Chapter 2

They came to a screeching halt at the Fort. The Fort was a towering tan construction with broken walls and numerous tunnels that interweaved within the structure. Tall protruding rectangles littered parts of the inner walls. The remaining walls had been subjected to erosion and damage which gave it a 'missing many pieces' look. The once proud monument now stood as a shadow of its former self.

Ernesto and Laura approached the center of the monument, turning their heads in every direction.

"Where is it?" Laura asked as she looked around.

"Hmmmm…maybe it ran off. This is not good. I need to face that falcon god." Ernesto replied.

"How are you so sure it's either Horus or Ra? Hamza's details did not do much to inspire certainty."

"Well his main clue of an intense fire like that of the sun's punishment rings true with at least one manifestation of both falcon gods." Ernesto answered.

He continued. "There is a falcon god of war that is not Horus that was still worshipped in Egypt. I found him during my research of Egyptian falcon gods of the sun. His name was Montu. Apparently, his name means 'nomad' which would explain his habit of roaming around the city of Nekhen. He was originally the manifestation of the scorching effects of the sun, Ra and such a destructive characteristic led him to gain the aspects of a warrior thus becoming a war god."

Having spoken, Ernesto began to feel his body become tense and powerful. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Ernesto said with a smile.

"Where are you? Show yourself! You would make the great Sun King wait for his sworn enemy? Is a god of the sun truly such a coward?!" He yelled out as his voice echoed around the ruins.

From behind him, spoke another voice. "My my my, you have quite the tongue godslayer." The voice was sweet and seductive.

Ernesto and Laura quickly turned around but were blinded by a bright light that flew over them and landed several feet in front of them.

"That was quite a nice guess that you made but, unfortunately for you, I am most definitely not Montu. Such a weakling doesn't even deserve to bask in my greatness."

As the light receded, there stood a woman in front of them. She wore braided black hair that came down to her neck, an Egyptian diadem made of gold and various colorful stones of red, orange, and yellow and had a small snake rearing up in the front. She wore a flowing white Egyptian skirt and a magnificent necklace of gold and opal stones.

Ernesto just stared in shock. "What's the matter?" the goddess taunted. "Cat got your tongue?"

"*sigh* I hate to say it but I guess I was wrong." Ernesto said to Laura as he summoned his Maquahuitl.

"Well then goddess are you going to name yourself or will I have to beat it out of you?!" Ernesto threatened.

"Ara ara, this little cub has claws. Well don't worry, I'll teach you a nice painful lesson."

With that, she rushed at him with incredible speed. Ernesto barely managed to dodge a strike. Before he could counter with his own attack, she quickly flipped acrobatically towards Ernesto and aimed a flurry of kicks at his chest.

Snap! Crack! The kicks hit their mark and sent Ernesto flying. He crashed against the sand. He gripped his chest and got up groaning.

"Geez that really hurt!" He complained. His eyes glowed green but something was strange. He saw what looked like a yellow cat fighting a cobra. But for some reason the image was fuzzy and unclear. He began to quickly analyze the situation. His opponent was incredibly fast and her advantage in close quarters combat was enormous. Furthermore, his Serpent of Visions authority was not working properly. But…

Ernesto smiled, "Let's see how you like it when I decide to get serious."

He closed his eyes and chanted, "Lord of the winds, grant me your blessing. That I may find freedom in the zephyr, Find comfort in the cyclone And that my enemies may feel the pain of my justice!"

A great tempest erupted around the Fort. "You can command the wind, godslayer? What use is that to you against my speed?"

She somersaulted towards him and aimed a downward kick. Just as she was about to hit him, he disappeared!

"What is thi…" Before she finished, she bent back as Ernesto reappeared swinging his Maquahuitl. The goddess quickly back flipped away as Ernesto kept coming at her with a barrage of swings.

Swish! Slash! Rip! The Egyptian goddess was cut on her shoulder, arm and face despite her efforts in evasion. As blood leaked out of the gash on her cheek her eyes glowed red and she yelled in fury. "Such insolence will not be tolerated. Prepare yourself godslayer!"

She then began to glow red and began to transform. Her beautiful face became like that of a feline with pointed ears, sharp teeth and slit pupils. The tips of her fingers became claws and she let out a horrible shriek "REAAAAOOOOWWW!"

She lunged at Ernesto, scratching and clawing, following him like a mad animal.

"A cat?!" Ernesto thought. "She must be Bastet, the cat goddess. But how come…" Before he could finish his thoughts she landed a nasty slash on his torso. Blood spilled out and Ernesto quickly teleported up to the sky as he received another vision. This time he saw a fuzzier image of a red circle. He could not make out what it was. All he got was the word "sun." Seeing his momentary lapse in attention, Bastet jumped right up to Ernesto as divine flames enveloped her legs, quickly twisted around and swung a flaming kick sideways.

BOOM! An explosion rocked the sky and Ernesto was sent flying.

As he flew, he received a vision. "One who is seen as the protector of the pharaoh and by extension protector of Ra. Known as Lady of the Flame and…" and his vision blurred away. He teleported himself and hit the ground hard.

"Grrrh…even with my teleportation, those darn explosions will always cause me trouble." He grumbled

He stood back up and teleported back to the battlefield. But his magical fight response was gone.

He turned to Laura, who had sought refuge in one of the caves, and asked "Where did the goddess go?"

"After she knocked you back, she turned tail and ran." Laura responded. "But enough about that! Are you okay?!" She yelled as she ran over to him. His clothes were scorched and torn and he had mild burns on his arms and chest along with the deep gashes from the goddess' claws.

"I'll be fine with a little rest. These wounds will heal. They do sting quite a bit though. Ah!" He said as he lightly touched the burns.

"Will you drink your recovery potion?" Laura asked.

"Nah, not quite yet. Besides…" He then smiled. "Remember you said you'd be willing to do anything in these situations. I think that a small bit of kissing healing magic is in o…." *WHAP*

Laura smacked his wounds with her staff then proceeded to dig it into his chest. With a menacing voice and daunting face she spoke, "What were you going to make me do, Your Ma-jes-ty?"

"Gah! Alright alright I'll quit joking. Now stop digging the Staff of Chalchiuhtlicue into me would you?!" He cried out as his body cringed in pain.

"Of course *twist* your Majesty" Laura replied.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he then continued. "Well I guess I was wrong about it being Ra, Horus or Montu. I should've known it was Bastet with all those cat puns she made. Still…"

Ernesto began to ponder a worrying factor that occurred during the battle.

"I told you so! See what being a know-it-all gets you?" Laura responded with an 'I told you so' voice. Upon seeing his thinking face, she asked "What is it?"

"During the battle something was wrong. Despite being hurt by Bastet, I wasn't able to receive complete visions regarding her divinity. They were hard to make out and unclear."

"You mean like a TV channel that is losing reception?"

"Exactly. Something was interfering with my Serpent of Visions authority. But I don't know what it could be." Ernesto responded.

"Well let's worry about that later. First, we need to take you back to the headquarters so we can address those wounds." Laura said.

"Ah don't worry, I can be there…" before he could finish Laura grabbed and held his shoulder with great force.

"You wouldn't be possibly thinking of using your teleporting authority to return to the headquarters of the Hawks of Quraish, leaving me here in the middle of nowhere, now would you my lord?" She said with an innocent but frightening smile.

"Ouch! No! Of course not Laura! Agh! I can't even use it because it's been sealed already. Gah! So could you stop digging your nails into me please?" He clarified.

"Fine." She let Ernesto go and walked over to the car.

Ernesto got in and said, "You have quite the temper you know that?"

Laura then turned and gave a smile and responded, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Ernesto rolled his eyes and he proceeded to bandage himself. He then looked out the window at the scenery and could only wonder how this whole debacle would turn out.

"Wake up Ernesto! It's already noon!" Laura yelled as she drew the curtains open.

"Noooo….five more minutes." Ernesto sleepily replied.

"We need to get moving. The Caliph wants to follow up on what happened at the Fort." Laura explained.

Ernesto had not had a good night's sleep. First off, he spent a good portion of the day resting to heal his injuries. Afterwards, he immediately poured into books of mythology concerning the cat goddess, Bastet until the early hours of the morning.

"Come on Laura. I've done a lot of research. I need more sleep." Ernesto grumbled.

"Hurry up! He's gonna be here soon!" Laura retorted.

He finally opened his eyes and got up from his chair. Books were strewn across the desk and floor.

"Ahhhh I guess he won't be too happy if he sees his study in such a state. Laura, can you be a dear and clean it up. Thanks." Ernesto said as he began walking out of the room.

Hearing Laura had summoned her staff, he quickly made a u-turn and proceeded to the pile of books. "Jajaja just kidding, I'll pick these up. No biggie."

After having cleaned up the study, there was a knock on the door. Ernesto quickly sat on a hand painted sultan chair behind a mahogany desk that was decorated with Arabic script. He exuded an aura of dignity and power as he leaned his back against the chair.

"You may enter." Ernesto spoke.

The Caliph entered alongside Fatima and Hamza. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty. I hope you slept well."

"You need not worry. I am rejuvenated and prepared for battle once more. What are the results of your search?" Ernesto simply replied.

"Fortunately for us, we have not been able to confirm any sightings or incursions from the goddess Bastet." But he quickly added. "But it is most likely unfortunate for your Majesty, as I'm sure you wish to vanquish this enemy."

"But of course. Now I must give you my gratitude that you lent me your entire study so I could become informed concerning my adversary." Ernesto answered. "Now I ask that you stay on alert. It is only during these times of quiet that a vicious storm will brew."

"Of course, my lord. We will take our leave." The Caliph spoke as he turned towards the door.

"Wait. Have these two stay. I wish to question them a bit further about other matters." Ernesto said as he pointed at Hamza and Fatima.

The Caliph looked confused but quickly recomposed and said, "As you wish."

As the Caliph left, Ernesto spoke, "Take a seat you two. Now concerning our business…"

As the door shut and the Caliphs footsteps could no longer be heard, Ernesto finally relaxed. "Ugh! Acting like a king blows. You always have to put on some kind of front."

He slumped in the chair as Fatima responded, "Hmph! I can't believe you didn't defeat the cat goddess. I would've expected that she would be easier prey than the various sun gods you prepared yourself for."

"*sigh* Ah Fatima if it were only that simple. My powers are most effective when I have knowledge of the divinity that I'm fighting."

Laura then asked, "But you're always studying myths and legends. Surely you've come across literature on Bastet?"

"Laura, it's not that simple. First off, the Egyptian pantheon is huge! It would take years to cover it all in extensive detail. I've researched bits and pieces of Bastet but she was never my main focus. Now there's actually a second reason why defeating her would actually be difficult even in comparison to fighting Ra or Horus."

"What would that be?" Fatima asked.

"As I'm sure you know, Ra's nemesis is Apep, the deity of primordial chaos. His role was that of opposition to the Ma'at, the order and truth. Bastet was originally a form of Ra, the cat form that battled against Apep."

"So it's a case of a cat versus a snake deity." Laura said as she began to understand.

"Exactly. My main authorities arise from a prominent snake deity so I was already at a disadvantage from the get go."

Hamza was perplexed. "So the reason she was able to summon divine fire is because of her connection to Ra?"

"Ideally, that would be the explanation. She is also known as Lady of the Flame and the Eye of Ra, thus is able to borrow the sun's power. But something feels off with this understanding of the situation."

"Well it makes sense, what confusion could there be?" Hamza asked.

"My Serpent of Vision Authority was not clear. I feel that something was being hidden. I think I've figured out what it is."

Everyone looked at each other and then looked at Ernesto.

"I think that it's not the goddess Bastet we are fighting, but we are actually fighting Ra." Ernesto finally let out.

Laura looked at him dumbfounded. "Are you seriously trying to push that issue?! WE SAW THE GODDESS! She turned into a cat humanoid right in front of you!" She yelled in frustration.

"Look I know I was adamant about it but hear me out. During one of my visions I saw a red circle and the only word that came to my mind was 'Sun.' The red circle is one of the primary characteristics of Ra. Look!" He threw her an open book that had a picture on one page. "That red circle signifies his presence. It is always depicted with him."

Fatima chimed in. "Even then, you still saw a different Heretic God, how could it be Ra?"

"That's actually very simple. It could be that the goddess is simply one form of his power. Think about it. All those explosions and instances of chaos in which there were conflicting eyewitness accounts? That was because while they thought they were seeing one god, they were actually seeing differing incarnations!"

"How can you be so sure?" Hamza asked.

"I talked to Godou-san after my battle with him and he related to me his story of the various incarnations of Verethragna he met before he became fully restored. It wouldn't be strange for this to be the same situation. A set of Ra's incarnations are set loose about Egypt and one of his main incarnations, the goddess Bastet who signifies his form of the Great Cat that defeats Apep. That's why he ran away. Because he's not at full strength."

The Ernesto's companions stood flabbergasted.

"The-the-then that means…" Fatima stuttered.

"That the strongest god of the Egyptian pantheon…" Laura continued.

"…Is going to return as a Heretic God." Hamza finished.

Ernesto smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way. To think I get the chance to catch the biggest fish in Egypt."

Just then a messenger burst through the door. "Your Excellency! I apologize for my abrupt arrival but I have urgent news!"

Ernesto quickly resumed his kingly composure. "What news do you bring?"

"The-the-there's…there's more than one Heretic God!" he shouted in fear.

"WHAT?!" The whole group yelled.

"It's been confirmed. Other goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon have been sighted all over Nekhen."

"Let's go." Ernesto ordered Laura, Fatima and Hamza. "Lead the way messenger."

As he ran with them down the hallways Ernesto couldn't help but wonder. Taking on Ra while dealing with other goddesses. Just my luck.