TST (57 page)

The cleric shook his head in remorse for the loss of what were once a culturally rich people. “There are now only four professions in what was once a vast and diverse culture. You were either a priest, a farmer, a soldier who also worked as taskmasters for the pyramid under the control of the priests, or you worked on the pyramid. Even children were forced to contribute to the construction. They brought food and water to the workers until they were strong enough to do manual labor. Hundreds of people died every year just working on the tribute to their gods, not counting the thousands still dying from disease and starvation.”

Maude looked at Malek in disbelief. “How could they afford to keep throwing their people into this grindstone of a project?”

Malek pointed at renditions of several obviously pregnant women and young girls. “As soon as a girl was old enough, she was required to take a mate and produce children. The rate of death during childbirth equaled that of the deaths from accidents building the pyramid itself. Orphaned children were placed under the auspices of the priesthood where older women past childbearing age raised them until they were old enough to contribute to the pyramid’s construction.”

“Our young head priest is now old and the pyramid is finally completed but the hardships still persist. He has decided that the pyramid has proven insufficient to placate the angry gods and…” Malek’s eyes went wide and his face visibly paled as he translated what came next.

“He has ordered that random members of their society must be sacrificed to the gods in hopes that their blood will stop the plagues and disasters and turn their fields fertile once more. At first, he sacrifices the old, feeble, and those who he sees as not contributing to the empire. Then he turns to raiding other cities, capturing thousands of men and women then sacrificing them atop the great pyramid.”

The cleric choked down the bile that rose to the back of his throat as he sees what comes next. “He believes that the gods are still displeased and decides that there is no way to placate them. Therefore, instead of trying to please them, he has figured out a way to supplant them. He has decided that he and several of his most loyal priests will transcend to immortality, challenge, and vanquish the gods and become gods themselves.

 “Every man, woman, and child of the city is brought before the temple and marched to the top in a massive macabre parade. From one full moon to the next, the priests cut the throats of the people, spilling their blood down every side of the pyramid. The people are sacrificed as fast as they can be brought to the top, their lifeless corpses thrown over the two sides not used to reach the top. The priests must work in shifts as they continue killing their own people and eventually the entire structure is covered in blood. Blood flows down every side of the pyramid and saturates the ground around it.”

Malek had followed the mural to its end. “Only a few thousand people are left when the clouds part, rays of mystical light shine down, and transcendence occurs.”

Tears for the unimaginable loss of life that occurred here flow freely down the cleric’s face. “This last part gets hard to read. I can’t make out what happens after that.”

“I guess we know where all the people went,” Maude whispered.

“I just hope they didn’t stick around to haunt the place,” Borik rumbled.

Maude let out a deep breath. “I just don’t understand why the people, the ones being sacrificed, allowed themselves to be slaughtered like sheep. Why didn’t they fight back?”

“These were obviously people with deep-seated religious devotion. To them, the priests were the mouths of their gods, the closest thing to the gods themselves. I imagine that they figured if they could sacrifice themselves to please the gods and save the rest of their people then it was worth it. By the time they realized that their deaths were not going to save the rest of them, it was too late. They simply lacked the numbers to resist.”

“Let’s get what we came for and leave this place as quickly as we can,” Maude suggested.

The party explored the other rooms, each adorned with a tiled mosaic but none as gruesome as the huge mural in the main chamber. Most of the others were simple depictions of religious services, detailed astronomy, and the people’s everyday lives before the building of the temple. They found ramps in place of stairs that led to the levels above. Maude figured that whatever they were looking for would likely lie near the top and not in the sublevels dug under the great pyramid.

So far, they had not discovered any signs of life. Nowhere did they find any refuse, scraps of old clothing, or eating utensils that would normally have been left behind. They followed the ramps to the top of the structure, deciding that there was nothing of value to find in the empty lower chambers. The rooms continued to grow smaller and decreased in number the higher they climbed. When the ramp they were following stopped in front of a single door, they knew that they had arrived at the top of the pyramid. If there was anything of value to be found in the abandoned temple, it would likely behind this sealed door.

“The door appears to have been sealed. Borik, Tarth, either of you see any way to open it?” Malek asked.

Both shook their heads in the negative.

“See if you can break it down, Malek,” ordered Maude.

The cleric shrugged his shoulders and took his war hammer to the door. Mortar around the joints cracked and crumbled away revealing the outline of the portal. Stone chips flew as Malek hammered against the stone. A spider web of cracks appeared near the center of the door where the hammer continuously pounded against it. Malek jumped away from the door as the structure finally gave in to his relentless abuse and crumbled to the floor.

After a brief hesitation to allow the dust to clear, the party stepped into the room. It wasn’t the smallest room they had found but it was considerably less vast than the main chamber far below. What it lacked in size however, it made up in decorativeness. Tiled mosaics covered every inch of the floors and walls but what drew the eyes of everyone in the room was the gold mask inlaid with cut gems that rested on a pedestal in the center of the room. The precious gems set within the mask glittered under the beam of moonlight that shone through a square opening about a foot across in the top of the ceiling. Malek saw that it was the same mask the high priest had worn when he slaughtered his people.

“That doesn’t look like it is part of Dundalor’s armor,” Borik observed.

“I would have to agree with you, Borik, but it looks valuable all the same so I guess we should take back whatever we find,” Maude told the dwarf.

“Great, another damned wild goose chase,” the dwarf complained bitterly. “I swear if I didn’t know better I’d think that someone is intentionally sending us in the wrong direction.”

“I’m sure that’s not it,” Maude reassured her companion. “What would the king gain by it? He needs to prevent anyone from completing the suit of armor.”

“I have a question, Maudeline,” Tarth interjected.

“What is it, Tarth?”

“Well, if this place has truly been abandoned, who does all the cleaning? There is not a speck of dust anywhere. Trust me, I have looked.”

Maude looked around and reviewed her memory of the rooms and passages they had explored and realized that the wizard was correct. With the exception of the pit trap, not so much as a spider web littered the walls or floor.

“It seems to me,” the elf continued, “that every old tomb and ruin we have ever visited has always been filthy, even when there were inhabitants within.”

“I don’t know. Borik, grab that mask but be careful, then let’s get the hell out of here,” Maude ordered.

Borik carefully examined the tiles on the floor for any sign of traps or triggers but found nothing. Minutes later, he stood before the pedestal and looked into the eyes of the mask. He scanned for any signs of traps on and around the plinth but saw nothing to cause concern. With a shrug of his wide shoulders, he gently lifted the heavy mask from its narrow dais.

A small column of stone perhaps two inches in diameter gently rose from the center of the pedestal. Borik’s danger sense screamed a warning just as the a single deep reverberating gong echoed through the pyramid. The single note was long and low, seeming to originate from the entire pyramid.

“I think we better go now,” Borik suggested eagerly, shoving the mask into his pack, and hustled after the others as they fled the room.

Borik stole a furtive glance back over his shoulder as he followed the others out and saw a movement in the deep shadows of the high priest’s chambers. The party stole down the ramp, walking swiftly and watching for any signs of trouble. Borik kept looking back over his shoulder for signs of pursuit.

“I think we had better pick up the pace a bit,” the dwarf recommended.

“Why, did you see something?” Maude asked, glancing around.

“I think the shadows are chasing us.”

Maude shuddered as she thought back to the shadows they had fought a couple years back while they searched an ancient tomb for treasure. Then, she too saw numerous dark shapes detach themselves from the walls and ceiling.

“We have company!” she shouted as several small black shapes lunged at her from darkened alcoves and side rooms.

The creatures were small, not much larger than a goblin. Their skin was a midnight blue bordering on black with huge yellow eyes. Not a single follicle of hair marred their dark skin. The creatures struck with surprising speed and guile, suddenly appearing as if they had been birthed by the pyramid’s dark shadows to punish the intruders.

Claws and wickedly sharp teeth grated against steel armor followed by hisses and screeches of rage. Maude was forced to hold her massive two-handed sword in her left hand and draw her dagger to fend off the vicious assault.

Malek slammed his shield into two of the creatures and sent them flying against the unyielding stone wall while he cracked the skull of another with his hammer. The cleric barely had time to bring his hammer back in line before the two he had shield slammed launched themselves at him once again.

Tarth sent a salvo of magic darts that looked like tiny sword wielding pixies streaking into one of the dark-skinned creatures, killing it instantly. Borik swung his battleaxe in hard sweeping arcs that split the bodies of his attackers open like ripe melons. Maude finally beat back the creatures assailing her front enabling her to bring her large sword into play.

“Come on, stick close,” she called back to the others and mowed down the diminutive demons blocking their path like a scythe through tall grass.

They barreled down ramp after ramp, using their steel weapons and greater bulk to force their way through the unending tide of monsters. The party managed to get in front of the majority of their attackers as they fled down dark passageways with a legion of the black-skinned monsters chasing after them, hissing and shrieking their rage.

Maude heard laughter behind her and glanced over her shoulder at Malek. “I’m glad you are finding this amusing. If we hit a dead end it’s really going to be a dead end!”

“I’m sorry, I just realized what happened to everyone,” Malek panted as he ran. “The priests managed to effect a transcendence all right but not for themselves. The gods opened the passage to the heavens but they took the people not the priests! They cursed the priests and their guards to forever live in the darkness of their pyramid. The punishments from the gods were never because of the lack of faith from the followers but because of the abuses of their priests!”

“What goes around comes around I guess,” Maude replied, breathing heavily as she cut through several more of the cursed priests that tried to block their path.

“Oh crap,” Maude muttered as a large group of the dark priests crowded the passageway up ahead. “Tarth, can you clear a hole for us?”

“Of course, Maudeline, it would be my pleasure,” the elf replied sinuously.

The party skidded to a halt about thirty yards from the mass of creatures that stood in their way. Malek and Borik guarded their rear as the monsters that chased them quickly closed the distance. The wizard raised his long thin arms and chanted a short phrase of magic in his musical elven language. A small ball of fire leapt from his outstretched hand and streaked down the corridor, growing larger as it flew towards its target. It reached the center mass of the small hoard of creatures and exploded violently.