Chapter 40 Half of the Sky
Half of the Sky
Zahra stumbled out the doors of the Pharaohs’ Library, stunned at the scene before her.
Keres were everywhere, pulling the citizens of Aur out into the streets.
Her people were screaming, running from the keres and using khopeshes or improvised weapons to fend off the beasts.
The medjay they had brought with them fought valiantly against the foes, but they were outnumbered, and many had already fallen.
Zahra shot forward to join the fight, but Namir wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her back. “No. No!” Namir pushed her against the wall, gritting his teeth. “We can’t help them.”
“They’re dying,” Zahra cried. “They’re our people, and they’re dying!”
“But they will all die if we don’t stick to our plan,” Namir stated. “Please, Zahra. We must evacuate the few we can.”
Zahra fought back tears. She nodded, and Namir released her, taking her hand.
Waaiz motioned for them to follow, and they went down the steps of the Pharaohs’ Library. Namir led them to where they had left Victory. The Naqada Ionians were fighting keres nearby.
A ker moved toward Zahra and Namir, and Waaiz intercepted it. “Find our horses!”
The horses had been tied to a post. A couple had fallen to the ground, but one was still alive. It neighed, trying to break free.
Namir ran toward the horse, stumbling to a stop as the glow from his chest showed the horse’s white coat. He bent over one of the other horses, and his face contorted with pain. “Victory!”
Zahra went past him toward the other horse.
She glanced at Victory on the ground, turning her eyes away when she saw wounds from a ker upon his back and legs.
Zahra undid the rope that bound the other horse.
The horse cried out, standing back on its hind legs.
Zahra fell backward, the reins slipping from her hand.
Namir withdrew his hand from Victory’s snout, tears streaming down his cheeks as he grabbed Zahra and pulled her out of the way. “Look out!”
The horse’s legs landed right where she had been sitting. It let out a cry and bolted into the chaos.
Zahra heaved as Namir pulled her to her feet. “I—I’m sorry. I was trying to—”
“It’s fine.” His jaw clenched. “We will have to make the journey back on foot.”
Waaiz killed the ker and ran toward them. “Keep moving!”
Namir took Zahra’s hand and pulled her through the darkness. A ker saw them moving past, and it leaped toward them. Waaiz quickly dispelled it, but more keres emerged from the fallen people, running toward them.
Zahra and Namir blasted a couple of keres away with their light, but they kept coming.
Waaiz swung his khopesh at another ker. “Quickly! There may be horses in the temple stable house.”
Namir pulled Zahra forward toward the temple. The temple complex’s walls were burnt and crumbled, but the stable house still stood.
Zahra threw her psyche out toward a ker as they reached the doors. It fell back, landing beside Waaiz, who was occupied with another ker.
Namir let go of Zahra’s hand. “Waaiz, look out!”
Waaiz cried out as the ker at his feet bit into his right leg. The other ker took advantage of the distraction, tackling Waaiz to the ground. Waaiz’s khopesh fell from his hand.
Namir ran forward, grabbing Waaiz’s weapon and swiping at the keres. They snarled and jumped off Waaiz, growling at Namir.
“Grab two horses,” Namir ordered. “Hurry!”
Zahra pulled open the door and ran inside. She saw a vision of a knife coming toward her, and she stepped back as a shadowed figure lunged at her. She tripped on her dress, falling back.
Recognition filled her eyes. “Patér!”
Omar looked up in surprise, his head bloody. “Poulaki mou!”
Zahra dropped the bag, wrapping her arms around her father. “You’re alive!”
Omar held her tight. “I thought you were in Illahun. I came here seeking sanctuary, but then those things started attacking.” He pulled away. “Why are you here?”
“I will explain later. We need to grab two horses so we can escape.”
Namir’s voice came from outside, and she saw a flash of golden light. “Zahra!”
“Who is that?” Omar asked.
“Later,” Zahra promised, going to grab the bag.
The Thoth had slipped out onto the floor.
She placed her hand on it to push it back inside the bag.
She sucked in a breath as deep vibrations flooded her body.
Re’s power was still within the Thoth, just as she had felt in the library, but she felt a deeper connection to him now while holding his gift.
Her sibyl mark glowed on her head as she recalled the old records she had read in the hidden library.
Always, the sun, moon, and stars were mentioned together—the parts of the sky that worked together rather than apart.
Zahra jumped to her feet, leaving the Thoth on the floor as she turned to her father, who was unlatching one of the stall doors. “Don’t let that leave your sight!”
Omar’s jaw dropped at the mark on her head. “Zahra? Zahra!”
She rushed out of the stable house. There were several piles of ash around Namir and Waaiz, but there were three keres still standing, and more coming toward them.
Zahra thrust her psyche out, blowing away the keres in front of Namir.
He turned back to her with wide eyes, his lip bleeding. “Where are the horses?!”
Zahra grabbed his hand, which glowed with sunlight, and looked up at him. “We can stop this.”
Waaiz grunted as he held off the other two keres. “Pharaohs, what are you doing?!”
“We can’t.” Namir threw light at an approaching ker. “There are too many!”
“But we have the sky’s power with us,” Zahra insisted. “You said it yourself. Iset can’t take away what Re has given us. We have his power, and we have my connection to Selene. We can still use the might of the sun and moon, but we are stronger together.”
Namir’s panicked eyes looked at the approaching keres. “Zahra, I—”
“Namir,” Zahra begged. “Trust me. Trust in our netjeru.”
Namir clenched his jaw and nodded. “How do we do this?”
“We must make a shield like before, but bigger—as big as we can!”
Waaiz grunted, stepping back as more keres arrived at his feet. “Pharaohs!”
Zahra pulled Namir to her and placed his forehead against hers. They held hands as they focused on the power shared between them—the sun’s power—channeling it into a small ball of fire.
A horse came barreling from the stable house, Omar atop it. The bag with the Thoth was tied over his shoulder, and he held a horse whip in his free hand. The keres shrieked as the horse ran over them, and Omar whipped at the feet of the other keres. “Stay back, beasts!”
Zahra focused, and her sibyl mark glowed on her forehead. Silver light intertwined with the ball of fire, and it began to glow a brilliant blue.
Zahra and Namir turned toward the keres, holding each other’s hand while thrusting their other hand out. The ball of fire erupted from their hands, sending a blue light out in a circle around them. The keres cried out as the light became hard walls, forcing them away.
Zahra grunted, blood dripping from her and Namir’s noses as the light became a large dome, growing bigger, encompassing the temple and the road near the Pharaohs’ Library.
The keres shrieked, turning into ash as the dome threw them back.
Finally, when the last keres near them had been destroyed, they dropped the shield, leaving the area blanketed in darkness once more.
Namir collapsed against a building once they had made it to an Ionian village, huffing as sweat caked his brow.
Zahra sat on the ground with the bag in hand, holding her side.
The rest of the people followed, thanking the Ionians who came to help transport the wounded into homes.
Waaiz shuffled with the others, directing the people and ensuring everyone was taken care of.
Omar took him aside to treat his leg, which was bloody from where the ker had bit him.
Zahra’s lip trembled, and she turned to the rest of those coming in. The people were helping each other walk. On the road from where they had come from, medjay were leading others to another village nearby.
Zahra took in a quivering breath. “We saved so many.”
Namir followed her gaze. He wiped at his bloody nose and lip. “We almost did not make it out alive.”
Zahra’s nose dripped blood on her hand as she wiped it once more. Though the shield had gotten rid of most of the keres and allowed many time to escape, it had exacted a heavy toll on both Zahra and Namir.
Zahra wrapped her hand around her necklace. “We only made it because we relied on the netjeru. The keres would have followed us if we had not done what we did.” She eyed the bag containing the Thoth, recalling what she had felt when she held it. “Perhaps there is a way to end this.”
Namir followed her gaze. “End this?” He leaned forward, lowering his voice.
“This is the end! We can’t escape out to Sea, and Iset will surely catch up with us if we try to run south.
With Re’s gift, we can protect ourselves and a few others, but for how long can we hold out against the keres in this endless night?
” He buried his face in his hands. “We have failed.”
Zahra clenched her jaw. One of the medjay they had sent north had found them on his ride back. Iset had taken her path of destruction to the cities northward; Khem was among those fallen. She had appeared to be going north toward the Sea, likely to attack what few boats they had.
They were stranded, and they didn’t have long before Iset would turn back this way or find a way for her keres to break through their defenses.
Zahra swallowed. “You saw what we were capable of when we relied on their power. Despite what has happened so far, the prophecy is not yet fulfilled. There is more we can do.”