“You…didn’t…answer…” A disconnected voice emanated
from Nick like a voice on a tape recorder. He was not moving his lips or
tongue; he couldn’t talk.
“Don’t
interrupt me, Nick,” he commanded. “You died sometime shortly after setting
the room on fire.” Faro’s stare fixed on Nick’s withering face. “Nice touch by
the way; starting that fire. It’s what I would have done to destroy evidence.”
Faro raised a crystal goblet to his nose and sniffed the contents. “Shall I
drink a toast to your earthbound spirit? You never realized you were dead, did
you?” Faro brought the ring up to his eyes, staring at the candlelight
reflecting in the blue stones. “I believe this ring stores the energy put out
by your Ka; your spirit--stores it like a battery. That spiritual energy can
be used later to resurrect another soul. In this case, my soul. I’m not quite
sure how it all works. Just a lot of ancient hocus-pocus I imagine, but we
both are witness to its power.”
Faro sipped the
black liquid, smacking his lips as the sour taste slid down his throat. He
motioned for the Ammut to approach Nick. Three of the creatures did as Faro
commanded them, slithering to Nick’s side. These creatures took up Nick’s
withering corpse and placed it on soft bedding in the sarcophagus. Robert Faro
removed the ring from his finger, held it above the open coffin, and whispered
a few unintelligible phrases.
As Nick lay on
the comfortable padding, his arms crossed over his chest, legs fully extended,
no last thoughts or images entered his dying mind. The marble lid of the
coffin reappeared, sealing the tomb, forever trapping Nick Torres Black in his
withered body.
THE END
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