by Sarah Noffke
“Queen, our people have spoken and have come to a decision involving you and yours,” Nefertiti said, motioning to Monet and Ever.
“Is this when you tell us we’re about to be roasted over a fire?” Monet asked, indicating the large fire pits stationed around the chamber.
Nefertiti, not getting his humor, shook her head. “I’ve been instructed to tell you that, to enter the Great Pyramid of our ancestor, you must first become one of us.”
“What?” Azure asked, shocked. “But my coven. I can’t join yours and be the leader of my own.”
“It would be an honorary connection only, but it is necessary,” Nefertiti explained. “You all know our greatest secret regarding Cleopatra; taking our oath will bind you to secrecy. And if you’re to wake our king, you should be one of us. It could even protect you from his wrath.”
“What if we don’t do it?” Ever challenged. “I, for one, am not a wizard.”
“But you do hold magic, and you will be on this mission,” Nefertiti pressed. “If you do not agree to these terms, Cleopatra will not allow you to access to the pyramid. She desires unity in this mission.”
“This is silly, of course we’ll participate in whatever this ritual is to gain membership to your coven,” Azure said, her head tunneling with exhaustion.
“You should know that once you commit to this, you’ll become one of us,” Nefertiti warned.
“Okay…” Monet said, drawing out the word. “Can we get this over with, then? I smell grilled chicken.”
Azure nodded at him. She was starving too, and didn’t understand why Nefertiti was making such a big deal about this. She also resented the fact that they’d all agreed on the mission and now Cleopatra was changing the requirements.
“When you are ready,” Nefertiti said, holding her hand out toward the long path that led to the throne, “proceed as you are to the other side. When you reach the end, you’ll be one of us, having silently taken the oath.”
Azure exchanged looks with Monet, an expression that said, ‘Is that all?’ She turned to Ever, who nodded his consent.
It wasn’t like she was actually abandoning her coven, but taking on this association with the New Egyptians felt strange, almost like cheating. Still, this was the hoop they wanted her to jump through, so that’s what she’d do.
Azure took a single step forward, and something shifted.
The great room fell silent.
Suddenly, she felt fire burning in her veins. Spinning to look at Monet and Ever, she saw the same pain in their faces. She took another step, and the row of witches and wizards lining the aisle bowed down on one knee.
A single drum beat filled the air, deafening her. She took another step and nearly toppled over. The burning sensation was all-encompassing. The stone under her feet became scorching coal. Azure could barely keep herself upright for the pain of it.
With each step, the witches and wizards beside her fell into a low bow. Their show of respect urged her forward when all she wanted to do was turn from this challenge. Was this worth it? They were weakening themselves, right before battle.
Azure’s eyes watered, blurring her vision. She blinked at the sight of Chibale and Cleopatra only a few feet away. Although she’d already crossed a great distance, finishing this marathon felt impossible.
The drumming grew louder, thundering in her head. It seemed to split her resolve.
And then Azure swallowed, and realized that there was no drum. The chamber was eerily quiet, save for the crackling fire. The drum had been her own heart, reverberating so loudly she could hear nothing else.
She nearly crumbled when she came to the end of the path. Chibale stood stoically, staring at her impassively. She wasn’t sure what to expect at this point, but what came next was definitely not it. The king dropped into a low bow.
Azure sucked in a breath just as Cleopatra morphed into her human form.
“I know you had reservations about this ritual,” the ancient queen said, “and do still—especially now that you’re feeling the fire in your veins—but I assure you it was necessary. You can’t know what it’s like to fight for New Egypt unless you are one of us. You’ve shown great bravery pledging yourself to us. In turn, we have rewarded you.”
The fired ignited on Azure’s arm, stealing her attention. She opened her mouth to scream, but her voice was not the only one to fill the air. She, Monet and Ever all let out screams of pain as the burning wrapped around their arms.
Azure feared her fire would spread, taking over her heart. She wondered why her Gran was merely watching from the corner. Sucking in a breath to scream again, she was surprised to find a sudden coolness bathing her. Soft and soothing.
Lifting her arm, she stared at the spot where the burning had been the most intense, expecting to see a grotesque burn. Instead, she found a beautifully intricate tattoo of braided ropes, about two inches wide, wrapped around her forearm.
Monet and Ever were inspecting their own tattooed arms with the same perplexed curiosity.
“This mark is permanent, and will guard you when your mental faculties are taxed,” Cleopatra began. “It is my hope that this mark of the New Egyptian coven will protect you when you enter the Great Pyramid. It is my hope that it changes the future.”
“W-W-What do you mean?” Azure asked.
Cleopatra exchanged a cautious look with Chibale before saying, “Cap saw a future where the three of you didn’t make it out of the pyramid alive. We sought a way to change the future. This was done both to unite us and to protect you.”
Azure wanted to say thank you, but the knowledge that her demise had already been seen stole the words from her mouth. Instead she nodded her acceptance, her eyes running over the new tattoo, which felt tender and strange upon her arm.
~~~
“A little heads-up on the cult initiation would have been nice,” Monet said, tearing into a chicken drumstick.
“I don’t see how I could have done that,” Gran said, reclining in the chaise lounge.
“You did sit by and watch as we writhed in pain,” Azure complained, picking at her chickpea salad, suddenly not hungry.
“I knew that your pain would make you stronger.” Gran pointed to the tattoo on her arm. “You lost your soul stone, but now you have that tattoo, which has many of the same qualities. It’s an extra source of power. All of you are better off for going through the ceremony, which I hope you realize was an honor. Wouldn’t you say, Gillian?”
The gnome combed his hand over his chin, an extra quietude about him. “Yeah, sure.”
“What’s getting to you, little guy?” Monet asked.
Gillian looked up like he’d just been startled back to reality. “In the vision the seer saw, Azure was overpowered by Khufu. Other things happened to Ever and Monet, but—”
“Wait, don’t just glaze over the details of our deaths,” Monet interrupted.
“But,” Gillian repeated adamantly, “it’s entirely possible that Khufu overpowered Queen Azure because she gave up her wand to free Bob. I really can’t advise you to do such a thing,” he shook his head at her.
Azure nodded, knowing the move would put her in danger. “I don’t see another way, though. I need to free Bob first. Afterwards, things will be too hectic; we might be on the run. What if I can’t get back into the pyramid?”
Gillian clasped his hands together and pressed them to his mouth, ruminating. “I understand, I just don’t like it.”
“That’s what the tattoos are for,” Azure argued. “Hopefully, they’ll help to protect us.”
“They are a safety net, but they aren’t foolproof,” the Gnome stated.
Azure caught Gran’s gaze. “What do you think I should do?”
The old witch pursed her lips, drawing in a breath. “You know I can’t tell you what to do. I can worry, and Merlin knows I’ve done my fair share of that. I don’t like how things are stacking up for this mission, but I have to trust that in your heart you’ll make the right dec
ision. We don’t live our children’s lives for them. Instead, we teach them the best we can, so when it’s time, they can survive on their own.”
Azure ran her fingers over the fresh tattoo, and caught the meaningful expression in Ever’s eyes. It reflected exactly how she felt at her core. She was vulnerable, and she’d have to make sacrifices for this mission. However, if she didn’t try, the guilt of her failure would be her undoing. Not the vampires.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Monet leaned over his spellbook, sweat beading on his forehead from the heat of the nearby flames. He’d pored over every single potion recipe, but hadn’t found anything that could substitute for the missing ingredients in the antidote. Finnegan might have known something about the extinct herbs, but since he was a bloodthirsty vampire, he was probably not going to be much help. The wizard was completely lost, buried away in an unmapped world, seemingly with no way in or out.
“Did it hurt?” Blisters interrupted at his back.
Monet jumped, having been locked in deep concentration.
Most were preparing or resting for the mission, but Monet couldn’t sit still, knowing that the cure for vampirism was right here in front of him. Most of the ingredients were things he had onhand—not that most wizards would, but he traveled with over six hundred herbs, ‘just in case’. And he had the bats: the seemingly hardest ingredient in the recipe to obtain. He’d already drained them of their blood. But no matter how intently he studied and searched, he couldn’t find a way to replace the snap root, mum flower and coddle weed.
“Did what hurt?” he asked, scowling at the little unicorn. After catching the melancholy look on his face, Monet’s harsh expression evaporated.
Blisters was still down, looking for his role in this whole thing. Most would have run away from such an adventure, but Blisters was depressed that he didn’t have a bigger purpose. Monet had to give it to the runt. He had heart.
Blisters’ eyes rested on the fresh tattoo that encircled Monet’s arm, a braid of thorny vines. It wasn’t as pretty as the braided ropes that Azure now sported, but it was cooler than Ever’s row of stone. “The tattoo; did it hurt when you got it?” the unicorn asked, nodding at his arm.
“Nah, I was just screaming bloody murder because I like the attention,” Monet joked, unable to control himself.
“I do that sometimes,” Blisters concurred. Then he held up his front leg. It appeared he’d drawn a band around it with a marker. “It didn’t hurt at all when Manx did this. Tickled a little, but now I look like you all.”
“How did Manx do that? He doesn’t have opposable thumbs,” Monet asked.
“We just hold the marker in our mouths,” Blisters explained. “I tried to give him a tattoo, as well, but it wouldn’t show up, no matter what form he took.”
“Yeah, black on black doesn’t work.” Monet turned back to his spellbook, flipping to the index. It was impossible for him to believe that he had the cure for vampirism, but couldn’t make it.
“What’s in the cauldron?” Blisters asked, sniffing the smoke that was wafting off the bubbling pot of liquid.
“So you’re still here,” Monet said under his breath, skimming one of the pages listing herb conversions.
“Yeah, the queen mother sent me to assist you after I spilled orange juice on her chaise lounge,” Blisters said. “She said that she heard you calling my name, although I couldn’t hear a thing when I tried. Anyway, were you looking for me?”
Monet shook his head, pulling out the potion recipe Gillian had copied for him from the Book of the Dead. “It must have been Ever. Go fetch him.”
“Actually, he and the queen are taking a nap, and Gran said if I bugged them, she’d pluck my hair from my head.” Blisters rocked back on his heels and set his front hooves on the table beside the giant cauldron, peering into it. Bluish liquid bubbled inside the iron pot.
“Gran is probably hoping you’ll disobey her. She’s been looking for any reason to get ahold of unicorn hair,” Monet said, reading the last section of the instructions.
When complete, the antidote would turn a burgundy shade and have the consistency of wine. That definitely wasn’t what his current potion looked like.
Stupid missing crucial ingredients.
“I don’t see why she’d want my hair,” Blisters said, turning his face away from the fumes that drifted in his direction and made his eyes water. “I like her purple hair; I don’t think she’d look good with my rainbow mane.”
Monet gave the unicorn an annoyed look. “She doesn’t want to wear your hair. It’s just an ingredient for a youth potion and an immortality spell.”
“Oh, right.” Blisters laughed. “I forget that every part of me contains the essence for healing, longevity and the elixir of life. It’s been a long time since unicorn school.”
Monet dropped his potion recipe on the table, spinning to face Blisters. “Wait! What did you say?”
Blisters gave Monet a bemused look. “I said, ‘Oh right.’ Then I sort of giggled—”
Monet shook his head. “No, the last part.”
Not waiting for an answer, Monet flipped through his spellbook, finding the section on unicorns. It listed all the uses for their parts, including the hair and horn. Centuries ago, the creatures had been hunted by those seeking to make immorality spells containing unicorn horn. Later it was discovered that the mane or tail could be used for the same purpose, though it wouldn’t be as potent. The hair would never grow back, but the unicorn wouldn’t die or lose its magic.
“Monet, why are you looking at me like that?” Blisters asked, waking the wizard from his thoughts.
Monet realized he’d been eagerly eyeing the unicorn’s mane. “Blisters, I think I have an idea for how to replace the ingredients we don’t have.”
“What?!” Blisters beamed. “That’s incredible!”
Monet teetered his head back and forth. “It will be incredible, if it works, which I can’t guarantee without trying it first.”
“If it will save those in Virgo and New Egypt, it’s worth trying!” Blisters’ blue eyes shone brightly.
“I agree, but I’m going to need your help,” Monet said cautiously.
“Me?!” Blisters exclaimed. “Are you serious? I get to help with the antidote? That’s the best news ever. What do you need me to do? Stir, chant, do a little dance?”
“I’m going to need your mane,” Monet said, cringing a bit at the look of horror that sprang to Blisters’ face.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Well, I don’t know for sure, but there’s only one way to find out.”
“Can I just give you a few strands of my mane?” the unicorn asked.
Monet shook his head. “I’m afraid that the potion can’t be made in small batches, hence this large cauldron. Otherwise, I would be doing test batches to try different alternative ingredients.”
“But my mane…it won’t grow back,” Blisters said shakily.
“Well, it could be your tail,” Monet suggested.
A gasp fell from Blisters’ mouth. “You shut your mouth, Monet Torrance.”
“Okay, not the tail, then.” He eyed the potion and then Blisters. “It’s a risk. I get it. And you don’t have to do it… but I think that unicorn hair could be the replacement for the three missing ingredients.”
“Do you think I’ll look cute without my mane?” Blisters asked.
“I think that you’ll look handsome, and if you save everyone, you’ll definitely be considered the most noble unicorn ever,” Monet assured him.
~~~
“I don’t know what this is about,” Manx said, trotting in goat form beside Gran and Azure as they hurried for Monet’s quarters. “He just told me to fetch you two. Although, I won’t repeat what he called you…unless you want me to repeat those nasty names.”
“Stop trying to incite trouble,” Azure scolded.
“Order us to come and see him.” Gran shook her head. “Monet seriously has a death wish.
”
Azure froze when she turned the corner into Monet’s room. “Blisters! What…?”
The unicorn turned, his head hanging low. His mane of shiny, rainbow hair had been chopped off, leaving him with a flat-top. “Monet cut off my hair.”
Gran let out a loud noise of protest. “Monet Torrance! What is the meaning of this? Have you lost your tiny brain?”
Azure stared between Blisters and Monet, trying to make sense of the violation. The wizard’s attention was half-distracted as he stirred a cauldron. As queen of Virgo, Azure had a lot of influence, but she couldn’t fix this.
“Monet! The council will come after you, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, bending low and fanning the fumes from the cauldron up to his nose. “They’ll imprison me for the offense. Let them try.”
“You’re not taking this seriously,” Gran stated, her voice shrill. “Cutting off a unicorn’s mane is illegal.”
“I told him he could,” Blisters interjected.
“That doesn’t matter,” Azure explained. “It’s illegal to cut off any part of a unicorn and use it for any purpose.”
“I think they’ll let this one slide.” Monet ladled a bit of the potion into a round bottle, shaking it back and forth to study its consistency.
The liquid sloshed like a glass of Chianti.
“Monet!” Azure yelled again, getting his attention. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on here?”
He turned, brandishing a smile and holding the potion proudly. “Yeah. Thanks to Blisters, and my incredible brilliance, I’ve created the antidote for vampirism.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The Great Pyramid of Giza stood as untouched by the years and elements as the Sphinx. The magic on Oriceran had preserved the structures, whereas the originals on Earth were crumbling, wasting away due to the cruel desert winds and pollution.
Azure pulled her chin up, unable to fathom the sheer size of the pyramid. It was hard to believe that even magic had made such a monument. The structure was truly a marvel.