“I don’t know,” Aziza said, stepping beside me and leaning forward to stare at them. “They weren’t there before.”
“Well, that’s really helpful,” I said, trying to swallow down my fear as I took a step forward, reaching out to them with one hand like I was going to pet them. “Um … nice giant eagles.”
The lead one took a step backward, wings flapping once as it opened its mouth slightly. Its black tongue gleamed in its metallic mouth as the two behind it also stepped backward almost like … like they were afraid of me.
Only that couldn’t be possible? Could it?
“Let me pass, and I won’t hurt you,” I said, and as I spoke, the birds nodded in unison before sweeping into a low bow.
“We will trust your word, guardian. We did not know who you were, or we would not have attacked before. Please, forgive us,” the leader said, its voice high pitched and grating. “Please. We will not bother you further.”
“It’s okay,” I said, tossing a sidelong glance at Aziza who shrugged. Great, even the ghost was stumped. Some supernatural mentor she was. Still, there was nothing for it. No. I just had to move forward and find my way out of here. That was priority one. “You’re forgiven. Please step aside.”
“As you wish,” the lead bird said before moving to the side to allow me space to pass by him.
It wasn’t a lot, and as I moved he’d be able to strike me, but I had to go anyway. If I didn’t, he might stop being scared of me, and I really didn’t want to fight more of the birds if I could help it. Sure, I had the advantage in close quarters, but I was pretty sure if they merged into a golem underground, Wepwawet wasn’t going to be blasting anyone to bits with lightning.
“Thank you,” I said and moved forward, taking a deep breath to calm myself as I did so. Each step took me closer to the birds’ beaks and claws, but I ignored them as I strode confidently forward. I could feel the heat coming off their gilded bodies as I moved past them, but I kept my head forward, staring into the darkness of the corridor just beyond them.
A moment later, I was past them, and a quick glance over my shoulder revealed the creatures moving forward into the room I’d occupied.
“What do you think they’re doing?” I asked, turning my eyes back to Aziza who stood beside me, her body partially obscured by the wall as she walked through it.
“Don’t know, but you should probably close the door just to be safe.” She nodded back at the birds. “Once they realize there’s no way out, they’ll come back this way, and even if they are scared of you, they might be a bit more peckish, if you catch my drift.”
I did. I most certainly did not want to get attacked by hungry birds. I spun on my heel and reached out with one hand toward the door. Purple sparks leaped along my hand as I called out toward the mechanism like I’d done before. This time it was much easier, and as it snapped into focus, I willed the door to shut. The grinding of stone filled my ears once more before the stone slab began to rise from the floor, sealing me away in the darkened corridor.
As the last of the light disappeared behind the stone, I turned to look at Aziza who was pretty much the only thing I could see in the complete and utter darkness, which was also weird because I shouldn’t have been able to see at all.
“So, what now?” I asked, taking a deep breath. “I can’t exactly see in the dark. Can you?”
“Actually, you can if you transform into a werewolf,” she replied, smiling at me. “But you may want to save that for later. I’m not sure how long you’ll be able to maintain that form.” She waved away her comment. “If you want my opinion, you should just summon some primordial fire and use it to light the way.”
“So, uh, how do I summon elemental fire?” I asked, taking a step toward her, only as I did, the floor beneath me gave way, and I plummeted into darkness.
7
I hit the water below half a second later, and as the heat was stripped from my body, I opened my mouth to suck in a shocked breath.
Which was a bad idea.
Acrid water filled my mouth, blocking out any chance of air and causing me to sputter as I hit the stone beneath the raging water moments before I was swept along by the rushing current. Rage exploded through me as my lungs threatened to burst from lack of oxygen.
Worse as I struggled to get my feet under me and push toward the surface, my left shin slammed into something with enough force to make stars shoot past my eyes. I gasped again and swallowed another lungful of water.
The pain was the only thing that kept me grounded enough to force the need to breathe away long enough for me to think. I shoved my hands out toward the stone beneath me, and as the rocky surface tore at my palms, I shoved with all the force I could muster. Purple light wrapped around my hands as I did so, causing me to shoot upward through the water like a champagne cork.
I hit the surface a second later and spat out the water I’d gulped down earlier. As I tread water, trying to force myself to breathe normally, tears filled my eyes, obscuring my vision.
It took me half a second to realize what that meant because I was still sucking down air like it was going out of style, but when it hit me, it was like a punch in the face.
My tears were obscuring my vision because there was light ahead.
My legs kicked, keeping me above the surface as I wiped my eyes with the back of one hand and focused on the light rushing closer.
“Awesome!” I cried, barely able to contain my joy when as I realized it was a ledge. It wasn’t big, maybe ten feet across, and it had a couple glowing torches on the walls along either side. The yellow flame danced, casting shadows across the water as I rushed forward, and while I wasn’t sure what had lit them, I knew that I had to get out of this river before it carried me somewhere horrible.
I kicked my feet, redoubling my efforts as I swam forward toward the edge as the current carried me closer. My head dipped below the surface, but now I was prepared and held my breath as I surged forward with all the strength I could muster. The alcove was coming closer, and I had to be there in time or I’d miss it.
A second later, I reached out, grabbing onto the stone along the midpoint, and the sudden force of stopping myself damned near pulled my arm from its socket. I screamed aloud in pain, but my cry was carried away by the rushing water as I hung there like a drowning rat.
My fingers started to slip off the damp stone as I bit down the pain in my arm and reached out with my other hand. I seized the stone a moment later and hauled myself out of the rushing water and up onto the stone.
My abdomen hit the lip of the alcove a bit later, and my arms trembled from the effort of holding myself out of the water. Fortunately, I was okay now. I flopped down on my chest and pulled myself forward while lifting my legs out of the water.
What felt like hours later, I flopped onto the stone on my back and stared up at the ceiling. My chest heaved with effort as my eyes focused on the shadows leaping across the gray stone. Sigils I couldn’t decipher covered every inch of the place, even though I’d been studying both Greek and Egyptian works the whole time I’d been in Delos, and these were both neither and both. Well, that was strange.
Either way, as I lay there, trying to ignore the fact I’d nearly drowned, Aziza’s head popped into view overhead.
“You made it. I knew you would.” She smiled, flashing his translucent teeth at me. “Go ahead, take a minute to recover yourself because we’ve got a long road ahead.” She pointed back toward the wall. “I did a bit of scouting, and there’s another hidden passage through the center of that wall.
“Swell,” I muttered, taking another deep breath and turning away from her to stare at the wall. “So, how do I open the door?”
“I’ll show you,” Aziza replied, looking at me thoughtfully before she approached the door. As I got to my feet and followed her, I realized there were more symbols along this wall too, only they were the same color as the stone, and so lightly made, I might not have noticed them if I hadn’t been so close.
“What do the symbols mean?” I asked as Aziza looked over the wall before settling his eyes on one of the spots. “They’re definitely not really Greek of Egyptian.”
“They’re in the Minoan language which is curious. I didn’t know they had a base below this temple.” She took a deep breath and ran her ghostly finger along the stone, which was weird because her finger mostly vanished through the stone. “Not deep either. They can’t be that old…”
“I didn’t realize the Minoan had their own language,” I said as I watched confusion flit across Aziza’s features.
“They do.” She nodded. “Or at least they did before the war. They lost most of that kind of thing” - she gestured lamely at the wall - “when the Destroyer crushed their great cities, but that’s a story for another time.” Aziza pointed at one symbol that sort of looked like two interposed triangles on top of a diamond. “That’s the entry sigil. Press your hand to it, and it should open.”
“Why does this one have a symbol when the other didn’t? Seems like they’d both have symbols or neither would,” I asked, moving closer and touching it. As I did, a spark leaped from my finger, filling the design with flame. Then the entire wall slid down into the floor, revealing a corridor a couple of hundred feet long with three doors on one side and five on the other.
“I’m not sure,” Aziza said with a shrug as she stepped into the hallway. “I didn’t design the place. You want me to guess?”
“No, it’s fine.” I sighed and followed her into the corridor, and as I did, the whole room lit up with harsh fluorescent light. Only I couldn’t tell where the source of it was. That’s also when I realized the doors were marked, and this time I recognized the five doors on my left. Each one had the symbol for an Egyptian deity, and as I stared at them, the one marked with the symbol for Set slid open.
8
Before I could stop myself, I walked into the room, and the first thing I noticed was how small it was. Maybe a hundred square feet, which was made to feel all the more oppressive because the walls, ceiling, and floor were composed entirely of scarlet stone.
I sucked in a breath that tasted stale and glanced around as the torches lining the walls came to life, bathing the room in the glow of crimson flame. In the center of the room sat a throne of carved mahogany decorated with hieroglyphics depicting Set fighting off Apep, doing battle with Horus, and slicing Osiris into tiny bits before scattering him across the lands of Egypt.
Statues of those weird jackal-like Set animals stood on either side of the throne, black as coal with eyes of glittering ruby, and as I moved closer, I found their eyes following me along.
“Man, this would make my professor cream her pants with excitement,” I mumbled as I took another step toward the throne. Something about it was drawing me closer.
“What do you mean?” Aziza asked, and the sound of her voice was a sudden intrusion as she moved up beside me. Man, I’d totally forgotten she was here.
“Nothing,” I muttered as I knelt down in front of the throne. I couldn’t tell you why I did it, only that something gave me the idea I should. As I tried to puzzle over it, a gout of flame exploded from the throne, singeing my hair and making me fall backward in shock.
As my butt hit the cold red stone, Set, the God of Primordial Chaos, appeared before me. He clutched his Was-staff in one hand and wore golden battle armor that covered his torso and waist but left his scarlet arms and legs bare. His crimson eyes filled with mirth as the flame surround him died away, leaving him sitting on his throne looming over me.
“Welcome, Luke,” he said, and the power in those words took my breath away. I’d never felt anything like it. This was like standing at the mouth of a volcano, knowing it was about to erupt and there was diddly all you could do to stop it.
“Um …” I said because I couldn’t exactly think of what to say. I knew I should say something and that I wasn’t quite holding up my end of the bargain, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure what I could possibly say. I mean, an Egyptian God was standing before me. That was insane, right?
Set nodded once, his jackal lips splitting to reveal his glistening red teeth. Then he turned to regard Aziza thoughtfully. “You have chosen a poor steward to guard the mummies, Aziza.” Set snorted. “He is not trained enough to utilize his powers to their full extent.”
“Sorry—”
“Silence,” Set snarled, cutting off the ghost before she could say more. It was sort of annoying because had he really just said I wasn’t worthy? That was bullshit.
I shook my head, trying to orient my thoughts. While I knew I should be mad at Set for proclaiming me unworthy, more importantly, I wanted to prove him wrong with everything in me.
“I know how to fight,” I snapped, getting to my feet even though doing so was like trying to push an anvil uphill in the snow with no shoes. “I’ve trained my entire life.”
“Perhaps,” Set said, glancing my way like I was an insignificant thing. “But without being able to harness your magic, how could you ever take mine upon yourself?” He raised an eyebrow at me as he waited for a response.
“Well, um …” I said as I racked my brain for a response that wouldn’t make me prove him right. “That’s a fair point …”
“He’s a quick study,” Aziza said, thankfully butting into the conversation. She gestured at me with one translucent hand. “When I came to you before, I didn’t know the ways of magic, but you taught me.” Aziza reached out and stroked my hair which was weird because she was still so cold and the room was sweltering. “He has his own power inside himself. Guardian power. If you taught him, he would be stronger than I ever was.” Aziza cracked a grin. “And that means you’d be the strongest.”
“You raise an intriguing point,” Set said, rising, and that was when I realized he was nearly twelve feet tall. In fact, he was just bigger, like he was a normal human, but somehow freakishly proportioned to seem even bigger than he should have. “But his name will not do.” He flicked his Was-staff at me. “How will someone named Luke be a fitting hand for the God of Chaos and Destruction?”
“Names aren’t everything—”
Set cut me off by slamming the butt of his staff into the ground. The stone cracked, causing little gouts of flame to shoot out like he’d unlocked a gateway to Hell itself. Then he reached out and drew one scarlet finger along my chin, raising my face to look up at his own. The warmth of his breath hit me all at once, making my stomach tighten with apprehension and every instinct in me scream to run the hell away.
I didn’t though. I wouldn’t give in to the fear.
“Names, my dear Luke, are everything.” He released me, allowing me to fall backward onto the stone. “But I will help you. It is as Aziza says. You have potential.” He gestured at Aziza. “Much more than she ever did.” Set sighed. “Besides, if I do not accept you, there is no way for you to win the battle coming.”
“Wait, accept me?” I asked, confusion passing across my face as his words tumbled around in my brain. “And hold on, what battle?”
Before the Egyptian God could respond to either question, he vanished in a puff of crimson smoke. It happened so suddenly it took me a minute to realize he was gone, and as I stood there staring at the space, I heard movement in the room behind us.
“Is that more monsters?” I asked, whirling around as I raised my fists, and as I did, I felt Set’s presence like a hand on my shoulder. It was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes, and I realized I could see magic in the air. Little currents of power weaved all around me, begging to be taken ahold of and wielded. What’s more, I knew that if I grabbed them, I could bend them to my will. I could suffuse myself with the strength of the power here or hurl it at my enemies.
“I wish it were more monsters,” Aziza said, stepping closer to me as the sound of cracking stone filled the air.
I took a few quick steps forward and peered into the room and found that one of the other doors, the one marked with the symbol of Osiris, was o
pen, and what’s more, I could see a ton of sarcophagi inside.
I stood there staring at it like an idiot as green light burst from the sarcophagus closest to the doorway. As I raised my hand to block the glare, the lid exploded in a spray of golden debris that threw me off my feet. I hit the ground hard, my vision going hazy as my head smacked into the stone. I lay there, for a moment, unable to do more than blink as a blurry form rose from the coffin.
9
“A mummy!” I cried, leaping to my feet, hands already half-transformed into wolf claws. I hadn’t even done it on purpose. One moment I’d had normal hands and the next, a hot tingle ran over my hands as they transformed.
My claws glittered in the blue torchlight of the room as the mummy stepped over the lip of the coffin and onto the stone floor. Even from my position on the ground, I could tell she wasn’t very tall. How did I know she was female? Because she had boobs that even millennia of wrapping couldn’t quite contain.
She stood there for a moment, whipping her head back and forth as the bandages surrounding her body flaked off of her like bits of ash. She tried to say something, but it was so muffled I couldn’t make out her words.
“What do you want, mummy?” I growled, now in full werewolf form, and when she didn’t respond, I looked around for Aziza who seemed to have vanished completely.
“Mmpmh,” the mummy said again, drawing my gaze back to her as she gestured toward her face like she wanted my help. Then she held a hand out to me.
I reached out, very slowly, and lightly touched the top of her hand with my fingers. Her yellowed wrappings felt like a scratchy bed sheet that had been left out in the sun a bit too long. I extended my magic, allowing just the barest touch of it to flow through my fingertips and breathe across her skin.
King of the Gods Page 5