A Mummy’s Curse

 

 

In the huge tomb of a mighty pyramid in the scorching desert of the Kingdom of the Burning Moon there were two Mummy’s. Not your mum or your mother, but Mummies. You know the ones… scary looking, wrapped in bandages with glowing amber eyes and usually not smelling all that nice.

 

Their names were Ermin and Domina and they were seated at a huge, black marble sarcophagus. They were playing chess and were using a very ornate set made out of gold and silver. Ermin was very happy as he was only a few moves from winning the game. And it was about time too as Domina had been beating him quite a lot lately.

 

He moved a king to a position on the board, trapping Domina’s queen and gave a contented sigh.

 

‘Mmm… you’re looking very smug, Ermin,’ Domina said.

 

Which was quite clever of her since they were both wrapped entirely in bandages. They had been white once, but were now a tattered and frayed, grimy grey.

 

‘Well… it’s nice to be about to win a game for a change,’ he replied.

 

‘Well, don’t count your Mummies too soon… I could still win.’

 

Ermin smiled beneath his face bandages. Domina was just teasing of course as she knew by now there was no hope for her.

 

‘I don’t think…’ he began, but stopped as the sudden sound of huge bells came tolling through a nearby shadowy archway.

 

'A Mummy’s curse!' he exclaimed. ‘The tomb robber bells!’

 

‘Sorry, Ermin,’ Domina said. ‘But you know the rules. If we get called out to a robbery, the game is a draw. We’ll start a new one when we come back.’

 

‘Oh, that makes me so mad!’ Ermin growled. ‘I was going to win!’

 

‘Well… to make you feel better, you can go and pick the curse,’ Domina said.

 

Ermin’s eyes brightened within the folds of his face bandages.

 

‘They’ll be sorry for this!’ he said menacingly. ‘Will I meet you at the usual spot?’

 

Domina nodded.

 

'Right!' Ermin said. 'I’ll see you there.'

 

Now the tomb that Ermin and Domina were buried in was that of Queen Anisah. She had been a Queen of the Kingdom of the Burning Moon and had been buried with great treasures and riches.

 

They had been her personal guards and when she had died, they had been turned into Mummies and buried with her. They were here to stop any robbers from stealing the treasure… and to lay curses on them for trying. Ermin was going to make sure it would be a nasty one for spoiling the game.

 

He shambled down several shadowy corridors, the air lit by dimly glowing lanterns. The tomb walls were engraved with tiny pictures and shapes like vultures, crocodiles, lions, hyenas, elephants, circles, squares, wavy lines and triangles to name a few.

 

He finally arrived at a spot in one corridor and placing a hand against a wall, muttered a word. A grinding sound filled the air and a section of the wall swung inwards. It revealed a large chamber beyond and Ermin shuffled inside. Stone shelving lined its walls and sitting on them were tiny clay pots with numbers on them. The curses were sealed inside them and when their corks were pulled out, the curses were released.

 

He ambled over to a large desk in the centre of the room where a heavy, ancient looking book lay. It was the tomb's book of curses and he began to turn the pages, reading the different curses. They had numbers written beside them and they matched the numbers on the pots.

 

He ran a bandaged finger down one page and read out a curse.

 

'Number thirty seven...' he said. ‘... to be cursed with undying fleas.'

 

Good suffering value there, he thought and turned a page.

 

'Number seventy four... to be cursed with the voice of a donkey.'

 

A bit weak, he thought.

 

'Number eighty nine... to be cursed with never-ending hiccups.'

 

Not bad, he thought and turned a few more pages.

 

'Number ninety seven...'

 

He suddenly gave a dry chuckle.

 

'Number ninety seven.... to be cursed with the breath of rancid meat and rotting fish.'

 

Just right he thought and closed the book. He then shuffled over to some shelving and found the pot he was looking for. As he turned toward the door, the sound of terrified screams filled the air, coming from elsewhere in the tomb.

 

Ah… Domina has found the robbers, he thought. She would chase them to a place where he would be waiting... with the curse!

 

He shambled out of the room and as the doorway swung closed behind him, a muffled but cheerful sound could be heard. It was like someone trying to whistle with their face wrapped in bandages.