The Bloody Frontier (Pistols and Pyramids Omnibus Book 1)

by Jim Johnson

  "Not to worry, my dear. We can talk about that later. You have plenty on your mind as it is. Go, talk to your people and then help Herikhet heal your friend." She turned to head back into the senet house, and paused. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Since Herikhet asked if I could spare any help, I adjusted some schedules so that my stronger workers could help. You'll see them at the temple."

  Ruia pressed her hand to Teteri's forearm. "Thank you again, Teteri. That means a lot to me. I'm sure Tjety will appreciate it once he's up and moving."

  Ruia hurried out of the senet house and to the long tent where the villagers were located. As she approached the tent, the pleasing tones from tambor, sistra, and shawms caressed her ears. She walked into the tent and was happy to see her fellow villagers eating, enjoying themselves, and, in a couple places, dancing or tapping fingers against thighs in time to the music.

  Three musicians were gathered together near the center of the tent, working their instruments through a light tune that seemed to agree with the villagers.

  Sefer waved her over. "Ruia! Come, enjoy the food and the music!"

  She smiled and stepped over to him, and accepted a bowl of wine. She took a sip from it and handed it back, thinking it'd be better to be clear-headed for the healing.

  He said, "They also brought food with them. It's like a jubilee day."

  She patted his arm. "I'm glad you are enjoying it." She excused herself and moved over to the musicians.

  They were working through the closing phrases of a popular Kekhmetic reel, and as they neared the end of it, she whispered to the shawm player that she wanted a moment to talk to the villagers.

  The shawm player nodded mid-note, then he and the other two musicians closed with an entertaining crescendo, then yielded the floor to her.

  Ruia glanced around the gathering. "I'm so happy to see you all looking and feeling better than you did yesterday. You should know that the music and the food are gifts from the owner of the senet house, Madame Teteri. I think it would be good for all of us to express our thanks to her when you are able to do so."

  She got general noises of agreement in response. "Now, I don't wish to interrupt your feast and the music, but I am prepared to go to the temple to help the priest attempt to heal Tjety, so I am here once more to ask for help."

  She paused, then added, "I feel that we owe him much, and helping the priest heal him would help balance the scales."

  The villagers glanced at each other, then Setesk stood up. "Ruia, we had a long talk about you and the Ranger last night, and while the talk was hard and angry at times, we agreed that it would be the right thing to do—to help this Ranger if possible. Dread Mayat would look poorly upon us wherever we end up after today, and we accept the risk."

  She nodded, feeling hopeful for once. "So you'll help me?"

  Setesk nodded. "All but six of us volunteered to go to the temple to help you and the priest. Lead the way, Ruia, and we will follow."

  She smiled warmly at him and then at the others, and breathed a sigh of relief even as she wiped a tear from her eyes. She headed for the entrance of the tent, snagging a hot sweet roll from a basket near the door. Gradually, in ones and twos, her villagers finished their food or drink and joined her outside the tent, all but six of them, as Setesk had said.

  Ruia looked at all of them, one by one, and then said, "If I don't have the opportunity to say so later, thank you for your help."

  She turned and led them into the town’s central street, leading the makeshift parade toward Herikhet’s temple. As her group passed the senet house, two sturdy women and a heavy-set boy peeled off from the crowd gathered outside the senet house and joined her. Smiling as she walked, Ruia led them to the temple, her heart swelling with hope for Tjety’s healing.

  CHAPTER 14

  EVEN BEFORE THE SUN HAD RISEN over the horizon, Herikhet and Usemi were active, working together to physically clean the temple’s main chamber, where they would work the healing ritual. Once the room was cleaned, Herikhet took strands from his hekau and worked with Usemi to cleanse the room on a more spiritual level, banishing any lurking elements of Isfet and any other small demons that might be watching. They set a cot into the center of the chamber and covered it with clean white linen sheets, and then worked together to carry Tjety into the room and laid him on the cot.

  After that was done, Herikhet called Usemi over and rested his hands on her shoulders. "You've been a big help, Usemi, and now I have one more request for you. I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you were ready."

  She looked up into his face with curious eyes. “What can I do?”

  He glanced at the cot. "I need to finish setting up mats and blankets for our helpers, and then I need to start scribing the warding circles around the chamber. I don't think we're at too much of a risk here, but it's better to be safe." He glanced down at her meaningfully. "While I'm doing that, it'll be time to tend to the god's personal needs."

  She nodded, and then her eyes widened when his intentions became clear. "You want me to run the morning litany by myself."

  Herikhet offered her a warm smile. "I should have had you doing it by yourself a few weeks ago. You know what you're doing. I'm confident you can handle it alone."

  Usemi took a deep breath and then nodded. "I…I thank you for your faith in me, Priest. I don't know what to say."

  He chuckled. "Say thank you and then go on and take care of the god. After you've cleaned up, come see me and we'll get started on the Ranger."

  Usemi nodded, and then excused herself. He watched her disappear into the depths of the temple, and then took a deep breath himself and then focused on the tasks at hand.

  He didn't know how many willing people Ruia would bring with her, if any, but he set up a dozen sitting mats, each with a bowl of clean water and a white candle stub, and piled more mats to one side of the large room just in case more help showed up.

  Herikhet found a couple long chunks of chalk and used them to scribe the warding circle around the working area, a set of circles around the cot that would hold Tjety, and then a larger circle around the assembly of mats. He made the larger circle big enough to accommodate extra mats if needed. He didn't scribe the last couple of symbols that would close the patterns, saving that task for the actual working.

  He left the chalk inside the smaller circle, and then went back to his quarters to gather up the items he'd need for the ritual. A small knife, a vial of precious oil blessed by Pharaoh himself, clean bandages, a silver water bowl, and a few other items. He carried all of them to the chamber where he'd hold the ritual, and as he placed them inside the center circle near the pieces of chalk, someone entered behind him and cleared her throat.

  He stood and turned. Ruia stood near the entrance, off the corridor leading to the main entrance to the temple. He raised a hand in greeting, and she matched the motion. "Good morning to you, Ruia. You look clean and fresh."

  She smiled. "Thank you. I've come to help you with Tjety. And I've brought friends."

  Herikhet couldn't help but match the smile on her face when she moved aside and gestured behind her. To his very pleasant surprise, over twenty men and women filed into the temple behind her: villagers, a few workers from Teteri's place, and even a few soldiers.

  The oldest of the soldiers, one with an impressive chin of whiskers, strode up. “I’m Sergeant Bennu, Priest.” He ran a warm glance toward Ruia. “We got word that you needed some assistance healing that Ranger, Ruia. Me and a few of the troops are here to assist.”

  Herikhet nodded to the soldier. “Much appreciated, Sergeant.”

  Ruia grinned at the sergeant. “It’s good to see you, Bennu.”

  Bennu gestured toward the three soldiers he had with him. “We all volunteered to help. Where do you want us?”

  Herikhet smiled at the soldiers, though his hekau gave him a flicker of…something…when he glanced at the youngest of the group, a tired-looking young soldier with bloodshot eyes and a bandage wrapped around his h
ead. He vaguely remembered seeing the man recently, but couldn't place where. Walking through the streets maybe, or perhaps at the senet house? He shook his head, and refocused on the initial steps of the healing ritual.

  "Well, thank you all for your help. Go and find a mat among the others and we'll see what we can do." Herikhet waved Sergeant Bennu and his allies into the chamber with the villagers, and raised his hands as they started to fill in the spaces laid out or grabbed a spare mat from the pile near the entrance and then found a place to sit inside the larger circle.

  He glanced at Ruia. “You should find a place as well, m’dear.”

  Ruia smiled and found a mat among the others, in the closest row near the inner chalk circle.

  Herikhet raised his arms. "For the sake of the Ranger, and in the name of Amun-Re, justified, and most holy, I thank you all for being here today." He moved toward the center of the chamber as Usemi moved out of one of the side corridors and joined him.

  "You're here now because you want to help us heal this man." He leveled a hand and held it horizontally above Tjety's body. "This man, this anointed Ranger of Mayat, who, through much trial and tribulation, lies before us now in harm's way and not too distant from the gates of the Duat."

  He glanced at each of the participants in turn, then gestured for Usemi to take up position on the other side of Tjety's cot.

  "The risk to each of you is minimal, though I will not lie to you—there is a risk. The healing we must perform will be deep and involved, and will require much assistance from you all. Get settled on your mats. Sit or lie down as you see fit. Water has been provided." He tossed a warning glance at them. "You will not be able to leave the protective circle once it has been formed. Breaking it mid-ritual will risk losing not only this man’s life, but his eternal ba as well."

  He nodded, then said, "If you wish to leave now and not participate, no less will be thought of you. This is your last opportunity to depart."

  While a few of the people looked doubtful or worried, none of them stood up to leave. Ruia poured some water into her bowl and gulped it down.

  Herikhet nodded, then raised his arms high to either side. Usemi did likewise, a heartbeat behind him.

  "So be it," he said. He closed the warding circle with a smooth stroke of the chalk. He closed his eyes and focused his hekau, then reached out with an ethereal tendril to activate the matrix he had built into the outer warding circle. He found the trigger points and activated them. In his mind's eye he saw the soft yellow glow of the protective wards snap into place.

  Usemi started to quietly chant the warding litany, just under her breath at first and then bringing it up in volume and authority. He felt her offering of her own hekau, and accepted the fountain of power from her and channeled it through his focal point, and then reached out to adjust the outer warding circle to encompass everyone in the temple room. They set the outer wards with a focusing of their hekau.

  He then adjusted his hekau to reach out and touch each of the participants within the circle, and created simple energy feeds from each one and channeled those feeds into a virtual reservoir he set up in his mind, and started the gentle pull of hekau from each one. A few resisted the pull of life-force from their bas, but he sent reassuring and calming feelings back down the conduits toward them, and soon enough everyone had calmed down and were passively providing their contribution to the hekau pool.

  He gathered some of this collected energy and focused next on the inner warding circle, the next line of defense against outside influences and also a line of defense to protect the participants from anything going wrong with the healing. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally harm everyone in the greater link. It was unlikely to happen, but he always felt that if there was a possibility of something happening, it would be best to establish some measures to mitigate the chances of disaster.

  With the newly-gathered energies, he added his voice to Usemi's and joined her in the final section of the warding litany, and then reached out and activated the triggers to the inner warding circle. It sprang to life in a bright white glow that quickly shifted through the spectrum and ended at a warm, glowing gold sphere fully encasing him, Usemi, and Tjety in an opaque sphere.

  Herikhet let his hands drop to his side as the final notes of the litany trailed off into silence. He opened his eyes and saw that Usemi was staring at him, bright tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

  "That was beautifully done, Priest. So much power and strength of will."

  He nodded. "We got lucky—I think we have more than enough participants. As long as we're not interrupted and I have the time I need to do this right, I think we'll be able to help this man." He turned his gaze down to Tjety, compassion in his eyes and soul. He raised his hands and held them over Tjety's body horizontally.

  "I'm going to get started now. Monitor the feeds from the participants and see if you can manage the flow from person to person. We don't need to constantly draw on everyone for the whole ceremony. Maybe try a rotating pattern."

  She raised her hands on high. "Consider it done."

  He nodded at her in gratitude, then closed his eyes and focused his energies on Tjety's damaged body beneath his hands. He took a deep breath, then dived his ba down into Tjety's body.

  There was some resistance at first, resistance that he soon identified as a protective barrier Tjety's defenses had erected. The Ranger’s hekau was feeding the barrier’s strength, protecting his mind and his ba. Herikhet was impressed. Ranger training had gotten better since last he happened to take a look. It had been years since he had encountered a Ranger in the field, and it was encouraging to know that they were making efforts to better train their people.

  He skirted around the edges of Tjety’s protective shield, and soon found that the shielding took on the form of a massive labyrinth, with numerous turns and switchbacks. He was surprised at the level of detail and the strength of the walls, but then recalled that momentary touch of something divine. Someone was looking out for this man, possibly even the Lady Mayat herself.

  Herikhet blinked, then discovered that he was standing just outside the entrance to the labyrinth leading deeper into Tjety’s body and soul. Outside the labyrinth was a wasteland stretching out in all directions, blasted sand-covered mounds and withered trees. Wrapped around the horizon was a dense, dark bank of clouds forming dire shapes, closing fast.

  Herikhet focused his will and gathered up his connection to the pool of hekau, and strode into the labyrinth, determined to help Tjety. He soon found the first blotch on Tjety’s soul that indicated damage and poisoning from the infection burning his body up. The splotch resembled a blurry jackal, complete with claws and sharp teeth.

  Herikhet reached out and formed a conduit from the reservoir of power he had created from the donations from the participants. He channeled a trickle of it and blasted the jackal-spot into nothingness. It was but a small piece of the overall damage done to Tjety’s body, but it was a start.

  He took another few virtual steps within the labyrinth, and found a few more dark spots in the guise of Apep-spawn. They were as easily destroyed as the jackal. He continued this seek-and-destroy effort for another few long moments, working his way through the myriad twists and turns. Time meant nothing to him now while in the healing trance, but he felt like he was making progress. He turned one of the corners into a clearing, and blanched at what he saw.

  The damage was far more severe than he had imagined. He ran his mind's eye across Tjety's ba, seeing more than two-thirds of it covered in crawling darkness. Then, as if it was a warrior defending its territory, a shadowy form that carried Tjety's profile loomed up in front of him and pushed him, hard.

  Herikhet fell back, not wanting to harm Tjety's shadow form, much less his body and soul. He addressed the shadow form. "I'm not here to hurt you, friend. You're badly wounded and not far from the start of the final journey through the Duat. Let me help you."

  Tjety's shadow form made gestures
at him and then about where his mouth should have been appeared a red slash, as if the shadow was yelling at him, trying to tell him something. Its overall posture was aggressive, and he realized that, in his fevered state, Tjety's soul must have thought that he was an invading presence that needed to be stopped.

  Herikhet marshaled his energies and pulled harder on the conduit to the hekau reservoir, and tried again. "Tjety, trust me. I'm here to heal you, not harm you. We can fight this thing together."

  The shadow form reared back, shivered, then it split into a trio of slightly smaller forms, all of which had blades for arms and scorpion's tails weaving and darting back and forth.

  Herikhet swore silently. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. Every effort Tjety's body made at defending itself was going to tax his critically depleted reserves and that was just going to make it that much harder to effect any useful healing. The shadow forms started to maneuver around him, encircling him with a weave of swinging blades and flicking tails.

  Herikhet considered his options, then made the decision that he had to make. He surfaced out of his trance and dropped to his knees. He laid his hands on either side of Tjety's head and then glanced at Usemi. "I'm gonna have to dig deep to complete this healing. The infection and the sickness have gone deeper than I realized. Tjety's defenses are fighting back—thinking I'm an intruder. Lay your hands on me and take control of my basic functions. I need you to keep me breathing. Do this for me now!"

  He waited just long enough for Usemi to step over behind him and rest her hands on his shoulders, and then launched himself down the conduit again and into Tjety's body and soul. Darkness clouded in on his senses and he could see the broken pathways and the poisons that had spread through Tjety’s body, like ugly spots of mold on cheese that had sat out for far too long.

  He'd have to clean up the individual spots eventually, but he needed to tackle the source first, that gunshot wound in his shoulder. The dark clouds closed in on the labyrinth, and he could hear the cries and ululations of countless dark beasts rushing into the maze. Herikhet steeled himself, forgot about Usemi and Ruia and all the others, and lost himself in the body of Tjety and gave himself over to the healing powers coursing within his soul.