GEN II: Chapter 6: Part 2

**Writers note: Just some pictures to share. Egypt is such a pretty place.**

Hayden learned the song "Under the Desert Sun". The lady teaching him told him that the key he carried unlocked a door in the Pyramid of Fire and that no one had been in there before, because the key's location was unknown. Hayden was a little intrigued by this news. He had the opportunity to visit and explore a place where no one had been in thousands of years. Yet, he only had 12 hours left of his vacation. Should he go explore, knowing he wouldn't be able to complete the expedition?


Of course he will.

He couldn't pass up an opportunity to see a place hidden away for so many years.

Since he was famished, Hayden had a taste of the local food before setting out. He also purchased a tent, just in case. This might not be his last trip out, and he needed to be prepared for the next trip.

Time to go.

The sun high and hot in the sky, Hayden made his long walk to the Pyramid of Fire. It was a small size in comparison to the two nearby pyramids. Maybe he would get to explore the whole place in the short time he has left.

Hayden felt the entrance to the Pyramid of Fire and found the way to open it. Just when he walked in he saw the door that the key he carried belongs to. As soon as he inserted the key shaped stone the door dropped it's binding chain.












When he entered the room he was hit with a small blast of air. It was as if the pyramid itself breathed a sigh of relief to finally have it's doors open.

There in front of him was a well, full to the top, of water. As Hayden looked into it, it seemed to beckon him to dive in. So he did. At the bottom he found various objects including some more ancient coins, and a few skeleton bones. He resurfaced and continued his exploration, now soaking wet.

Luckily before stepping on it, Hayden saw a trap on the floor. Being as brave as he is, he put his hand down one of the holes to attempt to disarm this trap. He succeeded.

After the hall was a room with a pile of rubble, a locked door and another well. Swiftly and without hesitation he dove into the water. He found nothing at the bottom except a switch. Thinking to himself "Well I don't want to have gotten wet again for nothing" he triggered that switch. When he came up for air he noticed the door in the room no longer had the chain, it had unlocked itself.

Hayden got out of the well, dripping wet again, and started to remove the rubble in the corner. It wouldn't be truly exploring if he didn't get your hands dirty a little bit with some digging. He found some more ancient coins under the rocks, nothing more.

With that room complete, Hayden walked through the unlocked door in front of him on the floor was a panel, the same as he had seen before. He stepped on it. That triggered a hidden door in the wall to reveal itself. Behind the door was a staircase. Hayden descended the steps. His time was running out, but he wanted to keep going. Just a few more minutes.

At the bottom of the stairs Hayden noticed three plants. The fruit born from these plants was glowing, like a small fire wrapped in a very thin layer of flesh. Hayden also noted that the plants themselves were not even growing in dirt, or growing in the same way regular plants do. "These must be special" he thought to himself. Again he thought of his mother and the gardener that she was. "She would love to have one of these to grow for herself I'm sure." He bent down to pick a few pieces of the flaming fruit. They were very warm to the touch. He felt as if he was sitting in front of a fire. As he picked them, he noticed the light was leaving the room. These fruits were the source of light down here. Hayden placed them in his pocket, which was instantly warmed, and stood up to continue.

On the other side of the three statues standing there, Hayden could see light flickering, like fire. Without thinking of dangers, he pushed the middle statue toward the flames. Apparently the flames were coming from some holes in the floor, which were deactivated when the statue was pushed on top of them.

Around the corner Hayden was met with the same situation.

At the end of the hallway, which seemed to go on forever, was another well. Hayden dove in. The water was warm. He followed a tunnel at the bottom into another well. Resurfacing he found himself in a very well lit room, and a very warm room. Glancing around he noted plenty of holes in the floor sprouting fire. Luckily now he was wet again, and his clothes would be less likely to catch if he were to get too close.



There was a panel in the floor, center of the room. Hayden saw that it was one with a gear carved in it. From past experience he knew that one had to have something heavy placed and held there to activate it. The statue next to him served that purpose. Pulling the heavy statue on the panel triggered another panel on the floor, same as the first. Hayden tried all the accessible statues in the room to find them immovable.

The only other statue was in the corner surrounded by the fire traps.

**He was almost too quick to capture this picture. But I thought it was funny, he is cartwheeling through the flames on the left of the screen.**

Hayden braved attempting to cross the leaping flames. And succeeded admirably. Being athletic in nature, and fit, he crossed them with ease. Doing so seemed to trigger something in the trap itself, and when he crossed the flames ceased to emerge from that trap. Only an hour left in his time here, he pulled and pushed on the statue. It moved.

Hayden got it to the center of the room onto the other switch, only to have yet another panel appear. This one had footprints. He stepped on it. The door in the room clicked to signal its unlocking. Wiping the sweat from his brow Hayden continued into the next room, unsure if it was the last or not.

He was met with the most beautiful room in the pyramid that he had seen thus far. The corners of the room were adorned with winged statues and fire erupting from the floor. The center of the space had about eight of those special plants he had seen earlier, most bearing fruit. His breath was taken from him as the hot air filled his lungs.

Unfortunately Hayden had to go. His trip was over. He still wanted more, but could not miss his flight. Hayden backtracked and left the Pyramid of Fire, now open for others to enjoy.

With the excitement of exploration fresh on his mind, he was occupied the entire flight home. Time went by quickly and before he knew it he was landing back at Twinbrook Airport.

Hayden rushed home to greet his family and tell them all about his trip. Alan, Chase, and Kenya were the only ones home at the time so he talked to them first.

Kenya caught her breath a few times as Hayden spoke of his adventures. She would never have gone into that pyramid.

Chase rolled his eyes a few times. Chase was born a couch potato. He would never do anything that Hayden did. When Hayden told him of jumping over the fire, he covered his face and thought of the danger Hayden had been in. Chase thought Hayden crazy.

Alan listened intently to his sons recounting. He was very pleased to have raised such a brave man. Now he wished he had gone with Hayden to Egypt. Alan explained that Jenni was out shopping, and would be back soon.

"Good, because I have some gifts for her from Egypt!" Hayden said. Chase and Kenya welcomed Hayden home again with hugs, and then departed for him to spend some time with his father. Alan was happy for the one on one conversation and talked to Hayden some more about his travels.

GEN II: Chapter 6: Part I

When he woke, Hayden had his usual weekly urge to visit the graveyard. So he showered, ate breakfast and was out the door.

As he wandered around the graves looking at the various names and dates displayed, Hayden suddenly felt confined. He needed to go somewhere. So he picked up his cellphone and booked the next flight out of town. Then went to the airport.

During the trip, he fell asleep on the plane. So it didn't feel like a long travel time for him. He arrived in Egypt a day later. He scheduled his time here for 3 days and 2 nights.

Right away he started looking for an adventure to go on. Somewhere to explore. He could do it on his own, but people pay you to go to places that they wouldn't. Hayden checked the bulletin board and found a job just begging to be done. First he had to see Ahmed Diab, his address was listed.

Meeting with Ahmed, he was informed that there were some ancient scrolls said to be hidden in the Tomb of Discovery, and he wished Hayden to retrieve them. Ahmed was not much of an explorer and didn't want to do it himself. He did tell Hayden that from what he understood, it was not a difficult place to get through. Ahmed then gave Hayden some dried food to eat in case he got hungry in the Tomb. Hayden got the directions to get there and went off.

As he was leaving he heard Ahmed shout behind him "The key to enter is in the chest!" Hayden briefly thought "What chest?" but figured that would be answered when he got where he was going.

Too bad

Hayden doesn't

speak Egyptian!

Hayden found and without hesitation, entered the Tomb of Discovery. He's a brave man, nothing scares him,he's ready to go. No mummy could frighten off this man.

Entering, there was an archway with a sign next to it. Hayden attempted to read it but failed miserably when he noticed it was carved in Egyptian. He walk through the arch and found the chest that Ahmed spoke of. Right away he opened it, and picked up a stone key in the shape of a crescent moon. He glanced around the room and noticed two doors, one with a chain on it - impossible to open. The other with a stone slab with a crescent moon carved in it.

Hayden inserted the stone moon in it's rightful place and the door opened.












When he walked into the room, Hayden noticed nothing but a panel on the floor with some footprints carved into it. He figured that could only mean one thing, and placed his feet in the right places. He heard a soft click emitting from the door next to him and assumed it had unlocked.
He tried the door, it opened.

"This doesn't seem to hard, why wouldn't Ahmed want to do this?" He said aloud to himself.

The next room contained a statue and a panel similar to the previous one, but this one had a gear carved into it instead of feet. Hayden stood on it and the chain on the door across the room opened. He started to go over there, but as soon as he removed his feet from the panel the lock on the door sealed itself again.

"Hmm," said Hayden thoughtfully. He then looked at the statue. "Okay I'll give this a shot." Hayden pulled the big stone statue onto the panel. It was really heavy.

"There, that ought to do it." He said. The door clicked open again, and this time Hayden was free to walk through it.











The following room contained nothing but a staircase and a chest. Hayden opened the chest to find some ancient coins and some papers. "This must be what Ahmed needs" Hayden said to himself as he picked up the items.

After emptying the chest Hayden made his way up the staircase.

At the top there was another foot panel, a door, and another chest. Hayden opened the chest first. There were some more ancient coins in there, so he took them. Payment for exploring. He then stood on the panel and the door in front of him unlocked. Walking through that door Hayden found himself in the first room of the Tomb. The door that was impossible to open from the other side was the exit.

Hayden ran back to Ahmed to give him the papers he requested. He wasn't going to mention any of the coins he found. Ahmed never said anything about coins, but if he asked for them, Hayden would turn them over too.

Ahmed was very thankful for the scrolls, and did not mention coins. He did however tell Hayden of a woman named Shadia Rashid who was also looking for assistance, if Hayden was interested. Hayden told Ahmed he would look her up, and thanked Ahmed for the payment.

He then sought out Shadia, and offered his help. She was thankful, as an elder lady she didn't want to run around Egypt looking for what she needed. She was looking for four pieces of uncut turquoise. Hayden figured this would be easy. She even gave him a map of where he would be most likely to find these pieces.



Hayden followed the map and went off in search of these uncut turquoise rocks. It was harder than he thought. They were really far away from each other. As he picked them up the day was quickly slipping away.

1...2....3...

He got three before he was just to famished and exhausted to go any farther.

Hayden ate some of the dried food given to him by Ahmed. Not the best meal he had ever had, but it was cheap and ready to go. He yawned and stretched and headed back to his base camp for the night. He would have to find the last rock in the morning.



Hayden had a horrible nights sleep. The ground was hard and uncomfortable. Even though the night was full of tossing and turning, he didn't come out of the tent until late morning, still feeling unrested.












Hayden had some juice for breakfast and a small serving of his dried food. Then followed the map to one more, semi-close by place for the fourth piece of turquoise. He found it without a problem.

He went directly to Shadia Rashiel's residence to give the stones to her. She was very thankful, and paid him generously. She also gave him another opportunity. A key. A key in the shape of a key. She said it had been handed down to her for generations. She hadn't the slightest clue of what to do with it, or what it unlocked. Maybe he would though. From his very limited experience, Hayden assumed it unlocked a door.

Hayden thanked her and left. If he was to continue exploring, he would need to stock up on supplies. He went to the local market place.

Walking around and looking in various stores he met up with a woman, and they chatted for a while. She even taught him a local song to take home to his family. It was called "Under the Desert Sun", and it was a lovely song. He learned it quickly and thought that his mother would sure love to hear it.

In continued conversation with this woman, she noticed the key Hayden was carrying. She then asked "What are you doing with a key to one of the pyramids??"

*** Stay tuned for part II!