7. Sett
Sett
T hey'd erased us.
They'd erased everything about us.
Our love.
Our union.
Our everything.
It had all turned into echoes buried in the sand dunes.
And what did they leave behind? His abuse. Only they'd flipped it around so I came out as the bad guy. I came out as the evil one. The god of violence.
I was disgusted. Disgusted and heartbroken all over again. If only I could go back home, back to my chambers, the ones I'd shared with my Ra and just…rot in there. Forget about everything and everyone and just let time and misery take me.
"Okay. Where to," Drew said and came to stand next to me.
I took a deep breath, followed by another.
I couldn't abandon him. I couldn't give up. Not yet. Not now. Drew needed me. His brother needed me. And I needed to exact my revenge once and for all.
"Uhm…give me a moment," I said and with each inhale I grounded myself more.
I was home. I had returned.
I looked out. Everything had changed so much. Technology and history co-existed side by side. Our remnants could be seen all over, with every step we took and yet new ideas could be seen at every corner too.
Cars, skyscrapers, mosques. It was a whole new world and yet….
The busy streets, the happy people, the loud conversations at every turn reminded me of the days of old.
"It's so pretty, isn't it?" Drew asked, taking in his surroundings as if for the first time.
He had a childlike wonder and a beautiful glimmer in his eyes. The weight in my heart eased a little when I looked at him. He made the pain subside, if only a little.
"It is," I answered, unable to take my gaze off him.
He noticed and stopped in his tracks to stare back at me.
"What?" he asked after what felt like forever.
"Nothing." I shook my head. "Nothing."
I walked forward. I needed to gain some ground in order to orient myself.
"Here. Let's try this." He pointed at a hotel and I raised an eyebrow.
What exactly was he suggesting? What could we possibly do at a hotel that would help?
I was afraid to ask. What if I liked his answer?
Drew passed the reception and went straight for the elevators that took us all the way to the top floor. The roof terrace.
"Aah," I sighed and he turned with a questioning gaze but I didn't enlighten him or entertain him. I simply stepped out and walked to the edge.
The pyramids of Khufu and Khafre rose ahead in the west.
"Is that where we're going?" he asked, following my gaze.
"No. We're going south." I pointed toward Neferirkare's pyramid.
It wasn't visible from here. It was too far away and the pyramid too small, but it was there. I knew it.
"Should we take the house closer?"
It took me a second to understand what he meant before I shook my head and pushed myself off the railings back into the building.
"We'll take a…a…what's it called?" I clicked my fingers trying to recall the word I was looking for.
"Taxi?"
"That's it!" I fist pumped the air and Drew laughed.
I liked the sound. It did something to me, to my insides, I hadn't felt in a long time. It gave me a hunger I hadn't allowed to overtake my body in millennia.
"Right-oh. Let's go," Drew said and dragged me back into the elevators down to the lobby and out into the streets.
It wasn't long before we were on the move. We sat next to each other in the backseat, shoulder to shoulder as the driver raced through the roads.
The bustle and hustle of the city was replaced by eerie quiet, the only distinct sound that of the wheels on the road and the engine of the car at max speed.
Buildings, residences and markets gave way to the vast Sahara desert, the unconquerable beast.
Now I was truly home.
I leaned back on the seat, pushed my head against the rest and closed my eyes.
I’d missed this. I’d missed the sand. I’d missed its magic coursing through each grain. I’d missed it all and I hadn't even known it until now.
"Are you okay?" Drew asked.
I opened my eyes to find him staring at me. His gaze was dark and beautiful and it only added to this alchemy of the magical signatures all around me.
I nodded. "I am."
And for the first time in forever I meant it. And felt it.
"It's…it's good to be back," I said and smiled at him.
It didn't matter that they'd taken our history from us. That they'd made us even less than a footnote. I was here now and I could kill Horus and reclaim everything we'd lost.
Well, almost everything.
"We're here." The driver came to a stop and looked at me through the rearview mirror.
Drew dug into his pocket for a card and as soon as we came out he took in our surroundings.
"Wh-where are we?" he asked.
I pointed toward the pyramid. It was a little further ahead. It didn't matter I hadn't stepped foot in Egypt in thousands of years. The sand recognized my power, my dominion. And it paid its respect by guiding me towards Neferirkare's tomb.
"Here. Follow me." I offered him my hand.
When he touched me it sparked something inside again. A warmth both familiar and foreign.
It felt a little like betrayal but I didn't let Drew go. No matter how sinful it felt touching another man and feeling that way. I couldn't let him go. He was the reason I was here. He was one I was meant to protect. And I took my role very seriously.
We trekked to the pyramid and my shoulders sagged. It was nothing like it had in the glorious days. Half of it was buried, the other half on the verge of collapse.
But the magic in its foundations held strong. I knew it.
"Where is it? The scarab?" Drew asked.
I nodded at the pyramid.
Drew grimaced. "What? In there? How the hell are we going to get inside?"
I glanced at my little witch protégé and grinned as I raised my hands in and commanded the sand around us.
It was as easy as breathing. Controlling the sand, its grains, its magic. I’d missed the rush. The feeling of commanding it. And yet it was as if I’d never stopped. It felt like yesterday when I’d last used my power on that fateful day so long ago.
It took but a thought to create a sandstorm that would conceal us from prying eyes.
Drew covered his face, trying to protect himself from the ruthlessness of the storm but it wouldn't touch him. Not unless I wanted it to.
I grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him forward, toward the entrance. I pushed at my magic and breathed deeply as tons and tons of sand became waves. Waves that parted just for me, giving me access to the buried entrance of the pyramid. The hidden one. The magic one.
"Woah," Drew said when the emerald-encrusted gate appeared in front of us.
"I know." I smiled.
Why was my chest so full of pride at leaving him speechless? What was happening to me? Since when did I care about impressing young witches I had no inclination or desire to impress?
"This…this is stunning," he put his hand out to trace the gemstones around the golden gate. "Ooh. Protection spells."
He pulled his hand back as if it had been burned and I wouldn't be surprised if he had. Those emeralds had been created to keep everyone out for eternity.
"H-how do we get in? Is there a passcode, or a spell—" he asked when I made a fist and conjured my khopesh.
My weapon formed in my hand out of thin air, taking shape and color until it was shiny and gold as if I’d never stopped using it.
Drew stared with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, and even if I didn't want it to, my chest filled with more pride and satisfaction.
I pulled my arm back and when I brought it down on the door, the gemstones cracked one by one, in a pattern that resembled a snake. When the last one burst, the magic extinguished like a flame and the door slid open.
"That is so fucking cool," Drew marveled.
I smiled at him and walked into the tomb.
We navigated the corridors to the main chamber where a rare collection of artefacts had been stored after Neferirkare died.
But as soon as I stepped into the small, stuffy vault it was empty.
"Where is it?"
Drew walked in right after me and glared at me.
"Where is what?" he asked.
"The scarab. Everything."
This place was supposed to hold some powerful magic, kept safe from greedy hands until the end of time.
"You mean it's not here?" he spun around, looking at every corner but there was no use.
The vault was empty.
The scarab was missing.
The protections I'd built had failed me yet again.
Was it me? Was it my fault Horus wasn't dead? Had my magic failed me back then too? Had he found out where I hid the scarab? Was it in his possession?
No, it couldn't be.
If he had his scarab he'd have come to his full power and nothing…nothing would be the same.
"I guess archaeologists found this place? Or tomb raiders."
I shook my head. "No one was supposed to find this. I used some potent magic to conceal it."
"So maybe it was another magical creature. Another god?"
I growled and stormed out of the vault. My legs were on fire. My whole body burned with fury.
"Where are you going? What are you doing?"
I stopped on my tracks and growled again. This time the ground, the walls, the ceiling shook. Everything around me made of sand trembled under my power.
My power…
"One moment," I said and got down on my knees, calling forth the magic of sand.
A cloud rose around us. It sizzled with magic and memory and the thicker it got, the clearer I could see. Sand carried the signatures of everyone who'd crossed its path both future and past.
The sand in here had no memory. No one but me all those years ago.
Except...
There it was. A signature. It was otherworldly and dark.
"An eldritch witch. Whoever took the scarab was a witch with an affinity for the eldritch dimension."
The sand cloud dropped to the ground and dissipated instantaneously.
Drew stared at me. "Th-that would make sense. If they used an eldritch sacrifice to infiltrate the tomb. Eldritch creatures aren't affected by magic the same way."
I nodded and rose to my feet.
There was some relief in the realization I hadn't screwed up again. Eldritch magic was rare and it didn't play by the same rules. I could never have predicted that.
"We need to find them. Whoever was here. We need to locate them," I said and before I'd even finished my sentence, Drew scooped up some sand from the ground and put it into a vial he'd retrieved from his pocket.
"Don't worry. I know just the trick."
He winked at me and walked toward the exit leaving me to stare at him. All of him. And try as I might, I couldn't stop from admiring him in his entirety.
He was so…different. All the witches I'd encountered in my life had been so…meek and helpless. They relied on us, their kings, to give them everything they wanted, but Drew?
He acted as if he had all the power in the world and didn't need anyone, not even a god, for anything. And yet, he'd summoned me to help him with Horus. I couldn't blame him. Escaping my brother's grasp was a grueling task. One I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
But Drew needed me and that…rubbed something inside me. My ego or the desire I'd buried along with my husband, I didn't know.
What I did know in that moment was that I'd do anything and everything to please this powerful witch, and that thought alone terrified me.