The Sphinx

I like to keep a dream journal on my phone and write down the most interesting things dreams I have. I wrote about going on an adventure through a pyramid in a desert and at some point, there were undead and a mummy and then the floor breaks to reveal that the pyramid and the Mummified pharaoh's tomb were built on top of a spacecraft and the real enemy was an alien or something. It got weird, but it made me want to write this. I hope you enjoy.

Deep in the Maddened Sun Desert, there is a pyramid. Imprisoned within it, there is a sphinx. From a time long passed, in a city forgotten and buried, she waits for adventurers to stumble upon her cage to take the holy sword from her. Once there was a sphinx that presided over a kingdom in the desert lands before the modern name. One day, the Sphinx was tasked with guarding a sword sent from above and giving it to a worthy soul to rule over the land and guide it into a permanent age of prosperity. Many men came before the Sphinx with their riches, hubris, guile, and might, but it meant nothing to the Sphinx and her infallible judgment, nor her divine will. Her purpose was the sword, and with every failure, she grew more bitter. One day, she was approached by a man of high standing. He had garnered the favor of the people and was backed by a group of powerful individuals. The masses regarded him as the closest thing to, if not the true leader of their land. If it were to be anyone, it would surely be him. He approached the Sphinx and asked for the sword, but he did not pass her test. She refused his request, despite his well-mannered appearance, strength, and favor of the people. His soul was not meant for the sword - at least not its hilt - as she would find. Instead, mages of an unknown creed appeared in the room with the man and the Sphinx. In unison, they performed a spell, creating a magic circle with strength tenfold. A spell that bound her to her own home and to never leave it. In an instant, her dwelling became her prison. Still with her sword, she waited. She waited for the next challenger, but there was no next challenger. Days indefinite had passed, and she thought years surely did too. The light of her sconces paled in comparison to the Sun, which she yearned to see again. The silence became deafening yet mind-numbing. She felt trapped not only physically, but mentally. She counted numbers mortals could never hope to reach in a lifetime, performed equations, sang the songs of the land and the arias of the heavens, but she felt herself starting to slip slowly into an insanity only isolation could create. Then, adventurers of strange fashions and languages started appearing. Hostile and befuddled, most died after provoking her wrath. As she pieced together different languages from her encounters, she had gathered that the culture of the lands had changed, that she became entombed in her dwelling, and none were permitted to enter. The truth was far sadder. There was no more kingdom. Only the desert sand remained, her monument - her prison - an iceberg in its sea. Barely standing the test of time for adventurers of a new age to find. The desert under a new name. That man who had her imprisoned had claimed authority and united the land under his rule, and he led it into the ground. Ask the Sphinx, and she'll tell you. "The meaning of his words escaped me then. I told him 'I will never give the sword to you, especially now that you have defiled my dwelling and imprisoned me here with your foul magic. How will you ever take claim of this land?!' His answer was... succinct. Almost chilling even. He told me, 'I won't need your sword.' I understand what he meant now. It had been so long since I had been approached for the sword that people must have forgotten what it looked like. Any magical sword would have done at that point. All it probably needed to do was glow." Indeed, it did. He made the mages construct a replica by memory using transmutation magic before leaving her temple. In her hallway, amidst the sound of her rage reverberating off the walls. Under his rule, her temple was turned into her tomb, and the murals along her hallways were remade to tell a different story. The art of her heavenly creation, her sage wisdom, and her divine purpose were erased. They were replaced with ones of her carnage and rage, which was true from a certain perspective, but mainly ones of warning for those who dared trespass. Through an exchange of information, she can learn about the events that transpired during her imprisonment. The prophecy she had been tasked with was broken a long time ago. Cheated out of her, her purpose was gone.

The end. THANK YOU.