Scientific Sorcery

Part 10

Isis walked the path toward the temple, eyes fixed on the slanted marble stone, mid-morning light shimmering and glittering. To both sides, a small crowd of women gathered to watch her. Some were priestesses. Others were warriors. Some were mothers from the north side of the city. All of them had come out to witness her return.

The pyramid looked different now. She'd seen it every day of her life—once in the morning and once in the evening. But that was before. Before she was just a priestess. Now she was High Priestess. Now it was her temple.

The crowd of women ended at the temple entrance. There white, marble steps lead down into the heart of the pyramid. Any priestess was welcome to come inside, but the crowd was waiting for her to enter. It was a symbol of her taking the mantle. She was coming to her new home, to bask in the light of her god.

Bast stood to the side of the entrance. She straightened her pike and stood at attention. At first her eyes were fixed forward, but then she made eye contact with Isis and broke into a wide smile. Her wide shoulders were adorned with the traditional hides of the puma. This made her look even larger than she already was. The pelt hung behind her, the black cape almost brushing the dirt. Her body was wrapped in leather war armor—brown strips of leather wrapped around her arms and legs, leaving bare her elbows and knees to flex. A single plate of hardened leather protected her torso, pressed her breasts flat against her chest. More strips of leather formed a skirt that ended at her upper-thigh. It was an outfit designed to keep the warrior unencumbered in a battle. They were sometimes less than modest. Isis knew that without the cape, the sway of the skirt could cause the men to avert their eyes. Bast always enjoyed making the men squirm.

Bast held a long pike in one hand, butt planted against her sandal, angled away from her at arm's length. The pike was designed to slash at enemies and then pull them close for the finish. The head of the pike was fashioned from polished boar's tusk.

The giant boar was a fearsome creature. It was as tall as two of her warriors, and wide. She had never seen a creature with the same bulk. A stampede of boars could level a countryside. They had developed a taste for meat, so people living in the jungle either had to sleep in the trees or behind some other kind of barrier. Their tusks were as thick as a leg, and when swung with force, could penetrate more than one target.

The usual defense against a giant boar was to not be around when one was present. Their bulk made their approach easy to detect, and easy to dodge. There wasn't much turning capacity there—if there were any obstacles, like trees or buildings, or your enemies.

There weren't many other earth-bound mammals left in this part of the world, thanks to their appetites and their rampages. The jungle cats had been spared. No feline was stupid enough to stay around when they heard the roar of the boar.

The giant boar was a symbol of her people. It was an unstoppable force of nature. It took what it wanted. The one natural predator of a boar was her people. Boar hunting was the prime way her warriors cut their teeth. If you could kill a boar, you could kill anything. And her warriors ate boar for breakfast—when they were lucky. Boar was the source of meat for her people. It was either boar or quinoa. Most preferred the boar.

Isis remembered that she hadn't eaten in three days and tried to stop thinking of roasted meat. She couldn't wait for the feast.

Next to Bast stood Lilith. She was also tall, but she didn't have the muscle mass of Bast. She was a priestess, after all. Lilith's black hair streamed down her back, contrasting with Bast's short, cropped hair. She was wearing the traditional priestess dress—flowing, white robes spun from spider silk, buttoned up to her neck. There hung a Pendant of Faith, the red jewel in the center representing the sun, the symbol of God. Her eyes were down. Standing next to each other like that, Lilith looked small by comparison, but they never stood next to each other. Her advisors were two sides of the city that were often in conflict. Lilith kept track of the books. She was concerned with how much things would cost to trade or difficult to source. Bast, on the other hand, was more concerned with the might of her army, and numbers were meaningless. Lilith squeezed her leather ledger to her chest. She always had one book or another in her hands. When she held the tall leather ledger, Isis knew they were about to have a talk about numbers.