Imhotep sort of gurgle croaked, one of his hands gripping Set’s wrist while the other dangled uselessly at his side. The bone had punctured the skin, and while I would have expected it to heal, Sekhmet’s essence hung suspended just above the surface of his body. Was it Set doing that? If so, how was he keeping the priest from absorbing her and healing? I guess it didn’t matter because as long as the God of Chaos had Imhotep in his grasp, Sekhmet was safe… right?
I looked around, trying to find her, and my heart exploded in my chest when I saw her. She was so translucent, she was more like shaped mist than not. Her eyes stared off into space, not seeing, not even there as she lay on the ground, mouth slack-jawed and open as golden dust continued to stream from her body and flow toward Imhotep so the space between him and the ground was like a gilded cloud. Set may have been able to keep Imhotep from absorbing her life force, but he wasn’t stopping it from coming out of her.
“Thes, you can’t let Set win,” Horus gasped. “He can’t be trusted.”
As the words left the god’s lips, all eyes turned on me. I got the bad feeling people have when that happened because, as much as I liked being the center of attention, this was more like being the lone mouse in a room full of owls. No good could come from it.
I got slowly to my feet, realizing I was back in human form. Evidently, Horus had knocked the werewolf right out of me. I thought about calling on my inner wolf just because it would make me feel better, but decided against it. There was little need unless I was planning on disrupting Set while he tried to save Sekhmet, and there was virtually no chance of that happening. While I hated to say it, if Set could save Sekhmet, I didn’t care if the world was reduced to ashes after he finished so long as she was safe, Egyptian deity or not.
“Release Sekhmet, and I promise you’ll be spared,” I said as I moved next to her and knelt down beside her body. I lifted her into my arms, cradling her against me, and was at once surprised at how light she was. I didn’t realize I was crying until my tears spattered on her cheeks.
She looked at me, recognition filling her eyes as her head swiveled toward me. “Thes,” she whispered, and her voice was like the last traces of a dying breeze. “I’m sorry.”
“Shh,” I said, stroking her cheek with one hand. Her face was so cold it was like touching ice. “Save your strength.”
“Thes… I’m sorry,” she swallowed, and the movement shook her near-ethereal body.
“Stop saying that. This isn’t your fault.” I turned my head to stare at Set. “Can’t you do some—”
Sekhmet seized my chin and turned my head so I was forced to stare down into her eyes. Her face broke into a blush as she pulled me close enough to whisper into my ear. “You’re not understanding why I’m sorry,” she gasped, breath like a lick of frost on my skin. “I’m sorry because I broke my promise.”
“You broke your promise?” I asked, bewildered.
“That we couldn’t do more.” She fell backward as the words left her lips, body going limp in my arms. A scream tore from my throat as I shook her to no avail. I couldn’t lose her. I just couldn’t. The thought of it made me feel hollow and broken inside. It wouldn’t be like losing my wolf… it would be worse.
“Sekhmet! Sekhmet!” I cried as she faded into mist before my eyes. I was across the room before I’d realized it, reaching out toward Imhotep with murder in my eyes.
“Give him to me,” I snarled, my hands twisted into misshapen, blood red claws. Set’s eyes went wide as I grabbed the priest by the throat and tore him from the god’s grasp. Imhotep seemed to age before my eyes, growing more withered by the second. Had it been Sekhmet animating his youth too? Well, that was just another thing he’d have to pay for.
I roared, and the room around us shook as I pulled Imhotep so close to my face, my snout touched his nose. My huge maw twisted into a murderous snarl as I walked away from Set, the aging priest easily held aloft in my hand. When I reached what remained of Sekhmet, I slammed Imhotep down into the stone hard enough to crack it beneath the force of the impact.
The mist shivered, swirling in the air and enveloping the priest, sheathing his body in Sekhmet’s gilded essence. His strength seemed to bolster a bit, and this infuriated me beyond reason. No. No. He would not take more of her from me.
I smashed him down on the ground again as crimson spattered across my chest. “Release her or I’ll tear out your throat and drink your blood.” I smiled. “I know you’ll heal from it, but that doesn’t matter to me because I’ll make your agony exquisite and unending. When I am done with you, I’ll leave you to bleed out on the sand.” I placed one scarlet-colored nail against his cheek and dragged it downward, spilling warm, sticky ichor onto the stones. “You may be thinking Apep will save you. But he will not.” With those words, I drove my hand into his chest and tore his still beating heart from his chest. I held it in front of him as blood spurted from the wound. The old man screamed, somehow kept alive despite what remained of Sekhmet having faded to little more than a pale glimmer.
“Do you hear that priest? It is the sound of the end, and do you know where that will take you? To the scales of justice. How will you fare without this?” I asked, squeezing his heart, my claws puncturing the organ. “You have a choice. Release her or not.” I dropped the heart onto the ground with a splat and leaned in close to him. “Will you choose a few more moments in this life for an eternity of despair?”
Thunder crashed behind me, and a golden collar materialized from the mist. It hit the ground with a clang, and the emerald in the center shattered into a billion scintillating shards. They flitted through the mist as the heart on the ground ceased beating completely, and the old priest sagged in my arms.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat like that, but I didn’t move until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned, thinking it must be Khufu, but instead, it was Set. A tear of magma dripped down his cheek as he looked at me.
“It may not feel like it,” he said, helping me to my feet. “But you’ve saved her.” He shook his head. “I think he’d have let me toss him into the sun too.” Set turned from me, and I think it was to let me be alone in my grief. My tears spattered the stone as I watched what was left of the mist pulse with light before vanishing completely, leaving the space strangely empty. I swallowed back my grief, trying to focus on what Set had said.
If I had saved her, did that mean she was alive and would recover? How long would that take? Days? Eons? Would I ever see her again? I guess that didn’t matter because she was alive. Still alive! I had saved her… even though I’d had to tear out a man’s heart to do it. That didn’t matter though. I was more than happy to do some horrible things if it meant she was safe. That thought allowed me to chase back my grief, but as I spun on my knees, I saw Set marching toward Horus, contempt on his ashen features.
“You’re a fool, Horus. Would you really seek to undo the whole of Egypt just to thwart me? Apep is rising, and I know you can feel it.” Set shook his head, letting loose a sigh before gesturing with the Was-staff. The bindings surrounded the falcon god vanished in an instant, and he flopped to the ground freed. He lay there as Set reached out his hand toward him. “Horus, let’s call a truce. We shall take on Apep together.”
Horus looked up, and instead of taking Set’s hand, he lashed out with a glittering dagger of pure sunlight. The blade didn’t even make it two inches before the god’s hand separated from his wrist, spilling gilded ichor across the stones. Horus screamed as Khufu knelt down and picked up the burning dagger with his free hand, his other clasping a khopesh with a blade like rendered moonlight.
“This is for Sekhmet,” Khufu said, driving the knife into the falcon god’s throat. The weapon glittered like sun fire before exploding in a flurry of heat and wind so bright and hot, I had to shield my eyes from it. When I was finally able to turn back toward them, all that remained of Horus was the smell of charred flesh and a blackened outline. Well, so much for a truce, I guess.
Chapter 17<
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“Tell me your plan again because what I’m hearing sounds absolutely insane,” I said, staring up at the pyramid of Giza. It wasn’t quite finished yet, but it was still a massive structure. Khufu glanced at Set, a pleading look in his eyes, and the ancient god smirked like I was annoying someone he liked to see annoyed.
“Look, it’s simple,” Khufu replied in a huff, reaching out and touching Set lightly on the forearm. The gesture was strangely familiar, and one I wouldn’t have expected him to make. Did they know each other somehow? “Set goes up to the top and uses his staff to call upon the power of chaos. This pyramid is designed as a channel for godly energy, but more than that, it’s a grounding rod for chaos. Set should be able to draw power away from chaos and force it into the pyramid where it will be dispersed into the ground harmlessly.”
“Yeah, I sort of understand your weird lightning rod theory,” I said, making a time out gesture with my hand. “What I am not understanding is how you think Apep won’t unleash everything he has to stop you from siphoning away his power.” I turned, pointing to the penguin walking across the sand like it was the most natural thing in the world. “If you haven’t noticed, he’s not exactly afraid of bending reality to suit his whims or destroying time itself.”
Set’s smile got even wider as he watched the penguin waddle away. “I sort of like the desert penguins he’s created. They’re so formal.” The god pointed to another flock where a particularly boisterous bird was bowing to a smaller bird. “Hello Missus Penguin, how do you do?” he mimicked, and as he did it, a small amount of tension went out of me. “Oh, I’m fine, Sir Penguin. Care for a spot of tea?”
“I’m counting on Apep coming, Thes,” Khufu interrupted, voice low and resolute. “It’s sort of the whole point. Set will be able to draw his essence away faster if he’s actually here.”
“And you’re ignoring the whole armies created by the wrath of an angry god thing, aren’t you?” I asked, turning from the tea-drinking penguins and facing the pharaoh.
“No…” Khufu gritted his teeth and met my eyes even as hidden thoughts swam behind his own. He had a plan, only he wasn’t going to tell it to me because he knew I wouldn’t like it. Well, screw that.
“See, here’s the thing.” Set put his hand on my shoulder, and I couldn’t help but feel like I could take on an armada by myself. “Apep will come. When he does, he’ll try to stop us. That’s a given. But here’s the thing. You can stop him.”
Had he just said what I think he had said? I was supposed to take on an invincible army? By myself? Was he on drugs?
“No way. You’re not seriously suggesting I hold Apep back by myself while you siphon his energy away.” I gestured around the nearly empty dunes surrounding us. “There’s not even a natural pinch point. I’ll be overwhelmed in a second.”
“I am suggesting that you can take on the army because it is what will happen,” Set replied, his face taking on a strangely serious expression. “Khufu will be within the pyramid working the controls. I’ll be atop, channeling chaos itself. That leaves only you to stop Apep and keep him at bay.”
“No. No, no, no.” My mouth was dry, but somehow, I kept saying the word as I backed up so quickly, I lost my footing on the sand and fell on my butt.
Set reached out with one ashen hand, offering it to me. “Believe me when I say this, Thes. You can do this. It is your destiny.” He seized my wrist even though I hadn’t offered my hand and pulled me to my feet.
“Why do you people keep talking about me like I’m some kind of superhero?” I patted my chest with my free hand. “I’m just a guy trying to get back home before my friend’s parents pull the plug on him and he dies.” I shook my head, pulling my arm away from the ancient god. “I shouldn’t even be here. I should be on my way back home, right now.”
Set glanced at Khufu and narrowed his eyes. “He doesn’t know?” the old god asked, and the question in his voice made a bad feeling settle in the center of my stomach. What was he talking about? What was it I was supposed to know but didn’t?
“No,” Khufu replied. “He seems to not know anything about it.”
Something far off smacked me in the face, but as I reached toward the thought, it evaporated into dust. I stared hard at the two of them when a sudden realization hit me. They weren’t going to tell me.
“Why aren’t you going to tell me?” I asked, and as Khufu opened his mouth to say something, Set waved his hand, cutting the pharaoh off.
“Because telling you the truth would risk you failing to achieve your destiny, Thes.” Set exhaled sharply, sadness filling his eyes. “Your destiny is so important, we cannot risk it.” He leaned in close to me so I could feel his breath on my flesh like the warm breeze of a tropical storm. Set sniffed, one ebony nostril flaring as a vacuum like force threatened to suck me up in its entirety. “I see.”
“You see what?” I asked, staring at the god like he was a bagful of crazy as he straightened up and rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger.
“Why Thoth has hidden the knowledge of what you are from yourself. I bet it’s just there on the tip of your tongue, like an itch you can’t quite scratch but can get close enough to almost satisfy.” Set patted me on the shoulder. “Trust me, Thes. Leave this one alone. Know that you will do great things, but if you gain this knowledge, you may not.” Set shook his head. “We cannot afford for you to fail.”
I took a deep breath and stared upward at the sky. Lightning crackled in the dark clouds of the night. They were so thick they hid the moon from view so it was very nearly like we were shrouded in perfect darkness. What was I going to do? Was I going to press on the issue? If I did, what if it was horrible news or worse, what if, like he said, knowing would cause me to fail my destiny? I wasn’t quite sure what I was destined to do exactly, but I did know one thing. For Egyptian deities to take notice of little old mortal me, it had to be pretty damn important.
Besides, would knowing actually help me right now? No, it’d likely shake me to the core of my being. I gritted my teeth together as I turned my gaze back toward the deity and eyed him carefully.
“Okay, let’s try your plan. If you think I can hold back all the forces of darkness, well, I’ll believe you.” I spun away from them and moved toward the pyramid. “For now.”
“Excellent,” Set said, and as I glanced at him over my shoulder, he smiled at me. The god began walking toward me, the Was-staff firmly clenched in his left hand. Khufu reached out and gripped Set’s shoulder. The old god turned, gazing at the pharaoh with a strange smile on his face. Khufu nodded at him once, face more serious than I’d ever seen it and squeezed Set’s shoulder.
“Be safe,” Khufu said, voice so low I wouldn’t have heard it if I hadn’t been watching them so closely.
“Do the same,” Set replied, reaching out and gripping Khufu’s hand where it sat on his shoulder and squeezing. They parted, and Set strode toward me, the Was-staff outstretched before him like a king’s scepter. He gestured at me with it, and red lightning exploded from the tip, striking me full in the chest.
It didn’t hurt even though I scrambled backward in fright. I didn’t yelp though despite what may or may not have been said by a certain no good pharaoh. Red energy crackled over my battered, bloody armor, and as it did so, the broken bits of it weaved themselves back together. It was crazy, sort of reminding me of when I watched werewolves heal. In seconds, I was standing there, my armor pristine. It was sort of awesome, I’ll admit.
“It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this,” Set said, voice booming in my ears, and for a moment, he reminded me of how ancient he truly was. I looked up from my newly minted chest piece and stared at the storm god as he reached out toward me empty handed.
“Take what?” I asked, and as I spoke, lightning shot from the sky and slammed into his outstretched hand. There was a flare of garish light so bright spots danced before my eyes. I blinked, trying to regain my vision in the darkness that followed. After what felt like ever,
I spied a flail made of glass dangling from his palm.
“Show off,” Khufu murmured as Set shoved the weapon into my hands. It was hotter than I expected, reminding me of warm bathwater, but lighter than a feather. I swung it casually, and as I did so, a morningstar-like head glittered into existence, gleaming like a burnished star on the end of the translucent chain.
“Thanks,” I muttered, still in awe as I held the weapon out in front of me, concerned. Sure, it was a cool gift and all, but how was I going to hold back an army of darkness with a flail, magic or not?
Set eyed me carefully before stepping past me and moving towards the base of the pyramid of Giza. “You may be thinking, ‘what am I going to do against an army with just a flail?’ But I seem to remember a story you will tell me many years from now.”
“What’s that?” I asked as another thought struck me. How did Set know me in the future? Furthermore, how had I done so many things in the future?
“You told me of a story of a man of ash who held back an army of darkness with a saw of chains and a booming stick.” Set glanced at my flail and smirked, his ruby eyes glimmering. “You have much more than those things at your disposal.”
I felt my cheeks grow red. Evidently, I had encouraged the Egyptian storm god by quoting a horrible B movie to him. Go me. I rubbed my temples with my free hand as Set turned toward the pyramid of Giza and raised his staff into the air.
The clouds vanished in an instant, leaving the sky clear and pristine. Moonlight bathed us, illuminating the ground before us so I could actually see. Set leapt and landed on the top of the pyramid as though it was easier than stepping over a precocious snail. Lightning crackled through the sky and thunder boomed as red light spilled from the top of the pyramid.
“You better shift now, Thes,” Khufu said, moving toward the pyramid’s entrance. “Because I think the time for fighting is about to begin.”
All Wrapped Up: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (Werewolves vs. Mummies Book 2) Page 10
