Chapter 102

They entered a large chamber.

Surprisingly, some of the crystals in the wall sconces still worked. While they provided poor and patchy lighting, it was enough to show that the room was a shambles. Zeke doubted anything had been left intact. Even the fixtures on the enormous bath were broken.

They found another ten bodies on the floor. All had died gruesomely. They were mummified where they lay. The three bodies that were in the enormous bath were not pretty. They had obviously decomposed as the water slowly dried up. The team was glad they still had their helmets on.

Lindsay, spying a huge set of doors, tried to open them, but they refused to budge even with an open door spell.

“I think they walled up the room from the other side as the doors open outwards, and they don’t even move. They don’t have any spells on them either,” he said in frustration.

“I guess they were worried Ptah would come back. It would explain why they didn’t collect the dead,” Pat replied as she looked at all of the shattered statues and vases.

“Well, they didn’t strip them or tend to them. They just left them where they fell. I think this bloke took a while to die. His blood is smeared everywhere. Poor bastard,” Carly commented as she looked at one of the mummified bodies.

“I guess their Mistress wasn’t pleased with them,” Pat added.

While the others poked around in fascination, Zeke was looking at the wall to his left where Akl had directed him.

He smiled when he recognised one of Ptah’s signature locking spells. He only had to touch the door for it to appear. The door opened, and Zeke entered the room. The lighting brightened, but it was still dull. He wasn’t surprised that the room resembled Ptah’s workroom on Mars. The man liked a tidy shop.

What did surprise him were the six rather plain boxes lined up on the bench furthest from the door. Each was made from a different combination of metals. They were roughly 30cm square and 15cm high.

‘You knew about these?’ Zeke accused Akl.

‘Yes. However, I had no reason to believe they would still be here. As you know from your studies, looting of tombs was common even before Ptah left Earth. I knew the cavern was destroyed. However, I’m surprised so many spells are still active.’

‘Also, Ptah hadn’t finished these boxes, Zeke. They never had entities in them. Each box contains a stave-type wand, an armlet with crystals on it, a copy of a basic spell book and a Usekh smaller than the one you wear. Each Usekh has a central primary gem bracketed by four different gems. They are in three rows.’

‘Ptah hadn’t put any spells on the items as he was still working on them. He was waiting for a shipment of jewels and precious wood. That is why the boxes only have the Keltrian symbol for the primary discipline engraved on the lid.’

‘He planned to put more decoration on them before activating them. After finding the latest girls, he had decided to leave for good with his six most trusted guards and twenty retainers, but he was betrayed.’

‘When Sekhmet found out that he planned to go to the far north and wasn’t planning on ever coming back, she decided to kill him and his people. She had tried before but not succeeded. She wanted his items and these new ones. Ptah had refused to make more magical items for her, and she couldn’t access this workroom.’

‘He told no one about making these boxes, but he mentioned making better items for his guards as he planned to give them head chains like he had made for the girls. I was surprised when you decided to make and use them, too.’

‘You will find another fourteen smaller four-gemmed mage boxes under the bench. They each have a spell book, a pendant, an armlet, a head chain, and a smaller wand in them that looks like a thin baton.’

The bronze boxes were about 30cm long, 20cm wide and 10cm deep.

‘He planned for each of his new wizards to have two magical consorts. He was also going to upgrade his two girls. There are also thirty, two-gem head chains for their primary servants in the brass rectangular boxes.’

The brass boxes were about 30cm long and 5cm square.

‘The lesser items are all spelled, Zeke. You may wish to take the compulsion spells from them. He planned to make sure all his people were devoted to him. He really was quite paranoid towards the end.’

“With good reason, as it turns out,” Zeke said aloud as he looked at the collection of boxes under the bench.

He stood back up, called his satchel, and removed the large sack he had put back into it. Opening the bag, he waved at the bench, and all of the magical items on and under it disappeared into the bag.

As he wandered around the room and examined the shelves, many other items disappeared into the bottomless bag.

“Doing a bit of looting, are we?” his mother said with disapproval.

Zeke grinned at Pat. “This is my predecessor’s workroom. I’d rather not leave magical items here, should the room be found. Although, I do wonder where the other items he made over the years ended up.”

“Probably in here,” Carly called out.

Zeke looked around but couldn’t see her. She popped her head back through the shielded doorway in the side wall and grinned at him before she disappeared again. Zeke and Pat went to see what she had found.

Behind the glamour shield was a large storeroom. In it was all manner of things. However, what interested Zeke the most were the three large limestone chests on the floor near the entrance. They were about 120cm long and 80cm square. The walls of the boxes were some 10cm thick.

Carly had one open and Zeke estimated it had twenty-four bronze boxes similar to those he took from the top shelf from under the bench in it. Akl told him that they were three-gemmed mage boxes that contained a ring and, a collar or a pendant. They were for priests and guards.