A Dream Of Egypt

Chapter 3
A New Discovery

Anna’s dreams that night were turbulent, and never did she see an image for more than a few seconds. But within those seconds she felt as if she had gained knowledge on a life that she didn’t understand. She had woken several times, images having scared her into consciousness. Those images, were ones she could not quite remember. She knew only that they had frightened her, and left a distinct unease in the pit of her stomach. The last time she woke, it was just before dawn and she decided then she could take it no more.
Carefully she stood and made her way from the tent, pulling her hair up as she went.

The impending morning caused quite a stir in the creatures of the desert, they all scrambling to return to their havens before the sun brought with it the unbearable heat. They paid Anna no heed as she passed, occasionally stopping to examine a stone in her path. This walk was what she needed to clear her head, a chance to examine the dreams she’d had. She settled in the spot that her walks always took her, a small hill of sand above the stairs, that never seemed to end.

Her head rested atop her knees, as with little headway, she tried to make sense of the images. Though it seemed she had learned more than she realized from the few seconds of imagery, she could not pin down it’s meaning. So there she continued to sit, mind turning the images this way and that. She was still sitting there as the workers came with the sun, to begin the day anew.

Anna had contented herself to staying where she was, a perfect place to watch the goings on. It was just an hour later when her father came out of his own tent, and began to help out where he could. Most did not believe it was their job to do anything to decipher what the diggers found, but her father had always been the kind of man that had to keep busy. So when there was nothing to decipher, he helped dig.

And that was how the day progressed, the digging continuing until her father called for a break. During this time they would eat, and her father would engage them in some sort of card game. The breaks always ended up longer than they already were. Anna stood to follow them, when the ground beneath her seemed to shift. She frowned and glanced down at the sand that was indeed sliding away from her. She took a step back and tripped. Her foot had found a hole in the sand. And that puzzled her. How could there just be a hole in the sand, when that morning there had been none?

She began to stand again when there was an ominous rumbling noise. She froze and then let out a high pitched scream as the sand beneath her gave way and sent her crashing downward through the now gaping hole.

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Ever movement hurt, hell even thinking hurt. But she forced her body into a sitting position as her father’s panicked voice came from above,

“Anna? Anna are you alright?” She, for a moment couldn’t answer. When she tried, a coughing fit was the answer. After a particularly nasty cough she finally answered,

“I’m alright dad! But don’t ask me where I am.” she said pushing herself to her feet. A sigh of relief followed her words. She heard orders being shouted in Egyptian before her father spoke again,

“Anna, we’re going to get you out of there just hang on. And don’t go anywhere for the love God. I can only guess what kind of booby-traps are down there!” She could only laugh, only her father could sound absolutely worried and downright giddy at the same time. Of course, Anna was never one to just sit tight. So she ignored the pain in her shoulder and back and began a brief look around. She seemed to be standing in a tunnel, one that seemed eerily familiar.

She took a few tentative steps forward and when no trap was forth coming continued down the hall. Small scraps of light were every few feet, signaling areas where the ceiling had crumbed, if only a bit to let the sun in. Each step was careful, yet she knew in the back of her mind, that this place had no traps.

The familiarity of the hall was enhanced when she finally met a large stone door. And as she went to push it open she found that she wondered if she would find people on the other side painting pictures on the walls. But as the door was forced open there was nothing but darkness. She thought back to her dream and went inside heading to her left. Carefully she began to search, using only the picture in her mind, for a torch that should be right about… there. Her hand closed around it and she smiled pulling the lighter from her pocket.

An adventurer would never know when they would need a lighter to navigate ancient halls. Or that’s what her father would have liked to believe, if he saw his daughter lighting a torch with a lighter. In truth she had picked up her fathers old college smoking habit. She didn’t smoke often, but she kept the lighter close, just in case the urge hit. It took a couple tries to get the torch lit. And she was surprised it had worked at all. But it had and nothing else mattered at that point.

As soon as the lighter was pocketed, she turned her attention to the bits of the room revealed by the limited light. It was her dream brought to life. Beautiful carvings and paintings of gods and goddesses. She was struck again by the feeling that around the corner someone was going to be standing there, as if waiting for her. Again she followed that feeling to the last room, but again no one was there. But unlike the other room she was drawn to the back wall.

Against the wall was a beautifully decorated sarcophagus, she walked up to it and her fingers ghosted over symbols she couldn’t understand. A small smile formed over her face, until she felt a tugging like sensation. She leaned forehead, as if in pain. It felt as if a weight had been placed on her chest. It only lasted a few moments, but it seemed like a lifetime. She straightened eyes wide and confused, the room seemed different, brighter. She turned and instantly jumped backwards.

Another stood in the room, this one female. She had an aura of blue surrounding her like fire. But what struck Anna as the oddest thing about her was that she looked almost perfectly like her. Tall, thin build, the darkest silk hair and the bluest eyes. Only her skin was darker then Anna’s own and she appeared to be older,

“Do not fear me.” the woman said gently a smile upon her face, “I am the other half of your soul. The half that begged you to return to Egypt, even as you boarded the plane to leave it. I will guide you through your journey, and if all goes well; I will also be your guide back.” Her voice was like a choir and Anna winced and felt as if she should not be hearing such a voice.

The mirror image raised her hand to her neck touching the skin there lightly. Anna did the same without thinking and instead of touching skin, touched the cool gold of the necklace given to her the day before. Anna didn’t know when it got there, she did not recall even putting it on. While she thought about that her other half had walked up to her,

“How can you be.. The other half of my soul?” Anna finally asked her own voice sounding like nails on a chalk board in comparison,

“I am more like… a separate soul.” she began, “We can choose to be reborn but it is not our whole soul that is reborn. But a piece. The larger piece serves as a protector for the other parts of it’s soul. I choose to be reborn, several times in fact. When you die your soul returns to mine to complete it. Unless your deeds in life grant you a full soul. Then you can do what you wish in your own afterlife. This task I ask of you can grant you that peace.” she said and Anna could only stare,

“I don’t quite understand, but I will… do what I can.” the woman nodded,

“I will give you all my knowledge and memories and you will take my place in time. You must stop my death…” she said taking a step towards Anna,

“But if you don’t die…” Anna tried to argue but the woman laughed,

“I will die eventually. All beings do. But I was taken from my…we were taken from our love too soon. When he died he could not move on and cannot be reborn. Our lives have been lived without finding our soul mate. If we succeed here, he will be reborn and released. I know you can help him.” she said reaching out to touch her. Anna stepped back right into the sarcophagus,

“I will… think about it.” she said firmly and the woman sighed,
“You have until this evening. When the new moon rises. Please.” Anna heard other voices and she gasped when her father barreled through the woman as if she wasn’t there. He hugged her tightly to him,

“I told you not to move…” he began but his attention was taken away from her to the sarcophagus, “My God…” suddenly she was being ignored and she shook her head. This is the reason she’d left. He got too excited about things that had been buried for years, but his daughters accomplishments were met with ‘Mmhmm that’s nice dear’. She understood now that he had been very proud, but these things, were history. Her mother’s history.

She stepped aside as he bent over it reading the symbols the best he could,

“Ah your mother will be delighted to see this… A woman buried in the Valley of the Queens, but she bears no markings on the sarcophagus indicating a queen…. Marvelous! Perhaps she was a queen’s sister… or…” he began to ramble and she stepped back shaking her head at her fathers excited antics. And it continued much that way until the rest of the diggers arrived.


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So there’s that chapter there. Just kind of going with it. I like how this is working so far. But maybe it’s just me. But who knows right? ^_^