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Setne looked even more surprised than I was. He made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. ‘That’s not … Hold on now. No!’
He raised his arms to cast some counter spell. His crown began to glow.
I needed to move, but Nekhbet wasn’t helping. She was a little too focused on Carter, who smelled chargrilled and yummy.
That one is weak, she murmured in my mind. Dead soon. The weak must die.
Anger gave me the upper hand. Carter Kane was my friend. I would not sit around while my friend died.
Move, I told Nekhbet. And I took control of the vulture avatar.
Before Setne could finish casting his spell, I grabbed him in my spectral claws and carried him into the sky.
Now … I live and breathe weirdness. It goes with the territory when you’re a demigod. But there are still moments when I do a mental double take: like when I’m flying upward inside a giant glowing vulture, flapping my arms to control make-believe wings, holding an almost-immortal magician in my talons … all so I can steal his hat.
That hat was not coming off, either.
I spiralled into the storm, shaking Setne, trying to knock the crown off his head, but the dude must have fastened it to his pompadour with superglue.
He blasted me with fire and flashes of light. My bird exoskeleton deflected the attacks, but, each time, the purple avatar dimmed, and my wings felt heavier.
‘Percy Jackson!’ Setne writhed in my claws. ‘This is a waste of time!’
I didn’t bother responding. The strain of combat was quickly taking its toll.
During our first encounter, Carter had warned me that magic could literally burn up a magician if he used too much at once. I guessed that applied to demigods, too. Every time Setne blasted me or tried to wriggle out of my grip with his near-godly strength, my head throbbed. My eyesight dimmed. Soon I was drenched in sweat.
I hoped Sadie was helping Carter. I hoped Annabeth was finishing whatever super-weird spell she’d been chanting so we could trap Setne, because I couldn’t stay airborne much longer.
We broke through the top of the cloud layer. Setne stopped fighting, which surprised me so much I almost dropped him. Then coldness began to seep through my vulture avatar, chilling my wet clothes, soaking into my bones. It was a subtler kind of attack – probing for weakness – and I knew I couldn’t allow it. I curled my vulture feet tighter around Setne’s chest, hoping to crush him.
‘Percy, Percy.’ His tone made it sound like we were a couple of bros on a night out. ‘Don’t you see what an incredible opportunity this is? A perfect do-over. You of all people should appreciate that. The Olympians once offered you their most valuable gift. They offered to make you a god, didn’t they? And you – you lovable idiot – you turned them down! This is your chance to correct that mistake.’
My avatar flickered and blinked like a bad fluorescent tube. Nekhbet, my brain buddy, turned her attention inward.
You turned down immortality? Her voice was incredulous, offended.
She scanned my memories. I saw my own past from her dry, cynical point of view: I stood in the throne room of Mount Olympus after the war against the Titans. Zeus offered me a reward: godhood. I turned him down flat. I wanted justice for other demigods instead. I wanted the gods to stop being jerks and to pay attention to their kids.
A stupid request. A naive thing to wish for. I gave up power. You never give up power.
I struggled to keep my grip on Setne. ‘Nekhbet, those are your thoughts, not mine. I made the right choice.’
Then you are a fool, the vulture goddess hissed.
‘Yeah, pal,’ Setne said, who apparently could hear her. ‘I gotta agree with Nekhbet on this one. You did the noble thing. How did that work out? Did the gods honour their promises?’
I couldn’t separate Nekhbet’s bitterness from my own feelings. Sure, I grumbled about the gods all the time, but I’d never regretted my decision to stay mortal. I had a girlfriend. I had a family. I had my whole life ahead of me – assuming I could stay alive.
Now … maybe it was just Nekhbet in my mind, or Setne toying with me, but I started to wonder if I’d made a huge blunder.
‘I get it, kid.’ Setne’s voice was full of pity. ‘The gods are your family. You want to think they’re good. You want to make them proud. I wanted that with my family. My dad was Ramses the Great, you know.’
I was gliding in a lazy circle now, my left wing carving the tops of the storm clouds. Setne’s crown glowed more brightly. His aura grew colder, numbing my limbs and turning my thoughts sluggish. I knew I was in trouble, but I couldn’t think of what to do about it.
‘It’s hard having a powerful dad,’ Setne continued. ‘Ramses was the pharaoh, of course, so most of the time he was hosting the god Horus. That made him distant, to say the least. I kept thinking, If I just make the right choices and prove I’m a good kid, he’ll eventually notice me. He’ll treat me right. But, the thing is, the gods don’t care about mortals, even their children. Look into the vulture’s mind if you don’t believe me. Behave like a good little boy, act all n
oble – that just makes it easier for the gods to ignore you. The only way to get their respect is to act up, be bad and take what you want!’
