Journal of the Eldest

Chapter Two.

My eyes fluttered as I smelt my aunt get closer. I could not recognize her face because I had no energy to keep my eyes open for long. My breathing was slowly fading into the air with each passing second. I could actually feel my spirit fighting to stay alive, but my will to live was slowly going away. It was becoming much harder to tell the difference between death and life. At one point, I was seeing the lights to Ra's empire, the next I was hearing Khanaika and Nubit.

The Spirit Woman's point of View

I have no idea what alerted me to the smell of death entering my hut, but I knew I had to act fast. The girl was slowly giving up. Her inner spirit was waging a war with her will, forcing it to keep fighting. I could see the essence of her spirit clinging to her body. She's in the death dream. Poor girl had lost a lot of blood and if she had any left, it would barely be enough to feed a little baby. That man doesn't deserve to be a father. I turned back to my bowl of goat milk.

"Great lady," Nubit cried just as I sat down. I had left her tending to Ashlan.

I turned in her direction and almost let the bowl of goat milk drop. No! No! No! "Go over there and get the pot in the corner," I ordered rushing over to the mat and taking her place. I have to get her closer to the fire.

Just a little closer, I thought to myself. I used whatever amount of energy I had in my frail body to pull the dying girl closer to the fire I had burning in the center of my hut. Nubit shoved the small pot in front of me, making me jump. I took a deep breath to calm myself. You will not die Ashlan, I thought furiously. I promised your mother that I would see you become great.

"Khanaika, what do I do with this?" Nubit asked me.

"Pour the contents round the mat and fire." I saw the confusion in the young woman's eyes, but I had no time for it. "Just do it."

I went to my small shrine dedicated to the warrior goddess Sekhmet as Nubit set about to doing my bidding. I had organized the necessary items for the spell I was going to cast. The jar of hippo blood sat idly next to my willow wand. The ivory and iron mask, that all my predecessors had put on their faces whenever they wished to commune with the gods, snarled at me as I gripped it round the edges and placed it just over my wrinkled face. I knew what I was going to do, was  never done before and I had no intention of being the first spirit woman to be scared of doing what had to be done.

"My lady," Nubit called from the fire. "I am done."

"Good," I whispered to myself. "That is very good indeed." I placed the mask firmly on my face, tying the strings of cowhide under my chin. I grabbed one of the willow wands and jar of hippo blood before turning to face the woman. I laughed to myself within the mask as Nubit squealed in fright. "Get my witch coat Nubit."

"Where is it?"

"Over there by the door."

I walked over to the barely alive girl near the fire. I was careful to step over the salt, sand, incense, charcoal and oil mixture that Nubit had just poured round in the hut. I waited inside the edges of the irregularly shaped circle as Nubit fetched my witch coat. The ibis feathers at the edges of the old and rugged cloak whispered together with the wind seeping through the space under my door. The sand brown color of the cloak blended with the walls of my hut.

"Here you go." I placed it round my shoulders and shuddered as the cotton connected firmly with my clothes. The small place inside of me where my power lay dormant opened as the cloak stuck more firmly against my skin. I loved the buzz of energy that run through my old body. It made me feel young again.