The Egyptian Gods and The Ten Plagues of Egypt

Chapter 17: Geb

Day 32 (Afternoon)

As Geb had expected, his threat to Ramses worked as intended. In the afternoon while some humans were busy cleaning the streets and buildings from the frogs' carcasses, the human king summoned Aaron and Moses and rescinded the decision to free The Hebrews. Because of that, Horus stopped expressing his anger and simply told him not to repeat this action. With a smirk, Geb bowed down and made that promise.

Upon leaving Horus' residence, Geb saw Isis standing near the front gate. She was accompanied by Hathor, Horus's wife. After bowing her head down to Geb, she excused herself and walked towards the garden.

"Yahweh would definitely be furious, father," Isis said. "He might come with a more terrible disaster for Egypt."

"I'm in a good mood, daughter. Hence you shall not ruin it," Geb said; he then glanced at his chariot rider, who was waiting with the vehicle at the left of the front wall. Without waiting for any spoken command, the rider brought forward the chariot to him.

"I shall now visit the human realm. If you don't have anything else to say besides this more terrible disaster, then it's better for you to step aside."

Hesitation flashed across Isis' face; she then bowed her head without saying anything. After seeing her left with her chariot, Geb boarded his and headed straight to the surface.

*****

While observing the human slaves working from their flying chariot, a soldier of Horus flew towards Geb and informed him that an angel had come to see him. He wondered who's the one courageous enough to see him on his own, when he learned that the angel turned out to be Gabriel, The Messenger of Yahweh. Geb commanded the rider to land the chariot and got off from it. Approaching Gabriel, he said, "Tell me what Yahweh has asked you to deliver."

"Yahweh was displeased," Gabriel said. "But He still gives one chance for you to reverse the situation."

"Can't He do it by Himself?" Geb sneered. "He's The Almighty, isn't He?"

"He is The Almighty. But He wanted you to do it on your own."

"I won't do it."

"If you don't want to do it, then you just have to wait for what's coming next."

"If He's about to send more angels in this land, then we will be prepared to fight them off."

Gabriel shook his head. "Yahweh won't send another squad this time," he said. "But before he does something, I'd like to ask one more time. Will you reverse the situation?"

Instead of replying, Geb walked back to his chariot. Nevertheless, when he was about to get on the vehicle, he could not lift up his right leg. He also could not move his left leg. It was like he was stuck on the sand, which was impossible since sand obeyed him. He kept trying to lift up both of his legs. His chariot riders and a few of his own soldiers even tried to assist him. Unfortunately, none of the efforts succeeded. As Gabriel was still standing behind him, he ordered his soldiers to kill him.

"If it's my doing, then I can change it," Gabriel said. "But since it's Yahweh's doing, I cannot do anything."

"Shut up!" Geb shouted. "Kill him!"

Geb's soldiers lurched towards Gabriel. Once again, the angel stayed still. The moment when he was about to be pierced by the spears and swords, he became a pillar of fire. All those weapons were burnt to ashes, including the wielders. Geb commanded the other soldiers who were standing by to also attack Gabriel, but the result was just the same. He then summoned spikes made from the rocks, intending to pierce the wings. Nonetheless, instead of hearing a scream of pain, he heard the sound of something breaking. The chariot rider spoke to him. "His wings became metal and broke your spikes."

"Damn you!" Geb shouted as he looked over his shoulder. He began chanting the spell to summon the reptiles to Gabriel. But when he only reached halfway, he suddenly felt his body descend. He shifted his focus to the ground, only to be horrified by the sight of his legs disintegrating into sands. He changed the spell into the one that allowed him to muster the sand, with the hope that it could help him reshape his body. Too bad it did not work, even though he had channeled his power to every single word he chanted. As he now remained half, he looked back at his chariot rider. "Go back to Aaru and tell everyone about this!"

The chariot rider was stunned; his eyes flew wide with horror. Geb had to repeat his order before he nodded repeatedly and started moving the chariot. When the chariot had gone down to Duat, Geb, who was unable to look over his shoulder again, spoke. "The Great Pesedjet will pay for what you did!"

"Technically, it is Yahweh's doing," Gabriel said calmly. "So if they want to pay back for what happened to you," he paused as he turned and pointed at the sky. "Then they have to fly to His home up there."

"You won't be - - " Geb was unable to finish his words, as his mouth had disintegrated. Before long, everything in front of him was dark. He could still feel his energy flowing around him. However, it was beyond his control. He could still chant any spells, but his powers would not fuel the words, just like when he tried to reshape his body. After quite some time, he realized that the only function his power still served was to keep him alive. It was not exactly a good thing. If he cannot do anything at all, then what's the purpose of staying alive?