The Golden Scarab: Prince of Thieves

Chapter 1: The Thief

The night wind lightly brushed against the Warm Dunes of Albakhar, their cries and wails echoing across the night sky. Tall dusty rock golems ventured across the dunes, searching for water and soil. The midnight full moon shone against a sizeable ancient temple. A young man was riding a horse towards the temple cloaked in a long gray cloth and a thick veil protecting his head and eyes. His hand gripped tightly on his copper spyglass as he put it to his right eye, zooming in on the temple ahead of him, with two stone statues of fallen warriors acting as it's a protector. The man took down the veil and smiled, putting down the spyglass as he leaped off his horse and walked towards the temple. This was Shaleemm Bekhar, a thief known far and wide across Albakhar. He was a tall and bright young man, with a strong physique with a relatively average bulk. His skin was brown, and his hair and eyes were darker. He is most well-known for his schemes across ancient tombs and temples, pillaging their loot. He only took what he needed but took great pride and joy in his art. Shaleemm lept off his horse, who neighed in disappointment. Shaleemm turned and groaned before reaching into his bag and grabbing out several carrots and apples for his horse to eat. The horse noticed and laid down before slowly eating the food beneath it. 

"Don't worry, Hasek; I'll return shortly. You can wait that long, right?" Shaleem asked as the horse neighed pleasantly. "Atta girl," Shaleemm murmured.

 He then threw some smelly incense on his horse to ward off any monsters who may try to eat her. He then turned to the temple and walked up. The sand underneath him began to harden as he reached a sandstone floor. Shaleemm chuckled as he came to the two stone statues, set to look down upon whoever entered. Shaleemm began to observe his surroundings and noticed engraved symbols on the sandals of the statues. He then looked and noticed they were of the ancient language used by the kings above men over five thousand years ago. Having studied the old language, Shaleem was able to decipher what the readings showed quickly:

"Cursed those who come in: Only those as light as the King Ouzahor can enter."

Smiling, Shaleemm looked forward and noticed very odd-looking stone tiles that stretched at least 4 meters horizontally and vertically between the guards and the entrance to the temple. King reached into his handbag and grabbed five of his twenty 2-lb weights before tossing them along the stone tiles. Nothing happened. He brought out six more and threw them again. Nothing happened. He then picked out the nine remaining weights and tossed them along the stone tiles. This suddenly caused them to sink in. They then crumbled into pieces and fell into a square hole, which had lined up stone spikes pointing upwards.

"And they said we're not as bright as our ancestors. Smart as a jackal, I'll give them that," Shaleemm chuckled as he quickly walked around the trap and towards the temple. 

He made his way past numerous statues depicting King Ouzahor. Most were stone, but some were fully silver-lined with copper and marble. They were worth a lot, possibly his entire career's worth of treasure and then some. But he knew what he wanted was in the temple and more than enough to feed him. Approaching the temple with burning motivation and a desire for action, he rushed through the entrance, finding a narrow passageway. 

"How tiny were these people?" Shaleem asked.

He shrugged it off and squeezed through the passage, which led him into a vast sandstone-lit hallway lit by torches. These torches have special herbs used in temples and castles to burn forever. The walls had numerous symbols and art drawn into them, describing Ozuahor's life as a boy to manhood, showing his wisdom, kindness, generosity, and military prowess. Shaleemm always enjoyed reading these hieroglyphs and the stories they showed. Maybe they were too distracting. As he took another step, his eyes quickly noticed he had stepped on another stone plate. He leaped backward as a swinging axe came flying where he stepped before going back into the ceiling above. Panting and sighing with relief, Shaleemm looked forward to seeing the entire hallway floor to the next room completely covered with stone plates, indicating more slabs. He looked up and saw he had at least one head of room to run along the walls before running on the ground. Sighing, he stepped back about one meter before rushing forward and leaping onto the right side of the wall. He kept his balance and ran for at least 5 seconds along the border before his weight dragged him back to the floor. The stone slab sunk in, and Shaleemm barely dodged several golden arrows flung behind him.