The Second Relic: The Relic of Life Part 8

Well, I made it through the night.

I woke up the next day ravenous and ready to head out. I knew I had to do it quickly and orderly, so I packed up my tent, popped a morsel in my mouth, and ran as fast as I could out of the pyramid.

I hit the desert on my trusty scooter and started riding. I have to admit, this little thing has become my fave vehicle.


I rode through the desert for about three and a half hours before I saw the palm trees and the tops of some buildings marking some signs of civilization. I have to admit for awhile there I thought I'd never see it again, and I was glad to see it.

When I arrived in the town square after my four and a half hour journey, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now I had to find Layla.

Sure enough, she was at the food counter, and for the first time I got a good look at her features. She was certainly exotic, to be sure, with slits for eyes and a warm twinkly nose with a slight hook. Her eyes were slightly closed when I walked in.

She didn't immediately recognize my presence until I saluted her and cleared my throat. Layla stood there and shook her head. "Don't tell me -- you got it."
"Sure do."
"You are incredible, do you know that?" Layla said as I brought her the relic.
I smiled. "Yeah, I do," I told her.
"Really, it's unbelievable how you secured the second relic. Meanwhile, while you were gone I've been tracking the whereabouts of the final relic with the book and the data from the computers. I believe Raffi, the relics merchant, knows where it is."

"I know Raffi," I told her. "This should be a piece of cake."

What happened next even surprised me -- and I'm not easily surprised. Not only was I paid a queen's ransom in simoleans and ancient coins and visa points, but Layla fixed me a steaming hot plate of falafel -- on the house. "It's the least I can do for my favorite adventurer," she said. "Two days in the Tomb of the Desert Ocean could not have been easy." Needless to say, I dug in. I guess you appreciate things more when they're taken away from you.

"Savannah?" she called after I'd washed my plate. "Tell me about your family."

I proceeded to tell her about my parents and siblings back home.
"Five brothers?" Layla asked. "Four of them older? My goodness, no wonder you're a tomboy. " I couldn't tell her that I was only raised with two of them and only one was older. "I'm curious, though, how someone of your background ended up here, in Egypt. How did you even get started doing this?" She seemed to be incredulous when I told her I raided my first tomb when I was a child.
"Now I know I found the right person for this." It felt good to have her vote of confidence -- it isn't easy to come by as she is fairly reserved and is not exactly the most talkative person around.

Childhood Dreamin' Part 2

Dad had called us all to the kitchen table. Noah had spent the night at our place, and Aunt Margaret was checking out the newspaper. Mom was doing some work with the orchestra so she wasn't home.

He'd served his pipin' hot plate of chocolate chip cookies -- for breakfast -- again. Dad loves cookies. Seriously, between cookies and hamburgers, he'd eat nothing else, really, if Mom didn't cook.

"The Llamas finally won a game," Aunt Margaret mused from behind the newspaper she was reading.

"These cookies are delish," Noah had said. "Seriously, dad, these are your best batch yet."

Meanwhile, I was sulking because yet another batch of cookies was NOT my idea of a good breakfast. I would much have rathered some pancakes or waffles, but mom wasn't home to cook them, so of course they didn't get cooked.

"What's wrong with Savannah?" Noah asked while looking at me and after I'd given him the evil eye. Dad wouldn't answer him.

Right after breakfast, I saw Aunt Margaret sobbing in her room. She grabbed me, and I felt safe there, like everything was going to be okay.

That was the day, though, I first went into the catacombs alone. After leaving the house, I rode my bike all the way to the cemetery. I was feeling particularly brave, and I wanted to get my mind off of what had just transpired.
I loved school, and I loved to learn, except for the fact that I was made fun of because I refused to wear a dress. Mom tried to make me, she really did. Of course, dad would sneak my pants for me just after mom went to work. And of course, there weren't too many simgirls interested in playing pirates, so for me, it was, well, screw them.
I spent my recesses in the library reading. Mostly it was skill books but there was some pleasure reading, too. I pretty much knew everything the teacher taught, already, so they had me working on advanced material.

When I finally arrived at the cemetery it was getting dark. Great!, I thought, just the way I like it. I was hoping to catch a ghost or two when I came out of the mausoleum, but that didn't happen. I made a mad dash past the Grim Reaper statue and ran into the mausoleum. It was my first real brush with danger. Several times I spotted zombies and almost died swimming the underground rapids!

I emerged from the catacombs wet, smelly, and altogether exhilarated. I got a few semi-rare uncut gemstones out of the deal, too. When I look back on the experience, it's the whole reason I became an archaeologist and tomb raider. I love cemeteries, tombs, catacombs, history and art. And what I do combines all those things.
The vocational aptitude test I took in high school said I was best suited for a career in law enforcement or medicine. Considering I spent a good deal of my teen years in the back of police cars, and the fact that my paternal grandparents were both involved in medicine, I find it at least a little bit ironic. But I honestly believe I cannot imagine myself doing anything else but what I do now.

The Second Relic: Relic of Life Part 7

With the keystone in hand, I headed back upstairs to the surface levels of the tomb so that I could get to the Water Temple, where I was now more than certain the relic was located.

But danger still lurked at every turn. After all, I was not going back up the same way I came. There were entirely new hazards to navigate. I no longer felt rudderless. And the closer I got to snaring that relic, the more my heart started to pound.

Finally I headed up the staircase to head to the Water Temple. I would need to strip down to my swim gear and swim across, though.

Finally the moment of truth had arrived. After swimming across a moat, I was going to enter the Water Temple.

I looked up and once again it seemed like I was in a dream. Then I spotted something glistening up ahead...

The light emanating from it was so blinding I had to shield my eyes. There was an earthen staircase leading up to 3 like chests, with two chairs opposite the gleaming chest. Even the statues surrounding it seemed to have a supernatural sort of glow about them.

My heart racing, I sped up to the chest as fast as I could. I knew I needed to get the relic and get out of there before I was found out.

Victory at last!

The second of the three elusive relics, the Relic of Life, was finally in my hands after a two-day jaunt through the Tomb of the Desert Ocean. I've done some pretty good things, but I have to admit I surprised myself with this one.
But I knew it was getting quite late, and not only was going back to base camp out of the question from this far out, but I was fairly certain I couldn't even make it past the river. I also knew that if I stayed put, I risked being found out by the Morcucorp goons.

I made a difficult decision, a decision I knew was risky. I knew I was tempting fate with this one, but doing so is my nature. I set up my tent at the foot of the temple and fell asleep, right then and there. Whether or not I would still be there in the morning would be anyone's guess, including mine.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I cradled the relic in my arms. If I'm killed here, I thought, at least I'm going to die doing what I love, just like my Aunt Margaret did.

Dreams of gilded relics and mystical pyramids, Savannah

The Second Relic: Relic of Life Part 6

When I descended into the basement I saw another corridor with exquisite artwork. A part of me wanted to just stay in here and enjoy the view, but I knew I came in here to look for something and I had to leave.

After grabbing some ancient coins from the makeshift display case, I walked onward. It seemed like a veritable museum of some sorts down here.

I saw a room full of statues and an electric trap. Someway, some how, this had to be navigated.

I knew that I would have to move at least one of those statues around, if not more.

Moving the statue disarmed the trap that guarded a doorway.

Sphinx statues guarded an indigo treasure chest. Yes! This must be where the keystone to the Water Temple is. Now I can find the relic.

Relic of Life, here I come!

To be continued...

The Second Relic: The Relic of Life Part 5

Rise and shine, princess... You're in an Egyptian pyramid! You're living your dream!

I guessed it was about seven a.m. when I woke up the next morning with an extra spring in my step. The ancients told the time by the position of the sun in the sky. I was hungry so I took one of the dried morsels out of my bag and put it in my mouth.

I took back to the water to swim to the other side where I would open the door and start again. I decided I would need to comb through the places where I'd been and see if I'd overlooked something in the weeds.

So I found a statue and several floor switches. I heard something click...

All right, down into a basement! Now I was getting somewhere.

To be continued...

Childhood Dreamin'

While I was in the tent, I had a dream. About my childhood. I guess when your life is flashing before your eyes, you think about things like this.

It was a fairly ordinary Saturday morning. My Dad was serenading my Aunt Margaret while she was writing her latest novel.

I'd walked right past them and hopped on my bicycle. They had no idea where I was going. It was always like this, I think.

I went to my favorite fishing hole -- no, not at the park like most folks, but I liked to go to the cemetery pond, with the statue of the Grim Reaper and the adjacent catacombs overlooking everything. Most of the time I was by myself. I liked it that way, because I would be undisturbed.

When I came home after dark, I ran up to daddy, who was waiting to scoop me up in his arms. "Daddy, daddy, guess what? I caught my biggest fish ever!" It was a 0.3 kilogram goldfish that I later put in a jar in my room.

"That's great, princess!" He knew that I'd liked to go off exploring the town, and even though mom didn't like it for the most part, he let me do it.

Just before bed I went into my Aunt Margaret's room and pulled a book from the shelf. She had all kinds of books -- mysteries, dramas, romances, adventure novels. I had long ago outgrown the children's books mom, dad, and Aunt Margaret read to me as a toddler, and had even outgrown the kiddie books they had at the library and at school, so when I was able to read on my own (my dad says it was while I was still a toddler, before I actually became a child) I chose to read the grown-up books. I was hooked on Sims' Treasure Island and Simmiver's Travels. Simmiver's Travels were my favorite, though. I would read that one in bed, too.