Wrath of Aten

by S. A. Ashdown

  The warning struck him. In the distance, he could hear his beloved wife proclaiming his condition a direct connection to the deity. The truth was more complicated. Aten fuelled the visions, that was correct, but it was the goddess of the Nile that had provided this looking-glass through which to view the sun’s rays and not have his sight seared away. His divine parents were warning him. Destroy the Syphon, or the Syphon will slaughter his Queen in the very centre of his cherished city.

  11

  Avalon

  I caught up with Ava, leading her by the hand to the hexagonal courtyard buried within the walls of the endless palace. I had watched the Queen from Nikolaj’s tower – it seemed right to name it that – while I was waiting for Ava to wake up. A steady trickle of Fae, with their immaculate woven clothes – usually showing off one body part or another – and iridescent faces, had joined the Queen in front of the layer-cake fountain, wings glowing in the twilight.

  They treated Raphael like a god.

  They were wary of Lorenzo. Our sapiens companions took the role of museum exhibits as the Fae circled them, examining them thoroughly – more than one sniffing Lolita and Rihanna.

  We could hear the cacophony of voices as we approached the flowering archway to the courtyard. There were no doors leading into the apparently communal space, but our entrance felt dramatic as if we had blasted through steel and wafted in with machetes. All at once, the Fae stopped speaking or moving. They instantly froze.

  Ava and I passed the living, glowing statues and bowed before the Queen. Lolita slipped through the maze of bodies to hug her daughter.

  ‘I’m okay, Mum. But I need to talk to the Queen. Um, maybe this should be discussed in private.’

  The Queen shook her head. ‘No, such a thing is pointless. Our minds interlink. We have no secrets.’ She raised her hands gracefully into the air and back to her sides, as if she were a bird in flight. ‘And please, call me Aurelia.’

  Her people reanimated, as if nothing had happened. They floated around in clusters, melodic snatches of conversation forming a rhythm in time with the pipes playing from somewhere above the courtyard.

  ‘I’ll get right to it, then.’

  ‘Sit with me, Blessed of Frigg. The goddess has touched you. What did she reveal?’ Aurelia patted the spot next to her on the lip of the fountain where she sat. She took Ava’s hands in hers. ‘Let your mind open like a flower. I am a harmless bee seeking nectar.’

  As I watched, men and women – not that it was always easy to tell their genders – touched the sleeves of my cloak, and smelled my hair. ‘It is him. The Syphon.’

  ‘Just like his uncle,’ another said.

  ‘No, he smells different.’

  I didn’t protest. The last thing I intended to do was upset the only ally who potentially knew how to help my uncle.

  ‘I’ll try,’ Ava said, and Aurelia’s pale eyes clouded over, shivers rippling down her slender arms.

  ‘Oh, child!’ She let go of Ava. ‘It is surely a trap! But it is the Gatekeeper’s choice.’

  ‘What is?’ Lorenzo asked.

  ‘Akhen wants to meet,’ Ava said. ‘He claims he can help us rescue Menelaus from the Underworld in exchange for our help to liberate his wife. A joint venture.’

  ‘You must learn to close your mind to this creature,’ the Queen said. ‘I shall teach you. But first, a decision must be made.’

  The conversation between the Fae halted and everyone looked to me. It was hard to get used it; now I had revealed my identity, I had placed myself in a position of authority. I outrank the Queen of the Fae. For my whole life, my family had made every tiny decision for me, and I had passively sauntered downstream like a fish heading for open water.

  Except this ocean I found myself in was as large and cold as the universe, yet it depended on me to warm it. ‘I think it’s a bad idea,’ I said. ‘We know nothing about Akhen’s powers, or what he’s really up to. Even if we choose the meeting place, is it worth the risk?’

  ‘It sounds as if the decision is made,’ the Queen said. Ava glared at me, her disappointment a potent missile. She wanted Menelaus back. So did I.

  Although, it was nice not to be reminded every five seconds that he had dated her, albeit briefly. He wasn’t a threat while he was in the Underworld. And yes, I suspected that Ava sensed my secret relief, and yes, I was ashamed. ‘I never said that we shouldn’t. Every idea I’ve had, since turning twenty-one, has been a bad idea. Yet here we all are.’

  ‘I wish we could talk to Menelaus,’ Ava said, ‘to see if he’s even still alive.’

  The crystal-clear water of the fountain started to bubble. I lurched forward and pulled Ava and Aurelia away from it while Lolita, Rihanna, and Raphael huddled around Lorenzo.

  ‘Well, looks like your wish has been granted,’ I said to Ava. The water spilling from the basin above froze into a mirror shape, and Menelaus was peering out of it through a red film.

  His eyes widened. ‘Can you hear me?’

  Ava and I stepped closer. ‘Yes, we can,’ I said. ‘Are you alright? Where are you?’

  ‘With Loki,’ Menelaus said, his voice strained.

  Suddenly, the face of the demonic God of Chaos appeared in front of my cousin’s. ‘Salutation from Helheim, my Queen. Oh, hello, Syphon. How nice of you to be conveniently near water. I look forward to our next meeting.’

  Bile flooded my mouth; the last time I’d faced Loki I had used Thor’s hammer and the Gatekeeper’s fire to force him out of Malachi’s body and banish him back to Hel. I wasn’t looking forward to our reunion.

  ‘What do you want?’ I said.

  ‘I’m assuming you want your dear cousin back?’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘Maybe?’ Loki leant back a little to reveal Menelaus. His skin was grey, dark grooves under his eyes. Best not to even mention the rat’s nest on his head. ‘Ah, I see. I suppose you won’t mind him rotting away slowly in his own skin, then?’

  I swallowed hard. Ava’s face was pained. Lorenzo pushed his way to the front, angry. After all, he was the one who had killed Menelaus – sort of – in the first place. ‘What the hell do you mean?’ Lorenzo hissed.

  ‘Hel is exactly what we’re discussing. To answer the Syphon’s question, I don’t like it here. It’s dull and…let’s say my daughter and I don’t agree on decor. And Menelaus is finding that my company isn’t exactly good for the soul. If you want him back, you’ll have to leave the door open for me.’

  ‘And how am I meant to open this door?’

  ‘Oh, I have full confidence in your ingenuity, Gatekeeper. Ciao.’

  The free-hanging water mirror reverted back to liquid, and the fountain resumed its course.

  The courtyard was silent. The pipes had stopped playing. But Loki’s impromptu message had given me an idea.

  ‘Ava, best you tell Akhen that I agree,’ I said, ‘and I know where we’re going to meet.’

  ‘Where?’

  ’The Isle of Avalon.’

  The Queen smiled, catching on to my reasoning. ‘Of course, it is the perfect location. Come, the Fae Pools are this way.’ I followed the Queen out of the courtyard, Ava and the others trailing behind, confused.

  ‘Mum, there’s no way you’re coming with us. This is the Midgard Serpent we’re talking about.’

  ‘The Midgard what?’ Lolita said. ‘Never mind.’

  ‘What about me?’ Rihanna asked.

  ‘You’re under lock and key,’ Lorenzo said, kissing her on the cheek. I felt a pang for my own mother. Seeing her in Thor’s Hall had been bittersweet. Not only was I grieving Father, I was missing her all over again.

  Two – very muscly – Fae guards came into the plush side room where we had stopped and escorted our sapiens to the round table in the centre, made from a felled tree. One of the guards threw a packet of cards on the table and winked at Rihanna.

  ‘Think of Sage and Glen as your companions,’ Aurelia said with a smile. ‘They will see to your every need.�
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  The guards whistled, and their siren-like tune drew Rihanna and Lolita to the table without further complaint. Within moments they were playing cards and laughing as if the world wasn’t at stake.

  I sighed, turning to Raphael, who was clinging to Lorenzo. ‘I shall come,’ he was saying, ‘but I cannot bear to take corporeal form in front of Akhen. Not after what he did to me.’ He touched his face, though the scars had fully healed.

  ‘You can stay here,’ Lorenzo said, stroking Raphael’s curls. ‘Don’t come.’

  ’No, I will. I’ll be in the wind, keeping watch, in case of an ambush.’

  I nodded. ‘It’s a good idea, Lorenzo,’ I said. ‘Ava? Are you ready?’ She was sitting cross-legged on a rug in the corner, trying to slow her breathing. Aurelia went and knelt beside her, placing her milk-white finger on the spot between Ava’s eyebrows.

  ‘Open your eye,’ she said, referring to the third eye, Ava’s inner sight.

  Ava gripped Aurelia’s forearm. ‘I can see him. He’s coming over to me.’

  ‘Stay focused. Don’t let your mind wander. Deliver the message and leave.’

  ‘He’s coming closer.’

  ‘Don’t let him touch you, Ava. Step back.’

  I crept over, not wanting to break Ava’s concentration.

  ‘Akhen, Theo agrees to meet,’ Ava said aloud. ‘In Glastonbury. The Isle of Avalon. Now.’ She paused. ‘That won’t be a problem for you, I’m sure. Those are our conditions.’ Ava shook her head. ‘I can’t break the link.’

  ‘Theo, come here,’ Aurelia commanded. ‘And kiss her.’

  I hesitated. ‘Unless you wish me to slap her? She needs to anchor herself to her surroundings.’

  Ava moaned. ‘Don’t touch me!’ She wasn’t talking to me. I grabbed Ava and kissed her mouth for all I was worth. And bit her lip. She yelped, her eyes snapping open. ‘Theo, it’s you.’

  ‘Hello.’

  I helped her up. She brushed down her dress and smoothed out her hair. ‘I just want this done already. He’s on his way.’

  We left Rihanna and Lolita under the spell of Sage and Glen, and made our way through the twisting corridors of the palace, which reminded me of a tree’s roots.

  The Fae Pools were located on a smaller island behind the palace. ‘How do we cross?’ I asked, but I needn’t have bothered; the Queen walked straight onto the water, a bridge forming under her feet. ‘I should have guessed,’ I said.

  ‘Yggdrasil holds the Nine Realms, Gatekeeper. What feeds a World Tree?’ Aurelia gestured out from the rocky outcrop we were now standing on, drawing our attention to the nine hot springs that covered this miniature island.

  ‘Water,’ I said. ‘Nikolaj told me about this place once.’ I breathed in the steam. ‘They connect to each of the Nine Realms.’

  Raphael floated into the air, losing form as he played with the steam. Lorenzo was too busy watching his dance to pay much mind to the conversation, but Ava’s attention was sharp, as the tip of the vampire’s arrow. ‘Why can’t we go through the pool that leads to Hel and retrieve Menelaus this second? Why meet Akhen?’

  The Queen pointed to the farthest pool. ‘Do you see the black smoke coming through the trees there? Loki’s first wife made sure to poison it long ago, to prevent interference from the Elves and the Fae.’

  ‘Angrboda. The Hag,’ I said. ‘The one who created the Libros Carminum.’ The spell book I’d used to help Penny raise the Hordes of Hel.

  Penny. I couldn’t think about her without wanting to weep.

  ‘Yes, Gatekeeper.’

  ‘We’ll get Menelaus back, Ava.’

  ‘So, what do we do now?’ Lorenzo asked, finally rejoining us. ‘’Ere, I’m guessing those platforms over there are for jumping off? We going to get wet?’

  The Queen chuckled, the timbre of her voice warm as treacle, and led us across the complicated network of rope bridges spanning above the pools. We stopped above the largest pool in the middle. ‘I’m guessing this one takes us to Midgard?’

  ‘Indeed. It shall lead you to the destination you have in mind.’ The Queen looked expectant.

  ‘Fancy going first, Lorenzo?’

  ‘Nah.’

  ‘’Course not. Ava, I think this is a you-jump-I-jump moment.’

  ‘My God, the all-powerful warlock and the vampire are afraid of heights.’ She pinched her nose and screamed as she jumped through the gap in the rope, and just as I had predicted, I dived in after her.

  I surfaced from the lake so close to Glastonbury Tor where King Arthur – a Gatekeeper of yesteryear and therefore my ancestor – was buried. Ava was already on the bank, gasping, and it took me a second to realise her clothes were bone dry, as were mine. As I clambered onto the marshland, Lorenzo and Raphael broke through the water.

  As soon as Raphael’s face appeared, he vanished as promised to become one with the wind.

  The small army of Fae, forming our rear guard, wasn’t what I was expecting. They came out of the lake in pairs, armed to the teeth – including their teeth, which suddenly seemed as sharp as Lorenzo’s fangs.

  I had not spotted a single one tailing us on our journey to the pools. Relief and anxiety hit me at once as a combined packet of emotion; what if the sapiens spotted this compact army, more feather and scales and plumage than skin, dancing like imps across the Avalon marshes?

  Then again, this was Glastonbury.

  And I needn’t have worried; two sets of guards stayed with us while the rest spread out over the landscape and artfully blended into the reeds and local flora as the Midgardian sun began to set. All this hopping about through cosmic time zones was giving my body clock a migraine. I distracted myself by checking on Thor’s hammer, which I had magically shielded from sight and hooked under my cloak onto the belt that Thor had thankfully leant me too.

  ‘Thanks for coming,’ I said to the all-female guard who had decided to stand with us. They were smaller and slighter than the Elves, but every inch of their bodies rippled with strength.

  ‘The air quality is disgusting. I thought sapiens have lungs. They do have lungs, don’t they, Redheart?’

  Redheart grimaced at her partner. ‘It has been a while since I examined the inside of a sapien. I…think so?’

  I felt the colour drain from my face. Ava poked me in the abs. ‘They’re winding you up, Theo,’ she said.

  ‘Oh…yeah,’ I said, as I received a quadruple salute.

  ‘It is our pleasure to serve Queen Aurelia. Snap your fingers, and we’ll take you back to her,’ Redheart said, bending down and scooping up a handful of earth.

  She ate some. ‘Peat. I’m sure the sapiens will release the carbon it contains into the atmosphere at their earliest convenience.’

  It went on like that for some minutes – our guards mocking the unique human ability of destroying our own habitat, until I almost felt there was no point trying to save Earth from the Midgard Serpent – while we found our ideal position.

  Lorenzo unveiled his Sarrow bow and arrow, and climbed the nearest hillock, ready to warn of Akhen’s approach. Ava and I stayed near the lake, ready to make our escape.

  I had not summoned Ormdreper since the Battle of Hellingstead.

  The blood that had glistened upon its blade was no longer there, but the screams of its victims still rang loud and clear as I ripped it out of the void.

  A surge of confidence drowned out the dread. It was time to face Akhen. I was ready. After what he’d done to my family, he’d be lucky to leave Avalon with his face intact.

  Would he arrive through a portal, in one of his golden chariots? My eyes moved constantly as I examined every route to the marshes.

  Thwack, thwack, thwack.

  I looked up. ‘Odin, Thor, and Freyr! You’re kidding me! A helicopter?’

  It was the first time I had set eyes upon the man who had single-handedly destroyed my family and driven my coven to darkness. I sensed the history beneath our feet, rolling from the distant past – a time wh
en gods walked the earth and knights fought alongside my ancient kin – arising in the moment, the straight arrow of destiny piercing us both.

  The helicopter descended but didn’t land – the door opened, and Akhenaten, once Pharaoh and Ducis Imperi of the Praefecti, stepped out and landed softly on the marsh, despite the ten-foot drop. He strode towards us without so much as a pause, his sandy-coloured robes catching in the breeze.

  I considered whether to slit his throat with Ormdreper.

  Ava moved behind me.

  I knew Lorenzo would have his Elvish arrow pointed at Akhen. One move, and this could all be over. My fingers curled around the handle as I recalled the words he’d sent to my grandmother at my father’s funeral.

  May the scorching face of Aten shine down upon dear Espen’s soul for eternity…

  He deserved it for that alone.

  ‘Good evening, Syphon.’ He stopped a fair distance away, poised, confident. Cold. ‘It’s customary to kneel.’

  Ormdreper throbbed in my hand. Ava’s fingers pressed into the small of my back, cooling my temper.

  ‘I’ll be happy to cut your legs off,’ I said, ‘if formality means that much to you.’

  ‘Be calm. I’m not here to hurt you. I have come alone, unarmed. Which is more than you can say.’ He tilted his head back and flared his nostrils. ‘Our little wind-sprite is close, and though I may not be able to see your faery friends….’

  ‘How much is your queen worth to you?’ I asked.

  ‘Quite literally the world.’

  ‘Then you’ll have no problem returning the amulet.’

  ‘That is not the chip I am bargaining with today. Liberating your cousin from eternal damnation seems like a fair trade to me.’

  I should tell him to go to Hel, I thought. Then again, that’s exactly what he wants. And Loki’s threats to Menelaus had been real; I felt it in my gut. And if I walked away from this chance to help him, Ava would never forgive me. ‘What do you propose?’