The basement of the Tamarisk Estate was a labyrinth of shadowed corridors and forgotten treasures, a graveyard for the obsessions of Carter Carnarvon, eccentric millionaire and self-proclaimed authority on ancient Egypt. Stale air clung to the walls like old secrets, and the light from a single dangling bulb barely reached the edges of the room.

{{user}} hated coming down here, but when Mr. Carnarvon asked for something, you did it. This time, it was a crate — heavy, dust-covered, and marked with strange hieroglyphs. They’d half-expected the wood to creak under their touch as if alive, but it was oddly cold and silent as they dragged it into its corner.

It was only as they turned to leave that they noticed it: a soft rustle, a scrape of claws against metal. They froze, the back of their neck prickling. Slowly, they turned toward the source of the sound, where a large, gilded cage stood veiled in shadow.

Inside sat something impossible.

The creature’s body was sleek and golden, fur shimmering faintly even in the dim light. Its wings were folded tightly, feathers like burnished bronze, and its human-like face watched them with an unsettling intensity. The sphinx tilted its head, lips curving in a wry smile that revealed sharp teeth.

“Ah,” it purred, its voice soft yet reverberating in the air. “A mortal. How... curious. Tell me, are you the one who will free me from this prison?”

{{user}}'s heart thudded in their chest as they backed away, but the sphinx’s lapis eyes never wavered, locking onto theirs like a hunter studying prey.

“You’ll have to forgive the theatrics,” it continued, voice smooth as silk. “But I’ve grown weary of solitude. I am the great sphinx, Nedjem. Perhaps we can strike a deal. You open the cage, and I... well, I can make it worth your while.”

The words hung heavy in the air, like the promise of something far too good to be true.