We had discovered that we were near where a old pharaoh named Nefrusobek had been spending his time. It was time to head into the desert to find him and whatever it was that he was seeking...
4 Koiak, Inundation, Year 4 of the Reign of Rameses II (October 20th, 1275 BCE) Amarra
After the dust settled and Amunet came back, we discussed it and decided that we should go after Nefrusobek. We slept the night, then set off in the morning.
The Amarra Desert is a strange land, a sand desert where little lives, endless drifting dunes and killing heat. Terik took falcon form, Mayet rode her green dragon, and I had a Fly spell up, all of us searching the ground for signs of Nefrusobek. Terik spotted the circles first and passed the word along to the rest of us. There were circles in the sand, from a circle two miles across to one a half mile across, and in those tracks were moving things that were beneath the sand, things very large and moving very quickly. The sand was otherwise featureless, other than the circle defined by the innermost ring being quite dark, almost black.
They were sandworms, said Grrrbek when we landed a bit away and let the others out of the doorknob. Large, nasty, and bad-tempered they were, not something to mess with lightly. Over the next ridge, a set of figures appeared, dark robes and with scarves covering their faces. They watched us but did not set themselves for battle, and we took this as an encouraging sign. We approached, swords in sheaths.
Raam muttered, "They've put up a telepathic link. I think they're Unas."
They asked, "What are you?" Raam said that we were representatives of the pharaoh. The lead one asked, "Which pharaoh? That other one claimed he was representing the pharaoh, too."
After sorting that mess out, Raam asked them about themselves--they were the last few Unas living free. Raam told them about Abbodos, the city of Unas. He then asked them about the circles, and they said that there was an old legend about it, saying that whatever was beneath would only rise when the One arrives. They also mentioned that the One was referred to as female.
They also mentioned that Nefrusobek was on his way. The Unas gathered themselves together and said they would go to Abbodos, and no sooner did they say it than they were on their way. Mayet on the dragon came in for a landing, passing low over the sandworms--and the worms all came up out of the sand, pointing themselves at Mayet, and began to do a sort of slow, spinning dance.
It seemed that we had found the One.
The voice of the greyling sounded in my ear. Amunet had lent Terik the goldling for the occasion, which was a smart move on his part, I think. Five guys, invisible, fanning out. At the same time, Mayet made some very impressive priestessly gestures, and the worms shot back, spinning and digging into the sand. Mayet then cast some sort of shield, I cast Sanctuary and shot upward (still under my Fly spell), and watched as the enemy attacked. Grrrbek had turned into some sort of vulture, and had, er, whitewashed one of the invisible guys. Four of them attacked, and I heard a sort of spanging sound as someone below ran into the spell that Mayet had cast.
That turned out to be Nefrusobek, as he turned and attacked. Behind Terik, there arrived a large blue dragon, greeting him with a blast of lightning breath. I cast Mirror Image, preparing to go into battle myself. In Sanctuary, I thought I was safe.
I was wrong.
As battle was noisily joined below and Isu ran through the crowd, whooping cheerfully (Mirror Image is one of her favorite spells; hyenas always feel better when they have a pack with them, even if most of them are illusory) I prepared to cast my one last pre-battle spell and dive into the fray. The dragon, however, had other ideas. It managed to shake off the effects of Sanctuary, and snagged two of my five images in its claws. I sized up my chances, and misliking them exceedingly, started my dive downward. I could bet that the shield that Mayet had cast was a hemisphere and I thought I knew how big it was and where it was centered. I thought I'd dive down towards it, and at the last moment spin away and shoot off along the ground, letting the dragon crash into the shield while I got the battle between me and it.
I made two serious miscalculations.
One, the shield was about five feet closer to me than I thought it was.
Two, I was going quite a bit faster than I thought--and the dragon was right on my heels.
All I really remember is a sudden stop and the strange feeling of several of my bones cracking, and then a sudden flash of overwhelming pain.
Isu's scream followed me down into darkness.
I opened my eyes to twin chatterings in my head, both frantic with worry. Isu and the greyling were both speaking in my head, and as I looked up I saw Mayet looking down at me. Without comment, she helped me up.
That was the last time, Isu said. The next time...
"I become Rememberer. I know." I took a deep breath. "What happened?"
"Nefrusobek killed Grrrbek, so we're here till tomorrow," replied Mayet. She gestured over her shoulder. "He hit me, too, and when he did the pyramid came up and killed him. We're about to go inside."
I looked at where she was gesturing. There was indeed a black pyramid there, shining in the relentless sunshine. "Er. How did it kill him?"
Mayet's eyes held a fierce shine. "Tore him from limb to limb. I like it. Come on, Grandmother." I followed her to the wall of the pyramid, which slid open to admit us. I passed the remains of the dragon that had killed me and fought down the urge to kick it. "Terik killed it for you. Damn thing."
The inside was lined with gold, murals and pictures on the wall making it obvious that this was something that had been built either for or by Ra. Gods are a smidge self-important sometimes. (Yes, I am including Imhotep in this sweeping statement. Note that I said sometimes. Sometimes, they are very nice indeed.)
A single corridor led to a central chamber. At the apex of the chamber, there was a crystal, one that matched one mounted on a brazier in the middle of the room, directly below. Gold lined this chamber as well, with a large portrait of Ra as perhaps he had been when this pyramid had been built.
"You were foretold," came the booming voice of the pyramid. "Hathor priestess and royal wife, you command me."
"What are you for?" asked Mayet.
"Killing Menes. Bring him within two miles, and he will be finished." Silence followed the pyramid's words as we all looked at each other. "Leave the Book of the Dead. I will guard it."
"Why are you needed?" Mayet was looking doubtful.
"Menes is immortal and nearly invulnerable. I was created as a weapon against him and I have slept until it came time. The time is now. I will wait for you to bring Menes to me." The voice of the pyramid was unshakeable in its authority.
Through questioning, we discovered that Nefrusobek had been looking for the pyramid in order to destroy it--something that could be done by touching the crystals together. The pyramid warned us that people who reached the pyramid could gain entrance if they were strong enough, and in response we told it not to let anyone near who was not one of us. Mayet decided that she wanted to leave the Books of the Dead and the Living here, so she went into the doorknob to fetch them. This is about the safest place in the world for them, after all.
Terik questioned Nefrusobek's corpse. (The pyramid did a good job on him--tore him to bits.) He said that the three pharaohs who are meeting in ten days in Dahshur are named Menkaure, Teti, and Merenre. They're going to be attempting to speed up the civil war with the Unas, and throw the whole country into chaos.
Sounds like the sort of thing that we're here to stop.
But for the moment, waiting for Grrrbek to return on the morrow, we're standing around looking at the remnants of a battle, the greyling in my ear, listening to the chatter of the Pack and the several smaller packs who are heading this way, drawn by the promise of meat. Watching the sun dip closer to the horizon and wondering if I'm ready for the what may soon come for me.
"I'm not ready," I mutter to Isu. "I haven't done what I need to do. I don't even know what I need to do."
Then you'd better find out, Chosen. Or everything is lost.
I close my eyes, feeling the silent concern of the god in my head, and try to clear my mind, meeting with little success...
Quotes:
"Some of us aren't here to represent anyone. We're just here to wipe out everyone else."
--Pepy
"Who do you represent?"
"We just live here."
--Amunet, the Unas
"Rise in a good way or rise in a bad way, do you think?"
--Amunet
"There's a feat called Greater Psychic Endowment."
"I don't think it does what you think it does."
--Bryan, Ray
"Nefrusobek, meet your demise...or not."
--Grrrbek
"I thought he said Brazilian sphere. One of those gives you a good waxing."
"You're surprised and in some pain for one round."
--Laura, Graham
"You can stop killing it now, it's dead."
--Mayet
"It's a little ostentatious, isn't it?"
--Raam, referring to the pyramid which is lined with gold.
