The Ways of Eternity

by D.A. Dean

Chapter 23: Seeking Safe Entrance

  The mainland's reeds were thick, their shadows hampering what remained of the light.

  Horus slowed, catching his breath against the work of pressing through the stiff stalks. There wasn't much undergrowth to tangle around him, but the muck sucked at his feet and ankles. He tried to let himself float, grasping reed to pull forward. Still, silt swirled around and over him. Already looking forward to the dip he'd take later in the clear river, he followed Teo onward.

  Pausing, Horus lifted his head, sniffing the clement wind. Joining the scents of musky wet earth and reed were the smells of baking bread, sweet oil, clove, and hot stones.

  "The smells of a village," Teo murmured and then grinned at Nalia.

  Nearing the outer edge of the marsh, Horus brought his feet under him, grimacing as he sank up to his calves in the muck, and peered through the reeds.

  Hundreds of leather tents rose from the low, bright green grasses. This was no village. It was a gathering, larger than any Teo or Nalia had described to him. Horus sharpened his focus.

  Fourteen tents were topped with cloth, indicating the presence of fourteen leaders, six more than Teo had mentioned ever seeing. Twelve less than Nalia said she'd witnessed at a gathering before Osiris was murdered. Horus tapped his lips. Were any of the twelve absent still alive? Were any of those still loyal?

  In the center of the encampment stood a rectangular mud-brick structure. Eyebrows raised, Horus motioned to it. "You didn't mention that, Teo. What is it?"

  "Not sure," Teo answered. "I've seen something similar only once before, and that, though white-washed and ringed with stones, was a temple. Look, off to the left, see the tent with the striped covering? The symbols woven into the stripes are intricate. I don't even recognize some of them. Mother, do you think it belongs to the one we hoped would be here?"

  "I can't be certain," Nalia replied, "but it's clearly the tent of a chieftain of high standing and great power."

  Two men stood at the tent's flap. Twenty, perhaps thirty men sat around it, shading their eyes.

  Horus crouched lower.

  Teo stroked his chin. "The tent's markings and the enormity of the honor guard can indicate only one leader, it seems to me. If this leader's held true...."

  A flash of white caught Horus' attention. He darted his gaze to find the flash's source.

  Fifteen women sat clustered together in the scant shade of a bleached leather tent. A circle of white capped the tent's top, signaling that within this encampment, this gathering place of fourteen village leaders and a mighty chieftain, moved a high priestess.

  Teo gave Horus a nod. "You've done well."

  All around the groups of tents, warriors sat talking with each other as they fashioned stone-tipped spears. Women in gowns of tan, blue, and green moved among the men, carrying clay pots of water and chasing the darting and dancing children. Robed elders reclined in places of honor under the oldest of the sycamore and palm trees.

  Horus inclined his head toward Nalia and motioned to the people. "They seem happy."

  "They hold hope."

  Teo stilled. "Horus. Time to disappear."

  Yes, someone was approaching. A perimeter guard. How many years of training had the man completed to be able to keep his movement almost soundless? Perhaps Horus would meet this man later. Now wasn't the time for curiosity. He transformed into falcon and edged away from Teo and Nalia before taking flight. Careful to make his circling seem random, he trailed them into the encampment.