SAVVY

Chapter 5

The room was filled with light.

I had no idea where I was. I'd never been here before.

It wasn't really a room, more of a narrow hallway. There were images on either wall, but they were fuzzy. They were moving, shifting, transforming, blurring, and looking like holograms in a sandstorm.

Everywhere, blue pictures… no, what were they… hieroglyphics were floating in mid-air, sometimes combining the pictures to make another word. I spotted a bird hieroglyphic drop hieroglyph poop that narrowly missed me. There were also these balls of fire that occasionally changed colours when they bounced off each other.

Okay, this had to be a dream. Definitely a dream. But… was I really creative enough to dream up weird things like those?

I didn't concentrate on those things. I looked straight ahead of me. I couldn't see the end of the end of the hallway, where the hieroglyphs were coming from, but I felt a magnetic pull towards whatever was there.

I took a step forward… and staggered. My left side… I glanced down and shrank away from the half dried bloody mess of my camouflage jacket. I had four long gashes from the talons of Miss Uglyface. It was oozing blood, and it screamed in pain. I looked away, breathing hard.

I felt a bulge in my jacket, and frowning, realized my dagger Thorn had finally came back to me. Of all the times for its magic to work…

Dreams aren't painful, I thought as I tore off a piece of my shirt, covering up the ugly mess of my wound. I couldn't help but glance up longingly towards the end of the hall. Abnormal curiosity was burning through me. I needed to see what was at the end.

I took another cautious step forwards, then another, then another. The hall was long, but I didn't notice time past. I was too intent on trying not to cry out in pain as I concentrated on putting one foot forward at a time.

As I neared the end, I slowed, and then stopped. I even forgot my wound in wonder.

In front of me was a wooden throne on a dais. The throne was occupied by a tall man holding a crook and a flail, the symbols of an Egyptian pharaoh. I recognised it from the Egypt project we did at school. The hieroglyphs seemed to be coming off him, peeling off his skin and floating away. His eyes were strange and mesmerizing, one golden and one silver, and were lined with Egyptian eyeliner— kohl. He had a dark, tanned and muscular body with leather armor over it, matched with sandaled feet. There was a shimmering golden aura surrounding him. The energy in the room seemed to vibrate, and I could tell this man was very powerful and was NOT someone you would want to mess with. He looked familiar, like I've seen his picture before or something.

He smiled warmly at me. "Savannah Hughes. Welcome to the Hall of Ages."

"Savvy," I automatically responded. "What are you?"

He frowned, offended. "I should think that I would be well-known enough for you to at least know my name. I'm not a what. I am Horus the Avenger and the Falcon, King of Egypt, godly ruler of the House of Life." He smiled smugly.

I stared at him, unable to comprehend the information. "Godly ruler?" Suddenly, I started to laugh. It was the craziest thing I'd ever heard. "You can't be a god! You can't be Horus!" I shook my head and my smile faded. "I get it now. I'm crazy. That's comforting. Either that or you are too."

The shock crossed the man's features, followed quickly by anger. He half rose. "You dare…?"

Suddenly he stopped and sat back down, sighing, as if I wasn't worth the fight. "Mortals, these days. They don't believe anything, even with proof sitting right before their eyes. Of course this is real, and yes, I am an immortal god, an Egyptian one at that!"

"No way. That's not possible!" I was horrified, and taken aback by the mortals comment. He called me a mortal, like HE wasn't. Was he really a god? "So... I'm not crazy?"

"No, but I'm turning crazy from the way you act!" Horus rolled his eyes. He sat forward on his throne and regarded me. "Listen, Savannah, or Savvy, haven't you ever had weird things happen to you? Things you couldn't explain logically, factually?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes, a lot. Especially monsters. But I didn't think…"

"You didn't want to think," Horus cut in. "It was better for you not to know more, actually, so it's good you didn't ponder on strange events."

"But why am I here? Why have you brought me here?"

"Ah. Good question." Horus stroked his beard. "You are here because you have an appointment with someone else."

"Who?"

"That would be me," Said a light voice from behind me. I swivelled around to see a woman walking towards Horus. She walked up the dais and stood next to the throne, exchanging smiles with Horus. She was in a white gown with multi-coloured wings spread out behind her, flickering in and out of my vision. Her blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, and she looked beautiful.

"Hello, Savannah Hughes," said the woman. Her eyes bored into me, and I felt like she was scanning my entire well-being.

"Savvy," I mumbled.

"I am Isis, goddess of magic and healing, former queen, mother of the present king of Egypt."

She looked a little familiar too, like Horus, like I'd seen her before or something. However, she looked familiar in a… different way. I took her in silently, giving me a few seconds to maintain a calm and unruffled expression before answering.

"Why am I here?" I repeated faintly.

"You are here to need to know some things before you proceed, Savvy." Isis looked meaningfully at Horus and cleared her throat. "Horus, if you please."

He stood up and grinned at me. Then something abnormal happened; his body shrank, his mouth grew until it was a small, curved beak and he sprouted feathers. In a few seconds he was a falcon, standing on the armrest of the throne.

I blinked.

Horus the falcon ruffled his feathers and glided smoothly down the Hall of Ages, or whatever it was Horus said this long, weird hall was. I leaned the other way carefully as he passed, wary. Even if he was a god, I didn't want bird poop on my head. I swore the falcon gave me a wink before passing by me.

Isis turned back to me.

"Savvy, you must know that there are many more things in life that "meets the normal human eye", but you, my dear, are not normal."

I narrowed my eyes. I've didn't like to be reminded how completely alien I am, but I knew she was talking about a different kind of normal.

Isis smiled beautifully. Then her smile faded. "There are many things you need to know, but not much time."

I opened my mouth and then grimaced as another wave of pain racked my body. Isis noticed, and her eyes filled with concern. She reached forwards and I thought her shimmering hand was going to pass right through me like an illusion, but I felt the light pressure of her fingertips brushing gently on my wound, before she pulled her hand back. I looked down and gasped.

My wound was closing up. I watched in disbelief as the blood disappeared. It was like watching a video of my wound spanning weeks and weeks, though fast forwarded. The gashes closed up in a few seconds, and then it scabbed over and turned pink, before shrinking into nothingness. Not even a scar. My camouflage jacket was good as new, no blood, and no tatters. Even the shirt, which I ripped a piece of fabric from, was back to normal.

"Listen," Isis said. "They are coming and they will find you. I moved you to a safe place away from the monster arai, which was the best I could do. The Fates do not like gods and goddesses intervening with mortals' lives."

"Ookaaay…"I pronounced the word carefully as my mind raced. "So if "they" find me…"

"Follow them," assured Isis. "They are a good sort, but don't let them know. They might suspect, though. Don't put up a fight when they find you. Promise me you will stay with them."

"Maybe," I said grudgingly. I didn't like being told what to do, but she was a goddess. "But who are they? Can you tell me?"

"No," She admitted. "The Fates do not allow me to say. But you must know this, Savvy. You are very powerful. Too powerful, so much so you wouldn't have survived this long without two sets of gods…" she stopped abruptly and continued, "But now you will be in a safe place, or as safe as it gets in your world."

"Not very safe, then," I muttered. "But why are you helping me?"

Isis smiled sadly. "It's not just me that is helping you. You think you're alone, but we have been watching you all your life. We know more about you than you know yourself. We know your destiny." She opened her mouth to say more, and then paused. "Anyway, take this as a lucky charm. This is the only other source of help the gods offer you on your long, painful journey ahead. Use it wisely, and only in an emergency. It only works once. She opened her palm, and in it was a dull gold amulet hanging from a chain. It kind of looked like a lucky horseshoe sign with its ends tied together. "It's called a sa," explained Isis. "It stands for protection. This is the last thing we can do for you, so remember my dear, use it wisely."

I stared at the amulet and found a lump in my throat. Although it was only a necklace, it was the only present I received in my life. It would probably be the most useful, too.

The goddess closed her fingers over the amulet and when she opened her hand again, it was gone.

"Be brave, Savvy." The voice grew fainter as the room started to spin. "We're watching you, don't forget."

"Wait!" I cried, genuinely afraid now. "Can't you tell me a little more? This stuff is not enough to operate on!"

The wind rushed around me and the room was spinning and I was so dizzy I collapsed and blacked out. Again.

…

I came to lying on the side of a highway in a field of flowers.

The first thing I could see was the sunny sky. All that sun hurt my eyes, and I sat up so fast I got a wave of vertigo and lowered myself back down gently. A bee buzzed in my face and I swatted it away. "Ugh," I groaned as I sat up a little more slowly and brushed grass off my camouflage jacket.

There were no cars on the highway, and the air was a little cool despite the sunny day. I was a little dazed after the "appointment" with Isis.

Isis. A goddess, a real life goddess. How ridiculous was that? Although my brain flatly refused to accept my meeting was real, my instincts whispered that I shouldn't be stupid and ignore her advice. However, I still couldn't wrap my mind around it. I just couldn't.

I have had a weird life. Ever since I was eight or nine years old I've encountered exactly many different but equally gruesome monsters, and trust me— they were so not cookie monsters. All of them are able to fool people into believing they're one of them. All of them have targeted me especially for some extremely stupid reason, and have ignored other people. I've managed to evade all of them… barely. The first and only time I've killed one of those things, it turned into sand and scattered in the wind. I got away from the others in a more classic way— running.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm no stranger to weird. Weird has a whole new definition for me. But my version of weird does not extend to things like Egyptian goddesses, and gods turning into falcons, and teleportation.

I stretched my stiff neck and felt pressure on the base of my throat I hadn't felt before. My hands went to my neck. It was the sa amulet that I saw in Isis's hand. I fingered the cold, gold charm for a while, forced to believe that the meeting was real after all. That doesn't mean I wanted it to be real— Isis had said my journey would be long and painful, and for some reason, I didn't like the sound of that. Also, I was kind of angry that the gods would provide so little help after so long of aloneness.

I stood up and looked around, drinking in the normal scenery after a too long time in a too weird place. Well, it was normal compared to the Hall of Ages. I had no idea where I was. There was nobody around, at all. Was I even in Canada? Sure didn't look like Coquitlam to me.

Where was I supposed to go? I wondered if Isis had forgotten to tell me something.

Whatever. I decided to walk somewhere until I could find human civilization. All these birds and bees crap was starting to really creep me out.

So which way do I go? I decided to do the least practical thing – follow my nose. That usually worked for me. Well, my nose was pointing that way, so I decided to go that way too.

After a half an hour, I seriously doubted my choice, and after another 30 minutes I decided my nose was entirely untrustworthy. I had seen only a couple of cars, and none of them wanted to take a hitchhiker back to where they came from.

I was deadbeat. Usually I could last a little longer because I'm more or less fit, but all the excitement of today had worn me out. The whole walk I worried about Rachael. I cursed myself for not asking Isis how Rachael was doing and where she was, but she probably wouldn't have told me anyway. She and her stupid Fates.

And then there was Beth. I heaved a sigh. She must be really worried right now, with me missing. I really didn't know what to do.

I decided to sit down for one second. The fields were now all fenced up and covered with strawberry and grape plants and all the other fruits and vegetables they grew here. There was no space anywhere but the road, and there were no cars anywhere to be seen and I hadn't seen any for about 40 minutes, so I decided to lie on the middle of the road and rest for the first time today.

Big mistake. I should have been on guard, but suddenly I heard a screeching of tires very, very close by.

I could see big, monstrous tires bearing down on me, and my muscles froze. Then they tensed, and I reacted. I rolled to the side and onto my feet despite the hard, gravelly road (it hurt my bottom).

The truck lurched to a stop. I put my head between my knees and tried to steady my breathing as someone jumped out the back of the truck and hurried towards me. I heard car doors slamming.

"Hey!" I heard running footsteps and felt a hand on my shoulder. "Are you ok?"

I looked up and felt like shriveling up immediately. It was a guy probably a little older than me, who looked genuinely concerned. I had no idea how to talk to girls, much less guys, and I was afraid I'd pull the wrong impression. He was wearing loafers, slacks, and a button down shirt, like some kind of college professor.

"Yeah," I said breathlessly. I tried to maintain a calm, totally not embarrassed face. I didn't want to display more social awkwardness now, of all times. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Another girl ran up to us. She looked like one of those girls you would not want to mess around with, with highlighted hair, a leather jacket, and combat boots. The look on her face was annoyance mixed with exasperation. "Bloody hell! What were you doing, you nutter, napping out on the road like that? Were you just begging for car accidents?" She had a little bit of a British accent when she spoke.

The guy glared at the girl. "Sadie, would you please shut up for one second? We almost hit her with a car!"

The girl, Sadie, folded her arms. "More like she almost hit our car, Carter!"

My face was probably beet red. "I… I was not napping!"

The guy, Carter, sighed. "Ignore her. She's a pain. She was complaining about anything and everything the whole trip."

Sadie looked miffed. "You're the one that's the pain in the bum…" She trailed off, staring at me.

"Um…what?" I said uncomfortably.

Sadie tilted her head and frowned. "Carter, look at her amulet."

He looked, and apparently didn't like what he saw. "Isn't that Egyp…"

Sadie shook her head in warning. They exchanged glances. Self-conscious, I hid my pendant beneath my jacket.

Carter studied me. He looked like he was weighing two options. Then he asked me, "You look like a hitchhiker. What's your name?"

"Savannah. Savvy," I replied.

"Well, Savvy, would you like a ride?"

I was relieved. My legs ached. "Sure," I said gratefully.

We walked back to the car, and I saw Sadie look at Carter with raised eyebrows. I wondered if the "they" Isis was talking about were these people. I hoped not. I was averse making friends with someone like Sadie.

"W…who's the driver?" I asked nervously, cursing my awkwardness a million times over. I couldn't see the driver through the dark tinted window.

"He's, uh, our… friend." Carter stammered. "Mr. Doughboy, actually."

"Yes, he's our father's friend," Sadie said, a little too quickly. I narrowed my eyes.

Sadie and Carter seemed to have come to an agreement.

"Maybe you should hop on in, Savvy," said Sadie casually.