17.03.2015

Amos

I was going through some old scrolls I'd managed to sneak past Desjardins. My research was long overdue, but I couldn't really read them back in First. A shiver ran down my spine thinking about how heavy Michel had been monitoring me. My head felt crowded anyways, knowing that someone's eyes were truly always on me just made the feeling worse.

Something wasn't making sense. I cross-referenced it again. The scroll had been tempered with.

I was about to call on a retrieval shabti, when Carter burst into the library. Whatever was troubling him made way to confusion.

"How did you get the library to yourself and can you teach me?"

Often, the big round chamber was filled with trainees hunting through rows of cubbyholes for scrolls, or sending retrieval shabti across the world for artifacts or books. Sometimes, however, work is private. A little spell to keep everyone away for a few hours couldn't hurt anybody, now could it?

"I'll show you one of them days." I said, sliding the papers in Duat. Carter didn't need to worry over the red ink. "Everything alright?"

He sat down and shook his head. "We were attacked."

Light played on the surface of the scarab shell as I turned it in my fingers. A new metallic color glistened with every movement.

"A three-headed snake, you say."

"Yeah," Carter said, "with wings and flamethrower breath. Ever seen something like that before?"

Snakes with wings – common. Wasn't Wadjet called a winged serpent goddess? And her Uraei were known to spit fire. But Wadjet was a protector, not an aggressor.

Three-headed, winged…

A memory swam up in my brain: A poster for a 2005 exhibition in the Edinburgh City Centre. Right under Khepri's name was a three-headed winged snake.

I put the scarab shell on the table. It looked so… dead. I nudged it.

What was the exhibition on? A tomb? Thutmose III's tomb, specifically.

Well, we didn't need the scarab shell anymore. Plus, the thing unnerved me.

"A'max." Burn.

A red hieroglyph blazed over the scarab. I cringed and glanced over at Carter, wondering if he was going to mention the color. I'd been pretty careful not to use magic around the kids, for my own sanity if nothing else.

The shell burst into flames and crumbled to a tiny mound of ash.

"I seem to recall a painting," I said, after a moment of silence. "In the tomb of Thutmose III. It showed a three-headed winged snake like the one you described. But what it means?"

Only if I could remember the context of the hieroglyph.

I shook my head. "Snakes can be good or bad in Egyptian legend. They can be the enemies of Ra, or his protectors."

"This wasn't a protector," Carter said. "It wanted the scroll."

It sounded like an Uraeus, too.

"And yet it had three heads, which might symbolize the three aspects of Ra. And it was born from the rubble of Ra's statue."

"It wasn't from Ra," Carter insisted. "Why would Ra want to stop us from finding him? Besides, I recognized the snake's voice. It was the voice of your- I mean, it was the voice of Set's minion from the Red Pyramid, the one who was possessed by Apophis."

It was just a slip of the tongue, I knew that. I also knew that Carter had been nervous this entire conversation, knew that he was eyeing the statues in the corners of the room. Knew he noticed the color, still flashing in front of my vision, still imprinted on my brain.

"Face of Horror," I swallowed. "You think Apophis was speaking to you through this serpent?"

Cater nodded. "I think he set those traps at the Brooklyn Museum. He spoke to me through that bau. If he's so powerful that he can infiltrate this mansion-"

"No, Carter. Even if you're right, it wasn't Apophis himself. If he'd broken out of his prison, it would cause ripples through the Duat so powerful, every magician would feel them. But possessing the minds of minions, even sending them into protected places to deliver a message-that's much easier. I don't think that snake could've done you much harm. It would've been quite weak after breaching our defenses. It was mostly sent to warn you, and scare you."

"It worked."

"I'll strengthen the charms around the house," I reassured him. "It's high time I upgraded our security. I'll make sure Apophis can't send messengers through again."

Carter nodded.

"Amos," he said, "what if we're wrong? What if awakening Ra doesn't work?"

When I was younger, whenever I would doubt myself, Julius would say that it was lowkey hilarious how someone so incredible didn't see their power. I didn't get it back then. Great people surely knew they were great, right? It was a hard pill to swallow, but maybe my brother was right.

I smiled. "My boy, look what you've accomplished. You and Sadie have rediscovered a way of magic that hasn't been practiced in millennia. You've taken your trainees further in two months than most First Nome initiates would get in two years. You've battled gods. You've accomplished more than any living magician has-even me, even Michel Desjardins. Trust your instincts. If I were a betting man, my money would be on you and your sister every time."

Carter seemed to relax in the chair. "Who's second?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You said this Russian guy, Vlad Menshikov, is the third-most powerful magician alive. Desjardins is the most powerful. So who's second? I want to know if we have another enemy to look out for."

Oh? Oh. Oooh. Well they were bound to figure it out at some point, weren't they?

"Don't worry about that. And despite your past dealings with Desjardins, I would not say he's truly an enemy."

"Tell him that," Carter muttered.

"I did, Carter. We talked several times while I was at the First Nome. I think what you and Sadie accomplished at the Red Pyramid shook him deeply. He knows he could not have defeated Set without you. He still opposes you, but if we had more time, I might be able to convince him."

Something else was bothering me, nagging at the back of my head. The thought of seeing my magic was still… yeah. But I knew the color would ensure I had Carter's attention.

I passed my hand over the tabletop and spoke a spell. A red holograph of Ra appeared- a falcon-headed man. Ra wore the sun disk as a crown and held a shepherd's crook and a war flail, the two symbols of the pharaoh. He was dressed in robes, sitting calmly and regally on his throne.

"Something else you must consider," I warned. "I don't say this to discourage you, but you asked why Ra might want to stop you from waking him. The Book of Ra was divided for a reason. It was made intentionally difficult to find, so only the worthy would succeed. You should expect challenges and obstacles on your quest. The other two scrolls will be at least as well protected as the first. And you should ask yourself: What happens if you wake a god who does not want to be awakened?"

The doors of the library banged open. Four girls came in, chatting and laughing with their arms full of scrolls.

"Here's my research class." I flicked his hand, and the holograph of Ra disappeared. "We'll speak again, Carter, perhaps after lunch."

He nodded and got up, leaving me to greet my students. No one noticed me casually wiping the ashes of the scarab shell off the table.

It had been a long time since I'd seen my uncle smile. He didn't look much like my father, but when he smiled, he got the same crinkles around his eyes.