by Leena Maria
There was general agreement in the audience, even if it was easy to read between the lines that Daniel expected someone here to get infected, and eventually leak the information out.
"You have our blessing, and our help," the chairman said, "seek out our kind in the times where you travel, and show them this."
He pulled his necklace out from under his shirt and handed it to Daniel. I did not have time to look at it, because he carefully kept the pendant in the cup of his hand.
"This is the seal of the Nephilim council. It has remained the same throughout the ages, and each council has a similar one. All the pure Nephilim will obey this seal, no matter in which time or place they are dwelling."
"We thank you," Daniel bowed, "and now it is our time to leave."
"We'll leave right away too as our presence here is bound to draw the attention of Cain's spies," the chairman nodded. "The first ones will leave soon after you."
Daniel took my left hand, and Elijah took the right one. The physical world faded away around us.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
71. His Mother Is Re
"Where are we going now?" I asked.
"Back to the Centre," Daniel said. "We need to research the tomb of Panhesy. It may not be safe to actually go there, not if Angel's spies are all over the tourist attractions in Egypt. Perhaps we shall find the clue by some other means."
Daniel had no problem in finding his way to the Centre's library in the higher buffer zone. I had no idea how exactly he did it, but we appeared there among the shelves after some flying through the mist. Daniel walked along the corridors, clearly knowing where he was headed. After a while an opening appeared in the midst of the bookshelves to reveal a round space, with the corridors spreading out in all directions. There were several desks, and people were sitting there with their laptops, typing notes.
"Do they have an internet connection here?" I asked, not believing my eyes.
Elijah laughed.
"No, of course not. And we would not use it, even if it were possible to have one here. Where there is internet access, there is a risk of hacking. Cain's Nephilim know their way around the net, and hacking is their favorite pastime when they try to track us down. These researchers write their notes here, and then the laptops are connected to the central computer of the Centre, which is not linked to any net either. It is a completely closed system. The researchers then work on the material in the Centre. No memory sticks or cell phones are allowed either."
"Of course we have normal computers, connected to the internet, and we feed information through them about the Magellan spa, for Cain's spies to see," Daniel continued. "Since the shadows appeared outside the spa gate, it seems there has been a lot more interest in the Centre's website. And a few hacking attempts, but they have so far found nothing suspicious. Because it isn't there."
"Aren't the people here in danger, then? If Cain's Nephilim know about this Centre now, then surely they will follow the people who visit here..." I worried.
"I wouldn't let that bother you too much," Daniel answered. "As you will have noticed, one of Centre's wings is in actual spa-use. So ordinary people who have nothing to do with the Centre, visit here all the time."
"Aren't they in danger, then?"
"A few shadows have followed them, yes, but when they have proved to be ordinary people, and not exactly the kind who would mope about their lives over drink so their energies would be easy to steal, they will soon begin to doubt if they have drawn the right conclusions. They followed Layla, but they know nothing of what happens here. As far as they know, she might have been visiting the spa with you. They never saw you leaving this building, they only knew your scent was along the highway that led to this place. You might have left before they arrived."
I somehow doubted the shadows or Nephilim were that stupid. Of course they would suspect I was here.
"All our Hunters keep strictly indoors now and only leave through the buffer zone. The shadows and dark Nephilim are not certain about this being our meeting place, so they haven't approached us. If, however, one of their Nephilim should arrive here, things may change. Still, it is more likely that they will try to send an ordinary person here as a guest, to see what this place is about. That's the way they work. It wouldn't be easy, though, because to enter you need to be recommended by existing customers. The treatments here are very expensive, and we don't advertise. Word of mouth brings our customers here. And we only accept the very richest, the crème de la crème, if you will."
"And they pay for the running of the Centre," I concluded.
"Indeed," Daniel agreed.
"Also the hall, where the gate is, is protected. Remember Reggie's bronze bowls? He told me you weren't exactly enthusiastic about them," Elijah continued.
"How could I forget!"
I could still recall the humming, vibrating sound that had almost driven me crazy on our drive to the Centre.
"The walls are fitted with a sound system that repeats the same ringing sound. You cannot hear it inside the central hall because of sound proofing, but the walls, the ceiling, the floor - they are all "booby trapped" with loudspeakers on the outside. If the system recognizes the vibration of a dark Nephilim nearby, the speakers start playing the sound of the bowls," Elijah grinned. "A most unpleasant experience for an unsuspecting dark Nephilim. The sound goes straight to their wings and it feels like a bad toothache. Or wing-ache in this case. Not one of Cain's followers can function properly in the midst of that noise. It's all about differences of vibration. And we have an emergency power generator in the basement, so cutting our electricity wouldn't have much of an effect on our sound system, should they try that."
He chuckled, put his hands on his ears and made anguished faces, and I had to laugh. Even Daniel smiled. I felt so relieved they were behaving normally with me.
"How old are you, exactly?" I asked Elijah.
"A wee bit older than you, I'm afraid. But younger than Daniel."
"That figures," I said. "You behave like a teenager."
"Yes well, we don't mature very fast, as you can see, looking at our physique," Elijah made a sweeping motion from his head to toe. The in-between was exceedingly handsome.
"Good job she can't see into your mind... the level of immaturity would shock her," Daniel smiled crookedly and gave a mocking kick towards his little brother's back and Elijah turned around and made some boxing movements at Daniel.
Thank goodness, they were on speaking terms again. It was clear they were keeping a polite distance from me. I understood that. My heart was aching for Daniel, but I understood.
"OK, you kick boxers." Diana appeared carrying a pile of books. "Here's Panhesy for you to study. Dana, you have been reading about ancient Egypt for a long time, so you're going to participate too. Sit at that table and start going through any info about the walls at first. Look at them and try to find anything that doesn't fit into the overall picture."
"Well, that's kinda hard, considering that the clue was left by the angel a long time ago, when the Copts had their church there," Elijah said.
"Less talking and more application to the task! You of all people have enough knowledge of ancient Egypt to help with this," Daniel slapped him softly on the back of his head.
"Yes, mother..." Elijah grabbed a pile of books, steering my vivid imagination in the direction of what their mother had been like. Or was like. For all I knew she could be alive still.
It was hopeless. We leafed through the pages of the books, but the photographs and drawings revealed nothing. If there were photographic images of the actual wall reliefs of the tomb, you could barely make out the outlines. The drawings themselves revealed nothing to us, nor did the translations of the hieroglyphic texts. We had no idea what we were trying to find.
There were many depictions of Akhenaten and Nefertiti and their daughters. They were worshipping the Aten, and nearly always had a substantial entourage around them. They rode in their chariots. They gave gold to Panh
esy. As in any Amarna tomb, the scenes were not about the gods, but about the royal family, whom everyone was supposed to worship. The royals were the only ones who could approach the Aten and so no ordinary person could have direct access to the sun disk.
They were interesting scenes and it was easy to get absorbed in them, but I didn't see anything that would have given a hint about the Trail of Angels. No one with wings was fluttering around. And there was definitely no X to mark the spot. The only wings were the three pairs of red wings, between which the grey plaster had fallen down, and there was certainly no hidden clue or hint.
"Oh, I need a break!" I put down the last one of the books. "I'm finding nothing here!"
"Maybe the clue has already disappeared - destroyed a long time ago," Elijah rubbed his eyes. "If it was anything of value, it's bound to be long gone. Despite all those elaborate preparations for death, many of the Egyptians didn't exactly respect their dead, and looted the tombs often right after the burials. Even the pharaohs stole whatever they could from their predecessors, or reused it, perhaps we should say. Statues, grave goods, temples... And it still continues, right across the world. Some people have no respect for history - they destroy in the name of religion or steal for financial benefit."
"No, it can't have been anything of value like gold. Whoever left the clue must have known that it would have to be inconspicuous," Daniel sighed. "But I agree, let's go and have something to eat."
We found Reggie and Mr. Donnelly deep in discussion at the cafeteria. Both had pushed aside half-eaten plates of food, and spread out papers all over their table. Their hands were flying in the air when their heads did not almost bang together over some interesting piece of information. Reggie's laptop also seemed to be an object of great fascination to Mr. Donnelly, and he pressed a key occasionally, and let out a delighted laugh. Reggie tried to keep the machine away from him, but the curiosity of the latter and his inquisitive mind meant that his long fingers kept reaching for it when he could.
"Good evening!" Daniel greeted the scholars.
They both almost jumped as they suddenly realised the presence of other people.
"Oh, good evening, good evening..." Reggie looked like someone who had been forced to wake up from a pleasant dream. "Any success with the Panhesy search?"
"None whatsoever," I sighed, "lots of pictures and text, but nothing in the least that gave us a clue."
We took our food to another table next to Reggie and Mr. Donnelly, as our drinking glasses were not safe near their animated discussion or flying hands. Diana moved up from a nearby table and shook her head.
"It's been quite an experience to listen to those two having a discussion." She placed her tray on the table. "I am sure the only people on this planet who have the faintest idea what they are talking about are they themselves. That's partly because they kept dropping into various obscure ancient languages. Their versions of them, anyway."
"Do you remember the exact wording of the Coptic script that was found in the desert?" we heard Reggie asking.
"Not exactly, no... but it said an angel had appeared and told people the clue was hidden in the tomb."
"Was hidden? I understood earlier the angel hid it. As in an activity by the angel."
"No, no... the Coptic language is perhaps not my forte, but I am certain now the text said the clue was already hidden in the tomb."
"Hmm... so it was there already, and the angel came to tell people it was there. Why, I wonder..."
"So that they would write it down, of course, and so that the knowledge would become part of their religious tradition." Mr. Donnelly voiced his opinion. "It was crucial to this winged creature that the knowledge of the clue would be saved. And if a Nephilim showed themselves to ordinary people, who already had a religious tradition of angels - well, wouldn't you say they would write that down?"
"Yes, of course... material vanishes with time, but stories are immaterial and keep on living throughout the ages..." Reggie mused and pointed at something on the table with his fork, barely missing Mr. Donnelly's fingers. I wasn't quite sure whether it was intentional, as the said fingers were again reaching for the laptop. "So it is somewhere there... was there anything else, anything at all?"
"Well, yes... Come to think of it. An odd sentence... allegedly the angel said that 'His mother is the sun, and the king's wives live forever'. A heated theological discussion must have developed from this. Doesn't exactly fit Christian theology, now does it?" Mr. Donnelly seemed amused.
"Ahha! Haha! Marvellous! That's it! That's it!"
Reggie could not contain his enthusiasm, but jumped up so that he knocked his chair over and did a little victory dance by their table. We forgot our dinner and just stared at his long arms waving in the air, and his long legs kicking to an unknown rhythm.
"Mutefre! Hemetnisu Weterneheh!" he sang rhythmically while he danced, snapping his fingers.
"Does anyone else suspect he finally lost his marbles?" Elijah asked, staring at Reggie with a wide, amused grin.
"Erm... now that you mention it, the thought does arise..." Diana mused.
"Uh-huh." We all added our various agreements.
"Seems studying history has its disadvantages. I think his hard drive finally reached maximum capacity..." Diana observed with a tilted head.
"Follow me!" Reggie bolted at a run.
For a second we stared at him, then exchanged glances, and ran after him, leaving our food behind us. Suddenly we weren't hungry any more.
He ran to Lilith's office, of course. Only Lilith wasn't there.
"Lilith!" Reggie galloped past us and along the corridor that led in the opposite direction from the one where Diana and I had our room.
He knocked on a door at its other end, hollering Lilith's name. The door opened and Lilith peeked out. She had obviously been asleep (so she did sleep, after all), but was immediately awake and alert.
"What is it?" she asked. "Is there danger?"
"No, no, but Mr. Donnelly did indeed find the clue to the beginning of the trail. His mother is the Sun! King's wives live forever! Haha!"
Reggie turned around and trotted towards Lilith's office again.
"Where is it... I'm sure I have it..."
We followed. Suddenly he stopped and swerved to his right, into a room. Thumbing noises and muttering were to be heard. We looked inside, and found our good professor rummaging through a huge pile of books. There were several piles surrounding the bed, and towering on the table, but he seemed to know where it was - whatever it was.
"Davies, where are you..."
Daniel was standing by my side, and I enjoyed every moment, feeling his physical presence. Elijah was peeking over his shoulder and in the process pushed him against me. I tried to stand as relaxed as I could, so I would not scare him away. I so wanted to touch his hand, but didn't. I only swallowed and pretended to be looking at Reggie with interest, but it was difficult, when what I wanted to do something quite different, which involved Daniel...
Then I noticed Diana grinning. She winked at me and I made a face at her as inconspicuously as I possibly could. Right then Reggie pulled at a book, causing all the other books above it in the pile to collapse on the floor in a small cloud of dust.
"Sorry, sorry..." he said to the volumes, "Davies, found you!"
"What did you find?" Lilith wanted to know.
Reggie beamed.
"The Rock tombs of El Amarna by Davies. A book by the Egypt Exploration Fund from 1905!"
He clearly expected some sort of applause, which did not come.
"Could you clarify a bit?" Lilith asked.
"Yes, here..." he frantically flipped through the pages, "the plates, where are the plates... Here! Do you see? The lintel of the door..."
We all bent forward to see the picture he was holding towards us. Akhenaten and Nefertiti stood giving sacrifices to the Aten, with their hanging bellies and round thighs marking typical Amarna art. They stood next to an offering table filled with foo
d for the god. Behind them were three of their daughters, shaking their sistra - sacred rattles - and beyond them were court ladies in bent positions. Behind these were two even smaller figures, standing upright. There were two similar scenes, mirroring each other, with the offering table in the middle.
"You see it?"
"Well, no... what are we looking at?"
"These here!" Reggie pointed his finger at the two smallest figures behind the court ladies.
"They look a bit... odd," Diana said. "They are not children... their toes are pointing inwards. Like they had bent feet?"
"No, no, of course they are not children. They are the two dwarves that are often shown together with Nefertiti's sister. Mutbenret, or Mutnodjmet - the spelling varies."
He looked at us, clearly enjoying his moment. Then he finally told us.
"Their names are: Mutefpre and Hemetnisu Weterneheh. Translated as: 'His mother is Re', and 'King's Wives Live Forever'. The very thing the angel said to the Copts when he appeared to them in Panhesy's tomb. And this picture is from Panhesy's tomb!"
Now we finally understood, though Mr. Donnelly seemed to be more concerned about how Re could be anyone's mother, being a male god.
"The beginning of the Trail of Angels is not a thing - it is a person. Or two people!" Daniel said. "The royal sister's dwarves have the knowledge we need! In Aketaten, the royal city of Akhenaten and Nefertiti."
"Built in the 14th century BC..." I said, "the birth place of Tutankhamun."
"So," Lilith smiled, "now we know where to start. It seems we have a lot of planning to do for a time walk some three and a half thousand years back into the past!"
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
72. Deal With a Goddess
Ambrogio sang the name of Artemis, but without the device on his throat. He had hidden it on the advice of Hades. But he would not have needed it anyway. The pool of silver blood at his feet seemed to remain alive, swirling slightly where the dry ground had not drunk it up. When his voice cut the darkness, the blood seemed to sing along – a faint, but clear echo, much like the voice the throat-device had created.