Balancing Act

There is always a price to immortality.

From The Harvester's Journal

As soon as Ardeth could travel, they removed themselves from the O'Connell residence. They knew that it was only a matter of time before someone made a chance remark to someone they shouldn't and bring the entire cult of Akethros down about their ears.

Soralis frowned as she scanned the horizon. They were a couple of days away from Hamanaptra and camped in a small, ruined city. She could count at least one hundred tents, and sense about two hundred or so individuals in the camp at any one time.

At Ardeth's insistence, she had dressed like they did, to confuse any scrying attempts by their enemies and the more mundane aerial surveillance.

She grimaced as Ardeth strode up to her. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Should be asking the same of you." She retorted. "Yeah. Just feeling itchy." She said. "Like something I should be doing, or am missing."

"They may try to take Hamanaptra." She said thoughtfully, echoing his thoughts. "But I'm not sure that's what they're going to do."

"I hate it when you do that." He muttered.

"Oh?" she asked

"Reading my mind. It's very… Disconcerting." Ardeth told her dryly.

She started to laugh, but suddenly lost all motor ability as pain seized her. She crumpled and was caught by a surprised Ardeth before she hit the ground.

She was floating high above the Sahara desert; the rising sun was at her back as she stood atop the Great Pyramid. The view canted crazily as she was pushed, ever pushed westward. She could feel herself falling into a rocky valley with the Great Pyramid in sharp relief behind her.

She felt herself being pushed down the valley until it reached a dead end, in what appeared to be a rock-fall. Instead, whatever it was behind her pushed her through the rock fall and into a great cavern. In the center of the cavern was a throne made of black marble.

Sitting In the throne was a powerfully built man in the robes of an Egyptian king. On his right side was a balance. He looked at her in surprise and shock.

"Isisethren…." He murmured. Bright white light swamped her.

She found herself lying flat on her back, in her own tent. Ardeth and his grandmother were bending over her.

"Shoo!" she snapped. "I need light Ardeth. You are blocking me!" she said and he moved out of her way abashed.

"I'm alright…" she tried, but it came out as a croak.

The old woman sighed as she tilted a glass of water to Soralis' mouth and helped her drink it down. "What happened?" she asked.

"A vision. They can take me rather strongly." Soralis replied shakily and told them what she saw. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"You were unconscious for five hours." Ardeth replied absently. "That man might be Osiris. It would fit with what we know about you." Ardeth said thoughtfully.

"Five hours?" Soralis sighed. "I think, maybe we should go there. To that valley I mean. That's what I need to do." She tried to get up, but was pushed down by both the old woman and Ardeth.

"Sleep. I think Osiris can wait a day longer to see you." Ardeth said firmly. "I don't want you falling out of your saddle halfway there."

She laughed lightly, feeling drained and exhausted from the vision and the pain it had caused her. "I'm gonna kick the teeth in to whoever is giving me these damned visions."

"Right." Ardeth nodded. "Sleep."

***

Osiris looked at the wavering scene before him. His daughter and her Medjai companions were traveling towards his valley, the entrance to his realm. He scowled, sensing the mark of several other deities intertwined in his daughter's aura.

For thousands of years, the Harvester had been an Egyptian entity, never straying far from Egypt itself. Yet, since Akethros' damned cultists had murdered her, her path had diverged from its chosen course.

He clearly saw her past, saw the events that led her to becoming immortal, her sojourn in hell and in outland. He saw her grow up into a powerful Shadowlord. That surprised him. Surely the lords of the Shadow Realm recognized her for what she was; yet they accepted her. He laughed hollowly. It was a very clever move on their part.

"You can't run her life my lord. She has other responsibilities now." Osiris glared at the jackal headed man beside him.

"That isn't my intention. She needs to know who she is Anubis," Osiris replied. "And what that entails. The Jade Emperor doesn't know everything about the Harvester. And what he doesn't know, could kill her."

"Agreed," Anubis said. "Although, her choice in companions leaves much to be desired."

Osiris laughed. "You're just pissed because those mortals survived your soldiers attempts to eradicate them." He said, indicating Ardeth Bey and his people.

"Don't start." Anubis shot back.

***

Soralis gazed at the valley. It was forbidding, empty of life. Her horse shook its head nervously, not liking whatever it sensed down there. She could feel its fear and the fear of its brothers and sisters.

"The horses aren't going into that valley." She said softly as one of the Medjai tried to spur his horse down the trail leading into the valley. The horse was having none of it. It reared, almost dumping its riding in the dirt.

Ardeth nodded. "I'm going with you." He said softly. She looked at him sharply.

"You don't have to," she replied.

He shrugged. "I know," he gave the orders to make camp at the valley's rim. They made their way into the valley as the sun rose over the Great Pyramid.

***

Ardeth and Soralis stood at the foot of the rock-fall. Both felt a strange, tingling sensation; it was as if the area were supercharged with electricity.

"What the hell is that?" Ardeth demanded softly. "It feels like," he trailed off as he looked at his companion. Soralis' eyes had been swallowed by a pale gold radiance. Her hand shimmered as it neared the rock-fall. She pulled it back and reality snapped back into place.

Soralis blinked several times; her eyes slowly returning to normal. "It is a portal of some kind. The rock-fall, the entire valley is an illusion." She stated calmly. Her voice was strange, as if it echoed across a great distance.

"Soralis?" he touched her arm and she jumped. "It's doing something to you. You shouldn't go in there."

"There's no danger. Not here. Especially here." She amended.

Ardeth scowled, clearly not convinced. She grinned at him. "It's alright Ardeth. Trust me."

"Alright," he said and together they walked into the rock-fall.

***

Both of the stumbled as they entered the cavern. Ardeth had the same sort of fire on ice sensation he had felt when he and Soralis had traveled through the mists that separated the Shadow Realm from the Earth Realm.

Soralis smiled thinly. "You never get used to it. You just learn not to show how it affects you," she said, absently answering his unspoken question.

In the center of the cavern was the throne she had seen in her vision, on it was the same man she had seen earlier. On his right was the balance, Maat; on the left…

"Anubis," Ardeth hissed in recognition. The jackal-headed deity grinned wryly at the mortal.

Soralis bowed. "I have come, father." Soralis told the deity.

"You are most welcome Isisethren," Osiris replied. "As is your companion." Osiris came forward and hugged his daughter.

"I know what you've been through Isisethren," he said softly. "I am very proud of you."

She grinned. "It's Soralis now," she reminded him.

He grinned back. "You shall always be Isisethren to me. No matter how many incarnations you go through or whose daughter you become."

"Why did you call me?" she asked.

He laughed. "You always were rather blunt. I called you here to give you back your past. It's something I believe you will need."

"What past?" she demanded.

Osiris' eyes glowed and she could feel her body crumpling, even as she was swept backwards by a wave of energy.

***

10,000 years ago, Somewhere in Egypt

In a sheltered valley was a beautiful palace; surrounding it were well-kept gardens of every description, fed by a small river that tumbled from a waterfall at the valley's far end.

In one of the palace rooms a younger Osiris paced worriedly. His queen was giving birth. Through heavy gold gilt doors, he could hear Isis' screams, which terminated abruptly. In the next instant, the wails of a newborn filled the air. He burst into the bedchamber.

Supported by thick cushions was Isis, his beloved wife and nestled in her arms was a sleeping, newborn baby. The mid-wife, almost as exhausted as the new mother, grinned at Osiris as she cleaned up the area. "Both of them are well my lord. Congratulations. You have a fine, healthy daughter."

Osiris knelt by his wife. "What shall we call her?" he asked.

"Isisethren," she whispered. He smiled as his wife settled back down, her eyes closing in exhaustion.

7,000 years ago, Giza

Tahmin ducked under the wild swing of her demonic opponent, catching his arm and using the momentum to flip him over her head. She grinned wildly as the Jaffa guard behind her took care of the rest.

"Come on!" she shouted to her followers. "We have to get to the Stargate and bury it before any more get through!"

It was a wild gamble; a desperate one. Ra had ordered her to be wed to Akethros, one of the most vile Ga'ould lords she had ever had the displeasure of meeting. She had refused, knowing full well that she would not survive such an allegiance, leaving her home planet in the hands of a monster.

Beside her, an Anubis guard howled as a bright shaft of light struck it, disintegrating it completely. As they made their way to the Stargate, Tahmin's band of human and non-human warriors shrank from a thousand strong to less than a five hundred.

In the end, her Jaffa warriors fell one by one; giving their human counter- parts the time needed to pull the gate down, cutting the rest of the Akethros soldiers from much needed reinforcements. Tahmin was struck down as the warriors lowered the cap stone into place.

Thebes, 3000 years ago

She was dying. The injuries she had suffered at the hands of Ah-tesu-na were great, too great for the healers to handle. They had made her comfortable, but… Hathor sighed and with great effort turned. Her brother was hunched over her bed, praying. She gripped his hand.

"You must Imhotep." She repeated firmly.

Imhotep looked at his twin. "I can't, you will die." He shook his head vehemently.

She laughed hollowly, gasping as pain wracked her body. She gripped his hand harder, with all the strength she could muster. He gasped as he looked at her fever bright eyes. They were ageless, reflecting the past and future.

"Nothing can stop that brother. Save my son, or Akethros will have won after all." She could feel her body weakening as each moment passed. "Promise me Imhotep!" she whispered hoarsely.

He nodded, tears filling his eyes. "Alright," he murmured as one of the attendants brought a knife, glowing with heat. Hathor grinned wryly as Imhotep kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes, exhaling one last time. A few moments later, a child's wail filled the air as it was lifted from his mother's corpse.

***

Soralis found herself flat on her back with Ardeth peering down at her worriedly. "This is getting tiresome," she croaked as Ardeth helped her up.

Curiously, she found that they were not in the chamber, but on a broken road leading nowhere. "So this isn't normal for you?" he asked mildly, though she could feel the simmering anger behind that mild tone.

She looked around, taking in the view. It was the same as in her dream. Complete to dead moon and dead stars. Soralis shook her head. Deep within, she could feel a tug, a compulsion. She found herself staring down the road. Behind them, the mists pressed close.

"We can't go back Ardeth. This area is ruled by Akethros, the god of torments. If we stay for long in one place, his hounds will catch the scent."

"Can you make it?" he asked.

"I'll have to, won't I?" she grinned at him lopsidedly. Together they began walking down the path.

***

Imhotep looked up, feeling something he hadn't felt in centuries. A change. A feather drifted down out of nowhere, black on white. It hovered in front of him, insubstantial, yet real. He reached out for it and it incandesced, then it was gone.

Maat… he thought. Balance.

Could it be? He wondered.

Something kindled in his heart, a place he thought was long dead.

Hope.

***

Rising out of the mists was a mountainous terrain. The fortress, or what they assumed to be a fortress, was carved out of the living rock; situated high above the path they were on.

"Inviting place," Ardeth commented dryly.

Soralis looked distant. "That's where we need to go," she murmured. Images flickered in her mind. Imhotep. She thought. He was in there. Her brother, her twin. She grimaced. Ardeth wasn't going to be happy about this.

Ardeth looked at her. "You sure?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she replied. He sighed and they began climbing hand over hand up, up towards the fortress. Behind them, they could hear the clear sound of baying hounds.

***

Below them, the clouds roiled with red lightning and the baying sounded closer, ever closer. They were hunched in a small crevice, trying to catch their breath, trying to regain some strength for the final few hundred feet.

"What is it that we're supposed to do here anyway, besides being a target for a fell god?" Ardeth asked as he flexed his injured hand, wincing a little in pain. He was afraid that the burn had split open again. But no, the bandage was still clear of blood.

"Who was the last Harvester of Souls to walk the earth?" she replied.

Ardeth's eyes widened. "Hathor Sit- Isetemkheb, high priestess of Isis." He whispered. "Imhotep's twin!"

"And there has been only one Harvester." She replied.

"We can't rescue him! He will bring about the Armageddon!" He hissed.

"Not this time Ardeth. We will bring him back the right way, with Osiris' blessing. This is what he wants of us Ardeth. If we go up against the Cult of Akethros, we will need Imhotep. I cannot deal with both Audric and Elise alone. Then we have to consider the acolytes, who are more or less magically inclined." She grinned wryly. "Three thousand years is enough punishment. He deserves a chance for atonement."

Ardeth gripped her wrists. "And if he proves traitorous?" he asked her seriously.

"Then parole will be revoked." She replied simply. "Besides, we have no choice,"

"There is that," Ardeth sighed and waited as Soralis leaned out, unsheathing her claws and hooking them into the rock.

***

The last hundred feet was nearly a sheer wall of rock. By then, they had long ago removed their boots as bare feet gave them better purchase on the rock. They went slowly, with Soralis carefully gouging out hand and foot holds with her claws in an otherwise featureless cliff-face.

Finally with one last effort, they pulled themselves up onto solid ground. For several long moments they lay together in a tangled heap, unable to rise, glad to have survived the climb. Soralis frowned as she saw the bandage wrapped around Ardeth's hand was stained red.

"Damn," she breathed. "Ardeth, let me see your hand," she told him.

"It doesn't hurt," he said automatically. Soralis disentangled herself from him and grabbed his wrist. He winced.

"Uh huh," she muttered as she gently unwrapped the bandage. As she suspected, the burn had split open. She calmly ripped a bit of cloth away from her robe and cleaned the hand up, while Ardeth bit his lip to keep from crying out. She quickly ripped a longer strip from her clothing and wrapped it around his hand, trying to be as gentle as possible. "Okay, done."

Ardeth opened his eyes. "Thank you," he said.

They both got up and began exploring the small area they had found themselves in. The two of them discovered that they had climbed up to the back of the fortress, in a little used courtyard. An indifferent trickle of unpleasant smelling water ran through the mouth of a large carving of some demonic entity.

Soralis and Ardeth Bey examined the carving carefully. "Feel that?" Ardeth commented as he held out his hand, testing the breeze that came out of the carving.

Soralis nodded. "It's damp and cold, must lead a fair distance into the fortress." Ardeth nodded in agreement as he took out his scimitar.

"This was your idea," he told her as they cautiously entered the demonic carving's mouth.