The shrine smelled of incense and dust. Candles flickered against cracked stone walls as a cloaked woman studied the couple before her.
"You Americans don't believe in these things," the seer said, her voice low, filled with mockery. "So why come to my shrine?"
The woman's hand pressed against her swollen belly, her eyes filled with fear. "We came to Egypt for research. But the child in my womb… she's unstable. I can feel her slipping away. I don't want to lose her."
The husband gripped his wife's shoulder. "They said you could help."
The seer tilted her head, ancient eyes glinting. "Help always comes with a price. Your daughter's life is fragile. To keep her in this world, she must be tied to another."
"What do you mean by tied?" the husband asked.
The seer's lips curved faintly. "Promised as a bride. Not to man, but to god."
The mother's breath caught. "A bride?"
"But she's just a baby,is that the only way to save her" the husband frowned.
"That is the only way to save her, you can leave if you don't want to" the seer snickered.
The couple exchanged looks with each other and slowly nodded.
"Save her please" they pleaded.
*The seer began to chant, her words coiling through the air. Candles flickers, shadows stretched. Deep beneath the earth, something shifted.
The mother gasped as strength returned to her belly. The child kicked, steady and alive. Relief broke over her face.
"Thank you very much" the couple showed their appreciation and took their leave.
A cloaked figure appeared after the couple left, voice edged with fear.
"My queen, you know how much he loathes humans. Why would you give him one as a bride? He might kill her the moment he wakes."
The seer's eyes snapped up. Her brown eyes turned to a deep violet with gold flickers. A smirk tugged at her lips.
"That makes it more fun for me, doesn't it? Being tied to something you hate… and unable to do anything about it." she whispered, her voice filled with amusement. "Can't wait for her to grow up" she added,her laughter filling the room.
Twenty seven years later
"Finally," Ivana breathed as the sliding doors hissed open and the chaos of the airport hit her—announcements blaring overhead, the clatter of rolling suitcases, and the faint smell of jet fuel still clinging to her clothes. After years of chasing dead ends, this was the first clue that might explain her parents' disappearance.
"Ivana!" a voice rang out above the noise of the arrivals hall.
She turned to see Emily waving frantically. "Emily, one of these days you'll ruin my ears," Ivana teased, dragging her suitcase closer.
Emily rolled her eyes. "The guys already flagged a taxi outside. Hurry before someone steals it."
The two women dragged their luggage through the crowd, pushing past travelers and baggage carts until they finally got out and slid into the waiting cab.
A blonde man leaned out of the waiting cab. "Ladies, what took you so long?" he complained.
Emily sighed, tossing her suitcase in the trunk. "Eric, we were only five minutes late."
"Five minutes is not just five minutes," Eric chuckled as he climbed in. "For us archaeologists, Egypt isn't a stopover—it's the goal."
"To Marriott Mena House, please," said Caleb, the only one who seemed composed among the four, his voice calm as he addressed the driver.
The driver nodded and started driving.The cab lurched into traffic, horns blaring on every side.
"Tell me again why we didn't book a limousine?" Eric muttered, bracing against the seat as a motorbike shot past.
"Because we're not billionaires," Emily snapped. "And because you blew half the budget on new excavation gear."
"It was necessary gear," Eric shot back. "Do you want to dig with spoons?"
"Better than listening to you complain for the next two weeks," Emily muttered.
Caleb leaned forward, calm as ever, his tone a sharp contrast to their bickering. "Driver, take the Giza route. Less traffic."
Ivana barely heard them. Her gaze locked on the blur of streets, the Nile flashing gold under the city lights. Every sound, every shadow reminded her of the years wasted chasing lies. This time,she couldn't afford another dead end.
The cab screeched to a halt under the bright arch of the Hotel. Eric groaned, dragging his suitcase out of the trunk.
"We're here."
Emily shoved past him. "Try not to whine through check-in, too."
Inside, Caleb handled check-in while Eric and Emily argued over who got the room closest to the pyramids.
Ivana stepped into her room, dropped her suitcase on the bed, and pulled out her laptop, quickly scanning the emails she'd saved on Egypt's excavation sites. Then she reached for the notebook her parents had left her.
Her eyes caught a particular phrase: "He who sleeps is not to be disturbed." She frowned, tracing the words with her finger. Her pulse quickened. Has this always been here? she wondered. Despite looking through the book for years, this was the first time she had noticed it.
"I must have missed it," she whispered, trying to convince herself.
Morning came quickly. The hotel was quiet except for the hum of the city outside. Ivana lay in bed, notebook open beside her, staring at the phrase from last night: "He who sleeps is not to be disturbed." Even as the team argued over breakfast arrangements, her mind was already on the excavation site waiting for them.
By mid-morning, the four of them piled into a rugged jeep, sun blazing overhead, sand kicking up behind them as Cairo faded in the rearview.
"Beautiful," Emily breathed as the jagged silhouettes of the pyramids grew larger.
"Beautiful indeed," Caleb said, stepping out of the jeep.
Eric slammed the trunk and grinned. "Let's get our tools. Time for fun."
The team of four entered the pyramid.
"Remember don't try to break into any restricted chamber" a security guard warned as they headed inside.
"This place is really hot," Ivana commented.
"And not suitable for claustrophobics" Eric added.
"You guys can talk after we're done climbing the stairs down" Emily scolded.
After minutes of climbing the team of four finally reached underground.
Chambers broke the descent, flashes of painted walls catching their light. First—bright colors: gods crowned in gold, kings lifted in triumph. Then darker—angels turning away, mortals bound in chains, eyes painted so sharply they seemed alive. The beauty bled into menace with every step.
"Damn," Caleb exclaimed, staring at the walls.
"They even inscribed death spells on the walls" Emily whispered.
"Death spells?" Eric muttered, his voice bouncing off the stone. "That's comforting."
As they continued to explore they reached the chamber where the stairs stopped.The heat was unbearable now, clinging like a fever. At the far end of the chamber loomed a massive door carved from gold, flanked by towering black-and-gold statues.
"Guys… Ka statues," Caleb murmured, awe in his voice.
"So?" Ivana frowned.
"They guard the tomb of a god—or a king." His excitement barely broke through his nerves.
"Let's open it," Emily said, eyes gleaming.
"Don't." Eric's tone was sharp, reverent. "We open this, there's no going back."
"It's history!" Emily snapped, lifting her crowbar. "You want another team claiming it while we argue?"
Eric grabbed her arm. "Some doors are meant to stay shut. The security warned us."
Caleb ignored them, already studying the inscriptions. Ivana yanked her notebook open, heart pounding. Her lantern beam fell across a sketch—this very chamber. The same statues. The same door. The same words.
He who sleeps is not to be disturbed.
Her fingers shook. "I've seen this before…"
The glyphs carved into the door glowed faintly as Emily traced them, whispering Ivana's notes under her breath.
"No!" Eric barked, stepping back. "We're not supposed to be here. You know what this means!"
But Emily was already matching symbols to Ivana's notes, whispering the sequence under her breath. One by one, the glyphs lit faintly under her touch, glowing red like embers reigniting after centuries.
"Ivana," Eric hissed, eyes wide. "Stop her."
Ivana hesitated—caught between fear and the impossible weight of discovery. Then, with a grinding roar, the golden door opened, dust fell from the ceiling.
The seal broke and the door creaked inward, releasing a blast of air so hot it scalded their faces. Emily's grin faltered. "We… did it."
Eric swallowed hard. "God help us all."