A Clockwork Sphinx

A Clockwork Sphinx

(A Bill Weasley Adventure in Egypt)

By Ryven

Bill Weasley whistled a merry tune as he strolled down the crowded streets of the wizard district of Cairo. The market was alive with activity as the day merchants closed shop and night merchants took their places. Pleasant smells wafted down from a stall selling food. Not so pleasant smells wafted down from a camel trader. Having just completed a very profitable assignment breaking the curses of a highly guarded cache around the first cataract, not even the smell of camel dung could dampen his spirits. The Goblins had been very pleased with the amount of gold he'd been able to retrieve and had given him a tidy bonus. His bank account larger than before, Bill was looking forward to a relaxing evening at his small flat and a chance to write his mother before she began sending howlers. But first, he had to pick up his next assignment.

"Bill!" Aziz, another curse-breaker greeted him as he stepped into the crowded wizard tavern, the Quizzical Sphinx. Aziz was in charge of handing out assignments to the curse-breakers Gringotts employed - and occasionally dealing with mundane legalities when the "next of kin" tried to claim what the curse-breakers found in various tombs. "I forgot the password, really!" was reportedly the excuse of choice. Aziz also favored clothing in a style Bill thought of as "Exploded Parrot". Today's eye wrenching number highly favored bright canary yellow and sunset red with a good bit of iris purple. Ow.

"Hey Aziz." Bill clasped the other man's hand and sat down across from him at the small table. Mercifully, the table hid most of Aziz's robes. Aziz ordered drinks and Bill took out his handkerchief. He wiped his sweating brow before it had time to gel unpleasantly in the magically cooled air. "So," Bill asked, "What's my next assignment." he was eager to get down to business and be home before the chill of the desert night invaded the city.

Aziz smiled and took out a scroll with the official Gringott's seal and handed it to Bill. "The Goblins were quite happy with your last retrieval. In addition to the tidy sum they've already given you as a bonus, they've given you this assignment. Quite a number of curse-breakers have tried, and none have succeeded so far."

"And this is a reward?" Bill arched and eyebrow and tapped the scroll with his index finger. Rewards from the Goblins usually involved payment of your medical expenses, money or perhaps vacation time.

"Indeed it is my friend. Should you survive, the riches supposedly in there are supposed to be quite spectacular!"

"Wait, IF I survive?" Bill's eyebrows shot up towards his hair.

"Not all the wizards and witches who have attempted to gain access have died. Most even kept all their limbs."

"But?" Bill prompted.

"Let's say that the Goblins are quite considerate when they compensate the next of kin." Aziz shrugged.

"Ah-hah. And I am doing this job why?"

"The riches, Bill. That and I'd have the unfortunate task of docking your pay if you didn't at least attempt to break in."

"Hey!"

"We work with Goblins. What do you expect?" Aziz shrugged, "But think of the bragging rights!"

"Have you tried to enter it? Why is it so hard?"

"I did indeed try once. Unfortunately I was caught by one of the unbroken curses and hurled several hundred yards out of the entrance."

"Really."

"Yes." Aziz nodded, "Fortunately my carpet caught my fall. That reminds me, I need to take her for a bath. Well, you will want to start on this soon. One cruse breaker was stuck in the antechamber for a week."

"A week?" Bill's light mood was rapidly depressing.

"Yes. She wasn't very happy when we finally came to get her out."

"I can't think why?" Bill muttered, "So where is this tomb?" Bill asked as he broke the seal and unrolled the scroll. A highly detailed map of the cliffs just south of the Valley of the Kings showed a little blinking red 'X' over a spot in a canyon.

"I've taken the liberty of purchasing provisions for you, including a horn of plenty. It's charmed with the standard month of two meals a day. You leave in the morning."

"Thanks, I think." He supposed he could wait to write home for a few more days before being on the receiving end of one of his mother's howlers.

So this is the 'Legendary' Valley of the Blue Sphinxes, Bill thought to himself as he navigated through the canyon on his broomstick. He was about twenty feet in the air. High enough so he didn't have to worry too much about traps or death from a bad fall.

The walls of the canyon were covered in highly eroded murals, the ground in the debris of long destroyed statues. Featured prominently in what was left of the pictures were Sphinxes (of course) and various Animal headed gods interacting with them. Some were teaching, some were giving things and other seemed to be attended by the creatures.

Four decapitated sphinx statues were all that remained of what had been a long avenue Bits of the road peaked out here and there from under the sand. Though they were a good thirty miles away from where the Nile had flowed more then ten thousand years before, the walls of the canyon showed heavy water damage at the bottom of the high cliff walls. Bill made a mental note to look out for flooding traps. A sudden rush of water quickly turned desert sand into rather nasty quicksand. Bill consulted his map so see how close he was to his destination. The little dotted pathway on the map grew smaller as Bill approached the blinking X. Turning around one final bend, he saw the entrance to the tomb. Or temple, as the name of the place appeared by the X.

The Temple of the Waiting Sphinx. Poetic, Bill thought. It was a rather impressive carved entrance as these things went. Bill took out his wand then scanned the area with a few spells before touching down. Satisfied there weren't any traps outside, Bill shrunk his broom and approached the entrance. The temple entry was covered in murals and Hieroglyphs. A protective spell had managed to partially survive the ages and large sections were still colored in bold paint. A procession of Sphinxes was painted on either side of the grand entrance, as if they were entering the building. Oddly though, they were painted blue instead of their normal sandy color. Winged serpents flanked the door and a woman with wings and a bright red sundisk sat protectively above it. The hieroglyphs were mostly protective spells against erosion, the name of the Pharaoh at the time and the priests who'd maintained the temple. The wards against intrusion were already broken and Bill couldn't find any additional ones to worry about. He stepped up the stairs and into the midst of the carved support columns. The Serpents were coiled around the carved columns and Vultures flew in relief over them. The statues of two Sphinxes reclined on either side of the doorway. A quick spell showed them to be innocent statues and not likely to leapt at him. A number of Pharaoh hounds ran in packs across the recessed stone walls, followed by men with spears. More animal headed gods processed in a line around the top of the entrance portico. The ceiling was painted with stars. The enchantments, which made them, glow still remained after all these years. It was very imposing. Bill looked at the scroll and read the next part of the instructions; Go in. Easy enough, he thought.

The inside of the temple was cool. Whatever tenacious magic had kept the paint on the walls had survived inside as well. Bill scanned the area looking for traps and possibly cursed objects. A waist high slab of marble glowed red when his detection spell touched it, indicating a protective magic of some kind. Bill cautiously approached the slab and read the inscription.

"Absolutely no Soliciting. Beware of Sphinx."

"Er, I'm not selling anything," Bill said. The carving's glow winked out and Bill chuckled. It was possibly the most practical trigger for a curse he'd seen thus far. He filed that one away and made a mental note to tell his mother. This chamber was very plain by Egyptian standards. An amazingly accurate map was carved in relief on the south wall while the rest of the chamber's walls contained a small square of writing. Bill eyed those squares of writing as he carefully used a searching spell to find any traps. There wasn't one but two. One sealed the unwary in the chamber and the other unleashed "Hapi's Fury". With Hapi being the God of the Nile, it was a fairly safe bet that whoever tripped the curse would soon find themselves quite wet. The painted Nile on the map glowed balefully at Bill as he broke the curses in the chamber. The Nile wouldn't flow from the carving anytime soon. Sure there weren't any other nasty surprises, Bill moved on to the next chamber.

The carvings on the wall all turned and looked at him as he entered. Bill smiled in spite of himself. Moving carvings were quite rare. Most hadn't survived the ages and they'd been quite hard to produce to begin with. It was another lost magical art. The animal headed Gods were playing a quiet game of Senet in one corner; their wives were, presumably, chatting in another corner. It looked like just about every family reunion Bill had ever attended. Ignoring the approving looks of the Goddesses and the glares of the Gods, Bill checked the chamber for traps. One had once existed but a previous intruder had broken it.

"Good evening Ladies." Bill nodded politely to the Goddesses as he passed. They smiled at him and then went back to their corner, moving in their odd profile-yet-not gait.

A group of particularly nasty mummies, a giant scorpion and a several horrid traps later, Bill passed though the last antechamber into the main sanctuary. As soon as he entered the braziers by the door roared to life. Bill spun to face them, wand ready. Seeing they were only fires and not burning anything noxious he relaxed.

"WELCOME!" a voice boomed from the darkness. Bill yelped and turned to face the voice. He blinked a few times and wondered if what he was seeing was some sort of illusion.

"Come forward."

Bill consulted the instruction scroll. It said: Do It.

"Gee, thanks," Bill muttered at the parchment before stuffing it in a pocket. Bill approached the dais. A large Sphinx sat on the stone, watching him intently. She was a metallic version of the blue Sphinxes outside. It took Bill a moment to realize she was made entirely of metal enchanted to be that color. She tilted her head and peered at him with large ruby eyes. Her eyes weren't red. They were real rubies about the size of Bill's fist. The Sphinx's hair was made of spun gold and copper, as was the tip of her leonine tail. Despite that fact they she looked like a machine; her voice was very natural sounding. Perhaps she was wearing armor? She noticed Bill examining her and she fluttered her golden wings and flexed her claws. Those claws were diamonds if he wasn't mistaken. Bill hadn't known that diamond could be cut into a shape like that. The next, more terrifying thought, was that since they were diamonds, they could cut through just about anything.

"Hello," Bill said, feeling quite dumb. Oh well, it never hurt to be nice to the monsters. Sometimes they felt bad about trying to eat you and paused long enough for you to get away. Sometimes.

"Welcome. You seek the treasure?"

"Yes," Bill told her. He noticed that her mouth never moved, as if the face were a mask of some type. The Sphinx rose onto her four feet and began pacing on the dais. Bill took an involuntary step back and held his wand at a ready position.

"Shall we begin then? I assume you know the rules?"

"Three riddles. I answer them and you let me pass. I can decline to answer and leave unscathed and if I fail you get to uh, eat me?"

"That is correct."

"Ok, let's do this then," Bill said with resolve. So far it wasn't so bad. The Sphinx nodded and sat back down on the dais.

"At night they come without being fetched,

And by day they are lost without being stolen" She intoned.

"Riiight," Bill stretched the word out and thought for a moment. By day they are lost and by night they come. So what comes out at night. Animals? Hmm they aren't exactly lost during the day; I've stepped on enough supposedly nocturnal scorpions and snakes to know that, he thought. And it's a plural thing so it can't be the moon...

"I know," he said aloud, a grin on his face, "it's the stars."

"That is correct," the Sphinx told him then went on to the next riddle.

"I never was, am always to be,

No one ever saw me, nor ever will

And yet I am the confidence of all

To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball."

"Ok, maybe this isn't so easy," Bill said to himself. Right, always to be. Never was. Ok so it's a play on tenses. A play on the tenses? The future? Well that's not strictly true since seers can see into the future. But are they going to quibble semantics? I hate riddles like these! To the Sphinx he called out, "No hints, right?" The Sphinx tilted her head, "Didn't think so," Bill told her. Hmm. Never seen but we are certain it exists? That could be any number of things. Some animals, certain spells, heck Infinity even fits. I mean you can never reach it, but we had to use it so bloody often in Arithramancy. You can never see if because it's always one more. Wait! So is tomorrow! Bill grinned at the Sphinx.

"You have an answer?" she asked.

"Tomorrow! The answer is tomorrow!"

"That is correct. Are you ready for the third riddle?"

"Go for it," Bill told her jovially. She tilted her head again.

"This is the one that most people fail on, you realize," She told him.

"Oh." Bill thought. Right. That whole losing limbs thing. Bill was suddenly reminded of the exceedingly sharp claws on the Sphinx. Well, he could run fast and he had his broom. Broom! Good idea. Bill pulled his miniaturized broom out of his pocket and held it in the palm of his hand, wand ready in the other.

"It's my job, I have to go on. So let's hear the riddle."

"So be it," the Sphinx said.

"The quickest hunter, the fastest pack,

The greatest guardian, two cover your back.

The games we play are not what they seem,

Tell me,

What is your youngest brother's favorite sports team?"

"What?" Bill asked. What sort of riddle is this? How could there possibly be a right answer? Or a wrong one? Hunters and packs? Well this was an Egyptian Sphinx, so Senet? The game of Jackals and Hounds? But Guardians? One which covered his back? And then the bit about his brother! None of it made sense! Bill sighed and tried to puzzle out the answer. Youngest brother, well that would be Ron. Bill sat on a fallen stone slab and glared at the Sphinx. She looked back at him, patiently waiting.

"Clarification if I may?"

"Ask."

"To cover my back. That's not the number two, right? It's the direction or purpose."

"It is the number"

"Oh. Right then." Bill wiped the sweat off his forehead. That had been close. He sighed. No wonder no one got this riddle, it was impossible!

"Might as well get this over with. My youngest brother Ron's favorite sports team is the Chudley Cannons." Bill was actually five steps towards the door when the Sphinx called out, "Correct!"

"What?" Bill asked, feeling rather dumb.

"That is correct." the Sphinx actually sounded happy, "You have no idea how long I have waited to hear that answer. NO idea whatsoever. Well? Are you coming?" The Sphinx was on her feet and looking at him expectantly.

"Right. Coming. You sure that's the correct answer? This isn't some sort of plot to eat me or anything, is it?"

"Hardly," the Sphinx snorted, "And I don't eat people who fail anyway."

"Oh. What do you do?"

"Maim them, the kick them out."

"Right. So, about this treasure." Bill eyed the diamond claws again. They were retracted now but the tips were visible under the metallic..fur? Skin?

"Follow me," She said and trotted down the hall, her metal paws making a soft clanking sound against the stones.

"You aren't a typical Sphinx, are you?" Up close Bill was able to see the overlapping bits of metal and the fine craftsmanship in the Sphinx's metallic hide.

"No. I was built. My creators couldn't get a real Sphinx to guard the treasure for such a long period of time. They all claimed they'd get bored."

"Makes sense. Sort of," Bill said. The corridor widened into a large chamber. In the center was a dark pool with a small circular island in the center of the pool. Four bridges arched from the perimeter of the room to the island in the center. Portions of the room were raised and held what looked like bits of glass or crystal. The carvings on the walls were a combination of abstract lines and depictions of people in varying dress and station in life.

"Right so you have to do a few things to get the treasure." The sphinx sat on her haunches just inside the door.

"What sort of things?" Bill asked suspiciously.

"First, pull that lever. Right, now pet the snake. PET the damn snake! Honestly are you a treasure hunter or aren't you? Good. Not so hard now was it? Now, take these stones and put them in the little holes in the island." she handed him a small leather bag tied with a thong.

Bill looked at her then began placing the small white stones in the holes he around at the perimeter of the island. The Sphinx was busying herself tossing herbs into braziers around the perimeter of the room.

"Up here!" She called. She was standing on a raised platform which contained an odd looking cauldron the bottom was formed into a golden snake which wore the sun disk. Bill finished putting the stones in the holes and climbed the steps up to the Sphinx. She sat on her haunches again and moved her elaborate collar aside then opened her chest. Bill caught a glimpse of working cogs, gears and an odd blue-white glow before she snapped the door closed again and replaced the collar. She handed him the small bag she'd retrieved from her chest.

"What's this?"

"Don't know. They never told me. Pour it into the water. I know it opens the treasure."

"Right." Bill did as he was instructed and poured the contents into the cauldron. The powder was white and it began to glow as soon as it touched the water. Bill was told to throw several herbs and inscribed stones into the water. He then lit a fire under the mixture and was told to take a piece of inscribed gold and go stand in the center of the circle on the sun disk. The disk was a couple of yards wide and was an inlaid piece of red limestone.

The Sphinx pushed a snake and Bill saw it was actually a release of some sort. The snake's mouth opened and the liquid rushed out. It dripped down the platform, glowing white and was it gaining speed? It touched the ground and then it raced outward on the floor, running into little grooves all over the chamber. Completely against gravity, the glowing liquid raced up the walls and across the ceiling, pushing dirt and debris from the channels. The air began to feel oddly charged as great power was invoked.

"Do you see the words on the gold tablet?" the Sphinx asked.

"Yes."

"Can you read them?"

"Yes."

"Do so...now!"

Bill began reading the words as the glowing liquid approached the sun disk he was standing on. He began to worry as the liquid began arching over the four bridges marking the cardinal points. Liquid from the four directions touched the sun disk at the same time and raced around its perimeter, completing the circle. The chamber now glowed with the white light of the potion. The Figures on the walls had turned and were now looking at him. They were waiting for something. The disk at his feet began to glow red.

"See you in a bit!" the Sphinx called out, lifting a paw to wave 'bye'.

"Wait!" Bill shouted, but he was engulfed in a bright white light. He felt like he was being jerked backwards from the navel. It was then he realized that this was a very powerful port key. Perhaps the tablet was the object? It was only because the pull grew so painful that he didn't realize how long this trip was taking. Suddenly he slammed into the ground.

"Ow," he muttered before passing out.