[Present]

The scream that revibrated inside the tunnel as Bhallar missed a step and fell into the dark abyss-like hole was not manly...at all. Then again, Bhallar was not known for his manliness, per se, was he?

Lucky for him, though, he landed on something soft.

The place was pitch black, just like the tunnel that had brought him there. His eyes were useless at the moment. Thus the physician decided to lean on his other senses. Closing his eyes, he wiped away the sweat from his brow and took a deep breath.

That was a mistake, for the air was stale and stank of something the light-eyed man couldn't place. He thew up a few as-of-yet undigested Violet Genoises he had munched on for courage and good luck before stepping inside the tunnel that would have- if it had been the correct one- taken him closer to his destination.

A violent bout of cough followed before Bhallar could catch his breath, which, when he did, he passed out conveniently on the soft pile of corpses that had broken his fall.

***

A beautiful hum woke Bhallar from his slumber. The place he found himself in was definitely not the one he had fallen unconscious in; for starters, he was lying on his back, on cold, hard ground, in a room dimly lit (perhaps) by a dying torch.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed a man standing with his back turned towards him. The man's build and the armor adorning his muscular frame left no doubt in Bhallar's mind that he was in the presence of either a royal soldier or a bounty hunter. Neither of the options made him feel any better.

"Stop thinking so loud, beautiful. You are distracting me." The man's raspy voice seemed familiar, too much so.

'Philitis!? It can't be him. Please, almighty Ra, anyone but him.' Bhallar prayed. Unfortunately for him, when the man finally turned, it was indeed Philitis.

"You are still doing it." The bounty hunter said exasperatedly, walking towards Bhallar.

The latter may or may not have tried to frantically search for escape options in time it took the muscular hunter to casually stroll over and squat next to him.

"What..." Bhallar started, but the latter's warm palm on his forehead made his mind go blank.

"Shuuuu! You look gorgeous like this." Philitis added, drawing his hand back.

The physician was starting to get slightly worried. This was the third time Philitis and he, had crossed paths in less than twenty-four hours and every time, the hunter had said something to make him uncomfortable. Bhallar was aware that he didn't really give out 'strong protector' vibes, but that didn't mean anyone could compliment him and get away with it, right!?

"Injured and sweaty?" He asked rhetorically, and immediately Philitis's eyes turned worried, "Are you hurt?"

Bhallar blinked, confused. "No, the cushions broke my fall. I am just emotionally scarred."

"Oh." The hunter shook his head. "No one except me saw you. And I won't tell a soul that you screamed like a child lost at Ra's procession when you fell. That way, at least you will get to keep your pride."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. That's funny." Bhallar gave the human, who he had the unfortunate pleasure of sharing space with, a stink eye.

"Thank you. I am told that my jesting skills are to point." The hunter admitted and leaned closer to the light-eyed man, "And just so you know, you didn't fall on cushions. You landed on a pile of corpses."

"What!? You are lying!" The light-eyed man accused, shaking his head and shivering all over. Even as he said it, his gut told him that Philitis had told him nothing but the truth.

"Hey?" The hunter grabbed the physician by his shoulders; his green eyes betrayed a hint of regret, "Listen. I am sorry. I just presumed...I didn't think that dead bodies would be a big deal for you."

The hunter's words pulled the former-doctor out of his panicking state, "You presumed that the fact won't bother me."

Philitis nodded. Guilty. "I asked around about you at the inn."

"When?" Bhallar crossed his hand over his chest.

"Does it matter?"

"Not really." The light-eyed man shrugged and stood up, dusting his behind. "Well, I wish I could say it was nice to see you again, but-"

"You can't leave." Philitis interjected, "There are about three chambers attached to his hole in the ground." he added, moving his arms to Bhallar's left, then right before pouting right in front of where the latter was standing.

"The left one is where the corpses are. It's also the only one with a door. The one on your right has a marble block in the center. I am certain that it's hollow on the inside, but I can't find any clasps anywhere on it. I tried to break it, but it didn't give way." Green eyes settled on the third chamber's entry. "That one is empty. I can't tell what purpose it serves, but I think it holds the key to our way out of this forsaken place before the killer arrives, and we join the three-foot-high corpse pile."

Bhallar gulped dry air. It hurt his throat as it made its way down his throat. "You are just trying to scare me, aren't you?" he asked hopefully.

"If I wanted to scare you, I wouldn't have carried you-"

"Wait. Did you just say that you carried me!?" Bhallar asked, (truly) scandalized.

"Yes. I did. I thought that the stench might make you puke your guts out again." The hunter bit back a smile, "Don't worry though, even if we get out of here alive, I will keep this between us just like your lovely scream." he reassured in all seriousness.

The kind gesture fell flat. If anything, Bhallar was more embarrassed now than he was at the beginning of the conversation.

"Listen, Bhallar," Philitis's expression turned somber. "I really think there is something not quite right here. I checked a few bodies, and they all had one thing in common."

"What?"

"They all had puncture wounds on the base of their throat. Can you ascertain their cause of death?" The bounty hunter enquired, handing over his torch to the physician.

After contemplating for a few moments, Bhallar concluded that what Philitis had suggested was, in fact, the right course of action.
With the torch lighting their way, the duo made their way to the corpse holding chamber.

Bhallar chose three of the freshest-looking corpses out of the pile. It took him a couple of hours to do what Philitis had suggested, but in the end, he didn't regret it. Quite the opposite, actually, for now, he knew that the deaths were caused by excessive blood loss. It surprised him that the bodies didn't have any other wounds except for the pricks at the underside of their wrists. He was intrigued to find that though the bodies looked not a day old, once he had dived inside with his scalpel, the organs were in various stages of rot.

In all his life, first as an apprentice and then Sharre's first hand, neither had he seen anything like this, nor had the royal physician mentioned it. The closest example he could think of this condition was something he had read in one of his father's journals.

'The prince's condition is getting worse. The Pharaoh has ordered Master Sharre to create a preservative that can stop the degeneration of the epidermis. It doesn't make sense. What's the point in preserving the skin if the body is falling apart from within? Master Sharre doesn't want me to accompany him to the palace anymore. I am worried about him.'

Returning his tools to their place, Bhallar thanked the almighty Ra for giving him a hint at the beginning of his journey to carry his medical equipments even though he was planning to leave that part of his life behind.

"So, what did you find?" Philitis's voice was laced with curiosity. "How much older do you reckon the top one is compared to the one under it?" He asked, pointing at the one they had pulled from the very top of the pile.

"I can't be sure..." Bhallar trailed off. His eyes widen in fear, "Oh dear! You think that whatever did this keeps coming back at scheduled intervals!" he guessed.

"That's the most logical explanation, is it not?"

Bhallar had nothing to say to that. He remained mum, hoping that the latter would elaborate on what was going on in his mind.

"I got here a few hours before you. From what I can tell, it's going to get dark soon. The torch," Philitis glanced at the only source of light in the chamber, "-was a lucky find. There are no more left." he caught the physician's eyes, "Do you see where I am going with this?"

Bhallar knew what Philitis was trying to say. He glanced at the torch. They barely had a couple of hours before it would die out.

The physician pushed down on the fear coursing through his mind. He had limited resources at his disposal, his intelligence was the only thing that could save them, and he needed it to focus on the problem and not on the consequences of failure.

Bhallar rose to his feet. "I need to check every chamber for myself. Lead the way, good sir, and if almighty Ra guides us, we will surely make it out alive!"

[Chapter word count: 1605;
Word count so far: 19284]