Chapter five:
The evening was hot, and the wind that blew carried with it the smell of the desert. The sun was a huge red sphere hanging just above the river whose water in the reflection seemed almost bloody.
Ha'Ra'Hotep took a deep breath to steady himself. He was a tall man with olive colored skin, his hair had he had any would have been black, however his most startling feature was a pair of startling green eyes, a most unusual color among his people. He was clad in the white of a priest and he stood just in front of the lower entrance to the temple of Ra in Giza.
"It shall be dark soon" remarked the priest standing next to him, "are you ready young one?" he inquired gently.
"I think I am, in any case I know this is ready as I ever will be", Ha'Ra'Hotep replied.
"Yes, that is most likely" agreed the priest.
"These are dark times young one, in past times there would have been a crowd here and a procession in the streets of Giza in honor of the possible making of a new high priest. We would have come here with honor and song, not skulking in the dark like a couple of thieves" said the priest with passion.
"Yes, these are dark times" Ha'Ra'Hotep replied "and yet I can't really say I'm sorry that there is no pomp and crowds, I'm nervous enough as it is".
"Perhaps" conceded the priest.
Just then the sun had finally drowned itself in the water of the Nile leaving the world in darkness, and in the hands of Seth, and the doors to the temple.
"It is time my friend, go now and may Ra aid you in your journey, and protect you at all times" the priest finished fervently.
Ha'Ra'Hotep didn't answer instead he took another deep breath and entered the temple.
As he walked down the pathway which lead to the maze underneath the temple, he tried to keep his mind busy by reflecting on the significance of this day. He was seventeen and the youngest man ever to attempt the crossing if the maze of Ra, in ordinary times he would never even get the chance to do it, but then these were no ordinary times.
The conquerors had ruled Egypt for almost 200 years now, bringing with them death, torment, and the rule of foreign gods, the worshiped Seth and ruled from Avaris, his city in the delta. They brought with them the cult of Moloch and Anath. And with it came rape, carnage and the sacrificing of babes. For 200 years chaos ruled Egypt, and the law of Ma'at which the gods gave to Egypt to flourish by was forsaken. The temples of Ra, Isis, Horus, Osiris and Amun found fewer and fewer disciples, and at places even clear persecution.
Ha'Ra'Hotep's face became grim as he contemplated this and as always his thoughts drifted back to the pact he made with his friend Tanith when they were ten. They had come home one day to find out that Tanith's mother had been taken against her will to serve in the cult of Anath, Ha'Ra'Hotep's father had tried to defend her but he had been killed his body was then mutilated and hung out in the street. Both he and Tanith had become orphans that day and so they decided to be each other's family, a decision they sealed with a blood oath and a promise.
They had promise revenge on the conquerors, and to stop this things from ever happening again, to anyone.
And now Ha'Ra'Hotep moved a step closer to this objective, for if he would pass the maze, his new status as high priest would allow him to organize the priests against the conquerors just as Tanith who had joined the army was secretly building an army against them.
And with that goal in mind he plunged into the maze.
Seven years later…
Ha'Ra'Hotep gazed on the massed armies from his perch on the horse on the hills. He was dressed in a white priest robe that was edged in gold marking his status as the high priest. His right hand held a Hieroglyph covered staff while his left hand rested on his thigh.
"They seem ready" he remarked top the man riding next to him. The man had black hair and eyes and was clad in the red of a warrior.
"As ready as they ever will be" the warrior replied and then added gently "They are good boys though and are eager to fight. All should go well" he continued "as long as we shall have the protection of the priests".
"You have it Tanith, rest easy our magic shall be at your service today" Ha'Ra'Hotep reassured him.
"The priests are eager to return to the reign of Osiris and Horus and to end this accursed age of Seth" he continued.
"Yes, I know, I know I guess I'm just edgy I have been waiting a long time for this day" Tanith replied with a sigh.
"We both had, my friend and now it could finally be over. Should we win this battle we will take Avaris and break the last stronghold of the conquerors in Egypt and they shall be forced to leave.
"May Ra grant it will be so and may Sch'emet fight with us today" Tanith said fiercely.
There was a clear sound from the battleground below and Ha'Ra'Hotep turned to his friend. "Come Tanith the first horn has sounded. The time for words has ended, and the time for the clash of swords and magic. May Ra goes with you brother" He finished
"And with you brother, and with you" Tanith replied with a half smile the clasped each other's forearms and the turned to join their men.
~ One month later…
"You are crazy, all of you, simply crazy. I can't do it, I won't!"
Ha'Ra'Hotep stood at the court of the great temple of Ra in Na Amoun. The battle and the war were finally over and the last remains of the conquerors were fleeing Egypt. Order was slowly returning to the land but as long as the throne stood empty the law of Ma'at could not be complete.
"Come on 'Tep, you know it's for the best, in fact it's your duty and honor" Tanith answered using his best persuasive voice.
"No way Tanith, no bloody way, and if it such a big honor why don't you do it you are much more suited to this than me. Ha'Ra'Hotep shot back.
"Really 'Tep think for a while will you" Tanith sighed at him "I can't do this because first I'm not a priest and that's a crucial part of the job. Secondly "I'm a warrior nothing more nothing less and we don't need a military man at the post right now. Thirdly I don't have the skills or the temper for the job all of which you have and in plenty. Tep you are the most skilled man for the job!"
"But…" Ha'Ra'Hotep started to say only to be cut by Tanith.
"Seriously 'Tep can you honestly and with out any bias think of any man more suited for it?"
At this Ha'Ra'Hotep shut up and searched in his mind trying to find an answer to Tanith's challenge.
"What about Meropes?" he offered tentatively.
"Come on 'Tep you know he is too old to do this"
Yes he knew it but still he struggled "Arisis?"
"Please" Tanith snorted, "that man couldn't find his way for the privates without a manual. Now stop grasping at straws and be a man and face it" He told Ha'Ra'Hotep in an annoyed tone.
And Tep was forced to admit defeat.
"All right, all right I'll do it" he told to his now openly smiling friend "you just don't have to be so bloody happy about it".
"Wonderful" Tanith said clearly ignoring his friend earlier remark. "I knew you'd come around, the coronation will be in two days".
At this Tep simply groaned and put his hands on his face his only consolation was the level of revenge he would be able to extract from his friend with his new status as pharaoh.
Tanith was laughing even harder at him apparently guessing Tep's thoughts in fact he was laughing so hard he was practically on the floor.
The thoughts on revenge just kept getting more and more appealing to Tep and he amused himself by picturing all the horrible ways he could pay back to his fiend.
The future seemed suddenly much more interesting, not peaceful mind you! But much, much more interesting.
* * *
Harry woke up with a start; he looked at the clock by the bed it was one am. The dream stood clear in his mind as he contemplated it for a while thinking about the trials and battles and on his friend, Tanith. For some reason his thoughts kept coming back to Ron it was a though there was a connection between the two as if they were akin, alike infact it was almas though they were the same person. He fell back on his bed trying to work out the meaning of this he was still thinking on it when he fell asleep again.
He stood in a dark large room there was a smell of decay in the air accompanied by a feeling of moisture. He could fell a sort of presence and was about to investigate it when his attention was diverted by what happened at the far side of the room. Voldemort stood there surrounded by half a dozen death eaters.
"Are the plans set Malfoy?" he asked with an oily cold voice.
"They are all set my lord" Malfoy answered in a small respectful voice "in three days the dementors will leave Azakaban and join your army"
"Good Malfoy, very good" Voldemort seemed to be talking to a favorite pet.
"Nott" he addressed the man on the left "what have you accomplished so far" Voldemort's voice seemed to take a dangerous edge to it.
"We have secured an area in Bosnia and disposed of all the muggles in the area it was quite, amusing" he lingered on the word almost tasting it. Harry shuddered as he contemplated the fate of all these poor people and a rage began to burn at the pit of his belly. Voldemort as about to answer to Nott when he raised his head and stared at the place Harry stood at the far end of the room. "Well" he said in a clod hiss with a hint of amusement in his voice "if dreams is what you want Potter than nightmares you shall have". He muttered an incantation that Harry couldn't make out and a purple light shot out of the wand and hit Harry and he could feel himself falling, dimly he could feel the presence he had felt earlier pulled with him, falling with him.
He was three years old and he was alone in the cupboard below the stairs, it was his birthday. Outside he could hear the Durselys (a/n: spelling?) they were talking about something he couldn't make out and Harry longed to be with them, to be accepted, to belong. He remembered Dudely's Birthday and all the presents he got dozens of them and now there wasn't even one present for Harry. "Happy birthday Harry" he whispered to himself and started to cry quietly so that he will not anger his uncle.
He was eight and in school and they were laughing at him, "Freak" they called him as they pushed him roughly between them. "Harry scarry" they laughed at him and the shoves became rougher and rougher until he fell to the floor and they were laughing at him and kicking at him.
"No you can't have it good for nothing freaks don't deserve toys"
"Don't touch any of Dudely's staff"
"No you can't have a second dish you're taking away from my Dudely"
"Look how talented Dudley is you could never be like him, never!"
"Your parents were happy to die so they would not have to raise a miserable boy like you"
"Freak! Freak!" "Harry scarry, Harry scarry" "good for nothing wretch" "your parent's were glad to die…" "you will never be anything, anything!" "Freak! Freak!"
The worst moments in his life all came back to hunt him, to torment him and he couldn't stop it.
And it changed
He was at the cemetery and the voice said, "kill the spare" and he watched Cedric die again and again and again and the scene played itself out. But when the visions came out of the wand they were accusing "you killed me" Cedric told him repeating it in a monotone voice as his body decayed in front of Harry's eyes. "If you weren't born we would still be alive" his mother told him in an assuasive voice "if it weren't for you Sirius wouldn't have gone to Azakaban his father said they were all crowding him accusing him "if it weren't for you Voldemort wouldn't have come back. "I'm sorry" was all Harry could whisper back "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" he curled to a ball his hands on his ears as he rocked himself slowly "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" he kept mumbling.
Suddenly he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder he grasped at it and felt a sudden sharp pain in his hand and he was hurled back… back…back…
Harry woke in his bed he was sweating all over, in his right hand were he had grasped the hands of the presence there was a mark, a simple scar. It was split open and was bleeding on his be. He looked at it for a while in amazement he remembered it from his dream it was the scar from the blood oath Tanith and him had swore and it was back here with him and he couldn't help being comforted from it's presence despite all the questions it raised.
Author notes:
Okay first I want to say I'm sorry for the delay I had a bit of a block.
Now as you could see this chapter deals mainly with Egypt and there are some things I need to explain to make it clearer.
First I need to say that this chapter is loosely (and I mean loosely :) ) on the history of ancient Egypt.
It was under foreign control for 200 years but the Hyksos (as the conquerors were called) were not the embodiment of evil as I portrayed them here they were pretty much normal men who just happened to be foreign however the story needed true evil so they were it.
About the gods of Egypt:
Ra or Amun Ra was the god of the sun and sort of the head of the Egyptian pantheon he could be used to portray light as the forces of good.
Seth is more or less the enemy of Ra, he is one of the gods of chaos and so was hated by the orderly Egyptian his city was Avaris, it was in the delta and it was the capital of the Hyksos. He contended with Osiris and Horus for the rule of the world.
Osiris was the brother of Seth and the ruler of this world he was killed by Seth and resurrected by his wife and sister Isis.
Isis was goddess of love (I think) mostly known for her resurrection of her husband.
Horus is the son of Osiris he fought for Osiris throne with Seth after Osiris was killed.
Ma'at is the daughter of Ra she is the portrayal of heavenly law and harmony. It was the job of the Pharaoh to uphold Ma'at in the land.
Na Amun is the Egyptian name to Thebai, which served as the capital of Egypt.
Foreign gods
There was an insertion of foreign gods to Egypt at some time I'm just not sure if it was these two.
Moloch- He was a cnnaanite god who was infamous for the fact that he was worshiped by the sacrificing of first-born children.
Anath- a cnnaanite goddess. Though she may stand alone she is usually seen as an aspect of Ashtoret goddess of love and wife of Baal. Anath is the warrior aspect of Ashtoret But she also have in her cult the love aspect, while even in Ashtoret's rituals you find ritual coupling or rape the form of ritual of Anath is much more hmm violent and with fewer boundaries or none at all. So you get the drift.
If I'm wrong in any of the above feel free to correct me in fact you're welcome to it.
My second note is a big thank you for all the reviews I really appreciate it.
And third I have a real easy question: any one want's to guess who was the presence was?
Thanks again and goodbye
~ Namwolf