by Paul Edwards
Chapter fourteen
As I approached the huge gates the two large statues jumped to life again blocking my way, they stared at me with their glowing eyes.
"Ha, it is the famers wife, why are you outside so late, this is against the rules," one of them said with an officious tone.
"I am the sorceress Kemamonit, get out of my way or you will spend the rest of eternity as real statues."
The two animals jerked their heads back as if they had been struck.
"Sorceress? You jest," one of them said defiantly.
"Yes, you will have to do better than that," said the other
I said a single word of command, then I walked between the two newly created stone statues, they would now stand on guard forever.
I made my way to the palace without being bothered it was only when I came to the main entrance that I was confronted with two guards armed with spears.
I froze them in place with a stasis spell, it was just a modified time slow spell, it would wear off in a few minutes long enough for me to slip by.
I retraced my steps back to the large room that I had seen Semiramis and her generals in, I opened the door and walked in. I saw Semiramis sitting at the large table reading a clay tablet, she was by herself.
She looked up as I closed the door behind me, I kept my eyes on her as I did not trusting her.
We studied each other, she had light skin with just a hint of olive, her hair was long and black with loose curls. I was struck by how beautiful she was, she had large brown eyes that stared at me with an odd almost menacing glare.
"The mysterious sorcerer I see... there is a familiarity about you, do I know you?"
"I am not your enemy, I had nothing to do with what happened in Babylon, I just have a question," I said.
"Question... you are Kemamonit aren't you, I have seen your corpse, you have cheated death?"
"No, that is not me, I am another Kemamonit."
"That is too bad, it would have been interesting to chat with her, about her battles with Senbi."
"Battles... I thought they were married?" I asked, suddenly curious.
"True hate can only be cultivated from love, the City blossomed from it as it always has, it thrives on conflict you know, you must read the histories some time."
I thought of Shelley and Janet.
"Your enmity with Imhotep... was that born out of love too?"
Semiramis stared at me, her face expressionless, it felt like she was looking into me, as if my Ka was naked. I suppressed a shudder.
"Imhotep is a fool," she said.
"Why do you hate him so?"
"Enough... he is a stupid man, the world is not numbers you cannot measure a person's character with a ruler their genius with a scale."
"What then?"
I had a niggling intuition that I was very close to finding out what I needed.
"You must judge their music, their humor... use ones insight and opinion."
I had a revelation.
"It's a musical joke... that's the solution, that's what you did" I said out loud.
She stared at me, there was evil in her eyes.
"You know the future don't you... my plans."
"Ah... nope... I was just thinking about something else," I silently cursed myself for blurting out the solution to her puzzle.
"There is something strange about you, the way you move, the melody of your language. It is subtle but noticeable."
She waved her hand and the room disappeared, we were on a large stone platform under the stars, there was a light but not from a noticeable source.
"I don't know what you mean." I said.
I kept my eyes on her keeping myself square to her as she walked, she circled me like a predator circles its prey.
"I can't let you stop me."
"Why would I stop you? I have no interest in these people."
"Your question what is it?"
"Um... why are you doing this? You're a sorcerer, you know about the nature of the universe, that we are just specks."
"You would not understand."
"Ok then... I'll just be on my way."
"I can't let you leave."
A sword appeared in her hand, I drew my own sword in response, my heart started beating faster.
"It has an enchantment?" She asked, a curious expression on her face.
"Yes."
"You used a master swordsman for the spell I'll bet, how did you find him?"
"I just followed a trail of corpse's."
Semiramis laughed as she spun her sword.
"I searched for a month, selected twelve men then had them fight for a prize."
I switched on the swords enchantment and felt the ghost of a long dead swordsman take control of the blade.
I had practised with the enchantment since the last time I had needed it, it was not something I had enjoyed, the sword would become angry sometimes and lash out if someone was near.
We approached each other.
"Say hello... my little friend," I said to my sword.
We began our duel.
The swords moved as if in a dance at first, one would thrust another would parry, back and forth almost too fast to see. Then they were still for a moment looking for a weakness a opening, perhaps resting, then they were at it again.
My practise sessions had enabled me to assist my sword in the battle. I could tell by the way the sword moved what it needed from me where to put my body.
Semramis and I had both our hands on our swords, I noticed she had no fear in her eyes, instead they sparkled with excitement.
"You chose well Kemamonit, your sword is almost the equal of mine."
I felt my blade jerk in anger, she had just signed her death warrant if she lost, my sword would kill her now if it got the chance.
She was right about the swords though, they were each other's equal, neither could get the upper hand on the other, every interchange ended in a stalemate.
The swords were resting again each blade flicking slightly contemplating each other.
My sword dropped suddenly as if the enchantment had stopped, the other sword moved like lightning seeing an opening, my sword jerked up then trying to recover, it was too late, I felt a jolt of pain as her sword pierced my forearm.
My sword jerked backwards throwing me to the ground, I stared at my arm Semiramis's blade was still in it, I saw that blood was flowing out of the wound.
I looked up and saw Semiramis cautiously approaching me, a long dagger in one hand, her expression was neutral, she looked like a butcher preparing to slaughter an animal.
I tried to lift my sword with my good arm, I couldn't, I had become too weak, I looked up at Semiramis she was close to me now, she leaned over to press her dagger against my throat.
My sword flicked to life like a dragonflies wing and pierced her through the heart.
I felt the sword pull back, it left a growing red circle in the middle of her chest, she looked at me, a confused expression on her face, then she collapsed in a heap onto the ground.
My sword stood straight up, like it was staring at me, then the point dipped down pressing against the back of the hand of my injured arm, it wiggled a bit like it was writing, then it relaxed in my grip and clattered against the stone floor.
I looked at my hand, the sword had lightly cut an odd symbol into it, I guessed so it would heal into a scar.
I looked at my wounded arm, blood was pouring out of it, I was starting to pass out from shock. I heard a voice yelling my name, I turned and saw Peter running towards me. I must be hallucinating.
I felt someone pick me up with a pair of powerful arms.
"Shave and a haircut... tell Shelley... shave and a haircut... just a stupid joke," I heard myself mumbling.
I faded away into unconsciousness.