Isis
Things are going… rather unwell upstairs. With my magic now flowing freely, I get to peak into Duat. My vision splits in two, like a crocodile with eyes at water level – seeing both below and above the surface. It takes a moment for my eyes to properly adjust to the delicate and complicated ways in which the Duat entwines with the waking world.
Now this would have been helpful a couple of days ago. I could have seen Set, I could have noticed the shabti. I could have orchestrated the perfect plan. Alas.
In the cavern below, magicians from the House of Life are fighting their way through an army of demons. Deep in the Duat, the demon's red souls seem to light everything they touch on fire. No matter how striking that scene is, it's not what I care about now.
I turn around and spot them. Horus is crumpled on the slope of the pyramid. In Duat, the boy's warrior has become of blood and flesh - a mighty falcon warrior with a sharp gleaming black eyes and bloodstained beak. I hope the blood is Set's and not his own. My son's sword ripples with golden light.
As for our enemy? Set has just placed the capstone and is shouting, "Thirty seconds to sunrise!"
His true form has always confused me. Then again, everything about him is confusing. It's kinda the whole point. He almost looks like a dust devil, if dust devils were the size of a mountain and on fire. His energy is so destructive, the stones at his feet bubble and blister.
I can't see myself, but I can feel the soft breeze from my wings moving gently. I can almost imagine the multicolored light radiating from my very being, illuminating the air all around. For the first time since the fall of Egypt, I feel as powerful as in our glory days. The force of Ma'at is coursing through me. The Divine Words are at my command. I am the goddess of magic, I am the holder of the secret names. And I shall live up to those titles once more.
As Horus struggles his way up the pyramid, Set gloats: "You can't stop me by yourself, Horus—especially not in the desert, the source of my strength!"
"You're right!" Sadie calls.
Set turns round. Oh, the look on his face is priceless! We raise our staff and wand, gathering our magic.
"Except that Horus is not alone," we say. "And we're not going to fight you in the desert."
We slam the staff against the stone and shout, "Washington, D.C.!"
The pyramid shakes. For a moment, nothing else happens.
Set seems to realize what we are doing. He lets out a nervous laugh. "Magic one-oh-one, Sadie Kane. You can't open a portal during the Demon Days!"
"A mortal can't," I agree. "But a goddess of magic can."
Above us, the air crackles with lightning. The top of the cavern dissolves into a churning vortex of sand as large as the pyramid. Demons stop fighting and look up in horror. Magicians stammer midspell, their faces slack with awe. The vortex is so powerful that it rips blocks off the pyramid and sucks them into the sand. And then, like a giant lid, the portal begins to descend.
"No!" Set roars.
He blasts the portal with flames. When it doesn't work, he sends lightnings my way. It's too late. The portal swallows us all.