Chapter Two: The Plagues of the Phoenix
As Moses and Aaron travelled, Moses first asked Aaron what magic he already knew, which turned out to be mostly summoning and light offensive spells, which were now a bit more powerful form the magic given to him by the Phoenix. Moses began to teach him spells and incantations for slightly stronger abilites, but when Aaron inquired into the more pwerful spells he could learn, Moses told him to be patient.
After three days journey, the reached the boarder of Egypt. From there, they could see the temple at Abu Sinbel. Going inside, they paid their respects and took shelter. Aaron was amased at the many statues of the Egyptian Gods and the many carvings of the Egyptian warriors. Aaron found that, despite never learning hyroglyphics, he could read it perfectly.
Soon their journey north began again, and Aaron continued to learn his spells. Moses, while impressed with his improvement in such a short time, was still wondering how he would deal with this situation, should it arise into something more dangerous.
Upon arriving in Thebes, Moses took Aaron to one side. "I want to make it very clear that we are going to ask for the Pharoah to let the people go. I will do any magic that is needed, but you are only to use magic to defend yourself or me, nothing else."
"I understand, "Aaron replied. As they came to the palace, the guards asked about their business.
"My name is Moses, and I have wish to speak with the Pharoah," Moses answered their requests.
"Moses, the desert Sorcerer? By all means, come in. We have heard of your greatness," the guard said. Leading them inside, he offered for them to rest and drink while he spoke to the Pharoah. Soon, an audience was granted, and Moses went in, followed closely by Aaron.
"Your majesty, I present Moses, the Sorcerer of the Desert, and his apprentice Aaron." There was a rise of mutters and whispers as everyone observed Moses and his apprentice.
"Greetings to you Moses," said the Pharoah who stepped down from his throne and came forward. "What can I do for you? A visit from a man such as yourself does not come every day."
Moses and Aaron, after bowing, looked at Moses with a slight air of uncertainty.
"I have come to speak with you about the Jews you have working upon your cities in the north," Moses answered.
"Nonsense," the Pharoah replied. "What concern is the slaves of my empire to a powerful ma like yourself?" The Pharoah replied.
"I seek that they be treated fairly. Not allowing them the needed straw from your own workers nor allowing them rest, or even payment. My Lord, what could this possibly do to benifit your workers?" Moses asked.
"What I do with my workers is none of your business." the Pharoah replied.
"It has been made my business," Moses answered back.
"Seise them!" The pharoah demanded. Moses, putting up a hand to stop Aaron getting to excited, threw his staff in the direction of the appraoching giards, and it immediutely reved up and turned into a king cobra, hissing furiously and moving quickly. The guards, frightened of the snake, backed away.
"Very clever Moses, but that is old school," the Pharoah said with a smile. Waving his hand, two men stepped forward and threw down two staffs which reverted into cobras, although not king cobras. The battle between the snakes was on, but the king cobra won and devoured its opponents.
"I ask you let the Jews go Ramses," Moses called.
"I do not think so Moses. Unless you can conjiur a better trick to convince me, I will double their workload instead. I'm sure they will thank you for that."
Venturing out to the southern end of the town, Moses summoned the Phoenix to him.
"I know of your thoughts Moses, but it is a dangerous task you venture upon," The voice of the fire called. "It will cost many lives for you to do this."
"Will you protect the Jews if I do this?" Moses asked.
"I will, but only if you can succeed. You know what must be done, but do not hesitate, for stopping will ruin your magic," the Phoenix explained.
"I will do it," Moses said, holding his arms open. The fire turned a deep purple color and shot into Moses through his chest. Moses, stronger than Aaron, did not pass out from the impact or power, but was short of breath for a few minutes.
"What is it that must be done?" Aaron asked when Moses had recovered.
"The Plagues of the Phoenix, my boy. I hope that the day you might need them does not come," Moses explained. "Let us go, for we have work to do."
As Moses and Aaron returned to the city of Thebes, their welcome was not as pleasent as the first. But Moses, a strong character, ignored the people until he found what he was looking for. Going up to a stall, he asked the woman at the counter for a chicken. She raised the price on it, but Moses still paid. Taking the animal to an alley, he poked it with his staff and it died instantly.
"The blood of this chicken has been taken to serve our first attempts," Moses explained. "Not magic I will teach you yet, but in time," Moses said, before Aaron could ask. Moses then led Aaron to the river where the Pharoah was relaxing on his boat. "Let the people go," moses called to the Pharoah.
"I shall not do so," the Pharoah called back.
"Now what?" Aaron asked.
"I shall strike the water that is the Nile with the rod that is my hand and all the river shall be turned to blood. All the fish shall die and all the people shall refuse to drink of it's water."(*1) True to his word, Moses stepped a few paces into the water and raised his staff. Calling loudly a few words in a foreign language, the staff hit the water, and within moments, the whole river had turned a deep red. There were screams and cries all down the bank as people spat and chocked.
"Let the people go," Moses called.
"This redness is natural occurance Moses, for the topsoil of the land shall make the water foul and it's color red, but it is not going to persuade me." The Pharoah sat back in his boat and continued sailing.
Moses, not to be defeated, took from a shoulder bag a small green stone and inserted it into the top of his staff where a small notch was set for holding stones. Driving the staff into the water,
"I summon frogs from the river Nile, that they may come to the land of Egypt. Let them roam free into the land, that they shall enter the houses of the people, into the rooms and into beds, into the kitchens and into the furniture, that they shall not be called off until the people are freed. But let the frogs leave the Jews alone, for they are innocent."(*2) From there, the stone glowed deep in color, before a wave of green light spread across the red Nile and disappeared. The Pharoah, looking at the sky and the cloths of his shaded pervillian, saw and heard nothing.
"Where shall we hide?" Aaron asked.
"Hide?" Moses replied. "You're going to learn some magic while you are here. As they walked back to the city, Moses taught Aaron an incantation that would protect him from animals that might be bespelled. Aaron and moses practiced it until the sun had gone down. As the moon rose over the land, there was a green shimmer trailing across it's surface. A buzzing sound was then heard, and then, looking to the Nile, Moses and Aaron saw a wave of frogs jumping out of the water and into the city. Casting their shields, Moses and Aaron cast their shields and the madly jumping frogs simply bounced off. Soon the city of Thebes was filled with mad screams as the frogs jumped into the homes and over the people, as Moses foretold them to do. But looking about, the frogs were avoiding the Jewish houses.
As dawn broke the next morning, there came a horrid loud song from the palace rang out across the city. The frogs were all turned and sent back to the Nile, and the city was clensed of the frogs.
"Frog Song," Moses muttered under his breath. He turned and went to the edge of the city. "Cast your shield again, for this will be blinding to those who are not protected or Jewish." Aaron castthe shield immediutely, and Moses held his staff to the sky, the green stone still in it. "I strike the sand that is the desert with the rod that is my hand and summon forth lice made of the sand, and the land of Egypt shall be covered in lice, but the Jews shall be left alone, for they are innocent in this affair." Moses drove his rod into the sand, and like the water of the Nile, and the green shimmer ran through the sand. Moses called forth his shield, and he and Aaron watched as the sand began to move like water, but then all the sand as far as anyone could see in any direction turned into lice that started crawling everywhere. Screams ran across the desert as the lice covered the cities and the crops quickly. But there was only a small amount of time that Egypt was covered in lice, for from the Palace came a ringing sound and all the lice burst into sand and fell back to the desert.
Moses drove his staff into the ground again, but did not summon any other creatures. He turned and led Aaron to a small oasis not far from Thebes and there, they rested for the evening.
At first light, Moses arose and awoke Aaron and told him to summon his shield. Moses then went to the water of the Oasis and drove his staff into the water.
"I summon from the waters of Egypt a plague of flies, that they will spread over the land of Egypt. Let them fly into every home and cover the people, that they will be driven mad, but let them leave the Jews alone, for they are innocent in this affair." (*4) Again, the green shimmer flowed through the water and Moses called forth his shield. Out of the water, flies flew everywhere, headed straight for the city of Thebes. Moses and Aaron, with some difficulty, headed towards Thebes to see the chaos that was the plague. But upon their arrival, there was a jingling sound coming from the Palace. As the sound rang out, the flies retreated and returned to the waters.
"What else can we do?" Aaron asked.
"Fear not, for there is still more to be done," moses answered. The two men wandered into the city until they came upon a part of the town that held much livestock. Moses took away the green stone from his staff and replaced it with a red one.
"Let the blood of all animals be infected, that all the animals in the land of Egypt become sick, and the Egyptians shall refuse to eat the meat that is the animals of the land." (*5) Holding his staff in the air, a red haze spread out and touched every animal, and it spread until it had crossed the land of Egypt. All the cattle, horses, oxen and other animals started to move around in a strange manor. Soon they were all falling and refused to walk, and all the animals of Egypt were struck down sick.
"Will they die?" Aaron asked as he observed the curses on the animals.
"No, but they are too sick to do anything, and any that are killed are not good to eat." Moses explained.
For two days, Moses tried to appeal to the Pharoah, but he refused to let the Jews go. On the third day, there was a mist arising from the Palace, and soon all the animals were touched by it, and the curse was lifted. Moses and Aaron went to the Palace, and stood before the Pharoah Ramses.
"I take the ash of the Phoenix," he called, taking a small bag from his belt and sprinkled some into his hand. "Let it fly across the land of Egypt, that all who are not innocent in this affair shall be struck down with boils. No matter what the healers do, nor what is applied to them, the people of the land shall be covered with boils of such pain and disfigurement." (*6) Before anyone could stop him, Moses threw the ash into the air and it spread around like a mist upon the air. Screams instantly filled the rooma s everyone, including Ramses, were covered in boils and burns. The cloud of ash had soon covered the land, and then it disipated, and all the people were covered in boils and burns.
"Is this the best the Sorcerer of the Desert has to offer?" asked a voice, somewhat grunted. The magicians of the court stepped forward and from a pouch on his own belt, took out some gold dust and threw it into the air. Soon, like the phoenix ash, it had covered the land of egypt and the boils and burns had lost their pain and were curable.
"Very well," Moses said, not being deturred. He pulled Aaron close to him before he put a hand into his pack and pulled out a small stone of a pale yellow color. "Let the anger of your heart be reflected in this stone, and let it rain from the sky in the same level. May the destructiveness you wish towards others now be passed onto you."(*7) Moses threw the stone to the ground, and the broken shards flew into the sky. Moses and Aaron then fled the Palace quickly, as the sky filled with red clouds and hail as hot as fire stardted to rain down. Moses was protected and he covered Aaron until they found shelter. The flaming hail fell for two days, and much was destroyed. But on the third day, a blast of water rose from the Nile and hit the sky, and the red clouds abaited and the hail was stopped.
"What else can we do?" Aaron asked.
"I must ask if you can count?" Moses asked. "For I was offered ten plagues of the Phoenix, but I have not cast them all. how many have I cast?"
"Seven," Aaron answered.
"Correct. While I expect this plague will be undone as quickly as I summon it, we need time to rest." Moses replaced the green stone into his staff and held it to the sky. "I summon a plague of locusts from the air that the people of this land breathe. let them cover this land in their madness, but they shall not harm the Jews, for they are innocent in this affair." And so it was that the locusts were summoned across the land.
Returning to the Oasis, they soon heard the sounds of the locusts retreating into the land and disappearing.
"Two left. What is the next plague?" Aaron asked.
"One that is difficult to cast, but shall be done at dawn." Moses looked at Aaron. "It will be a good day to practice your fire magic."
"I understand," Aaron answered.
The next day, Moses placed the green stone from his staff back into his bag and replaced it with the red one. "I summon up the sands of the desert, that they will fly into the sky and guard the sun, that darkness will cover this land of Egypt" Moses called. Sand flew up instantly and it covered the sun and the darkness of the land was thicker than midnight.
For most of the day, Aaron praciced his fire magic and Moses instructed him, continuing to rest his strength. But as the sun was setting, the darkness was broken and Moses knew that the Magicians of the Palace had undone his plague.
"Then so be it," Moses muttered. Standing, he drew the summoning symbols into the sand, but Aaron, who was very observant, noticed extra symbols in the sand. Summoning the sacred fire, it was black and purple in color.
"We must cast the final plague," Moses said and form his bag he held up a clear crystal.
"So be it," the voice of the fire answered. It rushed into the crystal, which instantly turned black. Moses went forth with Aaron to the Palace.
"What will you do now?" Pharoah asked.
"At midnight, the phoenix will go forth throughout the Land of Egypt and the firstborn of all the land shall die. Form the son that sits upon your throne to the first born of the poorest in the land. From the firstborn of your people to your animals, shall the phoenix smote down and shall be dead." (*10) Moses turned and walked away without another word, and no one dared try to stop him. The Pharoah instantly summoned the magicians of the Palace to protect his youngest son.
At Midnight Moses took a deep breath in light of what he had to do, then threw down the black stone. From it flew a white mist that flew across the land of Egypt. The white broke into smaller entities and then flew into houses. Each entity touched the firstborn and took his or her soul, and then flew off again. Within minutes, cries and laments were heard all throughout the land. Moses looked to the palace as many white mists floated in and, after a few moments, floated out again. Moses and Aaron began to walk towards the Palace.
*1 Exodis7: 14-25
*2 Exodis 8: 1-8
*3 Exodus 8: 16-19
*4 Exodis 8: 20-30
*5 Exodis 9: 1-7
*6 Exodis 9: 8-12
*7 Exodis 9: 13-35
*8 Exodis 10: 1-20
*9 Exodis 10: 21-29
*10 Exodis 11 Exodis 12
