Gods and Queens

Chapter Thirty-Two

Quatesh stared in shock at a grinning Anubis. He could feel the power slowly assess its latest threat. It looked on through sharp eyes, trying hard to sniff out weaknesses and formulate a battle strategy. Anubis was unknown territory, unlike Ra.

Under the power's perusal, Anubis remained unruffled. He simply stood, waiting, grinning. "Not so wise now, are you? I never needed to share your pitiful worship, Quatesh. You were too dull to realise people die every day in Egypt. The living appeases me daily. I always get more than enough power--power I never use. Unlike you, I don't go about making enemies or troubling calm waters. I do not allow the power to rule over me."

Even from the lengthy height difference, they could hear each other perfectly. The power allowed Quatesh to surface a little, limiting his control to speech alone. "What do you intend to do? Fight me?" Quatesh spat the question through fangs that still dripped with venom. The power intended to fight Anubis, he could feel it in the way its essence churned like a volcano ready to erupt.

"Fight you?" Anubis scoffed and folded his hands. "Believe me, I have no desire to fight you. But I do know the power in you is itching for it." His hound-like ears twitched and his canines gleamed as he continued speaking. "Why don't we skip all this? Just slither into a hole and forget you ever tried to usurp Ra's authority."

"Never!" From the height Quatesh stood, Anubis resembled a tiny figurine—a fly he could swat with a single swing of his tail. "You expect me to abandon all I worked so hard for? You want me to tuck my tail and run like a dog?"

Anubis snickered. "Oh please, if you think indirectly insulting me would spark my fury, you are mistaken. I've stayed long enough with power to know how to control it, but you...how long has it been? Four, five days?"

Anubis shook his head in pity. "You know little, Quatesh. You're wise but your wisdom is incomplete. How do you think Ra was able to rule his principality for so long? How was he able to control all the gods and spirits in his command? By wisdom, meditation?" His voice rose a notch as he stared up at him. "It was his strong will, he had a mind that could not be bent or controlled by the power. That's something you can never achieve because it's not in your nature. You are and would always be a lesser god. Nothing can change that."

Quatesh tried hard to disregard his words, he wanted to shake them off like they meant nothing, but the power would not let him. It took Anubis' statement as an insult to itself and it swelled with fury, suffocating Quatesh's control and riding on the wave of its stung pride. It wanted to charge at Anubis, but it had enough sense to restrain itself, choosing to wait for the best moment.

"What? You don't have to think too deeply about this. I do not fancy scuffles, and as much as it sounds like a good idea to engage in a good, healthy one with you, I'm still not interested. So, Quatesh, take my advice. Calm yourself and relinquish the power."

"No."

"I take back what I said about you being wise." Anubis shook his head and allowed his hands to fall to his side. "You are foolish... incredibly foolish."

With those words, Anubis shot off the ground in a flash, and for a brief moment, Quatesh lost sight of him. The power surged forward, shutting him out and relegating him to the back seat. He was once more a spectator in his own body.

When the serpent raised its giant head, it looked about, searching for the object of its indignation. Flickering its grey forked tongue, it tasted the air, hoping to get the scent of Anubis from the spiritual atmosphere. It came back blank. It was like the god vanished into another realm. The serpent immediately snapped to the right when the air close to its face shifted. Hissing in annoyance, it lashed out at nothing and bared fangs menacingly.