17.03.2015
Isis
Me and Ruby were leaning over the scrying pool in my quarters. It worked the same way scrying bowls did, but it was much bigger. Currently, it was showing Carter and Sadie running through the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.
Ruby tensed. Having a vision come through before your eyes was already an awful feeling. Déjà vu so strong, your ears started ringing. But this specific vision included her child suffering. She had to see how it would play out.
Behind Carter and Sadie, the two-headed tjesu heru skidded and slammed into walls as it tried to turn corners.
I was fully aware of the irony. In a way, very round-about way, I guess it was kind of all my fault. Chaos wouldn't be rising if Ra never left. Though, it was Set who kept on stirring trouble and making Ma'at weaker through the eons. Set was also the one to build the Red Pyramid and start this mess of a story. Yes, it was all Set's fault, naturally.
If it was on Set, the world could keep turning. What would happen if it was on me?
The kids rounded a corner, scrambled down a staircase, and headed for a set of glass- and-iron doors, leading out to the Palace Square.
"Carter," Sadie gasped, waving helplessly at the padlock.
The tjesu heru was right behind them. It slipped and rolled down the staircase, demolishing a plaster statue.
Three meters away from the doors, Carter thrust his fist toward the doors. The Eye of Horus burned against the padlock, and the doors burst open as if they'd been hit by a giant fist. That was my boy!
The younglings bolted outside into the wintry night, the tjesu heru roaring behind them.
Ruby gasped. "This is where it happens!"
I moved closer, wrapping my arm around her shoulder.
"You don't have to watch," I whispered.
Ruby shook her head, eyes glued to the surface of the oil.
"I must."
Sadie fell a couple of steps behind Carter, out of breath. Her image got covered by a shadow and she looked up.
They should have stayed inside. The tjesu heru was sailing over their heads, timing its pounce so it would land-
"Carter, stop!" Sadie yelled.
But Carter was going too fast. He fell on his bum and slid, his sword skittering to one side.
I winced as the tjesu heru landed right on top of him. If it hadn't been U-shaped, Carter would've been crushed. It curved around him, one head glaring down at him from either side.
I feared asking, and still "Is this when-"
"No. Not yet."
"Carter," Sadie said. "Stay perfectly still."
He froze in crab-walk position. The monster's two heads dripped venom that hissed and steamed on the icy stones.
"Oi!" Sadie yelled. She picked up a chunk of broken ice and threw it at the tjesu heru. It hit Carter in the back instead. Still, the snake's heads turned toward her, twin tongues flickering.
Sadie closed her eyes. Her voice rang in my head.
Right, Isis. Here's what I need-
My eyes widened.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"It's Sadie. She managed to reach out."
"Help her!" The desperation in Ruby's voice was heartbreaking. "It could still change!"
"Don't think, Sadie," I whispered. "Divine magic has to be involuntary, like breathing."
You mean... she stopped herself. Don't think. Well, that shouldn't be too hard.
Sadie held up her staff. My magic mixed with hers and a golden hieroglyph blazed in the air. A one-meter-tall tyet lit up the courtyard.
The tjesu heru snarled, its yellow eyes fixed on the hieroglyph.
"Don't like that, eh?" Sadie called. "Symbol of Isis, you big ugly mutt. Now, get away from my brother!"
Ruby tried to smile. "That's my girl."
Slowly, Carter edged backward. He looked for his sword, but it was ten meters away-much too far to reach.
Keeping her eyes on the monster, Sadie used the butt of her staff to trace a magic circle in the snow.
"Carter," She called, "When I say go, run back here."
"That thing's too fast!" he said.
"I'll try to detonate the hieroglyph and blind it."
A silver of hope filled the air, then the sound of boots crunching on ice. The monster turned.
A young man ran into the light of the hieroglyph. He was dressed in a heavy wool coat and a policeman's hat, with a rifle in his hands. When he saw the monster, his eyes widened. He stumbled backward, almost dropping his weapon.
"Почему там двухголовы змеины мостр без жопа?" The boy yelled.
The snake hissed.
"That's a monster," Sadie told the guard. "Stay calm and don't shoot. I'm trying to save my brother."
The guard swallowed. His large ears were the only things holding up his hat. He glanced from the monster to Carter to the tyet glowing above Sadie's head.
"Heqat" His rifle changed to a two-meter oaken rod with the carved head of a falcon.
Wonderful, Sadie thought. The security guards are secretly magicians.
"Ты за это ответишь перед Меншиковым!"
"Let me guess," Sadie said. "You want to take me to your leader."
The tjesu heru snapped its jaws. It was rapidly losing its fear of the glowing tyet. Carter wasn't far enough away to make a run for it.
I created this snake to get rid of Ra. I never expected it to be used against me. Then again, Ra hardly expected the bite, either.
"Look," Sadie told the guard, "your boss Menshikov is a traitor. He summoned this thing to kill us so we wouldn't blab about his plans to free Apophis. Savvy the word Apophis? Bad snake. Very bad snake! Now, either help me kill this monster or stay out of my way!"
The magician-guard hesitated. He pointed at Sadie nervously. "Kane."
"Yes. Kane."
"No!" I held Ruby tight as her knees buckled.
"Was this how the vision began?" I asked quietly.
Ruby stayed quiet, but I felt her lean on me. Okay, then.
The Russian's expression was a jumble of emotions-fear, disbelief, possibly even awe. That's when the tjesu heru charged towards Sadie and the Russian boy.
Seeing the danger had shifted from him to his sister, Carter tackled the monster. He locked his arms around the creature's right neck and tried to climb its back, but the tjesu heru simply turned its other head to strike.
Ruby screamed, a blood-curling scream, coming right from her heart. The creature sank its fangs into Carter's left shoulder, and he dropped to the ground.
I helped Ruby sit on the floor. The oil dimmed. The image disappeared.
"My baby! My boy!"
Ruby Kane's cries should have carried across oceans. Her pain should have stopped the world. Instead, a grieving mother, she had only my shoulder to cry on.
"Ruby." I whispered.
"My baby!"
"Ruby," I took her hands. "Listen to me. We tell no one. Especially not Julius."
She shook her head.
"Ruby."
"No! Carter-"
"You never saw the end of that vision. Trust in Sadie's abilities. Trust in our princess."
That's all we had left.