A/N: Thanks to all reviewers/comments so far! Just a couple more chapters to go. I'm pretty proud of this one, so hope you like!

chapter 8: the battle pt 2

Atem marched out of the tent with his sacred court following close behind. His troops had lined up, ready to be commanded, some looking confused and tired why they were being brought out during the same night. The commanders looked grimly prepared, though. They'd no doubt noticed the chaos over in the Nubian camp by now. It didn't take a military mastermind to see their truce was on the verge of falling apart.

The Pharaoh ordered his court to split up and give the troops their orders. The commanders likely wouldn't appreciate being held back while the ka did the initial work, but Atem was confident they'd understand the sense of it. The pyramid of light was their main obstacle, after all – it was clear to everyone gathered.

"Time to bring it down," Atem murmured to himself. He closed his eyes, calling Osiris to his side. The familiar rush of power filled his veins, an awed hush falling across his troops as the god descended from the skies with a break of lightning. He clicked his fingers and pointed, gesturing for her to land by his side. She did so without complaint, folding her great coils through the Egyptian troops gathered close.

Atem focused, about to put the next part of his plan into action – but was interrupted when there were more gasps. The Pharaoh looked back at his court, saw they were all glowering at the same point – over in the Nubian camp.

Anubis had just staggered into view, his leg bound up from the blow Seth had struck him but still very much in one piece. He looked pale, a cold fury radiating from his eyes as he glared across the space at Atem. Then he turned away, snapping orders to the remains of the Nubian troops. They were noticeably more in disarray as they tried to obey – evidently they were more used to working with the now-deceased Nubian general than Anubis.

"Pharaoh, are we ready for the bombardment?" Seth asked. Atem looked back – they had all taken the opportunity to call out their strongest and winged ka to reach the seal.

It was the strongest offensive they had ever brought to a battlefield.

But Atem was determined to make it stronger still.

"Almost," he said, holding up a hand to command them to wait. He checked the Nubian line, saw the archers were loading up their arrows. He had time. He just couldn't hesitate.

Atem shut his eyes, focusing his magic. It surrounded him, falling heavily on his shoulders like a cloak. He'd never summoned two gods at once before, but there always had to be a first time for everything. "Obelisk," he intoned, feeling his power grow to its height, "Answer my call!"

Then he raised his arm, feeling the power push like a pillar from his palm.

For a moment, there was silence. But he held on, not opening his eyes.

The god would answer.

Atem believed he would-

Suddenly a sharp feeling in Atem's chest – a golden thread tying him to the mountainous presence the god-monster always wrought. He opened his eyes as the ground split in front of him, and the sacred court was yelling something – it sounded like a warning but Obelisk rose up right before Atem and spread his arms, arrows pinging off his armoured hide.

Atem gasped, a hand going to his chest as he steadied himself. Maintaining two gods at once was a greater draw on his strength than he anticipated, but he felt his magic changing to accommodate the new strain. He took a moment to take a deep breath and straighten his shoulders. He'd felt this same strain when first summoning the gods individually. With time, he'd get used to it.

And then he might be able to summon the third. The last god waiting to be called.

He looked back at his troops, his court. The troops were awed at the sight of the Obelisk, as usual, but he could see in the expressions of his court that they recognised the significance of Atem having called the second god. Mahad was practically beaming with pride, and they all looked buoyed to see the increased firepower.

Atem turned from the furious faces of the Nubians to Osiris, gesturing with his hand. She caught his meaning and lowered her head and wing, allowing him to climb up on her back. "Ka to protect the line, remain here! Everyone else, with me!"

They took off into the air, Obelisk and the court flying alongside. Atem steered Osiris to avoid a hail of arrows, calling back to his court to fly higher out of caution. There were some soft grunts of pain as arrows hit a few of the ka, but soon they were free of the hailstorm and eye to eye with the seal.

"Osiris, summon lightning shot!" Atem called, the other ka getting clear to allow her space to make the strike. She hit the target dead-on, the seal cracking but not breaking under impact. The priests' ka followed up, splintering it further. "That's it!" Atem cried, turning to Obelisk. "Obelisk, just one last blow! Fist of-"

Suddenly a dark shadow spread up from the ground, obscuring the seal from view. Seth immediately sent Duos to try to dispel it with his sword, but it shifted around him. Duos followed up by trying to strike at the seal, but his sword didn't seem to find its mark even though he was attempting to strike at the same place they had before.

"What is this?" Seth growled.

Atem looked down to the ground, spying the source of the magic – Anubis stood at ground level, shadows pouring from his flesh. "Interference," Atem said.

For a moment the court was paralysed in the air, trying different attacks and attempts to split the shadows. But nothing was clearing the shadows or breaking through to the hidden seal. Anubis was still safe behind the pyramid – the hole Seth and Atem had made yesterday remained, but they were sure to get shredded to ribbons by arrows if they attempted to get through and get close enough to strike Anubis without giving themselves more room to manoeuvre.

Suddenly several of the priests winced – Nubian arrows were striking the priests' ka down below, but they couldn't move; they had to hold position to protect the troops.

Atem contemplated his options – have the troops draw back the line? But then they'd lose their impetus to charge if they brought the pyramid down and worse, they could get pinned themselves if the Nubians sent some troops to break formation and follow them. Have Osiris try and lightning strike through the gap? Even assuming he could get his precision perfect enough to breach the gap, he wasn't guaranteed to strike Anubis or be able to get the blow to land near him.

The seal was the key to this; it made sense Anubis had protected it. It was honestly luck Seth and he had even managed to escape earlier, given how difficult it was to spot at night.

At night.

Atem froze. Of course – it had been in front of his nose the entire time.

Anubis giving tomorrow night as the timeout for the original truce had always struck him as odd – why allow so much time for the Egyptians to plot a way out?

It had to be because he was hoping to keep them away from the pyramid during the day, when it would have been easier to spot the seal and try and destroy it.

If the shadows were his protection, Atem had to take them away.

"Pharaoh!" Seth was calling. "Our attacks aren't working! If we all strike at once-"

"No," Atem said, his voice oddly distant in his ears. He touched Osiris' back, communicating his plan to her without words. She caught on immediately, keeping herself steady as Atem began to lift himself from her back.

"Pharaoh?" Mahad said, confusion turning to alarm. Atem got into a crouch on Osiris' back, wind pulling his cape back to ripple behind him. Down below Atem spotted Anubis staring at him, confounded.

From up here, the man looked so small.

Atem unfolded his legs, slowly, slowly, slowly drawing himself into a standing position. He was calling on his magic once again, but this time it wasn't a conscious effort. He was letting it flow through him, urging the magic to possess him completely.

Someone said something – his name? His title. He turned his head to look, saw Seth staring at him, slack-jawed. He felt a sudden rush of compassion towards him, understanding without knowing how why Seth had behaved the way he had.

More than just believing in him, the priest saw what he could become.

What he was about to become.

Reflected in Seth's eye was someone surrounded in a bright golden light, their eyes burning gold.

Himself. He was looking at himself.

Seth's expression changed and he looked almost afraid.

Why, Atem wanted to say, but found he couldn't speak.

Wasn't this what Seth wanted? To serve a terrifying god-king?

Atem shut his eyes. Focused.

He'd been missing this until now.

Osiris was possession of the sky, free flying and fierce. Obelisk was raw power, buried deep in the earth and begging to break free.

Ra was neither of these.

Ra was not of the sky or earth – Ra was not of this realm.

Ra was magic itself, a godly creature that could burn everything in its path with one claw will while sustaining life itself with the other.

The sun.

Atem gasped, panting at the sheer heat running through him. He couldn't be afraid of it. He had to let the magic burn every cell and know there would still be something left when it was over.

Something new.

What laid at the bottom of this magic felt ancient and Atem felt if he continued to follow it down, he would surely lose himself to it. A magic one could only reach when they were faced their own heart, when they saw the fear but surpassed it.

And beneath that, something else – the last level of magic one could reach...his own name, the union of the-

A presence joined him, not burning now but just a gentle warmth, like a candle or a warm blanket. Something took hold of him in its clawed hand, squeezing gently.

It would be all right, the presence told him. He didn't need to look at that now.

All he needed to do was open his eyes...and open his hands.

As the intensity of the power faded, Atem was suddenly aware of a bright orange light pressing against his eyelids. Other things started to trickle back in – the sounds of the battlefield around him, or rather the lack of it.

An odd hush had fallen. There was disbelieving whispers from somewhere – the Nubians. Then they turned to exclamations – frightened ones.

And then a small, almost fearful whisper, "Pharaoh?"

Mahad's voice.

Atem opened his eyes, then had to blink furiously as bright light assaulted his senses.

Daylight.

All around was daylight.

He looked down with blurry vision at his hands, which he'd raised without his realising. He was cupping them together, something hot stinging at his palms.

He opened his hands.

There was a beautiful golden orb. Atem felt the same invisible thread connecting him to it. He whispered, "Ra?"

As if in answer the golden orb began to expand before his eyes, then to click and whir as light began to seep through the cracks. When it had grown larger than several of the priests' ka, it began to open – and fire swept out across the air. The other priests gasped, instinctually moving back, but Atem stayed rooted to the spot, somehow knowing no fire from this god could harm him.

Then the creature burst from the orb – a beautiful, metal bird with flames still crackling around its body. Atem raised a hand, hopelessly entranced by it and after a moment's pause, the great bird lowered its head so he could touch its beak. It was a strange feeling – the bird was more remote than Osiris, less of an immovable titan than Obelisk. And yet under the deep lake of power, Atem could sense a strange nurturing kindness from the creature.

He stroked along the smooth metal break, nodding once to the god. The creature understood what was to be done without him having to say.

The other gods drew close, all three reunited on this plane for the first time since the carvings were formed.

Atem felt momentarily light-headed from managing to call all three of them out at once, wobbling back down to sit on Osiris' back. No sooner had his hand left Ra's beak than the creature shifted again, turning from metal into a blazing firebird.

It flew up in a broad arc, celebrating the sun, the day, before darting downwards towards the shadows around the seal. They couldn't withstand the force of Ra's light and neither could the seal – it caught flames and evaporated almost instantly, and with it the pyramid of light began to tremble.

"Get ready to charge!" Seth yelled down to the Egyptian troops, their ka all streaming up and towards the widening hole in the pyramid. Rifts were now forming all over the pyramid, numerous openings all the ka could stream through.

Atem took the direct route instead – he directed the three gods towards the opening Seth and he had previously made that was quickly becoming a massive gap in the side of the pyramid. As Atem sent Obelisk to shield them from the arrows he called on Ra and Osiris to use their power to hit with all their strength and break up the formation of the Nubian army and isolate Anubis from the others in one fell swoop.

"The rest of you, hit the archers and support the ground troops!" Atem cried. "Seth, with me."

The priest nodded, a look of anticipation in his eyes. They descended with their ka to the ground, Anubis staggering back on his injured leg in a desperate attempt to escape from being pinned down on the ground. Duos blocked the way off behind him as Atem and Seth approached from the front.

"I've exposed you for the false god you are!" Atem said. "Surrender and you will face trial in Egypt. Tell me who granted you the power to create the Eighth Item, and I may even show you leniency."

"Speak for yourself," Seth muttered. "I'd have his head in a second."

Anubis finally stopped trying to back away, looking from one Egyptian god to the next. Finally he looked back at Atem. "My mistake," he growled. "Next time I'll trap you in here with me."

He reached into his cloak, produced a dagger and Seth immediately drew in front of Atem to shield him but in the next second Anubis had plunged it straight into the eye of the pyramid. It spat out a choking black darkness but before Atem could even come up with a counter-move the shadows had latched onto Anubis himself, breaking down his skin and drawing his body bizarrely into the eye of the pyramid itself.

Within seconds he was gone, as if he'd never been there at all.

"What in the gods' name…" Seth muttered, gingerly poking at the pyramid before picking it up.

Atem stared at the Item, a funny feeling sending shivers racing over his skin. This was a different kind of magic, a magic for the dead walking.

"Don't worry about that now," he said, drawing a surprised look from Seth. He tried to keep his expression neutral and added, "We'll seal the item when we return to Egypt – for now we must drive off the rest of the Nubians."

That took even less time than Atem expected. With Ra on their side and all three gods on the field, the troops had as good as given up already, the vast majority of them turning back towards the hills. Atem made a point of catching one of the remaining captains in Ra's claws, having the god hold the petrified man still so he could speak to him.

"I intend to let you live," he said, "For I need you to go back to Nubia and give their government a message. Your 'Anubis' was a fake. Nothing but a sham sorcerer using borrowed magics. And I am the Pharaoh of this land – I inherited the throne from my father and the gods of Egypt answer to my call. Evidently you've been harbouring delusions that you could remove me from my people easily. I'm ending that for you, here and now."

He nodded to Ra and the god dropped the man. He was trying to flee the second he hit the ground, sheer terror propelling him away from the battlefield and out of sight.

With the last Nubians deserting the battlefield, a cheer went up across the Egyptian troops. Some chanted for Ra, others for the Pharaoh.

Atem turned to face them, drawing the gods in close so he could thank them and bid them goodbye.

But then he turned to the court. "Thank you," he said, the cheers dying down as raised his voice. "I owe this victory to my court, to you."

The court looked amongst themselves, Seth momentarily surprised before he smirked.

"Now," Atem said. He felt a massive pressure off his shoulders as he dismissed Obelisk and Ra from the field. Slifer crept in closer, nosing her head under his arm. "How about we return home?"