The Serpent's Shadow (The Kane Chronicles, Book Three)

by Rick Riordan

  That was the first unsurprising thing I’d heard all day.

  The glowing lights extended the boat’s gangplank, and we climbed aboard for what might be the last sunrise in history.

  S A D I E

  17. Brooklyn House Goes to War

  I WAS SORRY TO LEAVE THE LAND OF DEMONS.

  [Yes, Carter, I’m quite serious.]

  After all, I’d had a rather successful visit there. I’d saved Zia and my brother from that horrid ghost Setne. I’d captured the serpent’s shadow. I’d witnessed the Charge of the Old Folks’ Brigade in all its glory, and most of all, I’d been reunited with Bes. Why wouldn’t I have fond memories of the place? I might even take a beach holiday there someday, rent a cabana on the Sea of Chaos. Why not?

  The flurry of activity also distracted me from less pleasant thoughts. But once we arrived at the riverbank and I had a few moments to breathe, I started thinking about how I’d learned the spell to rescue Bes’s shadow. My elation turned to despair.

  Walt—oh, Walt. What had he done?

  I remembered how lifeless and cold he’d been, cradled in my arms amid the mud-brick ruins. Then suddenly he had opened his eyes and gasped.

  Look, he’d said to me.

  On the surface, I’d seen Walt as I’d always known him. But in the Duat…the boy god Anubis shimmered, his ghost-gray aura sustaining Walt’s life.

  Still me, they had said in unison. Their double voice had made my skin tingle.

  I’ll meet you at sunrise, they had promised, at the First Nome, if you’re sure you don’t hate me.

  Did I hate him? Or was it them? Gods of Egypt, I wasn’t even sure what to call him anymore! I certainly didn’t know how I felt, or if I wanted to see him again.

  I tried to put those thoughts aside. We still needed to defeat Apophis. Even with his captured shadow, there was no guarantee we would succeed in casting the spell. I doubted Apophis would stand idly by while we tried to obliterate him from the universe. And it was entirely possible that the execration would require more magic than Carter and I had, combined. If we burned up, my dilemma with Walt would hardly be a problem.

  Nevertheless, I couldn’t stop thinking about him/them—the way their warm brown eyes merged together so perfectly, and how natural Anubis’s smile looked on Walt’s face.

  Argh! This was not helpful.

  We climbed aboard the sun barque—Carter, Zia, Bes, and me. I was relieved beyond words that my favorite dwarf would be accompanying us to our final battle. I needed a reliably ugly god in my life right now.

  At the bow, our old enemy Sobek regarded me with a crocodile smile, which I suppose was the only kind of smile he had. “So…the little Kane children have returned.”

  “So,” I snapped, “the crocodile god wants his teeth kicked in.”

  Sobek threw back his scaly green head and laughed. “Well said, girl! You have iron in your bones.”

  I suppose that was meant as a compliment. I chose to sneer at him and turn away.

  Sobek only respected strength. In our first encounter, he had drowned Carter in the Rio Grande and smacked me across the Texas-Mexico border. We hadn’t got much chummier since. From what I’d heard, he had only agreed to join our side because Horus and Isis had threatened him with extreme bodily harm. That didn’t say much about his loyalty.

  The glowing crew orbs fluttered around me, humming in my mind—little happy greetings of: Sadie. Sadie. Sadie. Once upon a time, they had also wanted to kill me; but since I’d awakened their old master Ra, they’d become quite friendly.

  “Yes, hullo, boys,” I muttered. “Lovely to see you. Excuse me.”

  I followed Carter and Zia to the fiery throne. Ra gave us a toothless grin. He was still as old and wrinkly as ever, but something seemed different about his eyes. Before, his gaze had always slid over me as if I were part of the scenery. Now, he actually focused on my face.

  He held out a plate of macaroons and chocolate biscuits, which were a bit melted from the heat of his throne. “Cookies? Wheee!”

  “Uh, thanks.” Carter took a macaroon.

  Naturally, I opted for the chocolate. I hadn’t eaten a proper meal since we’d left our father’s court.

  Ra set down the platter and wobbled to his feet. Bes tried to help, but Ra waved him off. He tottered toward Zia.

  “Zia,” he warbled happily, as if singing a nursery rhyme. “Zia, Zia, Zia.”

  With a jolt, I realized it was the first time I’d heard him use her actual name.

  He reached out to touch her scarab amulet. Zia backed away nervously. She glanced at Carter for reassurance.

  “It’s okay,” Carter promised.

  She took a deep breath. She unclasped her necklace and pressed it into the old man’s hands. A warm glow expanded from the scarab, enveloping both Zia and Ra in a brilliant golden light.

  “Good, good,” Ra said. “Good…”

  I expected the old god to get better. Instead, he began to crumble.

  It was one of the most alarming things I’d seen in a very alarming day. First his ears fell off and melted to dust. Then his skin started turning to sand.

  “What’s happening?” I cried. “Shouldn’t we do something?”

  Carter’s eyes widened with horror. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

  Ra’s smiling face dissolved. His arms and legs cracked apart like a desiccated sand sculpture. His particles scattered across the River of Night.

  Bes grunted. “That was fast.” He didn’t seem particularly shocked. “Usually it takes longer.”

  I stared at him. “You’ve seen this before?”

  Bes gave me a crooked grin. “Hey, I took my turns working on the sun barque in the old days. We’ve all seen Ra go through his cycle. But it’s been a long, long time. Look.”

  He pointed at Zia.

  The scarab had disappeared from her hands, but golden light still radiated around her like a full-body halo. She turned toward me with a brilliant smile. I’d never seen her so at ease, so pleased.

  “I see now.” Her voice was much richer, a chorus of tones descending in octaves through the Duat. “It’s all about balance, isn’t it? My thoughts and his. Or is it mine and hers…?”

  She laughed like a child on her first bike ride. “Rebirth, at last! You were right, Sadie and Carter! After so many eons in the darkness, I am finally reborn through Zia’s compassion. I’d forgot what it is like to be young and powerful.”

  Carter stepped back. I couldn’t blame him. The memory of Walt and Anubis merging was still fresh in my mind, so I had a sense what Carter was feeling; it was more than a little creepy hearing Zia describe herself in the third person.

  I lowered my vision deeper into the Duat. In Zia’s place stood a tall man in leather and bronze armor. In some ways, he still looked like Ra. He was still bald. His face was still wrinkled and weathered with age, and he had the same kindly smile (only with teeth). Now, though, his posture was straight. His body rippled with muscles. His skin glowed like molten gold. He was the world’s buffest, most golden grandpa.

  Bes knelt. “My lord Ra.”

  “Ah, my small friend.” Ra ruffled the dwarf god’s hair. “Rise! It’s good to see you.”

  At the bow, Sobek came to attention, holding his long iron staff like a rifle. “Lord Ra! I knew you would return.”

  Ra chuckled. “Sobek, you old reptile. You would snap me up for dinner if you thought you could get away with it. Horus and Isis kept you in line?”

  Sobek cleared his throat. “As you say, my king.” He shrugged. “I can’t help my nature.”

  “No matter,” Ra said. “We’ll need your strength soon enough. Are we approaching sunrise?”

  “Yes, my king.” Sobek pointed ahead of us.

  I saw light at the end of the tunnel—literally. As we neared the end of the Duat, the River of Night widened. The exit gates stood about a kilometer ahead, flanked by statues of the sun god. Past that, daylight glowed. The river turned to clouds and p
oured into the morning sky.

  “Very good,” Ra said. “Steer us to Giza, Lord Sobek.”

  “Yes, my king.” The croc god thrust his iron staff into the water, poling us along like a gondolier.

  Carter still hadn’t moved. The poor boy stared at the sun god with a mixture of fascination and shock.

  “Carter Kane,” Ra said with affection, “I know this is difficult for you, but Zia cares for you greatly. Nothing about her feelings has changed.”

  I coughed. “Ah…request? Please don’t kiss him.”

  Ra laughed. His image rippled, and I saw Zia in front of me again.

  “It’s all right, Sadie,” she promised. “Now would not be the time.”

  Carter turned awkwardly. “Um…I’ll just…be over there.” He bumped into the mast, then staggered toward the stern of the boat.

  Zia knit her brow in concern. “Sadie, go take care of him, will you? We’ll be reaching the mortal world soon. I must stay vigilant.”

  For once, I didn’t argue. I went to check on my brother.

  He was sitting by the tiller in crash position, his head between his knees.

  “All right?” I asked. Stupid question, I know.

  “She’s an old man,” he muttered. “The girl I like is a buff old man with a voice deeper than mine. I kissed her on the beach, and now…”

  I sat next to him. The glowing orbs fluttered around us in excitement as the ship approached the daylight.

  “Kissed her, eh?” I said. “Details, please.”

  I thought he might feel better if I could get him talking. I’m not sure if it worked, but at least it got his head out from between his knees. He told me about his journey with Zia through the serapeum, and the destruction of the Egyptian Queen.

  Ra—I mean Zia—stood at the bow between Sobek and Bes, very carefully not looking back at us.

  “So you told her it was all right,” I summed up. “You encouraged her to help Ra. And now you’re having second thoughts.”

  “Do you blame me?” he asked.

  “We’ve both hosted gods ourselves,” I said. “It doesn’t have to be permanent. And she’s still Zia. Besides, we’re heading into battle. If we don’t survive, do you want to spend your last few hours pushing her away?”

  He studied my expression. “What happened to Walt?”

  Ah…touché. At times, it seemed that Carter knew my secret name as well as I knew his.

  “I…I don’t know exactly. He’s alive, but only because—”

  “He’s hosting Anubis,” Carter finished.

  “You knew?”

  He shook his head. “Not until I saw that look on your face. But it makes sense. Walt has a knack for…whatever it is. That gray obliteration touch. Death magic.”

  I couldn’t answer. I’d come back here to comfort Carter and reassure him that everything would be all right. Now, somehow, he’d managed to turn the tables.

  He put his hand briefly on my knee. “This could work, sis. Anubis can keep Walt alive. Walt could live a normal life.”

  “You call that normal?”

  “Anubis has never had a human host. This is his chance to have an actual body, to be flesh and blood.”

  I shivered. “Carter, it isn’t like Zia’s situation. She can separate at any time.”

  “So let me get this straight,” Carter said. “The two guys you liked—one who was dying and one who was off-limits because he’s a god—are now one guy, who isn’t dying and isn’t off-limits. And you’re complaining.”

  “Don’t make me sound ridiculous!” I shouted. “I’m not ridiculous!”

  The three gods looked back at me. All right. Fine. I did sound ridiculous.

  “Look,” Carter said, “let’s agree to freak out about this later, okay? Assuming we don’t die.”

  I took a shaky breath. “Deal.”

  I helped my brother up. Together we joined the gods at the bow as the sun boat emerged from the Duat. The River of Night disappeared behind us, and we sailed across the clouds.

  The Egyptian landscape spread out red and gold and green in the dawn. To the west, sandstorms swirled across the desert. To the east, the Nile snaked its way through Cairo. Directly below us, at the edge of the city, three pyramids rose on the plains of Giza.

  Sobek struck his staff against the bow of the ship. He shouted like a herald: “At last, Ra has truly returned! Let his people rejoice! Let his throngs of worshippers assemble!”

  Perhaps Sobek said that as a formality, or to suck up to Ra, or possibly just to make the old sun god feel worse. Whatever the case, nobody down below was assembling. Definitely nobody was rejoicing.

  I’d seen this vista many times, but something was wrong. Fires burned across the city. The streets seemed strangely deserted. There were no tourists, no humans at all around the pyramids. I’d never seen Giza so empty.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked.

  Sobek hissed in disgust. “I should have known. The weak humans are in hiding, or scared away because of the unrest in Egypt. Apophis has planned this well. His chosen battleground will be clear of mortal annoyances.”

  I shivered. I’d heard about the troubles in Egypt lately, along with all the strange natural disasters, but I hadn’t thought of it as part of Apophis’s plan.

  If this was his chosen battleground…

  I focused more closely on the plains of Giza. Peering into the Duat, I realized the area wasn’t empty after all. Encircling the base of the Great Pyramid was an enormous serpent formed from a swirling tornado of red sand and darkness. His eyes were burning points of light. His fangs were forks of lightning. Wherever he touched, the desert boiled, and the pyramid itself shook with a horrible resonance. One of the oldest structures in human history was about to crumble.

  Even from high above, I could feel the presence of Apophis. He radiated panic and fear so strongly, I could sense the mortals across Cairo cowering in their homes, afraid to go out. The whole land of Egypt was holding its breath.

  As we watched, Apophis reared his massive cobra head. He struck at the desert floor, biting a house-sized crater in the sand. Then he recoiled as if he’d been stung, and hissed with anger. At first, I couldn’t tell what he was fighting. I called on Isis’s bird-of-prey sight and spotted a small lithe figure in a leopard-skin leotard, knives flashing in both hands as she leaped with inhuman agility and speed, striking at the serpent and evading his bite. All by herself, Bast was holding Apophis at bay.

  My mouth tasted like old pennies. “She’s alone. Where are the others?”

  “They await the pharaoh’s orders,” Ra said. “Chaos has left them divided and confused. They will not march to battle without a leader.”

  “Then lead them!” I demanded.

  The sun god turned. His form shimmered, and for a moment I saw Zia in front of me instead. I wondered if she would blast me to cinders. I had a feeling that would be quite easy for her now.

  “I will face my old enemy,” she said calmly, still with Ra’s voice. “I won’t let my loyal cat fight alone. Sobek, Bes—attend me.”

  “Yes, my king,” Sobek said.

  Bes cracked his knuckles. His chauffeur’s outfit vanished, replaced by only his Dwarf Pride Speedo. “Chaos…get ready to meet Ugly.”

  “Wait,” Carter said. “What about us? We’ve got the serpent’s shadow.”

  The ship was descending rapidly now, coming in for a landing just south of the pyramids.

  “First things first, Carter.” Zia pointed to the Great Sphinx, which stood about three hundred meters from the pyramids. “You and Sadie must help your uncle.”

  Between the Sphinx’s paws, a trail of smoke rose from a tunnel entrance. My heart missed a beat. Zia had once told us how that tunnel was sealed to keep archaeologists from finding their way into the First Nome. Obviously, the tunnel had been forced open.

  “The First Nome is about to fall,” Zia said. Her form shifted again, and it was the sun god standing before me. I really wished he/she/t
hey would make up their mind.

  “I will hold off Apophis as long as I can,” Ra said. “But if you don’t help your uncle and your friends immediately, there will be no one left to save. The House of Life will crumble.”

  I thought about poor Amos and our young initiates, surrounded by a mob of rebel magicians. We couldn’t let them be slaughtered.

  “She’s right,” I said. “Er, he’s right. Whichever.”

  Carter nodded reluctantly. “You’ll need these, Lord Ra.”

  He offered the sun god the crook and flail, but Ra shook his head. Or Zia shook her head. Gods of Egypt, this is confusing!

  “When I told you the gods waited for their pharaoh,” Ra said, “I meant you, Carter Kane, the Eye of Horus. I am here to fight my old enemy, not to assume the throne. That is your destiny. Unite the House of Life, rally the gods in my name. Never fear, I will hold Apophis until you come.”

  Carter stared at the crook and flail in his hands. He looked every bit as terrified as he had when Ra had crumbled to sand.

  I couldn’t blame him. Carter had just been ordered to assume the throne of creation and lead an army of magicians and gods into battle. A year ago, even six months ago, the idea of my brother’s being given that kind of responsibility would’ve horrified me as well.

  Strangely, I didn’t mind it now. Thinking of Carter as the pharaoh was actually comforting. I’m sure I’ll regret saying this, and I’m sure Carter will never let me forget it, but the truth was I’d been relying on my brother ever since we’d moved to Brooklyn House. I’d come to depend on his strength. I trusted him to make the right decisions, even when he didn’t trust himself. When I had learned his secret name, I’d seen one very clear trait woven into his character: leadership.

  “You’re ready,” I told him.

  “Indeed,” Ra agreed.

  Carter looked up, a bit stunned, but I suppose he could tell I wasn’t teasing him—not this time.

  Bes punched him in the shoulder. “’Course you’re ready, kid. Now, stop wasting time and go save your uncle!”

  Looking at Bes, I tried not to get teary-eyed. I’d already lost him once.