Ascension (42 page)

“Where is Isis?”

Anubis looked up toward the sun. “She's northward of our current position. Once we reach her, she'll be able to heal your injuries and restore to you of your lost energies.”

“What of Horus? Has Thoth yet emerged?”

Anubis sighed, shielding the frail Ra from an emerging sandstorm. “You are the first we've found. It's not far now.”

Setehk…, what were you thinking,
Ra thought to himself, his body aching with each passing step taken.

As they carefully traversed a sand ravine, Ra could see a great pyramid in the foreground. Before the mouth of this great pyramid, stood a womanly figure dressed in white robes laced with gold. This most voluptuous and graceful beauty soon marched toward them through the flowing sands.

“My lord,” Isis cried, her dark hair rippling in the wind. “It soothes my heart and brings me peace of mind to see that you're alive.”

Anubis braced the sun god upon his shoulder as they drew nearer the pyramid's entrance. “Isis, our lord is in desperate need of your divine touch. And with lord Ra's blessing, we must carefully consider our next course of action.”

Isis parted the hair from beneath her golden headdress and pressed an Ankh against the weary sun god's chest. With the cross-shaped symbol positioned nearer the left, she lightly murmured an ancient healing incantation.

“Your life-force is weak, my lord,” she said, ceasing midway through the words. “I can only do so much. You must rest, and reclaim your lost energies from within the spirit realm.”

“Help me inside,” he urged, each step becoming more arduous.

They helped him inside the pyramid's mouth and led him through its dimly lit halls. Once they descended along a narrow staircase toward the hall's end, they emerged within a secluded chamber at the epicentre and helped him inside a stone sarcophagus.

“Isis, I sense there is something on your mind child,” he said, as he lay there on his back and closed his eyes.

“I only wish you had listened to me when I proclaimed my husband's innocence. He would have known what to do. He would have prevented Seth from pursuing these wanton desires for chaos.”

Ra growled out, his arms folded. “I'll hear none of that. Osiris was a traitor. He sought to overthrow my rule, and create of a world where only the strongest would survive.”

“And if he'd succeeded, then perhaps more of our people would have been strong enough to survive Seth's horrific crimes,” she cried. “It was Setekh who betrayed us. Not my late husband.”

“Setekh…,” he whispered the name of his devoted guardian, and reflected on happier times. “There must be another reason behind such acts of recklessness. He never craved more power.”

“You are too trusting, my lord,” judged Anubis, his red eyes gazing down upon him.

“Perhaps this is my greatest weakness. And yet I now must rest, leaving you both with the burden to restore our great nation to its former glory. I have no choice but to be overly trusting once more; for I must leave this divine responsibility in your most capable hands.”