The Valley of Kings and a Queen

Chapter 20

"We have been expecting you Osiris," the gods name slides off the merchant's tongue taunting us. Then, his cane becomes a staff with the jackal head coming to life. It's canines razor sharp, ready for our flesh. The stray dogs that have been lying on the cobblestone streets wake up and shift into real life jackals. The grinding of their teeth and the growling coming from their throats makes my heart start to race. Finley shifts into wearing a white tunic with his staff and rod at his sides.

"So, you're a magician I see," Finley replies unimpressed. The pack of jackals have come to surround our sides ready for us to meet our end. I close my eyes attempting to drown out the growls from the jackals and let my body transition. I'm wearing a white long dress, and my hair has become braided with flowers and a golden crown resting on the top of my head. I grab my own staff pulling it from my side to point at the magician and blast him into the nearest wall. He slams backwards just as his jackals begin their attack. The jackal nearest to me leaps for my throat but before it meets its mark, another jackal tackles it slamming it into the cobblestone ground. Grey.

Aiden has now joined Finley on the other side of the market both with staff and swords drawn towards the magician who has awoken up after being blasted into the wall. He grits his teeth as he draws his for his staff again.

"Don't you see you don't belong here," the magician yells at us blasting the wall and sending pieces of it into Aiden and Finley's faces. Grey's fending off the last two jackals when I finally regain my balance and grab my staff that has slid across the ground. I use my staff to summon spirits. Henri and Olivier have now joined us, but apparently the magician had friends. Two other older men with cloaks appear out of the dark alley and begin using their wands to cast spells in our directions. Using my wand, I summon the fire towards them tearing through their clothes.

"I'm quite curious how a group of young British boys have summoned the path of gods,"

"Actually, I'm American and a girl," I say flipping backwards onto a vender stand to avoid the man's blast. The one magician has sent a blast of fire towards Annie who's defenseless. I scream, grabbing Finley's attention who uses his unnatural strength to send a table towards the man knocking him unconscious. Henri blasts a spell to evaporate the fire ball, but a wall of flames has begun to slowly approach them. Olivier breaks a jug of water sending waves to fight the wall. How long will we last against these old magicians who probably have had hundreds of years of experience? I'm still standing on the vendor stand casting spells trying to let my mind wander to come up with an idea to save us.

Isis, I call inside myself. Wake up please. I need your help. Just some of your help. Some of your powers to aid me. We need you for our quest to be successful. I call to her. Seconds later a switch inside me turns on. I lose part of my control over my body and powers. My mortal self barely hanging on by a thread. A halo-like glow erupts from the sides of my bodies. I draw a long, curved dagger from the belt hanging from my new waist belt and then flip off the stand charging towards the two magicians. Their spells going straight through me having no effect thanks to the aurora being emitted from my body. A protective shield from the goddess of protection herself. I take my dagger and slash through the first magician who crumbles to dust and then head to the next harnessing a wall of wildfire that burns the second magician alive into ashes. Finley's still dealing with the so-called merchant magician in the corner. Finley appears to have the upper hand in the battle and is about to strike a blow when the man turns to face us, his voice echoing over the chaos that has erupted in the marketplace.

"I won't be the worst that you will have to face. And besides the curse that belongs to you my dear sir, you will have wished that you would have died in my hands." I'm not exactly who the "sir" he's referring to is considering the fact that he's facing all of us and there's five boys in our group. Then again, he thought I was British too, so maybe he accidently was referring to me as a sir. Who knows? Before we have the chance to ask questions, he snaps vanishing into thin air taking with him his pet jackals and enchanting serpents.