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I turned back to him, smiling. “It’s not overkill. This place wasn’t built for humans. It was built for gods. You’re assuming gods are the same size as humans.”
“Well, you are,” Austin argued.
My grin widened. “Am I? Or do I just choose to appear that way?”
I didn’t wait for him to reply, instead turning back and stepping through the archway into the darkness without hesitation. This time, I didn’t raise the glowing ball in front of me. I closed my eyes and turned to my right. I reached up with it, lowering it to just the right point, and then I opened my eyes as I heard the whooshing sound as the giant bronze bowl of oil caught alight. Fire rushed along channels of oil designed for exactly this purpose, and within a minute, the entire chamber was lit by firelight. I extinguished the ball of flames with a thought now that it was no longer needed.
“This place is incredible,” Austin murmured, slipping his hand into mine.
“It is.” I squeezed his hand briefly then released it. “You need to stay back.”
He nodded, backing up immediately, and I smiled to myself at the evidence of the power shift since all this had first begun. The man who had coddled me, ordered me around, and entrapped me now trusted me implicitly, and more than that, he knew I trusted myself.
I moved forward until I reached the channel of water that cut across the room. It was fed by the Nile and tiled blue to represent the river. Green ceramic tiles lined the edges, depicting the abundance of crops the Nile brought forth, but beyond, the stone floor was dyed black to represent the fertility of Egypt, the black land—Khemet. Before me, on the other side of the channel, rose huge stone statues thirty feet in height. They stood at attention, staring out in front of them, yet I knew they still slept, as they had for millennia, but no longer. Khemet needed them. I needed them. My family.
With a deep breath to centre me, I stepped across the channel. The chamber, already quiet, fell silent. The water stopped flowing, and the flames froze where they burned. The colossal forms in front of me were arranged in a semi-circle, and at the centre stood a white obelisk, covered in hundreds of tiny, beautiful carved hieroglyphics. For one who could read them, it described the ritual in detail, but I didn’t need it. These hieroglyphics were engraved upon my immortal heart.
I slipped my dagger from my belt, the stationary flames still reflecting red off the embedded rubies. I brought the blade to my hand and sliced down, closing my fist around the wound. I held my hand out over the white obelisk and turned to face the first statue.
“Beautiful sister, Nepthys. I call to you from my heart, which brings you love. I see your dark wings with my eyes. I feel your black flames with my body. I speak your name with my tongue. Come to me, my dark sister. Come fill your temple and awaken.”
Blood dripped from my closed fist onto the obelisk and ran in a small, red stream to its base where it gathered in a golden container. A light breeze lifted my hair, and I smiled. I turned to the statue opposite Nepthys. Her brother and husband, Set.
“Brother of darkness, prince of night, defender of Ra, I come to you in the night and call forth through the darkness to awaken you. I, your sister, call to you, source of the black flame, he with power over the desert, I call to you to awaken!”
More blood dripped down, and I felt the earth shift under my feet, the rustle of sand. Two down.
“Isis, lady of heaven, queen of the gods, you whose love even death cannot break. Deliverer of immortality, she whose will cannot be dominated. Exalted beauty and life giver. I call to you through the chains of life and death to arise and awaken.” Another breeze, this one carrying the scent of flowers, of lotus, lily, and jasmine, drifted through the chamber.
“Osiris, husband and brother to Isis. You whose body was perfected through pain and suffering and glorified through trials unknown. Lord of life, triumphant over death, raised in love. You who stands before all gods and stand upon the universe, I beg you, hear my call through time and death, and awaken.”
I faced each statue in turn, speaking each invocation as though I had learned the words only yesterday. My blood flowed freely, the demanded sacrifice for the gods, and I felt myself weaken at each invocation. That was the idea, that even a god who chose to awaken gods could be seriously weakened before they awoke to protect them from attack. The power in the chamber was rising with each spell I spoke, and I could feel it weighing heavily on me as my own power drained with my blood into the offering bowl.
I spoke the invocations to Nut, the goddess of stars and sky, and her husband, Geb, he who ruled the earth. Stars or precious stones glinted above us in the vast ceiling of the chamber, and the silence broke with the dry slither and kiss of Geb’s snakes as they coiled around my feet.
“Tory!” Austin called out as they wound their way up my leg, gripping and coiling around me.
I stood my ground, ignoring him. It was a test, and more would follow. My mind was already on the next stage. Each set of gods was more and more powerful, and I was struggling to focus now with the sheer amount of power flowing through my body.
I called to Tefnut and felt her presence as rain that fell from a stone sky, soaking through my clothes and into my dark, heavy curls that clung to my skin. Her husband, Shu, was next. I fixed my eyes on his unseeing ones and called to him. I stumbled over the last few words, forcing each one out until I felt the strong wind that blew through the chamber. I staggered under the impact and the weight of the snakes that had reached my waist.
I heard Austin call out again in concern, but his voice melted into a low roar, and I smiled, turning back to see my high priest in animal form. Geb was also the god of lions. He roared at me, unnerved by his sudden forced transformation, but all I felt was love and pride in him as he stood there, my strong, protective guardian, my high priest.
I felt stronger as I turned back to the obelisk, now gleaming as though it were carved from ruby, painted in my blood. I needed that strength, because this last one was going to take all of me. I opened my hand, letting the blood stream freely. I felt my power drain away, opening my body, mind, and soul as a conduit for those energies that flowed from the statues around me. The slight rustle of sand and dust was all I heard as my priest quieted, waiting.
I took another breath. It was time to awaken my father.
“Ra, Atum-Ra, he of many names and many forms, greater in Heaven and on Earth than all other gods. I have come before you, my father, Ra, lord of Heaven and Earth, and I call to you across the horizon in which you dwell.” The words were heavy with power, and I struggled to form them, speaking slowly to get them right.
“Darkness falls upon Khemet, and we have need of your light. Hail, Ra, in your rising. Come into being and overthrow your enemies, alive and enduring.” My blood poured down the obelisk and into the golden bowl which never seemed to fill, and all strength went from my limbs. I dropped to my knees, the snakes coiling up around my arms and throat. I kept my eyes on the blank stone face of my father, trying to ignore the hissing in my ears, and the slide of scales against my cheek.
“Hail, great god, I descend to your boat, crossing as the divine falcon. I have come by my power, which I offer as a sacrifice to you. Hail, Father! Hail, Ra!”
My hand dropped like lead, my bloodied palm connecting to the stone obelisk. A great rumble came from below, and the chamber shook. The flames roared, flaring high up the stone walls, and the water in the channel began to flow as the break between time and space ended. A great light came from the obelisk, so bright I had to turn my head from it. I looked across the channel and saw Austin bowing his head as thunder rang through the cavern.
I bowed my own head, falling forward onto my hands as the ground shook and the power rushed through me like a storm, tossing my soul about like a tiny fishing boat on a great sea. Pain and pleasure filled every cell of my body, and I was no longer in control. The gates were open, and the gods were returning. I felt the power of each god flowing through me and into the ground then along to each statue. The golden light that emitted from the obelisk swept into my mind, soul, and body, radiating through me until I felt as though I could do anything. It was overwhelming, and my body flung backwards with the impact. My head tipped back, my eyes closed, and I screamed a release to the stars above my head.
Everything went black and silent, and I dropped forward again, resting on my knees with my head bowed. I breathed hard, my heart hammering in my chest as everything returned to a gentle peace. The soft weight of a hand rested on my head, and I looked up, thinking Austin had crossed the channel after all, but instead I looked up into the golden glowing eyes of Ra.
“Arise, my daughter,” he said, “and take your place among us. We awaken to your call. You are home.”
