“What are you talking about?” I asked, turning back toward Ra.
He studied me for a long time, not saying anything. My nerves were on edge as the old god eyed me. Whatever it was, he was taking his time to think about it, and for some reason, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like whatever it was. Still, what had he been going to call me? Dune? Dune what? I tried thinking about it, but as I did so, my head hurt so badly, it was like Sekhmet herself was pawing at my brain with her lion’s claws.
“It seems you don’t know,” Ra said after what felt like forever. “I’d tell you, but it is not my place.” He sighed. “Besides, even I don’t really want to piss off Thoth. All things in due time, I guess.” He chuckled, the sound lacking enough mirth to feel real.
With that, Ra turned away from us and strode toward the broken shards of the abyss, and as he did so, the mirror beneath his feet turned black and ashen, marring the once pristine surface. He reached down, scooping up the bits of broken plastic and flung them into the air above his head.
They fluttered down toward us like feathers drifting listlessly in the wind. As they struck the ground, they burst into small gouts of flame in every color I could think of and even ones I couldn’t. It was almost as though the void contained everything and was letting it all hang out for the space of a heartbeat.
When the last shard hit the ground, a doorway sprang to life beneath us, a huge purple knob rising from the mottled wooden surface. Rust covered the hinges, and I got the impression this door hadn’t been opened in a long, long time. Ra reached out and gripped the knob. Light rippled across his skin and filled the door itself.
The wood peeled away, revealing polished gold beneath. Ra pulled, his huge muscles straining. The door swung open to reveal a gelatinous sapphire puddle. “In you go,” Ra said, and before I could do anything, he was standing behind me.
He seized me by the scruff of the neck and flung me forward. I hit the goop with a splash, all the heat in my body fading away until I was a tiny nugget of pure cold. I glanced back, struggling to see as Sekhmet hit the slime next to me with a plop. The door above us started to close as Ra stepped into the puddle.
“Sorry,” he whispered as the door slammed shut, sealing us inside. “But I don’t get to do that very often and it’s pretty fun. You should have seen the look on your faces—”
Chapter 22
The sand spit me out like a piece of old gum, and I shot several feet into the air before slamming down onto the now hardened ground. The sky above crackled with crimson energy, splitting the heavens asunder as Ra stood next to my battered body.
“Good, we’re not too later,” he said, taking the scene in before marching off toward Giza. With every step he took, rays of sunlight burst through the sky above even though I was pretty sure it was nighttime. Then again, he was the sun god, so I was pretty sure he could do whatever he wanted to do.
Everywhere I looked, Apepians were locked in combat with red-furred Set-animal-headed men, but the battle raging around us stopped as everyone turned their eyes upon Ra. A collective gasp went up before cheering exploded from the Set-men. They thrust back upon the Apepians with renewed vigor as Ra raised his hands. Gouts of flame slammed into the enemy all around us, reducing them to cinders and sending thousands more fleeing for cover. Talk about sunburn.
Set’s body crashed into the ground beside me, and the shockwave threw me sideways across the sand. I lay there, trying to wrap my head around what happened as Set wobbled to his feet, body practically covered by oily black slime. His hand gripped the Was-staff as he took a shaky step forward, head craned to the sky.
Horus slammed into the old god, flinging him backward across the dunes in a cloud of debris. The falcon god stalked forward, each hand wielding a glittering emerald khopesh. Set skidded to a stop and tried to get to his hands and knees, but his arms gave out beneath him, and he collapsed to the earth.
Ra tossed a glance at Horus and raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, Apep came surfing down off the top of the pyramid on a board made of pure darkness. It would have been pretty cool seeming if he didn’t have such a maniacal grin on his face, and you know, wasn’t pure evil.
Ra huffed, shooting me a glance that told me to deal with the bird god and gripped his staff tightly. He leapt into the air, slamming into the side of the pyramid, just beneath Apep’s descending form and stuck to it like Spiderman. Cracks rippled outward from the blocks as he hoisted himself to his feet so he was standing practically horizontally on the surface and sprinted upward.
The two ancient deities met in a crash of colossal force that tossed me, and Horus, backward through the air. I hit hard on my back, my breath whooshing out of me as I tried to scrabble to my feet. As I did so, a sudden thought struck me. Where was Sekhmet?
I needn’t have wondered.
As I shifted into wolf form midstride, she came flying out of the air and tackled the already standing Horus to the dirt, smacking his beak deep into the sand. Her claws extended from her hands as she sank her lion’s teeth into the falcon.
Horus roared loud enough to make thunder crash above us. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, muscles tensed like a coiled cat and sprang into the air, his huge feathered wings manifesting at the apex and throwing Sekhmet off his back in a spray of god-blood.
She flew backward through the air as Horus whirled in midair and charged at her, fists out in front of himself like Superman. The blow caught the lioness in the stomach, buckling her over. They fell, crashing into the dunes beside me with enough force to shake the earth.
I raced toward them, sprinting for all I was worth as Horus grabbed the dazed goddess around the waist with his massive arms and leapt into the sky, soaring upward so high into the air, I couldn’t see them.
I cursed, unsure of what to do when I heard a groan behind me. I spun around to see Set being flanked by Apepians, their tongues snaking out and tasting the air as the old god struggled to beat them back with his staff.
Charging toward him, I leapt into the fray and swung my morningstar through the air as hard as I could. The weapon struck the first Apepian in the face, and he exploded into a flaming cloud as the head kept going and crashed into another creature. Fire swirled up in the wake of my attack as I hit the ground. Set tossed me a relieved glance and pointed up toward the top of the pyramid where crimson storm clouds were gathering.
“Quick,” Set wheezed. “We need to get there now, and I’m too weak to climb back up by myself.”
I nodded, wrapping one arm around his waist and spun in a tight circle around him, my mace lashing out and reducing the surrounding attackers to dust. Set smirked and leaned heavily onto me as I sucked in a gulp of air that tasted like rancid hot sauce.
“Nice job,” he said as I motioned for him to climb onto my back. He did so, and as I felt his weight settle onto me, I was surprised at how light he was. Then again, Sekhmet hadn’t ever seemed very heavy either. I’d always wanted to ask her if it was a god thing, but had never had the balls to inquire about her weight.
“Why are you so light?” I asked, sprinting toward the pyramid as Apep and Ra clashed above us, gouts of fire and lightning splitting the air.
“I can weigh whatever I want,” Set replied, resting his head against my shoulder. His breathing was so weak I barely felt it ruffle my fur even though his mouth was buried in it. That seemed bad.
I struck down another creature that dared to get in front of me and was surprised to see Set-men joining ranks with me and keeping the creatures at bay. So that’s why I was largely unmolested.
I jumped up on the base of the pyramid as Horus came flying downward like a flaming emerald comet and smashed Sekhmet into the ground. The desert actually split apart under her impact, shattering like a broken glass. Sand spilled into the crevice as Sekhmet’s body disappeared from view below the earth. Horus smirked, his emerald khopesh glinting in the night as he pointed it into the ruptured earth.
Ghastly green
flame exploded from the blade, filling it with garish fire so hot it turned the sand into lava. Heat washed up from the area in wavering lines as I screamed wordlessly, dropping down from my perch just above the pyramid’s base.
“Sekhmet!” I cried, about to sprint toward her when Set’s voice rang in my ear.
“He’s just a distraction, you need to get to the top.”
I stiffened unsure of what to do. My heart told me to go to Sekhmet’s aid, but my mind told me Set was correct. Horus would be upon us in a moment, and besides, what would Sekhmet want me to do?
I howled in anguish as I left Sekhmet to her own devices and sank my claws into the stone. I hurled myself upward for the second time that night, clawing my way up the side with massive leaps. We were nearly to the top when I got the sense of something massive about to strike. I threw us sideways as Horus slammed into the stone I’d been occupying. It cracked beneath him, webbing out as he narrowed his hawk eyes at me.
“Let me have him, Thes,” Horus commanded, brandishing his gleaming swords at me as his huge wings beat at the air. “If you do, I will forgive your interference in this.” He gestured to the surroundings.
I stared at him like he was a madman. Was he really being serious right now? Was he suggesting I was on the wrong side? That’s when it hit me. He was a goddamn idiot. He was so sure Set was the bad guy, he’d undo the world to stop him. I gritted my teeth, reaching backward and seizing Set by the wrist. “Good luck,” I whispered, and flung him upward with all the strength I could muster.
Set flew through the air, transforming the moment he left my grip into a bolt of jagged scarlet lightning. Horus cawed, and as he burst upward after the god, I leapt from the stone, catching him around the waist and driving him down into the side of the pyramid. The sound of him smacking against the rock was like music to my ears.
We skidded downward, his back scrapping against the stone as we fell. One of his khopeshes bit into my side as I dug my claws into his flesh. Our blood mixed as Horus kicked off the pyramid, and we freefell. His wings beat the air something fierce, trying to slow our descent, and I reached up, grabbing his left wing.
His feathers cut at my flesh as I gripped the wing and threw all of my weight onto it. Horus shrieked, and we fell into a tailspin. We smacked into the desert a moment later and pain shot through me, stars flashing through my eyes as everything went dim and black around the edges. Horus lay next to me in the sand, one of his wings twisted and broken as golden blood dripped down his body. I don’t know how I did it, but I reached out, digging my claws into my flesh and dragging my broken body toward him.
Horus lashed out, one huge fist smashing into my shoulder. It damn near broke my body in half. Still, somehow, I didn’t care.
My wolf howled within me, and the sound of his howl bursting out of my throat filled the night sky. Horus’s fist came down again, and this time I caught it in my mouth, which probably wasn’t the best idea. I bit down as hard as I could, my teeth tearing into his flesh and spilling his blood into my greedy maw.
It tasted like pineapple for some strange reason, and as I swallowed, I felt its essence course through me like molten lead, but instead of burning me up from the inside, power thrummed through my muscles and pushed my bones back into place.
Horus raged, trying to tear his hand from my mouth and succeeded only in rending open his flesh and spilling more of his magical blood into me.
I reached out with my hand and gripped one of his fallen swords as Horus pulled himself to his feet and stepped around to fling me through the air despite the damage it’d do to him. I jammed the khopesh into his gut as he did so. The blade split him open, spilling his insides into the sand as I tore free of his body and flew backward. I hit the sandy dunes in a skid that threw a cloud of debris into the air and lay there for a moment dazed.
The moon above had turned blood red as Set stood atop the pyramid, staff raised high into the air. Lightning flashed and rain fell like blood, staining the earth in crimson as, very slowly, the huge maw of the abyssal serpent above began to fade.
A scream shattered the air, and I turned to see Ra drive his hand through Apep’s chest and grip something within the ancient god. Golden blood flowed from Apep as he tried frantically to throw off Ra. Then the sky above exploded into a million sparkles of light from which the world fell into abject darkness.
I whirled around to see Horus standing behind me, one hand holding his guts inside his body, the other gripping the staff of Ra. It glittered in his hand, golden and gleaming, and for a moment, I wondered where he had gotten it from. Had Ra lost it in the battle with Apep above? He must have…
The broken bird god raised the staff above his head. Ra screamed behind me, and I looked to see him flying backward through the air, his inner light fading. I spun back toward Horus in shock as the falcon’s body healed itself. Was that idiot really drawing on Ra’s essence to heal himself while the King of the Gods dueled Apep for the future of the world? Seriously?
I charged at him but before I got three steps, fire exploded from the tip of the weapon. I flung myself to the side, barely avoiding the blast that melted the sand into slag and rolled to my feet just as another burst of fire struck the ground.
My mace lashed out, splitting the air and heading straight for Horus’s stupid bird face. He reached up and caught it like he was palming a basketball and jerked it from my grip. I fell forward, skidding along the dirt as he held my weapon by the head. Then he turned and flung it into the distance. I didn’t see where it went because it disappeared into a tiny spec on the horizon long before it finished its upward arc. For all I knew, it would wind up somewhere in Indonesia.
Horus stalked toward me, an amused smirk on his face as Ra got slowly to his feet. With an absent glance in my direction, Horus pointed the staff at Ra. “Now your power is mine, old man,” Horus scoffed, and his staff filled with sun fire.
Ra screamed, clutching his chest like he was having a heart attack and began to wither away. I leapt, slamming into Horus with all the force I could muster, and it was like hitting a cement wall with a goddamn feather for all the good it did. He flung me aside like a cobweb, and I skidded across the sand, enraged as haughty laughter filled my ears.
I turned toward the sound to see Apep climbing up toward the roof of the pyramid one bloody handhold at a time, and I realized something. Even if Horus killed Ra, it didn’t really matter. What mattered was someone had to stop Apep. Ra was, unfortunately, expendable.
I tossed one last glance at the two rival solar deities and sprinted toward the pyramid. Wepwawet screamed in my head, whining as I began climbing slowly up the side, chasing after Apep. We were almost out of juice. As it was, Wepwawet was doing all he could to give me strength.
Focusing on the task at hand, I shut my eyes and gritted my teeth. Apep was high above me but not that high above me. I scurried upward as the elder god turned and flung a gob of concentrated darkness at me. I scampered to the left, barely avoiding the hissing plasma, but lost my grip. I dangled there from one hand as Apep resumed his climb.
My wolf form began to fade, flaking away like bits of ash as Wepwawet collapsed inside my head. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ambrosia, and not caring about the consequences, shoved the whole thing into my mouth.
Chapter 23
Power thrummed within me, zipping through my blood and replacing it with high-octane super fuel. I roared and the universe shook in response as I gripped the stone beneath me, my claws rendering it into powder. Wepwawet grinned inside me, licking his lips, golden fur crackling with energy.
“Let’s do this,” he growled in my ear, and I smiled.
I leapt, my body hurtling upward through the air like a flaming missile. I smashed onto Apep’s back feet first, driving him into the wall of the pyramid with a satisfying crunch. He let out a gasp as I grabbed onto the back of his head with my hands and slammed his smug face into the stone. It splintered into shards of rock. I did it again. It felt jus
t as good the second time.
He reached backward, shadow bursting out of his body and slamming into me like the iron fist of doom. I fell backward, plummeting to the earth, and as I did so, I spun my body around so I landed on my feet. See, who says only cats land on their feet. My legs coiled like springs with the impact, and I launched myself straight up into the air as Apep lay against the stone, struggling to breathe through his battered, bloody lips.
I hit my upward arc and angled my body so as I came down, my shoulder hit him center back. The force of it was strong enough to actually drive him through the wall of the pyramid. We landed on a heap inside as rock and rubble rained down on us. Apep got slowly to his feet, leaning heavily against a statue of an immense sphinx to his left. I smirked, the moonlight outside shining down through the hole above us and illuminating the tiny room.
“Thes, you need to stop before it’s too late,” Apep said, his hand tensing as he gripped the statue. He flung it at me, and I dove forward, sliding under it as slammed into the wall behind me and exploded through it. The distant thud of it hitting the sand below filled my ears as I hopped to my feet and approached the deity.
“The only thing it’s too late for is your plans of world domination,” I said, wishing I’d thought of a better one liner. I knew, just knew, I’d think of a great one once this was all over.
Apep smirked at me though I didn’t know why. Was he making fun of my line too? “The sad thing is, Thes, you’ve already lost.” He gestured past me, and while I knew it could be a trick, I inclined my head toward the hole in the wall anyway.
Horus’s flying form flashed by outside and a bad feeling settled in my gut. Was that idiot going to stop Set now, right when we were about to win?
“I can tell by the look on your face you’ve come to the same conclusion I have. You don’t have the strength to kill me in the time it will take that birdbrain to disrupt Set, and when he does, I’ll get stronger and stronger until I can crush you like a bug beneath my toes. I’m particularly fond of the middle one.” He sidled up to me so close, I could feel the chill of his breath on my neck and pointed at his middle toe. “Go on and stop him, Thes. My toe and I will wait right here.” He wiggled his toe at me.
All Wrapped Up: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (Werewolves vs. Mummies Book 2) Page 13