Ankhutenshi: Does this count as soon? :-)
Thanks To:
Ankhutenshi: Your everlasting support has inspired me in countless ways. Without you, this story would never even have gotten so far as the name "Khensthoth"! Thank you so much for the names you found for me, which I think make the story that much more real. Kudos to you!
StarWolf333: Your consistent (and slightly insane) reviewing made for lots of fun in trying to find a witty response to insert into the next installment. That provided inspiration all in itself. Massive kudos!
Penny/Dani: You two have your own way of inspiring me. It makes writing a really enjoyable experience for me. Kudos!
All other reviewers/readers: You took time out of your precious lives to read my fic. Makes me all soft and squishy inside. Just like a jelly donut. Uh-oh, I'm hungry now...
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The torchlight was upon him, and there was no way out.
Theoris was trapped here.
He closed his eyes in despair, even though the despair was not entirely his own. I cannot even effectively hide the Millennium Shield for this long?
Of course I cannot. I am a soldier, not an assassin. I have nothing to do with stealth. Only power, and courage. And whatever madness has taken me to deny my life, I must face the consequences with the same courage that I faced battles with.
The torch-bearer came around the corner, and found Theoris standing there.
It was Djedhor.
"Theoris... please stop resisting," he said. "Why have you run so far to protect such a dangerous thing? You know what Khensthoth did. You saw it all, did you not?"
"I did," Theoris responded. "And I hold no remorse in my heart for him where that is concerned. And I know not why I run. Only that I must. The shield wishes to continue existing... thus it has obligated me to keep it safe."
"A shield for a shield. How perverse."
"Nevertheless, I am its protector. Whether I wish to be or not."
Djedhor frowned, but inched closer to Theoris. "You do not wish to protect it?"
"It has bound me to its fate, whether I wish it or not. I could wish any number of ills on it, and should those ills come to haunt the shield, they would come to haunt me, as well. I know this now. It will not let me leave it. It needs a bearer."
"Theoris... those dark riders are the magicians of whom you speak, are they not?"
"They are. And they must not be allowed to gain control of the shield. If they do, disaster would befall anyone in their path."
"All the more reason the shield should be destroyed. So that no one can take control of it."
Theoris shook his head. "That would go against the will of the shield."
"The Millennium Shield!"
Theoris's eyes went wide with horror. "They have found us–!"
A pair of dark-robed magicians stood blocking the only entrance to the vein he and Djedhor now stood in. Each magician slowly unsheathed a long dagger residing in the depths of their cloaks.
Djedhor did not have a weapon with him, save for his magic.
All Theoris possessed was the shield.
Theoris felt frozen in place. He wasn't sure by what. Fear? Despair? Frustration? Anxiety?
"Give us the shield, soldier," one of the magicians uttered.
"I will not," Theoris responded.
"The shield is to be destroyed," Djedhor added. "Do not further insinuate yourselves where you are not welcome."
"An amusing demand, given your lack of defense... Djedhor."
Both Djedhor and Theoris blinked. The former scowled somewhat at the use of his name, rather than the title he'd been given of Court Mage, but upon hearing the magician say his name...
Theoris knew the voice. It had stayed with him since the first day he had appeared before the court with his bizarre proposition.
"Nebankh?"
The magician on the right threw back his hood, and indeed, it was Nebankh. His thin lips pulled back over his mottled teeth in a sadistic smile.
"I suppose I owe a debt of gratitude to you, Theoris," he snarled. "And Khensthoth, as well, if that truly was him I encountered that night. I do not know that my knowledge of the Millennium items would have strayed as far from the palace as it did without the injuries I suffered by the power of the shield."
"Traitor," Djedhor spat. "You side with the power-hungry magicians? Your implications of Theoris's thirst for power were not outrageous enough?"
"Side with the magicians, Djedhor? I am a magician. I am their kin, descended from a line more powerful than yours, than Kenamun's, even than that of the vaunted Pharaoh Himself. And now that the power of the Shadow is within our grasp, I will not be denied what was our birthright to begin with."
Theoris's brow knitted. "Birthright? The power of the Shadow?"
"Yes!" Nebankh hissed. "It was my kin that was to inherit that power! Instead it was given to bloodlines too weak, too corrupt, too blind, and too deaf to know its true potential! The last of our kind to wield the power died long ago; we must get it back!"
Djedhor growled. "Enough."
He brought his hand up and called upon his gifts.
But he didn't even have a chance.
The second magician swept forward and ran Djedhor through with his dagger. Djedhor cried out and dropped his torch.
Theoris could see blood pooling near the flame.
"Give us the shield and we will spare your life, Theoris," Nebankh stated. "Else we shall take both the shield and your life. It is better to lose one commodity than two."
Theoris grit his teeth and vocalized no response, but the way he stood was all Nebankh needed to see in order to know the soldier's answer. Rigid, dignified, fearless.
Nebankh's eyes narrowed. "Very well, then."
He and his comrade both raised their arms, exerted their power.
Auras of harsh light surrounded them.
Theoris clenched his eyes tightly shut. I am no soldier to stand against force such as this... the Millennium Shield can block, but for how long? There must be something that can be done... someone or something that can assist me in this desperate hour... even a protective Shadow creature would be acceptable now...
He allowed his will to flow into the shield, as if his body were some sort of conduit.
The power was like nothing he had ever felt before.
It was incredible.
And it drained him.
As he felt the shield grow stronger with his own willpower, he felt himself growing weaker. It happened by the fraction of the instant, yet it felt as though it were taking hours, days.
He felt almost as if his very soul was being ripped out of his body.
He sank to his knees before the magicians.
Nebankh sneered. "Victory."
But then his sneer vanished, to be replaced by concern... perhaps even fear.
Because the Eye of Horus was now glowing on Theoris's forehead, and the soldier's eyes blazed with golden fire.
And through clenched teeth, Theoris recited the five words Khensthoth had spoken with his dying breath.
"I do not fear you."
The floor of the cave rumbled. Stones clattered together. The ceiling cracked. Stalactites fell, stalagmites shattered.
Theoris's Eye of Horus glowed more brightly by the instant. His burning gaze turned upward, his mouth hanging slightly open.
Boulders split. Walls crumbled.
And from the rocks rose a being such as none of them had ever seen.
The massive creature, born of the cave stone itself, was built from bricks. Its body, its extremities were all square, down to its massive fingers and its gargantuan head. Its colossal arms and legs were all taller than any one of the men present.
Across the front of its cubic head was another glowing, massive Eye of Horus.
It stared down at the magicians.
And with lightning speed, it bore down on them.
-------
The pursuing soldiers quickly made their way out of the collapsing caverns. They couldn't know what was going on, nor were they sure they wanted to know. As far as they were concerned, Theoris and Djedhor were trapped within, as were the magicians who had chosen to give chase to Theoris. Until nightfall, they tried to dig in by way of another tunnel, but to no avail; the boulders were far too heavy for them to move aside.
The magicians had been easily defeated in close combat, though their abilities had severely injured half a dozen soldiers. Those soldiers that were harmed outnumbered the ones that weren't.
At dusk, they made their way back to the capital city.
No one else would be sent after Theoris, Djedhor, or the magicians.
-------
Khensthoth... I wonder if this is what you felt... I do not envy you what you must have felt. Were you tired? Were you as tired as this? It is as if everything has been un-made, has become oblivion... and oblivion is a tangible thing to wrap yourself in, like a blanket... inviting you to sleep... to fall into the folds of darkness and rest.
But if so, why were you so concerned with your continued existence? Why did you not simply go to sleep, as it beckons me to?
Perhaps you knew I still needed guidance.
Perhaps you felt the urge to fight it.
But I do not. I am not like you are, Khensthoth. I am Theoris... I am a soldier, yet I am also a husband and a father...
And I shall always miss my loved ones...
Sleep is all I have left.
So I shall sleep.
-------
Tamin waited patiently. She waited hours, days, weeks, months. Those around her whispered that she was driven to madness, the way she would simply sit there during the twilight and stare out to the dark horizon. The years wore her down, though she remained a beautiful woman her entire life.
Never did another man take her as his wife. Nor did she take after any man to be her husband. She died one night, far later, as she was staring off to the horizon.
Salatis grew to become a master architect for the new dynasty that rose to power in the aftermath of the struggles for supremacy among the various houses. He married, but his wife bore only one daughter and no sons. Salatis grew to appreciate his daughter... perhaps not in the same way Theoris appreciated Abana, but nevertheless, Salatis loved her as only a father can.
His family line ended when his daughter's body was found adrift in the Nile, bitten by a water snake.
Salatis and his wife died within days of each other, years later.
Years became decades.
Decades became centuries.
Centuries became millennia.
Bones turned to dust.
And the Millennium Shield waited.
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Thus ends Shielded Destiny.
But not the story.
To be continued in Intertwined Fates...