After descending another, longer flight of stairs, and then walking through a winding, urn-flanked passageway, we arrived at the threshold of a third, spacious chamber. Beautiful mosaics lined the walls, and as we walked into the large and slightly chilly room, we saw more of the goat-headed statues that we had seen in the first chamber.

After twenty or thirty yards, the west wall disappeared into nothingness, while a decorated marble wall rose up in front of us. To the left, an even larger chamber opened up, and as we rounded the corner, we realized that we had arrived in the heart of the tomb complex. The large chamber in front of us housed half a dozen stone sarcophagi, and at its far end, a colorful, vaguely insect-like shape glimmered in the reflected torchlight.

We approached the nearest sarcophagus as carefully and quietly as possible. As Zelensha began searching it for traps, however, the sound of stone grating against stone filled the room, and the lids of the innermost sarcophagi began to move violently. Taking two steps backwards, we steeled ourselves and readied our weapons, expecting the worst.

Two Revenants emerged from the sarcophagi flanking the scarab-shape. One of them had a hawk's head and wielded an axe, while the other was a leopard-head wielding two scimitars. Between them, the lid of the stone scarab swung gracefully open, and a tall Chaldean mummy rose from within. "Mummy!" I shouted, rather superfluously, as I threw my last (expensively acquired) Grenade Potion towards the advancing monsters.

Disappointingly, the mummy didn't seem especially vulnerable to fire. Instead of being busy catching fire and burning up - as I had hoped - he calmly lifted his ruby-clad left hand and fired a lightning-shaped bolt of black energy towards Zelensha, who barely managed to jump out of the way. The bolt hammered into the wall behind her with great force, and when I saw the mummy raise his right hand towards me, I dove behind the cover of the nearest stone sarcophagus.

As the black energy bolt smashed into the sarcophagus in front of me, the hawk-headed Revenant reached my hiding place. Quite badly burned, he still seemed to be in full vigor, and I barely managed to roll clear of his axe as he swung it down towards me. After tossing away my second torch for the day, I drew my sword while simultaneously trying to get up into a crouching position. To my right, I could see that Zelensha was circling a sarcophagus, while planting the occasional arrow in Leopard, who was following her doggedly. Zelensha barely managed to duck in time as the still immobile mummy shot another bolt of energy towards her.

As Hawk swung his axe towards me again, I dodged to the left and into clear view of the undead artillery, and then I slashed my sword down towards my opponents right leg. The mummy immediately raised his right hand again, firing another bolt of energy in my direction. In the same instant, my sword sunk deep into Hawk's unprotected leg, and he half-stumbled a single step to the right, fatally intercepting his master's energy bolt.

As Hawk fell, I cast a glimpse to the right, and saw that Leopard lay slumped across the sarcophagus, with four or five arrows protruding from his body. Zelensha had already double-reloaded her bow, and was now preparing to fire on the mummy.

Running towards our final, formidable enemy, I saw that the large round rubies in his eye sockets glowed when he fired yet another bolt towards me. I dodged it at the very last moment, while closing the distance between us as quickly as possible. As I got close, I saw that the mummy's bandages were frayed and yellow with age, and that putrid corpse-skin showed through in several places.

I waited half a second until one of Zelensha's arrows struck the mummy's flank, and then I struck with all my might towards the undead Chaldean noble. As my sword sank into the mass of bandages and dry flesh, the mummy opened his mouth for the first time, as if in pain, but no sound escaped from his shriveled lips.

The mummy swung both arms towards me, black tendrils of energy playing around his bony fingers. I jumped backwards, eager to avoid receiving the full blast of the mummy's twin touch attack. He was surprisingly quick, however, and while one hand missed, the other struck my left shoulder with some force, sending me tumbling. A current of intense pain shot up my arm, immobilizing it completely.

As the mummy pointed both his palms towards me, preparing to finish me off with a close-range energy salvo, two of Zelensha's numberless arrows struck him, one in the chest and the other just beneath his ribcage. Badly injured now, the mummy staggered backwards in pain, and lost his concentration for one fatal moment.

In desperation, I seized upon this moment of hesitation, and thrust my sword upwards and into the mummy's by-now-unraveling torso. The sword sunk in, and for a brief instant, a wild surge of energy coursed through my blade and me, but I held on. Then the mummy imploded with a soft, hollow sound, and the bandages, rings and eye-rubies fell pathetically down onto the floor of the burial chamber.

Once again the tomb grew quiet. After a short but much needed break, we looted the old sarcophagi in peace.

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