Creature Feature: Sphinx Me Baby!

Creature Feature created by Michael is a feature that focuses on the wonderful world of fantasy, science fiction, and horror creatures. 

This week I decided to get a little creative with my post and give yall a short story of a wonderful Sphinx girl.

Ghizeh The Sphinx. 

She hurried to put on her dress, linen dyed red with amethyst jewels, and her crown with a small uraeus on the front and suns that surrounded her head. The dress would attract attention and hopefully gain her a suitor for she was near the age of betrothal. She knew this festival was to celebrate Aten, the sun disc God. The days were getting warmer so every year the Egyptians held a festival to celebrate the return of the heat. 

She came out of her tent and heard the drums and flutes. She saw gold and other metals. Many were sun-disc shaped and they were hung around the village. As she walked the peasants saw her and stopped to bow.

"Your Highness!" Or "Praa Sat" are the two things she mostly heard as she walked. The festival was beginning as the sun was almost at its peak. 

She entered the Great Temple of Aten. It was made of stone and bricks of dried mud. Many statues of former pharaohs and their wives surrounded the perimeter of the temple. She was given dates and figs and enjoyed the sweet nectar of the melons handed to her.

Nefertari entered the temple and the music and celebration were silenced. All the peasants kneeled as she walked to the center. Her husband, Amenhotep, entered shortly after her.  He wore a large helmet with a large uraeus at the center. They both stepped up on the platform as the sun blazed overhead. The peasants all waited in silence as all eyes peered at them. The temple had no roof so all could feel and see the sun. 

"Ahlan Wa Sahlan!!! Blessings from Aten, oh great sun that bears heat and warmth to us. Oh, bless our kingdom and our crops! Thank you oh Khonsu, oh Great Moon. You bring coolness and darkness to us, so that we may sleep and be renewed for Aten during the day! My beautiful and lovely Ghizeh is now at the age of adulthood. We have special guests from the family of Set with their here with their son Tutankhamun. We thank you for your presence and the journey you took to be with us today and we celebrate the 14^th festival of Aten. May he shine bright and long for us this year of Sol!”  Amenhotep's booming voice filled the temple as he spoke. Applause and music began again as the festival was now underway.

Ghizeh was very shy she saw Tutankhamun among his family and she was unsure of how to speak or greet him. Tutankhamun was in his traditional attire and came up to her. He was very young and was seemed to not know what to say to her as well.

“Greetings you are as beautiful and radiant as the sun is today.” Tutankhamun declared.

“Hi!” is all that Ghizeh was able to get out from her mouth. Her lips were unable to move, his eyes looked upon her dress.

“I really like the red. It is like the sun as when it sets down for the day. A really unique and appealing in color. You are very pretty and your eyes are a lovely shade of brown I have not seen before.”

Ghizeh began to try to speak again, but once again her mouth and lips were unable to operate correctly. She stuttered as she tried to get the words out, “Th…th..th..thankk yyoou.” What was wrong with her. She was usually able to talk, but for some reason around this boy she could not get the words out. She wanted to hide from him. Her heart felt like it was going faster and her breath was coming to her faster. She felt something inside her she could not quite explain or understand.

“Would you care to dance?” Tutankhamun said as the drum beats became more rapid and louder.

All she could do was nod as her tongue forgot how to make words anymore.  Tutankhamun began stomping his feet and dancing around her as all she could remember to do was clap her hands and stomp her feet. But her rhythm was all off. She was making a fool of herself.

“You can call me Tut if you want,” Tutankhamun said. “That’s what all my friends call me.”

“Tut,” was all she could echo like one of those strange birds she had seen before. She was usually more talkative than this. But she felt like everything she did or say was somehow wrong.

“Yeah Tut and do you go by Ghizeh?”

“Ghizeh?”

“Your name Ghizeh, is that what I shall call you.”

“Yes.” Is all she could manage to put out of her lips.

Tut looked again into her eyes. He put his hand out palm out and Ghizeh put her palm out.

“Come on Ghizeh, you are very pretty. Dance with me.”

So they began to dance as the day wore on. The heat was starting to be not as bad, a shadow seemed to come over the sun. Ghizeh looked up but no clouds seemed to be in the sky. What was the big black shadow that seemed to be coming over the sun in the middle of the day.

The wind began to pick up and the sand began to blow more. And then she began to hear chariots in the distance. No not today, of all the days not today.

Her dads face turned white as he also heard it the celebration and music came to an abrupt halt.

“Sound the horns!! Get the bows. All men report to the gate at once with bows and arrows!” Amenhotep yelled.

The village became engulfed in chaos. Women and children ran to tents as men began to grab bows and arrows from their tents. They became organized and ready in minutes as the great shadow began to grow farther over the sun.

The heat was less as the gates opened. Ghizeh saw as the gate opened. Arrows downed the men at the front. The horns blew as her father yelled, “For Aten!! ATTACK!!”

Tut was not old enough to go out and fight so he stood near Ghizeh in a protective stance near her.

“They will have to kill me to get to you princess,” Tut said.

A chariot broke through the gate as arrows started to down more men. Quickly one of the men in her village jumped on the chariot and fought hand to hand with the man. The chariot crashed into a statue.  

Ghizeh saw some kids in her village fall with arrows in their sides, chests. The cries and screams echoed around the temple. Then she felt her legs and body change shape. The pain was excruciating and the sky went black and the temperature dropped dramatically.

Her lower body turned into a lioness. Fur grew and she felt the strength in her legs, and she began to attack the invaders. She jumped from attacker to attacker with a strength and power she never knew. Her own village was in shock as Ghizeh became a sphinx and made the invaders quickly retreat. After the darkness went away and the sun came back Ghizeh turned back to normal.

Afterwards, the village began to build the big sphinx in Giza. You can see this sphinx today if you visit Giza.