Chapter 307
Nobodies POV:
In the deserts of Egypt, under the moon lit night a group of hooded figures made their way through a dig site filled by many men working hard to unearth something that was buried by the shifting sands centuries ago. Upon the shoulders of four of the figures were poles that were carrying a platform with a covered figure beneath a dark blue, silk cover with the only thing showing the figure was alive being the rising and falling of their chest. Standing at the front of the ones carrying this figure was a cloaked man wearing a ocean blue robe with gold lining and held in front of him in both hands was a golden ankh that held a blue gem within the center below the ring and between the two sides sticking out. The thing they were walking towards was a large obelisk shaped building that was twenty feet wide and forty feet tall with a large stone door in the center that had two statues of Ra looking at it and a seal on each side of the door.
The hooded figures walked to a large stone entrance before the one at the front walked up to the door and brushed away the sand from the door and examined it. Once he was done, he smiled and turned to the workers, giving them a nod before they began prying the door open, breaking the seals and forcing the door open which then collapsed to the ground in front of the hooded figures. Once it was open, they made their way into an empty room with multiple hieroglyphics lining the walls and in the center was a large staircase going down. The figures made their way down the staircase to another one and to another one, going miles beneath the surface until they came to another stone door with an ankh shaped indent in the center. The figure in the front placed the ankh into the indent before it shined brightly with a shine that went through the cracks of the door before the ankh was pushed back into his hand and the door sunk down into the ground, throwing dust everywhere.
The group walked into the room behind the door with some separating to light the torches on the wall, bathing the room in light and revealing a pit at the back, filled with a silver liquid and surrounded by a spirit chain with statues of all the gods looking down at it except for t Seth. The leader of the figure holding the ankh walked up to the chains and examined it before they signaled one of the others who walked forward and pulled out an axe which they used to sever the chains. As soon as the chains were severed, they pulled away to a weight system that lifted out a black marble sarcophagus with the face of Seth on it, an indent in the chest for the ankh, glowing golden ruins inscribed on the edges of the lid and sealing talismans on either side. The sarcophagus was lowered down in front of the figures before the lead one turned to the others with a smile and said in a deep voice.
"MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AFTER SO MANY YEARS WE WERE ABLE TO FIND THE KEY TO RAISE OUR MASTER FROM HIS PRISON!" He held up the ankh before gesturing to the sarcophagus. "AND AFTER SO LONG WE SHALL BRING BACK OUR MASTER WHO WAS TAKEN FROM US SO HE MAY CLAIM HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE AS RULER OF THESE LANDS AND THIS WORLD!" The robed figures cheered. "NOW PREPARE THE SACRIFICE!"
They removed the coverings from the figure they were carrying to reveal none other than the queen of the Nile, Cleopatra lying unconscious and in her night robes of a simple white dress, before they picked her up. The figures picked her up and chained her arms in shackles that were connected to the wall, leaving her arms outstretched and her body almost dangling there. Their leader than walked over to the sarcophagus and pressed the ankh into the indent making power seem to flow through the container until the seals began to shake as if they were doing their best to stay together. The leader just smirked as they shattered before the lid slowly split in two with both sides opening up, dropping the ankh that the leader quickly caught. The sarcophagus then fully opened to reveal a shriveled-up body with a human torso and the brown scaled lower body of a snake and upon the head of the creature was a purple and gold striped pharaohs crown. The leader smiled and took a few steps back as he raised his arms and said.
"GREAT SETAKA, SON OF SETH AND MASTER OF PHARAOHS, WE YOUR FOLLOWERS HAVE DISCOVERED THE KEY TO YOUR PRISON AND FREED YOU SO YOU MAY ONCE MORE RULE THIS WORLD AND TO COMMEMORATE YOUR RETURN, WE YOUR FOLLOWERS HAVE BROUGHT YOU A FEAST OF THE BLOOD OF A PHARAOH!" The eyes of the corpse opened up to reveal glowing red behind them as the mouth opened to release a puff of dust as he spoke in a voice that would send a shiver down the spine of even the bravest warrior while exposing a mouth full of fangs.
"Yes!"
The corpse now known as Setaka leaned forward before large batwings sprouted from his back which he then used to fly over to Cleopatra, stroking her hair and then lifting her head to expose her neck. He leaned in and sniffed her skin before he sunk his fangs right into the bottom of her neck where it met the shoulder, creating a crunching sound followed by the sound of slurping as Cleopatra writhed in pain. When he was done Setaka leaned back and growled in pain as his body glowed blue with life returning to it and muscles forming on his human torso before he smiled down at Cleopatra and lifted her face which is when she opened her eyes to reveal they'd become milky white with no sign of any life in them. He smiled at it as he said.
"A truly delectable meal like her ancestors with hers being ripened by the passage of time." He broke her shackles off allowing her to stand as he turned to the room. "Now, it is time to bring back some of my minions." He held out his hand to the leader. "Return my ankh to me." The leader nodded and handed it to him before Setaka raised it high. "COME FORTH MY SERVANTS!"
The walls began to crack and break off as the floor began to shake with holes forming in it until beasts and human shaped creatures covered in blue like glass crawled or climbed out of their places. The robed figures looked around looking at the creatures with a look of awe knowing this was the power of their master and God who they had brought back. Setaka looked around with a frown before growling and said.
"This is nowhere near enough to accomplish my goals, but they shall do for now." He turned to the cloaked figures. "Now tell me my followers, how has the world changed since my imprisonment." They then began explaining everything to Setaka including the threat Hiccup may pose to him if he returned to Egypt.
Back in Tibvr
Hiccups POV:
I was lying in bed with my wives, doing my best to just sleep and ignore the weight in my gut which worried me about something big coming which I'd need to deal with. Now though, I was dreaming that I was at home on my island and up in the air on Toothless, soaring through the air as the wind blew in my face and the sun shined down on us. It was then my flight was brought to an end by a large sandstorm appearing out of nowhere and covering us before I found myself free falling for a few seconds. When the sand cleared, I was alone and standing on a sand dune in the middle of the desert and standing across from me was an Egyptian man with a traditional loincloth around his waist which looked to be made of pure white animal leather with a golden belt around it. On his head was the traditional striped head dress with his being lined gold and red while in his hands were short khopeshes and tattooed on his chest was a golden Egyptian ankh. What caught my attention the most was his right eye which was gold in color with thick black lines going around the eye like most Egyptians, but these ones were sticking out. It was then the figure turned around and walked away turning back only to say.
"Come with me champion and I will tell you of the evil which has returned and once more vanquished."
I don't know how but I knew I could trust this guy and followed him for what felt like hours until we came to a pyramid but this one was made out of pure unchipped limestone and the top seemed to be made of glass. The man opened the doors leading into the temple and lead me in before taking me down various corridors until we came to a hall lined with hieroglyphics which is when he turned to me and said.
"My name is Abubakar." My eye widened in shock before I calmed down.
"I remember being told about you by the Ancient One, he told me you were a champion who protected Egypt hundreds of years ago." He nodded.
"Indeed and for my services, I was granted this pyramid and my own realm like the Ancient One was however the reason I have brought you here is not for a simple chat but to discuss a great evil that has returned to Egypt and must be stopped as soon as possible." I raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, what do you know of the demon Setaka?" I shrugged.
"Only the legends that say he was the son of Seth who was given the lower body of a snake, torso of a human and wings of a bat and he was also nicknamed the master of pharaohs as it was said that he fed upon the pharaohs of the time, enslaving them to his will so he could control the upper rings through them." Abubakar nodded. "It has also been said that he created a blue stone army of the undead which he was slowly building up until he could make the world his own but before he could, the ankh from which he drew his power from was used against him and used to imprison him within a tomb freeing his victims from his control and sending his army into a slumber." He nodded to me.
"Indeed, all of that is true as I am the one who defeated him so long ago but now, he has returned which is why I have brought your mind to my realm to talk." He led Hiccup down the hall and explained. "Centuries ago, I wondered the deserts of Egypt destroying bandits and monsters, but Setaka was the most powerful foe I ever faced and even with my blessings, skills and weapons from the gods I could only defeat him after I stole his ankh and built a trap to hold him." He gave me a serious look. "This foe is not to be underestimated Hiccup; he has already taken control of the pharaoh who is now ruling the land and will use them to make sure the guards do not interfere with his plans to return to his walking fortress and as a weapon against you."
"Does he have any other weaknesses besides the ankh?"
"The only one I know of is sunlight which burns his skin, but it only weakens and does not kill."
"I'm guessing when he was bathed in sunlight is when you trapped him." Abubakar nodded.
"It is the one time he is truly vulnerable, and it may be the only time you will be able to stand a chance." He then looked me right in the eye. "To defeat him you must first get his ankh and into the sunlight for it is only then he can be vanquished, and should you fail all of Egypt shall fall and the world will follow." I nodded.
"I will do everything I can to make sure that never happens." He nodded.
"Be careful, his mind control ability will be able to surpass your immunity to any form of mind control so if he is able to sink his fangs into you, then all hope will be lost." I nodded.
"I better send my family home then."
"A wise choice as he would no doubt be willing to use them against you."
"Now you shall return to your body and remember what I have told you young champion." I was blinded by a bright light before I opened my eyes and found all four of my wives looking down at me in concern as I groaned and sat up as I asked.
"What's going on?" Astrid replied.
"You slept way passed your usual wakeup time and then when we tried to wake you, you didn't even groan when we tried to wake you up in a more extreme way." I groaned and touched my cheeks which were stinging making Astrid look a little guilty as Blanca said.
"Did something happen?" I nodded and began getting out of bed.
"I'm getting you girls and the kids back to the island today and I will not allow any excuses to convince me otherwise." They all looked at me stunned as I got dressed. "An ancient evil has returned with the power to control others with it being so powerful it would be able to surpass even the resistance we have to mind control." They nodded. "Good, now let's grab the kids and get going as the sooner we get you all home, the sooner Toothless and I can go after this threat to the world." They nodded again and we all got to work.
Afternoon
It's been four hours since I arrived in Egypt and to say things had been chaotic would be an understatement since when I first arrived in Alexandria, the city was in chaos and crawling with armed guards who were tearing the entire city apart and the palace looked to have been ransacked. I learnt from the guards that they were searching for Cleopatra who had been kidnapped last night and they were searching for any sign of her or her kidnappers. When I told the guards, what had truly happened to Cleopatra they immediately ran and got half the priests in the city to the palace to discuss all they knew about Setaka and where he may be. Apparently, the majority of knowledge about Setaka had been lost to time which included the exact location of his tomb, but after going through some ancient texts, we were able to get a rough idea of the area where the tomb could be found. This brings us to now, with me and Toothless flying over the desert around the area where the tomb was said to be hidden from those who would seek to bring Setaka back and after three hours of searching I could tell we were getting close. Now I could see what looked to be a large dig site ahead of us and steered Toothless towards it as I said.
"Let's check this out bud." He growled and nodded before we flew full speed towards the site, but the closer we got the more it looked abandoned and when we came to land in the middle of it, the place was completely empty. "Let's look around bud, we might find a clue as to where Setaka can be found." Toothless growled in agreement as I spread out my spiderpacks legs while Toothless glowed blue and got ready to blast.
10 minutes later
We'd searched the entire dig site from top to bottom and found nothing other than an extinguished fire that was had been extinguished recently meaning that those who released Setaka couldn't have gotten far since Setaka couldn't be in the suns light. Sadly, finding which way they went was hard since the ones responsible for bringing the demigod back had made sure to cover their tracks by sending large groups in different directions and my kitsune masks ability to see the past didn't help since they were all dressed in nearly identical cloaks which covered their features. Fortunately, there was the tomb which had been broken open and the inside was covered in hieroglyphics that I hoped would at least give me some clue as to where they went. Unfortunately, when we reached the end of the tomb where Setaka had been kept, we found out that they'd left a welcoming committee waiting for us. This brings us to now, with me and Toothless now surrounded by human like creatures whose faces resembled skulls, covered in some sort of blue marble with black clothing that had gold lining and armed with khopesh, spears and fan axes of the same color as their clothing. As for me and Toothless, I brought out my own khopesh and unfolded my phoenix shield while Toothless was at full glow with his armor now on as we got ready to take on our coming foes. I smirked at Toothless as I said.
"Nice to see that although he's gone, Setaka was kind enough to leave us a welcoming party, hey bud?"
Toothless just growled and nodded before he quickly let out a blast at one that had begun charging, throwing it back into the wall while I turned around and swung my khopesh while extending the chain, slicing another one of the creatures in two. When it hit the ground though, I almost lost my lunch since on the inside of the blue stone was a dried-up corpse that's internal organs still seemed to be rotting and letting out a horrible smell. I remembered my ninja training and used it to hold my breath while doing my best to block out the smell from all other senses so I can focus solely on the battle, quickly blocking the strike of another using my shield and sending it flying away and into the wall. With that the true fight in the tomb had begun with Toothless and I against whatever these blue stone corpses are but I just hoped we'd be able to get out of this place before those things killed us or we run out of air.
45 minutes later
We made our way out of the tomb and back into the desert and I could not have been happier that we were finally out of there since it was incredibly stuffy and thanks to the now dried corpses, it stunk like Gobber a day before he was to take his bath. The second we got out of that tomb; we both took deep breaths of fresh air before I looked to the sky as I let out a sigh and looked down while clenching my fists in anger. Setaka, and his followers had no doubt set up this entire trap to either kill whoever came looking for them or at the very least, buy themselves time to put even more distance between them and the tomb and to make matters worse, there was nothing in there of use. It was then I heard the string of a bow being pulled back and signaled Toothless to be ready for another attack to which he nodded as I readied my prosthetics bolas right before the sound of the arrow being released and flying at me. I quickly turned around and used my left hand to grab the arrow out of the air before shooting out my bolas at the one who fired the arrow who had been hiding behind one of the tents that was left behind. I smiled as they let out a grunt and fell to the ground, tied up before we ran up to them and found a black robed figure who looked up at us with a glare as I asked.
"Who are you?" They just glared up at me through the slit in wrappings on their head before I smirked. "Looks like we'll have to get answers through my special means." I pulled both him and Toothless into my shadow before dragging my would-be assassin into the crystal skull room and began his interrogation.
3 hour later
It's been three hours since I interrogated the guy who tried to assassinate me and learnt he was a human servant of Setaka who was left behind to keep an eye on those who came to investigate the ruins while the others lead their master away to what they referred to as 'his walking fortress'. What's worse is they intended to take every village along the way, capturing the people before handing them over to their master to turn them into those things that ambushed us in the tomb alongside any other living creatures they run into. Sadly, he didn't know where it was since only the heads of their little cult knew its location and they were the only ones to escort Setaka after he was told to hide in the tomb without seeing which way they went so he couldn't tell, even if he was interrogated as he wouldn't know. It was because of this that me and Toothless had to go after each group who left the dig site and with Toothless' speed, we were able to catch up to them in no time, but the problem is they had begun splitting up to make it harder to track them all down. It was because of this that I'd switched from flying on Toothless to using my travelling scorpion since it was better for tracking foes down in the cold night of the desert. Because of this that we were able to capture five groups with each of their members being interrogated and trapped in my shadow which had sadly gotten me little information on Setaka's location. Sadly, all I could do was find the others and hope that I got to Setaka before he could reach his walking fortress since if he did, then we'd all be in big trouble.
Miles away
Nobodies POV:
A group of robed figures, surrounding a large platform that was being pulled by four hippos covered in blue stone with long gold fangs and surrounding all of them was a small army of blue stone covered creatures with gold lining, all standing guard over what was on the platform as they made their way across the desert. On the platform was a throne where Setaka sat with his tail coiled around it while at his sides were two of his humans like creatures armed with fan axes and kneeling at his right side was Cleopatra, the noble queen of the Nile who had been reduced to nothing more than a mindless puppet and clenched in his left hand was his ankh. The goal of their travels was to make their way towards a small pyramid buried in the sands over the years with only the tip along with a little more of what was beneath it being exposed to the night. Once they were thirty feet from the pyramid though some of the creatures at the front were struck with arrows fired by black cloaked figures who rose from the sands around the pyramid who only succeeded in bringing the march to a temporary halt as some of the creatures fell to the ground, dead. Setaka growled before holding his right arm out and yelling.
"BRING ME THOSE WHO WOULD ATTACK MY MINIONS SO THEY MAY FACE JUDEGEMENT FOR THEIR FOOLISHNESS!"
Setaka's minions charged towards the pyramid, ready to capture those who would defy their masterand were met by a flurry of multiple arrows which succeeded in either killing or injuring those at the front, but it didn't stop the others from trampling on the corpses or injured. The ones who they were fighting just kept firing arrows at them, hoping to take more of them down until they'd gotten too close for bows and arrows which is when they took out their weapons of spears, swords, khopesh', daggers and axes before charging at their foes. Still, despite how they were able to slightly bring down the numbers of enemies they would face, they were still outnumbered and weaker than their foes, but they were able to at the very least, kill some of Setaka's forces before they were captured and dragged to the demon who stared down at them in annoyance. His minions removed their hoods to reveal their faces showing both men and women beneath them, all glaring up at Setaka but he ignored their looks intending to add them into his forces until a man was shoved forward for his disrespect exposing a tattoo on the back of his neck. The tattoo had a sun with a falcon's head in the center and Setaka chuckled before he said.
"So, my old foes legacy still lives on to this day." He shook his head. "Still, you all should have known you stood no chance against a god." They all glared at him while the cloaked men laughed until a woman replied.
"We figured we'd at least be able to slow you down and give Hiccup Haddock a little more time to find you." Setaka laughed.
"Do you truly believe that this Hiccup Haddock will be able to stop me?" He let out a laugh. "As if a mere mortal would be able to defeat me." The robed figures all smirked with some letting out small chuckles before one man said.
"Clearly you don't know what foes he's defeated." Setaka glared at him until the woman said.
"He has faced creatures that make a worthless snake like you seem like nothing more than a mere sand worm." Setaka's minions looked ready to take her head but before they could make a move, Setaka smiled.
"You have courage and from your performance in the battle, I admit you have skill so it would be a shame to kill you." He smirked. "So instead, I'll let you join my pet pharaoh while your friends will join my forces."
Her eyes widened in horror right before Setaka raised himself from the throne and did things that made his foes let out screams that echoed into the night for what would feel like hours to any who heard them, including Setaka's followers. Once he was done, those apposed him had joined his forces as blue stone skinned monsters while the woman who had insulted Setaka now sat at his left side with the same milky white eyes as Cleopatra. Three minutes later they arrived at the buried pyramid before one of the robed figures turned to Setaka and said.
"Forgive us for not having your fortress prepared master but it's location has not been known until now and if you will allow us the use of your army, we shall have it cleared of sand in a matter of hours." Setaka simly raised his hand to silence him.
"No need for that my servant." He raised the ankh and faced it towards the pyramid right before a blinding sand tornado rose up around it and blew around for a few seconds and then burst, throwing sand everywhere but when the dust settled, the pyramid was fully uncovered in all its glory. "Come, the beginning of my reign shall soon begin."
The figure nodded before they made their way to the pyramid where Setaka held out his ankh before it let out a bright glow and shot out a golden beam. As soon as it hit the pyramid, the pyramid split open allowing Setaka to lead the hooded figures to a platform in the center of the floor which began to lower down as soon as they were all on, leaving the forces outside to watch as the pyramid closed. It didn't take long for Setaka and his followers to arrive at a large empty chamber aside from the multiple statues of Seth lining a path to the back where a single alter sat. Setaka smiled at the alter as he let out a content sigh before saying.
"It is good to be home."
He got up from his throne and made his way to the alter that had an indent in the shape of the ankh and smiled before he placed the ankh within the indent. The Ankh glowed brightly before the room began to shake as the darkness seemed to flee out the door with golden light chasing it out and once fully gone the room began to shake. Outside, the Pyramid began to reform with the bricks that made it up shifted, floated, turned and slowly the pyramid changed into a giant stone sha with a pharoas head piece before the darkness from within seemed to seep out of the cracks and wrap around it and sink into the stone. When it was done the sha was pure black and smooth to the touch as if it were made of pure polished marble with the head piece striped in dark blue and black with a blue stone sha head on the top. Within the head was a large circular room made of pure black marble with dark blue lining with torches stuck to the walls with blue flames burning and in the center was a dark blue throne that had sha shaped armrests while up at the top on the backrest was the ankh. At the front wall was a large mirror that showed the various halls inside the sha that were lined with torches with the outside being shown in the center, showing the chest opening and lowering to create a ramp before Setaka's minions walked up, slowly lining the halls within. Setaka was in the throne room with his followers lining the walls along with various golden weapons hung up on the walls observing their master as he sat on his throne with his two enslaved pets kneeling on either side. Once he was sat down, Setaka smiled and said.
"I may have my fortress back now but there are still many preparations to make before I can truly make this world my own and bring my father into it so we can rule it together." The chest of the sha closed once the last of Setaka's forces entered before a smile formed on his face. "Fortunately, there are still many settlements in this land, all filled with mortals and creatures who I can bring into my army." He laughed as did his followers before the sha began marching forward to begin its attack, never noticing the black form flying at them full speed from behind at a great distance.
AN: And another chapter done, I got the idea for this adventure from an old series I used to watch as a kid called 'Roswell conspiracies aliens, myths and legends' which was a good series in my opinion. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and will review kindly and if you have any idea for new gifts, please tell me in either a PM or review since I'm running dry on ideas for gifts but nowhere near out of ideas for adventures so I could use some help. Anyway, have a nice day and review kindly.