Chapter III

Moonlight and Gold


"Hathor! I demand you open this door!" Horus's deep voice echoed through his father's palace halls, turning on his heel he grabbed a mortal servant by the arm, stopping them in their tracks, pulling them in towards his face he yelled at the man, "Go fetch your lord, quickly now!" He practically threw the human across the marble floor, he stumbled and fled to his master.

Horus slammed his bare shoulder into the door, the stone frame groaned under the blow — the hallway echoed with the running footsteps of the palace guards.

Again he rammed into the door, the massive wooden structure gave a creak of protest before giving way, slamming onto the smooth marble floor with a thundering crack; the room was flooded with light from the numerous torches that rushed in.

The room was empty, the air flowed in peacefully through the large archway leading to the balcony. Hathor had not shown her face since she entered this room the previous night, where could she have gone?

"No, this cannot be — she wouldn't have just left without having spoken to anyone, someone would have seen her!" He yelled the last part at the guards nearest him, they stepped away from him slightly, murmuring that they had not seen their lady since yestermorn.

Horus stepped out onto the balcony, the scent of Hathor's perfumes wafted through the silken fabric that hung in the archway, blowing gently in the cool night breeze. He clenched his fists in an attempt to conceal his emotions.

"My son, what has happened?" It was the voice of Osiris.

They faced each other, Horus's liquid-blue eyes met with the dark green of his fathers.

"Father," he said, giving a respectful nod. "Hathor has not been seen since yesterday evening, I believe she has been stolen away."

Osiris was looking down at the floor, he crouched and, pulling back one of his long white sleeves, swept a hand across the smooth stones.

"I believe this is the work of Set." Horus said through clenched teeth, Osiris looked up from his now dirty hand. "No, my son. This is not of my brother's doing." He said, his voice was calm, yet there was in his expression a certain look of concern his son had never before witnessed in him.

"But father, who else but he would have had the resources to steal her away in such a manner? His motives are certainly strong enough — we all know he has wanted her powers for himself for some time now." He said, not noticing the dark ashen-sand he was standing on, and that his king was holding in one ring-adorned hand, letting it spill slowly through his fingertips back to the stone floor.

"Something much darker and more sinister than Set has stolen away the young goddess." Said Osiris in his deep calm voice, his brow creased with a tense expression of distress as he stood, he took one of Horus's hands and placed some of the black ash-sand in his palm.

"Hathor has been taken by a creature of the Underworld." He said, his emerald-green eyes were filled with an immense sadness, and his words laden with heavy sorrow.

She will bring the beast back to the lands of Egypt.

The words of the Seeress echoed through his mind. Osiris shuddered, he had always assumed the prophecy was speaking of Nephthys — but could it be that Hathor was somehow connected with that terrible creature of destruction?

Osiris was drawn from his reverie when he realized Horus was talking, "… to Nefertum, see if he knows who has taken her." He was saying, "Father, I'm sorry, I should have told you."

Osiris looked puzzled, "Tell me what? You didn't know anything about this, did you?"

Horus looked back down at the dark unearthly sand, "She had been asking questions, she wanted to know about Anubis."

Osiris looked like a different god when he heard that name, he clenched his fists and slammed them against the stone banister. "She must have found the amulet… How could I have been so careless?" He muttered to the cold stone, but Horus heard too, "She had been asking about the tokens of the gods," he said, "And whether any such token had been made for the god Anubis."

He paused for a moment to see how his father would react, when he received no response he continued, "I told her I did not know of any such token having been made, she did not seem satisfied, but let the topic rest… that was the last I saw her."

Osiris absently nodded and said quietly, "You should have told me."

He turned and made his way through the chambers, his long white robes flowing behind him, he gestured to a group of soldiers standing by the entrance to the hall, "You three, let none enter or leave this room." Osiris called to them, "The rest of you, come with me." He turned the corner, the room darkened as the soldiers with torches followed him, their footsteps could be heard echoing through the stone corridors.

"Father?" Horus called out, as he heard his Osiris' footsteps receding down the hall he quickly jogged after him, "Father! What is it you would have me do?" He was walking in step with the emerald-eyed god, Osiris did not respond to his son's questions, his hand was wrapped tightly around the pommel of his jewel-encrusted sword, he was clenching and unclenching his fist.

More guards joined the group, there was a veritable army following the two gods by the time they reached the palace steps — Osiris leapt forward, in a smooth motion transforming into a massive golden bull, he charged forward with an unnatural speed, the glorious beast's perfectly sculpted muscles rippled with ease; Horus transformed shortly after his king took off, he spread his golden wings and followed him through the air into the moonlit Egyptian night.

They tore along the banks of the Nile like a storm, bearing down on the great city of mortals that lay before them — the ground shook beneath the feet of the bull as it traveled across the land, seemingly being chased by the shadow of Horus above him.

Osiris' metallic hooves gave a resounding clang as he stomped into the Egyptian cemetery, the stones that made up the mortal's graves looked white in the pale moonlight, they were all marked with hieroglyphs — a gift from the gods.

Horus landed gracefully beside his father, the bull's emerald eyes were stunning when set against the gold of his body — he was searching for something, his large magnificent head turned from side to side as he walked through the desert graveyard; he stopped before a crypt.

The crypt had an image of a falcon with spread wings carved into its doorway, it had an inscription over it that read: 'He of Restau'.

Osiris transformed like liquid back to his human form, placing his ring-covered hand on the image of the falcon, he closed his eyes and murmured quietly, "Hurry to me… hurry to me… hurry to me…"

A loud crack could be heard, like the crack of stone, and the seal of the great door broke, sand exploded outwards from around the edges of the door, it groaned and fell forwards — Osiris had stepped back, gesturing Horus to do the same, and the door landed with a thundering boom in the dust at their feet.

A hissing cold was blowing from the entrance to the crypt, its breeze carried whispers of a world that denied the souls of the living to enter — and the souls of the dead to escape.

A deep smooth voice cut through the harsh whispers, "My lord Osiris has called my name. How is it that I may serve the beloved of Ra?"

Osiris' strong voice echoed into the crypt in response, "I ask safe passage through the realm of the dead." His expression was firm, too firm — Horus sensed neither of them were going to enjoy this trip.

"As my lord commands." Was the reply from the crypt, "The way is clear, may the light of Ra guide you."

Osiris wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword, and turned to address the palace guards who only just now entered the sandy graveyard, "You will guard the entrance to the crypt and await our return." He said. He gave Horus a nod, and they entered the black tomb.

They stepped over the threshold, the door to the crypt immediately rose into the air and slammed back into the square entrance, sand sucked in through the cracks around its edge, sealing it in place. Darkness swarmed around them, Horus threw his hands out in front of him, not even his sharp eyes could pierce this darkness.

He heard the Pharaoh say something under his breath, a green fire sprung to life, casting a weird light across the elaborately painted walls. Horus didn't take the time to read the seemingly endless lines of hieroglyphics, but he did notice the large painted murals that stretched out across the stones, they appeared to depict the passage of a mortal soul after death. He took note of the images as he and Osiris made their way down the dark stone staircase.

The paintings started out by depicting a dead Pharaoh being mummified, his wrapped body whose organs had all been removed, except for the heart, was placed within his tomb.

All the Pharaoh's possessions were transported to his tomb on the shoulders of his slaves, and placed all about his sarcophagus.

The next image showed a falcon-headed god standing over the body of the dead Pharaoh, the god lead the dead Egyptian to the deepest chamber of his crypt, they were depicted standing in a vast pool of black water, a small boat was waiting for them.

The god and the Pharaoh sailed on the boat to a black shore, horrible creatures awaited the soul of the Egyptian mortal, at the head of the army of demons stood a disgusting creature, it was dressed in the garb of the gods, yet was deformed beyond imagining — the beast had the hideous head of a jackal, in its hands it held a staff bearing the mark of the dead.

The soul was carried beyond the vicious beasts, he disembarked the boat at the gates to the afterlife.

The paintings depicted the Egyptian at the end of his journey, standing before the scales of the heart. Two gods were depicted standing by the scales, a woman, who's symbolic feather lay on one side of the scale, stood beside an Ibis-headed man. Horus recognized them to be Ma'at, goddess of justice and truth, and Thoth, the god of wisdom.

The gods weighed the mortal's heart. The final image depicted the two possibilities: one version of the Egyptian was displayed as being devoured by fire — his heart had been heavy with wrong-doing; and the other version of the Egyptian was displayed as passing through to the final gate — his heart had been light, he would make it to the afterlife.

The intricate mural, as well as the lines of hieroglyphs, ended in the burial chamber of the crypt, Horus stopped short, realizing Osiris was standing motionless in front of the sarcophagus. He had not even glanced at the murals depicting the mortal's passage to the afterlife — perhaps he thought that by not looking at it he could avoid the same fate himself — but he could not avoid the so prominent truth of mortality that stood on display before them now, lit by the soft green light.

Osiris quickly averted his eyes, making his way to the passage at the other end of the small room. There was another staircase that brought them to the bottom of a shaft, it was the deepest point in the whole tomb — and the closest to the Underworld.

They were standing in a small square chamber, the side walls were undecorated, but on the wall directly in front of them was a massive and intricate carving of a falcon, its wings were spread, and there was a circle of hieroglyphs surrounding it. The words on the wall throbbed with energy, it felt like they were living things, frozen in stone.

The carving of the falcon began to vibrate, the centre of the bird opened up and a black liquid began pouring from it, covering the floor, filling the room until the two gods were knee-deep in the dark fluid — the flow ceased, and the entire carving of the falcon suddenly vanished, leaving a bird shaped doorway into the Underworld.

The black liquid flowed lazily between the two worlds, Osiris waded through the opening in the wall, Horus following right behind him, fascinated by the smooth and seamless doorway linking the two worlds together.

On the other side of the stone wall the black water was running as a river, grey reeds grew on its dark muddy banks. A small boat was waiting for them.


Horus had no idea how uncomfortable the mighty god Osiris was at that moment — he didn't show it, he merely looked resolved and focused on completing the task at hand.

There was an extremely pale god standing on the boat, his hair was the color of silver, and a silver-grey shendyt was wrapped around his lithe figure; his features were long and pointed, and his nose was hooked a little, giving him an overall bird-like appearance — like a pure white falcon.

"You had a pleasant journey here, I presume?" He said, a little smile playing at his thin lips, his voice was as deep and smooth as an ocean — very fitting for a god of the Duat.

Horus avoided the god's unblinking eyes, the pupils were black as the ebony boat he stood on.

"We do not wish to stay here long, Sokar." Said Osiris, the smile on Sokar's lips quickly vanished, "As my lord wishes." He said, "If you and my lord Horus would kindly step aboard, we will be on our way."

They both climbed onto the small boat. There were no oars, no rudder, and no sail of any kind. The boat moved when its master commanded it, and they sailed where the black-waters flowed.

As they sailed swiftly through the Duat, Horus looked about him; they were moving far too quickly for him to get a very good look at their surroundings, but it was cold, and dark, and he couldn't bear the thought of Hathor being trapped down here — who knew what the dark creatures of this world could do even to an immortal?

"Please do not attempt to touch the waters, lord Horus." Came the deep voice of Sokar, "It is magic, and not water, that now carries us through the Duat."

Horus hadn't even thought of touching it, but he gave the disturbingly white god a nod of thanks, "So you are the god of portals… and yet you carry us through the underworld as our ferryman?" He asked.

"Indeed. I am not merely god of tomb entrances, but also of transit through the Duat, which includes the magic that now carries us." He lifted one of the two amulets that hung around his neck, it had the image of a Hennu bark engraved in its surface — it was identical to the boat they were standing on.

"I have cast a spell on many of the rivers here — wherever the waters run black, there my ship can carry me with the speed of death itself." He said with pride.

Horus was impressed, no wonder this god of the Underworld was so highly revered by even the most ancient of immortals.

"If you are capable of traveling anywhere you want in both worlds, why live in the realm of the dead?" Horus asked, but was surprised to hear a mirthful laugh come from the pale god, "Lord Horus, the Underworld is not all that meets the eye." He said, "The kingdom that lies beyond the first gate is fair enough to rival even your own sweet Egypt." He winked, the first time either of his eyes had closed since they met, "Our lord Ra even gave me my own small domain down here."

Sokar's gaze shifted to something in the distance, and he muttered under his breath "…my sweet Amhet… the most beautiful land in all the worlds."

He seemed to realize he had been in conversation with someone, and moved his gaze back to Horus.

"It is everything outside the gates that you should be wary of, bright Horus," he said "Those are the hollow lightless lands, haunted by the the lost souls of mortals… to wander in that realm would be to suffer a fate far worse than death. Not even the creator gods travel outside the first gate; none know how far it stretches." He gave an almost imperceptible shudder, and shifted his unblinking eyes towards the land in front of them, or behind them — Horus quickly developed the belief that this un-blinking god was the only one who could see the faceless objects and landscapes that whisked by them in a fraction of a second. From what he already knew of this place though, he wasn't so sure he wanted to see more than the stream of dark colors currently flowing past the magical boat.

They continued sailing across the black river in silence.

Horus let his mind drift back to Hathor… Why did she always have to get herself in over her head? All the gods said she was powerful, that her powers were growing — but it was never enough for her, she never gave up her search for… what?

Horus realized he never really knew what it was she seemed to be searching for, he had never asked. Perhaps he just assumed she would tell him on her own, that he wouldn't need to ask.

He felt his throat constrict with fear. He felt responsible for her, whether he admitted it or not, and he feared that this would be the time she finally got herself into a predicament he could not save her from.

He should have known. He should have known she was going to do something rash, she always had that look about her when she was making some new plan — why would she never learn? She always regretted it after the deed was done.

His throat tightened even more when he remembered the look on her face, that broken look she always had when she thought no one was looking, that look of longing… He blamed himself. He should have known this would happen, and he should have done something to prevent it.

"We have arrived, my lords." Came the smooth voice of Sokar. They were slowing down considerably, gliding into a stone dock similar in appearance to those made by the Egyptian craftsmen of the Overworld. "The final gate is behind us, we are now in the the domain of Ma'at, all these lands are under her protection." He said, "I would join you, my lords, but the soul of another mortal calls for safe passage — I shall return when you have need of me." He bowed as they both disembarked his vessel, when they were both standing on the stone dock he vanished seemingly into thin air. They must have been traveling at a tremendous pace indeed if that was the speed at which they arrived here.

They stood on smooth blackened stone, the dark river sloshed its waters onto the stones, making their surface slippery and mirror-like. They were standing at the base of a very large staircase, firelight was dancing down the dark steps. The two gods began the long ascent, the air around them grew warmer as they neared the top.

At the top of the stairs was an expansive hallway, it was grand enough to be a throne room of the gods. It felt oddly like the white-marble palaces many of the gods made in Egypt, except this one was entirely of black stone, the hieroglyphs covering the massive pillars were inlaid with gold and silver, their words forming beautiful decorations that shimmered in the firelight. Massive black-iron braziers stood at the base of each pillar, their roaring flames filling the grand hall with warm light; shadows crept around the edges of the room, hiding the numerous entrances leading to unknown corridors.

The massive structure was teeming with life, or death — there was a stream of mortal souls coming from one of the side entrances to the hall, their eyes appeared to look right through the two new gods that now stood close them, they would merely taking one step at a time, slowly and mindlessly making their way to the other end of the beautiful black-marble hallway. Walking all through the great chamber were gods that Horus had neither seen nor even heard of before, these must be the gods of the Underworld, living in one of the few safe places in all the Duat.

The two gods, one with emerald eyes, the other with eyes the color of brilliant sapphires, stood beneath a massive onyx pillar, it must have been around twelve feet in circumference, and who knows how tall. Horus at last dared to ask his king, "If Hathor came to the Duat, would she not have come through one of Sokar's portals?" Osiris had not spoken to him since they left his palace, and he almost regretted having broken their long silence, but was surprised to hear the god's voice respond to his question. "Sokar's portals only lie within the tombs of the dead." He said with a sharpness in his tone, "Hathor vanished from within the palace walls — something else opened that portal."

He did not look at Horus when he said it, they were both walking along the line of black pillars, passing many gods and goddesses along their way. Osiris' gaze was also avoiding the line of dead souls walking along the other end of the massive hallway.

Horus again spoke. "What manner of god is this that can open a portal anywhere he chooses between both worlds? I have not heard of such a god before — he sounds powerful enough to rival even the Originals."

Osiris was becoming visibly more tense with each question put to him, he was gripping his magnificent sword so tightly his hand was turning white, the gold bands of his rings cut into his fingers. Osiris turned to face Horus so suddenly he threw an arm out to stop from running into him, Osiris' emerald eyes blazed with an unmistakable fire of anger, "It is a creature that must never be spoken of, a creature who is bound to this world and has been summoned by your sweet Hathor! I may not be able to free her from this place, Horus. Do you understand?"

Horus' ice-blue eyes flashed with defiance, "Such magic would have been beyond her, it cannot be entirely of her doing." He said, he was clenching his jaw, trying to hold back the flood of hostile emotions that were running through him. Osiris pulled his hand away, he turned and resumed their progression to the other end of the hall, "She has meddled in things that are beyond her comprehension ever since she came to Egypt." His words were bitter.

Horus still stood in the same spot, he called out, "Surely one of the gods of the Duat will grant her safe passage to the Overworld!" Osiris called back, "We shall see."

Horus resumed his walking, though maintaining a short distance behind the other god.

The two angry gods were nearing the other end of the massive chamber, there seemed to be some kind of commotion at that end, but it was hard to see what was going on through the thick crowd; it was parted on the other side, the stream of human souls slowly marching through. Occasionally you could hear a shout, or a scream of fear; there was a slow rhythmic clang that sounded like a slab of bronze hitting the floor. Horus grew curious to see what was going on, but did not leave his king's side — and Osiris appeared to have no intention of joining that crowd.

Off to one side was a beautiful woman that Horus almost mistook for an Egyptian mortal; her hair was cut as the Egyptian women do, her skin was a gorgeous shade of olive, and her garments were also that of an Egyptian woman, though it was made of leopard skins, and not fabric.

This splendid looking goddess held a very long sheet of papyrus in one hand, and was writing on it with a large birds feather. Osiris approached the her.

"Wise Seshat," he said, "We seek an audience with your lord."

She turned to look at the two gods, her charming deep brown eyes scanning each with an almost calculative interest.

"My lord Thoth has been expecting your arrival. I shall inform him of your request." She spoke in the form of Egyptian used by the humans of that land, Horus thought this was odd, as well as the news that they had been expected. Maybe the gods of the Duat had already found Hathor?

Osiris had gone back to squeezing the grip of his sword, rubbing the emerald in its pommel with his thumb.

The human looking goddess disappeared into the crowd, there was another heavy clang of metal striking the stone floor, a few more shouting voices.

Osiris walked a short ways from the crowd, he and Horus were again standing under another of the massive black-marble pillars, waiting.

The minutes felt like hours, there was another dull metallic clang, another uproar in the crowd, this time a woman's voice let out a scream — it was shortly silenced.

Horus was growing more and more curious to see how these mortal souls were judged, and passed on to the afterlife. He had just about made up his mind to join the crowd when his attention was drawn to the god approaching them.

The god that stood before them had the same shade of olive skin as the Egyptian looking woman they had just been conversing with. His almond shaped eyes were a soft brown, he wore a sand colored shendyt, and around his arms were bands of bronze — his appearance was overall rather like the human architects of Egypt, except for the nemes he wore on his head, the striped head cloth worn by pharaohs.

Osiris bowed — something Horus had ever witness his father do in his lifetime.

"Lord Thoth." He said respectfully.

Thoth's soft brown eyes were deceptively calculating, his strong Egyptian features gave him a strikingly handsome appearance. His hands one might've expected to be lithe and graceful as the rest of his visage — they probably were, once, but they were now scarred and cut, scraped and damaged from countless millennia of carving, painting, drawing, and writing words down on papyrus, and chiseling them into stone.

Thoth addressed Osiris. "This cannot take long Osiris, I do not expect the forty-two judges will last long without me." He showed absolutely none of the customary signs of respect, simply addressing Osiris as if he were a brother he was slightly upset with. Horus had expected something else entirely from one of the Originals, but perhaps this ancient of all gods, whose work is ceaseless, had given up all such formalities long ago. Osiris was just opening his mouth to speak when Thoth cut in, "Hathor came to this world through a portal that, by all the laws of this world, should not even exist." He crossed his arms, his pleasingly soft brown eyes were locked with Osiris' hard emerald ones — those soft brown eyes seemed to gaze into his soul, as if everything about a person was on display, a book laid out for him to read at his leisure.

Horus unceremoniously blurted out, "Do you know where she is?"

The god of wisdom now turned his gaze on him, his eyes scanned him once over from head to toe, a slight smile touched his lips at Horus' unceremoniousness. "I do." He said.

"Well, where is she?" Horus did not in any way notice the expression of great irritation on Osiris' face, he clearly was unaccustomed to being so ignored and run over.

"She is outside the first gate." Came Thoth's short reply.

"Has no one tried to get her out of there?" Said Horus.

"That place is dangerous for man, beast, and gods alike — no, no one has tried to 'get her out'." Despite his curt manner, Thoth seemed to enjoy having a conversation partner who wasn't constantly saying 'my lord', 'lord Thoth', 'your lordship', 'my king', 'mighty Pharaoh', etc., etc.,

Thoth spoke again, "It is my belief — and I am almost always correct in such matters — that Hathor was taken by Anubis. He is the only creature in the Underworld whose powers we, for some reason, know nothing about."

Horus probably shouldn't have been surprised that Thoth would say the name Anubis without batting an eye, but it still felt strange.

"So you're saying we should just give up?" Horus was a little upset with the general air of 'there's nothing to be done' going around.

"No." Said Thoth, "I think we should gather more information before we do anything rash. As it stands, all we know is that Hathor has come to the Duat without having been granted safe passage, and through a portal that should not exist — this lack of knowledge disturbs me." Thoth's eyes flickered towards Osiris, then back to Horus, "We do not even know how Anubis came to be. He was not given his powers by Ptah, so we must assume — and believe me, I do not use the word lightly — that he is a creation of Apophis, or bound to the Duat by some magic we do not as of yet know of. This creature logically shouldn't even exist." Thoth uncrossed his arms and without another word turned to leave.

"Is there nothing you can do?" Horus practically shouted at his back. Thoth paused just long enough to say, "None here can grant her passage to the Overworld, and she will not be able to pass through Sokar's portals." With that he vanished into the crowd.

Horus turned to Osiris and half growled, "Is he always so forthcoming in conversation?" He folded his arms across his chest, still watching the crowd where Thoth had entered it. Osiris stepped in front of Horus, as he passed him he said, "No, that is about as long as any conversation I've ever had with him." They both walked back down the hallway in the direction they had come from, "Is there no other god in the Duat who can help?" Asked Horus. "There is one other who might find a way," said Osiris, "But I do not have high hopes." They walked a ways further down the hall, Osiris turned down a side entrance and they found themselves in another massive chamber. It was palpably black, so dark that you could not see the walls on either side of the room. There was a single flame in the centre of the chamber, it appeared to be floating in the air, its light reflected off a large pool of crystal clear water that lay beneath it.

The two gods walked all the way up to the edge of the flame's light, its flickering tongues of warmth licked their toes. It was hard to tell how far away the light was, or just how deep the pool of water ran.

Osiris called out into the darkness, "Neheb-kau, will you speak with us?"

A tall massive god stepped into the light, he had the darkest tan imaginable, and his excessively long hair was an unnatural shade of blond, and his eyes were pale white — he was blind.

"Ah, lord Osiris! I thought I'd never hear your voice in these halls again, how long has it been? three and a half millennia?" The god's voice was bright and sunny, and it had a certain warmth about it.

Osiris walked up to the smiling blond god, and they clasped arms in friendly greeting. "Neheb, my old friend, I'm afraid it is not you we have come to speak with, I merely wish to know where your master is."

Neheb-kau looked a little more serious, "My old friend, Ra is not an easy god to reach. He rarely brings his ship into these docks, and I fear even a god of your high standing cannot call him down from the heavens." Osiris nodded, "I did not think Fortune would smile on me that greatly, old friend. If he does choose to land here, will you tell him I must discuss a matter of greatest importance?" Neheb-kau nodded in assent, "I will certainly do as you ask. And I pray whatever matter it is can soon be resolved."

Osiris and the blind god again clasped arms, he and Horus then exiting the massive chamber.

They were again walking towards the massive staircase they had first taken to get here, Osiris answered Horus' question without it even being asked. "Neheb-kau, guardian of Ra when he is in the Duat — he has been blinded by all the time spent in Ra's presence. Those were the docks where Ra lands his ship when he spends time away from the heavens."

They now stood on the edge of the black river that brought them there, pale white Sokar was waiting for them on his Hennu bark. Osiris saw a glimmer of hopelessness in Horus' clear blue eyes, "My son… I am sorry. If the Originals cannot free her, than no one can."

Horus shook his head, "I will find a way… If it takes me a thousand years, I will find a way to free Hathor from this blasted Underworld."

They stepped aboard the dark boat, and the next moment were speeding back to the portal.