I was enjoying this way more than I should, considering. I couldn't believe he let me do it, but for some reason I got the job. His feet padded along silently in front of me, his neck bent low to the ground. He wasn't kidding when he said he had a "nose" for this kind of thing, though he was being far more literal than I realized.
Wep was on all fours in his wolfy form at the end of the leash I carried. He had rummaged around one of Seshat's drawers and produced it. Its leather was as old as the hidden city, but oiled and well preserved, like someone lovingly cared for it each day of its long life. The deep-brown leather was marked by a thousand tiny hieroglyphs burned black into the hide. It was a story about a boy, he said. It was one I wanted to read if I lived through this.
Wep's wet nose glistened black and sent out little puffs of white steam as he snuffled along the ground searching for signs of Seshat. Around us, smoke choked the air and night draped around us like a black veil. We walked briskly toward the ocean where Neter left Seshat hours ago. I wondered if the smell made it hard for Wep? Or if the maze of streets made it harder to find the water?
A car alarm blared somewhere nearby.
Wep made his way down a side street through a broken fence. He sniffed the air and circled back. We turned a corner and the ocean peered at us from between two buildings. We were a few streets away. He found it.
Smart, Wep.
I almost reached out to rub him behind the ears, but stopped myself. His wolfy face became stern when he realized what I was about to do, but I saw laughter light his eyes too.
"At least you're living up to your name." I patted him on the head anyway. "You definitely saw that opening."
His tongue lolled out happily.
It was easier to like him when he was in doggy form.
As we got closer, a salty breeze came off the water even through the smoke. Fires had been set in abandoned cars and most of the storefronts here were vandalized. People were yelling and cursing from the windows high above us. A woman screamed. A glass crashed and shattered in the intersection behind us, the homemade bomb bursting into flames. We passed yet another smoldering car.
This didn't bother Wep at all.
Every once in a while he would stop and shake wet flakes off his back, sending a shower of ice our way. It made his thick fur bristle up on its ends like he was about to lunge at someone, but instead he'd turn his head to look at us with laughing eyes and a tongue hanging out of his mouth, panting with the heat his exertion even in the midst of this cold, frozen world.
A gun shot sounded nearby and I reached out my arm instinctively to shield Alexandra. This one was close. She glanced sideways at me as we pushed on through the dirty slush, and I removed my arm from across her chest. Her ever-intense eyes watered in the cold and made their blue shine brighter. Her golden ringlets hung down in frozen perfection, and her breath blew out in white clouds.
A group of young men rounded the corner cursing in Arabic. They hauled a huge television through the snow. A nearby store alarm was blaring and Wep whined at the noise, snapping at them as they passed. One nearly lost it on the slippery pavement, but the thief steadied himself and ran even faster to get away with his prize.
Wep continued to bark and snap at them even though they were far down the road and I realized I was holding Alexandra's hand. She noticed too and pulled away, the tiniest hint of a spark falling to the ground, its electric sizzle warming my hand just slightly from the cold. She bolted toward Amisi and Ryan who had pulled ahead. She made me sad and happy at the same time.
"She's beautiful, capable and fierce," I said out loud so the gray wolf would hear me. I stood watching her run away. "Everything I never knew I wanted."
Wep huffed back at me in agreement.
"No hard feelings Wep." It was funny talking to a dog. "But I'm not giving up without a fight."
The wolf held my gaze with his intelligent eyes, snorted at me, and put his nose back to the ground. But then he stopped. He dug his nose in again huffing in whatever scent he just caught, and whined and tugged at his leash.
"Hey guys. Wep's got something."
Alexandra came back, kneeling down to scratch between his ears. "What'd you find?"
He nuzzled into her hand.
Wep stole a glance my way.
Only I caught its meaning. He wasn't giving up either.
He sniffed at the ground once more and yowled, then bolted toward the seashore, stopping to nose the ground as he went.
"Whoa! Slow up there, Wep!"
But he dragged me toward the waterfront anyway where a looming stone fort sat guard on the edge of the Mediterranean.
Wep turned his doggy head back toward me, and it morphed into a human one. It happened just long enough for him to say, "Something's not right. It doesn't smell right," and his head changed again to the wolf. I was glad we were running so hard my brain didn't have time to process it, because Wep's human-headed dog body totally freaked me out.
"Hurry!" I yelled back. "Something's wrong."
The others sprinted to catch up, running slightly faster than humans are capable until we reached the stone archway that led into the fort. It was abandoned which was odd considering how much chaos was happening a hundred feet from here. The silence was unnerving, in fact. My Aunt Vera would have said it was so quiet you could hear crickets, but I thought it too cold for that anyway. Amisi shivered hard and wrapped her arms around herself, but not from the cold. Ryan's eyes narrowed cautiously and went to stand next to her. Even Alexandra took a step backward. Something wasn't right.
Wep morphed back into a man then – all the way this time – completing the transition on one knee. I saw a dark-eyed man scramble away from nearby shadows. If he saw Wep change, he wasn't interested in sticking around for more.
Wep stretched up toward the structure, pointing as he stood to his full height. "She's there." He pointed at the highest parapet. "She's keeping the rioters away with her powers."
Someone threw an exploding bottle off a side street, maybe the dark-eyed man again, but the fire hurler wouldn't approach any closer.
Wep stroked the stubble growing on his chin. "Do you not feel it? This place feels cursed. No true Egyptian would set foot here."
I felt it. And it was creeping me out worse than Wep's human wolf-head combo. I held my breath and tried to swallow back the fear that wound round my neck like a snake cinching tight. "Well, it's a good thing I'm not an Egyptian, then," I blustered.
"I'm not sure I am either," Wep returned. "So, I guess we both have to push through." He swallowed visibly.
"Whether she's cursed this place or not, Seshat's wigging me out with her voodoo vibes." Amisi's black hair bounced and her head swiveled, just waiting for something to jump out at her. Her silver eyeliner sparkled in the moonlight. "Let's get this over with."
The dread was like thick water that had to be plowed through, but we pushed through it together until we came out into a courtyard where the crushing pressure dissolved as we broke into the open grounds.
"Oh gods," Amisi said. "I hope that was it."
"That was rough," I admitted.
Wep shook his head in agreement and sniffed the air again with his human nose. He pointed to the same tower.
"There. I see her."
Seshat's small form sat motionless atop the structure. She was hard to see, sitting silent on the rooftop. I hoped she was okay. I wondered even more why she was up there.
Across the courtyard, we marched to her building. Wep didn't have the privilege of flight like we Oasens, so we climbed the stairs instead, practically falling out the door onto the roof. Even Oasens get tired after so little sleep.
Seshat sat there resplendent in her pixie-like beauty, her pale skin glowing in the moonlight. She sat cross-legged with her face to the sky, but turned toward our noise, confused by the interruption.
Our identities dawned on her like she was waking, but one person in particular peaked her interest. Her eyes went wide and Seshat ran straight for Wep. She hugged him so tight, I thought he might pull back so he could breathe, but instead he just buried his head in her neck and wept. Alexandra stood stiff watching their display of unchecked emotion. Finally they pulled away, holding each other at arm's length, tears streaming down their faces.
"Wep, darling," she choked. "I thought this day would never come. Your mother finally released you from that dungeon of hers?"
He kissed her cheek. "Yes. Here I am! I fulfilled the promise I made to Ra too. We were at your house. I found the chocolate," he prattled, pulling it out.
She held him to her again.
My stomach twisted. While this turn of events was squarely in my favor, what Wep was doing to Alexandra was cruel, even if he did spend a few thousand years underground with no one but his scary mom to hang out with. You didn't hit on the first girl you saw until you met up with your old girlfriend. It was harsh.
Wep noticed us staring. "Oh." He held Seshat's hand in his. Alexandra was examining this. Wep laughed out loud. "This is my grandmother, Seshat. On my dad's side. I haven't seen her in a long time. Like thousands of years, long time."
I nearly fainted.
Grandma! You have got to be kidding me!
Well that blows.
Alexandra kept her face a mask of stone, but I swore her eyes crinkled slightly with a well-hidden smile.
"I didn't expect that," I said out loud. Ryan nearly lost it at my lack of a filter, but Amisi smacked him on the leg so he would shut his mouth.
"What are you doing here of all places, Tetta?"
He called her the Arabic name for grandma. How cute.
"Tay-tuh," I said under my breath. "Isn't that sweet?"
Apparently it was, based on the looks being exchanged.
"Why are you here and not at the Library?"
Seshat shook her head like she was coming out of a trance. "I'm not sure. I was on my way there, but then, I don't remember anything at all ... until you fell out the door." Seshat looked up, then went still and touched her neck like something was wrong. "What's this?" She pulled out a necklace. "It's not mine."
On it was a familiar emerald ring, glowing softly.
Alexandra reached out reflexively and touched it. "I know this ring. It belongs to the Oracle." Her eyes went wide as she reached for it. "Here, would you let me?"
Seshat nodded yes and pulled back her hair. Alexandra unclasped it and slipped it off the chain onto her finger.
Alexandra became still as stone.
Nothing happened at first.
"She usually talks by now."
We all leaned in.
Instead of talking, Alexandra jumped without warning onto the ledge of the building. I tried to grab her, but she landed like a cat, stopped, and looked out over the water, without hurting herself – or falling over. Thank the stars.
The voice of the Oracle spoke from her lips. Her hair blew wild from a sudden breeze. Her voice was low and unnatural – again. "I am sorry for this interruption, but I have foreseen the destruction of my people." Her monotone voice was slow with sadness. Alexandra glanced back at the sea like it haunted her. "They do not have to die tonight."
Her eyes found mine and held.
"I have seen another path along the line should you so choose, Gilbert Scott. But first I must tell you ..." She said this as if it was a law and not gesture of good will, "... that you will suffer a great consequence to save them. Sacrifices must be made when salvation is attainable. It is known."
She let this sink in.
"However, Gil Scott, this consequence will not disturb the final pattern. But it will make your journey that much more difficult."
Perfect, I thought. "What is going to happen Oracle?"
"Tens of thousands will die here tonight without your intervention," she answered, forthright for once. She gazed out over the water. "It is good for you that you have found this high ground. You may have need of it yet." And with those words, she was gone from Alexandra who slumped in exhaustion and slipped the ring from her finger. She threaded it back onto the necklace and tried to give it back to Seshat.
She refused, waving it away with her hand. "You wear it. I want nothing to do with the Oracle."
Alexandra nodded and clasped it on her own neck instead.
"Death is everywhere tonight." Wep's voice reverberated off the stone walls of the fort. "Everywhere."
"I don't think we can let thousands of people die? Can we?"
"Even if it means things are about to get much harder for us." Ryan kicked a loose pebble across the roof.
"How much harder can things get?" I raised my shoulders, but they fell just as fast. They could get way worse. That was the answer.
The others nodded. They understood that too.
"The question is, what is about to happen?" Alexandra bit her lip. "The Oracle is notorious for withholding important details."
"Something she said bothered me, but I can't put my finger on it. She was talking about high ground and ... and ... I'm not sure. Someone said something to me once about that – about high ground."
My mind went blank, then realization dawned on me.
"Oh my goodness!" I jumped up to pace on the ledge. Everyone's eyes went to me. "Simon! Simon was the one."
I must have seemed crazy.
"My friend," I tried to explain, "from back home. He's always drawing these crazy disasters and the last time I saw him sketching one, he told me, if you don't find high ground during a tsunami, you're toast." I paused long enough for them to understand me. "I think Egypt's about to get slammed by a tsunami!" I finished by jumping back down.
I peered over the edge of the roof top. The sea still lapped calmly against the shore.
"How do we stop a tsunami?"
"Well, if you can stop the ..."
The ground vibrated under our feet.
"... earthquake, no tsunami," Amisi finished her thought as the quake picked up strength. "Too late for that."
There was a sharp jolt, then the earth began jostling us back and forth and wouldn't stop. Glass shattered nearby and stones tumbled down, stirring up centuries-old dust, maybe older. One of the crumbling parapets nearby succumbed to its age, its rock crumbling down in a shower of grit and stone. I hoped the rest of this fort could withstand it.
When it was over, I felt my Bau tugging me toward the water. "The quake was centered there." I pointed out to sea, north-east of our location. "I guess I have a built in Bau sensor for these kind of things. There's a fault line out there. A big one. This is not good."
My nails were down to nubs. I tasted blood as I chewed them.
There was a loud roar and I thought the tsunami was coming, but then I felt a blast of air.
"Neter!" Alexandra yelled. "She's programmed to protect us. The tsunami must be coming." Her hair whipped in her face from the force of Neter's engines, but the ship was still camouflaged, flying unseen above us.
I wondered what that Egyptian hiding in the streets below thought about all this now?
I heard, as much as felt, a port open beneath Neter's hull and identical cylinders fell towards us, glistening translucent enough for us to see them stack one on top of another until they reached roof to ship.
"Go," I yelled. "Get out of here now."
Alexandra hesitated. "What are you doing, Gil?"
My feet were planted.
She refused to budge further, aware now that I didn't intend to come with them.
"Go already," I shouted. "The Oracles said I had to choose to save them. It's all on me."
I was pretty sure I sounded angry. This weight of the world on your shoulders stuff was getting old.
"Go on, Alexandra" This time I tried to be soft. "Find me after it's over, will you?"
"But Gil!" She ran back and grabbed my hands, unchecked.
Neter's engines whined with the anticipation of flight.
"Go, Alexandra."
Still, she didn't move. She held my hand, the blue energy flowing locked between them. For once, Alexandra's fast feet were frozen.
"Wep! Come get her."
He ran and picked her up, against her will, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of angry potatoes, and ran back to the ship, her legs and arms kicking and hitting as she went. Wind was kicking up off the water and blew hard now. Alexandra's eyes never left mine, even though her long curls struck her eyes as the wind whipped it at her face.
"You jerk," she spoke in my head, still angry I forced her to go. "But be careful."
"You too," I answered mentally.
"You better take care of her, Wep." I added out loud.
He nodded and ran under the cylinder. Ryan and Amisi had just gone up. The cylinders came back down.
She stared back at me unbidden. "Be careful Gil. Please."
And then they were gone as Neter swallowed them up.
~~~
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Next up on Friday, CHAPTER 23 - I HANG 10 IN EGYPT.