A gentle push from behind broke Reece out his vengeful thoughts and sent him stumbling towards the circle. Once Reece was closer, he noticed that the blackened marks on the stone were distinct. There had to be at least four of them coloring the stone with black ash, dark streaks jutting out from a central point in all directions like the rays of a black sun. Looking around, he noticed a dark discoloring of the sands within a couple of meters of the circular limestone. Whatever defenses this place had clearly turned those unfortunate folks who had tried to enter the secret antechamber into piles of ash. The ash piles had been swept away into the surrounding sands from the slight breeze that never seemed to end in the desert. Reece swallowed hard as he stepped onto the circle.

Looking from one twin to the other, Reece watched as Masika and Nephi silently manipulated the onyx cubes before them. Some relief flooded him as it appeared like they knew what they were doing. Anything less and his journey was about to end. Sweat poured down from his brow again as Reece waited breathlessly for his fate to be revealed. If he failed, he did not doubt that the commander would murder his friends. It would be fitting, he decided, that they would all have died today, all together in one last gambit to stop the madman behind him from reshaping the world into a nightmarish caste system. One where the bottom ranks had no free will and the rest served one man out of fear and the threat of annihilation. Maybe it would be fitting, but Reece made up his mind that today would not be that day.

Reece’s brooding was interrupted by a loud click that emanated from both pedestals. Looking over, he saw that each onyx cube had been reformed into a large key-like shape that the twins had simultaneously pushed down into the twin pedestals. The eyes of the sphinx flashed, and Reece winced, expecting the worst. Instead, the stone that Reece was standing on suddenly gave way beneath him.

As he fell, he realized that he was still standing on top of the circular slab, but it was sinking rapidly into the limestone beneath the surface. Down, down he went into the bowels of the earth beneath the sand. When the slab finally slowed and came to rest, Reece found himself in a dimly lit chamber carved from the limestone. It was square and had only one exit, a passage less than a meter in width and two meters high, rounded at the top. The obvious question was ‘How was he able to see anything?’ Then he tried to follow the light source.

The light seemed to be coming from all around the room. Looking closer, Reece realized it was a type of phosphorescent sand. There were streaks of it running all through the strange-looking limestone that made up the room’s perimeter. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. This wasn’t the time for a geology lesson, so he decided to let the sand keep its secrets and headed down the rough-hewn passage. The light-emitting sand was streaked throughout the passage as well, so Reece had no trouble navigating the length of it.

About fifty meters down, the passage curved slightly to the right for another ten meters before opening into a massive cavern. It was natural for the most part, filled with stalactites and stalagmites throughout. The ceiling was easily twenty meters up and the entire area was about forty meters in diameter. Reece could hear water flowing and noticed a small underground river cutting through the rough flooring and disappearing into a pool at one end of the room.

The pool disappeared underneath the cave wall. A cave wall that was covered with ancient runes. Looking around, Reece noticed that many of the stalagmites jutting from the floor were also covered in runes. It was obvious that these formations had developed hundreds of years ago. They were now dry as dust.

Reece took a moment to study the runes, but he couldn’t make any sense of them. He examined the room from top to bottom, the light given off by the veins of glowing sand making it obvious that he hadn’t missed anything. It seemed to be an empty room. Then he scanned the pool again. He could see lights in the water, presumably from the same glowing sand. The inlet stream kept the water turbulent, but he could see enough lights to indicate that the pool continued far beyond the cave wall. Reece checked to ensure his pockets were all zipped before taking several deep breaths.

As he dove into the water, he felt a strange tingle all over his skin. The water was cool, but surprisingly, not cold this far down. Reece had been a good swimmer when he was younger, and he used those skills to pull himself through the water with his arms while kicking with his booted feet as best he could. Keeping his eyes open, he could see that the underwater passage snaked its way through the rocks for a good distance without opening. Risking everything since he wouldn’t be able to make it back, Reece pushed himself hard, pulling his body along with the rocks as the pool began to narrow. Before long, Reece was struggling to hold his breath. Having little choice, he plunged forward into the darkening passage. After a few more seconds of darkness, the passage tilted upward, and Reece burst back out of the pool and into the air again.

Reece noticed he was in a well that was set in the corner of a circular room, its walls polished smooth from some long-dead laborer. The room had a certain familiarity to it, one that reminded him of the antechamber in Mexico. Sure enough, inside the room, he saw another sarcophagus in the middle of the room. This one had a cat motif, with figures that bore a striking resemblance to the twins. Fifteen alcoves filled the curved wall of the room. Each housed a statue, and no two statues were the same. They were all humanoid, but most featured at least one aspect of an animal. A jackal head, an eagle head, bird wings, cat ears... Reece suddenly realized these were statues representing many of the Egyptian gods.

Like before, each statue held a bowl that, in turn, held an object. He had no vision to rely upon this time, only his intuition. He walked in front of each statue and placed his hand over each object. For most, he felt nothing., but for some, they reminded him of the twins. He decided to go with those items.

He passed on the jade rose but selected an obsidian bird. Instead of the silver chalice, he picked up a silver crescent instead. He passed on a wooden cross, an amber rose, and a golden rod. The next object was a bowl of small gems, tiger’s eye opals. Somehow, he knew this was the final object he needed. Grabbing the three items, he surveyed the area. On the other side of the room from him, just peeking over the top of the sarcophagus, stood a white marble offering bowl atop an intricately carved limestone pedestal.

Stepping around the sarcophagus, Reece placed the three items into the bowl. He hoped he didn’t need the nightcore this time. A warmth on his left leg had him searching through his pockets. Somehow, he pulled out the nightcore. The same nightcore that was in the possession of Commander Rogers, hundreds if not thousands of meters above him.

Furrowing his brow, he added the nightcore to the other objects in the white marble bowl. Standing back, he turned to watch the sarcophagus and waited. He couldn’t remember how long he, Pasha, and Aika had waited before, but this seemed to take much longer. Maybe it was because he was alone. Maybe it was because he was worried about his friends. He had no idea what would happen next. He was trapped and the commander was waiting for him to take the nightcore fragment for himself. The sound of shifting stone instantly snapped him out of his thoughts and his eyes shot up when the lid to the sarcophagus shot across the room to explode against the wall, destroying one of the statues in the process.

A dark and slinky cat woman, arose from the hollow within and smoothly hopped out of the tomb, landing lightly on her feet. When she stood straight to her full height, she was taller than Reece. She had a human-like face, but for the cat-eyes, ears, nose, and whiskers. Her outfit consisted of an ivory robe that hung open, revealing the tightly woven golden ropes and straps that made up her undergarments and were even more revealing than the outfit Masika had worn when she changed shape.

The matched set of bra and panties didn’t look comfortable or functional, but they did make an impression. She smiled in a way that would have normally seemed threatening, but her body language was relaxed and instilled calm in Reece. She cocked her head and just studied him, the gold around her dark irises flashing with interest.

“Well, I see you’re no stranger to the aspects of nature,” she purred seductively. Her voice was rich and sultry, and the way that she pronounced her words had a certain feline grace to it. “I am Bastet, which you may have already guessed. Thank you for bringing my children to me.”

“I can’t take all the credit,” replied Reece. “We were captured and brought here by our enemies. They seek to...”

“Shhhh,” commanded Bastet, interrupting him. She sauntered up to him and placed her hand on his chin before she continued to speak. “I know all that has transpired above us. You have sacrificed a great deal to be here. Don’t worry about your friends, Reece Danielson. They are far more formidable than you give them credit for, as are you.”

She cocked her head again as if listening to something. Whatever it was, made her smile.

“I know you still have many unanswered questions,” she continued. “That, my dear, is not why you’re here.”

From the folds of her robes, the goddess produced the fragment of the nightcore. It was easily twice the size of the last couple of pieces that Reece collected. Bastet held the fragment out to Reece.

“The nightcore fragment” he stated.

“Yes,” replied the goddess, smiling mischievously. “I give this to you because I know you will use it wisely. As aspects of nature, we frown upon disrupting the natural order and would work to set the wrong things right. It’s too bad that Mr. Hargrove didn’t realize this. If he had, none of this would have had to happen.”

“And my friends wouldn’t be in danger,” added Reece.

“Actually, you never would have met any of them,” enlightened the goddess. “What Mr. Hargrove did has set many things in motion.”

“I guess I see your point. I never would have met Karina, Ciera, Bjorn, or any of the friends I’ve made since we crash-landed back on this planet. But what about Aika, Angel...Naeva. What about my friends from the space station?” asked Reece as he wondered just how far back Hargrove’s manipulations went.

“Not even those,” she answered. “You would never have even been considered for the space program if it wasn’t for what you mortals call your genetic make-up.”

“So, I would have lived a normal life?” asked Reece quizzically.

“Perhaps, though your qualities make that unlikely,” smiled the goddess. “You’re a remarkable human, Reece Danielson. Now, it’s time to move on. You have things to do.”

“Thank you,” replied Reece reverently. “May I ask you one question before I go?”

The goddess gazed at him pensively before sighing and waving her hand. “One question,” she said in a tone that brokered no argument.

“You speak of you gods as being merely aspects of nature, but how can an aspect have a personality, emotion, likes, and dislikes?” asked Reece carefully.

The goddess Bastet gave him a patronizing smile before answering as a mother would to her wayward child. “We are merely reflections of yourselves. Something to help you comprehend your role in this world. Our likes and dislikes are also a reflection of our aspects. It’s not a true like or dislike. Though it’s beyond your total comprehension, suffice it to say that we are akin to your artificial intelligence. We merely mimic human emotions and the like. In the end, we are forces of nature and that is all. Does that answer your question?”

“I… think so,” replied Reece thoughtfully. “And even if it doesn’t, you’ve been more than forthcoming in your answer, and I thank you for that. Now, how do I get out of here?”

“You have the answer in your hand,” she replied cryptically.

Reece glanced down and realized he had the fragment of the nightcore in his hand. He quickly pulled the nightcore from the bowl. Placing them together, he watched in awe as the fragment melded into the nightcore, filling in a quarter of the missing area. He had seen it happen a couple of times before, but it hadn’t failed to amaze him yet. Once the nightcore had completed the joining, a voice popped into his head.

“Finally,” chirped the tinny-sounding voice. “I can think somewhat clearly now.”

“Chippo?” asked Reece aloud. “Is that you?”

“Yep, yep!” replied Chippo. “It is I. Thank you for returning so many of my memories. So good. So good. Yes.”

“Sure,” chuckled Reece. “Glad to help. Unfortunately, we’re both stuck deep underground.”

“No. Not stuck,” corrected Chippo. “I can see the bad people above and I know where you are. Silly Reece. Do you think that once someone came down here, that there would be no way back to the surface? So silly. There’s always a way back. What would be the point of trapping you down here? Hmmm?”

“Okay, okay,” conceded Reece. “You’re right. So... how do we get out of here?”

“I’ll tell you, yes,” answered the ghostly voice of the undead Furdian. “But first, don’t you think we should come up with a plan to deal with the bad people? Silly Reece...”

“Well, excuse me, Chippo, for feeling slightly uncomfortable at being entombed,” grumbled Reece. “But I suppose you’re right. It would be nice to have an actionable plan. I assume you have an idea.”

“Oh, yes, yes, Reece,” said the ghostly voice with supreme confidence. “I’ve been watching, and I think that Mr. Commander Rogers is something like you. Maybe you could use that.”

“Something like me,” mumbled Reece, rubbing his chin stubble while he considered the idea. “Hmmm, I think you may be on to something.”

Reece sat down and leaned back against the sarcophagus to think. His engineer’s mind went to work at dissecting the current situation, characterizing every aspect of it. The time dilation, the overwhelming number of vampires, his captured companions, the empathic and telepathic connections he shared with some of them, and the fact that the Commander Rogers up above was a clone all figured into his calculations. He just had one question.

“Chippo, whenever I use my ability, my opponent is always aware of the probe or the attack,” said Reece. “With the time moving much slower down here, do you think I could probe the minds of those above without them realizing it?”

“Ah, clever, clever, Reece,” chirped the weresquirrel. “Yes, yes, I do believe that to be possible. With enough practice, you could do it without the time dilation. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, because if this works,” smiled Reece. “Then when I’m finished preparing and we go up to meet them, Commander Rogers will be in for a surprise.”