“It seems the Egyptian people believe that, once every five hundred years, the Phoenix bird will return to Egypt. It will carry the ashes of its dead father in an egg made of myrrh - which it will offer at the temple of the Sun god, Ra. Then it will build a nest and burn itself up. As the bird and nest burn, a new baby bird will emerge from the ashes.” Heron turned to cut Brynn’s ropes. “Of course, Phoenix is a Greek name. The Egyptians call it the Bennu bird and use it to symbolise Ra. Anyway, it’s also linked to rebirth and life through the inundation flood of the Nile and that’s why I’m researching it.”
Phoenix rubbed his wrists, feeling a little overwhelmed. “Errr.... and the flood is so important because...?”
Heron raised his brows. “Dear boy, where have you been? The Nile hasn’t flooded for three years. The peasants are starving. I heard rumours amongst the peasants that the Phoenix was due and had been seen near here. I came here hoping to bring good news back to the Proconsul to say that the flood would come this year.” He sat with his back against the wall. “Unfortunately, it appears they were just rumours. The Phoenix has not yet returned to restore balance and harmony to the land.”
Phoenix jumped. The Phoenix of this legend was meant to somehow restore harmony to the land of Egypt? Why did that sound familiar? What was it the Druids had said in England? He searched his memory. Yes - that sending the Jewel of Asgard back to Thor would restore the balance of power in their land. Then it had turned out that Truda, who was the Jewel, had been needed in her role as a goddess of spring to restore the balance of the seasons to the land of Midgard. Was it all connected somehow?
Frowning, Phoenix struggled to tie the threads together. Was he on to something with this? After all, the amulets that had drawn him and Jade into this game were the very symbols of balance and harmony – yin-yang. Could it be that, in each level of the game, their true goal was to provide that balance? Was there more to this game than just heroic kill or be killed, as Jade had said?
CHAPTER NINE
“Heron!” Phoenix interrupted the old man’s verbal wanderings.
“Yes, son?”
“What does the goddess Anuket do?” Phoenix leaned forward staring intently through the half-light. Behind him Brynn caught his breath.
Heron tugged on his beard. “Well, I’m no expert in Egyptian gods, you understand but I think Anuket is the daughter of Ra. I believe she’s associated with childbirth and is responsible for the fertility of the fields through the flooding of the Nile each year. Hmmm, just like the Phoenix bird,” he seemed surprised, “that’s a co-incidence, isn’t it? Why do you ask about her?”
“Oh, nothing,” Phoenix murmured.
There had to be a link. In each level of the game so far, they had been needed to somehow restore the balance of power or the balance of nature. Here they were to free Anuket and the river hadn’t flooded for three years. In each level they gained what they needed to do the same in the next level. It all fit too neatly to be wrong! Elated with his discovery, he could barely stop himself from grinning like an idiot. Brynn must have noticed something, because he raised an eyebrow at him in silent query. Phoenix shook his head and mouthed, ‘later’. The boy nodded, yawning.
“What about the god, Set?” Phoenix wanted to know how they had come to be thrown into the temple of that particular god.
Heron wagged a finger and shook his head. “Ah, now he’s a nasty one, is old Set. He represents everything that threatens the harmony of Egypt. He is the god of disease, violence and chaos. Most unpleasant.”
Phoenix and Brynn looked at each other and spoke in unison, “Just like Loki.”
The old man continued with a sigh, unheeding. “I should have known better than to ask his High Priest for information on the Phoenix bird, even if he is the Proconsul’s advisor. You see, Set is also the god of the desert and storms and,” he stared off into space, looking bemused, “foreigners, for some strange reason. Anyway, that makes him the antithesis of both Anuket and the Phoenix. I really should have known better.”
Brynn slapped his forehead with his hand. “The illusion spell. Jade didn’t put one on us after Asgard.”
Phoenix groaned as all the dots were connected. Now he understood how the priests of Set had known to find them. Zhudai was friends with Loki and Loki was, more than likely, just another name for Set – or his friend, anyway. Once Zhudai had farseen their location it had to be a simple matter to get Set’s minions onto them.
“And” he said aloud, “if Set is the god of desert storms that explains that sudden sandstorm. It kept us pinned down long enough for his priest to track us down. Man, how dumb can we be? We walked right into their arms. Jade was right, each choice does have consequences.”
“Who are these people?” Heron asked, looking at Phoenix. “Is Loki your name perhaps?”
“What? No, no. I’m Ph.....Drake,” Phoenix amended, hoping Brynn would catch on. The boy didn’t bat an eye, introduced himself with his own name and never forgot to call Phoenix, ‘Drake’. Phoenix sent him a grateful smile. He wasn’t sure what had prompted him to go under his middle name. He just didn’t want Heron blurting out his name to all and sundry with that legend so fresh in his mind. There was enough pressure on him as it was. If the Nile flooded after they released Anuket, that was great but he didn’t need the hopes of an entire nation riding on him as well.
Phoenix was lost in thought, ignoring Heron’s rambling conversations with Brynn. He prowled around the cell for awhile, checking the door and tiny window just in case someone had accidentally left a key in the lock or loosened the mortar or something. No luck. In the back of his mind was the knowledge that, whatever the reason, they were on a deadline to release Anuket before the death of the moon - but they still didn’t know when that was.
After pacing awhile longer, he decided sleep was his only option. After all, there wasn’t much they could do until Marcus and Jade caught up with them – assuming they’d been somewhere around when the Romans were bringing them out of the pyramid.
If Jade and Marcus didn’t turn up before dawn, he’d think about escaping. He laid his head on his arm and closed his eyes, hoping Heron would stop talking soon. Unconsciously, he reached for Blódbál’s hilt, feeling its absence like a sharp ache in his gut. He had to get that sword back. Without it he just wasn’t good enough or strong enough to get through the rest of this game.
Heron rubbed his face and lay down. “Unfortunately, when I get back and tell him the news, Proconsul Priscus will be most unhappy. This is such a bad time to make him mad. I daresay I’ll just be thrown into jail again.”
Almost hating to ask, Phoenix prompted him without opening his eyes. “So why is this a bad time to give the Proconsul bad news?”
“You have been a long time way from Egypt, haven’t you, my boy?” their fellow prisoner chuckled. “Emperor Titus wishes to open the Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome with a hundred days of Games. Poor Priscus is tasked with providing enough wild animals, slaves and trained gladiators for the Games. With the countryside here so starved and half the animals and people dead in from the anthrax plague that swept through the Empire earlier this year, he’s having trouble filling the quota.”
“So he’s not going to want to hear that the Phoenix isn’t coming to help the Nile flood?” Brynn guessed.
“No indeed,” Heron confirmed, “and if you two don’t get out of here, you can be quite sure you’ll end up as slaves or gladiators in the Games.”
“OK,” Phoenix sat up, no longer sleepy, “I think it’s time to leave.”
“And you’ll take me with you?” Heron begged.
Phoenix nodded, thinking hard. Something nagged at him. He remembered. “If you’re not an expert in Egyptian gods,” he said, “how did you know so much about Anuket?”
Heron blinked at him. “Well, there’s one of those obelisk things devoted to her right outside my house in Alexandria.”
Phoenix grinned and stuck out his hand. “Of course we’ll take you
with us. In fact, we’ll deliver you home ourselves. I don’t suppose you know when the ‘death of the moon’ is?”
Heron shook Phoenix’s hand, looking grateful but slightly bemused. “My dear boy, I don’t even know what day it is today. I suppose the death of the moon, if you consider it by Egyptian standards, would be any day now - the first night of the last quarter.”
“Thought it might be. Damn,” Phoenix frowned. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
****
“This is it,” Jade whispered, pointing at the vast building ahead. She and Marcus were crouched in the shadows of an archway, observing the Temple of Set from across a moonlit square.
Earlier, they had crept into Memphis and found a quiet inn. There Jade fed and watered the horses and managed to wash the worst of the sand and grit from her face and hair. Marcus bartered for some less conspicuous clothing and negotiating lodgings for the night. Now both wore loose, dark-dyed long linen tunics. Jade wound a dark cloth around her bright hair and pointed ears. Using rags from the inn kitchen, they muffled the hooves of the horses. Dirt from the stables darkened the hide of the white pony. It was difficult to sneak while leading horses around but they couldn’t afford to leave them behind if a quick getaway was necessary. Jade had a feeling they wouldn’t get to make use of the beds they’d paid for.
Then they slipped out of the inn without telling the innkeeper and found a sheltered place for Jade to perform her finna spell. The new strength she had found served her well. It took only moments for the spell to draw her in the right direction through the twisted back streets of Memphis.
Past enormous stone temples, silent statues of sphinxes and strange gods; past fragrant gardens and ancient palaces; past new Greek and Roman temples and the sunbaked, mudbrick houses of the Egyptian people; deep into the city they moved.
There, in the centre of the most squalid, poorest section of the old town, they found the imposing Temple of Set. Across the front, flaming torches sat in sconces on each smooth column, lighting the entrance in an unforgiving glare. Four robed, hooded figures guarded the doorway. Sickle-shaped knives gleamed as they moved. There was no hope of entering that way.
After a whispered conference, Marcus and Jade wound their way through the maze-like slums surrounding the temple. Twice Marcus had to draw his sword to fend off would-be pickpockets, lurking in the shadows. Once Jade was obliged to use her quarterstaff to discourage a thief who leapt at her. It took almost half an hour but eventually they found their way, unobserved by the guards, into an alley that ran directly beside the temple. The moon rose, so they doused the torches and picked their way their way along the stinking, garbage-strewn street, toward the back of the building.
Jade held up her hand and their little caravan stopped. Closing her eyes, she pressed the palm of her left hand to her forehead and whispered finna, concentrating hard on Phoenix. A sharp picture swam into her head. He was very close but somewhere almost-dark and quite silent. A prison, most likely. There was a faint light – moonlight perhaps. A window? Opening her eyes, Jade looked hard at the high, stone wall of the temple. There. Just above ground level was a narrow window. Phoenix and Brynn were behind it.
Making sure no-one approached, she handed her reins to Marcus and crouched beside the window, peering into the gloom.
“Phoenix!” she hissed. “Brynn!” It was too dark inside to see anything. Misgivings seized her. What if she was wrong and this was the bedroom of the high priest or something? She was about to draw back when a scuffling noise caught her ear. Brynn’s sharp little features appeared in the gap. He grinned at her shocked gasp.
“Hey. What took you so long?” he demanded.
“Brynn! Are you alright? Where’s Phoenix?” She was so relieved she didn’t even bother to get annoyed at his pert comment.
“Here!” came a grunt from somewhere below Brynn. The boy pointed straight down.
“He’s holding me up. So, got a plan for getting us out of here?”
“It depends on how much of the temple you saw as you were brought in,” Jade countered.
Brynn grimaced. “None. They had our heads covered.”
“OK,” she bit her lip. “In that case, no, I don’t have a plan. But we’ll think of something.”
“Better be soon,” he warned. “It’ll be dawn in a few hours and we’re supposed to go before the Proconsul’s advisor then. Heron thinks we’ll be made slaves or gladiators for the Games in Rome.”
“Who’s Heron?” she asked, distracted.
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Cell-mate. We’re taking him with us.”
“What? Why?”
“Long story. Whoa!” He looked alarmed and swayed back and forward. Glaring down, he hissed at Phoenix, who growled something at him, “Hold still! Alright, alright, I’ll tell her. Phoenix says to call him ‘Drake’, to tell you he’s not leaving without Blódbál; Heron thinks the ‘death of the moon’ is any night now...oh... and that the High Priest has the ability to bring his dead monk-soldiers back to life.” Brynn repeated dutifully.
“Oh my...” Jade breathed in horror. Shaking her head, she refocussed her thoughts. Eyeing the window, she dismissed it as an escape route – far too narrow, even for Brynn’s skinny, ten year old body. “Give us a few minutes to think of something. Tell Phoenix..er...Drake.. and your friend to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity to get out. Use the old ‘sick prisoner’ routine or something.”
Standing, she brought Marcus up to speed. “We have to think of something,” she whispered. “There has to be a way to get inside, find them and Phoenix’s stupid sword and get out. We’ve been around the whole building and I’ve only seen one entrance – the front door.”
Marcus frowned. “Perhaps if you could distract the guards, I can slip past. Then I can find my way to their cell while you find the High Priest and wait for us to join you. The High Priest is most likely to have charge of a magical weapon – especially if he’s a sorcerer as you said. We’ll probably have to kill him to get Blódbál,” he finished grimly.
“How am I supposed to distract the guards and find the High Priest?” Jade demanded.
He tilted his head and looked at her, narrow-eyed. “Take off your clothes.”
“What!?” She yelled in a whisper.
Marcus shook his head. “You can wear my tunic. With a belt and some of the jewellery Brynn stole, you’ll look like a concubine or slave. No man on earth will ignore you, believe me,” he said with wry humour.
Jade flushed, hoping he couldn’t see the colour in the pale moonlight. When this whole adventure had started, she had been determined that her avatar would be as beautiful as her real self was plain in the real world. A lucky roll of the dice had given her seventeen year old character extraordinary beauty but she’d almost forgotten it in the frenzy of recent days. Now, the thought of it made her uncomfortable. She had no idea how to act like a concubine and she said as much to Marcus.
His mouth twisted. “You don’t need to. Just go up to the door and make up some story about being sent by the Proconsul or something. All you need to do is get inside and I’ll slip in and find the others.”
“Why can’t I just use a command spell and put the guards to sleep? Or maybe you could shoot them with your bow.”
He considered it. “I couldn’t kill more than two before they raised the alarm. Your spell is worth a try but you have to be pretty close to cast it, don’t you? We can’t get close to them without being seen. What if they are some sort of undead and it doesn’t work? Besides, if the High Priest really is a sorcerer, you’re going to need all your strength to fight him.”
Jade frowned. “Why can’t you wear the stupid tunic and jewellery?”
Marcus sent her a wry, half-amused smile. “Somehow I don’t think it would have quite the same effect.”
She hunched a shoulder at him and chewed on her lip, undecided. It was a very, very dodgy plan but she couldn’t come up with anything better. When had Marcus take
n charge? Reluctantly she nodded. He pulled the tunic out of his gear bag and handed it to her. Jade took it without enthusiasm, went around the other side of the horses and changed. When she was ready, Marcus inspected the result.
“You’ll have to take your boots off – and leave your staff with me. Here, hold still so I don’t hurt you with these damned gloves.” With an expression of intense concentration, he produced several, glittering objects and began to put them on her. Jade held still as he draped an ornate, chain headdress over her hair. Then he handed her some bejewelled rings and bracelets, while he clasped a heavy golden torc around her neck and a thick, filigree chain around her waist.
Standing back, he looked at her again then shook his head. “Something’s missing. Ah! Wait a moment.” He dived into the shadows of a tumbled-down shack and emerged carrying something small and dark. “Charcoal. Egyptian women always put kohl on their eyes but this will have to do. Just don’t rub your eyes. Hold still and close your eyes.” Cursing her Elven heritage, he stripped off his gloves and tucked them into his belt while he worked on her eyes.
Jade did as she was told but her mouth was dry at the thought of what she was about to attempt. Her thirteen year old self was a tomboy. She had only a vague idea of how to flirt and act girly from watching her older sisters in the real world, and her character had lead pretty sheltered life in the forest with her mother. What if she wasn’t able to carry it off? Even worse, what would happen if the priest took a fancy to her?
“Can I take my knife at least?” She murmured, opening her eyes as Marcus finished and pulled on his gloves again.
“Definitely,” he nodded, looking grim. “Strap it onto your leg, under the tunic.”
She did so, feeling much safer. Squaring her shoulders, she closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath.
“OK. Let’s go now before I stop and think about this too much.”
The Tekhen of Anuket Page 8