Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (35 page)

"Mr. Osiris, if your father was an evil man, why is it that you took his name?"

He let out a little laugh.
 
"Who knows?
 
Perhaps to punish myself, perhaps as a reminder of the man I have always been capable of becoming; a man like my father."

"I don't think you've ever been like him," Michael insisted.

"Thank you," Aiden said. "And I think you're right, but remember Michael, each one of us is capable of evil.
 
Although I have always been flawed, one thing that I
have
been is a man who has always desired to be good, a better man than I am.
 
I think that counts for something, don't you?"

Michael thought for a moment.
 
"Yes," he said.
 
"I think it does."

They came to a place where the passage broadened enough to walk side by side, and soon after that the path ended at a solid stone wall.

Aiden raised his staff, so that the wall lit up and glowed for a few seconds.
 
Then it shimmered, and waves began to spread from the middle, as if a pebble had been dropped in a pool of water.
 
The surface of the wall re-solidified into what looked like a foggy, bluish mirror.

"It wants identification," Aiden said with a smile.
 
Michael looked back and forth between him and the wall, wondering what he was talking about.
 
Suddenly, Aiden's face shifted into the black face of a jackal, and he snarled viciously into the mirror.
 
It startled Michael, and he took a quick step away.

Aiden's face altered back.
 
"Sorry about that," he said cheerfully as the wall shimmered once more before changing back into stone just as it had been before.

Michael heard the clanking of a heavy chain being drawn by a pulley, and the passageway around them rumbled as the door slowly rose.
 
The dust was still settling as they stepped inside.

They had apparently come in through the side of the vast chamber.
 
Looking off to his right, Michael saw what must have been the main entrance.
 
Off to his left was a stairway leading up to a platform where two large statues stood protecting a pair of high doors.
 
Michael recognized the two sentinels immediately as Horus and Anubis.

A very uninviting, green mist wafted from the spaces around and underneath the doors.

"Beyond that entrance is the gateway to Tartarus," Aiden told him grimly.
 
"Keep your eyes open, Michael, if Zuriel isn't already here, he won't be far behind us."

The air stank of something like burning plastic as Michael followed Aiden toward the doors, and the air was much warmer than it had been anywhere else in the catacombs.

"Mr. Osiris, what exactly is that green mist that's drifting about?" Michael asked.
 
He had no desire to end up in a coma like Declan MacDonald, or even worse, dead like Dr. Farley.

Aiden smiled.
 
"Nothing to worry about, just a bit of light and smoke coming in from the gateway."

Michael nodded, but still wasn't sure that he liked the look of it.

They headed up the stairs, and upon reaching the top, Michael got a closer look at the two statues looming over them.
 
Aiden stared up at his brother, and tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Anubis?" came a voice from the shadows below.
 
Zuriel stepped out near the passageway they had come from just moments before.

"You might as well go back the way you came, Zuriel.
 
You have no power to open this gateway."

"Anubis, please.
 
It doesn't have to be this way.
 
Join me, like we talked about so many years ago, and together with my brothers we can rule over these pitiful humans.
 
If we want to, we can even wipe them off the planet and have it all to ourselves.
 
Anything
will be possible for us."

Aiden sneered contemptuously.
 
"Do you actually think I'll entertain anything you have to say?
 
I've spent the last five thousand years seeking to fix my mistake.
 
My greed for power was what led to your escape, and to the death of my brother.
 
This gateway should have been closed long ago."

Zuriel said nothing, though he crept closer with a ravenous look in his eyes.
 

Aiden reached out and pushed Michael behind him.
 
"I don't know why the Messengers have allowed you to remain free all these years, and I know that I can't force you to go through that portal, but I urge you to consider it.
 
Why don't you accept your punishment, and go through of your own free will?
 
Maybe that's why you've been given this opportunity.
 
Maybe it would count for something if you submitted to the sentence you deserve."

"Are you out of your mind?
 
I'm not going in there.
 
I
don't
deserve to be punished.
 
Why was I sentenced to be cast through that nexus?"
 
His face was growing redder by the second.
 
"Because I wanted to enjoy my life?
 
Use the gifts I had been given in the way I decided for myself?
 
These things shouldn't be considered crimes."

He fell silent for a moment, and then his voice softened.
 
"No, I don't deserve to be punished, and neither do you, my friend.
 
Your brother's death was his own fault, not yours.
 
He failed to make his own choices.
 
He allowed himself to be used as a pawn, and where did it get him?
 
Stop blaming yourself, Anubis.
 
You can make better choices than Horus did.
 
You can step up and take your fate in your own hands.
 
Are you wise and brave enough to do that?"

Michael tried to read the look on Aiden's face.
 
He couldn't actually be considering joining with Zuriel, could he?
 
Not after everything that had happened.

"Zuriel," he said, "I am a very old man.
 
The prospect of power holds no temptation for me anymore.
 
The only thing I'm interested in now is redemption.
 
The time for your choice has come.
 
Either submit to your sentence, and go through the gateway, or leave us in peace."

"You STUPID OLD FOOL," Zuriel shouted.
 
"The seal that Uriel placed on that gateway has kept me from opening it for thousands of years.
 
I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to reactivate it, and I've come too far to let you stop me.
 
Why don't you hand over that staff of yours before I start removing body parts from your little friend here."

He rushed toward Michael, but Aiden held up his left fist.
 
His ring shone with the same blue light it had before, and Zuriel collapsed in pain.
 
"Aagghh." He moaned.
 
"Where did you get that ring you
dirty
—ahhhhhhh."
 
The light shone brighter, and his screams became louder.

"I may not be able to force you through that portal, but I can make you sorry that you decided to show your face here today," Aiden warned him.
 
"Now go!"

Fleeing from the light, Zuriel dashed for the exit, but just before going through, he changed back into his red dragon form.
 
He threw all of his weight into the side of the entrance before slipping out as the tunnel crumbled in behind him.
 
For the second time that day, he had trapped Michael and left him to die.

"Well," Aiden told him wearily, "let's get on with it then."

Without another word, Aiden walked beyond the two massive statues, pulled open one of the doors, and crossed the threshold of the chamber they guarded.
 
Michael followed.

Once inside, he saw two stone obelisks standing about a dozen feet apart, where the green smoke wafted sporadically into the room from between them.
 
Each pillar was covered in some sort of writing, which at first Michael thought was Egyptian, but upon taking a closer look he couldn't recognize any of the characters.
 
This was something else.
 
The space between the two pillars was transparent, but he noticed that the stone blocks of the wall on the other side looked fuzzy.
 
Every now and then, sparks would sizzle out from various places between the obelisks, seemingly out of nowhere, almost as if something invisible were being welded in thin air.

"Zuriel has been tampering with the gateway," Aiden told him, "attempting to open it up with the aid of some dark power.
 
It's very unstable."

"What are you going to do," Michael asked him.
 
"Fix it?"

"No, my boy.
 
This nexus needs to be closed once and for all.
 
Zuriel knows how to open it now, and if he were ever able to get his hands on my staff….
 
I'm afraid that allowing this gateway to exist any longer would be too dangerous."

"But what about re-capturing him?
 
He was supposed to be put through before the thing was closed, wasn't he?"

"Indeed," Aiden responded.
 
"But without my brother here to apprehend him, well; I'm afraid that the task of detaining Zuriel must now be someone else's responsibility.
 
Perhaps someone has already been chosen, but do not concern yourself with that.
 
Now, you must listen very carefully to me if you want to find your way out of this place."
 
Aiden gave him detailed instructions on how to navigate his way up out of the catacombs.
 
He made Michael repeat the directions back to him several times, ensuring that he knew them well.

When this was done, he once again touched his staff to the ring he was wearing.
 
Both items glowed brightly, and he held them together for several long moments before moving them apart.
 
He took the ring off and held it up to Michael.

"Put this on.
 
It will protect you from what's about to happen."

"But what about you?" Michael complained as he slid it on.
 
It was much too big and he had to clench his hand into a fist to keep it from sliding off.

"Don't worry about me.
 
If I had done the right thing in the first place none of this would have happened.
 
My brother wouldn't have died all those years ago, and who knows what
might
have been."
 
He sounded sad, but there was also a tinge of relief in his voice.
 
"Remember me, Michael.
 
It took a very long time to atone for my mistakes, but remember that in the end, I did what was right."

Michael nodded his head.
 
"I will."

"You are a courageous and loyal young man.
 
Farewell."

He held his staff into the air and took a deep breath.
 
Tightening his grip, the eyes of the jackal began to glow more brightly than Michael had ever seen them.

The nexus opened up before them.
 
Green light and smoke swirled around inside like a whirlpool.
 
The ground around them began to vibrate, as dust came loose and spilled down from the ceiling above.
 
A loud ringing sound began to echo off the walls, and Michael put his hands over his ears.
 
Light from the staff shone out around them with an intensity that made him feel like he was staring at the sun, even though his eyes were already closed.
 
Suddenly, he heard a loud crack, like a clap of thunder, and felt a surge of energy blast through his body.
 
It was much like what had happened to Anubis when Uriel first gave him the staff.

Everything fell silent, and Michael cautiously opened his eyes to look around.
 
The obelisks began to crumble before him, littering the floor with debris and charred stone.
 
The gateway had clearly been destroyed.

 
He stood there, alone, surrounded in a cloud of dust and gray smoke, looking at the remaining pieces of Anubis’s staff as they crackled and smoldered on the cold, stone floor.

Michael had never been very good with directions, not as good as Liam anyway, but he had made sure to pay close attention to Aiden Osiris as he'd instructed him on the way out of the necropolis.
 
The problem that he faced now however, after he had covered more than half the distance from Aiden's directions, was that the passageway before him had caved-in, and there was no way he'd be able to get through.
 
The tunnel must have been damaged during either the battle with Zuriel, or the collapse of the nexus.
 
Michael didn't know which, but it was evident that it had happened recently, as occasional bits of dust and stone were still coming down.

Michael sat down with his back against the wall to rest and gather his thoughts.
 
He looked at the ring that Anubis had given him; it had saved his life, but cost the man his own.
 
You need to focus
, he told himself,
there'll be time to ponder recent events later
,
right now you need to figure out how to escape this place
.

"Well, I can't get out through the prison where my parents were being held," Michael said to himself, "which eliminates returning the way that Liam and I came, as well as the route that Abby used to bring Uncle Link."