By moonlight's shadow

Chapter 11

Raphael took the sword out of the scabbard and then pricked the hole in the trap door below his feet. Just as he did that a series of locks came out of again out of the same hole in rapid succession and he had jab them at the right spots and the right slots with perfect precision so that he could go on and open the next door. Finally when he was done, which was just a matter of few moments before him Raphael could see the door opening in front of him. Being a vampire had his perks, since he had extremely high strength and agility these traps which were built mostly for humans and not creatures of supernatural strength or power it was a losing game for the creature.

In ancient Greek tradition the times when monsters were created by humans and some divine power, sometimes dark powers to create new creature a sphinx had been created for the sole purpose of guarding the Land of Dead. It was mysterious how the sphinx took its form or was even made out because it had the spirit of two different animals and one human to make it complete. The one that Raphael was searching for and hoped that was not in hibernation at the time was the second last left of her species and no one knew that she was even alive. She had the head of the woman whose spirit the creature imbibed for coming into form, the body of a lion, wings and talons of an eagle and the brains were an enigma to even the most modern technology that had been invented now a days.

In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a human, the haunches of a lion, and sometimes the wings of a bird. It is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer its riddle suffer a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they are killed and eaten by this ravenous monster. This deadly version of a sphinx appears in the myth and drama of Oedipus. Unlike the Greek sphinx, which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an androsphinx (Ancient Greek: Ανδρόσφιγξ)). In addition, the Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent, but having a ferocious strength similar to the malevolent Greek version and both were thought of as guardians often flanking the entrances to temples.

But Raphael knew from personal experience that the sphinxes were a race of creatures which were essentially female and no male sphinx had ever been born or been created. Now getting cursed or having to suffer her wrath for disturbing her sleep was something that was pretty common but as days had passed by people had come to know that she was a monster who just killed human beings for the sake of enjoyment but that was absolutely false. She was a creature who singularly embodied life and death in the same body and was a marvel of science with the psyche of the greatest philosophers humanity had ever produced. She knew everything about the past, could see the entire present times of humanity and had a vague idea of the future which she could envision clearly only in parts because the future was not set in stone, it was tied to the choices that anyone would make. But Raphael could not take that risk at all. He had to know what lay in that future for him and for the first hybrid of the world of the two most powerful races ever created. He could let anyone, even himself play with the lives, fates and futures of Snow White.

The doors of the cave opened and Raphael screamed in frustration. If ever there was magic powder, it was that iridescent glow of the butterfly wings. It casts a spell on these eyes so that his soul is brought into the moment with a fullness. Raphael would feel as if his thoughts were more tuned in somehow, as if he were a radio that's found a frequency that is both calmer and more intense all at once. That instant of seeing those petal-wings brings a serenity that held him as if in some universal camera flash.

That was her game, she did not give you the physical tasks which some time or other someone would come and go over and win all of them just by the capacity of brute strength and skill but she gave and created tasks which were supposed to play with your mind and then keep you trapped inside them only because of the marvel in them. It was not possible for anyone to see the dreams with their conscious minds and the entire world of dreams was a veritable labyrinth of beauty and nightmares at the same time because it was a world which was full of paradoxes. But Raphael did not let his eyes settle down on the wings of the Hypnaphilion. He was once rescued by Gabriella but it would not be every time that she would be able to come back from the land of dead in order to wake him up from this subconscious world.

Raphael ducked from under the wings of the Hypnaphilion not allowing the dusts to settle on his face or his body trapping him and he moved on forward towards a wall of beautiful vines which were one of the most poisonous plants known in Hell. He had no idea that they could take root on the soil of Earth and then grow such viciously but then the sphinx might have done some kind of genetic enhancement in the plants making them possible to grow in such soil and climatic conditions.

This was another test which he needed to cross and probably after that he would be able to see the one that he sought. The mysterious creature who guarded the doors of Death. Raphael stood before the wall of vines and though that if he should cut across them like a Gordian knot but then that might do more harm than being out of the box. It was a psychological game and he needed to figure out what the sphinx was thinking when she had placed this wall in position. It would have taken eons of years for this wall to have taken this consistency and thickness. While Raphael admired the wall of vines suddenly he recalled something that Gabriella had told him some time earlier.

She had told him that Raphael never had been very good at games and that was the only thing which she had said which was out of place in that entire context. But probably that was not the case, maybe she was giving him a clue that he was not good at games meaning he needed to find out the way in which he could cross this inpenetratable wall of vines without being a part of the entire game that was being played. Raphael’s extremely sensitive nose and ears told him that there were a lot of creatures who were moving around on the other side of the wall which meant that they had been able to cross the same wall without being killed. So what was that exactly which made him impervious to this death trap?

And realization dawned on him. What would be the perfect paradox in a scientific creation? And the answer was clear to him as day, Faith. It was faith that made the common people and scientists different from each other. If he had to cross this wall then he needed to take a leap of faith. Because without having faith in what he was going to do he was surely going to suffer since he was an immortal he would not be dead but he would be in considerable pain for quite some time. But that was the risk that he had to take here. Normally ivy did not have thorns but this particular species of ivy had thorns which were oozing out poison and Raphael was gagging at the putrid smell they were emitting. He did not think any further, he closed his eyes and pricked his middle finger on the thorn and lo, the vines moved away and shifted apart like a flowery bough to give way to him forward.

He entered the path marveling at the genius idea of Gabriella. She always had the brains in the pair of them and he had the brawns as usual.

He looked ahead to find one of the most and legendarily beautiful faces looking at him with sleepy eyes and yawning out loud covering her face with the back of her paw which was a very feminine gesture. To normal people the figure of the sphinx would be grotesque but there was really nothing more beautiful than her. After all she was…..

“My apologies Cleopatra, if I disturbed your rest,” said Raphael looking at the raven haired beauty who had been the death of the most famous men in history.

“Ah!! Raphael, I was expecting your presence from few days earlier itself, just that I did not know that you would be able to cross all of the hurdles so easily. So are you ready for the final one? So that you can embark on your quest?” asked Cleopatra, after whom the sisters of Ptolemy and Queens of Egypt were named.

“I am not here on a quest Cleopatra,” said Raphael looking at Cleopatra who was now shifting from her position at the unusual answer she received.

“Ah…you are seeking something far more valuable. You are seeking insight Prince. You are at crossroads and you are unsure about your future for the first time in your life and you should be veritably so after all this is the first time that this is going to happen in the history of Earth and Universe,” said Cleopatra with an enigmatic smile which some people would also refer to as mysterious even.

“You know Cleo, I hate riddles. I always have. Why is it that it always have to be riddles with you?” asked Raphael with grunt of frustration.

“You are wrong in thinking that that you are not on a quest. Your quest had begun that fateful night you brought that auburn haired assassin to your abode. You are destined for her just like she is destined for you but it is not going to be easy at all Prince Raphael. She is dangerous and she does not know that she which makes it even more dangerous than it seems at the moment. And you are not going to be the only man in her life,” said Cleopatra as she looked at somewhere distant and not at Raphael.

“And what does that mean?” asked Raphael, a scowl on his face.

“Well I have come a far way from riddles now Prince. Life gives you riddles which are far more difficult and interesting than the ones I create. Moreover you are not human so the same rules do not apply to you,” said the sphinx with a haughty look on her face as if she had been able to create something very complex for the man standing before her.

“If you consider that I cannot solve this one then you are highly mistaken Cleopatra. I did solve the last one as well and I will no doubt solve this one whatever it might be,” said Raphael proudly but the next sentence took away whatever pride he had left.

“I knew that it was Gabriella, and I knew that today also it was her. I like her extremely well to punish her but I am not going to accept any more transgressions on your part Prince Raphael. You may leave my abode now,” said the sphinx, menace clear in her voice.

Raphael nodded meekly like a berated school boy and left her cave of death traps and wonders to journey back home.