by Dan Hunter
Darkness fell once again, as Manu screamed a long, dying scream of agony.
Akori had to drive back the darkness. He fumbled for the Talisman of Ra around his neck and began a desperate prayer. “Mighty Ra, God of the Sun,” he began, “send us your—”
Before he could say any more, a blood-chilling roar echoed through the valley. It sounded like a lion, though surely no mortal lion could ever make such a sound. Then he saw it, leaping out of the darkness – the huge, tawny shape of a monstrous cat-like beast, growling in savage hunger.
It was running straight for Manu’s crumpled body!
The lion-beast’s growling ripped through the darkness again and again. Akori knew Manu had no chance. It would tear him to pieces – unless Akori could stop it in time. He ran as hard as he could, khopesh drawn and ready. Whatever the beast was, he would not stand back and let it make a meal of his fallen friend. It would have to look somewhere else for its meat, the filthy scavenger. He would fight it to his dying breath...
As he reached Manu, Akori’s anger gave way to confusion. The lion-beast was not there. He stood over Manu, ready to defend him, but nothing happened. Manu’s only wounds were where Anat’s horns had gored him. But Akori could still hear furious snarls and growls. What was going on? He peered into the darkness. There was the lion-beast, running away from Manu. It was chasing something, a fleeing horned figure that ran with a strange lope. It was Anat!
Akori rubbed his eyes and stared harder into the darkness. It was true. The creature was chasing the demon away. She was scrambling to escape as fast as she could! A terrible scream rang out as the lion-beast gained on her.
Akori had to get a better view. He grasped the Talisman of Ra and held it high above his head, praying, “Mighty Ra, God of the Sun, send us your aid!”
Light began pouring out from the talisman. The valley was lit up as bright as day, but for the heavy curtain of black cloud above them. The warrior Goddesses were now small figures in the distance. The two horses were bolting with them. Akori watched the evil group run, and soon the sandy mountains had swallowed them up. As for the lion-beast, it was nowhere to be seen.
Akori hung the dazzling amulet back around his neck, where it glowed like a second burning heart. Then he turned back to Manu. His friend was clutching his belly and moaning, his fingers covered in blood. Ebe was bent over him now, doing her best to make him comfortable.
Akori kneeled at Manu’s side. His thoughts flashed back to the last time Manu had been wounded. The healing Scarab of Anubis had saved his life then, but would it still work now? Akori tugged it from his pouch so hastily he tore the cloth. Manu was trembling like a dog with a broken leg. There was blood on his mouth as well as his stomach. Ebe looked as if she were about to cry.
Manu had clearly lost a lot of blood. Akori had the sudden, shocking feeling that he had left it too late. He should have tended to Manu immediately, instead of watching the Goddesses.
Akori held the scarab pin to the wound. “Lord Anubis,” he prayed, “heal our friend!” Although he didn’t say it out loud, he thought to himself: It’ll be my fault if he dies and I couldn’t bear it...
The scarab twitched to life and scuttled across Manu. He winced as it went to work. To Akori’s amazement, Manu’s wound began to fade and disappear.
“It’s working!” he said, and the relief he felt was sweeter than all the honey in Heliopolis.
Manu coughed and began to breathe a little more easily, his eyes fixing on Akori. “Did you see it?” he gasped. “Huge...wild cat! It helped me. Fought...Anat...off.”
“I saw!” Akori said. “I’m glad it was on our side, but what was it?”
“M-must have been Sekhmet,” Manu said. He still looked very pale. “In lioness form. She helped us before.”
“It couldn’t have been!” said Akori firmly. “Why would Sekhmet have come? It doesn’t make sense. I didn’t call to her. Besides, that wild cat was much smaller than Sekhmet in her lioness form. Don’t you remember when she carried us back to the Temple of Horus?”
“All three of us rode on her back,” said Manu, smiling at the memory.
“With room to spare,” Akori added. “I don’t think that thing could have carried more than one of us! Anyway, you’re alive. That’s the important thing.”
Akori looked at Ebe, who was giving Manu a drink of water. He wished she could speak. Perhaps she could tell him where the cat-thing had come from.
At that moment, Akori’s birthmark tingled, reminding him of his quest. “Ebe, you stay here with Manu,” he said. “I need to get inside the Temple of Set and find Horus.”
Ebe nodded gravely and curled her hand into a fist. She mimed punching at imaginary things that were menacing Manu.
Akori smiled. “No, you won’t have to fight anything! Here.” He pulled the Ring of Isis from his finger and passed it to her. “This will keep you safe. You can make yourselves invisible.”
Ebe seemed pleased by that, but Manu angrily tried to sit up. “You’re not going anywhere without us!” he said.
“Yes I am. Stay here and rest.”
“I’m fine!” said Manu, standing up. He wobbled unsteadily, then sank to his knees again. “I’m just a little dizzy.”
Akori shook his head. “I’m sorry, Manu. The Scarab of Anubis may have saved your life, but you’ve still lost a lot of blood. You’re in no condition to walk, let alone fight. Especially not against any more of Set’s minions!”
“You should be worrying about yourself, not me,” Manu said. “Going into the Temple of Set alone? You’ve always had us with you before.”
“I don’t think I’ve got any choice,” Akori said seriously. He turned to look towards the temple. “This is my destiny. Everything that’s happened so far has led us here, to this moment. It’s all happened for a reason.”
Manu frowned. “Are you saying that we aren’t meant to follow you inside the temple?”
Akori nodded as the realization dawned upon him. “The Prophecy of the Sphinx says the fate of Egypt rests on my shoulders, and mine alone. That means I have to confront Set on my own. It’s the path I have to follow, laid down thousands of years before any of us were born. None of us can change it.”
“Very well,” Manu sighed. “Go and meet your destiny. But prophecy or no prophecy, if I’ve got my strength back before you come out of there alive and well, I’m going in after you!” Ebe nodded vigorously in agreement.
Akori smiled at them gratefully. It might have been his destiny to face Set alone, but he would never have got to this point if it hadn’t been for the bravery and support of his friends. Akori’s smile faded as he thought of the challenge that lay ahead of him. Set would be his most deadly foe yet. What if he didn’t make it back out of the temple alive? Would this be the last time he ever saw Manu and Ebe? As if reading his mind, Manu grasped hold of Akori’s arm.
“Be careful,” he whispered.
Ebe gripped Akori’s arm and nodded her own message of support.
“Thank you,” Akori said, “for everything.”
Then he stood up and set off into the darkness. The temple stood before him, its blackened towers like monuments to all the dark Gods who had ever been. From openings in the towers, reddish vapours seethed, with hideous faces appearing in them like tormented ghosts. This was the heart of Set’s power on earth, like a furnace where pure evil was forged. It was where Set must have come when the very first Pharaoh rejected his offer of allegiance, to brood and make his dark plans for revenge. Beneath Akori’s feet the ground felt hot, as if Set’s fiery underworld were right here, waiting to devour him.
Akori wished more than anything that he could just turn back time, to when he was nothing more than a simple farm boy dreaming in the sun by the flowing Nile. Life was so much simpler then, before he knew his true destiny.
He forced himself to walk on. Even if it led to his death, he must follow his fate. It had led him to all of the other good Gods, hadn’t it?
As h
e walked, Akori felt his birthmark begin to tingle again. That was the sign of his royal blood, marking him as the true Pharaoh – if he survived long enough to take the throne. It reminded him that he was the heir of that very first Pharaoh, the one who had found the strength to defy Set. Akori prayed that he would have that same strength now as he walked on, deeper into the darkness.
Back in the Temple of Horus, Akori had seen a picture of a dead man’s soul in the Underworld. Manu had explained it to him. The man was approaching a gateway, while monstrous beasts watched from all around. He would have to walk through the gates alone and confront the horrors that waited there. Only then could he pass on into eternal life. If he failed, he would be devoured and lost for ever. The memory of the picture came back to Akori now as he made his way to the entrance of Set’s temple. He was all alone in the darkness, approaching the gate that led inside. And there was no telling what hungry evils were waiting there.
The pillars of the great gate were carved from black rock. Giant sphinxes flanked it, but they had smooth featureless ovals instead of faces. Above the gate stood a statue of Set in all his terrible glory, holding the limp body of Horus in one hand and trampling the body of Osiris beneath his feet. As Akori approached, the statue’s eyes filled with a red glow and steam hissed from the nostrils. Taking a deep breath, Akori drew his khopesh and walked in.
The corridors were dark and stifling hot. A foul-smelling breeze was blowing from somewhere. The only light came from the Talisman of Ra, still dimly glowing around Akori’s neck. He considered calling on its power to light his way more clearly, then changed his mind. He would save its power for later, when he might need it more.
Akori glanced at the paintings on the walls as he ventured further into the temple. They showed terrible scenes of battle and death. What made it worse were the familiar figures in the pictures. There was Am-Heh, the ferocious Hunter God, a limp victim hanging from his jaws. Wadjet the Snake Goddess was coiled around a group of helpless people, as if she were about to crush them all at once. Sobek the Crocodile God was leering down at a pit full of prisoners, while his frog-headed wife squatted beside him.
“You don’t scare me, any of you,” Akori whispered to the pictures. “I beat you all.” Although what he said was true, his words somehow sounded hollow, like the boast of a fool.
Akori clutched his khopesh and shield and moved further down the empty, silent corridor. Set had said Horus was in the dungeon, but Akori had no idea how to get to it. Up ahead, a single torch was flickering. Akori headed for it, passing dozens of animal-headed statues on the way. He recognized none of them. Could they all be allies of Set? Were there really that many evil Gods? He half expected them to lurch into life, cold stone hands clutching for him...but they stayed still and silent.
When he got to the torch he saw a door in the wall. He reached to push it open, then hesitated. Every nerve in Akori’s body sang out a warning. Why were there no guards? Such an important temple must surely have some. Was Set trying to trick him into doing something reckless and foolish? It would not be the first time...
Slowly, with great care, Akori pushed open the door. He blinked, suddenly dazzled, and rubbed his eyes. The passageway ahead was lined with hundreds of flickering torches. And there in front of him, his sword and shield shining in the torchlight, was a young boy of Akori’s age. Despite his youth, he looked lean and muscular. There was a wild look in his eye, as if he were braced to attack. Akori caught his breath. Only one boy could possibly be waiting to fight him here in Set’s temple. His rival, the evil Pharaoh Oba!
Akori raised his khopesh and prepared to charge. The boy did the same. His khopesh was the twin of Akori’s own. It was even the same gold colour.
Akori stopped. The boy stopped too. Slowly Akori raised his hand. When the boy imitated him, he realized the truth. This was not Oba at all. It was his own reflection. Now he looked more closely at the walls, he could see they were all made from highly polished metal.
Akori wondered how he could have made such a silly mistake, and then he looked at himself again. He hadn’t seen his reflection in a long time, and he had changed. The challenges and trials of his many journeys had toughened him. When he first set out on this quest to free the good Gods, he had been a boy. Now he seemed to have become a young man – a warrior. No wonder he hadn’t recognized himself.
From somewhere close, an inhuman cackle rang out. Akori recognized it immediately as Set. So, he was not alone in this place after all. Warily, he advanced. Every so often there would be a gap in the wall leading to another, identical passageway. Before long, he realized that he had stepped inside a labyrinth. The reflective walls made it almost impossible to tell which way he was going. It was hard to work out where the open spaces were. Sometimes he misjudged and bumped painfully into a wall. He soon decided to put his khopesh back into his belt and feel his way ahead.
In some places there were torches flickering all around, and their reflections multiplied hundreds of times gave the effect of endless tunnels into infinity. It was making Akori’s head spin. In others, the darkness was almost complete, so he had to grope through it, his heartbeat hammering in his ears.
He forced himself to concentrate. Once, when they were exploring the catacombs under the Temple of Horus, Manu had told him the trick to working your way through a labyrinth – always keep your right hand against a wall, and that way you will come to the centre eventually. Breathing evenly to calm his nerves, he pressed on.
After some minutes, Akori felt he had to be making progress. He had to be getting close to the dungeon by now, surely. But then he saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks.
Up ahead was a stretch of shadow where no torches shone. But there was a light there. It was livid and red, shining from two slitted eyes that hovered in the dark!
Akori drew his khopesh and charged. He swept the heavy blade around as he ran, meaning to slice the unseen creature’s head off in one blow. Next second he crashed into a wall. He went staggering back, shocked and winded. The pain made his ears ring. And the eyes were still there. That meant they had to be a reflection. So whatever owned those eyes was lurking behind him...
Akori spun around. There were the eyes, glaring at him out of the dark. With renewed confidence and rising anger, he charged again. Set’s laughter echoed through the maze as Akori slammed into another wall. He spun around again, confused. How was that possible? There had to be some kind of sorcery at work.
The eyes seemed to be all around him. Akori lashed out blindly, striking against the walls with his khopesh. He had to reach Horus to free him, but there seemed to be no way out of this madhouse!
He felt something brush against his back. Instantly, he turned to see the ghoulish eyes staring right at him. They were burning like balls of fire.
He bit back a scream. The thing was only a few paces away. Akori had never seen anything like it, even in Manu’s most ancient scrolls. It was skeletal, wearing the tattered remains of a robe, but the head where the eyes burned was like the horned skull of an antelope. Bony fingers clutched a huge wooden sickle with a sharp flint blade.
The thing gave a ghastly shriek of victory. It raised the sickle, ready to hew Akori in half. Akori backed off along the passageway, his sword and the shield trembling in his hands. The skeletal thing cocked its head, as if it were amused by this game of cat and mouse. Then it flung its jaws open and a plume of fire came roaring out.
Akori turned and started to run. He barely outran the blast. The fiery breath was hot on his back, and he could smell his own hair burning. Frantically, he searched for a gap in the wall. He found one and slipped through. He emerged into yet another corridor of mirrors. No time to curse his luck – he had to keep moving. He raced along the passageway, his endless mirrored reflections running alongside. Then he stopped. The flaming eyes were in front of him once again, and they were coming steadily towards him!
“It’s not possible!” Akori gasped. “How could it do that?”
As if in answer, Set’s beast-like laugh rang in his ears. The creature was close now, so very close.
As the terrible burning eyes bore down upon him, Akori wished he still had the Ring of Isis. If he’d ever needed to be invisible, now was the time! There was nothing for it but to fight. He readied himself to charge. Then the High Priest’s words came back to him: “Control your hot head! You must not let him trick you into doing something reckless...”
The skeletal thing was almost upon him. The razor-sharp sickle was drawing back for the killing blow. Akori waited, holding his breath. It seemed to be in front of him, but he had been fooled before. He let out all his breath in one great battle cry, and stepped forwards as if he was going to charge. Then, at the very last second, he spun around, and thrust.
A terrible roar echoed through the labyrinth. The khopesh grated against ancient bone. It was buried to the hilt in the creature’s body. It had been behind him after all!
Akori ripped the khopesh free, sending the creature staggering. Whatever it was, he had hurt it – though he wasn’t sure how he was going to kill something that seemed to have been dead for centuries.
Screeching in fury, the creature swung its sickle. Akori sidestepped the first blow and parried the second. He made a swift counter-attack, smashing his sword hard against the thing’s face. The jaw shattered on one side and hung lopsided. Teeth went rattling across the floor. But that just seemed to make it angrier. Flinging its arms wide, it breathed a stream of fire. Akori pressed himself flat against the wall, only just avoiding it.