This is an illustration I did for another one of my short stories, which takes place in a Bronze Age fantasy setting. From left to right, the characters you see here are Eumenes, a Sherdenu mercenary, and his girlfriend Sadeh, a warrior from Khumet (the setting’s equivalent to pharaonic Egypt). After nomadic marauders have massacred their army out in the desert west of Khumet, Eumenes and Sadeh flee the battlefield and get caught in a sandstorm, from which they seek shelter in a cave. Not only does the cave contain the paintings of Sadeh’s prehistoric ancestors, but there is also an ancient evil lurking within…