We'd discovered that in Xeres was the key to bringing Menes to us, to forcing him to fight us on ground of our choosing. However, what we did not fully realize yet is exactly how important this would suddenly make us in the enemy's eyes, as the first of the remaining pharaohs came after us once again...
10 Koiak, Inundation, Year 4 of the Reign of Rameses II (October 28th, 1275 BCE)
As he later told it, Grrrbek thought that the sun was rising an hour early. In truth, what was actually happening was that a flight of twelve hellfire dragons was winging our way.
We were woken by all of the fuss that followed. Deciding that the dragons were after us, we elected to leave, again using Wadjet and the doorknob as a means of outdistancing the dragons. With any luck, they would follow us, and leave Pi Rameses alone.
We asked Sekath if he'd join us, and he assented. His dragon, after all, might come in handy, being fireproof.
We flew for about two hours south, towards the black pyramid. Not willing to risk the chance of the dragons attacking the pyramid rather than us, we decided to set down relatively in the middle of nowhere. I slipped the greyling into my eye; we'd gained about ten minutes on them, so we had some time to prepare.
Then the dragons were upon us. The gold dragon shielded us the best he could from the air, so the dragons were forced to land and approach us on the ground. The priests cast Dismissals, which reduced the number of dragons we needed to deal with by quite a few. Amunet had had a clever idea some minute before, and had wrapped himself into a stone and had Wadjet carry him towards Khaba, who was sitting on the back of one of the dragons.
Only there was a problem. Khaba had cast one of my favorite spells, Mirror Image, and there were seven of him. I could see the real one, of course, but nobody else could. Terik took down two of the images and I took down the other five with Magic Missiles, and then--something happened.
I later learned from Amunet that Khaba had a sort of shield up, and he couldn't get any closer than ten feet to him. The wand he wanted to use--the changing evil to good wand--has a radius of five feet. He ended up using the reality-changing wand, which he'd had on him just in case, to extend the range of the wand.
All that the rest of us could see was Khaba on his dragon turning and flying away, evidently cutting his summoned creatures free to fend for themselves. The dragons were confused for a moment, but then decided that attacking the people who had been hurting them was the most fun thing they could do at the moment. Grrrbek, as has been his habit lately, began taking chunks out of the dragons and eating them.
Fortunately, we proved equal to the challenge, killing and dismissing the rest of the twelve. Afterwards, standing in the smoking remnants of the battle, we all came to one conclusion: this needs to end.
The lion herd has been thinned down to only the smartest and strongest. It is time to pick the final battleground, and stand there.
(Tonight, Grrrbek has been having a terrible time with indigestion. Evidently, hellfire dragon doesn't sit too easily on the stomach, and his belches smell absolutely foul--and this is coming from someone who has her face licked by a hyena on a regular basis.)
13 Koiak, Inundation, Year 4 of the Reign of Rameses II (October 31st, 1275 BCE)
The Black Pyramid, near Amarra
We've had a busy few days.
We knew we had a few days before the lions close in, trying to eliminate us before Menes himself is forced to show up. We've been mustering all of the resources we could gather--calling in the Unas and the maresh (I could get almost used to being bowed to wherever I go, now that my grief over Usi is no longer quite so immediate), and a good portion of the Pharaoh Guard. Mayet has fetched as many Hathor priests from Thebes as she can muster, Pepy has brought most of what remains of Sekhmet's faithful, and oddly enough when I showed up on the doorstep of the Imhotep temple in Pi Rameses the head priest there told me, quite calmly, "We have two hundred priests at your disposal--a hundred here and a hundred in Thebes." Evidently, they've seen this coming.
We've been busy building some fortifications and setting up camp for what looks like it will be about three thousand people in all. I've gotten to be bossy to my heart's content, telling people to go this way and that, looking at the battle plans that we're setting up and the contingencies for if those go astray.
They will not come alone, but we do not stand here alone either.
For me, personally, as time grows short, I find that I am both afraid and not afraid. I've prepared as well as I can for the moment that the hyena god is reunited and I'm going to have to figure out what must be done to free him back to his home. Isu has been sticking close by me, seemingly not wanting to get very far away from me, but her demeanor is calm and serene.
I try to emulate her. And if it were just that I faced my own death, at this point I wouldn't be too worried. But I know that after the last battle, I may be facing life without her.
And the thought has occurred to me in the last few days that the avatar of Imhotep that I carry in my head has a part to play in this, as well...and it may take him away from me, permanently. I do not think I could ever truly lose the god. But I may very well lose the man.
I find that thought a very lonely one indeed...
Quotes:
"I sound the alarm like this, "AAAAAAAAAA!"
--Grrrbek
"We cast Wall of Dragon."
--Laura
"Air elementals and Call Lightning. It's a stormy day on the Nile."
--Derek
"There was a cloud there because Grrrbek needed there to be one."
--Laura
"Our patented edges will cut through even the toughest dragon!"
--Bryan
"It's been an action-packed four rounds, though."
--Ray
"Just because they're good..."
"Doesn't mean they're crazy."
--Kris, Bryan
"We're all going to end up save or be fucking."
--Ray
