The Anubis Plague полностью

Of course, the river of magma would also be a proper exit, if one was so inclined.

An exit from life, he thought.

The shadows seemed to move independently of the glow radiating from his right. The lava flow wasn’t far. He could feel its heat. The shadows didn’t bend as they should have.

You’re tired. He had come down from his euphoric state. The adrenaline spike had dissipated enough for a little of the old Khaliq to reappear. That was the only part of him that still possessed reason. His mind was split, and he knew it could slip away again at the drop of a hat.

That terrified him the most. If he was too foolish, he wouldn’t survive long enough to know if what he had come here for was actually here.

He wanted evidence that Anubis had really existed — human or not.

Khaliq came upon the fiery river, and was forced to shield his eyes. From what he could see, the only way to get to the enormous statue at the back of the cavern was to cross the serpent-shaped bridge, just to Khaliq’s left. He headed for it, putting a healthy distance between himself and the river. It was impossible for him to tell what kind of shape the overpass would be in. He’d have to get in close to properly inspect it.

And possibly die doing so.

He turned, perfectly lined up with the bridge, and walked toward it. It was twenty feet wide, built of solid igneous rock, and still looked solid enough.

As he neared it, he realized something else. The hellstone around the bridge seemed to block a huge amount of the deadly heat. Khaliq didn’t even have to block his eyes, though he was forced to squint. Not taking any chances, he quickened his pace, making it up to the middle of the bridge.

He saw the damage now — half of the left side of the bridge was missing, a chunk of stone had previously fallen into the fiery river.

But it would have to do.

Khaliq didn’t think. He ran, sprinting over the immense tower of heat radiating from below. He shut his eyes for a moment and prayed that he didn’t simply run off the edge. Once he felt the searing temperature lessen, he opened his eyes and slowed again. Khaliq took the slope in stride and jogged down to the other side. After leaving the bridge, he placed his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths. He looked up and stopped, holding in his air.

The shadows.

They moved.

Once again, he swore he caught sight of movement from far away.

No, he decided. It’s just the light playing tricks on you.

The light emanating from the tunnel was blinding, growing brighter as they neared it. Zahra was shocked at just how bright it was. Their eyes had adjusted to their near-black world some time ago, and their flashlights had barely helped to light their progress.

Now, they could see clearly without artificial light. This form of illumination from the next hallway wasn’t stagnant, either. It moved, shifting between yellow and red.

Something else emanated from the entrance ahead, too.

Heat.

And the smell of rotten eggs.

Blinking against both waves of light and heat, Zahra shielded her face with a hand and stepped through the opening. Her eyes immediately teared up in response to the smell. Still, she kept moving, hearing Baahir shuffling along behind her.

His hand suddenly grabbed at her jacket, and gripped it tightly. It was a garment Zahra was going to have to remove as soon as possible, as she was already drenched with sweat.

She gazed back at her brother, who was already staring off into the void past Zahra. His eyes had evidently already adjusted. The look on his face said it all.

Zahra fought through it and dropped her hand away from her face.

“Woah.”

This wasn’t just some subterranean place of worship, or even an extension of the laboratory they had found earlier. The cavern — the largest one she had ever seen — was an entire, underground city.

We’re in the Kingdom of Anubis, she thought, spying a network of pathways that ran up the walls and connected to more of the hidden corridors and rooms off of the great hall in front of her.

Roads and buildings had been carved out of the black earth as well. Everything — all of it — had been constructed from the igneous rock.

And right in the center of the space, along the far wall, was a massive statue of Anubis. It had been carved directly into the rear wall of the cave.

From hellstone.

“Hellstone,” she repeated, this time out loud. “This place is made entirely of hellstone.”

Baahir placed his hand on her shoulder. “This is it, Zahra.”

She nodded. It was the source of their mother’s vase.

The source of so much death.