Though she had been in awe of many ancient things in her life, Carmelina had never dreamed of encountering such a place as this through the doors of the Irvingly Casino, fog or not. It had an uncanny familiarity about it, all the same, and the cloying dust in the fog must have been a sign after all, the strangely transported smell of mouldering limestone and the sands of Egypt.

"Yes -" Carmelina said, with a start, feigning a degree of calmness as the rest of the group was but feeling another surge of mingled terror and exhilaration as she brushed past Miss Sykes to have a better view of the runes, running a hand carefully over the shapes, hardly sure of where to direct her attention first. "Yes, they're protective symbols for the most part, incantations against thievery and plunder. The sort one finds in tombs."

The very thought of being in a tomb drew her eye to the rightmost path, the one that led down as though it would bury them in the earth or lead them to the underworld; nevertheless, burial chambers in pyramids were often hidden upwards, at the heart of the building, so - any of the paths were worth investigating. "One thing is clear, no matter which way we choose," she added, peering back at the rest of the group. "Nothing is - or, was - meant to be disturbed." (Undoubtedly, it was a warning that had gone ignored.)

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