General Meru arrived at the temple the next morning. He jumped off from his horse and marched toward the interior of the temple, where his uncle’s throne was also standing prominently. He approached him even when he was still having his breakfast that morning. The king was seated near the big window where light poured right in. The different dishes were arranged on the table where the ruler sat at. From there, he could see the guards patrolling the vast premise.
Meru bowed and kneeled before his uncle, the Cobra King. He decided to see him right away when they arrived back in the temple even though he was empty-handed.
The king regarded him with forceful dark eyes. “I can see you failed to bring them back,” King Iry-Hor stated with a frowning face.
“My grave apologies, uncle—my king. Nobody has seen them in the city even though they were spotted entering the city gates late last night.”
King Iry-Hor drank some wine that
It was in the middle of the day when they entered the city of Bast. They saw a procession of people going to the river. Some women brought cymbals and tambourines and played them while they walked toward the River Nile. Meanwhile, the men played some kind of pipes, and those without instruments clapped and danced.The five also saw some ancient crafts floating on the water. A wooden carved head of a cat was on them.“It is the Feast of Bast,” Mazoi explained to them quietly. “Her gifts are mainly fertility and joy.”Diana and Elise made an “Oh!” comment when they heard it. And the two guys just grinned at each other.Their eyes swept the bustling surroundings. They noticed the buildings looked old because of the dull color of the bricks and stones that were unpainted. The townhouses were joined together, and they appeared to look the same. There were some children playing on the roof tops and they jumped from o
The four teens peered through the crowd. They could see nothing yet. And so they tried to make their way to the front to check out the center of the fun.They were surprised to see a short person dancing. She must be only about 3-feet tall. Her body was a bit stout, and her head was also a bit big on her shoulders. Her ears, neck, arms and legs were covered with jewelries made of gold, bronze and lapis.“A dwarf?” Diana turned to Elise grinning with an eyebrow lifted high, looking amazed. “They are entertained by a dancing dwarf?”For some reason Elise’s mind’s eye peeked into this short person’s life—without her intention of doing so. She realized she saw this image before. She blinked and ran her tongue on her dried lips.What does this mean? She was puzzled.Until now, she did not say anything about her visions to anyone. She did not share them even with Eric. The symbols of the kings in A
Everyone was frantic thinking of a solution on how to get out of that place. The windows were indeed nowhere in sight. Most ancient Egyptian windows were small and high, mostly on the second or third story of the building. There was no little chance that they could get through this place at all.“Soon, the soldiers will arrive,” Mazoi mused aloud.“What if we just go and head out? I suppose they are not so many outside. I saw only eight of them. If we can just knock them out, maybe we can escape then,” Kent suggested calmly.“That’s a crazy idea! That would bring out more guards or even soldiers in the city.” The Medjay’s voice seemed hysterical. “But, we’ll go ahead with your idea,” he decided upon second thought.They rushed outside and the owner saw them. He was afraid of them and the guards, so he went inside the inn and closed the doors tight.The five of them were readily surro
“You can see the future. You can move things with your mind. You can create things out of nothing. You can control anything or anyone. Isn’t it all familiar?” The short person smiled now. She regarded her knowingly.The others stared at Elise.“Is that true?” Eric asked his sister seriously.“I don’t know.” She shook her head vigorously. “I did see some images before we got here… I did create a shield so that the enemy cannot see us… I did… uh… control you and Kent earlier… and I saw… her,” Elise continued as she looked at her brother and Kent. She turned her head to look at the short person once again.The pygmy smiled kindly at Elise this time.“What are you really?” she questioned her for the second time.“I am a pygmy. They call me Zadi. I never knew where I originally came from but I was brought in these lands by a shi
Zadi murmured some spells as she touched their temples. Her fingers touched the head of each of the teens and the Medjay before she ordered them to open their eyes slowly. She watched each of them closely as though she peered at their soul.“Tell me how you feel during your initiation.” She beamed at them after a few moments.“That was an initiation?” Diana asked with a frown. “I thought it was only a meditation.”“Yes, it was.” Elise smiled amiably at her friend before she turned to the pygmy. “I felt like my spinal was going to burn but my head felt cool.”“What else?” Zadi was interested to hear anything more from Elise.“I felt something was on my forehead.” She continued with a slight frown.The others gasped. Zadi clapped her hands happily. “I did it!”“You did what?” Elise asked, still confused.“I opened you
In the next few days, they were taught by Zadi how to execute simple magic techniques. Each of them found something they wanted to master with, as suggested by Zadi.Mazoi learned how to spin his spear and create a whirlpool of air mixed with sands. He could separate the sands and make them into big or small balls to be used as weapons as well. Only the downside was that he could do it when he was standing directly on the earth, not on a tiled floor.Diana learned to use a pair of cudgels using her own magic. She could just let them float in the air, and they wait for her command to strike or to vanish into thin air.As Eric knew martial arts and could use anything as a weapon, he learned to create an invisible body shield, like a liquefied aura around his body.As for Kent, he improved his skills to become faster and stronger. And he could spit fire whenever he wanted to.Zadi was impressed by their improvements in just a so short of a time. Her g
They were all about to sleep that night in their respective rooms of the governor’s house.Outside, the general’s army gathered. Meru entered the gate. The guards identified him as the king’s nephew so they did not try to stop him and let him enter the governor’s house.“What is going on, General Meru?” the governor demanded. His wife was at his heels, concerned on what was happening.Meanwhile, Zadi secretly entered the guys’ room.“Hey, what are you doing here?” the Medjay demanded. It was his first turn to watch. Later, it would be Eric’s.“The king’s army is looking for you! Hurry and gather your things! We need to get out of the house now!” Zadi’s tone was urgent.Kent dashed to the other room and told the girls what was going on. Diana and Elise did not ask any more questions but gathered what they needed aside from the things they had already packed ea
The Nubians, on the other hand, were people of another nation close to Upper Egypt. They had another language, culture and tradition.The previous rulers of Nubia had long fought against the kings of Upper Egypt because the latter refused alliance with these dark people as they were known to be fierce and wretches. They were so relentless in fighting against the Upper Egyptians until the latest ruler decided to associate his nation with Lower Egypt, the long-time enemy of Upper Egypt.And so, the wise King Iry-Hor accepted the alliance with the Nubians instead. He was thinking that once he defeated King Hor-Aha with the help of the Nubians, he could easily defeat the Nubians later on as well. With this thought, King Iry-Hor would make an empire.****The witch priestess finished her evening ritual, and her eyes opened wide when she learned that the foreigners evaded the army that the general led to capture them. She read the as
“Happy birthday, Elise!” Kent kissed her soft cheek as he handed her the birthday gift.They were at Menominee’s Hut. The fast food was purposely closed for this special occasion. Elise was so happy for this birthday surprise her parents gave her. She didn’t expect this party at all.“Thank you, Kent.” She smiled prettily at him as she accepted his gift. It was in a small box wrapped in a lavender colored shiny wrapper. Their fingers touched and they both looked at them.Kent almost jerked his hands away as he looked around to check if Eric was somewhere near.“Hey. Are you looking for Eric? He’s busy with Diana,” she said pointing at a table where their respective friends were eating and chatting happily. They seemed to be in a friendly mood, not bickering at least.Elise then grabbed Kent’s hand while she carried the gift in the other. Being close to him like this made her feel excited a
They were all exhausted after walking around. They sat on the chairs provided for them by the servants while the high priestess was just following and watching them. She tried to be helpful but to no avail. Then an idea hit her. She walked over to the elite seer.“Why don’t you go back to the king’s residence? Perhaps the portal you are seeking is there? After all, your mission was to help the king win the battle and unify the Two Lands,” she suggested.The four teenagers looked at one another. The high priestess had a point of course. Elise’s heart was beating so fast with excitement and anticipation. She could almost feel like they were back on Belmont Mound in no time.They headed back to the king’s residence even when it was before the break of dawn. The guards let them in to the king’s residence without questions. They found the Medjay who was asleep, sitting near the king’s almost golden throne.Elise
“Oh, it’s really so hot!” Diana complained a bit later after they had their early dinner.They were still at the temple, and the high priestess explained to them on her duties in the temple. Zadi and her guards already returned to the king’s residence while the two girls were left with the high priestess to educate them.“Well, you can refresh yourselves. You do not need to go to the king’s residence. I can let you go to the pool and warn the guards that you can enter and use it anytime.”“Oh, that’s really great!” Diana exclaimed. “Let’s go, Elise!”“Thank you… great aunt,” Elise said to the high priestess before they left.Nefer just smiled as her eyes followed her great niece.Elise and Diana only had their underwear on when they plunged into the cool water that night. They were so happy to feel the refreshing and soothing coolness of the wate
“Yes, elite seer,” Nefer replied straightforwardly. “But the time and place will depend on your fate. You will see visions beforehand. As I believe, you saw visions before coming here, correct?”Elise nodded at the correctness of the high priestess. “Yes… I saw visions, images. I saw the double crown of the king he’s wearing now. I saw his face, the totem of scorpion and several others. I never thought they would all come into reality. I thought I was just… stressed out—tired due to my studies, you know?”“I understand, elite seer.”“So… May I ask why exactly it has to be me?” Elise questioned almost desperately as she pointed at herself.“That question, elite seer—I just found out the reason recently.” Nefer paused and sighed before she continued. “You are my distant relative.”Zadi stared at the high priestess in sur
Present time at Thompson’s residence in Belmont, Wisconsin.After a passionate lovemaking with his wife, Kevin cuddled his wife to sleep again. He looked at her beautiful, satisfied face. He almost forgot how beautiful his wife was. He was so busy with his managing the four law firms in New York that he took his family for granted.The law firms were all so busy. He never thought before that there would be so many lawsuits these past few years in New York City alone. These were either personal injuries, assaults, accidents, criminal or civil cases. Most were pended and took a long time due to investigations or cross examinations. He realized just now that it was tiresome after all these years. Then he contemplated on his life, his family, his attitude toward his work, his attitude toward Kent, his only son…He blinked as if remembering something. He thought of the times when Kent would only greet him when he was home. He had never asked his son to s
One big sofa bed was shared by the three guys and one for both Elise and Diana only. Diana was already fast asleep while Elise could not sleep at all even though she already closed her eyes a long time ago.She opened her eyes then and kept on watching Kent who was already asleep in the other sofa bed. He was near the edge of the sofa bed. The Medjay was in the middle and on the other side was her brother.She badly wanted Kent to be happy. She had hoped that his father would soon acknowledge his presence, give him some attention and be a good father to him. She wanted him to experience of living with a happy family. She had thought of it since Diana revealed to her about his family, his feelings toward his father and his hidden wishes about a happy family.She got up and went outside of the tent. She conjured a single couch from the tent so she could sit on it under the stars. Her tired body was curled as she sat on the big couch. She looked around the camp. Ev
Ancient Egypt, the ninth district of Ta Shemau.Meru’s eyes widened as he saw the fate of his beloved witch priestess in the eye of the elite seer. It was a miracle he wasn’t sucked by it. He dropped unto his knees, facing the Medjay who also watched the fate of their enemies. He looked down at his opponent, General Meru.“Let me die right on this battlefield, Medjay. My life has no meaning without my beloved ones—my mother, the king… and Priestess Nehes.”The Medjay looked at him with pity in his eyes for his longtime enemy. The general sure did change his mind in killing him after witnessing his beloved priestess’ demise.“I am no longer needed in this world without any of them beside me. And I would rather die today than to be alive serving the fake king whom I now achingly despise!” Meru’s voice was entreating.“You do not need to serve the king anymore. My king is like
Elise had to repel the cobra of Priestess Nehes. As time went on, the cobra spat farther and farther. Anytime soon, the venom would be spat into her protective shield she built around her.Her grandmother chose to disappear from her mind’s eye at this moment. After a second, her third eye suddenly turned into red. Her body aura colors of gold, red and silver became visible to everyone, and her red third eye was repulsively disturbing and powerful.****Diana shielded her eyes by her arm.For Eric, it was good for him that he did not get to see the blue third eye of Elise that turned red. He was still inside the tent with the queen and her baby, guarding them together with the high priest.Meanwhile, Kent was still fighting with the Nubian warriors who gathered around him.“You should die, foreigner! This is no place for you!” one said to him.“What should I say?” He shrugged. &
Meru recalled his mother looked so beautiful when he was young. She was so caring to him. There were times that she was the one who would tend to his wounds from battles if he did not go to Priestess Nehes first. His mother however warned him that he could not marry the priestess ever.“You are not meant to be with each other, Meru. She has her duties to the king and the temple,” his mother reminded him.“I know that, Mother. For now, I am contented to be with her just like this.” That was his answer to his beloved mother, though his heart was heavy due to this fact.He recalled some time later that she looked depressed and gloomy. And not long afterward, she was gone to the underworld. He and his father did not know what went wrong or for what reason she killed herself. They presumed then that she did not want to have a husband for a general and a son for a warrior, which gave her sorrow and depression whenever they went to a battle. And