The Adventure of the Temple of Ubasti Read online

The Adventure of the Temple of Ubasti

  Kevin L. O'Brien

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  Text Copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Cover design and typography copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Papyrus font distributed under a free use license by Esselte Corporation

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  License Notes

  Please consider writing a review for this book on the retailer's website.

  If you see any misspellings or typographical errors, please notify Kevin L. O'Brien using one of his online social networks. Thank you.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, including those based on the real world, are either products of the imagination of Kevin L. O'Brien or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Because some ebook platforms do not support special characters, certain words may appear misspelled, but this was done deliberately to avoid the problem of the platforms deleting the characters. Also, the LRF platform used by older models of the Sony Reader does not permit the use of links to external URLs, whereas the PDB platform used by Palm reading devices does not support any form of linking whatsoever.

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  Table of Contents

  Preface

  The Temple of Ubasti

  About the Author

  Other Books by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien

  Sample Excerpts

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  Preface

  A week of 8-hour nights in the Waking World is equivalent to a year in the Dreamlands, and by the end of their first week, Eile and Sunny had gained enough skill, knowledge, and experience that they no longer needed Medb hErenn to mentor them. Even so, she continued to accompany them on their explorations, both to watch over them and because she found their adventures fun.

  In the Waking World, Eile and Sunny are law-abiding girls, but the Dreamlands encourage them to exercise the more savage aspects of their personalities. While they draw the line at pillaging, they don't hesitate to take trophies, even from people (though they only take the body parts of animals; they limit human trophies to possessions), and one of their favorite activities is looting ancient ruins. The problem is, they're not always unoccupied.

  This story takes place on their sixth night of Dreaming.

  Back to TOC

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  Eile ran for her life down the tunnel, leaping over rocks and dodging around stalagmites. Behind her, she could hear the cries of half a dozen guards closing in.

  But fear didn't motivated her.

  "Godammit!" she muttered in a furious tone. "Of all the lamebrain, imbecile, half-baked stunts. 'Oh, come on, Eile, it'll be a piece of cake. What could go wrong?' Stupid, space-case bimbo! When I get my hands on Sunny again, so help me I'll--"

  She cut herself off as she bounced off a sharp turn and nearly lost her footing careening around the corner.

  She felt no idle rage. For once they were all in serious trouble, and as far as she knew, she was the only one still free.

  In her fury she couldn't help reliving the events of the past week. She and Sunny had barely arrived in Ulthar when her partner got all excited over a story they heard in a tavern, about a lost temple filled with treasure located somewhere in the Karthian Hills west of the Desert of Cuppar-Nombo. Naturally, Sunny wanted to go search for it, but she had managed to persuade her to wait until they could discuss it with Medb hErenn first. They found the massive woman in Madam Trotula's bathhouse, alone for once, and except for the fact that she insisted they join her in her hot tub, they spent a relaxing evening eating, drinking, and gossiping together.

  Despite her impatience, Sunny managed to refrain from mentioning the temple as she waited for her partner to bring it up, which she did as they returned to the Laughing Cat. Eile had hoped that Medb could talk Sunny out of it, but to her dismay the former queen became intrigued by the idea and offered to go with them. They left the next morning, with her companions Conaed the Zoog, Teehar'owan the Bird, and Cremedevoyager the Cat, and their own companion Shadow-stalker, and after five days of travel and searching, they found it. They also discovered the stories had not lied; the treasure chamber had been filled to the ceiling with heaps of gold and silver coins, raw gems and precious stones, jewelry and artifacts; in fact, all manner of valuables.

  Sunny and Medb could not restrain themselves and they rushed in to begin looting, only to have the floor drop out from under them. She had hung back, suspicious of how easy it had been to find the treasure, and so she could jump clear at the last minute. Medb and Sunny, along with both cats and the Zoog, disappeared before any of them could react; the bird had dived down after them before the floor closed over them. But as she tried to find a way to rescue them, armed guards appeared in the vault and attacked. There were too many of them to fight alone, and she fled up the nearest tunnel hoping to elude them. So far, however, there had been no side tunnels to duck down or galleries to hide in, and she started to tire.

  Without warning, she shot out of the tunnel onto a ledge inside a cavern that overhung a yawning abyss. She skidded to a halt right at the lip, the toes of her boots overhanging the gulf as she pin-wheeled her arms to keep her balance. She managed to stumble back from the edge, but in the process she whacked her left hand on a stone obelisk. The razor-sharp glass-like rock cut through the leather glove and gashed the back of her hand. Snatching it to her breast, she looked at it in shocked surprise. Strangely, it didn't hurt. The wound appeared shallow, but it was long and bled profusely, the blood trickling down her thumb to drip onto the floor at her feet.

  "Dammit!" She pulled a handkerchief out from under her breastplate. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She wrapped it around her hand, her speech muffled when she used her teeth to help tie the knot over her palm.

  By the time she had finished, she had spent her surprise and some of her anger, and became calm enough to evaluate her situation. The cavern didn't look very big, maybe about twenty yards in diameter, nor did it appear particularly tall, possibly ten yards to the ceiling, with stalactites hanging down about half way. Masses of phosphorescent organisms covered the naked rock, and they provided enough light to see by. Yet the cavern seemed deep; the bottom disappeared into darkness beneath her, but for all she knew, one might not even exist. Across from the ledge stood a basaltic column that stretched from the ceiling down into the chasm. The middle portion had been carved into the crude shape of a naked woman with the head of a cat. She noted with some wonderment that its eyes were closed.

  The ledge itself measured about five yards wide and three deep at its greatest extent. At that position, which sat directly across from the statue, two rough pillars of obsidian had been set up, framing a stage wide enough for her to lay her hands on each with her arms outstretched. But it was also a dead-end. She could see no way off, except the tunnel from which she had exited, and the pit beneath her.

  The sound of the roaring guards coming up from behind alerted her that they had caught up. Turning her back on the cavern, she faced the tunnel mouth and pulled her double-edged short-bladed broadsword from the scabbard. She stepped far enough from the pylons so that they would not impede her swings.

  The guards poured out the tunnel, but they obviously knew where they were, because they slowed almost immediately and fanned out along the length of the ledge. They faced her, leering at her, licking their lips and fingering their curved-bladed weapons, as they laughed and taunted her.

  "You assholes wanna piece of me?! Then come and get it!! Aaaaaaaaa!!!" She charged forward, swinging the sword above her head.

 
The guards answered her challenge with howls of their own, but not of rage. Even as she started towards them, they screamed in terror, turned, and fled back up the tunnel.

  Stunned, she came to a dead stop after only a few steps. "What the hell?!"

  As their shrieks receded into the distance and the chamber grew quiet, she became aware of what sounded like heavy, labored breathing behind her. Her hairs stood up and her blood ran cold as she slowly turned to look over her shoulder. The sound seemed to come from the statue, but it looked no different. Confused, she began to turn back, when the ears twitched.

  Jolted, she spun around, her heart pounding in her chest as she broke out in a cold sweat. She stared at the statue for several moments, trying to convince