Cairo, Egypt
Six months later
Egypt. Land of heat and sand, pyramids and pharaohs. Where past mingled with present, and legends and myths had a tendency to be far too real for comfort.
Lady Cordelia Alverton Purdy wished she'd never heard of the place as she picked her way through the hotel lobby, looking for her sister Christina and frowning when she did not see her. Cordelia had arrived to Cairo three days ago, and when she had checked in to the hotel there had been a message waiting for her from Christina, saying that they would meet in the lobby at nine o'clock in the evening today. Christina was almost an hour late.
Cordelia went to the front desk to inquire whether there were any messages for her; there were none. Not feeling like going up to her room yet Cordelia told the receptionist that she would be in the garden if anyone asked for her, and that any messages that might come were to be delivered to her immediately.
Cordelia tightly clamped down the irritation she felt. Christina probably had a good reason to be late, she usually did those occasion she didn't show up in time. And she had promised to help her figure the dreams she's been having the past months; it was likely that whatever was the reason she was late, it had something to do with them.
Just the thought of those dreams made Cordelia shiver. Why that would be, she did not know. She remembered a few bits and pieces from them, and a name, but nothing tangible. Or at least, Christina had said it was a name when she had told her about the dreams. How she knew that, Cordelia had not known, and had not ask. She did not want to know.
In 1913, the Alverton family - sisters Christina and Cordelia, and their parents - had moved to Cairo for four years when their father, a doctor, had taken a position in a hospital there. Christina had been fascinated with the land, the people and their stories of times long ago and pharaohs long dead, of myths and legends of magic and riches beyond imagination.
Not so Cordelia: all she had wanted was to return to London, back to civilization and her friends and life there. Unlike Christina, she had always shied away from even the faintest suggestion of mystery and adventure - which always seemed to find the Alverton family, thanks to their parent's never-ending quest to see and learn of new and exiting places. Never had she felt the need to see beyond the myths and legends, to learn what truths might lay behind them. As far as Cordelia was concerned, such truths were best left where they belonged: in history. To her Egypt was just another undesirable place to be, filled with old ruins, oppressing heat and sand that invaded everywhere. The day she had been sent off to England to live with friends of the family - after months of begging, persuading, cajoling and threatening - had been the happiest day of her life.
Since that day five years ago the sisters' lives had taken different paths from one another: Cordelia was married to a wealthy man and lived in a big sprawling house an hour's train ride from London. She enjoyed her surprise-free existence, and the security of Richard's wealth, love and steady mindset. And if, in her weakest moments, life felt a bit boring, well, that was the price she was more than willing to pay for security and constancy.
Christina, on the other hand, rarely set foot on England's soil. At first she had traveled with their parents to various exotic places. She had acted as their father Rogan's assistant, and then after his death, she had continued to travel on her own or with friends, visiting Cordelia and their mother Eleanor - who had after the death of her husband decided to live in London - every now and then. The last two years though, she had mainly traveled the Mediterranean coastline of Europe, staying always a bit longer in the next place than the last, and Cordelia had found herself wondering whether Christina might find a place - or a person - to settle down.
Deep in thought, Cordelia did not notice how several of the people in the lobby cast furtive glances at her; she was too used to it to take notice anymore. As a tall and big boned woman and slim to the extreme, she tended to draw glances wherever she went. She had chestnut brown hair, clear brown eyes and strong facial features that hinted at stubbornness. Her creamy complexion testified to the fact that she carefully protected herself against the reaching rays of the sun. She was smartly dressed in an ivory colored tailored summer dress of latest fashion, complemented with a pure white blouse, fine leather boots and a matching purse. Wide brimmed straw hat covered her hair and shaded her eyes and face from the sun. She exuded an air untouchability and calm that was as noticeable as her height... but if one looked closely enough, one could detect a hint of distress in the clear brown eyes.
When the dreams had started nearly six months ago, Cordelia had felt in her bones that they were somehow connected to Egypt, even though try as she might she could only remember the word dahak from them. At first the dreams had been few and far between, often even weeks passed by without them, and Cordelia had been able to ignore them, believing they would stop in due time. They had not.
Cordelia had not told anyone about the dreams. Only Richard, her husband, knew of them but because they slept in separate bedrooms even he thought they had stopped a long time ago. She couldn't bring herself to talk about them to anyone. Not until Christina's last visit three weeks ago.
Cordelia had awakened to her own scream and Christina, having heard the scream, had rushed in, armed with a pistol. There had been a fierce look in her eyes that had scared her almost more than the nightmare. She had been relieved when that look had faded when the other woman learned it had been only a nightmare that had made her scream. Then Christina had persuaded Cordelia to tell her about the dream, and spurred on by a glass of hot chocolate shot with a touch of brandy, Cordelia had, telling everything she could remember about the dreams. When she finally had quieted, Christina had been quiet for a long while, and when she had finally spoken it was to say that DaHak wasn't a word, it was a name. She had also promised that she would do her best to find out why Cordelia should be having these dreams.
The next morning a telegram had arrived for Christina, and she had departed for London immediately, ignoring the questions Cordelia had asked about the telegram and about her promise last night, and about what she thought those dreams were. She had been gone for two days. Upon her return she had said that she had to go to Cairo and that she could not explain why, but Cordelia's best chance to find out about the dreams would be to come with her. Reluctantly she had agreed, but because there were things she had to take care of first, Christina had went ahead, after extracting a promise from Cordelia to follow as soon as possible.
And that was how she found herself back on Egypt's soil. And somehow, to her dismay, it felt as if she never had left. The cacophony of voices - she had heard at least four different being languages spoken almost shouted in the bazaar she had been to yesterday, the spicy smells of humans, animals and foodstuffs all mixed together, even the heat that made her clothes stick to her skin, were all familiar.
The thought made her shudder.
The sooner Christina got here, the sooner they could figure what was going on - if anything - and she, Cordelia, could get out of here, back to where she belonged. *Christina, wherever you are, please, hurry!*, she thought as she settled into a chair in the hotel's garden.
~*~
An alleyway in Cairo
Christina whipped around ducking under the demons arm and smashed her fist in the unprotected spot on the side of its skull, just above the ear. The effect was immediate: the demon stopped and teetered on its feet, howling in pain and rage as it raised claw-like hands to cradle its head. Then it crashed down to the ground where it lay twitching, unable to control the spasming of its limbs or body. This k'tginka demon was harmless for the moment, but because she hadn't hit it with enough force to kill it she would have to finish it off another way.
Ten feet down the alley scimitars were loudly and repeatedly clashing as her colleague Douglas Mosely battled another k'tginka demon. The demon was loosing the fight. Christina kept an eye on them as well as the demon she had taken out as she went to retrieve her own scimitar from where it had landed when she had thrown it to kill another k'tginka demon. As she bent to pick it up came the feeling of being watched.
Swirling around ready to fight Christina studied the alleyway, taking in everything: the now silent k'tginka lying on the ground, the man and the demon trying to kill one another, the dark windows of the houses on both sides of the alley, and the closed door on the left. Staring intently in the shadows under the balcony of the two-story house on the right and then to one end of the alley, and then to the other, she tried to spy a shape darker than the darkness around it, anything shifting in the shadows that would caught eye. She stood still and waited.
Nothing.
Still, it was only a matter of time before someone would hear the sounds of battle and came to investigate. It would be preferable to finish the demons and vacate the alley before that happened. No witnesses, no innocent bystanders knowing what they were better off not knowing. Not many people could handle the knowledge of existence of beings such as demons.
The demon Douglas was fighting now was clearly a young one, probably not even a year old yet, and it was already getting tired. Douglas was more than a match for it in both skill and stamina even having fought and sent back to Other Side an older k'tginka before the one he was fighting now. The k'tginka demons were easier to kill the younger they were, and the four that had attacked them tonight had been the youngest Christina had ever met. They hadn't even had the sense to wear helmets to protect their vulnerable skulls, and fighting them hadn't been particularly taxing on her - it just took some time.
Standing back Christina watched the demon and Douglas fight for a moment. It was nearing its end now, the enthusiasm with which the demon had fought at first all but disappeared. She thought she could see in its face the beginning of realization that it would not survive the night.
Christina flexed the fingers of her right hand as if she could shake away the memory of feeling tissue and bone give under her fist as it made contact with the demon's skull. There were things she still hadn't gotten used to regardless how many demons she had fought over the years, and the feeling of nausea when she was forced to feel how tissue and bone turning to mush when she hit a k'tginka demon in its vulnerable head spot was one of them. That was just as well, she thought, as she walked back to where the demon she had taken down lay. It was one of the things that separated her from the creatures of Darkness.
The inhumanly glowing green eyes of the k'tginka focused on her as Christina stopped beside it. She could see that the healing process had already begun but the creature was still helpless. If given enough time, it would heal completely.
Hatred and loathing for all things human burned in it's inhumanly bright green eyes as it looked up at her. She raised the scimitar to deliver the blow that would send it back to Other Side. The demon hissed in rage. Then suddenly, its eyes unfocused and it tilted its head to one side as if listening to a voice only it could hear. Then the inhuman eyes focused back on her again, and it rasped in difficult Arabic, "I have a message for you... Christina...". The creature made her name sound like a slow, dark caress, and against her better judgement Christina froze, meeting the demon's eerily glowing eyes.
"How do you know my name?" She asked in the same language. The demon smiled a cold smile.
"Your lineage is well known to us, slayer. After all you and yours have done, it should be..." the words rolled with difficulty off its tongue; it was not used to speaking in a human language.
Rational part of her said to destroy the demon now. Known for the hatred of all things inhabiting this plane the k'tginka demons took every opportunity to disrupt it in any which way they could, no matter how small... hence anything this one had to say to her was to be regarded with suspicion. But, morbidly curious to hear what more it would say she waited for it to continue. Besides, maybe it would let slip something that would give them more clues to the location of the Eye of Light and Kyriakides who had stolen it.
"Your dear sister will make up for all that when she fulfills her destiny... oh yes, I forgot... You don't know do you. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. The priestess Nemehora thanks you for bringing her here."
Christina's head had snapped up on the mention of her sister.
"What do you know of my sister, demon?"
The demon made a sound that could have been a chuckle.
"She will follow the Eye, slayer."
"The Eye? You mean the Eye of Light? What's my sister got do with the Eye of Light?"
"You'll find out soon, and then she'll be one of us, Christina..." The green eyes bore into her own.
Christina prepared to deliver the final blow.
"My sister will never be one of you, demon."
The demon laughed in answer. But it stopped abruptly as Christina swung the scimitar and cut off the demon's head in one smooth move. The body and head turned to dust as the demon's spirit returned to Other Side.
A muffled sound made Christina turn around quickly towards the closer end of the alleyway. There was a Arab boy of about twelve years of age standing there, almost hidden in the shadows under the balcony. His eyes flicked back and forth between Christina, Douglas and the demon he was fighting. Then those bright black eyes suddenly stopped on Christina as he saw that she had noticed him. In a swirl of his black robes he turned and was gone.
It must have been him she had sensed earlier.
Christina turned to where Douglas and the k'tginka were still fighting, intending to help him finish it off. Instead she was just in time to see him neatly cut off the demon's head. Winded, Douglas looked around him and then at her:
"That's it? You got the others?"
"Yes." Christina surveyed the alley for telltale signs of the demons or the fight. There were none; the k'tginka demons didn't bleed and neither she nor Douglas had been cut. "But we were seen. By a young Arab boy." Apart from a layer of fine dust - that no-one would pay attention to unless they knew to look for it - on the ground and on their clothes there was no sign of such creatures ever having being there. That left only the boy to worry about. "What if he goes to the authorities? We don't exactly have a say over them. No yet anyway."
"Hoffman's working on it. Besides, who'd believe the boy? I mean, demons!" Douglas shrugged, "They'll think he made it up."
"They don't have to believe him. All they have to do is ask a few questions from a few right people and they'll get a lot more clearer picture than what's good for them. And our job gets that much more difficult." Christina pointed out. "We should've established a presence here a long time ago."
The reason that there was no established Covenant presence in Egypt was simply that there had been no need for it. The habitants of the Other Side appeared to actively avoid this particular corner of the world. There were theories, stories and legends as to why, but no-one seemed to know for certain, or if they did, they weren't talking.
"It hasn't been necessary until now." Douglas frowned as they both put their scimitars away in their belts and dusted their clothes. According to the Covenant researchers, the sudden appearance of demon activity during the last three months meant that the second phase of resurrecting the demon-god DaHak, if that indeed was what Kyriakides intended, had begun. They had also said that because of the dreams somehow, Christina's sister was part of it.
"Yeah, I know. But still, it should have been done six months ago when the Eye was stolen. They must've known it would lead us back here, even if Kyriakides had us chase him around the Mediterranean after that first sighting here. DaHak's temple was in here in the ancient times." Christina pulled the cloak she wore upon her clothes more securely around herself to cover the various weapons she carried. Douglas did the same as they exited the alley heading towards the hotel where her sister Cordelia would be waiting.
"We think it was, we don't know for sure. What were you chatting with the demon about?"
A raspy demon laughter echoed in Christina's ears: She will be one of us...
Suddenly she was anxious to see to Cordelia, to know that she was alright. She quickened her pace.
"Come on, I'll tell you on the way."