Heretic of the Nile

023

Mereneith had never been one to think much about the afterlife, which was unusual for one who served within a temple of the gods. To her, there was already too much to discover in this world to worry about the next, so there was no point in wasting time dwelling on something that would come eventually. She would face it when Anubis's messengers came knocking.

She regretted it now. Perhaps she should have spent more time trying to stay alive, because there was still so much that she had not accomplished.

She was only at the beginning of her journey to study the Ak'heka crystals and their immense potential. She had not yet finished her map of the stars. There were incomplete drawings and equations sitting on her shelves, that would collect dust until someone thought to dispose of them to make space for more useful things. All that she had worked towards would amount to nothing.

But then again, she could never have guessed that she would die so young.

Mereneith stood in the middle of the desert, her linen sheath clean and pressed, with no signs of the grime and blood that had stained them in her final moments. In front of her stood the pyramid of Saqqara, with the greyish limestone blocks stacked one above the other, rippling in and out of focus like a mirage.

A pity I'll never go back, she thought.

The brilliance buried within Imhotep's forgotten tomb would remain out of her reach.

She drew herself out of her melancholy and focused on the pyramid once more. She frowned.

This wasn't King Djoser's pyramid.

The mastaba didn't have the signature stepped sides to serve as a ladder to Ra's sun. Instead, it had smooth, clean lines piercing towards the sky. Not a stepped pyramid. A true pyramid. One that towered far higher than what she had seen in Saqqara, casting an enormous shadow across the sand.

Could a true pyramid work?

She had spent days and nights poring over the designs, drawing iteration after iteration as she tried to figure out the best configuration to tap on the crystals and harness the geo-energy of the land. But she had never tried a true pyramid before. It seemed too simple. Too elegant.

But it doesn't matter. It will be a dream that will never be fulfilled.

She sighed, and with the light breath that left her lips, the pyramid began to crumble.

Beginning with its capstone, the limestone disintegrated into fine dust, cascading down the smooth sides like the turbulent clouds of a storm. Mereneith stared in alarm as the wave came tumbling towards her.

Could she die again when she was already dead?

Instinctively, she still turned and ran.

The entire pyramid collapsed into a river of golden sand that chased after her, accompanied by a thunderous roar that reminded her of Kanefer's anger when she had stabbed him with the crystal. Swirls of dust and gravel licked the tips of her ears and the back of her neck, warning her of the imminent danger. Her legs buckled.

A battering wave washed over her body, swallowing her entirely.

Mereneith shut her eyes and covered her ears, trying to stop Kanefer's rancid howl from hurting her eardrums.

Gods have mercy, she silently cried.

#

She awoke with a start, staring up at the cream-coloured ceiling above. Her cheeks were damp from the tears that had been running down her cheeks. Or perhaps it was sweat, she couldn't tell.