Isis

At first, the plan seems to go well. Sadie has no problem turning into a kite. Once we reach the prow of the ship, she even manages to turn back on the first try, staff and wand ready. The only person more surprised than us is the demon right in front, His switchblade head pops straight up in alarm.

Before he can even cry out, Sadie summons wind from her staff. The demon flies from the side of the boat. Two of his brethren charge forward, but Carter appears behind them, sword drawn,, and slices them into piles of sand.

Zia, unfortunately, is a bit less stealthy. A giant vulture with a girl hanging from its feet tends to attract attention. As she flies towards the boat, demons below point and yell. Some try to take her down, spears falling short of their mark.

Zia's grand entrance dos manage the remaining two demons on our boat, however, which allows Amos to appear behind them. He's taken the form of a fruit bat. Weird choice, but so have been all of his spells this past week. He quickly returns ti human form and body-slams the demons, sending them tumbling into the air.

"Hold on!" Amos says.

Zia lends just in time to grab the tiller. Carter and Sadie grab the sides of the boat. Amos begins to chant, pointing his staff towards the other boat, where the demons are just begging to shout and point at us.

One of them is tall and very thin. His black eyes are the only semi-normal looking thing on his disgusting face. As if the skin has been peeled away, leaving only scarred muscles behind.

"That's Set's lieutenant," Carter warns. "Face of Horror."

"You!" the demon screams. "Get them!"

Amos finishes his spell, finalizing it with a single word. "Smoke."

The second boat evaporates into gray mist. The demons fall screaming. The golden pyramidon plummets until the lines attached to it from our side yank taut. Our boat nearly flips over. Canted sideways, we begin to sink towards the cavern floor.

"Carter, cut the lines!" Sadie screams.

He slices them with his sword. The boat levels out, rising several meters in an instant and leaving Sadie's stomach behind. I'm thankful I don't have to fully feel it.

The pyramidon crashes to the cavern floor with much crunching and squishing. Does this classify as an occupational accident? Can you get sued by a bunch of demons? Why am I even thinking about that

"So far so good," Carter notes, but as usual, he's spoken too soon.

Zia points below us. "Look."

All those demons who have wings – not many, but enough of them – have launched themselves towards us, filling the air like a swarm of angry wasps.

"Fly to the pyramid," Amos says. "I'll distract the demons."

The pyramid's entrance, a simple doorway between two columns at the base of the structure, is not far from us. It's guarded by a few demons, but most of Set's forces are scattered elsewhere. Thousands of demons are running towards our boat, screaming and throwing rocks.

"They're too many," Sadie argues. "Amos, they'll kill you."

"Don't worry about me," he says grimly. "Seal the entrance behind you."

He pushes Sadie over the side, giving her no choice but to turn into a kite. Carter in falcon form is already spiraling towards the entrance. Zia's vulture is flapping its wings behind us.

Up on the boat, Amos yells, "For Brooklyn!"

An odd battle cry, but I don't expect any less from a Kane. Sadie glances back, just in time to see the boat burst in flames. It starts to drift away from the pyramid and down towards the army of monsters. Fireballs shoot from the boat in all directions as pieces of the hull crumble away. We don't have time to appreciate Amos's magic, nor to worry what has happened to him. A lot of the demons get distracted by the pyrotechnics, but some notice us.

Carter and Sadie land just inside the pyramid's entrance and return to human form. Zia tumbles in next to them and turns her vulture back into an amulet. The demons are only a few steps behind – a dozen massive blocks with the heads of insects, dragons, and assorted Swiss Army knife attachments.

Carter thrusts out his hand. A giant shimmering fist, the fist of Horus, appears and mimicks his move. It pushes wight between Zia and Sadie and slams the doors shut. Carter closes his eyes in concentration. A burning golden symbol carves itself across the doors like a seal: the Eye of Horus. Marvelous.

The lines glow faintly as demons hammer against the barrier, trying to get in.

"It won't hold them long," Carter says.

The siblings examine the doors uneasily.

"Amos knew what he was doing," Carter says, though he doesn't sound very convinced. "He's probably fine."

"Come on," Zia urges them. "No time for second guessing."

The tunnel is narrow, red, and humid. We make our way down single file, as the tunnel slopes at about forty degrees.

This would've made a lovely waterslide.

The walls are decorated with intricate carvings, but something about them is off. Sadie's eyes are mostly on her feet, careful not to trip or fall, so I'm left unable to examine the pictures. Carter. However, notices them. He keeps stopping and scowling as we walk.

"What?" Sadie asks him after the fifth or sixth time.

"These aren't normal tomb drawings," he says. "No afterlife pictures, no pictures of the gods."

Zia nods. "This pyramid is not a tomb. It is a platform, a body to contain the power of Set. All these pictures are to increase chaos, and make it reign forever."

As we keep walking, Sadie finally starts paying attention to the carvings. Zia is right, of course. The pictures show horrible monsters, wars, cities such as Paris and London in flames. The farther we go, the weirder and more vivid the pictures become. An uneasy feeling washes over me as we pass by the scenes. Scenes, so gruesome, no Egyptian would ever commit them to stone. Scenes of utter destruction and chaos. Scenes, that are terrifyingly reminiscent of Ruby Kane's visions.

Finally, we reach the heart of the pyramid.

Where the burial chamber should've been in a regular pyramid, Set has designed a throne room for himself. So self-absorbed, it's almost absurd. It's about the size of a tennis court. Around the edges, the floor drops off into a deep trench like a moat. Far, far below, red liquid bubbles. Blood? Lava? Kool-Aid? None of the possibilities seem good.

The trench looks easy enough to jump, but I'm not so anxious to do so. Inside the room, the entire floor is carved with red hieroglyphs – all spells invoking the power of Isfet. Far above, in the centre of the ceiling, a single square hole lets in blood-red light. Otherwise, there seems to be no exit. Along either wall crouch four obsidian statues of the Set monster. Their faces are turned towards us, pearl teeth bared, emerald eyes glittering.

The worst part is the throne itself. It's a horrid misshapen thing, much like the rest of Set's life. The throne looks like a red stalagmite that has grown haphazardly from centuries of dripping sediment. And it has formed itself around a gold coffin, buried deep within the throne's base, with just enough of it sticking out to form a kind of footrest. I can feel Osiris's spirit, peacefully waiting for me.

"How do we get him out?" Sadie asks, her voice trembling.

Next to us, Carter catches his breath. "Amos?"

Sadie follows her brother's gaze up to the glowing red vent in the middle of the ceiling. A pair of legs dangle from the opening. Then Amos drops down, opening his cloak like a parachute so that he floats to the floor. His clothes are still smoking, his hair dusted with ash. He points his staffs towards the ceiling and speaks a command. The shaft he'd come through rumbles, spilling dust and rubble, and the light is abruptly cut off.

Amos dusts off his clothes and smiles. "That should hold them for a while."

"How did you do that?" Sadie asks.

He gestures for us to join him in the room. Carter jumps the trench without hesitation. Sadie is more cautious, weary of the symbols on the ground. But, her brother is already there. They're not getting separated now. She hops the trench, too. Immediately, we both start feeling queasy. The room spins, Sadie's senses thrown completely off balance.

Zia comes over last, eyeing Amos carefully.

"You should not be alive," she says.

Amos chuckles. "Oh, I've heard that before. Now, let's get to business."

"Yes, " Sadie stares at the throne. "How do we get the coffin out?"

"Cut it?" Carter draws his sword, but Amos holds up his hand.

"No, children. That's not the business I meant. I've made sure no one will interrupt us. Now it's time we talked."

No. Anubis was right, we should've listened. When has Nephthys not been right?

"Talked?" Sadie asks.

Suddenly Amos falls to his knees and begins to convulse. Sadie runs towards him, but he looks up at her, his face racked with pain. His eyes are molten red.

"Run!" he groans.

He collapses, and red steam issues from his body.

"We have to go!" Zia grabs Sadie's arm. "Now!"

But Sadie watches, frozen in horror, as the steam rises from Amos's unconscious form and drifts towards the throne, slowly taking the shape of a seated man—a red warrior in fiery armor, with an iron staff in his hand and the head of a canine monster.

"Oh, dear," Set laughs. "I suppose Zia gets to say 'I told you so.'"