by D.A. Dean
Chapter 5: Transformed
"There he is! Hurry, Mother! He's hurt!" Teo sped through the marsh toward Horus.
Horus said aloud, the forming of each word an agony, "We're found. Run."
Teo dropped beside him.
"Don't touch him!" Nalia commanded, and Teo sat back. She knelt at Horus' side.
"Please," Horus fought for breath to speak. "Hide. Let me die knowing you have a chance."
"Horus," Nalia whispered, surveying his shattered body. "Oh, Horus."
Eyes clouded with tears, Teo leaned closer.
Staring at him, Horus concentrated his will.
Teo's body began to sway. He grasped a bunch of reeds. "Horus?"
The energy building within Horus flashed.
Teo lifted from the ground. Arms thrashing, he continued to ascend, soaring higher than the island's palms.
Stamina ebbing, Horus' eyelids drooped.
Teo's ascent broke. He plummeted toward the marsh.
Time seemed to stop. In his mind, Horus saw Teo hit, saw him lying still, neck crooked sharply. No. Summoning his reserves, fading, he fixed Teo in his gaze.
Teo's descent halted. He stilled his thrashing.
Breathing in ragged bursts, Horus imagined the air wrapping around Teo, holding him, releasing him gradually.
Slowly, Teo lowered.
Horus' eyes closed. He forced them open.
Teo dropped the last few feet, landed, and rolled.
Eyes wide, Nalia moistened her lips. "Horus, hear me." Her voice was hoarse. "Seht can't see through the mist. His charge is gone. The island has moved. For now, we're safe." She hovered her hands, scanning, over Horus' broken body. Tears brimmed to her lashes. She sank beside him and sobbed.
Weeping, Teo crawled nearer. "If touching him will kill me, so be it. I'd rather we died together." He reached toward Horus' twisted shoulder.
"Stop," Nalia ordered. "You'll hurt him, not he you." She leaned nearer to Horus and said quickly, "What's happening is beyond my knowledge, but all that's within me tells me you'll survive."
Horus tried to smile with his eyes. A thick liquid filled his mouth. Blood. Again? Why? He tried to spit. More came, suffocating him.
"Oh, Horus, Horus," Nalia cried and bent double, hands clutching her sides. She began to rock. "Isis, tell me what to do. Please, help me help your son." A breeze swept across Horus' chest and circled up, lifting her hair. Her face became ashen. "No, there must be something."
Blood burbled from Horus' nose and mouth. He drew a shallow, gurgling breath. His heart, speeding, slowed. His eyes widened, the light fading. He moved his dimming gaze to Teo's. In these final moments, he had to tell them...Teo and Nalia seemed to vanish, Horus' eyes filling with speckles of black and red.
His heart fluttered and was still.