Chapter 214: Entering the Pyramid, and a Reluctant Soul
Once a large portion of the pyramid's exterior was exposed, Cyril and Snape deduced the likely location of the entrance from the structure's angle and the layout of the subterranean annexes. The group gathered, divided up the work, and began excavating toward that point. As more of the structure was unearthed, a question formed in Ethan's mind.
*The mural clearly showed that a wizard, possibly our ancestor, had been here. So why are there no traces left behind? Did he not come through this way?*
The question nagged at him as the digging progressed, right up until they uncovered the pyramid's entrance: a heavy stone slab carved with intricate reliefs.
*This door looks like it's never been opened. There's not a single mark on it. How did that wizard who called himself Satan get inside? Or did he not enter the pyramid at all?*
Cyril studied the sealed door, pondering the same question. But he could not be certain whether that possible ancestor had possessed some unknown magical means of entry. He decided they must first try to open it themselves. He knew, of course, that the pyramids, as tombs for the pharaohs, had been constructed with the most formidable protections available. Time might have weakened those wards, but this pyramid had been buried underground, shielded from the elements. How much its defenses had actually degraded was impossible to say.
His first attempt proved his caution was warranted.
"Alohomora!" He tried the Unlocking Charm, a fairly modern spell. As expected, the stone door did not react.
"Finite Incantatem!" He then attempted the General Counter-Spell, hoping to dispel any lingering enchantments. Still, it had no effect. A second Alohomora proved equally futile.
"Open Sesame!"
"Portaberto!"
He tried two other opening charms, both long since obsolete and found only in obscure texts. Neither had any effect.
The pyramid is protected by some unknown enchantment that resists a General Counter-Spell. It seems we must resort to more... forceful methods." Cyril shook his head, having exhausted the subtler options.
Snape understood that gaining entry would not be easy. "Yes. Let's try combining our offensive spells."
"Diffindo!"
"Confringo!"
"Reducto!"
"Deprimo!"
Everyone present cast the most powerful destructive spells they knew that could damage the stone. The barrage of curses struck the door, yet it remained unscathed, standing firm as if mocking their efforts. A second volley fared no better.
"Perhaps we should try Fiendfyre?" Ethan suggested.
"It's worth a shot. We're running out of ideas." Cyril and Snape nodded. They cleared away the surrounding sand, ensuring there was nothing else for the cursed flames to consume, then pointed their wands at the door. "Pestis Incendium!"
They watched intently as the flames licked and clung to the stone. But to their dismay, when they ceased casting, the Fiendfyre guttered and died, having found no fuel.
Ethan made another proposal. "What about brute force? Many of the other Egyptian pyramids were looted using purely physical methods. Should we try that?"
If force failed, Ethan had only one option left: transforming into the red dragon. But that was one of his most closely guarded secrets. He was reluctant to reveal it unless absolutely necessary.
They retrieved a large stone column from the rubble of a collapsed offering chamber. Using Levitation Charms together, they positioned the massive pillar before the door and rammed it forward with all their magical might.
This finally worked. A thunderous crash echoed, and chips of stone flew from the tip of the column. The door was no longer pristine. A chunk of the carved relief had been shattered by the impact, and a hairline crack had appeared between the two massive slabs.
"We've got a chance!" Hope surged through the group. Noé and the others were already lifting the pillar for another strike.
"Wait! Let me see what's behind it first." Cyril suspected it wouldn't be that simple. He carefully cast a Protego Charm on himself, lit his wand, and peered through the narrow gap, shining the light into the passage beyond.
"That's a door?!" he exclaimed, recoiling.
When the others pressed close to the crack and saw what lay beyond, the same wave of despair washed over them. The door was not a simple portal. It was two immense blocks of solid stone, of unknown thickness, wedged tightly into the passageway behind it. The builders of this pyramid hadn't intended anyone to ever pass through this so-called main entrance.
"Could this be a false door? Is there another way in?"
"I don't know. Let's search elsewhere." As hopeless as it seemed, the object of their long quest lay just beyond this barrier. Neither Cyril nor Snape could even contemplate giving up.
*Is my transformation the only way?* Ethan glanced at Noé and the others. "Now that we've pinpointed the location, perhaps we should have Grandfather pull everyone back. Then, later, just the two of us can return. I'll take my dragon form and use a massive boulder to smash a hole through the side." He was beginning to think this might be their only viable option.
Just then, Snape pulled a vial of viscous green potion from his bag and carefully poured a small amount onto the stone door.
"Corrosive potion?"
As white foam began to bubble and hiss on the stone's surface, Ethan recognized the substance. It was brewed from Acromantula venom. He had made some himself once, but since he had little use for it, he'd left it at school.
"Yes. This might actually work." A flicker of hope crossed Snape's face. Small pits were already forming in the hard stone beneath the bubbling foam.
"Excellent!" The others seized on this new hope.
But Snape shook his head. "I only have three vials. It won't be enough to destroy this entire door. I think we should focus the potion on the surrounding stone blocks. The interior structure of the pyramid is likely less heavily warded than the outer shell. If we can just breach this layer, the rest should be easier."
"Agreed. Let's do it." Desperate times called for desperate measures. Trying to breach the wall was a better gamble than attempting to completely unearth the pyramid in search of another entrance.
Snape's strategy proved correct. After the last of the potion was used, the targeted stone block was deeply pitted and scarred, with a few holes even penetrating through to the dark stone behind it. "It's working!"
The corrosive potion had eaten through the protective enchantments along with the stone itself. They were able to shatter the weakened block with ease, levitating the fragments out of the pit. The inner stones were, as Snape had predicted, far less resilient. A single combined volley of curses was enough to shatter the next block. They reinforced the surrounding stones with Strengthening Charms to prevent a collapse and continued this process, methodically dismantling the plugged passageway until they finally broke through into an open corridor leading deeper inside.
"Finally." It had been an hour since they first uncovered the pyramid's tip, but at last, they were on the verge of entering the main structure.
Before stepping into the dark passage, Cyril, Ethan, and Snape began donning an extensive array of protective gear: dragon-hide vests, enchanted rings, protective necklaces, warding brooches, charmed circlets, and sturdy belts. Every possible inch was covered with alchemical artifacts. Cyril, loaded down with a half-dozen necklaces, glittering rings, and a golden circlet upon his head, turned to Noé, Mael, and Robert.
"Will you be entering with us, or waiting out here?" he asked. "We have no idea what dangers might lurk inside."
"Er, we'll wait here." The three men, who had been eager to plunder pharaonic treasures, took one look at the trio's heavily armored state and promptly lost their nerve. Wealth was desirable, but life was more precious. What good was a mountain of gold if you were dead?
"Very well. We're going in." Cyril and Ethan each cast a Protego charm. Ethan added his now nearly perfected Bone Shield, a construct of interlocking skeletal plates that could move and actively intercept threats. Snape cast the same two defensive spells, a fact that momentarily surprised Ethan before he remembered who had likely taught them to him: Voldemort. Snape, it seemed, had the same thought, and he glanced at Ethan.
The older wizard, Robert, whose own protections were far less comprehensive, also chose to enter the pyramid. The four of them lit their wands, and Cyril produced several high-powered Muggle flashlights as backup.
As they finally stepped into the pyramid, sending transfigured deer and rabbits ahead of them to scout for traps, Gis and his now twelve-strong party arrived at the excavation site.
"A pyramid?! They've stumbled onto a real treasure this time!" Saphir exclaimed, his eyes gleaming at the sight of the freshly uncovered stone structure.
"To think they'd find something like that in Egypt..." Gis and the others were similarly astonished.
"No one's on the surface, and there's a hole in the side. They must have gone inside. Quick! We'll catch them like rats in a trap!"
They dismounted, stowed their brooms, and cast Protego charms of their own before cautiously making their way down the sloping, rubble-filled passage Ethan's group had carved. Saphir glanced back and saw Nadim still lingering at the entrance. "What are you standing there for? Get in here!"
Nadim shook his head. "I led you to them. My part is done. I want nothing more to do with this." He could sense his flying carpet wasn't inside the pyramid; the wary Cyril had probably buried it in the sand.
"Get in here! Unless you want your past catching up with you. You'll end up just like us, wanted fugitives with nothing left." Saphir glared, unwilling to give up his leverage over Nadim so easily.
Nadim's face cycled through a range of emotions before settling into a grim, stony mask. He slowly entered the passage and moved to the back of the group.
"Take point," Saphir ordered.
"Fine." Nadim's voice was low, murderous intent flashing in his eyes.
"Stop! I hear voices." Gis, who was at the front, signaled the column to halt.
"What do you think's in there... treasure... think we'll get a share..."
"We'll ask when they come out... hoping to get a little... I want to move to the city..."
The voices were distant and indistinct, but Gis heard enough. "You're up front. Sounds like they're your coworkers." He turned to Isaac, who was directly behind him.
"Yeah." Isaac nodded and squeezed past the others to take the lead.
"We'll cast Disillusionment Charms and follow right behind Isaac. Wait for my signal to strike." The man directly behind Gis was one of Saphir's group. With little trust between the two factions, they arranged themselves in an alternating pattern, a checkerboard formation to keep themselves hidden.
The eleven invisible wizards crept forward as quietly as possible, following Isaac, who advanced at a deliberately slow pace.
"Hey, did you hear footsteps?" It was Mael's voice.
"I didn't hear anything. Let me check." Noé's footsteps approached the opening of the passage, and he peered out.
"Noé, it's me."
Because of the rubble, the passage sloped unevenly downward. Isaac stepped out, half-hidden behind a large chunk of stone.
"Isaac?! How did you find this place? Weren't you supposed to wait for us back in Semkhet?" By the glow of his wand, Isaac could see the shock on Noé's face.
"I was worried about you all. Where are the others?"
"Just me, Mael, and Robert out here. Everyone else went inside. We didn't have enough protection, so we stayed behind to wait."
"Is that so? That's perfect."
"Perfect? What do you mean?" Noé looked confused.
"Stupefy!" A flash of red light, and Noé collapsed to the ground.
"What are you doing, Isaac?!" Mael, who had just stepped out of the passage to greet Isaac, shouted furiously.
"Now!" Isaac didn't bother to explain. There was no turning back. He was committed to this path.
A barrage of spells hurtled toward Mael. Caught partially in the open, Mael reacted to the shout and threw himself backward into the passage, letting the stone walls absorb the volley of curses.
"Robert! Run!" Mael yelled as he scrambled backward. He couldn't help Noé now. He'd counted at least seven or eight spells aimed at him. They were hopelessly outnumbered.
"You, deal with him." Saphir pointed at the unconscious Noé and gave the order to Nadim.
"I refuse." Nadim's hatred was a palpable force.
"Ziyad. If you don't kill him, I'll kill you right now." Saphir's wand was leveled at Nadim. His three companions also turned their wands on him.
"You...!" The murderous rage inside Nadim peaked. His eyes reddened, but staring down four wand tips, his will to survive won out. "Fine! I'll do it!" He lowered his head and walked through the gap they made for him, his steps heavy, until he stood over Noé's prone form.
"Don't kill him! He's just a hired guard! He never hurt any of us! Don't kill him!" Isaac had agreed to help kill Ethan and Cyril for the immense reward Landoire had promised, which included ownership of the entire dragon reserve. But he could not bear to watch a colleague of many years be murdered in cold blood right in front of him.
Saphir ignored him, and since he had not countermanded the order, Nadim continued his grim approach. Isaac turned to Gis, desperate. "Gis, please. Don't kill him. He's Stunned. He's no threat to us."
"I..." Gis was no cold-blooded killer of Dark wizards. He hesitated, looking toward Saphir.
Saphir sneered. "You've already decided to kill, and now you get squeamish? If you let him live, everything you've done will come out. What then? Are you planning to join me as a fugitive?"
"I'm sorry, Isaac. Saphir is right. He has to die." Gis hardened his heart and refused Isaac's plea.
Nadim knew he had no choice. He would have to kill. He stood over the fallen Noé, wand raised, looking down at the face of the young wizard who, on his very first day, had eagerly tried to teach him how to play Wizarding Cards. He could not bring himself to do it.
"Get on with it! Stop stalling. It's not your first time." Saphir's impatient voice came from behind him.
*I'm sorry. Saphir forced my hand. I will avenge you. I will kill him for what he's made me do.* Nadim made a silent vow.
"Avada Kedavra!" A flash of green light, and Noé's breathing stopped. The young man who had dreamed of returning to France, of finding a job in the city and a pretty girlfriend, was gone forever.
In that moment, something inside Nadim broke. The peaceful life he had built over more than a decade was shattered, destroyed by the spell he had just cast.
Noé's death cemented Saphir's control over the group. "Problem solved. Now let's hunt down the rest. Kill them all!"
A heavy silence fell over the group. The men from France carefully stepped around Noé's body as they moved deeper into the passage. Saphir's crew, however, paid it no mind. One of them even gave the corpse a contemptuous kick as he passed.
None of them saw the spirit that had risen from Noé's body, watching them all with a face etched with grief and fury.
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