How would you feel if you were confined in a millenary labyrinth tomb, no exit and full of mortal traps and enigmas? Would you feel suffocated? Scared? Buried? That´s not much! And if - on top of - if you have to run away crazily to escape from a double-your-height-lion-body-woman-face creature, which target is to chase you to devour? Ten people go into an archeological expedition in Egypt in current days. One of them revives the mummy of the sphinx - the Thebes mythological monster - and the only one way to avoid being shattered and devoured is deciphering its riddle. Who will survive? This story mixes action, adventure, thriller and suspense to hold you from the first up to the ending page, inviting your intelligence to conduce the characters to the final conclusion: "Decipher me or be devoured"

The Enigma Of The Sphinx

By Paul Caetano

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Paul Caetano
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-0462-7

Chapter One

The Curse

Henry leafs through the book up to find the page and starts reading:

"Year 370 B.C. Thebes. One of the largest and successful state-cities of the ancient Greece, in alliance with Sparta in the Peloponnesus War. prosperity and culture were spread over where. Its hills were crowd of grapevine, main source of the city commerce and wealthy.

One its king was Laius, son of Ladbaco, death by bacchants to revenge against his restrictions to Dionisio's celebration. As Laius was very young, the throne of Thebes was given to Lico, his uncle that governed the city up to be killed by Anfian and Zeto, the tyrants. Thebes went under their devil kingdom.

The Laius prince had, then, to scape and exile to the Phrygia in the kingdom of the King Penelope, which son was Crisipus, young, strong and handsome.

Laius felt in love by him, the prince and built a plan up to seduce him, offering himself to escort him up to Nemea, a city closed to Phrygia and where Crisipus was going to play athletics in the Olympics games.

However, during their return to Phrygia, Laius kidnapped Crisipus and run off to Thebes, where he intended to recover his father's throne back. There, he rapped the young prince.

Furious, the King Penelope sent his army to Thebes, but Crisipus, ashamed and afraid of his father's punishment and urged by this false and ambitious brothers Atreus and Tieste, suicide throwing himself down in a dark and deep well. Due the loss of his favorite and dear heir-prince, Penelope quilted Laius and threw over him a terrified curse: Laius would be killed by his own son and his descendants would suffer tragic consequences.

In the Olympus, the gods followed this tragedy and betrayal. Hera, the wife of Jupiter and God of the Revenge, came in the presence of his husband, sitting in his gold and ray-circle throne. The all other gods were among him.

She makes a reverence and says:

- Great Jupiter, God of the Goods, powered and supreme!

- What do you demand, Hera, mother of my sons?

- Did you see the betrayal of Laius, son of Ladbaco, King of Thebes?

- What does happen in the mortal Earth that I do not know?

- You are the Omnipresent and Omniscient, oh powerful Jupiter!

- What do you want to be done?

- The Kind of Phrygia deservers a revenge. His curse must be put in place so hardy and bleed that the Thebans citizens will never forget his King`s dirty—says Hera, stretching her eyes and with a cynic smile.

- When you do this look ... what are you thinking to do?

A small silence. All other gods look at her.

- I want you set free ... The Sphinx!—rays blowing out her devil eyes.

A thunder echo throughout the Heaven. The gods shudder and start murmuring each other. Aphrodite sends a claiming look to Jupiter.

He shakes in himself:

- Don't you think this curse is too devil to city?

- Devil King, deviant's citizens!—state the Queen

- But the Sphinx has been asleep in ethiopia for long time ... it is terrific and invincible!

- I don't care—insist Hera—Wake it up!

Jupiter is balanced. He doesn't want to destroy the city `because Laius' fault, but he also cannot disobey his wife's order. He tries to negotiate:

- What about the phoenix? Or the Hydra? Hera became frustrated and angry. Jupiter ... set the Sphinx free!

- But she will need an undecipherable enigma!

- Don't worry. I give one to it.

- But ...

She throws a you-know-the-ways-to-convince-you-I-have look and says:

- Set ... The Sphinx ... free!

He sighs. All other gods understand".

* * *

Thebes city, some nights later.

Two great columns flanking the portal of the city can be made out in the light from the moon and stars.

A middle-age merchant, wearing a long and colored tunic and tired from a long trip in the desert, walks along the road pulling a heavily-laden camel. As he approaches the gates, a thick voice from behind one of the columns bids him halt:

- Who approaches?

The voice is so rough that the man does not respond. He hears the question again:

- Who approaches of the city at this late time?

Starting get him self under control, the merchant moves on steps right and sees a shadow behind the column. He answers:

- Marcus, a poor merchant coming from a long trip back home. Who speaks?

A shadow emerges from the darkness into the moonlight. A terrific image appears. It has a lion's body, two great eagle's wings and a woman's face. Its face is ugly and terrifying: gray eyes, medium length blond hair, a small nose and enormous mouth, filled with extremely sharp teeth. It is twice the size of the man.

- I do!

The merchant is mortified with the view. After some seconds, he can recover his own and asks:

- In name of Jupiter? Who are you?

Proud of itself, the monster raises its head and smiles, showing its knife teeth:

- The Sphinx, creature created by the goods to terrify the earth habitants!

The camel is scared and forces the merchant sets the wire. It runs away. The man turns to flee, but it quickly blocks his path.

- Let me go!

- No.

- What do you want from me?

- Decipher me or be devoured!

The terror makes his brain still slower. He tries do run, but its pawn stakes his tunic.

- Decipher you? What do you mean?

- What has one voice, is four-footed in the morning, two-footed in the afternoon and three-footed at night?

- An animal that uses four, two and three legs? Impossible! This is a riddle ... I don't know—the poor man is now crying of terror—Please, let me go!

- Decipher me or be devoured!

The Sphinx bears down on the man. He runs into the darkness and the Sphinx follows him.

From the darkness, his scared shouts are heard:

- No! No! please, no! Aaaaaarrrrrrgh! help! Somebody help! Aaaaaarrrrrrttthhh!

His desperate bloodcurdling screams are muffled by lion roars. A large blood line trickles across the ground ...

* * *

"From that day on, the beast spread terror among the people of Thebes. It devoured all those who ventured beyond the city gates, a bloody and cruel death. No one was able to decipher its riddle. Thebes was isolated: no traveler had the courage to enter; no citizen had the courage to leave. Food and water were rationed.

With the citizens' uproar and fear, Laius, the king, sent in more forces and weapons, but no solution emerged. The army was sent in, but each soldier was killed like a rat. They sent for the stronger gladiator from the Greek empire, but no trace of his body was ever found. The Sphinx reigned supreme and could only be destroyed by someone who would be able to decipher the riddle. But who?

Some years later ...

The wood nearby Thebes was green in the just coming Sprinter. Single flowers tried to born between the cypresses roots and the humidity of the recent rain is still felt in the weather. Sun rays drill the trees tops, making the ground clear and fresh.

In spite of this beautiful scene, no birds, no butterflies, no wild animals are seen running or flying in their innocent life. No wind. Nothing moves. everything is calm, silenced, and mysterious.

This immobile environmental is broken suddenly. Bushes make movements. Three men's faces appear among the leaves. As nothing seen, they continue to hurry along a sandy path in the woods, looking around warily.

They walk around a big grey stone and hidden behind it. They look around and see all is clear to go. After getting out the stone, they hear a roar. They look at the top of the stone and the sphinx is there.

The three men scream and start running to save their lives, dropping all their belongings. Too late. The monster jumps over them and make them fall down. The sphinx leaps in front of them, trembling.

The sphinx opens its mouth, letting see its teeth, still red painted by fresh blood.

- Decipher or be devoured!—challenges with its devil voice

The men do not hear anything, just scream.

- What has one voice, is four-footed in the morning, two-footed in the afternoon and three-footed at night?

They merely wail, so it asks again, very angrily.

- I give you one last chance: what is it that has once voice, is four-footed in the morning, two-footed in the afternoon and three-footed at night?

They try to escape from its claws. The Sphinx opens its sharp-teeth mouth still more and is just about to give the first horrible bite when a male voice is heard from behind them:

- The man.

The sphinx stops. Slowly, it turns its head and sees a thirty-and-something white man, blue eyes, brown beard, athletic and very handsome. He carries a bag and holds a shepherd's crook. He is looking at it, smiling.

Still over the screaming men, it asks:

- What did you say?

- The answer to your ridiculous question: the man. He crawls when he is baby; stands up and walks on two legs as an adult and uses a stick like this as a third leg when he is old. Simple.

The surprised Sphinx releases the men and approaches to the man, twice smaller than it.

- Who are you?—asks in challenging mode

- I am Oedipus, son of Polypus, king of Corinth, the great Greek city. I've just killed two men some miles back. And now be gone or you'll be next.

The Sphinx runs off. The men look at Oedipus in joyful amazement.

"Defeated and ashamed, in a very dark, thunder and twilight night storm, the Sphinx went to the very deep abyss at Mount Phikion and, imploring the gods for protection, hurled itself over the edge to its death".

* * *

Professor Henry Maxwell closes the book and looks at the astonished seated students that were listen to him as enchanted. He knew his classes had elected as one of the most appreciated of the California University archeology Graduation since 2010 and that was the reason—even at his mid-50's—has not retired yet.

He scratches his gray beard, takes his reading-glass off and says:

- Oedipus became king of Thebes, married Jocasta, his unknown mother and the rest of the story you already know. he starts cleaning the blackboard and asks:

- Well, class is nearly over. Any questions?

Eager to get away, the students close their notebooks and keep quiet. When they stand up to exit, Sandy raises a hand. everybody glares at her green eyes circle by straight blonde hair, very pretty.

- Sandy has one, as usual. Fire away.

- What happened to the Sphinx, professor Henry?

- Well, the Mythology doesn't take us beyond its death in the abyss, but it is mentioned in an old manuscript recently unearthed by archeologists that ...

* * *

"... An ancient Egyptian priest found its remains. He took them to Egypt, joined together the body parts and mummified it. He then committed its soul to Anubis, the God of Death and buried the mummy in the Plain of Giza.

Khaphre, the Pharaoh, knew it was there and, fearing the curse, ordered his people to build the famous Sphinx statue in around 2.500 BC, to warn everyone that the mummy must never be disturbed".

* * *

One word waked Sandy's curiosity still more:

- Curse? What curse?

After some seconds in silence, Henry decides to display:

- If the mummy of the Sphinx was ever disturbed, it would be revived and once again destroys the human being.

- Do you believe ... —Sandy tries to extend the discussion.

Another young blonde boy, 20-something, handsome and full of vigor, interrupts her:

- Wow! We'd better keep Sandy away from Giza. Just imagine all the damage her curiosity would to there? Not to mention the poor Sphinx, waking up and getting a lot of questions—his imitates her voice—Hello! how are you today? tell me, how's stay sleeping for five thousand years?

All students laugh as they begin to leave. Sandy ignores them with a smirk.

- Come one, son ... —Henry tries to defend her

She and Rick stay on as Henry gathers his papers.

- Is it true?—insist Sandy

- What?

- the curse?

- Who knows?

- Do you believe it?—Rick asks to her

- No, but ...

- Oh, come on. Curses don't exist—states Henry

They walk through the old building aisle, avoiding lots of students going forward.

- Why don't we go there and find out?—asks her

- No need.

- What do you means?—asks Rick

- My colleague, Professor Patrick, is in Giza right now, investigating the Sphinx statue.

- Did he find anything?—argue the curious girl

They stop at professor Henry's office room. He looks at her eyes and patiently says:

- Little girl. If we find anything, I'll satisfy your curiosity, I promise, all right? Now, just make sure you study for next week test.

Chapter Two

The Expedition

Rick and Sandy go to the central food court, grab some fast food to eat and look for available seats in the crowd place. After some walks around, they find and seat, close to a table where a group of boys surrounding a pretty sexy girl.

Sandy seats with her back to them, opens her sandwich and turns her table on. Rick seats in front of her and tries to get her attention, but she keeps touching up the tablet. Couple of bites later, still looking at her rolling screen, she stakes:

- That wasn't very nice of you.

- What did I do?

- Just because you're Professor Henry's son doesn't mean you can make fun of poor folk like me.

Rick imitates her again:

- "Poor fold like me"? Give me a break! Your dad is the richest man in California!

- He worked hard for that. Maybe if you do the same, you'll be rich someday.

- Oh, sure! Let's see ... —he imagines—oil wells, cargo ships, airlines, all really easy things to accumulate! Longer time working!

Or I, may be ...

He sucks this soft drink refill.

- ... can get married to a very rich ...

He looks toward her.

- ... And beautiful girl.

Sandy laughs and finally looks at him:

- No way! You're not on me.

- I wasn't referring to you.

He nods towards someone behind her. Sandy turns and sees the sexy girl, all fresh wearing a short skirt in the middle of a circle of very smiling boys.

Of course she cannot disguise a point of jealous:

- I've no idea what you guys see in that chick!

- Jealous, oh devil jealous, you'll kill me one day.

- Who's jealous? Me?

Out of herself, she stands up and takes the tray:

- I just don't understand why you guys find so fascinating about cow meat!

Rick goodbyes her:

- Mooooooooooooooo!!!

* * *

Professor Henry Maxwell's room looked more as a museum than as an office. Benches messes paper piles up with skulls, old clocks, candles and other archeological stuffs. Lots of old maps hang on the entire wall, where old wood cabinets keep from lots of stone pieces up to arrows, statue miniatures and draws. A medium stone sphinx detached on his desk.

He is sitting at table, examining something on it with a magnifying glass. The silence is broken by the clock of the wall-pendulum wood chime.

The telephone rings and Henry takes some time to find it bellow the paper hills:

- Hello?

From other side of the line, a rough voice is heard:

- the papyrus was right.

- Patrick! What's new?

- We're onto something here.

Egypt, Giza Complex:

Patrick Nortel is on a cell phone. Bald, 40, gray eyes, tall, there's something vaguely feminine about him. Egyptian excavators carry sandbags, rocks and other related objects.

He turns to face a big hole in the ground, where people excavate and remove sand and rocks. They discover a stoned door lying on the ground. a man scrapes off the earth to reveal the golden figure of a sphinx. It gleams in the sunlight.

They are at the feet of the giant stone Sphinx statue.

* * *

Henry punches the desk:

- No way, Frank!

The bald fat man in his 60's which sits at the desk seems be not afraid:

- Do I want to repeat? We can't do it.

Henry looks around looking for something to help to convince the UCLA Director, but he did not find anything beyond books at his library.

- We've found what may be the most important archeological discovery of the century and all you can say is "we can't do it?"

The Director nods:

- No budget to fund expedition this year.

Henry seats on the corner of the desk, trying to hold his patient:

- Listen. This discovery will bring in millions of dollars to the University. It'll be all over the headlines: "UCLA expedition discovers the Mystery of the Sphinx, hidden for over four thousand years". You'll have sponsors lining up outside your door!

The director rolls a pen on the fingers, indifferent:

- If it's that easy, then find your own sponsor.

- That's impossible!—scares an angrier Henry—We cannot possibly disclose this finding yet. Just imagine the hordes of adventures rushing towards Egypt! At end of day, you can say goodbye to any scientific integrity!

The director thinks a little. Despite all arguments are correct:

- I understand how important this is and wish I could help. But you know our deficit has been increasing for many years now, we can't possibly justify one cent more budget over run—he breaks up—I'm sorry, Henry.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Enigma Of The Sphinxby Paul Caetano Copyright © 2012 by Paul Caetano. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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