This tale is a prequel to my previous story, "Maki
and the Amulet", and acts as a vital link between the past and present
of Neopia, providing information about the legend and events surrounding the
amulet as well as its initial discovery by Jan's great-grandfather, Daeron;
it also introduces a "shadowy" character from the Gallery of Evil. If you're
new to this series, I suggest you read these parts first.
Lost and Found
Thunder rumbled as the rain poured down from the rapidly darkening sky. Neopets
and their owners ran over the rain-slick streets of Neopia City, hurrying to
get home and out of the rain.
A tiny green Quiggle laughed as he jumped into a large puddle, splashing a
spray of water onto his owner. The girl merely smiled as the water rolled harmlessly
off her yellow raincoat. Hand in webbed paw, the two strolled through the darkening
evening shadows.
The main room of the Neopian Pound was empty, aside from a few Neopets in cold
metal cages, most stirring in their lonely, troubled dreams. Only one pet was
awake, a lone red Usul who gazed out the window from between the metal bars
of her cage, watching the Quiggle and his owner. Old memories rose to her mind,
unbidden.
She could still remember the day when she had been created, so long ago; she
could still remember her joy as she gazed upon her owner's smiling face for
the first time. She could still remember their exciting weekend excursions to
exotic places like Tyrannia, the Haunted Woods, or even Faerieland.
She could still remember the loneliness and confusion she'd felt when her owner,
her beloved master, had abandoned her on the streets of the Marketplace on a
cold, rainy night like this one.
The Usul remembered everything about her past life... the life she'd had before
the Pound. Indeed, she had sat in the Neopian Pound for many days, unwanted,
unloved, and had grown bitter and resentful. Now she spoke in a raspy voice,
muttering to herself.
"No longer will I be a cute red Usul... no longer will I be a Neopet to be
shunned by my owners! I will be a new creature, a creature of the darkness.
I shall have my revenge on the owner who abandoned me, and on all Neopet owners
who would ever abuse their pets!"
The Usul pushed a piece of old wire into her lock of her cage door, which clicked
slightly, then unlocked. She hissed in triumph as the cage door swung open,
and slipped out into the gathering darkness beyond...
***
Daeron burst through the front door of his NeoHome, cradling two scrolls in
the arms of his wet raincoat. "I've done it, Flash! This time I've found it!"
Putting aside the thick volume of Sakhmet Natives she had been reading, SandFlash
the desert Kougra padded over to help her master, who was currently in danger
of dropping his burden as he struggled to hold the scrolls and take off his
dripping raincoat at the same time.
Smiling kindly, the Kougra took the two scrolls from Daeron. "Wow, it must
be really pouring out there," she commented dryly, glimpsing the grey sheets
of rain outside as she closed the door. "So what have you found?"
Daeron hung his raincoat on a hook by the door and retrieved a single scroll,
carefully unrolling it. "Remember this scroll we found last month?" he asked.
SandFlash ran a steel-grey claw over the strange markings at the bottom. "Yes
- it has a few marks on it, but overall looks blank. This writing at the bottom
looks a bit like ancient Sakhmetian hieroglyphs, but is made of odd symbols
I haven't seen before."
Daeron's piercing green eyes shone with barely restrained excitement as he
warmed to his favourite topic, the ancient history of the Lost Desert. "I was
looking through some of these other scrolls this morning, and found this other
scroll, also with strange markings on the bottom."
He held up a yellowed scroll, made out of papyrus thin enough to see through.
"Now - taken separately, the markings mean nothing. But put them together..."
Unrolling the first scroll on the wooden table in the kitchen, Daeron carefully
laid the thinner scroll over it. SandFlash gasped and held a striped paw to
her mouth. "Is that -?" she began. "Yes," replied Daeron.
Combined, the strange markings now resolved themselves into the hieroglyphs
used by the Ancient Neopians, giving detailed directions to the fabled lost
city of Ankhamet.
"Pack your bags, Flash!" Daeron shouted excitedly. "Tomorrow we leave for the
Lost Desert!"
The Ancient Neopians
SandFlash walked along the warm sand-strewn cobblestones of the main marketplace
of Sakhmet City, soaking in the sights and sounds. Here was a city she had only
dreamed of visiting; it felt as if she had stepped into the pages of one of
her favourite storybooks about the Lost Desert.
As Daeron haggled over the price of a Bagguss, Flash waved her striped tail
curiously and wandered among the myriads of wooden booths decorated with brightly
coloured streamers, which blew merrily in the dry desert air.
A yellow Grarrl approached the Kougra, proudly displaying his wares. Flash
took one look at the large tray of Grakle Bugs, which were oozing foul-smelling
green goo, and immediately lost her appetite.
SandFlash soon came to a tent made of multicoloured silks. She was greeted
by a desert Aisha, whose golden bracelets glimmered softly. "Welcome, traveler,"
the Aisha said in a melodious voice, following the Kougra's gaze to a table
of ancient artifacts. "Ah," she continued, picking up a jeweled scarab, "I see
you looking at these. We have a fine collection of scarabs here - Weird Scarabs,
Darkness Scarabs, all dating back to the times of King Coltzan. Beautiful, but
deadly."
Flash held a Dung Scarab gingerly between two steel-gray claws. For a brief
moment, she imagined herself fighting with such a prized weapon in the Battledome,
the scarab flying at her opponent. Flash flipped the artifact over to glance
at the price tag - and hurriedly put it down.
Walking out of the tent, SandFlash spied the tall form of her master, Daeron.
Weaving her way stealthily through the marketplace crowd, the Kougra came closer
- and pounced! Daeron cried out and, spinning around, threw a Bagguss at her
head.
A few moments later, the two friends laughed hysterically as they picked up
scattered pieces of the dried fruit. "Well done," Flash chortled. "Your reflexes
are getting better, though I doubt this fruit would have scared an attacker
off."
***
They sat in the shade of a nearby building, nibbling on the pieces of the blue-green
fruit. "Mmm," Flash exclaimed appreciatively. "This tastes just like chocolate!"
"I wonder if the Ancient Neopians living in the Lost Desert ate these, too,"
Daeron mused thoughtfully.
"Do you mean they could have had a Chocolate Factory?" Flash asked, her mind
on her favourite shop in the Neopian Marketplace.
"Maybe," laughed Daeron. "The Ancient Neopians had great knowledge of many
things. It is said that during those far-off times, owners, Neopets, and faeries
lived happily together, and there was no hunger or want in the land."
The Kougra frowned. "So... why did they disappear?"
Daeron munched a piece of Bagguss reflectively. "To tell the truth, nobody
really knows. All that remains today are rumours, vague legends about a powerful
artifact and a great evil descending on the land, destroying everything in its
path. They also hint at the return of this evil someday."
"Do you believe that?" Flash asked quietly.
"I'm not sure," replied Daeron. "Maybe the ruins of Ankhmet we'll explore tomorrow
will clear some of this mystery up."
They sat for a long time, deep in thought, until the sun set over the desert
horizon, briefly colouring it with a blaze of deep orange and red. Soon the
sky darkened, and a chilly wind blew through the now-empty marketplace.
Finally the two friends stood. Behind a nearby wooden booth, a shadowy form
stirred, its yellow eyes steadily watching the two figures recede into the darkness.
To be continued... |