Cursed Times - What Now?

Chapter 11 - Tomb

With no results.

'You mean "x marks the spot"? No, there wasn't. Yes, I was in a rush but no, I haven't missed anything,' Metjen said before Trueth could open her mouth.

She opened it anyway. 'How can you be so sure "Eye of Horus" is a spell? It could be a location? It sounds more like the latter, but I don't have my mind full of Hands of the Dead, or Teeth of the Demons or whatever that stuff is you keep throwing at me.'

That woman could drive a saint to mass murder and a saint he was not. 'A veil isn't a spell. Nor is a spell a curse. And cursing is not the same as swearing, which is what I do when I ask you in the name of the Devourer to shut up! And otherwise it's the Hand of Osiris—or I can offer you Breath of Sakhmet.'

'What does that do?' Trueth asked unwisely.

'It knocks you out. It's worse than Breath of Bastet, and that is ghastly enough. Ever had a cat breathe in your face? Well, Sakhmet is a lioness. Do I need to say more?'

It appeared he did not, but he wondered whether that lunatic might not be right. 'Rano, give me that map or better—see whether you can locate anything that classifies as eye of the Horus falcon. I don't imagine they would call it that way.'

Trueth sneaked over Ranofer's shoulder. 'I can't read any Arabic.'

'That's why Ranofer has got the map. You're only here because I don't want you to blow up Ra's temple. The Servants are already freaking out.'

'Not a bad idea especially if Iseret was still inside ... . ' 

He caught himself grinning but the comment still deserved to be punished. A golden ray zapped into the space where Trueth would have been, had she not thrown herself on the floor of the rental Jeep.

'Stop it, the two of you. I think we found something.' Rani-Ra stabbed a well-manicured finger at the map. 'There's another Al-Qurn in the middle of in the desert, not in the Valley of the Kings where it belongs?'

'Could the map be wrong?' Metjen asked.

'Nope,' Ranofer said. 'The original Al-Qurn is right there.' He too stabbed the map and left some grease behind.

'What's so important about that thing?' Trueth asked in a bored voice.

Rani-Ra turned towards her. 'Al-Qurn is a pyramid shaped rock formation. Egyptologists believe this was the reason the ancients chose that particular wadi as site for the royal necropolis. It was like having a mini pyramid protecting the sleep of the Pharaohs. Maybe the second one protects a different sleeper?'

'Can we stop the guided tour?' Metjen said. 'Trueth had her chance and didn't take it. Otherwise I like the idea. Does it mention falcons?'

'Haven't found anything yet, Ranofer keeps hogging the map,' his sister said. ' We should have checked the terrain out earlier instead of just relying on you.'

Metjen was tired, but he still felt the familiar rush of power, his vision flickered and blurred. He pivoted around and shot another ray at the nearest rock; it disintegrated with a boom.

'Crikey, how you can be so frisky despite this heat is beyond me,' Trueth said, but he noticed she kept her distance.

'Get used to it,' he snarled.

'Are you quite finished? I found it!' Ranofer pushed the blasted map into his face. 'See this? Says Jebel el Saqr, Mountain of the Falcon. It's in a straight line from the second Qurn, but so far into the desert I can't imagine the Ancients digging holes out there. Even nowadays, it would be pretty difficult to transport the stuff you need, let alone keep the builders alive?'