by Dan Hunter
Akori looked down. A broken skull stared up at him with empty eye sockets. Everywhere he looked there were skulls, ribcages, long leg bones and tiny finger bones tangled together. It looked as if the skeleton of every person who had ever died had been scattered across the plain. Many of the bones were so old they had crumbled into a fine white powder, like sand.
Akori’s mouth twisted in disgust.
“We have to walk across it,” said Manu.
With a hiss of distaste, Ebe scrambled up Manu’s robes. Perching on his unharmed shoulder, she began washing the white powder from her paws.
“At least you don’t have to tread on them,” Manu sighed to the cat.
Ebe mewed sympathetically.
Trying not to look down, Akori took a step forward. Bones snapped beneath his sandalled feet. “How are we ever going to find the pathway?” he asked.
Manu shrugged. “I don’t know. On the scroll it says it is east of the palace.”
They all searched the landscape. A clear path wound its way further into the Underworld, but there was no sign of the Snake God. Suddenly Akori cried out. “I think that’s it!” In the distance, cutting through the white of the bones, was a narrow green ridged path. “Come on, we have to hurry.”
As they began running across the desert of bones, a moaning wind swept in, picking up the white dust and throwing it in their faces. “Could this get any worse?” Manu muttered.
Akori glanced back and saw that Manu’s skin and robes had turned completely white, covered in crushed bone. Ebe’s fur was the same. And as Akori looked down at his arm, he realized that he was covered in it too. They looked like three ghosts.
Finally, they reached the green pathway. It sloped upwards, like a small hill.
“Maybe once we’re up on the pathway we’ll be able to see Apep. You wait here and I’ll go and check,” Akori said, racing ahead.
The green rock of the pathway was cool to the touch. It was covered in overlapping ridges of stone that formed a regular pattern. Watching his step on the smooth surface, Akori walked as quickly as he dared and looked out ahead. The pathway stretched far into the distance. On either side all he could see was the endless white plain.
“I can’t see any sign of Apep. Are you sure we came the right way?” he called to Manu below. “Are we definitely headed east of—” Akori let out a cry of shock as the pathway suddenly started shifting beneath his feet. He staggered to one side and then the other as the pathway swayed. Akori looked over at Manu and Ebe.
“Watch out!” he shouted. “I think there’s going to be a landslide.”
But Manu and Ebe were still standing upright on the bone-covered plain.
Manu started waving his arms about in panic. “Get down. Get down right now!” he yelled.
“What is it?” Akori shouted.
Once again, the pathway shifted beneath his feet. Akori stumbled to his hands and knees.
“It’s not a landslide,” Manu bellowed. “It’s Apep. You’re standing on his tail!”
Akori ran along the slippery ridges. They weren’t ridges of rock at all, they were scales – huge scales. Breathless, he jumped off, his feet crunching on bone as he landed next to Manu. Ebe was skulking behind Manu’s legs. Manu’s eyes were wide, his jaw hanging open.
“Forty royal cubits,” panted Akori. “You said Apep was forty royal cubits long.”
“That’s only one scroll,” Manu replied, without taking his eyes off the enormous tail. “I told you the others said he was bigger than that, remember?”
“How much bigger, exactly?”
Manu shook his head. “I don’t know,” he answered. “I suppose there’s only one way to find out.”
Akori gulped. Horus’s words came back to him: “I must warn you, Apep is a terrible foe. When you stand before him, you will need more than courage or speed or strength to save you.” For a split second, he thought about turning back, and running. Surely if they were fast enough they could find a place to hide.
But then he remembered that the people of Egypt were depending on him to bring back the sun. Akori took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and began marching forwards, following the tail. “This is my task,” he said over his shoulder to Manu and Ebe. “I won’t think any less of you if you choose to go back.”
Ebe gave a reproachful meow, as she trotted to catch up with him.
“As if,” Manu said, scrambling over broken bones to join them. “Besides, you’ll need a High Priest for this battle.”
“What for?”
“Well…praying might be a good start.”
Despite himself, Akori smiled. Once again he felt a surge of gratitude for having such good friends.
But his smile soon died as they continued to creep alongside Apep’s gigantic tail. It stretched on for what looked like hundreds of cubits. Just one flick of it would be enough to crush them to dust like the bones they were walking on. Akori tried to keep a firm grip on his courage. The vast snake’s body was getting higher now, and thicker, coiling in on itself in massive loops. How could he hope to defeat something this size? And they hadn’t even seen its face yet! Instinctively, his hand went to the hilt of his khopesh. It will be like attacking a crocodile with a pin, he thought to himself.
“Well, look who’s here,” said a mocking voice, snapping Akori out of his thoughts. He spun round, to see Oba slide down Apep’s scales, a gloating look on his face. “Just because I was born on a farm, doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” he jeered in a whining mockery of Akori. “But here you are, walking right into my trap. A trap, which I’m delighted to say, you have no hope of escaping. Soon you’ll be dead, and, like all the rest of the dead, you’ll be mine to do with as I please. Do you want to know what tortures I’ve invented for you?”
“Will it involve playing seega with you?” asked Akori. “Only I think I’d be bored to death beating you over and over again.” He was amazed to find that his voice sounded steady.
Oba’s face hardened. “I’ll make you suffer, you filthy peasant you—”
“Oh, shut up, Oba. You talk too much and your voice is annoying,” interrupted Akori. He pulled out his khopesh and took a step forward. “Stop playing games and tell me where Ra is.”
The sneer returned to Oba’s face as he backed away from the point of Akori’s sword. “Stupid farm boy. I knew you’d try and rescue him. It’s exactly the kind of pathetically heroic thing you’d do. There is no way you’ll be able to release him from his prison. Maybe you should look for your precious Stone first? If you want that, all you have to do is take it.”
“That won’t be a problem,” said Akori, taking another step towards him.
“Not from me, idiot.” Oba was standing in the shadow of the mighty snake now. He reached out and touched the dark green skin. “From my servant.” He let out a high-pitched laugh before backing away.
The towering wall of scales moved. A mountain rose from the coils, stretching high into the sky. Suddenly, Akori was staring into slit, yellow eyes, burning with pure evil. Each was bigger than the main gates of his palace. A huge forked tongue the size of a barge flicked out of the monster’s mouth, touching Akori, tasting him.
Then Apep opened his jaws.
It was as if the earth itself had opened up. Akori took a step back, his knees threatening to buckle as he gazed, horrified, down Apep’s throat. High above, fangs the size of obelisks dripped great pools of venom onto the sand.
Terrified, but fascinated, Akori’s eyes fixed on a slim silver collar around Apep’s throat. In the very centre was a tiny blue glimmer.
The Pharaoh Stone!
As if reading Akori’s thoughts, Apep hissed, daring him to come and take it. A gale of rancid breath sent Akori tumbling and rolling through the sand.
“As traps go, I have to say, it’s a good one,” said Oba, lightly. “I’ll leave Apep to play with you now – I have some new tortures to prepare. Soon, you’ll be here in the Underworld for good, and I’ll have all eternity to teach yo
u about misery. Goodbye, for now, farm boy.”
Oba walked away.
Akori turned to Manu. “H-how can I defeat this?” he asked.
Manu’s eyes were wide with fear. He was speechless.
Akori turned to face Apep again. With another hiss the huge head reared back. Apep was preparing to strike. Deep within the giant snake’s endless coils, Akori glimpsed a struggling being that had the shape of a man but which glowed with the pure rays of the sun: it was Ra, trapped by his ageless enemy.
Akori took a deep breath. He had to save Ra if it was the last thing he did. Without the mighty Sun God all Egypt would wither and die. He had worked out ways to defeat the army of cacti and the demon slaves. He just had to think, and surely there would be an answer here too? But before Akori could think of a single thing, Apep’s massive head streaked down from above, jaws open to seize his tiny prey.
“Move!” Akori yelled. Pushing Manu in one direction, he snatched Ebe and hurled himself in the other. He felt hot breath burn his back.
The ground shook. Apep’s jaws closed around nothing but dry bone dust. The great snake reared again, hissing and shaking his head. Torrents of dust fell from his jaws, falling on Akori, covering him. He struggled free, spitting dust from his mouth.
At his side, the ground swelled. Ebe rose as Bast, shaking white bone dust from her fur, her mouth opening in a roar of challenge.
“Ebe, no! We can’t beat him in a straight fight,” yelled Akori as she crouched, ready to pounce, the roar swelling in her throat. She was huge now, but still a tiny kitten compared to Apep.
The giant head snaked down. At the last moment, Bast sprang at Apep’s snout. Her claws raked the scales, clinging to it like a cat climbing a tree.
In a second, Apep had shaken her off. Akori’s blood froze as he watched her smash into the ground, making a deep gouge in the bones as she tumbled. “Ebe!” he shouted, running towards her.
In answer, Bast staggered to her feet. She glanced at him, and nodded. Somehow, the cat always managed to communicate her thoughts to him and there was no mistaking what Bast meant now: It’s all right. I’m buying you some time. Then she was gone, bounding through the sand towards Apep once more.
Akori turned to his friend. “Manu,” he gasped, pulling him to his feet. “Is there something in the scroll? A way to defeat Apep? A spell? Anything?”
Manu shook his head, eyes fixed on the snake’s head above. Apep struck again, snapping at Bast. “There’s nothing,” he said. “Only a God of equal or greater power can battle Apep and hope to win.”
A massive shriek of rage ripped through the air. Apep reared higher and higher, writhing and hissing and ready to strike.
Clutching Manu’s arm, Akori ran. Again, Apep found nothing but a mouthful of dust.
“There’s nothing else for it then,” Akori shouted back. “I’m going to have to fight him myself.”
“Akori, don’t! That’s not the way…”
Akori was already gone, his feet throwing up clouds of bone dust as he raced towards Apep, shouting, “You missed again you stupid, oversized worm.”
Apep stopped. He blinked, regarding Akori with sudden interest, tongue flickering in and out.
Akori gripped his khopesh, hoping that Apep couldn’t see his arm shaking. “Want another go?” he called up. But inside he was quaking. Reaching for his collar, he touched the Stone of Courage and felt instantly reassured by its power.
Jaws open wide, the snake’s head screamed down. Akori grabbed hold of the Stone of Speed. His legs blurred as he raced out of Apep’s path. A wall of green scales smashed into the ground beside him. Jumping to his feet, Akori shot up the huge snake’s head. When he got to the top he touched the final Stone. Strength tore through his body like fire. He raised the khopesh with both hands and plunged it into Apep’s snout as easily as if he was slicing through water.
Gripping the hilt of the khopesh, which was still embedded in Apep’s slimy scales, Akori rose into the sky as Apep reared back, shrieking. Pulling the khopesh free, Akori clambered higher up the head, until he stood, looking into one of Apep’s massive eyes as wind and cloud streamed around him. “You may be big,” he bellowed. “But I’m still going to take you down.”
Apep’s bellow of rage echoed across the Underworld. He shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of an annoying insect with a tiny sting. Akori sank the khopesh into the snake’s flesh again and hung on for dear life.
A second later, he was descending fast, as Apep lowered his great head. He rubbed it against the ground, trying to scrape Akori off. Teeth gritted, eyes squeezed shut against the billowing dust, Akori clung on.
“Think!” he heard Manu shout in the distance. “Use your intelligence.”
“I’m trying!” Akori yelled back. Desperately, he tried to clear his mind. He thought about what Manu had said about a God of equal or greater power…
A God of equal power.
Yes!
Akori suddenly knew what he had to do. Quick as a lightning bolt, he steadied himself between Apep’s eyes once more. Stopping for a moment, he looked down. The snake’s scaled body sloped away into coils below – stretching away to the tip that Akori had mistaken for the footpath before.
With a quick prayer to all the good Gods, Akori leaped from the snake’s head and threw himself down its neck.
The scales were oily, slippery beneath his feet. He half ran, half skated down them, at a speed that brought tears to his eyes. Knowing that if he slipped he was dead, he concentrated on keeping his balance. It wasn’t easy. Feeling Akori fleeing down his own body, Apep writhed, trying to dislodge him. Once, twice, he struck, forcing Akori to dodge. Again and again, Apep’s jaws closed on empty air. Then, suddenly, his teeth clamped down on his own tail, narrowly missing Akori. Opening his massive jaws to the sky, the God shrieked in pain and rage.
Keep him angry, Akori told himself. “Stupid snake,” he yelled. “Can’t kill one puny little human? What kind of a ridiculous God are you?”
He ducked as the jaws passed by again, Apep’s foul breath almost flattening him. The slope was less steep now as Akori clambered up the great beast. He had almost reached the coils that Apep had thrown around Ra, keeping him imprisoned. They tightened and Akori could no longer see the glow of Ra’s light. Akori guessed that Apep was afraid he was trying to release the Sun God. Akori would need to distract Apep. Putting on an extra burst of speed, he leaped from one coil to the next, moving further and further back down Apep’s long body. “Nearly there,” he panted. Just ahead was the tip of Apep’s thrashing tail.
Made it!
Skidding to a stop, Akori plunged his khopesh into the snake’s scales. It sank up to the hilt. Apep shrieked again, the tail whipping back and forth. Akori gripped tight. Going down on one knee, he raised his head and shouted, “Hey, Apep. No wonder Oba keeps losing with servants like you.”
The screaming head lunged at him. Akori flattened himself against the scales.
Come on: one more time.
“Is this why Ra beats you at the end of every day? Because you’re completely useless?”
Apep’s coils began to unwind. In his fury, the monstrous snake snapped and hissed at his own whipping tail.
“You only beat Ra this time because Set helped you.”
With a screech, Apep lunged. Dragging his khopesh out, Akori ran back the way he had come. For a second, he felt hot breath on his back and then the mighty jaws snapped closed as Apep tore at his tail once more.
Akori whirled round, punching the air. His plan was working! But there was no time to celebrate. Darting forward, he jabbed at Apep with the khopesh, yelling, “I fought Sokar and Baal and Babi. They were all quite tough. Oba must be running out of decent allies if he’s been forced to use you this time.”
With a roar, Apep lunged forward again, his tongue darting towards Akori. But Akori was too fast, and again, the great beast attacked his own flesh. Akori danced backwards, enjoying himself now. “I wonder what
I’ll have to fight next,” he laughed. “A dung beetle?”
Enraged, Apep snapped at him, again and again. But every time, Akori dodged out of the way. The huge snake was maddened with frustration, rearing up in pain and anger. Spitting venom, in a burst of fury, Apep lunged at Akori. His skin sizzled as the snake’s poison spattered him.
Apep’s fangs narrowly missed the young Pharaoh. But the Snake God had attacked with such speech and force, that his almighty mouth closed around his own tail. Apep choked, trying to cough it out, but it was wedged in too far. He writhed and slithered but to no avail. The Snake God had swallowed his own tail.
Coolly, Akori stepped forward and patted the snout that rose above him. Apep glared at him, his eyes burning with hatred.
“Only a God of equal power could beat you,” Akori said, quietly. “And that God was you.”
Akori slid along Apep’s neck. Halfway down he saw a blue glimmer from the collar around the snake’s throat. He reached out and closed his fingers around the fourth Pharaoh Stone.
Instantly, he felt his brain start to tingle. His mind cleared. Things he hadn’t understood before now seemed amazingly simple. Opening his fingers, he gazed at the twinkling Stone in his palm. “Intelligence,” he whispered. He placed the Stone in his collar and slid down to the ground.
“You did it. You did it!”
Akori turned to see Manu running towards him with a huge grin on his face. Ebe bounded along at his side, shrinking to her normal size as she leaped onto Akori’s shoulder. A rough tongue licked his face. Ebe’s throat rumbled with a purr of love and pride.
“That was amazing. It will go down in history,” Manu shouted, throwing his arms around Akori’s shoulders. “No one but Ra has ever defeated Apep.”
“Ra!” shouted Akori. “He’s still trapped.”
Apep’s coils shifted. For a second Akori thought the Snake God was about to wriggle free but, with a heave, a golden man stepped out from between the coils. His skin was as gold as wheat and a halo glowed around his head.