The Staff of the Eight
RA WAS LISTENING wearily while his daughter Hathor very nearly screamed at him in her fury. That night he had called her to tell her to stop. Having seen how Kha and his followers had fled to the swamps, which were almost as dangerous as the rest of the now flaming Egypt, and hearing Thoth's testimonial as to his desperate prayers for help, he had felt pity and decided to relent, seeing just how much destruction had been wrought. But Hathor stubbornly refused his request and was arguing against it.
"They deserve every bit of what they get!" she shouted. "They ruined your temples so I've ruined their homes. It's an eye for an eye." [Note--no, the Biblical implications of that quote didn't strike me back then...]
"They regret what they've said and have repented," Ra said.
"That means nothing! If you tell me to quit this now they'll just go back to their old ways. That's how the mortals are. They're so stupid they can't learn from experience. We should get rid of them now while we have the chance."
Ra just sat and let her talk. He could see so much of himself in her--his same tenacity, frustration, and bad temper--that he couldn't get very angry at her without in turn feeling angry at himself. [Note--the proper phrasing should be "angry with," but I didn't know this back then.] When she finally seemed to be finished with her tirades, Ra again spoke.
"Hathor, I'll ask you one more time," he said. "I want you to stop this destruction and let the rest of the mortals be. I'm not the only one who wishes the slaughter ended." He distinctly remembered how Anubis had stood so disrespectfully to voice his opinion.
"I won't!" Hathor shot back, and stormed from the palace.
Ra did not follow or even order her to come back, though he knew that was what was expected. He was tired of fighting. So he whistled and a sunhawk flew in, alighting on his hand.
"You called me, God Ra?" he asked.
Ra nodded. "Tell Thoth to come here," he said. "And have him bring his staff with him."
The hawk nodded and flew away.
It was not much later when the sunhawk returned, Thoth, as an ibis, with him. Thoth landed and changed into his usual form, and held up his hand. A shaft of bright light appeared and was transformed into a tall staff of dark, polished wood, capped by a golden eight with twin crystal balls. He then bowed in obeisance before the sun god, and stayed kneeling, his staff in hand. [Note--and now an authorly aside. If you look at my depictions of Thoth online, you can see that he's always holding this odd staff capped with a crystal-ball eight. I got this idea from a story I read in a cheesy card-reading booklet (card-reading as in, fortunetelling). There was a little tale told in the booklet about how once Thoth owned a staff topped with an eight, the twin circles of the number denoting the twin circles of love and knowledge. Once a lesser god stole this staff and wreaked all kinds of havoc with it. Thoth finally retrieved it, and the lesser god was punished severely; he lost his immortality, but was allowed to live eight times eight years more, or eighty times eighty, or something like that. It's been a long time since I read this story. In any event, when I first came online in 2000, I went looking for further information on this "staff of the eight," with no luck. You have to admit, it would make no sense for an ancient Egyptian god to be carrying a staff with the MODERN symbol of eight atop it! I knew that back then, but I had still hoped there was some sort of at least general basis for the story. Well, there doesn't look to be; I highly suspect the story was made up just for that booklet. Still, the tale stuck with me--seeing as eight is Thoth's sacred number--and so I decided to incorporate it into my own stories. No, it still makes no sense for Thoth to carry a staff with the modern symbol of eight atop it--but I like it, so nyeehhh! *cough* So...that's that funky staff thingie you see in his hand all the time. More on it to come in this story. A highly modified version of the booklet's "staff of the eight" tale, combined with my own version here, should appear in the rewrite of City Of The Sun; I picture the lesser god Baba/Babai/Bebi as the thief.]
"I've called you here for two reasons, Thoth," Ra said. "You are my mouthpiece, my lookout to the world below. That's why I must ask you to look into your staff and see how the mortals are faring."
"I beg pardon to say that Your Majesty could very well already see and know what is happening," Thoth said.
"I know," Ra replied, "but I'd like to see your version."
"Could Your Majesty grant me permission to stand?"
"Permission granted."
Thoth stood and waved his hand over the eight of the staff. The crystals glowed, and then an image formed. Ra did not need to move closer as his sharp falcon's eyes could see everything that was going on. He watched for several minutes, then said, "Do you suppose there is any way I can stop Hathor peacefully, Thoth?"
"Do not assume me to be impolite when I ask Your Majesty to think back and remember what Anubis said."
Ra thought, but he didn't know what Thoth meant. "I'm sorry, Thoth. I don't understand your meaning."
"Think back, Majesty. What did Anubis say about the dying?"
Again the sun god thought, and again he was about to say he didn't understand when it struck him. Those people who are fortunate enough to escape...are instead drowning in the blood spilled by their neighbors. What Anubis had said made perfect sense; much blood had been shed.
"I remember now," he said, "but what has this to do..." His voice trailed off into silence and he was left mildly amazed as a plan took shape in his head. Thoth had the strange talent of helping people along without actually doing anything for them. He looked at the moon god, who was still waiting expectantly for a response. Ra nodded at him slightly. "I must thank you, Thoth. I believe I'm beginning to understand."
"Your Majesty is most welcome," Thoth said, but he did not leave.
Ra sat up--he had been leaning a little to the side since Hathor and he had been arguing--and said, suddenly remembering the other reason he'd called Thoth to him, "I also must ask a great favor of you, Thoth. Even when Hathor is stopped there are the wounded whose pain continues. Would it be asking too much to have you go to them and heal them with your magic staff?"
Thoth bowed again. "I am at Your Majesty's service."
Ra nodded. "I will give you one hundred days to do so. I hope it won't be too difficult for you, Thoth."
Once more Thoth bowed. "I will do the best I can, Majesty."
Kha awoke to the smell of a hundred cities burning. He sat up slightly, noticing that he had been asleep in a sheltering bed of reeds which hid his view of Bek and Kawit, whom he heard talking in hushed tones. He started to get up--the reeds were damp with swamp water so they hardly rustled--but a sharp pain in his ankle stopped him and his head spun. Dim memories resurfaced: after he had been beaten by Tu, and Tu ran away, his eyes blinded by Hathor, he had gone back into the protection of the swamps and Hathor had returned. Bek and Kha had run. In so doing, he'd fallen and twisted his ankle badly (Kha had sworn he'd heard it snap, something which Kha was afraid he was probably correct about) and had to be helped to the reeds where the old woman had placed a poultice on his ankle.
His thoughts returning to the couple nearby, he gently pushed some reeds aside and peered out. Bek and Kawit were sitting side by side on a fallen tree. Kha lay back down, listening to them.
"He's blind?" Kawit's voice asked.
"Completely. He couldn't see a thing."
"How badly is Kha hurt?"
"Tu did quite a job on him but it's his foot that's bothering me. I'm sure it's broken."
"What if it gets infected? He could lose it." [Note--no, I obviously did not know much about medicine back then, either.]
"I know." A sigh. "I just wish this would all end! Whenever will the sun rise? When will the fire stop?"
"I'm afraid, Bek. I don't know if Kha will be able to make it. He's seriously hurt. You should take him to find help. I could stay here while you do so."
"No, honey, it won't come to that. Don't be afraid."
Silence. Kha rose a little and again parted the reed stalks. He could see that they were kissing. He smiled to himself, at the thought that Bek could actually be so concerned about someone other than himself. Now Kawit rested her head on Bek's shoulder and he put his arm around hers. It would have been more romantic than touching had not the light they were facing been the fires of vengeance instead of the sun. [Note--I'm not sure due to the awkward phrasing, but I might have that last sentence backwards; what I meant was, "It would have been more romantic than just touching if they'd been looking at the sunset, rather than at a hundred cities burning!" Another note, this scene here is about as "adult" as I got back then; I remember blushing a lot and being all giddy headed while writing it. *rolling eyes*]
"Awake, I see?" a feeble voice asked. Kha looked up to see the old woman. She bent over as well as she could--her posture was stooped already--and removed the poultice from his ankle. Kha flinched to see how oddly his foot was twisted around. A moment later Bek came around the reeds and looked in at him, then at his foot. He too flinched, and knelt down while the old woman stepped aside to examine it. He shook his head.
"It's broken, Kha," he said. "I checked out the ground and there was some kind of snake hole. You must have caught your foot in there when you were running and snapped it out of place."
"It needs to be straightened," Kawit said, coming up behind him. [Note--SET! And I don't mean the god.]
Bek looked at Kha, his eyes widening.
Kha nodded. "She's right."
Bek turned to look at Kawit, who was staring at him, then back to Kha. "But...but I can't--!"
"You have to," Kha said. "Kawit isn't strong enough to and I certainly can't."
"But...what if I just make it worse? I don't know how to set a broken ankle!"
"Now's the perfect time to learn."
Bek just sat there, helplessly glancing around as if for help. But no one offered. So he swallowed and said, "Alright [sic], I'll try to. But someone has to tell me how."
Kha led Bek through his ordeal, telling him where to place his hands and how to turn his foot. While he was doing so, Bek suddenly glanced up above Kha's head and exclaimed, "It's Hathor again!'
Kha turned his head with horror to look, fearing that the lioness was already too near to run away.
Snap! Kha yowled and clutched at his foot as sharp tendrils of pain shot up his leg. Bek sat back, smiling triumphantly. Kha rocked back and forth, moaning. "Wh-why did you do that?" he gasped.
"I didn't know how to set a broken ankle but I knew it would hurt, so I had to do something to distract you," Bek replied. "Aren't you glad I did?"
Kha had to admit that Bek's taking his mind off of his ankle did help somewhat, and Bek and Kawit helped him stand after Kawit bound his ankle with a splint. Then they went back to join all of the others, unaware of the strange event that would soon take place.
Khenti Amenti, after a while of searching, located the brewery of the god Sektet. [Note--this god is the result of a big misunderstanding on my part, and a small misphrasing on an author's part. According to one version of this myth which I read, Ra went to "the god Sektet" to procure a lot of beer to...well, keep reading this story, that part's the same. The thing is, as I should have realized, I think that the name "Sektet" is just an alternate spelling of Sakhmet--the lioness goddess who destroys mankind (in my version, Hathor). Names that end with "-et" are usually feminine. As a result of this author's misphrasing ("the god," rather than "the goddess"), I assumed "Sektet" was just the god of beer! I think it turns out that there is a god of beer and brewing, but I can't recall his name at the moment. In the rewrite this mistake should be amended. Stupid author!] Sektet was mildly surprised to see him, since gods of even Khenti's importance rarely came to visit him. He was just washing off his hands to be more presentable when the wolf entered, a scroll between his jaws.
"What may I do for you?" he asked.
"Gd R wntth m tm rd thth," Khenti replied.
Sektet took the scroll from his mouth and he tried again. "God Ra wants you to read this," he said.
Sektet opened the scroll and read it. He could tell that Ra had had Thoth, who was known as the Scribe, write it for him, from his unique handwriting. Being writing's inventor, he could make even the simplest hieroglyphs look elegant. However, Sektet was more interested in the letter's contents than in the quality of its penmanship. He looked at Khenti.
"Did I read this correctly? Does Thoth have his facts straight? I know he's extremely intelligent, but--one million kegs of beer?" [Note--the original myth has a much, much smaller number. But considering what this beer is intended for, I rather thought that I was taking less artistic license in increasing the number, than the original authors were in using their number!]
Khenti shrugged. "I don't know. But I really doubt Thoth making a mistake about something so important."
"So important as what?"
"Nah-ah! Can't tell you that. Top secret," Khenti answered smartly, and exited. In all reality though he was wondering what Ra was up to, also.
Seven and a half days had passed. Several survivors of one town were rummaging through the rubble, bypassing bodies and searching for any living relatives. The black clouds still roiled overhead, blocking the stars from view but allowing enough twilight to shine through to see. Khenti Amenti had bribed one of Ra's sunhawks to tell him what was going on. All it could tell him was where Ra planned his "delivery," as it called it. Overwhelmed with curiosity, the wolf crouched outside the town in wait of Ra's delivery.
A rumble overhead distracted him. Looking up, he could see, very far away, Hathor circling over the fields. She was slowly advancing toward the town. It was already ruined but the vicious goddess was not content with just that. She had scented life among all of the death and was coming to destroy it.
Then there was another sound. At first Khenti figured it to be an upcoming wind, but as it grew louder he realized it was the beating of many wings. He turned his head and found his eyes riveted on an amazing sight.
Hawks! Thousands of hawks! Millions of them!
He clearly recognized Horus, in the lead. The rest were hawks, all kinds--sunhawks, wild falcons, large hawks and little ones. They were in a sort of formation, all side-to-side and back-to-front so they were all at the same height. And they all had some sort of container dangling from their crooked talons. Just as Hathor was descending on the town Horus dove as well, the hawks following. As the surprised Khenti watched, all of them, as one creature, loosed the containers and let them fall.
The first few to hit the ground dampened it a little. But as more and more hit puddles formed which grew quickly in size, the liquid mixing with the blood from the dead. Khenti sniffed at the intoxicating smell thick in the air and very nearly laughed at the thought of it.
Beer!
Hathor had to back up and away to avoid getting hit by the falling containers of brew, roaring angrily at first. But as the town began to flood and the mortals splashed away, clinging to wood pieces, her fury started to die away as well and she looked closer with wonder.
In doing so she noticed her reflection. Her face was mirrored perfectly in the flooding liquid. This and the strong smell got the better of her and she landed with a giant splash, the hawks scattering, squawking. She admired herself for several more minutes, then lapped at the beer. That seemed to placate her and she continued drinking. Horus landed in a nearby tree, watching, as well as Khenti, for the results.
After a while Hathor raised her head and shook it somewhat dizzily, a great rumble something akin to a lazy, contented purr arising in her throat. She took a step backward and stumbled, then several steps forward, swayed, and collapsed with a crash.
"She's drunk!" Khenti exclaimed aloud, possibly startling Horus. "By Mut, I can't believe it, she's drunk!"
Horus called out to Hathor, then flew down and looked her in the eye. She didn't even try to get up so he knew it was safe, and recited a spell which changed her back into her usual form. Khenti watched it all with a mixture of surprise--for it was an odd solution--and relief, for he knew now that Kha was out of danger, at least from Hathor. He changed back into his traveler disguise--all the better to watch the mortals in--and set off in their direction.
Kha opened his sleepy eyes--not exactly jarred awake, but drifting slowly into reality at the sound of someone shouting excitedly. As the haze left his ears he realized it was Bek. Still somewhat in a stupor, he listened to his words, at first not comprehending them.
"Everybody get up, get up!" Bek shouted. "Look! Look over there! The sun's rising! The sun's rising!"
So?, thought Kha. It does every day. At least it used to, before--
The sun is rising!
Kha sat bolt upright, and then scrambled to his feet despite his ankle. Everyone else was doing the same. Sure enough, the clouds of smoke had just about all scudded away, and the horizon was slowly growing brighter.
Kha had never seen his old friend so giddy. Bek was jumping up and down and shouting, and once in a while giving his hands a clap. He skipped amongst the people and picked up the widowed woman's baby from her arms and twirled it through the air while it laughed, and after returning it went to Kawit, took her by the hands and danced her around in a circle, then hugged and kissed her right in front of everybody, and then finally approached Kha and threw his arms around him.
"You seem even happier than I am!" Kha exclaimed.
"I should be after all we've gone through!" Bek said. "And with it being so dark all the time it was beginning to seem like the sky was closing in!"
What an odd thing to say!, Kha thought as Bek skipped away. He looked at Kawit but she could only shrug.
"I suppose this means we can leave," the widowed woman said.
This time Kha shrugged, then, after a thoughtful pause, nodded. "I suppose it does. Bek--" Bek turned around, planting his foot on a log "--do you suppose you could borrow some horses from anyone around here?" [Note--this part may be out of whack with my current timeline. In that, Horus introduces horses into Egypt when he comes to fight Set; and I assumed that when he leaves, he takes the horses with him. Then the Egyptians live without horses until they're introduced "again" by foreign invaders centuries later--since the predynastic Egyptians did not have the horse. In short, this was my way of working in an anachronism. So either this story is incorrect in this part--which is likely--or not all of the horses left with Horus, and they just disappeared from the land eventually. *shrug*]
"I have four horses," a man called from a ways back. "I'll let you have them."
"We can't possibly thank you enough, nor pay you," Kha said.
The man shook his head. "I said you could have them. You've already paid us more than enough by helping us here." There was a murmur of assent from the others.
Kha bowed his head slightly. How grateful he was! If only he could do more for these people. "From the bottom of my very heart I thank you," he said.
There was a little whirl of wind, and Thoth had arrived. His staff appeared after him, and he gazed around at his surroundings. Two people, one limping badly, were coming his way. So he went to them first.
The injured one was male, and his leg appeared to be broken. He also seemed to be ill. The woman helping him seemed out of her head with grief.
"Help us, help us please!" she begged Thoth when he reached them. "He's sick and hurt and I just don't know what to do--"
"Calm down," Thoth said gently. "Help him lie down and I'll see what I can do for him."
She did as she was told and Thoth bent over him. The man muttered something incoherent. He'd caught a fever. Thoth touched his staff head and it glowed, so he knew it would work. He held the eight over the man's head, and after about a minute he winced and shouted, regaining his senses and so noticing the pain in his leg. The god directed the staff to his leg. As the woman stared in amazement, the broken bone set itself, the leg healed, and the bruise disappeared. The man let out a deep breath as the last ounce of agony vanished with his injury.
The woman's whole body shook as she shifted her gaze from her husband to Thoth. Then she looked at his staff, the crystals glimmering, and stammered, "You--you're--I know who you are!"
Thoth put a finger to his mouth. The woman, grateful, did the same, and said, "Not a soul!"
"Let him rest," Thoth said, and stood to leave. But before he could, the woman grabbed his ankle.
"I know who you are and I know why you've come!" she exclaimed. "I prayed that you would come and my prayer came true! Even you can't imagine how many of us wished for you to come!"
Thoth smiled sadly. "I know."
Kha rode on his little white donkey, and Bek and Kawit rode on two of the horses while Bek led the other two tethered behind him. Already they were all tired. Several times the horses and donkey tripped in potholes and the fourth time Kha's donkey did so was the last. It broke its right foreleg. Kha, Bek, and Kawit dismounted and stared at the poor whining beast, struggling to stand, with dead, expressionless looks upon their faces, until Bek finally picked up a large rock and crushed its skull. Then they went back to the horses, Bek untied one and gave it to Kha, and they continued on their way.
They didn't know they were still being watched. Khenti Amenti kept always nearby, following and marking their progress. How tired and sick they seemed now, not even joyful that there was no more danger from Hathor. But there would still be trouble.
Speaking of trouble, what had become of Tu, who had been blinded? Khenti sat and wondered to himself (he knew of this incident because, as aforementioned, he was almost always following Kha.) He couldn't still be running around. He must be hiding. With that idea in mind, Khenti turned back into a big gray wolf and loped off.
Khenti was correct. Tu, unable to see anything, had stumbled blindly with his hands out before him and discovered a cave near the river. It was there that Thoth found him cowering, hiding his head as if he feared Hathor would come back. Thoth recognized him and started in, stooping to avoid the roof. He brushed against the cold stone wall.
Tu jumped and stared towards the cave opening. Thoth froze as the terror-stricken priest tried in vain to tell who or what had entered. He then took a step forward.
"Who's there?" Tu asked fearfully, his blind eyes scanning around in Thoth's general direction. "Who is it? Say something!"
Thoth stood still, saying not a word.
By now Tu was so terrified that he was shaking violently. The god took advantage of his state of confusion and stepped forward until he was right in front of him. Since Tu had only been blinded for several days his sense of hearing hadn't had sufficient time to sharpen much, and Thoth was able to stoop and look directly at him without him even sensing his presence. To make certain of Tu's condition, Thoth touched the staff and it flared brightly, illuminating the whole cave like an explosion with no sound, and looked for a reaction.
Tu didn't even blink.
Thoth nodded to himself; he was completely sightless. So he very carefully extended his arm so the staff was just inches from Tu's face, and it glowed again. But it also let out a low ringing hum, and Tu yelped at the sound, flattening himself against the wall. And a strange thing happened to his eyes. They burned. He howled and covered them. Thoth stood again and backed silently out, leaving Tu alone in the cave.
Tu finally stopped rubbing his burning eyes and opened them. He was stunned speechless as the dim outline of the cave entrance formed before him, very faint and hazy, but then growing slowly but steadily clearer and brighter. Startled, he looked at his hands. He had to blink hard several times but then he could see them too. He ran out of the cave into the daylight. The water, the sky, the sun--it was still fuzzy but he could see it all. However, the one thing he would have liked to see he did not--whoever had given him back his sight.
"Who are you?" he cried. "Tell me who you are so I can thank you!"
But Thoth was long gone. The only one who heard him was Hapi, the river, and he wasn't about to tell Thoth's secret.
Tu turned and ran as best as he could over the jagged rocks until he reached flat ground. There he stopped and leaned against a large slab of stone to catch his breath and think. He had to repay someone. Someone had to be thanked! But the priesthood would never welcome him back after what he'd done. What should he do? Then, as if in answer to his question, he noticed a cloud block the sunlight. Its first returning ray appeared on a dull pale shape about a hundred or so yards away. Curious, he went to see what it was.
As he came closer he realized it was a dead animal--a donkey. Kha's donkey. Tu recognized the little brute immediately, having so often seen it tethered inside the gates of Heliopolis. Bending over it, he saw that its leg was broken and its skull smashed by a rock. So it had been put to rest. Around it were three pairs of footprints, one of which Tu realized must be Kha's, and many horse hoofprints. They continued on southward.
"So what does this mean?" Tu asked himself softly. There was a bit of movement to his left. Looking, he saw a tiny dung beetle pushing a ball across the ground. He reached down and picked it up.
"Is this what I'm to do?" he asked, again to himself, watching the little scarab beetle crawl over his hand. He looked back to the hoofprints disappearing to the south.
"If so," he answered himself, "I'll be certain never to touch him again. For it's a rare person who's protected by the gods." So saying, he placed the beetle back upon the ground and set off in the direction of the tracks, made golden by the rays of the eternally watching sun.
"That was beautiful!" Hapi exclaimed.
"So Tu did get better," Qebusenuef said. "I knew he would."
"Well, you two are certainly rude!" barked Khenti Amenti.
The four children looked at him, surprised. "Why, what did we do?" they asked.
The ibis, resting on the statue nearby, replied, "The story hasn't ended yet."
"It hasn't?" Duamutef asked incredulously.
"As a matter of fact it hasn't," Khenti said. "There's still Kha. And Bek and Kawit. And all of the other people Thoth hasn't visited yet."
"Really?" Hapi asked.
"Really. Now sit down and quiet down, and I'll finish."
Horus's four children did as they were told again, and let the wolf continue.
Kha felt sick as he entered his old home city of Heliopolis. The sight of the burnt-out shells of the buildings, the scorched walls, the toppled statues made him ill. Even Bek seemed shocked at the state of things. Kha dismounted and, neglecting to tie his horse, walked towards the ruined temple. He heard voices. After a moment or so several people peered out and Kha paused. Then one shouted. "I know him! Let him come in! He's the one who warned us, but you wouldn't listen. Let him and his friends in!"
The refugees cleared the way for Kha, Bek, and Kawit. Bek had Kha put his arm over his shoulder so he wouldn't hurt his ankle more, and they went in. Afterwards no one paid much attention to the. Kha found out, by piecing the information he heard in order, that most of the people there had come from other cities in the hope that Ra would not destroy his own city, only to find it already wrecked. As they searched further, Bek began to get apprehensive, and as they neared the Holy of Holies he stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong? I just want to see what it's like in there," Kha said.
"Well...I know, so you and Kawit can go in. I'd just be in the w--"
"You're never in the way, Bek," Kawit replied. "Come on. It'll only take a moment."
Bek was quiet for a long time-a very unusual attitude for him--but then he said, reluctantly, "Alright [sic], but we bring a torch in. I don't want to trip on anything--we've already got one invalid."
Kawit tore a piece of cloth from the hem of her dress and Kha wrapped it around an old torch they'd found. He dipped it in a bowl of sweetly-smelling oil which still sat, intact (the inside of the huge temple was mostly unharmed), on a stand, lit it, and went in, followed by Kawit and then Bek. The room was very dark and without the torchlight they would barely have been able to see. Bek was jumpy at every sound and was breathing quite heavily, as if he found it difficult to do so. Kha handed the torch to Kawit and approached the altar flanked by two large stone hawks, looking for--he didn't know. Just as he was going to be able to see over the altar, there was a booming crash and the torch went out. Bek let out a terrified howl.
Kha strained his eyes to see what had happened. He couldn't tell so he asked Kawit, knowing that females could see better in the dark. There was a moment of silence, then she told him that part of the roof had fallen, covering the entrance--or exit. The priest was worried but he knew it could be worse. The High Priest had told him once that there was a secret door out of the room, and that he would learn of its location when he reached a higher rank. He had not gotten that far yet, but he was pretty certain he could find the door if he searched long enough. Before he could, however, Bek started screaming again. Kawit found her way to him and tried to calm him down but that only made things worse. He started pounding and clawing on the huge slab of stone.
"We can't be trapped in here! We can't be trapped in here!" he howled Kha and Kawit pulling him back, or at least trying their best to.
"Bek, there's another door out!" Kha shouted. "It'll only take a few minutes to find it!"
"The ceiling's caving in!" Bek cried. "The walls are falling down! They're pressing closer and closer!"
Kha and Kawit looked around them. Bek was wrong. The ceiling was still in place except for the slab which had already fallen, and the walls were as sturdy as ever. Nothing was wrong, other than the fact that they were imprisoned in the small room, and even that could be remedied if they could only figure out the problem with Bek. But Bek seemed positive that the walls of the room were going to crush them. A crazy thought leapt into Kha's head--a memory of a much younger Bek refusing the High Priest's order to enter the sacred Holy of Holies, and afterwards being expelled for his disobedience. It was then that Kha realized it wasn't the sheer pleasure of defying the authorities that had caused Bek to do what he'd done so long ago--it was fear.
He and Kawit finally pried Bek away from the stone block and pinned him down, covering his mouth just in time to hear someone else shouting--from without the chamber. Kha tried to force Bek to quiet down more and stop his terrified moaning so he could hear. He was surprised to hear a very familiar voice calling his own name.
"Kha! Kha! Are you in there?" it called faintly.
"Tu!" Kha cried. "It's me! I'm in here with two others and we're trapped!"
"Can you see anything?"
"Not very well, but Kawit can."
"Look behind the altar. There's a block carved with a figure of Ra. Press its eye and the block will move. There's a tunnel behind it which you can crawl out of."
Kawit felt her way to the altar and looked. She couldn't see, so continued feeling until she found the block. With her fingers she traced the falcon god's outline and came to his eye, and pushed it.
There was a low rumble and Kha had to strain to keep Bek quiet. The block moved aside to reveal a long tunnel, just barely lit at the end. Kawit called out, "Here it is! Bring Bek over here and we'll have him go out first."
Kha stood and, helping Bek to his feet, limped behind the altar. The soldier had calmed down a little at the mention of a way out, but when he saw the thin tunnel he panicked again.
"I can't go in there!" he cried.
"You have to, Bek," Kha said. "Or else you'll never get out of here. Go ahead. Make your choice."
Bek stood motionless except for his trembling. "The tunnel will cave in!"
"No, it won't!" Kha shouted angrily. "The sooner you go in the sooner you'll get out!"
"It's alright [sic], Bek," coaxed Kawit. "I'll go first if you want to see."
"Did you find the passage?" Tu called.
"Stop it stop it stop it!" Bek cried, covering his ears. The others were silent. After a moment or two the shaking soldier uncovered his ears and looked toward the darkened tunnel. At last he said, quaveringly, "I-I'll g-g-go in... But we have t-to b-be careful... And n-n-no one come near me."
The other two agreed and stood off to the side while Bek crouched and peered in. He made a little whimpering noise but crawled in, disappearing from sight. Several minutes later he called, "Alr-right [sic], come in now."
Kawit crawled in, and then Kha. Neither of them could see anything, as the tunnel was so small that Bek blocked the light. Kha, even from behind Kawit and a somewhat considerable distance away, could hear Bek still breathing heavily and occasionally whining softly. These faint sounds rent his heart. Poor Bek, he thought. Why did he never tell us he was claustrophobic? [Note--I was rather obvious back then, in my writing. By now I just prefer implying things.]
After what seemed to be an eternity Bek emerged outside the temple. He let out a cry of joy and fell to the ground, hugging the wide open earth. His home! Kawit and Kha followed him out, Kawit going to hug Bek after his horrifying ordeal but Kha standing and going to someone else who stood nearby, watching. He reached him and stopped, silent.
Finally he said, "Hello, Tu."
"Hello, Kha," Tu replied, not letting his eyes meet those of the younger priest.
Wanting to say something to put his old superior at ease, Kha said, "You probably saved poor Bek's life back in there, you know..."
He trailed off, as Tu was shaking his head. "You can't say anything now that will make me feel better."
Kha sighed. "I know...I'm just so sorry. I never should have threatened you with the three snakes of the Underworld, I was just so angry--"
"At least you had some license to do what you did! I didn't...and now I have nothing."
"You have us," Bek said softly.
Tu looked at him, and then back at Kha. There was a strange new look in his eyes. They were mildly hopeful.
"When I could see again I found your donkey," he said. "That's how I found where you went. And there was a scarab beetle, rolling its ball across the sand."
Kha gave a faint smile. "You interpret your experience. You were not alone either. Khepri, Divine Lord of the Golden Scarab, was watching over you. I believe you have a new sovereign." He looked back to the ruined temple. "As of now I have no one to serve. But I don't think I'm ready to give up. There's a reason for me wanting to go into the temple. Not long ago I had a dream--it was almost exactly like reality, with Bek and Kawit and me inside the temple. We were searching for something, and I was losing all hope of ever finding it. But then Khenti Amenti appeared to me, and he was telling me never to give up, that I just couldn't. So I didn't. And now I believe I've found what it was I was looking for." And he smiled at Tu again, this time a genuine smile. The four friends embraced, and then decided it was finally time to go. [Note--I apologize for the extreme sappiness of my early writing.]
"Where do we go, anyway?" Bek asked. "I don't know where."
"Home," Kha replied. "It's time to go home."
"Home? But it was probably destr--" Bek cut himself off, slowly comprehending his friend's meaning. Home.
That was where they were going to go, and there would be no stopping them until they'd found it.
Thoth's work was far from finished. Day after day he met people, healing them with his magic staff. For some people, however, the staff would not glow, and Thoth knew that they were to be visited soon by Anubis, so all he could do until then was ease their pain and that of their grieving relatives. It seemed all of the wounded could never be cured. But Thoth, like Kha, didn't give up. He had accepted his job and he was going to finish it, difficult or not.
Several times he would fall in with a small group of travelers or bandits, accompanying them to wrecked settlements. They would often eye him as someone who possessed more than they, but none would dare get too close; they recognized a god when they saw him.
So his days went, one after another, more and more people begging for his assistance. And he never turned them down, no matter how tired he was. After a while their numbers began to dwindle, and he found himself with some spare time to look around for others.
It was late one night when about six or seven weary soldiers huddled around a fire. Most were silent, staring into the flames or studying the stars which blinked above. Only two were speaking, as it seemed almost irreverent to break the stillness with idle prattle.
"I thought this would be all over when the fires stopped," one murmured, "but it just seems to get worse. We have nowhere to go back to now."
"Then we'll find somewhere," the second said.
"How do we do that?"
"To find your way somewhere you have to find somebody who knows the way," his friend replied in a somewhat cryptic manner.
"Well, even if there was somewhere to go and we did get there, we'd have nothing to go on--"
"Stop worrying," the second said. "We'll figure something out. Now let's go to sleep while the fire's still burning."
Even while the second settled down and eventually drifted off to sleep, the first soldier could not do so. The uncertainty of the future was like a thorn in his side; it kept nagging at him and wouldn't go away. But what his friend had said helped him a little. Find somebody who knows the way. Lots of people had been going by. Someone should know where they were going. All he had to do was find that person. And that should be simple enough.
Leaving his sleeping companions behind, he stalked off into the desert in the direction of the travelers' trails.
Thoth too was seated near a fire. It was the only payment he had asked for from the couple sitting nearby, the woman's cuts and broken arm healed, the man's illness cured. It was the least they could do for him. They would have protested, insisting that he stay a while longer. Instead they merely watched him leave, since they knew who he was and didn't wish to upset him in any way.
So Thoth walked on. He didn't see anybody around so walked a little slowly, looking at his surroundings. He had had someone else take over his chariot and the half moon was illuminating his path. A cliff of sorts rose off to his right. As he passed it he heard a sound. He turned just in time to be knocked to the ground.
At first he was quite surprised and would have wondered what had happened--if he could breathe! The person who had knocked him down wrapped his fingers around Thoth's throat and started strangling him. Out of the corner of his eye Thoth could see his staff--just inches beyond his reach. If he could just reach it! But there it lay, its two crystals glimmering at him.
His situation would have gone unnoticed if it weren't for Ra. Ra was in his palace, as the sun had set long ago and was soon about to rise. Every morning before he left he would glance into a mirror set between the paws of a hieracosphinx. It wasn't really a mirror, but a thin layer of flowing enchanted water. He looked into this to see how things were going before he was to go. This morning when he gazed into it, though, what he saw horrified him. It was Thoth being garroted by what appeared to be a highway robber. [Note--back then I wasn't aware that "garrote" didn't have the exact same meaning as "strangle"--I just wanted to use a cool new word.] Ra whirled around and whistled twice. In flew a golden phoenix--fastest of all the creatures of the sky, except maybe gryphons. He landed gracefully with his brilliant tail feathers swirling about his legs, and said in a lilting, musical voice, "What might I do to be of service, Your Worship?"
"Have Bastet and Anubis go to earth as quickly as they can," Ra ordered. "Lord Thoth is in need of their assistance. Go immediately!"
The Bennu nodded his glorious head, feathers bobbing, and was gone literally in a flash. [Note--"Bennu" was the Egyptian name for the phoenix.] Of course Ra had chosen him for his great speed. Phoenixes and gryphons didn't usually fly as fast as they could, but when they had to they would.
The Bennu located the two deities, though they were miles apart, in a matter of minutes. It was telling them his message that took the most time. Bastet he found relaxing next to a pond, chatting amiably with the lions nearby. Anubis was in quite the opposite atmosphere, visiting the mortals but not for talking. Both responded quickly, immediately abandoning what they were doing. Anubis, most usually earthbound, even grew wings to fly. The Bennu led them to the cliff.
Thoth was staring, out of the corner of his glazed eye, at the eight-topped staff. This person was certainly bent on strangling him, and he was succeeding. The god did not need to concentrate to read his thoughts. He didn't really wish to do this deep down; most people usually didn't. He was frustrated was what--no one would help lead him on his way, so now one had to pay for it! Thoth tried to speak, managing a wheezy gasp.
He can still breathe! Thoth's mind was so tuned in to the attacker's thoughts that this thoughtwave struck him like a rock. He was wondering if he should risk identification by making the attacker's mind receptive to his when the glint of metal caught his eye. He could barely turn his eyes to see the robber unsheathe a dagger.
He had to reach his staff! There was no time to cast a telepathy spell. He had to concentrate on the long, polished rod of wood. The attacker barely noticed him put out his arm again, he was so indecisive of whether he should use the dagger or not. Thoth closed his eyes, picturing the staff. An image formed. He imagined it laying [sic] in the exact position he had last seen it, and then pictured bolts of light shooting from his open fingers, contacting with the staff, and drawing it to him. It was a quite simple form of magic known as imagery, sometimes possible for even mortals to accomplish, but it worked. Thoth felt the staff roll into his hand and brought it up. At that instant a ray of white light issued from the top crystal and a ray of blue likewise from the bottom, abruptly knocking the man back onto the ground.
Thoth sat up weakly, gasping brokenly and rubbing his bruised throat. The stunned robber shook his head, dazed. Then he saw Thoth and again rage filled him up to overflowing, and he jumped to his feet, dagger held high, and charged at the god with a yell.
He had taken no notice of the quick flash of striped brown out of the corner of his eye. Sharp teeth met hi hand in midair and he shrieked as they pulled him down. Anubis may have been a small jackal but he was certainly speedy. Thoth had barely enough time to look up when Bastet appeared, disguised as he was, pulling on his arm.
"Grab your staff!" she said. "We have to leave!"
Thoth stood wearily and stumbled away with the goddess, leaving Anubis to keep the robber busy.
"Goodness, he could have killed you," she said, helping him to walk. "What a crazy man! Only a crazy person would try to kill a god."
"Or...a des-perate--person," Thoth choked.
Bastet looked at him as they entered a grove and she sat him down. "What makes you say that?"
"I--read h-his...thoughts," the other replied. "He was...lost and no--no one would tell him--where to g-go."
Bastet was silent for a moment. "So he tried to strangle you? I don't get the point."
"He was frustrated. So...so he decided to t-take it out on me. No one can b-blame him."
"I suppose," Bastet mused. "But we can't stay here any longer. It's too dangerous in your con--"
Thoth cut her off with a shake of his head. "No, no. I have to--stay here. I only have a f-few more days to go."
Bastet was perplexed. Why did he want to stay among such dangerous people? "Well, then you have to use that staff of yours on yourself. You're so weak anyone could pick you off."
Again Thoth shook his head. "My staff wasn't meant to be used to heal myself," he replied, "it was meant to be used to heal the world. God Ra gave me a mission and I must fulfill it." [Note--I recall telling a truncated version of this tale in one of my fictional Encyclopedia Of Things That Never Were-style entries. I believe this quote of Thoth's was taken directly from my own work.]
Bastet sighed in her confusion. "Alright [sic]," she said, "but rest for a while. You never think of yourself and because of that you put yourself in danger. Nothing will happen if you do a little something for you for a change."
Thoth had to agree, though he'd rather have been out doing his job, and stayed sitting. Anubis joined them and, seeing Thoth's condition, placed his hand upon the other god's throat. He'd inherited a little of the healing touch from his parents, and with Bastet's added help the two healed his bruises. After a short time he felt well enough to stand, and, saying goodbye to his companions, once more trudged on his weary way.
He was not the only one to trudge. Though over three months had passed, and three times Thoth's chariot had moved slowly across the sky, Kha was not well. [Note--I believe I meant, three times Thoth's chariot AS THE FULL MOON had moved slowly across the sky!! *eep*] He, Bek, Tu, and Kawit had reached Memphis, and at Bek's home Kawit tended to him, but he was taken with the fever and only seemed to get worse. Day after day more people trailed into the broken cities, their hearts torn at the sight yet feeling a little hope for survival now, but Kha took no notice. Bek could only guess that, during their long march through hot and cold, wet and dry, Kha had caught some kind of infection and was now steadily declining as others were getting well. The soldier, priest, and young woman could only sit and watch him go on his suffering way.
All were silent for the longest time. Tu kept his head bowed, thinking it all his fault. Kawit just stared at him, a rare lady's dignity keeping her from wailing and carrying on, but tears nonetheless coursing down her serenely beautiful face. But after a time Bek refused to be silent. He'd been sitting nearby, anger welling up inside against the injustice of it all, and finally exploded in rage.
"He's the last person to deserve this!" he shouted. "After all that he's done, everyone he's helped, everything he's gone through, this has to happen!"
"It should have been me," Tu put in quietly.
Bek stood and stormed to the door. "You can just sit there if you want," he said, meaning both Tu and Kawit, "but I'm going to meet Death head-on. I'll fight him off with my bare hands if I have to!"
As if in reply to his threat, there was a gentle rapping at the door. The three turned their heads, startled, Bek ventured to it--of course his house had been left, accidentally or purposefully, standing except for part of the far back, which he'd patched up temporarily--and opened it slightly, peering out.
There was no faintly ethereal jackal awaiting outside. Instead, the newcomer appeared to be an ordinary traveler, grasping a plain wooden walking stick.
"May I come in?" he queried. "The road has been so long, and I need to get all the way to the other side of the city before morning, but I'm so tired I think I'll need a rest first."
Bek looked suspicious, but both Tu and Kawit said to let him in, so he did. The traveler sat down and laid the stick across his lap.
"I must have been walking for miles," he said. "I have some relatives at the far side of Memphis and they're expecting me. I don't want them to think something's happened." While he spoke he was carefully examining Kha out of the corner of his eye, yet pretending not to notice him. "You wouldn't believe what I saw, either!"
"What was it?" Kawit asked, trying to be friendly under the circumstances.
"It was a staff," the traveler replied, "like none ever yet seen by mortal eyes! It was very long, with two sparkling crystals set in a golden eight."
The three's ears perked up. They'd heard the tales of Thoth's fabled staff and its special powers. Instantly they all had the same thought.
"Where did you see this staff?" Tu asked.
"Why, it was not too far away from here, I think. Near the old fountain. Someone must have left it behind."
Bek was the first out the door. Kawit and Tu followed closely behind, leaving the seemingly stunned traveler behind with the stricken priest.
When they were out of sight--he had been careful to send them somewhere a distance away--the traveler turned to the unconscious Kha. He stood and went over to him, kneeling near, and held the walking stick over Kha's fevered head, then said,
"There was ne'er someone kinder
Than thee this staff doth heal.
Believe in me, thine heart of gold,
And again well shalt thou feel."
As he spoke, the stick in his hand was transformed, its plain wood becoming shiny and polished, growing longer, and with an eight of gold spiraling from the top. It glowed and rang like a low bell, and Kha's restless sleep grew once again peaceful. His ankle had been long in healing, and had not set right due to his walking and had kept him in constant pain, so the staff took care of that as well. Several minutes passed, then it ceased humming and the glow faded away.
Thoth stood, faintly smiling at the now-sleeping priest.
"Fare thou [sic] well, White One," he said softly. "You alone listened to me, and now your troubles have ended. Live well, and never forget."
Kha murmured in his sleep. The divine traveler, his staff in hand, exited the small house, his footsteps now bound for some greater place.
"And thus the story ends," Khenti Amenti said, his ostrich feather bobbing as he nodded his head at this point. "Only no story ever really ends. All go on forever, destined, like Thoth, for some greater place."
"What happened afterwards, Khenti Amenti?" Hapi asked.
"Ra called Thoth to his palace after his hundred days were through," the wolf explained. "He congratulated him for staying even when those he was sent to help turned against him. Ra had to admit he hadn't been able to do that. The other gods congratulated him, too. When he was asked if he wanted anything as a reward, he merely looked at Kha in hi staff and said he already had it."
"Speaking of Kha, what became of him?" Qebusenuef questioned. "And what of Kawit, Bek, and Tu?"
"I'm glad you asked," Khenti said. "Kha was, of course, all better, and since Tu had nowhere to go, he set him up as a priest in the temple of Khepri, the scarab god, where he was welcome, and ever afterwards he and Kha were good friends. As for Bek and Kawit, it was not much longer than a year later when they were made three by a beautiful little baby girl."
"Wow!" Duamutef exclaimed.
"Khenti, you tell wonderful stories," Qebusenuef said admiringly.
"We agree," Hapi and Imseti added.
"Why, thank you," Khenti said, duly flattered. "And since you admire my stories so, I'll tell you another one."
The four children cheered him, and it took several minutes for them to calm down again.
"Khenti, what's this story going to be about?" Imseti asked.
"Well, do you know Sobek over there?" he said, indicating the crocodile-headed guard who stood near the palace, not too far away. The boys nodded, saying yes. "Well, did you know that if it hadn't been for ol' me, he just might have been your dad?"
"What?" the four chorused.
"Shh!" Khenti hissed, waving his paws. "It's a secret. No one's supposed to know. But I do."
"Tell us how it happened!" Hapi chimed.
"Alright [sic]! Just don't you say a word to your mother about this, okay?" The children nodded. "Fine. Now let's start. This was a long time ago before even Horus, your father, was born. Hathor was not married then--she'd said she never wanted to--so of course Ra was getting quite desperate to find her a husband..."
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