Shaken, Lilith stood and looked up over her shoulder. The crystal trident was sitting securely in the keystone of the arch, as if it had never been touched. She closed her eyes, said a quick prayer to appease Poseidon, and thanked the Children of the Law of One for safe passage home. Then she opened her eyes and glanced around for her father. Lilith found him lying on the floor four strides away from where she’d found him earlier. He’d been dragged under the tapestry embroidered with the extensive fleet of ships leaving Atlantis in all different directions before the final destruction. His chest moved up and down, up and down with the rhythm of his breath. His eyes were shut.
“Father!” She rushed toward him.
Istulo stepped in front of Lilith. “He needs his rest.”
Istulo’s voice sounded hardened.
Lilith frowned. “What’s wrong, Istulo? And…and why did you lie to us about Mica?”
“Lie?” Istulo shrieked. Before Lilith knew what was happening, she felt the sharp sting of a slap against her cheek.
She flinched and clutched the side of her face. Her blue eyes watered.
“Oh…my…Ra! What was that for?” She-Aba yelled, jumping to her feet. She adjusted her spotted animal cape around her shoulders.
Istulo lowered her eyes to She-Aba’s feet. “I see you’ve lost your shoes, She-Aba. Pity. They were stunning.”
She-Aba froze. She inclined her head. “How…how could you possibly know about—”
“Zurumu,” Mica said, his voice catching in his throat. “Y-You’re really Zurumu.” His face turned ashen.
“Very astute, Mica.” Istulo clapped. “The potion in the satchel you delivered to me in Atlantis not only helped transformed me into a snake-hybrid, but also acted as catalyst to slow down the aging process.”
“Y-You tricked me, used me,” Mica stammered. “You made me believe through the interpretation of my life seal that Lilith and I were to be mortal enemies.” He grasped his life seal hanging from the thong around his neck and snapped it off. “This…this was never to be my lifetime occupation!”
“It was your choice to believe the words I fed you,” Istulo said, cackling. “Live with it.”
Lilith gasped. “That’s why you sent Mica back through the seventh Arch of Atlantis. To find you, the younger you, so that he could bring you the Book of Mysteries.”
“Yes,” Istulo replied, sneering. “That book was to be my redemption. The day you came to the Temple Beautiful with Tau, I recognized you at once and knew who you were. That’s when everything became clear, and I saw my chance to change the prophecy and the fate of Atlantis.”
“But…how did you find the Book of Mysteries?” She-Aba asked.
“I came across the book, by accident, in a forbidden section of the Temple of Sacrifice. And as you know by now, She-Aba, there are no accidents.” Istulo’s upper lip curled. “Scribed inside it, I found everything that would have given me my life back. Longevity potions. Elixirs. Incantations. Spells. Charms. Rituals. Secrets. I knew if I had a powerful book like that in my possession while I lived in Atlantis, I would have changed things. I would have overthrown Belial. I would have ruled Atlantis. Yet, I am still here, still unchanged.”
“Atlantis still would have blown up, still would have sank into the ocean!” Lilith seethed, waving her hands in the air. “Don’t you see? Belial and his self-centered evil followers created too much destruction and chaos through their black magic and terrible deeds that they ultimately sealed Atlantis’s fate.”
“My heart bleeds for Atlantis and those pitiful victims,” Istulo replied mockingly. She tapped her sagging chest. “I was abandoned by my people. They got what they deserved.”
“And I was abandoned by you!” Mica yelled, shaking his life seal at Istulo. “I…I believed in you, trusted you. But…but now I see that your heart is blacker than Belial’s. You deserved the life you created!”
“And now you’ll have to live with your choices, Istulo!” Tau said defiantly. “Guess that makes you a creature of nature like the serqet that stung me.”
“Tau’s right,” Lilith said, curling her fingernails into her palms. “I let you get under my skin and poison my mind once, and I’ll never let you or anyone else like you do it again!”
“And when I tell my father, who sits on the high counsel, about this,” She-Aba said, wagging a finger, “you’ll be submitted to the Temple of Sacrifice for observation.”
Istulo’s top lip curled back, revealing two yellow fangs. “I think not, She-Aba.”
The high priestess raised her arms and clapped nine times while chanting in the language of the shadows. Then she tore off her robe, exposing a round, faded puncture mark at the base of her neck. White scales covered her body. Istulo heaved forward and her legs entwined to form a long serpent’s tail. Both her arms shortened to half their original size. She hissed, as her facial features gyrated long enough to sculpt into a cobra’s pointed face and round hood. Her beady, cold eyes glared at Lilith, then at Mica.
“Thisss moment hasss kept me from going insssane,” Istulo hissed, then charged them.
Lilith stumbled back. She clutched her chest. No shoe of She-Aba’s would bring this vengeful high priestess down. Lilith’s life seal settled in her palm. The inside of her mouth tasted like sand. All she could think about was how Shu-Tu’s calming voice gave her strength, and how Etan’s words gave her wisdom, and how the law of circular motion affected everything and everyone. Go. Banish evil. Lilith took a chance, yanked the life seal from her neck, and, with the force of Poseidon, hurled it at Istulo.
Mica pitched his life seal at Istulo in the same moment. “Go choke on your lies, you poisonous hag!” he yelled with renewed strength.
The two life seals intertwined in mid-air, like a pair of mating eagles dancing in the sky. Istulo snapped at Lilith and Mica’s spiraling life seals and swallowed them in one bite. She let out a visceral hiss, then balked and shook her cobra head, twisting and writhing and coughing as if some madness had claimed her body. Istulo started to choke, shudder, and convulse. Her small, useless arms were too short to go into her mouth to remove the small, round life seals stuck in her throat. Gasping, Istulo’s eyes clouded over and rolled toward the back of her bulbous skull. She hissed out a terrible rattle before crashing to the floor.
Istulo’s forked tongue flicked through the air until it fell back into her gaping reptilian mouth. Her chest heaved, small gnarled hands clawed at the floor while Istulo desperately tried to steal a breath. The long serpent tail straightened, and then lay still. Her cobra head fell to one side as death claimed the old banished high priestess once known as Zurumu. Then, with the same forces of nature that had broken apart Atlantis, her old body trembled and vibrated and burned until all that was left of Istulo was a pile of ash on the floor and her orichalcum headband.
Tau whistled. “That’s one way of getting back all that you’ve been giving out.”
“Now Istulo’s got plenty of time to go meditate on those life seals,” She-Aba added.
A cough and sputter made Lilith avert her eyes from Istulo’s remains on the floor toward her father, now sitting up on the floor. His golden hair was tousled, but his color had returned. She smiled and ran to him with open arms. “Father! You’re healed!”
She nuzzled his beard, smelling the pungent incense lingering there. At least Istulo had not wanted him dead. She had been after Lilith and her friends all along. She hugged her father fiercely.
“W-What happened, Lilith? I don’t remember anything past saying good-night to you and She-Aba.”
Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and sighed. She patted down his beard and said, “It’s a long story, Father. I…I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
Suddenly, the door to the Golden Serpent’s Room swung open. Standing in the doorway was the old man Lilith had bumped into i
n the Temple Beautiful. His wild white hair still stuck out like he’d been in one-too-many dust storms. He stiffly walked into the room using his lavishly decorated golden walking stick for support. His deep blue robe swished and sparkled with iridescence and majesty. Behind him loomed two tall soldiers wearing gold breast plates over crisp linen tunics and an old, thin woman with long white hair. She wore a silver headband and robe—the colors of a proficient healer from the Temple of Sacrifice. On her left arm dangled a seer’s orichalcum snake bracelet.
“W-W-Who are you?” She-Aba stammered.
The wizen man acknowledged her with a polite nod. “I am the one called Duo-She-Dui.”
She-Aba’s eyes widened. She dropped to one knee and bowed. So did Tau and Mica.
Duo-She-Dui motioned for one of the guards to pass him an old snake-skin satchel beaten by time. He reached into it and pulled out a beautiful high-heel shoe decorated with strips of orichalcum and colored gems. Lilith’s eyes widened. It was an exact replica of She-Aba’s shoe.
“I believe this belongs to you, She-Aba,” the old man said, grinning. “You, and your friends, may call me Ajax-ol.”
Sweat slithered down the length of Lilith’s face while she anxiously waited for the grand unveiling of the Guardian of the Sands. Carved from a single sandstone knoll, this monument had been years in the making. Speculation circled the air as to what its purpose might be. Some people thought it protected the Great Pyramid. The priests and priestesses said it would be utilized for special burial ceremonies. Still others were convinced this great structure was to be used as a repository of ancient teachings and knowledge. Whatever the Guardian of Sands’ purpose was, many craftsmen had put their backs and hearts and souls into this creation, and now it was ready to be shared with the people of the Black Land.
“Where is she?” Lilith asked, scanning the crowd.
“Fear not, Lilith, She-Aba will be here in good time,” Segund replied, adjusting the new sash She-Aba had fashioned for him. This one was made of a smooth, deep red material decorated with pearls and crystals.
“She’s probably changed into many outfits by now,” Lilith said, wiping her face. “I wonder which one she’ll finally choose.”
Segund brushed the sand from his dark blue linen robe. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing she wears will compare to what you have on, my daughter.” Then he winked at her and glanced over at Mica standing with Tau’s extensive family.
An intense heat starting from the tips of her toes flashed through Lilith’s body. By the time it reached her cheeks, Mica was on the sand wrestling with one of Tau’s younger brothers. Their laughter warmed her belly in a happy way. Averting her eyes toward the veiled monstrous statue, Lilith wondered what would become of her relationship with Mica now that she had decided to enter into the Arcane Tradition, a special school of occult knowledge and magical systems. Belial’s threat to Lilith and her friends had helped seal that decision for her, and she wanted to be prepared for any future meetings with the dark magus. Mica had announced that he would continue with his studies as an initiate in the Temple Beautiful as all his criminal acts against Segund, and the people of the Black Land, had been forgiven by Duo-She-Dui.
Lilith removed a foot from her sandal and dipped a toe into the cool, desert sand. It was early morning so the sand hadn’t had time to heat up. A breeze snaked through from the great river to the east where the Guardian of the Sands faced. She licked her lips, tasting the saltiness. Wearing a slim-fitting pale blue gown, Lilith allowed the wind to cool her body and caress her soul. A long belt made of strung shells and pearls grazed the sand with enough force to draw mini spirals. Thank Poseidon, She-Aba had come by her home earlier to style her hair up in crystal hairpins. She-Aba had even applied a minimal amount of make-up to Lilith for this special occasion before rushing home to get ready herself. Lilith slipped her sandal back on and checked the position of the rising sun by holding up her fingers against the horizon. Four fingers to the sun, almost time for the unveiling.
“Where’s fire-head?” Tau asked.
Lilith dropped her arm to her side. Her orichalcum snake bracelet slid down to confine her hand. She rolled her eyes and said, “She’s probably checking her hair over one last time.”
Tau grunted. “It won’t matter. It will still be red.”
“True, but She-Aba has proven herself worthy enough to don the color of a goddess,” Mica said, walking up to them.
For this special ceremony, Mica wore a light green top and pleated schenti fastened by a snake-skin sash. His golden hair was slick with perfumed oil. He placed his hands together and bowed before Lilith’s father. “How is your hand, Segund?”
“Still sore,” Segund said, lightly touching it. Lilith noticed her father’s hand was slightly swollen, but he had gotten stronger in the last seven days. He grunted. “I don’t know how anyone would choose to be a snake charmer.”
“Snake charming chose me,” Mica said, grinning. “It is a skill that helped me survive the harsh days after the flood. People still needed pleasure, and I provided it for them.”
“I still feel bad about having to kill Kheti,” Tau said. “He was a fine cobra.”
“That’s okay, Tau,” Mica said, reaching out to tousle Tau’s short-cut hair. “I think my days of snake charming are over anyway.”
Lilith giggled just as the crowd suddenly started ohhing and ahhing, then applauding and cheering.
“That must be Ajax-ol and Rhea arriving,” Tau said. He adjusted his crisp linen schenti accented with splashes of blue dye and proudly straightened his life seal, now attached to his Babel necklace.
“When do you start your scribing lessons, Tau?” Segund asked.
“Tomorrow at sun up,” Tau replied, beaming. “My father and mother have been telling all the merchants and farmers about how I will be trained to scribe stories on the walls of the Great Pyramid. Father says that Ra has conspired to make my lifetime occupation come true.”
Segund smiled, showing off his pearl white teeth. “Your father is a wise man, Tau.”
“Move aside, move aside,” a familiar voice rose above the crowd.
Lilith perked up. “Is that She-Aba?”
Mica’s jaw dropped. “Maybe she is really a goddess.”
“Oh…my…Poseidon,” Lilith gasped.
Tau groaned. “We’re never going to hear the end of this.”
A finely-crafted mahogany chair, covered in spotted and striped animal pelts, was lifted high above the crowd. A canopy of fresh palm leaves protected She-Aba from the sun as she regally sat in the chair, waving and blowing kisses at everyone. Four men, who Lilith vaguely recognized as the artists she had seen in the Temple Beautiful who had harassed She-Aba, were carrying the chair on their shoulders using polished ivory tusks embedded with crystals and jewels. Lilith covered her mouth. She-Aba was dressed in a lavish light purple gown with a silver sash. Her life seal broach was brilliantly accessorized with her Babel necklace as if a master jeweler had created it. Her red hair sparkled with white crystals, and on her feet were the shoes she’d bought in Atlantis. Lilith removed her hand. The shoes were as stunning as ever.
Following She-Aba, a white tusked beast swayed side to side as it cut a wide path. Its long snout reached for the odd piece of fruit offered by a generous vender. Elaborate gold and silver ribbons were entwined around its tusks. The beast carried two older citizens who sat on their blanketed high perch waving at the cheering throng. Flanked by an elite squad of soldiers with spears and shields, the tusked beast stopped, raised its snout, and bellowed.
“Duo-She-Dui! May Ra bless you!” the people shouted.
“May Ra protect you, Mu-Elden, healer of many!” a group of women dressed in plain white sheaths screamed.
Lilith felt a light touch upon her cheek. “I must go speak with the master builder of the Great Py
ramid to make preparations to move the seventh Arch of Atlantis to a more secluded area inside the pyramid,” Segund said.
Lilith arched a fair brow. “Move the arch? Why, Father?”
“It will be safer for the people this way,” Segund replied, sighing. “And will keep time safe.”
“I will see Lilith home, Segund,” Mica said, bowing. “You have my word.”
Segund grinned mischievously. “And I’ll have you bound in mummy’s bandages if you don’t get my daughter home before our evening meal.”
Mica coughed. His face reddened, and he answered Segund with a silent nod.
Segund winked at Lilith, then turned and trudged through the sand toward the Great Pyramid, passing a row of lit torches. Smoke from the torches carried the essence of fragrant oils. Lilith clasped her hands and inhaled deeply. Ajax-ol and Rhea had made it to the Black Land safely and changed their names to begin a new life together. The Book of Mysteries had helped them both find their purpose and build an empire, using the knowledge scribed within it for good, instead of the evil Istulo had intended. Not only had they achieved their dreams, but the dreams of others had been realized. Temples and buildings were built to teach and educate the people, and huge structures like the Great Pyramid were erected as a way to connect with the Law of One.
Closer toward their settlement, a huge feast was being prepared to mark this momentous occasion. Colorful tents had been set up, and musicians were brought in from neighboring communities. Another warm breeze skirted around the crowd and brought with it a cornucopia of rich scents to Lilith. The smells of spices, cooked meat, fresh bread, sweet dates, and juicy pomegranates made her stomach growl. A warm, rough hand tugged on her fingers.
Legend of the Timekeepers Page 15
