Part III

Days had gone by, and Abrax felt like he was nowhere close to the end. His mouth was parched, his camel was tired, and he himself needed to sleep. It was clear that things were not right; the desert felt like it was holding its breath. The weather had become increasingly unstable, and he was having visions of Osiris, still wrapped in cloth, pleading with increasing frequency. He knew that he must keep going. The amulet around his neck began to start shaking with more frequency, so he knew he was going the right way, but the trip was indefinite at this point.

All of a sudden, the amulet got very hot. It was so hot, in fact, that Abrax could no longer bear to wear it around his neck and threw it to the ground. Where it landed, a hole appeared in the sand. Abrax knew by now that these things did not happen by coincidence, and jumped right in, hoping this is where Kamazu, the magician he was looking for, was waiting. He fell for what seemed like hours, and began to worry that this was a trick played by Set on him. However, when he reached the bottom, he was in a sort of workshop. There was an old man crying in the corner; this was not what Abrax expected out of the great magician. He indeed introduced himself as Kamazu, but could not even finish the sentence before he started crying again.

I knew you'd come...I knew you'd.....I knew... He could not speak properly.

When Abrax pulled out the amulet to show him, Kamazu nearly fainted, catching himself on his chair before he fell. He was in frail shape already, but he looked at the amulet like it was a cursed object. In a sort of trance, he explained that the amulet was made by Ra himself in the flames of the sun, and it contained the essence of a God in it. The triangle, he said represented an ancient tomb, one that had not been seen since the beginning of civilization. He had been dreaming about this symbol for many months, being driven into madness when nobody came to him with the amulet in hand.

Three turns. Three turns. Three turns. Kamazu kept muttering this to himself, and saying nothing else. Abrax did not know what this meant, but he thought that turning the amulet three times might do something important. He dared not try in the middle of the workshop.

With those words, Kamazu dissolved into a heap of sand, and behind him stood Osiris yet again. He seemed different. He had a certain fire in his eyes, and pleaded with Abrax that he hand over the amulet. Abrax was weary, as he had seen many weird things over the last few days. But Osiris was a friend, and he trusted him. It was in this moment that Abrax had a memory. Something didn't add up. He remembered Osiris telling him that he could not go to Kamazu's workshop because of his transient state of being neither alive nor dead. This was not Osiris. And "Osiris" knew that Abrax was not dumb, and lunged at him, this time with the head of a canine and an ugly snout. Abrax had seen this creature before, and recognized him as Set, the god of chaos and deception. Abrax knew he stood no chance against a god in a battle, and began to pray. In a panic, he grabbed the amulet and squeezed, and the battle moved to the sand up above. Osiris was now able to help, and provided Abrax with protection enough to be able to turn the amulet three times. There was a great booming noise, and then nothing.

Everything was dark. Abrax could not move, nor could he see. He was trapped in a sort of closed in room, with slanted ceilings. The amulet was gone, and in front of him the spirit of Thutmose appeared one last time. He explained that in order to prevent Set from destroying Osiris completely, Abrax had used the amulet to trap each of them in respective tombs, called pyramids. Set, being the strongest, had the largest pyramid. Osiris, being a god himself, had a large pyramid himself. The third pyramid? Well, Abrax had to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the world, and so now there stand 3 pyramids at Giza today, guarded by the brave Sphinx, watching over them to make sure no trouble ensues.

Author's Note: I had so much fun writing this story! Now that the story has been completed, I can explain why I decided on some of the plot points I did. I always knew that I wanted Set to play some sort of deceptive role in the story, because it would add a plot twist that not many people would see coming. I also included the amulet as a very powerful device, and to show this power I explained that it had been created by the King of the Gods, and the God of the Sun, Ra. I initially did not intend to have Abrax need to make the ultimate sacrifice to appease the conflict, because I had included Ra in the battle, but upon revisions, I kept the conflict between Set and Osiris. As there are three pyramids at Giza, I knew that I needed there to be three figures trapped in them, and Abrax was the obvious choice. Overall, I really enjoyed writing this story, and I think bringing the spirit of Thutmose in at the end really tied in Parts I, II and III. Osiris also made an appearance in this part, and I think an interesting, coherent story was made.

Source: The Pyramids of Giza

The Sphinx over the Pyramids of Giza