HORUS.

I smiled as the words hovered over the sacred artifact.

Even though it killed my immersion a little, the whole thing was always like finding a legendary item in a sort of RPG game…

HAHAHA!

Slowly, carefully… I walked toward it.

And that was when a feeling that I had been for the most part numb to…

Reawakened.

RUMBLE…

⨷⨷⨷⨷⨷

The walls began to shake violently. The ground tremored as if afraid.

From the east side of the room, a statue that seemed to have been coated over by piles upon piles of sand, rock, and brick cracked.

There was an explosion. It was so loud, I covered my ears and crouched down.

Dust shot up like a geyser.

And out of this all this destruction, came forth what could only be my final opponent.

An opponent that brought back a feeling…

Something once suppressed.

Yes.

It was fear.

The only thing I could think to call it was a guardian.

Its head was that of a Jackal’s, its arms thicker than logs.

This thing stood at well over thirteen feet, dwarfing me completely.

I’m five-eleven. But standing next to this thing…

Tiny was a fitting word for how I stacked up against it.

The majority of its surface was a dull bronze, but some parts around the head, arms, waist, and legs gleamed a bright gold—including the weapon I believe is called a Was Scepter.

Both its eyes burned yellow, as it began its steady advance toward me. Each footstep made the space rumble.

Recognizing it from past research, I believed that it was a statue of Anubis!

I peeled my eyes off its figure, back to the Eye positioned at the center, then focused them back on Anubis.

Its large strides made it cover the distance far too quickly for comfort, and it raised the weapon high before bringing down on me—still stunned to stillness.

At the last second, I gained back my senses and leapt out of the way. The spot I was occupying seconds prior had been completely decimated.

But the goal hadn’t changed: get that eye!

Somehow my mind had tuned out the threat Anubis posed, giving me a sort of tunnel vision. Yes, if I could get my hand on the Eye, I’d have succeeded.

With that one objective, I started running toward the Eye, reaching my hand out.

I didn’t care about what was behind me, only what lay ahead of me.

Run. Run!

I was getting closer to my goal, closer than I’d ever been.

If I could just grab it.

That ran through my thoughts—

CRACK!

Something blunt rammed into my back, with an unbelievable amount of force. It caused my back to bend at an unnatural angle, to the point where my eyes could see behind me.

Anubis nonchalantly swung the weapon, and it simply reached me.

Nothing more.

I flew off the weapon, tumbling like a ragdoll through the air.

I bounced off the floor like a stray basketball, but I didn’t stop flying forward. My skin scraped against the stone as I hit the pedestal which had shattered upon impact.

That was not enough to fully stop my careening.

It wasn’t until I’d rammed through the wall at the opposite end of the room that I had finally come to a stop.

⨷⨷⨷⨷⨷

Crumble… Crumble…

Pieces of the wall I’d broken through crumbled away from where I had sprawled out on my back, in a dimly lit space.

I could feel several metallic objects under my back. Wait, I still have my sense of feeling? That’s a relief…

Earlier when I crashed into the pedestal, there was the jingle of a chain. It seemed I had gotten tangled with the Eye during my tumble, huh…?

Breathing was tough, and the taste of stomach acid mixed with blood in my mouth was a nasty combination I’d never wanted to taste again.

But that was trivial compared to my main worry.

Where did the Eye land?

I moved only my own eyes around in search. With the light coming through the hole in the wall, sparkly items twinkled in many places around me.

A treasure room…

There were gold ingots, lapis lazuli, jasper… Even some more refined jewelry was in the mix of all these valuables.

No!

None of this is what I’m after right now.

The Eye has to be somewhere in the heap, just need to spot it.

My eyes darted around trying their best to visually sort through the litter of shiny trinkets.

I found it…

I found it!

A little to the left above my head. A place that could very well be a blind spot in my current position. I wonder if I can reach it…

I tried to wiggle my arms and legs—

Sharp pain shot through them.

But… I can still move them…

I stretched out the arm closest to the Eye.

Somehow, I could see it more clearly now as a soft green glow outlined it.

Stretch… Stretch…!

My fingertips brushed the chain.

Not enough!

Yes!

I wrapped a finger around the chain before tugging the Eye closer.

When it was comfortably within reach, with some effort, I used my other arm to put around my neck. The entire process was excruciatingly painful.

But… At last…

I had the Eye of Horus!

“Ha…” I laughed. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

My mind—no, my entire being was delighted!

I was satisfied. I was at ease.

Despite the laughter hurt my ribs, I couldn’t stop just yet.

And when I’d calmed down, my eyelids grew heavy before gently closing.