Horus

Ah, flying. After spending so long in the Rosetta Stone, I can't believe I can feel the wind against my feathers again. I finally feel like I'm free again. We sail on the cold air currents above the rooftops of Paris. We can see the river, the Louvre Museum, the gardens and palaces. And a mouse—yum.

Hang on, Carter thinks to himself. Not hunting mice.

Unfortunately, he's right. We zero in on Desjardin's mansion. Carter tucks in his wings and shoots downwards. Right towards the rooftop garden and the double glass doors leading inside. He hesitates for a second.

"Don't stop. " I tell him. " It's an illusion. You've got to punch through their magic barriers."

We ram straight into the doors and sail through them as if they didn't exist. Carter spreads wings and lands on a table. Sadie sails in right behind us.

We are alone in the middle of a library. So far, so good.

Carter closes his eyes and concentrates on his human form. When he opens his eyes again, he's back to normal. The boy has a natural, I'm almost surprised.

Sadie is still a kite.

"You can turn back now," Carter tells her.

She tilts her head and lets out a frustrated croak.

Carter cracks a smile. "You can't, can you? You're stuck?"

She pecks his hand with her extremely sharp beak.

"Ow! It's not my fault. Keep trying."

She closes her eyes and ruffles her feathers until she looks like she's going to explode, but stays a kite.

"Don't worry," Crater says, trying to keep a straight face. "Bast will help once we get out of here."

"Ha—ha—ha."

"Just keep watch. I'm going to look around."

The room is huge. The furniture is from dark mahogany. It looks like a traditional at-home library, unlike the usual magician honeycomb chambers. Though Desjardins might want to rethink that decision. Even though the wall is covered with floor-to-ceiling bookcases, the books overflow onto the floor. Some are stacked on tables or stuffed into smaller shelves. There is a big easy chair by the window.

With every step, the floor creaks. With every creek, Carter winces. Aside from the rooftop, the only other exit is a solid wooden door that locks from the inside. Carter turns the deadbolt, then wedges a chair up under the handle. It's unlikely to stop magicians, but every second we can get is precious.

We search the bookshelves. With how chaotic Desjardin's library is, no wonder Set chose him as a host. There is no logic to how the books are arranged. Nothing is alphabetized, nothing is numbered. Most of the titles are in French. Makes sense. None are in hieroglyphs.

Bummer. I was hoping for something with big gold lettering that says 'THE BOOK OF THOTH'.

"No such luck."

"What would a Book of Thoth even look like?" Carter wonders out loud.

Sadie turns her head and glared at him. I'm pretty sure this means to hurry up.

It would be easier if there was a shabti to fetch things, like in uncle's… Doughboy!

Carter swings his father's bag off his shoulder. He takes out the magic box, leaves it on the table and slides the lid open. Then he picks up the little figurine and says "Doughboy, help me find The Book of Thoth in this library."

His waxy eyes open immediately. "And why should I help you?"

"Because you have no choice."

"I hate that argument! Fine—hold me up. I can't see the shelves."

Carter walks him around the room.

"Hold it!" Doughboy announces. "This one is ancient—right here."

Carter pulls down a thin volume bound in linen. It's so small, we probably would've missed it, but sure enough, the front cover is inscribed in hieroglyphics. Carter brings it over to the table and carefully opens it. It looks more like a map than a book, unfolding into four parts. We are looking at a wide, long papyrus scroll with writing so old the ink is fading.

Carter glances at Sadie. "I bet you could read this to me if you weren't a bird."

She tries to peck him again, but he moves away. "Doughboy, what is this scroll?"

"A spell lost in time!" the shabti pronounces. "Ancient words of tremendous power!"

"Well? Does it tell how to defeat Set?"

"Better! The title reads: The Book of Summoning Fruit Bats!"

Carter stares at him. "Are you serious?"

"Would I joke about such a thing?"

"Who would want to summon fruit bats?"

"Ha—ha—ha," Sadie croaks.

Carter pushes the scroll away and the search begins again. After about ten minutes, Doughboy squeals with delight.

"Oh, look! I remember this painting."

It's a small oil portrait in a gilded frame, hanging on the end of a bookshelf. It's bordered by little silk curtains. Light shines upon the portrait dude's face so he seems about to tell a ghost story.

"Isn't that the guy who plays Wolverine?" Carter asks.

At this point we're too deep into the story for me to say I'm not with him.

"You disgust me!" Doughboy says. "That is Jean-François Champollion."

"The guy who deciphered hieroglyphics from the Rosetta Stone."

"Of course. Desjardins' great uncle."

Carter looks at the portrait again. "Great uncle? But wouldn't that make Desjardins—"

"About two hundred years old," Doughboy confirms. "Still a youngster. You know that when Champollion first deciphered hieroglyphics, he fell into a coma for five days? He became the first man outside the House of Life to ever unleash their magic, and it almost killed him. Naturally, that got the attention of the First Nome. Champollion died before he could join the House of Life, but the Chief Lector accepted his descendants for training. Desjardins is very proud of his family...but a little sensitive too, because he's such a newcomer."

"That's why he didn't get along with our family," Carter guesses. I wonder when someone will break it up to him. "We're like...ancient."

Doughboy cackles. "And your father breaking the Rosetta Stone? Desjardins would've viewed that as an insult to his family honor! Oh, you should've seen the arguments Master Julius and Desjardins had in this room."

"You've been here before?"

"Many times! I've been everywhere. I'm all-knowing."

It's not hard to imagine Julius and Desjardins having an argument here.

If Desjardins hates our family, and if gods tend to find hosts who share their goals, then it makes total sense that Set would try to merge with him. Both want power, both are resentful and angry, both want to smash Sadie and me to a pulp. And if Set is now secretly controlling the Chief Lector.. I want out of this mansion.

I'm about to answer him, when a loud banging sound below us cuts me off. Someone closing a door downstairs.

"Show me where The Book of Thoth is," Carter orders Doughboy. "Quick!"

The longer Doughboy is active, the hotter the clay he's made of gets. I kinda wish he'd melt, because the shabti just won't shut up.

"Ah, Mastery of the Five Elements!"

"Is that the one we want?" Carter asks.

"No, but a good one. How to tame the five essential elements of the universe—earth, air, water, fire, and cheese!"

"Cheese?"

Doughboy scratches his wax head. "I'm pretty sure that's the fifth, yes. But moving right along!"

We turn to the next shelf. "No," he announces. "No. Boring. Boring. Oh, Clive Cussler! No. No. There!"

Carter freezes. "Where—here?"

"The blue book with the gold trim," Doughboy says. "The one that's—"

Carter pulls it out, and the entire room begins to shake.

"—trapped," Doughboy continues.

Sadie squawks urgently. We turn to see her take flight. Something small and black swoops down from the ceiling. Sadie clashes with it in midair, and the black thing disappears down her throat.

But we didn't have time for hunting mice before coming here? Not fair. Alarms blare downstairs.

More black forms drop from the ceiling. They seem to multiply in the air, swirling into a funnel cloud of fur and wings.

"There's your answer," Doughboy says. "Desjardins would want to summon fruit bats. You mess with the wrong books, you trigger a plague of fruit bats. That's the trap!"

The bats lunge for Carter. They dive at his face and crawl at his arms. He clutches the books and runs to the table, but it's hard to see.

"Sadie, get out of here!" Carter yells.

"SAW!" she cries and flies away.

Somehow, Carter manages to find the workbag and shoves the book and Doughboy inside.

The library door rattles. Voices yell in French.

Horus, bird time! And no emu, please!

Without waiting for an answer, Carter runs for the glass doors. The moment his feet leave the ground, we're flying. With the senses of a falcon I can tell the bats didn't stay behind. And they're angry. But falcons are wicked fast. We race north in an attempt to draw the bats away from Sadie and Bast. Carter decides to outdistance the bats, but let them keep close enough that they wouldn't give up. Then, with a burst of speed, we turn in a tight circle and shot back toward Sadie and Bast. Bast looks up in surprise as Carter drops on the sidewalk, tumbling over himself while changing into a human. Sadie catches his arm. She's finally back to normal.

"That was awful!" she announces.

"Exit strategy, quick!" Carter points at the sky, where an angry black cloud of fruit bats is getting closer and closer.

"The Louvre." Bast grabs Carter and Sadie's hands. "It's got the closest portal."

Three blocks away. We'll never make it.

The red door of Desjardins' house blasts open. We don't wait to see what will come out of it as we run down the rue des Pyramides.