The armored woman was named Jesgil, and had her own trustworthy companion. Gale did not think it strange to give weapons names, after all it must be an honor to entrust a title upon it. The white-haired woman was called Vinsue, and now they were all introduced to each other. Vinsue chose to lead the way, and she had no objections. Perhaps she was a seer, and had a vision of the paths beforehand. As they walked, Sidra was looking at the hieroglyphs on the walls. "Tch, these are just florid lines of flattery towards a single being. Be thankful you can't read them. There's a strong bias in its contents." "Why is that Sidra?" The girl asked. The sphinx tread lightly behind her, as the phoenix went before Gale. Sidra's arcane power and physical might made it more prudent to travel in this formation.

"Take a look, and observe. The painted murals all show countless figures bowing down to a large one standing behind a pyramid. And in each one this singular figure is the main focus regardless the scene depicted. There is only one ruler being worshiped here, and no doubt that is the owner of this temple–or should I say, mass grave of risen dead."

There was clear disdain and scorn in the sphinx's voice. She did not give away if she  knew the  deity this place belonged to, but her opinion of him was clear. Gale began to walk more slowly, looking at the ground for anything strange. She saw a bright green beetle skitter by, and her eyes followed it in wonder. Then she saw another one, and another… "These jewel beetles must like this place very much. Do you think their homes are nearby?" Her innocent question preceded the fact that the beetles were now congregating on them as they walked down the passage, and didn't look like they were acting as normal insects should.

When the party was ready to leave, Jesgil once again performed her chant as she picked up the bottle once more just to be ready to blast out another wave of ice breath to freeze their pursuers, turning the mummies up front into a wall to halt the ones that linger behind. Giving her performance a simple smile, the maid was quick to run up from behind to ensure she was still with them, making sure she also took the right path.

As Sidra spoke about the engravings on the wall, she could not help but look up and admire the proud sphinx. Even if she did not speak of riddles every time (which most people actually expected), she could still feel a bit of proudness from her own abilities. This made her think about something real fast. Sure, she got that small figure from the god himself, but not once did she think about seeing about summoning it herself… Well, what better time than now since all they were doing was walking down a corridor.

"Awaken, my blood, and grant me your gear," she chanted in dragon tongue, not being shy or hiding the matter of fact. "Give to me the object that I currently desire." Holding out her hand as the formation of scales pressed from under her skin and nails shifted to more like talons, she called forth the small idol of a sphinx herself, her hand working its way back to normal once the item was retrieved. "Now how do I awaken you?" she used to herself, looking around before seeing a movable wheel underneath with a broken image because of it. Of course it would be some type of puzzle. A really easy one, but one nonetheless. Giving the wheel a bit of a spin, she aligned the parts to forge Adraejen's crest of an eye within a triangle before the object lit up, opening a gateway where yet another sphinx walked out of.

"Ah, well it if isn't little Sidra," was the first things that came out of her mouth. "I do hope you have not been bothering these humans too much."

Vinsue was not paying much attention to anything except the markings and the path ahead. But the tung of her kind being spoke was hard to miss. She stopped and looked back at the girl who spoke. A second sphinx was not a good idea. Sphinx are smart cats and cats are very territorial. And in this case hot headed. 

She did not say anything as she noticed the beatles start gathering."outch" she said as one bit her. "those are not jewel beetles like i have seen before." Sparks come from her skin as the bugs on her then poped and fell to the ground. A scratch came from her pack. 

She looked over her shoulder. "Aqua aura silvertail i told you to stay home." She formed a electric fild around them. "Toss the bugs at the wall and do not tuch one another. O an sarry fo anything the static does." She than turned. "Aqua shoulder now." She said and a foot long white Dragon than climed out of her bag and onto her shoulder.

Sidra's mouth turned at its corners as she heard a familiar voice, one she wasn't particularly keen on hearing again. "Nofre-ari…" Her lion's tail flicked in irritation, but their chance at conversation was cut off when the white-haired woman began to surround them in electricity. She then told them to throw the beetles at the wall of lightning. She scoffed at the idea. "Really, you tell us to take the insects and throw them while saying we shouldn't touch them. Just torch the little vermin. There's hundreds of them, a few deaths won't affect the population." Gale kept herself away from the beetles, but they were intent on coming at her. Finally she clasped her hands together and seemed to pray. At once, the air began to whirl around her, lifting the scarabs in a vortex. She then directed the dust devil to pick up any she saw, and flung them away. Taking care not to have them hit the field of electricity, she had to repeat her attempts.  

Asha recognized that Gale did not wish to hurt the insects, even though that sentiment wasn't reciprocated. However Sidra was not so forgiving, and smacked a few with her paws. Soon they began to move away from the sphinx but were trapped by the lightning wall set up by Vinsue. Gale then saw a small curious creature emerge from Vinsue's bag. It was the most interesting lizard she had ever seen, exotic compared to the desert gilas found resting beneath rocks. "Oh…you brought a little friend. Could you put down the wall of lightning? They don't seem like they want to bite us anymore." The girl pointed at the scarabs trying to find a safe exit. She felt sorry for them, watching them run back and forth only to find danger blocking their path.

It seemed they were in agreement that they did not like the beetles. However, it seemed no one was in agreement on how they should be handled. Vinsue wanted to electrocute them, Gale wanted to disorient and cause them to scatter, and the two sphinxes had no real issue squishing them under their paws as if they had their own personal vendetta against them. This, in turned, scared them away into the electrical wall to, once again, electrocute them.

Jesgil's answer to all this was freezing them into ice cubes, forcing the scales to push under her skin at her throat and mouth before encasing them in icy shell with her breath alone. When there was enough of a pause between the wave of insects, the Draconian felt no shame in picking one up and looking them over. "You know, when you can look at them this close, they are a bit cute. See?" she told them, holding the frozen bug between them for the two to examine. Who knows, maybe in their frozen prison they could see if there was anything wrong with them in the first place.

"I do not think handling them in such a way is a smart idea," Nofre-ari was quick to remark.

"Oh, don't be silly, Tharn. There is enough ice to prevent them from moving."

"…" There was a bit of a pause and stare from the Sphinx. "Please forgive my rudeness. but my name is Nofre-ari. A name I have held for many–"

"Tharn," Jesgil was quick to interrupt, smiling at the massive sphinx.

"No, Nofre–"

"Tharn." She was quick to enforce this point, causing the sphinx to pause once more.

"Very well. I shall accept the title of Tharn, but only by you. After all, you have proven your worth to Lord Adraejen himself, meaning I shall trust your judgement."

"Sidra i sead not to tuch eatchother because mammals and static makes for some painful light. The beetles on you need to die and throwing them off will not effect us with the light." Great now she was explaining herself to a sphinx who also wanted the things dead. However Gale did not want to harm the things. Upon request Vinsue neutralised the wall of electricity. "This stow away is aqua the offspring of electricity and earth. A dragon who still has a lot to learn." 

"Cute Tharn" aqua said as she hopped down grabbed a fried bug and climed back to her spot. Vinsue thought it was funny but corrected the young anyways. "No, Aqua your holding a bug and the big cat is called Nofre-ari." She knew how getting a new name felt and did not like it. Aqua only tilted her head than started to pill the bug like one would a banana. One wing than the other than the inner wings than started to eat it like a cookie. As vinsue walked.

"Well i may not know the riddles of the aria but that looks like a trap. One of you sphinx are up." She said as she stopped. An ovious change in the floor was just ahead. 

Gale was surprised at Vinsue's words. "A dragon? I did not know they could be so small. I always thought them to be large, like a building or a mountain. The books always portrayed them so." The little dragon then spoke, repeating words like a parrot. It was amusing and left the girl rapt in attention. Meanwhile Sidra snickered as she saw her sister quarrel with her companion. "Care to lend your talents to the group, Tharn?" It was clear she was enjoying pressing the other sphinx's buttons. Though as she was just teasing, Sidra had no intention of running headlong into some trapped hallway at the white-haired woman's behest. And naturally Nofre-ari wouldn't either. Sphinxes did not take orders, they merely obliged. That was how they were. Perhaps it was the pride of a lion that made them behave so.

"I will go. Allow me to fly ahead, and I will return to tell you what I see." The phoenix spread her wings and alighted from her human companion's shoulders, flying down the corridor. Observing the floor tiles from above, she noted that they were not even. In some places it appeared to be loose, and there were slits in the walls. Circling back, Asha brought back her report. "There are traps hidden in the walls as well as the floor. Take care when you tread upon the ground, for I am certain a misstep will trigger the traps along the sides." Sidra gave a low growl of distaste. "Dart traps, I presume. Pesky little things. And they made sure to place them so you're given a split-second notice before getting turned into a pincushion?" "They are evenly spaced along the sides, and indeed there is little room to move." Asha confirmed. "Why am I not surprised?" The sphinx muttered. "Typical for a tomb of this caliber. It's a traditional one along with the wall-pikes."

Listening, Gale asked them both: "What shall we do then?" They both went silent as they thought of an appropriate answer. Meanwhile, Sidra was slyly eyeing Jesgil. "Perhaps…we should simply prevent the darts from leaving their resting places? We won't have to walk on eggshells that way. Wind or electricity won't be much use against projectiles in close-quarters, so why not freeze the openings?"

Nofre-ari was about to bark down on the whelp about the name, but found herself stopping. After all, it was still a hatching. It knew no better. Sidra, however, she felt no shame on placing a paw on her head and pushing it downwards towards the floor. "Look here, Sidra. I do not know how you came to know Miss Gale, as it is probably nothing compared to being a gift from Lord Adraejen for proving her talents to the world. That means Lord Adraejen entrusted me with protecting the future of this gifted mage. That gives her some freedoms. You, however, should still treat as the bigger sister. Understood?"

"Now Tharn, no rough playing. At least not in such a tight corridor. I would rather not have anyone get crushed in here." There was a pause with the sphinx and Jesgil's smile before stepping off of the other Sphinx. "Good.  Now let's get along with until we find ourselves away from this turmoil." A simple nod from Nofre-ari was all she needed. And enough of a distraction for the phoenix to scout out the next region that screamed itself of a trap.

As the group discussed how to handle such a trap, Sidra offered Jesgil's aid in the matter. "Me?" she asked, frozen beetle still in hand before realizing what she meant. "For such a room, it will be exhausting…" Jesgil stated before giving a bow. "However, if it what you need, I shall aid."

As she stepped towards the edge of the room, she chanted in dragontongue once more, causing more of her face and neck to shift with underscales and a thicker mouth before breathing out a jet of cold air, again holding onto her wristband to help amplify its strength, switching to the other edge again and again until both ends having pretty solid chunks of ice. Then, with her hands getting the underscale and talons, she took hold of both chunks and formed them to her own will, rolling them out like sheets along the wall, pressing the ice into as many caverns as she could.

By this point, she was panting with exhaustion, ice still attached to her breath before bravely stepping into the hallway itself. Though she remained careful with her footing, the sinking footstep caused her heart to race as the hall echoed with a cracking of ice…

It worked… For now, at least.

"She is just a few weeks old and like everything else we start out small." She said as she awaited the return of the fire bird to come back.

"Not a bad idea to use the ice." Vinsue could thrive in the heat but in the cold she was as much use as an hibernating bear. She wondered if the heat was effecting the ice girl in a similar way. The timpiture would drop as vinsue drew the heat from the air into her. One to keep her worm and second to help the ice not melt. She was impressed by the skill jesgil had at the ice breath and control.

She was slow to step on the ice after being satisfied it would hold, she started walking slowly across. "So you two are siblings. Now thats cute." She said at the two sphinx. Than looked at jesgil. "So are you a full blood or part. And i must say i am impressed. I have never seen anyone control ice like that?" 

They all passed through the trap-filled hall carefully. Sidra and Asha both could keep themselves off the ground long enough, while Gale gathered the wind beneath her feet to move more quickly. The end of the hall led to another chamber, this one with four different pathways. Above each door was a hieroglyph, and the green-fire torches cast a sickly light across the sandstone walls.So far no treasure, but naturally it shouldn't be this easy. The new chamber appeared to lack any obvious signs of traps. No pressure plates, holes in the walls, or spiked ceiling. Strange dog-headed jars laid scattered around amidst the old pottery and stone artifacts.

Looking around, Gale wondered what the strange symbols above the doors meant. "Are we to use the same method of choice to select where we should go? There are three paths now, and one leads back through the hall of ice." On the walls were murals of the ancient god Sardon striking down others, and the faces of some were scratched out with impunity. One mural had the image of a city with a pyramid in the background. Beneath it were masses of people kneeling and worshiping, while another image next to it showed a woman tied to a pyre. People dressed in clothes different from those drawn on normal figures were standing around the pyre, holding curved blades and striped wands. A grim reminder of how this madness all started.