Return To Primordial Island, Rick Poldark [top non fiction books of all time .TXT] 📗

“Boy, your defeat was a big deal to these Simians,” chided Peter. “That’s embarrassing.”

‘Silence.’ She pointed a long, gaunt finger at the end of the room.

At the other end was a sarcophagus, plain and purposefully unadorned, surrounded by several fire bowls. On the wall behind the sarcophagus was a chiseled relief of the same sun deity depicted behind the large statue one level up. Peter realized it was likely this sun deity that maintained these magical fires, if one could believe in such a thing.

Natural curiosity won out over self-preservation. Peter, studying the paintings on the wall, made to step forward, but Nazimaa glided in front of him, blocking his path. Startled, he met her gaze and tried his best not to wither under its power. “What?”

She held up an index finger. ‘Wait.’ She gestured for the Simian mummies to step forward across the room, including the ones holding Tracey and Mary. They did as they were commanded. After progressing about twenty feet and stepping on strategically placed pressure plates, spears launched out of well-camouflaged holes in the cave paintings, impaling the two lead mummies. They staggered, clutching at the spear shafts lodged in various parts of their undead anatomy at multiple angles. Undead and undeterred, two others stepped in front of them and continued walking, triggering more pressure plates, causing boulders to roll out of the large openings in the walls, crushing them underneath.

Peter wasn’t surprised. Of course this particular burial chamber was booby trapped. Whoever entombed this demon here wanted to make sure she remained undisturbed.

The remainder of the stretch leading to the plain sarcophagus was presided over by a statue of an armored warrior clutching a spear. When the remaining two uncrushed mummies and the two wounded by spears approached, it sprung to life, attacking them. At first, Peter thought it was a live Simian who had remained very still. However, when the mummies pounded on its exterior to no avail, he realized it was indeed a statue, but animated. It made quick work of the mummies, tearing them apart, reducing them to fractured bones and dust. The immediate threats vanquished, the Simian warrior resumed its pose, becoming statuesque once more.

Nazimaa turned to Peter, Tracey, and Mary. ‘Only the bearer of the life orb can pass the final guardian. Then, you will infuse life into my corpse and bring me back, setting me free.’

“Don’t do it, Peter,” demanded Mary.

“She wants to leave this place,” said Tracey. “We can’t allow that.”

Suddenly, both women clutched their heads and wailed in pain. They fell to their knees, writhing and flailing, crying out.

“Stop,” said Peter. “Stop it. Release them. I’ll do what you ask.”

Just like that, the ladies were released from the demon’s vice-like grip. Tracey and Mary panted on the floor, tears streaming down their cheeks. Blood trickled out of their nostrils. Tracey wiped hers on the back of her forearm while Mary sat up, glaring at Nazimaa, seething with rage.

The demon shadow swept a hand out, gesturing for Peter to progress. Her eyes flashed in menace for a brief moment before returning to their normal illumination.

Peter stepped tentatively, testing each tile on the floor. As he progressed, careful to avoid the tiles the mummies had triggered, he activated several other pressure plates. He winced, awaiting fast, pointy death, but nothing came. Apparently, the mummies had expended the mechanical traps. Peter carefully circumnavigated the massive boulders that had rolled across crushing two of Nazimaa’s undead Simian minions. As he looked at either side of the room, he saw the massive channels from where the boulders originated.

At last, he was before the statue guardian, about twenty feet away. By all appearances, it was indeed a statue hewn from a gray stone in great detail. It stood upright, back rigid, clutching a spear. Peter took a deep breath, preparing to summon the power of the life orb, and stepped forward. After a few steps, it opened its eyes and sprang forward, pointing its spear at his face.

He quickly tapped into the power of the life orb, and his chest responded by glowing brightly. The statue guardian halted, falling just mere centimeters short of impaling Peter through his right eye. He closed his eyes, reaching out around him. He sensed the Simian guardian, its life force registering uniquely. It wasn’t as warm as Tracey or Mary, and it wasn’t as frigid as Nazimaa or the mummies.

Recognizing the aura emanating from Peter’s chest, it stepped aside, allowing him passage to the sarcophagus. Peter opened his eyes and tentatively proceeded. As he passed the Simian guardian, he studied its face. It wore a stoic expression. Although animated, this statue was not imbued with actual life, but magic for a specific purpose.

When Peter reached the sarcophagus, he reached out with his power, sensing what lay inside, cold and inert. He felt Nazimaa’s body, its aura vacant from having been abandoned so long ago. On Peter’s radar, it registered as another object in the room, almost indistinguishable from the sarcophagus that housed it.

‘Bring my body here. Awaken me, and you and your friends shall be spared.’

Anger flashed inside Peter. She hadn’t spared Jason. Instead, she toyed with his grief and guilt for her own amusement, ripped his life from his body, and cast his empty husk into the void below so that Peter could never revive him. Her offers of mercy carried no meaning for him.

He closed his eyes and summoned the life orb’s power. He felt it welling up inside of him like a hot spring. He released it on the corpse, infusing it. He felt Nazimaa’s tissues mend and blood begin to coarse through its countless vessels…he felt Nazimaa’s heart kickstart.

‘No. What are you doing? Not yet. Bring it back here first.’ The demon’s wordless voice sounded panicked.

‘No,’ Peter replied within his mind.

In his mind’s eye, he saw Nazimaa’s ghost menace