by Unknown
I tensed as I spotted a raft near the base of that grand statue. There was a god standing near it. Probably that guy Akhabit, that Re had mentioned. He frowned at me but made no move towards the raft. I'm sure he recognized that I didn't belong on the boat of souls but it didn't look as if he were going to do anything about it. Just like with humans, you could always count on laziness. Then again, maybe he was restricted by magic to only row out to Osiris' boat.
He'd no doubt report me to someone but I couldn't worry about that. Plus, we were already approaching the next gate and the next set of snakes. I sighed in relief as Heka intoned the passwords and the snakes pulled away. The narrow doors swung open and I sailed out of Osiris' Kingdom, flowing into the next territory on another wave of water. Hopefully I'd be far down the river by the time anyone came looking for me.
“Welcome to the Living One of Forms,” Heka stated, “where Sokar is Lord.”
“That doesn't make sense,” I muttered to her. Rian kicked inside me and I chuckled. “My son agrees with me. Maybe it's one of those things lost in translation, Rian.”
Then I got a good look at the territory. The sky had lightened a little more but this was a landscape that would have been better viewed in darkness. Dreary desert stretched as far as I could see. Just sand and more sand with huge snakes gliding across it. They had numerous heads and some even had stumpy legs, which should have made them look silly but instead, made them even more horrifying. Some snakes had wings and some had ridges on their heads but all of them spotted me at once. They hissed and roared at me as I floated past. I gave a low hiss back and they all went still, sensing that I was more than I seemed.
“Huh,” I huffed. “Monsters, he said. Dangerous, he said. This isn't so bad.”
That's when the water dried up.
I gave a start as the water level dropped and the boat lowered steadily to an empty ravine, where the water trickled down to nothing. We kept sliding down the sandy riverbed for a few minutes, through high rock embankments which caught the wind and made it howl. Then we came to a grinding stop and the boat began to lurch beneath me.
I spread my legs to steady myself and grabbed at a railing as the wood of the boat creaked and moaned. It shifted, smoothing first and then reforming into scales. The railing and the cabin remained but the rest of the ship had gone as scaly as any dragon. Another lurch and a scraping sound announced the unraveling of a long tail behind me. I turned just in time to see it settle in the sand. Then a hissing came from the prow and a shimmering snake head rose up before me like the prow of a Viking ship. The snake opened its mouth to hiss once, revealing long fangs dripping with venom, and then settled its neck into a graceful curve.
“They sure do like their snakes here,” I murmured as the body beneath my feet started undulating side to side and we began to move forward once again. “Well, I'll be a dragon's mother,” I gave a huffing laugh. “Looks like the adventure continues.”
Ahead of us loomed another gate, this one looking even bigger than the last, due to my perspective from the bottom of the ravine. The snakes reared above me, spewing fire and venom across the passage. But once more, the hologram woman spoke her magic words and the snakes eased back, closing their dangerous jaws and settling into peaceful coils. The doors slid open and we slithered past them, the sound of scales on sand echoing off the wide gate.
“Welcome to Hidden,” the hologram announced. “Where Sokar is Lord.”
“What's hidden?” I looked over the new area we glided into. “And wasn't Sokar Lord of the last area? How come he gets two territories?”
The sky was even more lighter there but it was appropriately gloomy, since I was pretty sure that Hidden was code for Hell. The desert theme continued on but there was a little more character to this landscape. Hills created graceful curves and at the top of the ravine on my right, there was a massive structure. It was outlined in columns and rose up into the sky, where a pair of predator birds clung to it on either side. They cried out angrily at me and a flying snake undulated into view, swirling around the building like he was guarding it.
“Another snake,” I shook my head and looked away. “The nagas would love it here. Then again, they're water snakes and we just ran out of water.”
There was nothing else really noteworthy to see until we rounded a bend. Then a mountain rose up on my left and the ravine walls shortened, allowing me a good view of the spectacle atop the sandy peak. There was a pair of sphinxes sitting on the mountaintop and I straightened in surprise. These weren't statues but actual, real, live sphinxes. I'd never seen one before and after all those damn snakes, I was even more interested in getting a good look.
The sphinxes were part lion (the butt part) and part bird (the front part) with the head of a human man set atop. The stern male head was set on a pair of wide shoulders. Arms turned into avian legs, tipped in vicious claws, while the chest slid down into a lion belly. They had been sitting on their haunches, as lions do, but they went on alert when they spotted me, standing up and turning to look at the serpent sitting between them.
Of course, another snake. This one was winged and had three heads. Between his feathered wings, standing at the apex of the curve of his back, was a god. The god wore a skirt of white linen girded with a leather belt, which had a loin-guard of leather strips down the front. On top of his thick shoulders, he had the head of a bird; golden brown feathers curving smoothly over the similarly colored skin of his sleekly muscled chest.
“Horus?” I frowned as I edged to the left side of the boat.
The falcon head turned sharply, as if he'd heard me speak, and a bird eye focused on me. The god tapped one of the snake heads and the beast sprung into the sky, swirling through the air like it was gliding across sand. It landed on the riverbed beside my snake boat and the prow of my vessel hissed at it. All three heads of the flying snake hissed back.
“Silence!” The god shouted out of his bird beak, and the snakes settled down immediately.
“You're not Horus,” I accused him.
“Hawk, not falcon,” he waved at his head with a graceful hand. “Common mistake.”
“Who are you, then?” I peered at the golden amulet of a bird that he wore around his neck.
“I believe it would be more appropriate for you to answer that question first,” he shot back. “You've invaded my territory.”
“I'm just passing through,” I insisted. “And my name is Vervain.”
“Vervain,” he mused as he shook his head like a dog shakes off water.
The feathers disappeared, revealing a striking face with a tall forehead. His ebony hair was cut short and slicked back beneath a wide gold band. Although his dark eyes were human, they remained bird-sharp and continued to study me as I studied him. There were echoes of Horus in face; the angular nose and the regal lift of his brows. Was it the bird thing or were they related?
“Do you know Horus?” I asked him.
“Of course I know him but we only resemble each other because of our bird magic,” he explained. “Are you the Godhunter? Is that why I recognize your name?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Look, I'm just trying to get out of Duat-”
“Aaru,” he corrected.
“Excuse me?” I lifted a brow.
“You're technically in Aaru,” he explained. “It's a sub-territory of Duat. We are in Aaru, which is in Duat. Like a city within a state.”
“Wonderful,” I huffed. “Thank you for clearing that up. Now, I would like to get out of Aaru and Duat. So if you don't mind, I'll just keep going down this river-”
“I do mind,” he cut me off with an affronted tone. If he'd still had the bird head, I was pretty sure his feathers would have ruffled. “Do you know how often I get visitors?”
“Not very?” I asked with a whine.
“At least not any that I don't have to torture or throw into the boiling lake,” he amended.
“Boiling lake, eh?” I gave him a grin. “I call that a Jacuzzi.”
>
He blinked and then brightened. “Oh yes, you're part dragon, aren't you?”
“I'm full dragon actually,” I smiled bigger at his surprise. “And I'm fully goddess and fully human.”
“So that rumor is true?” His mouth hung open just a little.
“Yep, all three, one-hundred-percent,” I nodded.
“That would make you three-hundred percent,” he pondered. “But no one can be three-hundred percent, the very definition of one-hundred percent is that it is complete. You cannot be more complete, that's impossible.”
“It's not my physical body that's more complete,” I shrugged. “It's my souls. I have three of them, each one is complete.”
“Ahh,” he nodded. “I think I understand now.”
“And now that you know my name...” I looked at him pointedly.
“Oh, yes, pardon me,” he gave me a bow, “I am Sokar, God of Those Who Are Buried.”
“Nice to meet you,” I cleared my throat. “So, I'd love to stay and chat but I'm kind of under a time crunch,” I rubbed my belly.
“Are you in labor?” His eyes widened.
“No but it could be any day now,” I explained. “I'm having a dragon-sidhe baby and we're not sure how long the pregnancy will be for me.”
“Well, you're safe with me. I've delivered several babies in my time,” he gestured to his winged snake. “Please, just a short visit. We can have tea. I insist, Godhunter. Besides, there's no need for you to continue through the countries of Aaru when I have a tracing room you can use... right after our tea.”
“Oh fine,” I huffed and let him help me up onto his flying snake.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Tea in Hell. It wasn't the first time I'd been invited to an insane tea party. It wasn't even the first time that the role of the Mad Hatter had been played by an Egyptian god. Though now that I think of it, it may have been coffee that Anubis had served.
“How many lumps of sugar would you like?” Asked the Mad Hatter... er, I mean Sokar, God of Those Who Are Buried.
And what the hell did that mean? Or rather, what in Hell did that mean? Did he only rule over the entombed dead? And if he did, what about Osiris and his happy playland a couple territories over? Didn't he get the buried dead? Weren't all Egyptians buried? I wasn't sure if I wanted to know but I was sure that I didn't have the time to sit through a long lecture, so I didn't ask. But it was hard to control the urge. I am, at heart, an inquisitive person.
“Well, one is too few and three is too many,” I went with the Alice in Wonderland theme.
“So two lumps?” Sokar lifted his brows at me like I was the crazy one.
“No, three, of course,” I huffed. “I always have too many,” I frowned as my words hit on more truth than I'd intended.
“Indeed. I'd heard that about you,” he chuckled and used a pair of tiny silver tongs to pick up three sugar cubes and put them in my cup. “Cream?”
“No, thank you,” I accepted the delicate teacup and admired the deep blue designs on the thin china.
Sokar had gone all out. We were sitting at a long glass and gold table on his patio, which overlooked his boiling lake. Steam rose from the bubbling surface and seeped into the landscape, turning it into a place of misty shapes and echoing murmurs. The moisture didn't reach us but I could feel the heat and it relaxed my tight muscles even though my legs wanted to run. I took comfort in the fact that Sokar's tracing room was just down the hallway from us and I could sprint there if I had to.
The house itself was technically a cave, though I think it would be a better description to say it was a palace set into the bottom of a mountain. The entrance was a small door at the base of the mountain he'd been sitting on earlier, guarded by his pet sphinxes. I didn't ask their names since they growled at me when we passed.
After that sandy facade, I'd expected a dreary and dismal home with torches set into stone walls, stuff like that. But Sokar had led me through an airy, bright, golden palace with dove-gray marble floors and gilded pillars going up high over our heads to the flat ceiling.
The furniture was grandly Medieval in tone, adorned with intricate carvings and upholstered in jeweled velvets and subtly patterned damasks. Seating areas were set with expansive plush carpets and tall pots of flowers were placed carefully around for even more color. Sokar had led me straight through the luxuriant palace and out onto the patio, where he left me so he could personally prepare our tea. I guess the sphinxes weren't trusted with the china.
I had wandered down the stone steps of his patio towards the lake and when I returned, I was presented with a view of the backside of the mountain. It was sliced away to reveal the columned levels of Sokar's palace; rising four stories up. Balconies jutted out from it, embraced by the foundational stone of the sandy mountain. I would have said it was formed from the mountain itself, like Castle Aithinne was, but the stone of the palace was different from that of the mountain. Snowy white instead of beige, it was marble veined with gold and then gilded with even more gold in several places, making the whole palace glow and shimmer in the light of several braziers which were spread along the patio.
Then Sokar had returned with a tea cart and set the table while he hummed delightedly. He laid lacey doilies down first, upon which he placed silver trays. One was actually a three-tiered contraption which had a round plate at the bottom and then two on top, one to either side. It was full of little, baby scones. Another plate held sandwiches cut into all sorts of shapes, and a third had pastry puffs in the form of swans. Then there were two pots of tea because he simply couldn't decide on one, and a full service with cream and sugar. It was damn impressive on such short notice and taking into consideration the fact that he'd done it all himself. Sokar didn't have a bunch of servant souls running around like Re did. I guess they were too busy being tortured.
“Did you just have all of this sitting in the fridge, or what?” I asked as I reached for a scone.
Sokar was seated on my right, allowing me to have the best view. He snatched up the triple tiered scone tray so he could present it to me in gentlemanly fashion. “Oh, I have a bit of magic,” he shrugged.
“Tea making magic?” I took a scone and then pointed to the pot of Devonshire cream.
“Creation magic,” he smiled and handed me the cream.
“Like Re?” I lifted a brow.
“I was a very important god once,” he reminisced. “The Egyptians counted on me for a good harvest and to watch over their cattle, not just guard them in the Netherworld. I was a creator god, though not as powerful as Re, and I became a patron to all goldsmiths,” he waved a hand toward his gilded palace.
“Oh, I get it now,” I nodded. “So how are you connected to Re?” I asked it casually but internally, I was worried. “You're not one of his many relatives, are you?”
“No,” he smiled wide. “I'm one of the few gods he recruited into his pantheon. I'm an original from Atlantis, along with my brother Ptah.”
“Ptah is your brother?” I blinked. “That's interesting.”
“Do you know him?”
“No but I was recently commenting on how similar his name sounded to Re's,” I laughed.
“Oh, well he's married to Re's daughter; Sekhmet,” Sokar went still when he saw my face. “What is it?”
“Sekhmet and Bastet were the ones who tricked me into coming to Aaru,” I grimaced, wondering how much I should tell Sokar.
“They tricked you?” He chuckled. “What did they do; push you through the gates?”
“Actually, yes,” I huffed and he laughed harder.
“Those girls are mischievous,” he shook his head.
“Mischievous?” I lifted a brow. “That's putting it lightly.”
“Well, it's not like they were trying to kill you,” he bit into a sandwich and then paused. “Were they? Because if they were, they did a poor job of it.”
“No, they weren't trying to kill me,” I sighed. “I was at a Ball in Duat and they lured me away an
d pushed me through the portal.”
“See?” He shrugged. “They were just having a bit of fun.”
“With a pregnant woman?” I shot back and he frowned.
“Yes, I see your point,” he sighed. “I shall have a talk with them.”
“No, don't bother,” I waved it away and realized I was famished. I never got to finish the dinner Re had promised me and I'd been through a lot since then. I started piling food on my plate.
“Swan puff?” Sokar offered me the tray of swan pastries.
“Sure,” I took two. “What was that building I saw just before the curve in the river?” I asked before I bit the swan's head off. “It had a couple of birds hanging on it and a big snake flying around it. It looked important.”
“Yes, that would be Khepera's house,” he rolled his eyes. “He likes to think he's important and he especially likes others to think so.”
“But he's not?” I lifted a brow.
“He's the God of Resurrection,” Sokar explained. “The Egyptians believe that he resurrects Re every night on his journey through Aaru.”
“Oh, right, Re told me about his nightly sail,” I nodded. “He didn't mention any resurrection though.”
“He's the Sun,” Sokar went further into it. “So at night, he dies and journeys through Aaru on the Mesektet, his funeral boat. He is supposed to pass through twelve countries, which represent the twelve hours of night, during which he is resurrected by Khepera. He also fights Apep,” Sokar made the quotes fingers. “But even in the myth, he isn't the one who actually conquers Apep since he's actually still dead, waiting to be resurrected.”
“Then who kills Apep?” I asked, suddenly enthralled with the story.