The Tekhen of Anuket

by Aiki Flinthart

Marcus ran a hand through his short, dark hair. Brynn chewed on his bottom lip, eyes darting around the room. Jade tilted her head to one side and tapped one finger on her teeth. Her eyes widened. Phoenix looked at her, waiting.

  “If you were at home, Phoenix,” she mused, “how would you deal with this?”

  It took him a second to understand what she meant then enlightenment hit and he smiled. Of course! If he were back in his bedroom in the real world, he’d be playing this as a computer game. It would be a simple matter to......

  “I’d shoot my way out!” He exclaimed. “Blow up the entrance.”

  “What with?” Marcus frowned, iron-gloved hands spread. “We have only my bow, and my arrows won’t penetrate rock.”

  “Oh,” Phoenix sagged. Another idea bloomed. Iron gloves! He pointed at Marcus’ belt. “Thor’s hammer! That’s it. You can use Mjölnir to smash the blocked up doorway and get us out. Go on! Do it now!” Stepping around the altar, he gripped Marcus’s arm and shook it.

  Brynn caught his excitement and grinned. Jade frowned, glancing back and forth between Marcus, the wall and the horses. Marcus looked at each of them then down at the god’s hammer that hung from his belt, doubt flickering across his handsome face. Thor had lent it to them in order to free the goddess Anuket – their task in this place. It was a thing of such enormous weight and power that the god had also given him the magic belt and gloves needed to wield it.

  The Roman eyed the large, heavy limestone blocks surrounding them.“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

  Phoenix thumped his friend on the back and gave him a shove in the direction of the ancient doorway. “It’s the only one we’ve got. C’mon. Let’s get the horses awake and ready to go. Get us out of here, Marcus.”

  Clearly reluctant, Marcus unhooked the hammer from his belt. Jade woke the horses and, together with Brynn, urged them closer to the bricked up door. Phoenix fell behind Marcus, not wanting to get in his way. He nodded as the Roman sent him one last questioning look. Rotating his head and shoulders, Marcus swung the hammer once in a small circle. It left a strange after-image etched as a purple-blue arc in the air. A distant rumble of thunder sounded, even through the thick stone walls. Marcus glanced once more at the stone ceiling.

  “Go on!” Phoenix urged, impatient to get out and on with it.

  With a swift underarm motion, Marcus hurled the iron hammer at the blocked entranceway. It flew through the thick air with the zipping crackle of electricity. Purple-blue lights arced from its iron head to earth in the stone around the door. A deafening crack and blinding flash of brilliant white light filled every corner of the room. Jade yelped but her voice was drowned in the violence of the noise. The horses reared and whinnied in fright. Brynn, clinging to two sets of reins, was tossed about like a ragdoll. The stone door blew outward in an explosion of rock and dust. Sunlight streamed in and the hammer flew back into Marcus’ waiting hand like a boomerang.

  There was a brief shocking silence, followed by the ominous snap of breaking stone.

  Phoenix and Jade looked at each other then up at the ceiling.

  “Uh oh,” Brynn said quietly.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Go! Go! Go!” Jade tugged at her horses’ reins and jerked the beast forward. Ahead, Marcus did the same. The cracking, creaking sounds grew louder. Marcus, with the aid of Mjölnir, began smashing large chunks of stone out of the way like he was playing golf. Blocks of limestone sailed through the air, clearing a path for the skittish horses.

  Before long, all five horses and four companions were clear of the ancient chapel. Breathing hard and coughing dust, the travellers turned to look back. Towering a hundred metres above the chapel was the massive Shining Pyramid of Snefru. With gleaming white limestone covering its sloping sides and a tip that reached up into the clear blue heavens, it was a truly awe-inspiring sight. They had little time to admire its beauty, however. With a thunderous crack, one of the two outlying buildings beside the chapel collapsed in a heap of tumbled stone and flying dust.

  Phoenix gasped and clapped a hand to his side. “Blódbál! I left it on the altar!” He spun around and sprinted back into the dark temple.

  “No!” Jade yelled. “Phoenix, come back! It’s going to collapse any sec.....”

  Before she completed the sentence, the two and a half thousand year old offering chapel of Snefru’s Shining Pyramid folded in on itself with little more than a rumble and a whoosh of dusty air. Tonnes of stone fell, leaving nothing but a pile of masonry where Phoenix had vanished.

  For several seconds, Jade, Marcus and Brynn stared in shock at the ruin. Then Jade tossed aside her staff and ran forward.

  “Phoenix! Phoenix!” Feverishly, she hauled at the smaller blocks, tossing them aside with her half-elven strength. Brynn and Marcus joined her; Brynn struggling with rocks too big for his wiry, ten-year old frame; Marcus using the hammer to knock aside what chunks he could safely move that way. Minutes dragged by and still they hadn’t found him.

  “Can’t you just pick the blocks up?” she demanded. “Don’t the gloves make you strong?”

  Marcus shook his head. “They’re linked to the hammer. They don’t give me extra strength for anything else. I’m sorry.”

  Jade pursed her lips to stop herself from snapping at him. It wasn’t his fault. There had to be a better way to get Phoenix out. Who knew how many lives he’d lose if he were stuck under a big stone for too long. It had already been at least ten minutes.

  There was a noise; a soft cry for help; audible only to her half-elven hearing.

  “Stop! Listen.” Holding up a hand, she put a finger to her lips. The others paused, looking at her. “There!” She pointed to a spot about six feet from where Marcus stood. Hurrying over, she lay down on her stomach and peered into a dark gap.

  “Phoenix?” Using a hand-sized rock, she tapped out the Morse code for SOS on a limestone block. Dot dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot. She repeated it then waited. Faintly, the sequence came back at them from below. Dot dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot.

  With a relieved smile, she tossed aside the stone and beckoned to Marcus.

  “He’s down here,” she pointed. “If you can knock the top few blocks off sideways, I think we can use the horses to drag the others off without causing an avalanche.”

  Marcus stepped up. Brynn picked his way back to the horses, ransacked the supply packs and began rigging a set of ropes around the animals’ muscular chests. By the time Marcus had hit away as many lumps as he dared, Brynn was ready to hand a loop of thick rope to Jade. She wrapped it around a chunk of limestone. On her signal, Brynn pulled on the reins of all five horses, yelling and swearing at them. Straining, the horses hauled until the large block crunched and clattered its way out. Three more times they carried out the same task until, at last, Jade waved Brynn to a halt.

  “Phoenix!” She reached down into a niche. Fingers grasped hers. Marcus came to her side, adding his strength. Together they pulled until Phoenix’ whole arm, shoulder and finally his head appeared in the gap. His long, dark hair was streaked white and red with dust and blood. His face was covered in fine white powder. Even his eyelashes and eyebrows were thick with it, making his eyes seem bluer. Blinking, he coughed and spat out a spray of dirt, blood and sand. His round, wooden shield was missing from its usual place on his back and his clothes were torn in several places. Finally they dragged him clear of the rubble and the three sprawled, panting, on the hot sand outside the ruins.

  “Thanks,” Phoenix sputtered, sand spraying from his mouth. He lifted his right hand and showed what he held. “I got my sword.”

  Jade stared at him for a moment, speechless. Then she reached out and smacked him across the back of the head. Dust flew up in a little cloud. “Idiot! Don’t do that again.”

  “Hey!” he rubbed the spot she’d hit. “I’m ok, aren’t I?”

  “Yes,” she glared at him, “but how many lives did you lose?” She pointed at the ruby-studded dagger strapped
to his hip.

  They had started this game with seven lives each. Phoenix had lost one in England, fighting the Romans. Jade lost two in Sweden during run-ins with a troll and the Norse gods. There were now only five whole rubies in the hilt of her dagger. They had no idea what would happen when a final life was lost. Would they awake in the real world again or would they just be dead and stuck forever in this virtual game-world?

  Phoenix shrugged and pulled out his dagger. “I took shelter next to the altar. A couple of blocks glanced me, that’s all. My shield got broken to pieces but I don’t think I lost any.......oh.” He turned the dagger over twice, inspecting the sparkling gems.

  The others crowded in.

  “Oh no,” Jade groaned. Brynn reached out a finger and touched the knife.

  There were now three blank, cracked red stones in the handle. He had lost two lives under the collapsed temple. A cold wave of fear swept up Jade’s spine in spite of the blazing sun overhead. Two! They still had this level and two more, even harder levels, to go in this digital world. How could he possibly get through with only four lives?

  Looking dazed, Phoenix patted his head and body, apparently feeling for injuries. His hair was matted with blood but he looked perfectly fine.

  “I remember a couple of blocks hitting me as I dived for cover but that wasn’t enough to kill me twice,” he protested. The life-rubies stared back at them, undeniable evidence to the contrary.

  He jammed the blade back into its sheath. “That’s hardly fair. How can that be fair?” Standing up he slapped at his clothes. Dust showered off him.

  Snapping her mouth shut, Jade got up, dusted her backside off, picked up her staff and reached a hand down to Marcus. He grimaced and pulled himself upright.

  Phoenix wouldn’t stop. “It’s not fair. Jade only lost one life when she got slammed by that troll,” he glared at her as if this were her fault.

  “Maybe it’s because life isn’t fair and each quest is harder than the last!” She pointed out, trying to stay calm. “We have to be more careful. Each decision could be critical now. Nothing is black-and-white in this world, Phoenix. It’s not just shoot-em-up-or-die, here. We have to think or we won’t make it through.”

  Her logic only stoked the rising fire in Phoenix’s eyes.

  “I was thinking,” he growled at her. “I was thinking exactly how far we’d get without Blódbál and the answer is...not very bloody far!”

  Irritation flashed through her. She tried to put a lid on the bubbling emotion but some leaked through in her tart reply.

  “Well we’ll get farther with you than without you – sword or no sword. So if you’re done playing at being a hero, can we get on with it?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned on her heel and marched back to the horses.

  Honestly. Sometimes he was so impulsive and stupid it was scary. What would happen to her if he’d lost all his lives under those rocks? She could be stuck in this world forever and that didn’t bear thinking about. Or what if he lost the amulet that had drawn them here?

  “Your amulet!” She gasped, spinning back, anger forgotten. “Did you lose it?” Her stomach clenched with fear. Had he lost his half of the yin-yang amulet? She checked her own half still hung safely around her neck. It did.

  Phoenix reached under his shirt and, with an ‘I’m not an idiot’ look, pulled his necklace out to show her. She nodded back and did the same with hers, the shimmering teardrop shapes glittered in the sun.

  As long as they still carried the matching, linked halves that had drawn them into this surreal place, they had a chance to getting home again. Without them....who knew what would happen? They might not ever get home. She knew, too, that they could not be allowed to fall into the hands of the arch-badguy of this world, Feng Zhudai.

  Phoenix sent her one last glare and turned away. Jade watched with concern as he marched toward the horses. When would they find a balance between them? When would they start to work better as a team, rather than butting heads and arguing? She sighed. She shouldn’t have snapped back at him. He’d had a scare and she knew he hated feeling powerless.

  “Looks like Phoenix took dying again as a personal insult.” Marcus’ deep voice shook her out of her gloomy thoughts.

  “Wouldn’t you?” Jade raised an eyebrow at him. “I’d say dying is pretty personal.”

  “If I had died a warrior’s death, I would be content in the afterlife, dining in the Temple of Jupiter with the gods,” Marcus returned with a shrug, swinging into the saddle.

  She eyed him, curious. She climbed onto her own mare and checked that Brynn was safely on his pony. Her own family was, in theory, Christian but in practice she’d never set foot inside a church except for weddings and funerals. It was fascinating to know Marcus followed the old Roman gods. In 80AD the Christian faith was only just starting to gain momentum. The Romans were at two extremes – either busy being converted or having Christians put to death in the colosseum Games.

  With Phoenix in the lead, they ambled past the low mudbrick wall that surrounded the pyramid. Glancing at Phoenix’s stiff back, Jade decided to let him be for awhile. Instead, she asked Marcus the question that was foremost on her mind, knowing it was really just a distraction from the problem of how to handle Phoenix.

  “Doesn’t it cause problems having so many different gods for people to follow in the Roman Empire?”

  Marcus nodded. “Especially here in Egypt. The capital, Alexandria, was built by the Greeks three hundred years ago, so it’s full of temples to the Greek gods. Many of the native Egyptians there still worship their own gods. Then there are the Jews, who fled the destruction of Jerusalem ten years ago; and recently, the evangelist, Mark, came from Rome to preach Christianity to the Egyptians.” He frowned. “Many Egyptians hate Roman rule and the new religion only fuels their anger. The worst are the followers of Set. They sew the seeds of violence and chaos wherever they go. We should avoid them if at all possible. Alexandria is a dark place these days. Even though it is a centre for learning and culture, I would hesitate to return.”

  “Centre of learning? Oh!” Jade exclaimed, “of course. The Library of Alexandria was famous. It was supposed to be one of the best collections in the world.”

  “Was?” Marcus scowled. “The Library is the best in the world. Why do you say ‘was’? Where do you come from that you know of the Library but speak of it in the past tense?”

  Shaken, she glanced at Phoenix’s back. He wasn’t likely to feel any sympathy or help her out of a tricky conversation. Jade swallowed hard and thought fast. As far as Marcus and Brynn knew, she and Phoenix were from another world; drawn here by magic and by the matching Yin-yang amulets they both wore. There was no way to explain that this world was a digital construct; that Marcus and Brynn themselves were simply numbers in a computer; that Jade and Phoenix were not the warrior and half-elven Spellweaver they seemed but were just kids trying to get home to the real world.

  “We’re not just from another realm,” she admitted, sighing. “We’re sort of from a future world; a future where our past is almost like this world but not quite the same.”

  Marcus held her gaze a few moments then looked forward, apparently deep in thought. “A future world where gods do not exist, perhaps? Where there are ‘programmers’, instead?”

  She gaped at him. They must have mentioned something about the programmers of this game without thinking. Kicking herself mentally, she hedged. “Kind of.”

  “Exactly how far in the future?”

  “About two thousand years,” she couldn’t think of a convincing lie, so she had to tell the truth and hope it wouldn’t freak him out.

  Marcus’s mouth dropped open then snapped shut again. He shook his head. “It is hard to comprehend that much time. What is your world like? Does the Roman Empire still dominate?”

  “I don’t think telling you would do much good, Marcus,” she shook her head. “Our world is so different that most of the words wouldn’t even have meaning for
you. I can tell you that the Roman Empire, in our world, lasted about another three hundred years from now before it collapsed.”

  “Ah,” the Roman smiled in disbelief, “so what country rules now? Not the Greeks.”

  She laughed. “No. Some would claim that a country called The United States of America is the most powerful military force in our world.”

  “Where is that?”

  Jade waved a hand toward the west. “A long, long way west across the Atlantic ocean – on the other side of the world.” She pointed east. “That way, past the Indian Ocean, are China, India and Australia – also important countries in our time. The world is a big ball, you know; not flat.”

  To her surprise, Marcus burst out laughing. She’d rarely seen him smile, let alone laugh. He had a nice laugh. It made his dark eyes sparkle. She grinned back, wondering what she’d said.

  “Jade, we have not believed in a flat Earth since Aristotle proposed a round one almost four hundred years ago and Eratosthenes told us the circumference a century later. I learned it as a child.” Marcus chuckled again, shaking his head. “But no Roman Empire? Next you will try to tell me my world is not real, I suppose; just a figment of someone’s imagination.”

  She gaped at him then collected herself and looked away. Nothing would induce her to tell him that - even though it was the absolute truth. It was ironic that Marcus could readily believe she had come by magic from another world but not that the Roman Empire could collapse – or that his own world wasn’t real.

  Then again, it seemed real here. Back on level one, a guide of sorts had even told her and Phoenix it was real. It was certainly hard to disbelieve in the dust clogging up her nose and the heat of the sun on her head. How could she tell Marcus otherwise? How would she feel if someone told her that her own Earth was just the figment of some great Cosmic Game Programmer’s imagination? Come to think of it, there really was no way to prove that wasn’t true.....

  CHAPTER THREE