Louis hissed at Hawk, baring his fangs, to make sure he knew that though he’d changed his mind he still wasn’t happy about it. Being a bird, Hawk’s reaction wasn’t easy to read, but Louis wasn’t interested. He turned back to the sphinx’s bleeding corpse.
Carefully, he undid the sphinx’s restraints and shuffled him out of his silk clothing. Louis felt like a vulture; it was so undignified. Once free, the toga-like garment turned out to be a large square of silk held in place with a brass clasp. Louis was momentarily stumped for how to wear it, but Hasib’s gentle influence sprang forth from his mind and guided his hands as if he’d folded and fastened it a thousand times before. He also found a small, leather pouch hanging around Hasib’s neck, containing gold coins and a few other trinkets, which Hasib’s stolen experience told him to keep well tucked away under his clothes. It was a little strange, to be wearing clothes again after so long. Especially clothes as fine as these. He found himself standing a little straighter and holding his muzzle higher.
Hasib’s body lay splayed and naked atop the carpets. This kill was not like the others. It was not a triumph over a vanquished foe, it was a dirty secret. He couldn’t leave it here, for if it would not do if it were found while Louis was using its soul. He would have liked to bury it, but the sandy desert hardly permitted that. The best he could do was to roll the body inside a carpet and placed the bundle at the bottom of the pile. It would be found eventually--most likely when it began to smell--but Louis hoped to be long gone by then.
‘Let’s go, then,’ Louis grunted at Hawk. He had a moment’s pause when he heard Hasib’s thick accent coming from his mouth. Hawk obediently flapped down to Louis’s shoulder, where he perched very quietly. Louis got the sense he was feeling apologetic. Then, after checking the coast was clear, Louis and Hawk slipped from the tent and rejoined the crowd.
It was a marked difference from roaming the market as a stray wolf. He found people would swerve to stay out of his way. The street vendors would stop shouting about their wares as he passed. He even had the odd sphinx bow at him. And when he reached the big iron gates to the city, the guards stood to attention and opened the door without asking for a toll. Even as a sphinx at the city of the sphinxes, Louis was certain this was not usual treatment. He wondered who Hasib had been.
Passing through the gatehouse, Louis emerged into the city. In stark contrast to the hustling market outside, it was near silent, save for the sound of trickling water and swaying palm leaves. Louis was astounded by the amount of green. Though the tall, square buildings and the wide paths were all made of the same bright sandstone, it was all adorned with palm trees, creeping moss and shaped topiaries. And water flowed through narrow canals and along tall aqueducts, under paths and over buildings, spilling into one another in little waterfalls. In the desert, water was gold and this city was flaunting its wealth.
Louis ambled down the main street, feeling the warm stone beneath his bare paws. They passed other sphinxes, sitting on colourful verandahs and scrutinising Louis as he passed or else splayed out and sunning themselves on the stone walls. They were all as finely dressed as Louis, some even decorated in copious gold jewellery. But like Hasib, none wore clothing that completely covered them. Many wore nothing above the waist, men and women alike, and Louis even passed a group who were completely nude, cooling themselves in a reservoir. Louis blushed, even though he himself had been just as naked for the past few weeks.
Before long, Louis felt a familiar pull toward the gargoyle and remembered why he was there. He quickened his feet and followed the scent, which led him deeper into the city. Looming ahead of him was the great, white pyramid that towered over all. Even without his sense leading him toward it, he soon guessed that that was where the gargoyle was hiding. Where else but the biggest stone thing around?
Reaching it took much longer that Louis expected, as it was much larger than he’d first thought. When he finally arrived at the base, the smooth, white marble filled his vision. He had to lean backwards to see the pyramid’s summit. But now that he had arrived, getting inside posed another problem. There was barely a divot in the stone and the white bricks left not a hair-width of space between them. Louis walked the circumference, looking for a doorway, but after more than an hour’s walking he was back where he’d begun, confident that the stone was smooth and featureless all the way around.
Louis glanced at Hawk, upon his shoulder. The bird cocked his head to show his confusion. Then Louis thought to tap into Hasib’s memories, cursing himself for not thinking of this before he’d walked all the way around the pyramid.
“The Great Pyramid is a mausoleum for kings and royals. It is accessible by a secret, underground entrance. Only the High Priests know its whereabouts.”
Louis growled to himself. After all it had cost to get inside the city, now they were faced with yet another impassible obstacle. The simplest solution would be to kill a high priest and use his form to get inside, but this was not a habit Louis wanted to get into. He had half a mind to bring out the dragon and tear his way into the pyramid, but could he rely on finding the gargoyle before the city guard came out in force? He hoped there was a more elegant solution, but the longer he took to think of it, the more likely it was that somebody would find Hasib’s body in the marketplace and then the whole city might go on alert.
He needed to make up his mind, quick.