You care for Amon.
“Yes.”
Even though you are aware of his calling?
“Yes.”
Then he is fortunate to have found one such as you.
I wet my wind-chapped lips and asked, “And what is it you would wish for, Asten? Surely you’ve thought of something in all those years stuck in the afterlife.”
After a heartbeat, he spoke. I dare not disclose the desire of my heart. To express it, even to one as understanding as you, is to cast my fate upon a cold universe. When I hold it within, I spill over with possibility, but once it escapes I am left bereft and empty.
“I am sorry for the fate the three of you share. It seems very lonely. “
We three have each other. For that, at least, I am grateful.
He seemed melancholy, and for one as full of life as Asten, the mood was too sad. Changing the subject, I asked, “What is your favorite thing to do when you awaken? Other than the women, I mean. Amon says he enjoys the feast most of all.”
Asten laughed. Yes, food was always foremost in Amon’s mind. The thing that I find most fascinating is to see how the world has changed while we slept in our tombs. I am the one who liked to head off to unknown places and find adventure.
“Well, quite a bit has changed in the last thousand years.”
Tell me.
“I don’t even know where to begin.”
Why don’t you start with your own city? Where are you from? Your skin is pale, but you do not seem to be of Greek or Roman descent.
“No, I’m not from Greece or Italy. I live in New York, which is a part of the United States. That’s where Amon rose.”
Is that nearby?
“It’s across the ocean.”
Shifting, I burrowed into the soft feathers of Asten’s back and started telling him all about New York and how I met Amon. The hours passed quickly as he listened, stopping me only to clarify terms he was unfamiliar with. So it came as a surprise when we began to descend, circling a small outcropping of hills.
Amon says we are here. Hold on to me tightly.
Asten tucked in his wings, and we plummeted toward the desert valley below.
My stomach sank as I closed my eyes briefly and gripped Asten’s long neck. In the middle of the barren desert valley there was a small brown dot, barely recognizable, and I wondered if it was an animal that had died in the sun, or a plant that had sprouted in the middle of nowhere. It turned out to be neither.
The supersized ibis banked, lifting his wings to slow his descent, then flapped them quickly as he bounced across the sand toward the object. Asten turned, lowering his body so I could slip off. When I hobbled away, he turned a brilliant white before bursting and coalescing into his human form. A moment later, the golden falcon landed nearby and shifted form as well.
“Lily,” Amon said as he approached me. “Thank you for taking care of her,” he added, gripping Asten’s arm.
“It was indeed a privilege.” Asten winked at me and then headed off across the sand with Dr. Hassan.
Amon slid his warm hands down my shoulders, gently passing his fingertips over my bound arm. “Does it still hurt?”
“Yes. But not as bad as a worm bite would have been.”
“Do not jest about such things.” Amon’s expression was sober. “It could have killed you, and my power would have been insufficient to stop that from happening.”
“But I’m okay. Your brother got me out in time. He used his star magic or whatever.”
Amon said nothing as he touched my neck, and I could tell he was attempting to assess my injuries. I pushed his hand away softly but insistently. “Hey. I want you to stop worrying about me so much. I can promise you that if I really were that close to dying, I’d know it. We need you focusing more on this ceremony, don’t you think? It’s almost the full moon. We don’t have much time left.”
Clenching his jaw as if saying nothing required a monumental effort, Amon nodded. We started to make our way to where Asten and Dr. Hassan stood, but when I sucked in a breath from the sting of the bite wound radiating up my leg, Amon scooped me up in his arms and carried me, warming my body with his power. I knew he couldn’t spare any of his remaining energy and was planning to protest, when he murmured in my ear, “Do not think to deny me in this, Nehabet. At the very least, allow me to do what I can for you.”
Remembering Amon’s tendency to blame himself and feel the need to help me, I settled back and enjoyed being close to him, figuring I’d return the favor later.
The intense sun directly overhead invigorated Amon, and his skin absorbed the light. As I stared at his handsome human face, I thought how silly it was that I had been so frightened before at the idea of falling in love with a mummy.
Amon couldn’t help what he was. He didn’t ask to be a hero of Egypt, let alone allow his body to rot for centuries. He was just a man caught in a celestial game—a powerful pawn the gods moved across the board and sacrificed for their own purposes.
I decided I would try to find a way to get Amon and his brothers out of this. But first, we needed to rescue the third brother. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn’t even register everyone else standing in a silent circle, staring down at something.
“What is it?” I twisted to see what they were all gaping at. Amon accommodated me and turned so that I had a better view. What I saw made me suck in a shaky breath. Lying before us on the sand was a man. Burned, abused, and bleeding, with one eye ripped out, broken limbs, and bones protruding in several places, yet still he breathed.
“Master?” The man coughed drily, his spilt blood congealing in clumps of hot sand. Amon pressed me toward Asten, but I wriggled enough that he changed his mind and set me down instead. Amon crouched and touched the man’s shoulder.
“I am here. Anubis sent you,” Amon said. It wasn’t a question but a statement. The man nodded. “What happened to you?” Amon asked, and in that moment, I recognized the broken form. It was the tall shabti who had been sent to find the god of the moon.
Apparently, he, at least, had been faithful. I sank down next to Amon, stretching my injured leg out alongside the man’s.
“It”—he swallowed painfully, and my heart hurt as I saw that several of his teeth had also been broken—“it was the Dark One.”
“He found you and injured you? Tortured you for information?”
The shabti shook his head and even that slight movement caused him to whimper. “He did not want infor…” He wheezed. “Information.”
“Then what did he want?” Asten asked, sympathy coloring his expression.
“To stop the ceremony and to give you a mess…message.” Tremors rippled through the man’s body as he started seizing. Amon looked up at his brother, who nodded and lifted his hands, speaking in Egyptian and casting a spell over the shabti. Whatever Asten did seemed to help. The shaking stopped, and the shabti’s one eye cleared somewhat.
“What is the message?” Amon asked kindly.
Fervor lit the face of the servant, and he gasped as an invisible power lifted his torso. His broken arms dangled at his sides, his eye rolling back until all that could be seen was a white gleaming orb positioned alongside the empty socket next to it.
In a sibilant voice, very different from the shabti’s, words streamed from his mouth, and it took me a moment to make sense of them.
You come here seeking the power of the moon,
But he has been hidden in a dark cloud, his power vanquished.
You who weep will be cast into a devouring fire,
Where you will wail and gnaw upon your fingers,
For you will be unable to hold back the tide of darkness.
Already it swirls around you, snapping and ripping you asunder.
Flies fester and maggots tear the flesh from his bones.
But he can be liberated from his rotting prison.
The price? It is small. A trinket. A trifle.
All I seek is an eye.
B
ut no ordinary eye will suffice to release one so great.
The Eye of Horus is the requisite payment.
It will be swallowed whole, devoured by chomping beasts.
Only then may you reunite with your lost brother
In the realms of the dead.
If you do not come for him,
Then I’ll retort with a hellish deluge.
I will blacken the glory of the sun,
Squeeze bloody tears from the moon,
And shake the foundation of the cosmos
Until every last star in heaven shall fall,
And humankind will dwindle to utter nothingness.
The shabti’s head swung back and hung loosely as he fell silent. Slowly, his body lowered onto the sand, which crept over him as if burying him alive. Soon only his head stuck out, and the sand on top of him solidified into a highly detailed structure that resembled an ancient Egyptian building.
I pressed my hands against my mouth, horrified. “Does that…? Did he mean that he has Ahmose and wants to trade him for Amon’s…eye?” I gasped, barely able to get the words out.
Staring at the empty socket where the shabti’s eye had once been made me sick, especially as I imagined the pain of losing it. It couldn’t happen to Amon. It just couldn’t.
Amon and Asten didn’t answer, and when I glanced up at Dr. Hassan, he removed his hat and hung his head. This was not good. I hoped that maybe I had misunderstood, that something had been lost in translation. That Amon was not considering trading his eye for his brother.
Amon and Asten studied the structure atop the shabti for a moment and then exchanged a long look. The sun god knelt at the head of the dying servant and passed his hand over the man’s face. “You have assisted me well,” Amon murmured. “You are released from your servitude. May your faithful service render you a blessed afterlife.” With a deep sigh, the man’s life force escaped from his mouth and hovered in the air for a moment before collapsing in on itself and disappearing with a burst of light.
The body resting under the sand shivered. Thin beams of golden light whipped around it in a whirlwind, and then the form shrank, destroying the sand building in the process. Amon dug his hand into the pile of sand and felt around until he found what he was looking for. Slowly, he pulled out the shabti’s stone carving and handed it to Dr. Hassan, who dusted it off soberly and placed it in his knapsack.
“We are headed to the temple, then?” Dr. Hassan asked after he’d secured the bag.
Asten nodded. “The structure still stands?”
“Yes. Though it is slowly returning to dust.”
“As are we all,” Amon replied gravely. He and Asten drew Dr. Hassan aside, moving away several feet until I could no longer make out what they were saying, especially because they were conferring in Egyptian. I was irritated at being left out. When their conversation was finished, Amon asked, “Dr. Hassan, if you would be kind enough to escort Lily a bit farther down the valley? Asten and I must speak with one another alone.”
“Of course.”
Amon wrapped his hands around my waist and helped me to my feet. “And perhaps you could also see to her injuries?” he added as Dr. Hassan put an arm around my shoulder.
“Wait.” I turned back to Amon. “I don’t understand. What building was that in the sand? You’re not planning to do something drastic, are you?”
Amon gave me a long, sad look before turning to his brother. Dr. Hassan dutifully guided me away and then crouched to take a look at my bandages.
“This will need to be re-dressed. Will you take a seat, my dear?”
Taking my hand he steadied me as I hopped to a large rock and sat down. While I handed him the roll of bandages he’d packed, I quizzed him on what was going on. He seemed reluctant to share and kept glancing back at the two men who stood far behind us.
“I believe we are going to the Kom Ombo temple, the crocodile temple.”
“That’s where Ahmose was taken?”
“If the messenger spoke the truth, which I believe he did.”
“How do you know?”
“Because this area of the country was not always the wasteland you see today. When I hid Ahmose here, there was an oasis similar to the one where I hid Asten. He was buried in the hollow of the tallest tree and was also guarded by immortal creatures. The touch of the Dark One—”
“Brings death?” I swallowed.
“No.” Dr. Hassan shook his head as he secured my new bandage. “He causes much worse than death.”
“How can something be worse?”
Dr. Hassan stared unblinkingly over my shoulder for a moment. His eyes took on a glassy sheen as he seemed to be considering my question. “Ah,” he said, as if someone were whispering the answer in his ear. Finally, he refocused on my face and smiled. “You see, even in death there is the memory of a life lived. The person or animal who passes on continues to nourish the earth, and generations are influenced by the lives of their ancestors. What Seth does is more than simple destruction. He unmakes.”
“Unmakes?”
“Rewinds. Takes away every aspect of living until there is nothing left”—Dr. Hassan dug his fingers into the sand and let it trickle between them—“but barren ground. Even the footprints of those who have gone before are erased. This is what he wanted to do to Ahmose, Asten, and Amon centuries ago. He wanted more than a mere sacrifice; he wanted to unmake them.
“It would have been as if they’d never existed, and all the good that had happened because of them, all the lives they’d touched, would be erased. Their people would have suffered terribly, and the unmaking would have weakened the gods to the point of overpowering them.”
“He can do that?”
“Oh, yes. You see, to defeat evil is to spread the light of goodness. This is what gives the gods their strength. In creating something good, as when Seth used his power to heal the land and bless the people of Egypt, he achieved a certain level of power.”
“Because the people worshipped him?”
“In part, but it is not as simple as that. Their worship served to put Seth’s fellow gods at ease. He fooled everyone, mortal and immortal, and seemed to be serving humanity when in fact he was setting it up for a terrible fall. The power he achieved in the making and serving of humankind was a fraction of the power he would have gotten from unmaking them. But to unmake requires time, and it’s much easier to unmake someone who is already dead than someone who is living. This is why Seth asked his loyal priest to sacrifice the brothers.”
“So when he tried to kill Osiris, he was attempting to unmake him?”
“Very good, Lily. You are correct. But before Seth could complete his work, Isis discovered the body of her husband, and she and Anubis remade him. Unfortunately, parts of him were missing and he could no longer live upon Earth.”
“Which is why he now resides in the afterlife.”
“Yes. Luckily, Seth’s duplicity regarding Amon and his brothers was discovered in time and his plans were thwarted before he could finish what he’d started. Knowing that Seth would continue to attempt to unmake the three princes since he had invested so much energy in them, Anubis took them out of the equation by making them servants of Egypt and instilling in them the celestial powers of the gods. As long as they retain their power, Seth cannot destroy them and achieve what he seeks.”
“In that case, why can’t Seth just unmake other people? Like me or you or Amon’s father, for example? Wouldn’t he gain power from that?”
“In theory, yes, but the gods would be alerted and would intervene. In the case of Amon’s, Asten’s, and Ahmose’s births, since Seth was the one who caused them to be born in the first place, the only god who would hear and respond to the danger would be himself. To destroy one’s own creations results in an infusion of power so ultimate, nothing can be denied the immortal that achieves it. And yet, it comes with a terrible price.”
“How did Anubis know to come and help if he wasn’t alerted?”
&nb
sp; “The people expressed such heartfelt prayers and concern for their beloved princes, especially the mothers of the princes, that the gods could not ignore their faithful pleas.”
Our conversation was interrupted when Asten and Amon approached. Asten frowned at Dr. Hassan, giving him a meaningful glance. The doctor winced as if he’d been reprimanded, though no words had been exchanged, and nodded in obeisance. I wondered if they were angry with him for telling me too much.
In my mind, I had a right to know, so I took Dr. Hassan’s hand and patted it reassuringly. “We have decided that we will seek out the temple,” Asten declared. “It is imperative that we locate our brother.” Amon’s head hung low, and he seemed to be having a hard time focusing. I closed my eyes and tried to sense what he was feeling, but it was like I was shut out by a wall made of stone, and no matter how high I climbed or how far along it I walked, there was no way around it.
“Amon?”
“All will be well, Young Lily,” he whispered in a hollow voice. “You must trust in Asten’s guidance.”
“Forget that!” I spat as I stood, no longer holding back. The struggle to remain upright somewhat diminished my righteous indignation, but still I pressed on and jabbed Amon in the chest.
“I can’t help but notice,” I said as I poked, “that you are pretty much ignoring me and making drastic decisions without any regard for my feelings on the subject. As you are aware, I am as invested in the outcome of this adventure as you are, so I have a right to know what’s. Going. On,” I declared, punctuating each word with three final prods.
In all my life, I’d never voiced a demand to be involved, to be able to make a choice for myself. Doing so made me feel a bit proud. I doubted that I had the fortitude to assert myself in the same way with my parents, but doing so with Amon and his brother was a big step forward.
Amon wrapped his hands around mine, squeezing softly. “I am sorry, Lily. I did not mean to leave you by the wayside. I just want to protect you.” He seemed so tired; his skin was cold. The sun radiating off his form wasn’t warming him like it had before we encountered the dying shabti.
“I get that,” I answered more gently. “I really do. But I’m made of stronger stuff than you think. You can tell me the truth. I promise I won’t run away.”