Chapter 6 The Hunter #2
“When he pierced between my thighs you mean?” Horus smirked, and as I slowly ate and drank, careful to leave time between bites to respond where needed, I listened to his story.
“Seth charmed me more easily than I expected. Our trials for the most part were enjoyable competitions. I was supposed to be winning back all Seth had stolen when he murdered Osiris, not having fun. Yet I was. The stories you share of either of us getting upset about some unfairness or another or allies picking sides, it wasn’t like that.
Our challenges kept their own balance, and we enjoyed them all.
Then one night, he tried to claim me, yes, and I rebuffed him. ”
“The stories say you… caught his release in your hand.”
“Caught is one way of putting it. I did willingly aid in its release.”
Oh.
“I told him he could have all of me if he ceased our remaining challenges and gave up the throne. He told me he would worship me greater than any of the other gods if I sided with him instead. We would rule together. I almost gave in to that offer, especially when he showed me just how well he could worship with his mouth.”
Oh.
“The lettuce part of the story was not a complete fabrication,” Horus continued. “He swallowed most of me, but when he pulled off and got up to clean himself, a little dripped from his chin onto one of the plates of food that we had been feasting from together.”
My eyes drifted to the current feast, noting the telling lack of greens.
“It did land upon a lettuce leaf, and Seth plucked it from the plate, licked the drop of me from it and ate the lettuce with his eyes locked on mine.” Horus licked his lips as he recalled it, eyes far away in that part of the memory.
“There was no trick, only betrayal when I could not give him what he asked for.
“He took my eye for the part of me that sided with his enemies, and I spared his life for the part of me that had wanted…” He paused to clear his throat.
“That had wanted so badly to side with him. But I had to do what was right by my brethren and the mortals we watch over. You. Seth was not fit to lead, especially not with how he had taken the throne. It has been ages and may be ages still until his atonement is complete.”
“True destruction of Apophis?” I asked.
“No. Ra could always handle the snake himself. Seth’s true atonement is to settle the chaos within him that Apophis represents. He is nearly ready, I truly hope he is, but not quite yet. We are all order and chaos combined, but Seth has more chaos in him than most, just as Osiris has more calm.”
My appetite was waning, and I cleansed my palate with a sip of beer before asking, “Is more calm also a negative?”
“It can be. Why else do you think Osiris fell by Seth’s hand? An eternal calm means trusting too easily sometimes.”
I could tell Horus did not believe he had trusted too easily when he allowed himself to be charmed. He merely had to wait. “Then even the most corrupt can be saved once they atone?”
“I hope so. I hope he will join me someday in that very seat you occupy.”
I smiled, for it had never dawned on me that even the gods might have their tragedies to overcome to win their beloveds. Isis had in the saving of Osiris, but that was an ancient tale. This between Horus and Seth was yet ongoing, not long past but part of their present.
I ate a few bites more to have my fill, amazed at just how much it revitalized me, same as Geb’s hot spring and my longer rest after being with Ra.
I said as much to Horus when I was finished and thanked him for the meal.
“You feel stronger then?” he asked.
“Very much so.”
“Good. You will need it for the hunt.”
“The… hunt?” I had nearly forgotten I had a trial yet to complete.
The abode we had flown to vanished, jolting me as I suddenly found myself standing instead of seated, and all around us were the lush trees of some magical oasis.
It was like being in one of Pharaoh’s gardens but even grander.
I had never seen trees so large or flowers of such perfect bloom and color.
The foliage was so thick, in fact, that I could barely see through it to know how deep in any direction it went.
“The hunt,” Horus repeated, and though his headdress had been left behind, he held himself in such a manner as to command menace. Slowly, he began to remove the rest of his armor, until he wore nothing but his loincloth and collar, less encumbered, I imagined, to better give chase.
A hunter eager to track and claim his prey. And looking into his darkly hungry expression now, I felt distinctly like I was his quarry.
“Do you understand now, Nakht?”
“I-I…”
“Go.”
My heart leapt into my throat as I turned on my heels and raced into the trees.
For the first time, I remembered that I was barefoot. It hadn't mattered in my other trials, not even as much on Geb's rocks, for they had been smooth and warm. The ground here was rough and more uneven than the caverns. I had to be careful or a stray pebble might mean my literal downfall.
The anxiety I had felt through most of my time with Seth returned but stronger now, because I did not know what to expect if I was caught. Was Horus secretly as fierce and pleasure-seeking through pain as his counterpart, or did he expect something else from me?
Which direction should I even go? Where was I?
And why was the looming threat of Horus at my back still strangely alluring?
I heard rustling from the trees behind me and to my right. Should I look? Would one faltering step mean he had me?
I veered left just in case, straining my eyes through the verdant thickness. The sandy-white color of stone caught my attention even more to my left, and I hastened my sprinting toward… sanctuary, I hoped? A cave?
A temple, I soon saw, as I exited the thickest copse of trees into a semi-clearing. I paused for as long as I dared to gauge whether I could still hear rustling behind me, and after an answering silence, I hurried into the temple proper to allow myself a moment’s rest.
In truth, it was more of a shrine, and very small for being built of such fine stonework, with everything carved to royal perfection.
It was the type of structure that, if larger, would have meant worship for one of the greatest gods, but in this simple shelter with low roof, close walls, and two open archways as an entrance and exit, it wasn’t one gods’ greatness being worshipped, but two, and not the entirety of those two, but their brief time spent together.
The hieroglyphics on the walls told the story of the contendings of Horus and Seth.
I was drawn to the depictions, each scene, each challenge, laid out before me.
It didn’t even start by showing the murder of Osiris, as most would, but straight to when Horus appeared before Seth, demanding he return the throne.
The other gods interfered in their initial quarrel and, unable to agree on who was the true successor, ordered the pair to face one another in fair and varied challenges.
A test of constitution, for example, through who could hold their breath the longest beneath the Nile.
A race in stone boats. Battle after battle to prove strength and cleverness.
Trial after trial before different overseeing gods, some of which were stories I had never heard before, for there were many disparities to this tale, and it was said the contendings had lasted for nearly a century.
What was clear when I got to the fourth and final wall was that the seduction of Horus had played out exactly as he had told me.
They had battled once more when Horus denied Seth’s offer, more viciously than any of their previous bouts, ending in the loss of Horus’s eye, but he was inevitably still named the victor, and Seth’s punishment was decided when he conceded his loss.
The very last panel of images showed Horus in deep mourning, up in the sky, while Seth was in his cave below, awaiting his next battle against Apophis. Horus was shown thinking of happier times, of the fun experienced between them, and how much both had enjoyed the chase.
That was what he wanted from this. From me. Fun, like children playing before the midday heat, only with a culmination fit for grown men.
The rustling came again from just outside the archway where I had entered. I let the thrill of nervousness fill me, wondering if it was feathers against leaves I heard or feet in the dirt. Probably both.
I heard the rustling in the other direction and spun about to face it.
Horus was toying with me, making me second guess the angle of his attack.
I backed up toward the first entrance, straining my ears for clues as to his location.
Despite the pounding in my head, blood pumping hotly all throughout me, once I was certain of where he lurked, I stayed my course, back and back and back, until I stood framed in the archway.
A hand slipped beneath my loincloth and brushed against my thigh.
“Better run, little hare, before the jaws snap.”
I sprang forward, missing the heat from his touch the moment it left me, but I knew the game now and burst out of the temple exit, debating my next path.
The ground beneath my feet was changing as I ran, with softer and softer sand, while the trees were growing less dense. After a few more paces, I saw why.
Water.
I raced toward that tempting pool as the sweat began to drip more and more from my brow, from the places where my dancer’s attire touched skin, and down between my thighs.
To my right, left, and forward beyond the pool were yet more trees, as if the oasis went on forever, but at the pool I was vulnerable, in the open, exposed.