“It all started a long time ago, on an expedition to Egypt, led by Edward Smith…”

In the past, Kate Wilson admired the pyramids, while her team prepared things for an excavation.

“Tell me, are you ready?” asked Edward Smith, staring at Kate.

“Of course!” replied Kate.

Smith smiled and went to continue with his tasks.

It was one of the first excavations Kate had worked on, as an intern. She was lucky that the University of New City had contacts with renowned archaeologists, such as Robert Select or Edward Smith… at least that’s what she thought of Smith. During her internship, under Smith’s command, she realized the demands and egocentrism of that man. She swore never to accept any work from him again.

In addition, Kate noticed that Smith was not really honest. Supposedly they were there to discover a supposed pharaoh, but Smith seemed to be looking for something else, something that clearly he didn’t want anyone to know, something that didn’t even fit in that place…

“We found it!” shouted someone from the excavation.

Smith quickly went to the person, along with the rest of the team.

“Have you found it?” Smith was excited.

“Yes, but unfortunately we can’t get in, it’s sealed,” the man replied, as he caressed the thick door that blocked the way.

“Damn!” exclaimed Smith, furious.

Kate carefully looked at the entrance, noticing a kind of stone panel. But that was impossible, right?

Kate approached it and saw the inscriptions. It seemed to be a 3-digit code. How was that possible?

Kate began to press the stones unconsciously.

The door suddenly opened, before the astonished eyes of Smith, who then looked at Kate.

“How… how did you do that?” Smith asked Kate.

“To be honest, I don’t know…” Kate hesitated.

Smith carefully observed the interior.

“Finally, we have found the Temple of Bastet,” Smith revealed.

“But, weren’t we looking for a pharaoh’s tomb?”

Smith turned to Kate.

“Young lady, all roads lead to Rome. The access to the tomb will be in the temple,” explained Smith, although it sounded more like an excuse than an explanation.

The group continued advancing, led by an enthusiastic Smith.

“We’re almost there!” he shouted.

Before their eyes, a large room with a great statue of Bastet rose up.

“Finally…” Smith whispered, advancing quickly to the back of the room.

Kate continued to ponder how strange the panel from earlier was. There was no technology of that kind.

In the center, there was a golden figure of Bastet, which seemed important.

Strangely, Smith was searching at the ends of the room.

“It has to be here,” he whispered occasionally as he moved from place to place. He then managed to find a paper hidden in one of the wall cracks.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“The location of Percival de Carpenter’s diary, he hid it through the places he had explored!” Smith said to himself.

Kate approached the golden figure, feeling drawn to it, until she managed to hold it in her hands.

“Let go of that!” Smith shouted, pulling a gun from his pocket.

Without warning, Smith shot all of his men, except for Kate.

“What… What are you doing?!” Kate yelled.

“You don’t know how screwed you are, Kate,” Smith explained.

“That statue of Bastet is cursed. You are cursed.”

“The thing about the pharaoh was a lie, what you were looking for was this, right?” Smith emitted a chilling laugh.

“I don’t care about the statue. I already have what I was looking for. A diary of an explorer who was searching for objects with extraordinary properties.”

“Percival de Carpenter, the Last Great Hero,” Kate said.

Smith was surprised.

“I see that you know him. Good job.”

“They say he hid Excalibur, the most magical object of all, right?”

“Capable of performing miracles and curing curses, too bad it won’t help you.”

Kate began to tremble in pain as she watched her body become covered in fur.

“What… what’s happening to me?!” Kate screamed in desperation.

“Anyone who touches the statue will become part of Bastet’s army. Good luck,” Smith said, before running off, leaving Kate with her painful transformation.

“And that’s the story,” Kate finished.

“Wait, why did Carpenter hide that clue in a place like that? It’s very far from Camelot,” Max asked.

“Carpenter was an explorer, very interested in magical devices, like the statue of Bastet. It doesn’t seem strange to me that he left a hidden clue there, for a future explorer,” Select explained.

“And what about the panel? Don’t you find that very strange?”

Select rubbed his chin.

“Yes, that’s very strange… But we need to focus on Excalibur.”

“I see, but now, what do we do?” Max wondered.

“Follow the instructions in the diary before Smith,” Kate offered, “I can help you, in exchange for you lifting my curse with Excalibur.”

“That seems reasonable,” Select reached out his hand to seal the deal.

“I’ve lost… the diary,” Smith said through the phone.

His hand trembled as he spoke those words.

“How is that possible?!” the voice on the phone shouted.

“It… it was Robert Select’s fault,” Smith’s voice sounded nervous.

“Robert Select? I know that sewer rat. Take care of him,” he ordered.

“I’ll kill him with my own hands,” Smith replied.