Battle of the Crocodile King

by Dan Hunter

  It was a hard slog to reach the top, but somehow they managed it. Their hands and feet were caked with mud. For a moment, Akori looked down the other side, away from the river, and saw the shadowy buildings of the village of Nebyt far below. Lights gleamed from the doors and windows. Then he noticed something. The ground between the town and the top of the riverbank seemed to be moving. Akori strained to see. Was it rainwater, washing over the ground? Or the start of a mudslide?

  Just then, the moon came out from behind a cloud.

  Akori, Manu and Ebe recoiled in horror. It wasn’t the ground that was moving. The moonlight revealed a huge, glistening mass of crocodiles, huddled so close together they covered the earth like an ugly crust. And they were scrabbling towards the riverbank, straight for them!

  Akori had never seen so many crocodiles in his life. And there behind them, urging them on, was a colossal figure. Its skin gleamed in the moonlight like pockmarked leather armour.

  At first Akori thought it was a huge crocodile that was somehow walking on its back legs, but then he saw the giant’s limbs and body were shaped like those of a human, supporting its huge crocodile head and tail. It bellowed an order, and the crocodiles surged forward even faster than before.

  He stared in horror. It was Sobek! They’d walked straight into a trap!

  “Run!” he yelled to Manu and Ebe. “Get back down to the river or they’ll have us.”

  Together they ran back down the bank, skidding and sliding in the mud. Manu nearly lost his footing twice, and Ebe had to steady him. But at least it was easier to get down than it had been to climb up.

  “Keep running,” Akori panted. “If we can get to the boat, we can set it adrift in the river. They might think we’re inside and swim after it.”

  “Good plan,” Manu gasped.

  Akori scrambled down towards the water, his feet sinking into the marshy ground. The Nile was gleaming in the moonlight, and a little way upstream he saw the clump of reeds where the boat was hidden.

  Akori skidded to a halt.

  “Oh no!” Manu gasped.

  Lying motionless in front of them, forming a living barrier between them and the boat, was a row of six more crocodiles!

  Akori heard Ebe’s terrified yelp as she saw the crocodiles. Manu muttered a quick prayer and glanced back up the riverbank. How much longer would it be before Sobek and his crocodile army appeared over the top of the bank? Akori struggled to see a way out of this. They were caught between six crocodiles and an entire army!

  One by one, the crocodiles ahead opened their jaws, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. The message was clear – you won’t get past us. They were cutting off the only escape route.

  “We’ll see about that,” Akori whispered. His hand went to his belt, and he loosed the fearsome khopesh sword Horus had given him.

  He remembered Horus’s words the day he gave Akori the weapon. Its enchanted blade, the God had said, was strong enough to cut through iron and stone. With such a sword, Akori would surely be able to defeat six crocodiles – but would even an enchanted blade be able to cut through a hundred more? The moment he began to tire, they would be upon him, snapping at his arms and legs. And then, of course, there was Sobek himself to deal with.

  Akori swung the khopesh through the air, and felt a fierce pride that was stronger than his fear. The birthmark on his arm began to tingle and Akori was reminded again of Horus, trapped and helpless in his prison. The tingling spread from Akori’s arm until it filled his entire body. Even if he could not defeat Sobek and his crocodiles, he could make a stand. It was time to fight – and if he was destined to die, he would at least take some of them with him!

  Akori took a deep breath, and glared at the open-mouthed beasts that waited hungrily for him. He was about to yell a defiant battle cry and charge, when he heard the rattle of scroll cases from nearby. To Akori’s amazement, Manu had started to rummage through his bags!

  “Manu, put your scrolls away!” he urged. “We need to fight! This really isn’t the time for reading!”

  But Manu ignored him, pulling scrolls from their metal rollers as fast as he could.

  The crocodiles were beginning to move. On clawed feet they came slithering, their bodies twisting this way and that as they advanced.

  Akori took a step forward and brandished his khopesh. “Who’s first?” he threatened. “All at once or one at a time, I’ll take you on!”

  The razor-edged sword shone in the moonlight, but the crocodiles weren’t put off. They were still advancing! Akori swallowed hard. Soon they would be close enough to lunge at him. He braced himself for the attack.

  Then, out of nowhere, Manu came charging past him, clutching a handful of scroll rollers!

  “Manu?” he shouted in disbelief. “Have you gone mad? Get back!”

  But Manu was already standing in front of a crocodile, waving his arms madly. Akori watched in horror. Now the crocodile was opening its mouth greedily, and Manu was still standing there! Did he want to be eaten alive?

  But just as the crocodile went for Manu, its jaws gaping wide, he leaped nimbly to one side and shoved the scroll roller deep into its mouth, jamming it there. Instead of tearing into soft flesh, the crocodile’s jaws could only clamp down on cold metal.

  The crocodile thrashed furiously from side to side, hissing. Its mouth was wedged open. Its jaws tried to close with the power of a vice, but the metal rod was strong enough to stop them. The beast flung itself around, trying to throw the obstruction free, but its efforts just wedged the roller more firmly in its mouth. Manu fell back, his face beaded with sweat.

  Akori let out a whoop of delight and grabbed one of the scroll rollers from Manu’s hands. A second crocodile came growling towards them, and in a flash Akori drove the metal rod into its mouth. Now two crocodiles thrashed and flopped in the mud, unable to bite, and hissing in sheer fury.

  Ebe hopped up and down with glee. She snatched a scroll roller and joined the others as they danced with death, coming as close as they dared to the gaping jaws and then shoving rollers in at the last moment. Manu slipped in the mud and nearly lost a hand to a crocodile’s gnashing teeth, but Akori shoved in a roller just in time.

  “That’s all of them,” Manu cried. “We’ve done it. We’ve beaten them!” All six crocodiles were in a frenzy of rage, clambering over one another and lashing their tails, but not one of them could bite.

  “We haven’t got time to celebrate, Manu,” Akori said, picking himself up and pointing to the top of the riverbank. “There are a lot more crocodiles where those came from, remember?”

  In the bright moonlight, hundreds of scaly bodies were beginning to appear at the top of the bank. Snouts wavered and jaws snapped in anticipation. It wouldn’t take them long to come down the slope, and when they did…

  “How many scroll rollers do you have left?” Akori asked.

  Manu rummaged in his bag, and emerged holding a single roller. He gave Akori a despairing look. “We’re down to the very last one!”

  “Come on! Let’s get to the boat!” Akori yelled.

  “But we won’t stand a chance in the water against all of them,” Manu cried. “They’ll catch up with us in no time.”

  “We have no choice,” Akori said, running and slipping his way over to the rushes and pulling the little boat from its hiding place. “Isis is out there somewhere in her underwater prison. We have to find her before it’s too late.”

  “I think it might already be too late,” Manu said, pointing a trembling hand back up the riverbank. The crocodiles were descending the slope like a leathery avalanche, snapping and scrabbling, wanting to tear everything in their path to pieces.

  “Quick!” Akori shouted, pushing the boat into the water.

  Manu and Ebe leaped into the boat after him. Back on the shore, the six angry crocodiles still lashed and writhed, trying to get the scroll rollers out of their mouths. As Akori and Manu started to row, the sound of Isis’s crying started up again. It seemed to ec
ho, as if it were coming from the bottom of a deep well. They were getting closer, Akori knew it. He prayed they would have enough time to find her. “Follow the sound of the crying,” he told Manu as they kept rowing furiously. “If we find where it is coming from, we find Isis.”

  Akori peered over the side of the boat into the murky gloom of the water. But it was no good. It was like staring into a starless night sky. If only they had some way of lighting their path. And then the thought struck him – they did have something.

  “Keep rowing,” Akori urged Manu as he pulled the talisman from its hiding place around his waist. Ra’s gift had helped him before, when he had needed to release Anubis. Hopefully it would help him again now.

  Mighty Ra, hear my pleas and help me, so that I might find Isis, Akori silently begged as he held the talisman aloft. Instantly a dazzling light shone out across the river like a beacon. Akori smiled. He knew the Sun God wouldn’t let him down. But they would have to move quickly, as the light would show the crocodiles exactly where they were.

  Ebe grabbed Akori’s oar and joined Manu in rowing the boat away from the shore, while Akori shone the talisman down upon the deep, dark river.

  “Can you see anything?” Manu called above the roar of the water and the woman’s crying.

  “No, just weeds and rushes,” Akori replied, peering down into the murk.

  The crying sound was so loud now it was almost deafening. They had to be close to the prison, surely. It sounded as if they were right on top of it.

  Clinging onto the side of the boat with one hand and shining the talisman into the water with the other, Akori leaned right over and peered into the gloom again.

  “Wait!” he cried. “Stop rowing!”

  “Are you sure?” Manu asked, his voice shrill with fear. “Look at the shore.”

  Akori turned and followed Manu’s panic-stricken gaze. The huge army of crocodiles had reached the river’s edge. One by one, they were launching themselves into the water. Their sleek bodies swam with the current, lazily coasting along in pursuit of the boat. This was their territory, and they knew they had all the time in the world to catch their prey.

  “Take a look at this,” Akori said. Manu and Ebe peered over the side of the boat into the light of the talisman.

  There, right beneath them on the silty riverbed, half hidden by a thick cluster of reeds, was a large boulder.

  “All I can see is a boulder,” Manu retorted. “Please, Akori, we have to go.”

  Akori shook his head. “You need to look more closely.”

  Beside him, Ebe started waving her arms in excitement.

  “What am I supposed to – oh!” Manu exclaimed.

  There, carved into the top of the boulder, was the hieroglyph of a crocodile.

  “Sobek,” Akori announced proudly. “This must be his lair.”

  “But how do we get to it?” Manu asked, glancing back anxiously at the army of crocodiles gliding soundlessly across the water towards them.

  “We will have to dive down,” Akori replied.

  Ebe shuddered.

  “It’s either that or get chewed to death in Sobek’s jaws,” Akori told her sternly.

  “Let’s go,” Manu said, clambering to his feet and causing the boat to tilt and rock.

  “Stay close to me and follow the light,” Akori said, standing up and holding the talisman in front of him. “And don’t forget to take a deep breath. It’s a long way down!”

  Akori took a huge gulp of cool damp air and dived into the chilly waters of the Nile. Ebe and Manu splashed in after him.

  As Akori went under, everything went strangely silent. Only the crying seemed sharper and clearer than ever, as if being underwater made it easier to hear it. Akori looked around in the eerie glow of the talisman. He was surrounded by swirling murk, as thick as mist. Below him, the Nile’s bed looked like the surface of another world.

  Akori swam swiftly to the boulder. He knew there was no time to waste. They needed the Talisman of Ra in order to find the boulder, but its light would lead Sobek to them if they took too long.

  The reeds around the boulder were thick and sturdy as branches. Akori’s lungs began to burn as he tried to make his way through them. He thought about swimming back up to the surface to take a fresh gulp of air, but when he looked up he saw that the river above them was thick with crocodiles. They were almost upon them!

  Akori forced his way through the reeds and got near enough to the boulder to touch it. It was even bigger up close and looked as if it would take all three of them to move it. He turned to look for the others. Ebe was right by him, her hair streaming behind her in the water, but Manu was nowhere to be seen.

  Ebe noticed Akori looking for Manu, and her own eyes widened in fear. Together they looked desperately for him, but there was no sign.

  Meanwhile up above, on the river’s surface, the crocodiles were gathering. Akori could see their long reptilian bodies silhouetted against the moonlight. They must be waiting for Sobek’s order to attack! There was no way he could return to the surface now – and he knew he couldn’t last longer than a few more seconds before needing to breathe!

  Then, twinkling in the light from the talisman, a stream of bubbles glittered in the dark. Akori looked down to see where they were coming from. It was Manu, struggling weakly in a tangle of reeds. The green strands seemed to be fighting back, as if they were alive!

  Akori reached for his khopesh. One good slice, and the weeds would be hacked through. But Ebe was there first, swimming down to Manu and making two quick slashing movements with her hands. Instantly the weeds fell away, sliced off as if she had hidden razors in her fingers.

  Akori and Manu both stared at her in amazement. How had she done that? How had she cut through the weeds with just her fingers? But questions would have to wait. With no more time to waste, they swam for the boulder.

  Akori’s lungs felt as if they were about to burst. He started pushing at the rock and gestured at the others to copy him. All three of them began to push. The boulder shifted slightly to reveal a hole in the riverbed. Akori felt a powerful force sucking him downwards. With a roar like a waterfall, the trio found themselves sucked right through the hole and plunged into darkness. Above them they heard the boulder rolling back into place.

  “I can breathe!” Manu gasped.

  Akori shone the talisman around. They were in a dark, dank passageway. The muddy walls were slimy and damp, but they were no longer in the river – they were under the river.

  “Listen,” Akori said.

  The crying sound was so loud now it caused Ebe to put her hands over her ears.

  “Let’s go,” Akori said, leading the way along the passage towards the noise. Every now and then an icy drop of water would fall from the roof and land on his face, sending a chill right to his heart. Sobek must have seen where they had gone. It wouldn’t be long before he and his army would be slithering along the tunnel after them. They had to get to Isis first.

  In the light from the Talisman of Ra, Akori saw a widening in the tunnel ahead of them.

  “Come on,” he said, urging the others to increase their speed. They all started running, until they reached the end of the passageway. What they saw there made them stop dead in their tracks. Akori put the talisman back in his pouch. He didn’t need its light any more.

  They had reached some kind of underground cavern. The uneven walls shone with glorious colour, scarlet and green and gold, like a box of the Pharaoh’s treasure.

  “If this is a prison,” Akori said in awe, “it’s the most beautiful one ever built.”

  Ebe nodded vigorously. She was looking into a gleaming dish of crystal that threw back the light in a ghostly halo around her.

  “I’ve never read about this in any of my scrolls,” Manu gasped.

  Akori peered deeper into the shadows, and thought he saw something glisten. Leaving Manu and Ebe to examine the rest of the cavern, he cautiously made his way over. At the very back of the cave there
was an arched entrance into another, smaller, cave. In the centre of this cave there was a throne of solid gold. A woman sat on the throne, held prisoner by a web of glittering threads.

  Akori stopped and stared, his heart pounding. He had never seen anyone so beautiful. The woman’s skin was as white as the moon, and her eyes, though filled with sorrow, gleamed as bright as stars.

  “Isis!” he gasped.

  The beautiful woman lifted her eyes. A gentle smile spread across her face, and she reached out her hand, straining against the gleaming threads that bound her.

  Akori strode towards her with renewed strength. The sight of Isis so beautiful and yet so helpless filled him with determination. There was still hope, and Akori had the power to make things right. He would save Isis, for her son Horus and for all of Egypt.

  He reached out and took her hand in his own.

  But something wasn’t right. The woman’s hand felt clammy and cold. Akori stared at her face. She was still smiling, but now her skin was peeling off in great strips! And lurking below was a slimy, sickly green, like something rotten in a swamp!

  “Isis?” Akori gasped, unable to believe what he was seeing. Was this some kind of trick?

  “Braaaaak!” said the thing on the throne. That was not the voice of a Mother Goddess. It was a hoarse, throaty croak.

  As Akori stared in horror, the smile on the creature’s face became broader and broader. It kept on spreading until it became huge, clownish and hideous, reaching from one ear to the other. At the same time her eyes began to bulge, swelling until they seemed about to pop out of her head.

  Akori struggled to pull his hand away, but the clammy fingers grasped his and would not let go.

  “What are you?” he gasped. “Let go of me!” He struggled to reach his khopesh, but the thing grasped his hand tightly and shook its huge head.