Story 1
Abrax had finally ended another long day at the market in Cairo, and was on his way home to see his wife. There was nothing extraordinary about this trip, but as he passed through the area where town met desert just outside of Giza, he noticed something very peculiar. There stood the Great Sphinx, as he had seen many times before, but below its right eye was falling a single black tear. And again, as he had been seeing for the last few months, he saw a brief triangle flash in his vision. He didn't know what it meant, and thought that this might be a sign. Abrax made sure to look at the Sphinx every day, as he believed it was good luck, and had happened to lay his eyes upon those of the Sphinx today. Upon this realization, Abrax took a closer look, and out of nowhere, the Sphinx transformed into a living creature. Abrax was not the only person around, but no one else seemed to have noticed the Sphinx except for him.
"Chosen One, come forward," boomed the Sphinx.
Abrax was confused, as he did not do anything other than simply notice the tear to be considered a "chosen one."
"You have a pure heart, and a purer soul. You will be the one to save me, and to save us all."
With that, the Sphinx opened its mouth wide, and Abrax could not help but jump in.
He rode through a tunnel of sand, and after what seemed like hours, landed in a massive room, with a sort of shimmering veil covering a portal into another world. Or, what used to be one. There were ruins everywhere, clearly buildings that used to be great but were now destroyed. Front and center was a throne that lay in shambles. Beside Abrax was a very tall man, who looked familiar, but Abrax could not state why. The man introduced himself as the true form of the Sphinx, named Prince Thutmose. Thutmose told Abrax that there had been a great battle between the gods Osiris and Set. Osiris and Set were the children of Geb and Nut, who were the children of Ra. However, the Gods did not care about any familial relations, and were feuding over who would get a home, as each was equally important. Thutmose asked Abrax if he was aware of this, to which Abrax responded no. Things had started to seem unusual in Cairo, but he never imagined it could be this crazy. He wanted to know more. Abrax was very confused as to what the argument was about, when Thutmose explained that this quarreling stemmed from the fact that each wanted to be worshipped in the largest temple, and the people of Egypt did not have a dedicated space to each God. Abrax thought that this was a minor issue, but hours went by and the fighting did not end. All of a sudden, Abrax realized how long he had been gone, and shouted that he needed to go.
In the portal, Abrax saw something deeply disturbing. In the corner of the room, lay a coffin. This coffin was ornately decorated with hieroglyphs, and it was violently shaking, as if some sort of tortured soul was trapped inside.
It was at this moment, while Abrax and Thutmose watched the Gods who were quarreling, that Set entered the frame, knife in hand, and looked straight to face the portal. They knew they were being watched, and did not like it. They wondered why a mortal would dare come to their realm, and Thutmose explained that he was the key to final peace. The Gods did not agree. Set unleashed an attack on Abrax that was sure to kill a thousand men, but Thutmose was able to divert the attack for just enough time for Abrax to escape through the tunnel from which he came. Abrax screamed for his new friend, but also knew that in doing this Thutmose was putting his faith in Abrax. As he blacked out, he saw the triangle again.
When he arrived back in Cairo, everything was just as he left it. But Abrax was not the same. He had seen the power of Set, and while it scared him it also made him very angry. He knew what had to be done, but now had to figure out exactly how to do it.
Author's Note: This story was loosely based on the story of Osiris and Set. The two were brothers, and were constantly fighting. The reason that Osiris is the king of the underworld is because Set locked him in a coffin and cut him to pieces, so when he reformed he was not completely alive. These concepts fell perfectly in play with the legend of the Sphinx, who in Egyptian lore (not to be confused with the Greek sphinx) is a sort of protector. The Sphinx serves as a watcher of the Pyramids, and it only made sense to give the Sphinx more of a role as a sign of the issues outside of the mortal world. I decided on this story because it provided a great reason that the Pyramids could be built outside of human solutions. The times of construction of the Pyramids and the Sphinx itself are not known, so I am having the reader assume that the Sphinx exists alone without the Pyramids at the time of the story. Although Thutmose was the name of one of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the name chosen simply because of its connotations with royalty, and is not the same person. The pyramids undoubtedly have a reason for existing, but much of that is up to our interpretation as we have no records. The idea of Abrax came from books I read as a kid, which revolved around a usually unassuming protagonist being drawn into the world of the Gods. This story has a lot of potential, and I loved writing it! I am planning on this being the first of three parts to explain the story of the Pyramids.
