"Look at it go!"
"Its reaction time is fast!"
"Wow! What a jump!"
Machaela just laughed at her teammates. As the only maker of humanoid robots at BAG, the others enjoyed gathering around to watch her test her final products for the teachers. Taking her prowess with shabtis, she had discovered a way to make them appear remote controlled, concealing the magic.
She and her brother were actually enjoying school, which surprised her a bit. Jesse had never been, of course, but she had had vague memories of long boring days sitting in a classroom, punctuated with older bullies targeting her. Grateful this school was different, she had dived in, becoming a member of several after-school groups, including the fledgling robotics club.
Pinpointing their different talents hadn't been that difficult. Jesse sprang for the design element, and every day he wowed his classmates and impressed the teachers with both building and weapon designs, some his own creation and others copies of ancient weapons. Simply putting them on paper seemed to give him great joy, and he never minded having homework—or, outside-of-class work, since he always finished it in study hall. His only regret was that she couldn't bring any of his weapon designs to life.
Machaela had recently taken an interest in forging weapons, but, since she didn't have a forge, she had to settle for tinkering with various found objects. She focused on shabti-robots for school, but she started devoting her free time to building complex motors and scale replicas of various objects. Her favorite so far had definitely been the scale model helicopter run with rubber bands and a couple springs.
At any rate, the siblings had integrated well into school life, considering they had had no idea what to expect. Jesse was working hard, aiming to graduate a year early, and Machaela had set herself up to graduate in December instead of May.
"You have an excellent robot, Machaela."
Machaela gave the robotics coach, her favorite teacher by far, a large grin. "Thank you, Ms. Willard. It was certainly the most fun to make."
Before Ms. Willard could reply with tips to make it better, another voice cut them off.
"Machaela!"
She spun around. "Carter?! What are you doing here?"
"No time!" he panted, barely stopping his running to talk. "Find your brother and meet everyone at Alyssa's statue." He turned to Ms. Willard, who had simply been staring at him. "Sorry, Ma'am, we have an emergency at home. I'm here to gather everyone up." He took off running again before anyone could respond.
Breaking out of her shock, Machaela jumped into action, gathering her materials.
"That was Carter," she answered the teacher's question, "and he's one of my roommates. No, he doesn't go to school here; he's homeschooled. Aunt Kitty probably sent him, since he knows where everyone would be."
Once Machaela made it obvious she had no more information than Ms. Willard did, the latter stopped trying to question her, allowing Machaela to gather her shabti and leave. She found Jesse in the design lab, and they sprinted for Alyssa's statue.
Shortly after starting at BAG, Sadie had decided they needed a portal point for emergencies. "Borrowing" an artifact from Brooklyn Museum, which she replaced with a replica, Sadie gave it to Alyssa to pass off as her own. Machaela was sure Sadie had found it fitting that the artifact showed a group of mourners, considering the younger girl didn't like the school quite as much as the others did. Or maybe she just didn't like school in general. That was possible.
They arrived at Alyssa's statue to find almost everyone else there, and Freak, Carter's pet griffin that continued to hang around, landed as the last student ran up, Carter close behind.
Carter refused to give any information on the route back to Brooklyn House, but they didn't have to wait long.
Taking only enough time to set her school supplies in her room and change clothes, Machaela met everyone at the table. They may as well eat during their meeting.
Carter stood up. "Thanks to Cleo and Jesse figuring out the pattern, we know what Apophis is going after. I gathered you all up in such a hurry because we just figured out where the attack will be. Felix, Walt, and Alyssa, you will be going with Sadie and me to Dallas tonight. We have to leave as soon as you eat. We have until the moon is at its peak, and, with portals down due to Apophis, we have to travel Air Freak."
Machaela and Jesse both looked confused as Carter continued outlining the plan. Walt made amulets, which would include their reed boat behind Freak. Alyssa used earth magic—stability would be good in an attack on a building. She might prevent the nome's collapse. But why was Felix going? Felix was a great magician, but Jesse was better at combat, and Machaela had Divine Words on her side.
Bast apparently caught their expressions and leaned over. "I know you would have wanted to go," she quietly told them, "but the young ones look up to you. I need you here. I kept Julian back too, since Shelby likes him best."
The siblings nodded in reluctant agreement as Carter sat down, his briefing done. Five-year-old Shelby, the youngest of the ankle-biters, often lead the other young ones in "pranks" around the mansion. Unfortunately, the little ones' pranks were usually more destructive than amusing. Without any help, Bast would have a challenging time making sure they stayed out of trouble.
Like all the youngest magicians, the ankle-biters were there at their parents' permission. They knew, with current events, Brooklyn House was the safest place for their kids to master their inherent magic, and the young ones constantly reminded the older ones to not take their age as inability. Shelby and the other two youngest were just as good, if not better, than the older magicians. Shelby's crayons often morphed into weapons, and just last week Shelby's crayon drawing of a unicorn had come to life, peeling itself off the page.
The six going to Dallas—Khufu had insisted on accompanying them—piled into the reed boat immediately after dinner, and the others tried to have a normal evening.
Machaela organized a game, which kept interest for about an hour, but soon enough everyone had wandered different ways to do homework or watch tv. Machaela and Jesse ended up in the corner, Jesse with a book and Machaela building a new random-objects-engine, and the evening past slowly.
Some hours later, Machaela had switched from her small engine to working on another magical shabti-robot. Gathering her magic, and materials, she was focusing on the robot's internals when she felt a distinct ripple in the Duat.
Her head snapped up at the same time Jesse's did.
"Did you feel that?" he asked.
She nodded. "It came from the Dallas area," she murmured, making sure the others couldn't hear her. None of the others had reacted, and if they hadn't felt it they didn't need to know about it yet.
Jesse's face lined with worry, and he followed her onto the terrace, which Bast had commandeered to escape the noise of the Great Room.
"Did you feel that?" Jesse asked Bast as Machaela bolted for a corner out of sight of the chaos inside.
"I did." Bast stretched. "It woke me from a cat nap. Was it Sadie?"
Unsure of the answer, Jesse shook his head as he watched his sister. She performed a quick locator spell to check on the team. Upon seeing the results, she double-checked the spell, looking more and more worried.
"What is it?" Jesse came closer. The spell should be done by now.
"I really hope my spell is malfunctioning," came Machaela's worried reply.
Bast moved closer at that. "You hope it's malfunctioning?"
"Yeah." Machaela hung her head. "This spell searches for a heartbeat, and I can't find Sadie."
Neither Bast nor Jesse could respond for a moment. If Sadie was gone…Jesse didn't let the thought finish.
"Is there another spell you can try?" Jesse finally asked.
Machaela thought a moment. "There's one, but it's really long. It takes at least twenty minutes to cast, and it'll only show the scene for a moment. I can't use the better spell with the snake free."
"Unless it's out of your range for magic, try it," Jesse told her. "As much as I don't want it to be true, we need to know if the others are dead."
Machaela nodded and started chanting, and Jesse and Bast leaned back to watch.
Jesse didn't even want to think about it, but he forced himself to work the logic. Every other nome attacked by Apophis had been left with no survivors. If Carter, Sadie, and the others were gone, someone would have to lead the nome into battle. Apophis would attack the First Nome soon, probably on or after the equinox. Who would be the best leader? Who would the others follow?
Machaela finished chanting, and a scene shimmered in the air.
Police lights blinked in the night, casting their blue glare on buildings, debris, and smashed windows as police blocked off streets around a museum so destroyed it looked as if a bomb had exploded there. Plumes of smoke rose from all around an Olympic-pool sized crater. Melted metal sculptures and chunks of stone lay in the crater, surrounded by shattered champagne glasses, smoking and tattered eveningwear, and broken magician staffs and wands. A concrete slab had broken in half, sliding into the crater, and charred musical instruments lay all around. Glowing brightly at one edge of the crater was a single glyph: Isfet. Apophis had left his calling card.
Barely visible at the edge of the scene was a flicker. Possibly a boat, but it was only visible a moment.
The spell ended, and the scene blinked out.
What could they do? Dallas was obviously destroyed, and they couldn't reach their team. Were they all dead? Was that their boat on the edge of the screen?
Jesse asked if they could do the locator spell again, but Machaela shook her head.
"If they were in the boat, they're in the Duat by now, and it doesn't work there."
"So we're stuck waiting until they have enough time to get back?"
"Pretty much." Machaela turned to Bast. "You want to keep watch on the roof? If that was them in the boat, they should be here soon."
Bast was headed toward the roof access before Machaela finished her sentence, and the siblings went back to the Great Room.
Machaela started back on her shabti and Jesse his book, but neither of them could focus. Every minute that ticked by lessened the chance that their friends were coming home. Alyssa, Walt, Felix, even Khufu they considered good friends, but Sadie and Carter were the nome leaders. They were the pioneers in the path of the gods, and the success of this nome hinged on their leadership. If they were gone, not only would the nome possibly fall apart, but anyone left would battle Apophis essentially alone. Sure, the magicians from the First Nome would still be there, but the population had continued to rapidly decline in the last several years, housing only a few young initiates, their teachers, and several aging magicians. Amos would be unable to hold off the attackers for long.
Amos…What would they tell Amos? They had only known him for a few days, but those few days had included a battle, and battle is the quickest way to get to know someone. He would be heartbroken at the loss of his niece and nephew.
Their thoughts continued to race, bouncing from one possibility to the next, working through where the others should be if that had been their boat, wondering how they would tell Amos and Zia if the unthinkable had happened, counting every minute because they should be back by now.
Finally, a loud thump on the roof interrupted their thoughts. A moment later, Freak screamed, and the siblings relaxed slightly. Torn between wanting to rush upstairs to know the others were fine and staying seated to avoid scaring the little kids, they settled for edging their way to better watch the door.
Several tense minutes later, footsteps sounded on the stairs. Walt came down, looking stricken, but he refused to say anything, going straight to his room. One by one, team members trickled down the stairs, all looking tired. Felix's eyes were puffy from crying. Alyssa looked as if she was going into shock. Everyone went straight to their rooms, refusing to answer questions. This should have relieved Machaela and Jesse, but no news wasn't always good news.
Finally, Carter and Bast made their way down the stairs, Sadie following close behind. Machaela and Jesse struggled to hide their relief.
Jesse studied the duo as Julian asked about the mission. Carter looked exhausted. His eyes were red, as if he had been holding back tears. A slight stumble showed he was barely staying awake, and Sadie didn't look any better. She was covered in smaller wounds, her hands were wrapped in gauze, and she showed the signs of having overextended her magic. She was going on willpower alone.
Unwilling to give details in front of the little ones, Carter would only acknowledge the loss of the Fifty-First Nome and the safety of the team. He mentioned possibly finding something helpful, but Shelby interrupted then, ending the conversation and letting Carter, Sadie, and Bast escape into the library.
Wanting to talk to them, Machaela and Jesse were waiting near the door when Cleo prompted Carter to hurry upstairs to take an incoming call. With the meeting adjourned, they went inside to catch Sadie before she disappeared, too.
"Are you alright?" Machaela asked immediately.
Sadie spun around to face them. She gave them a small, tired smile, apparently too tired for her usual spunk and sarcasm.
"I'm fine," she told them, a bit puzzled. "Why?"
"I felt the ripple in the Duat when he attacked," Machaela answered, "and anchored a spell on you to check on everyone. It couldn't find a heartbeat."
"Hoping the spell malfunctioned," Jesse took over, "we conjured a screen showing the Dallas nome, and it had been leveled."
"And you feared the worst," Sadie finished, putting her hand on her forehead. "Yeah. Right sorry about worrying you, but your spell didn't malfunction. I was dead for about two minutes after summoning Ma'at."
"You did what?" Machaela's jaw hit the floor as Sadie nodded a bit sheepishly.
"Apophis attacked, and the building was going to crumble. It was the only way."
Machaela shook her head. "Even with an affinity for Divine Words, I've never dared try that. The spell requires a great deal of magic, heightened by adrenaline. It's a true do-it-or-die spell."
Sadie just shrugged, obviously not really wanting to talk about it. Considering only the five closest to Sadie survived an attack by Apophis, the spell had evidently saved them from certain death.
Neither Machaela nor Jesse had an immediate reply. Given a chance, Sadie excused herself, claiming she needed to get ready for school the next morning.
Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review!
To Shadowdragon9802, thank you very much for the review (and the compliment!) In answer to your question, probably not. This story focuses on Machaela and Jesse's time away from the rest of their family. To see the other half of the story, you'd want to read Life of a Demigod. The other stories in the LoD verse are short plot-snippets related to the main LoD timeline