Blood from his torn hand dripped down the front of my jacket. When I saw it, an echoing tear trickled down my cheek. When I stopped, I took his hand, saddened that the thick glove prevented me from feeling his touch one last time, and placed it on the flat stone above.
“Wait here,” Amon said, and took his position, planting both feet solidly on top of the temple.
Raising his arms in the air, Amon began chanting, his skin brightening a little, though it was very clear that his power was sorely diminished and his arms were shaking. The full moon was right above us, and from my perspective it looked like Amon was cupping it with his hands.
The bodies of Asten and Ahmose shone like gleaming bonfires on their respective temples, but Amon’s body remained dim. As the three men chanted, I saw silvery light gather from the moon and shoot down to Ahmose. The twinkling stars loosed some of their light and a beam of it swirled around Asten.
Asten’s and Ahmose’s pyramids shone in the night, glowing white and silver, but the pyramid where I stood with Amon was still dark. Power swirled in the night sky, lighting up the heavens like an aurora borealis. Trickles of the silver and white light shot toward us. Amon’s arms stopped trembling, his body glowing brighter.
The brothers recited their spell and a mist of starlight headed straight for me. To my surprise, it enveloped me, and I gasped as the pinpricks of light tingled over my skin and then sank into me. I felt a pull. I knew then that this was Asten’s way of channeling my energy to Amon. I naturally resisted, but then I saw a golden light encircle Amon and remembered to willingly offer myself, and my energy, for it to work.
Closing my eyes, I imagined that I was offering Amon everything—my heart, my mind, my soul, and my body. The pull became stronger, and I sucked in a breath through my teeth at the pain. I fell back as something broke away inside me, and I drifted—painless, dreamy, and fulfilled in a way I’d never been before.
Lying on my back, I gazed up at the cosmos. Pulses of energy lapped like waves across my body, starting at my head and then moving all the way down to my toes over and over again. A humming filled my mind as golden light erupted all around me.
Sunshine mist angled above me, floating up and away from me, into Amon’s skin. The effect was invigorating him, and his body grew brighter. The thought occurred to me that if I had to die, this was the very best way to go. I couldn’t feel the stones pressing into my back or the emotional loss of leaving life behind. All I could sense was the wonder of the universe and how small a piece of it I was.
Above me the eruption of lights broke apart and became three points. With my eyes, I traced them in the sky—one white, one silver, and one gold. The three had formed a constellation. It was beautiful. But then, something opened in the sky above it—a dark rift—with a terrible evil coming through. It looked like an iridescent storm, but I could tell it was much more than that.
As the sky roiled and churned, fear flooded through me and I whimpered, unable to prevent the sound from coming out. A sinister, malevolent, and ominous face grew, and I knew it was just a matter of time until we were all consumed by it.
Thick hailstones rained down, pummeling my weakened body, but I could barely feel them. When the hailstones came close to Amon’s golden aura, they disintegrated, but I was outside of that circle of protection. An icy ball hit me on my temple and I felt the wetness of blood. It was cold. No. I was cold. Trembling, I tried to move, eager to hide myself from the thing that seemed to be watching me, but I found I could not so much as lift a limb.
Desperate to escape and unable to do so, I felt my eyes fill with tears. Gone was the peace of a few moments ago. I knew then that we were too late. Seth was here and he was coming for us. I wasn’t just going to die; I was going to be unmade, erased. My family wouldn’t even remember I’d existed. What was worse, Amon would forget me entirely. Somehow, that idea seemed the more tragic of the two.
Then the three points of light shot in arcs like falling stars, twisting as they angled toward their brother lights. Next, they angled downward, zooming toward the pyramids. The beams shot down the pyramid shafts and emerged on the other side. The trails they left formed a series of triangles that connected everything. It’s the Impossible Triangle, I thought, as I gazed in awe.
The center filled with swirls of white, gold, and silver, and the inside grew brighter and brighter until it merged into a powerful pillar aimed directly at the crevice that had been made in the universe. A stream of light hit the storm cloud and consumed it, and with a final burst of energy, the crack sealed, disappearing in a brilliant storm of white, gold, and silver light.
Slowly, the light dimmed, and the tails creating the Impossible Triangle were reabsorbed. The white ball of light shot toward Asten, the silver floated lazily past the moon and settled upon Ahmose’s shoulders, and the gold ball zoomed back to Amon, who caught it in his hand. It sank into his body and he staggered back a step.
“It is done,” he said. “Come, Hassan. I will take you with me.”
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.
“Hassan? What is wrong with you? Where are you?” Amon descended a step or two until his foot made contact with my shoulder. “Hassan?” Squatting next to me, Amon lifted my arm and tried to get me to talk. He removed my hat and slapped my face lightly, then suddenly stopped as his fingers touched my hair. He ran his hands over my face and neck. “Lily?” he gasped. “No.” He wrenched the heavy jacket off me, scooped me up in his arms, and pressed his face in my neck. “No!” he screamed.
I realized he thought I was dead. I wasn’t. At least, I didn’t think so. But there was no way for him to know that. Even I couldn’t tell if I was breathing. Maybe I was dead and was now having an out-of-body experience. Amon pressed his lips against my cheeks and forehead; his arms trembled and his breathing was ragged. If he still had his eyes, he might have been weeping. How sad not to be able to weep, I thought.
Clutching me close to his body, Amon uttered a spell, his voice breaking. The top of the pyramid became liquid and we sank into a darkness that closed over our heads.
We passed through layers of stone as if it were water, coming to a stop deep inside the pyramid. Large rocks, like the ones in Osahar’s underground tunnels, sat in the corners providing light. Amon’s feet touched the gritty soil and he staggered, but he held me close, cradling my body as gently as he could. My head hung across his arm while he stretched out a hand to feel where he was. After bumping into a raised stone slab that looked suspiciously like an altar, he carefully lowered me onto it.
Amon smoothed my hair from my forehead and folded my arms across my chest as if I were Cleopatra on her deathbed. I wanted to scream, to shout that I was alive, but I was trapped inside my own body. He knelt at my side, tremors racking his body as he pressed his forehead against my stomach, I wished more than anything to comfort him.
“I am so, so sorry, Lily,” he murmured. “I did not wish this for you. How oblivious I was in thinking I had generated enough power on my own.
“I should have known that my brothers would deceive me. They did not understand why I chose to send you home, why I would risk allowing chaos to reign, why I challenged the very reason for our existence. Now the thing I feared the most has come to pass. How could I not have sensed that the sweet energy seeping into my soul was yours?”
Lifting my hand, Amon clutched it, rubbing my knuckles with his thumb. Little pulses of sunshine ran through me—surely that was a good sign, or at least a sign that I wasn’t really dead.
Amon continued. “The only consolation I had in leaving you behind was believing that you had a chance to live, to exercise the right every person born on this earth takes for granted—finding happiness. Now you have gone, left this world in search of the next. My greatest and only wish is to follow you, but my path is not the same as yours. My destiny calls me elsewhere.”
Dropping his forehead to my hand, he added, “Forgive me, Lily. Forgive me for taking you away from your home, for the
burdens I placed upon you, for causing this tragedy, and, most of all, forgive me for the things I would not allow myself to say.”
Light coalesced a few feet behind Amon, and a handsome man appeared with a black dog at his side. If I hadn’t been almost dead, I would have loved to draw him. His thickly muscled torso was bare and he wore a pleated skirt, but his was black instead of white. He had a head of shiny black hair.
He looked like he was around my father’s age, but he had that kind of ageless beauty any woman would be attracted to.
“Amon? What is this?” the man asked.
Amon lifted his head. “Anubis,” he said. “This is Lily. A mortal. I was forced to rely upon her energy during this rising and it has resulted in her death.”
“How…interesting.” Anubis took a step closer. Leaning over to get a good look at me, he noticed that my eyes were open and I was watching him. He winked as he straightened up, and I concluded that I liked him but didn’t entirely trust him. “Tell me how this happened,” he requested of Amon.
The incarnation of the sun got to his feet, keeping my hand wrapped in his as he turned toward the nearby god but looked at a spot just beyond him. “Apophis and Seth lent a portion of their might to a mortal, the same mortal who took my eyes and stole three of my canopic jars, absorbing my powers into himself. This is why I needed Lily.”
“I see. Has this mortal been overcome?”
“He has. And Seth has been locked away for another millennium.”
“Then you have done your duty admirably. Are you prepared to relinquish your powers so that they may be stored for future use?”
“I am. Though there is now only one remaining.”
“I would not be too sure about that.”
Amon cocked his head. “I do not understand. Sebak’s dark shabti opened my three jars and his master absorbed their energy.”
“Yes, but as is often the case, there are certain…substitutions that can be made.”
“What substitutions?”
“You must never underestimate a willing sacrifice. Do you remember when Seth asked your fathers to sacrifice you long ago? You told your people that you were willing to go through with it.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“There is great power to be had when a person gives of himself to protect those he loves. This is why the gods imbued you with their energies in the first place.”
“What does that have to do with my situation?”
“In giving of herself so freely, this young woman restored that which had been taken.”
“You mean Lily’s death returned all of my powers?”
“No, not her death. Her love. Lily’s sacrifice for you was in every way as powerful as the sacrifice you made for your people. The gods cannot deny such a forfeit and have bestowed a great gift in exchange for it. Her love for you has returned that which was stolen. You will still need to give it back, of course, until the time of your next rising, but at that time you will be fully restored.”
Amon turned his back to the god and took a few steps away.
Anubis gave him a sharp look. “Are you not grateful for this gift?” he asked.
“I am…sorrowful that it was necessary.”
“Ah. I understand.”
“Would you…,” Amon began, “I know she is not one of us, but might you consider easing her journey to the afterlife as you do for me and my brothers?”
Rubbing his jaw, Anubis glanced quickly at me and smiled. “I might. If she were actually dead.”
“What?” Amon spun around and felt his way back to the altar. He picked up my limp hand and stroked it. “She is still alive? Then why can she not speak or move? Why can I not sense her?”
“Her energy has been depleted to the point of near death.”
“Is there anything I can do for her? Can I bring her back?”
“Yes, and I think deep down you know what must happen.”
I could see the moment when Amon realized what was necessary. “Is there not another way?”
“Not one that I know of. You will have to nullify it, of course, when it is done. Otherwise—”
“I am aware of the ramifications.” Amon squeezed my hand and I could barely feel the pressure. “What if she cannot do it?”
“I will be here to aid her in any way I can.” Seeing Amon’s hesitation, Anubis added, “If you would rather leave her here and allow the natural order of things to determine the outcome, that is also an option.”
Amon sighed deeply before squaring his shoulders. “No. I will do it.”
“You should know that this is merely a formality,” said Anubis. “As much as you tried to prevent it from happening, it did. Now it is only a matter of you saying the words.”
“I was hoping that would not be the case.”
“Really?” Anubis said, smiling as he folded his arms across his chest. “If it were me, I would be hesitant to cast such a thing aside…until it became necessary, that is.”
“I hoped to spare her the pain.”
“Mortal pain is short-lived.”
I frowned at the god’s words and thought, Says you.
Anubis continued, “Whereas your suffering lasts a very long time. A good memory could make your internment seem bearable.”
“Perhaps, in truth, I wanted to spare us both,” Amon said.
“Ah, well, this is a good lesson to reflect upon until the next rising.”
“Yes, Anubis,” Amon answered quietly.
I wasn’t sure I understood much of their conversation, but whatever it was about, Amon wasn’t happy about it, and I couldn’t help going back over their words and counting the number of times pain was mentioned. Whatever was going to happen could not be good.
Anubis moved back, his faithful dog at his side, as Amon began chanting a spell, one that I recognized. It was the incantation he’d used to bind the two of us, but this time the words were slightly changed. Wind ruffled my hair, though we were entombed inside the pyramid.
With the power of my mouth,
The power in my heart,
I utter a spell.
As our forms are bound this day,
So are our lives.
Tirelessly, she has served me,
As I have served Egypt.
Make light our feathers.
Make swift our wings.
Make steady our hearts.
We combine the strength of our bodies,
And, in doing so,
Pledge to renew one another.
Where she is unknown, I will attend.
Where she is alone, there will I be.
When she is weak, I will sustain,
Even unto death.
Our hearts are firm.
Our souls are triumphant.
Our bond is unbreakable.
By the time Amon finished the spell, he was leaning over me, holding me in place as a strong wind threatened to blow me off the stone slab. Our prior bond had drained me, made me feel ill, but the bond he formed now was exactly the opposite.
I sucked in a deep breath as a burning sensation ran through my veins. It was hot, but it didn’t hurt. My whole body glowed with a golden light. I suddenly felt aware of Amon. The strength of his body was my own. The pain where his eyes had once been caused my eyes to sting and blur with tears. The heaviness in his heart almost made me weep.
“Amon?” I said weakly, and he reached out for me, pulling me to his chest as he buried his face in my neck.
“Lily,” he sighed.
“What…what just happened?”
He leaned back, lowering his head so I wouldn’t have to look at his empty eyes. “I have sealed the bond between us,” he answered softly.
“I don’t understand. What does that mean? Weren’t you already bound to me?”
“It was a temporary thing. I had hoped to avoid this. What is between us now is virtually unchangeable.”
“Why? Why would you want to avoid it?” I wiped the tears from my cheeks, irritated t
hat they were falling.
“Lily.” Amon ran a hand over my shoulder and cupped my neck. “It is not for the reason you are thinking. Open your mind to me and understand.”
Blinking rapidly, I sniffed and tried to do what he said, but I was too wrapped up in the idea that he was once again rejecting me. Amon gripped my shoulder and shook it slightly. “Close your eyes and try to feel what I feel.”
I closed my eyes and focused on Amon. I felt the thrum of his pulse, heard the softness of his breathing. The thump of his heart distracted me for a moment, and then I saw through his eyes. Not his real eyes, but I was able to see what he had seen. I was swept up in a vision through what I now realized was the Eye of Horus.
All at once, I understood…everything.
“Amon?” I cupped his cheek. “I didn’t realize how you felt. I thought you didn’t want to be with me.”
“I could not allow myself to even consider it. But I wanted it. More than I ever wanted anything.”
Anubis cleared his throat and Amon let me go and turned toward him, his back stiff. “Perhaps I am becoming soft in my old age,” the god said, “but I will give the two of you a few moments. Oh, and Amon? You owe me one.”
The handsome god gave me a final wink before whirling both of his hands in the air. With a thrust of his fingertips, the gray clouds of smoke gathering around them were pushed toward Amon’s head, obscuring his expression. Amon screamed and shoved his palms into his eye sockets.
The smoke sizzled and then danced away, forming new fingers on his damaged hand, healing the bites, cuts, and bruises on his skin and his leg. When the smoke disappeared, he lowered his hands and blinked. Amon’s eyes were back. With a grunt of satisfaction and a quiet woof from his dog, Anubis disappeared in a flash of light.
Immediately Amon’s hazel eyes brimmed with tears and he reached out to touch my face. His sunlight warmth trailed down my jaw.
“Can you…see me?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Does it hurt?”