Closing his eyes, Horus murmured softly, and a golden light gleamed from his broken body. Amon screamed, and from the center of his forehead burst a brilliant white orb. It hung in midair, rotating. As Horus finished his spell, the orb sped toward him and sank into his forehead. Wearily, he opened his eyes and they glowed gold. Light filled his body, and as it did, there was a discernible change in his expression. Horus held himself differently. Peering down at his body, he held up an arm and studied it as if seeing it for the first time. Then he gave me a long, thoughtful look. Finally, he glanced at Nephthys and nodded. “It is done.”
“Very well,” I said. “Then I shall proceed.”
Amon crashed to his knees. He seemed broken. Ahmose knelt beside him, wrapping his arm around his brother. The spell began, the heart scarabs spun in the air, and then they, too, entered my frame. The hearts locked together—three hearts, aligned with three hearts. Each of them bound to the other, never to move again. Lifting my bow, I summoned an arrow and whispered Amon’s true name to the shaft. It shot out with a twang and circled, then plunged into Amon’s chest. I repeated the process with Ahmose. My eyes closed of their own accord as I felt the pang of loss. When I opened them, Amon and Ahmose had already slumped to the surface of the Waters of Chaos, their bodies melting before my eyes.
Seth glared at me as I approached. “Let me die by Amon’s strike,” he said as his life-blood leaked into the Waters of Chaos and disappeared. His form was slowly changing to pure energy. “Lay my death upon his head. I will not perish by the hand of a woman.”
Cocking my head, I studied him. “It is not a woman slaying you this day,” I said, then smiled, “but a goddess. In fact, it was a trio of goddesses that have brought you so low. Remember their names—Isis, Nephthys, Wasret. But also know that you have brought this fate upon yourself. When mortals speak of Seth, they will only recall how the mighty one fell. It would serve you well to reflect upon this. Perhaps in your last moments you will strive to appreciate the wise women who agreed to be a part of your life, however misguided. Apply this lesson in the future.”
“Apply this lesson?” Seth spat. “What do you mean?”
“You will see, Ascalon. Nephthys, Amun-Ra, come forth.”
The two gods stepped forward.
“Do you know what I intend?” I asked softly.
Tears came to Nephthys’s eyes, and she nodded, then turned to Amun-Ra. “Are you certain?” she asked.
Tenderly, he stroked her face. “I would be with you in any way I can,” Amun-Ra said. “I feel in my heart that this is the right choice. This is the day we’ve long prepared for.”
Nephthys reached her arms tightly around his neck and brought his lips to hers. Isis gasped and Anubis’s mouth opened in shock, but they said nothing.
After they broke apart, Amun-Ra took Nephthys’s hand, and they both turned to me. He pressed her fingertips to his lips briefly and said, “We are ready.”
“Very well.” Raising my voice to the cosmos, I pulled power into my frame, lifted my bow, nocking not a feather but one of my spear-knives, and cried. “Ascalon, I strike your name from the cosmos. I take your life energy and fashion you into something new.” Drawing the string, I let the projectile fly and it sank deeply into the chest of the dragon. The beast roiled and screamed as his body began to dissolve faster.
Turning to the couple standing nearby, I said, “Amun-Ra, I strike your name from the cosmos. I take your life energy and fashion you into something new.”
Amun-Ra cried out as his body transformed into white energy. Nephthys screamed and stepped back, her cheeks wet with tears. At the same time the dragon’s body turned into energy. I drew my hands together, and the two energies combined. For a time, it looked like the two beings would tear each other apart, but then the chaos stilled and the energy merged into one being made of light.
“Now I will name you, and as I do, you will take on a new form. Your powers will be balanced, for you will harness the ability to create and to unmake. I have taken the best of both of you. Nephthys is now your true wife and will be your companion through the ages. The name I give you will not be a secret to these who love you. For if you should become derelict in your duties, they will have the power to check you. Henceforth, you will be called Aten.”
Aten’s body took on form. The light diminished until our eyes could look fully upon him. He was handsome, tall, and straight. His eyes sparkled with awe and wonder as he gazed upon his family for the first time. His hair was dark like Amun-Ra’s, but there was a small cowlick in the back. In his features I found a bit of both Seth and Amun-Ra, but Aten was also utterly unique—a being fashioned from the qualities of both men.
He turned and smiled at Isis and Anubis and then frowned when he saw Horus. Waving his hand, he murmured a spell, and Horus’s body stiffened as energy returned to him, re-creating his lost limbs. Isis hugged her restored son to her fiercely, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.
When Aten looked at me, he nodded slightly, and last, he turned to Nephthys and dropped to one knee, holding up his hand. “Will you accept me, my queen?” he asked, raising hope-filled eyes to Nephthys.
She titled her head formally. “I will, my husband.”
“And I will endeavor to win your heart and earn your loyalty.”
“My heart is already yours.”
Aten stood and took her hands as he searched her eyes. Understanding came to him quickly. “You gave Amun-Ra your heart scarab.”
Nephthys nodded. “I did.”
“Then I will offer you mine.”
He drew forth his heart scarab, a beautiful stone swirled with gold and onyx. Nephthys took it and laid it against her breast. Within a moment, it was gone. Her eyes widened. “I…I feel you,” she said.
“And I you, my love.”
While the god of the cosmos and his wife learned of one another, I beat my wings, rising into the air to prepare for my next task.
Hovering over the others, I cried out with the voice of the stars themselves, “Now it is time to heal the Waters of Chaos! Thoho. Tshamut. Come to me!”
The two snakes lifted their heads off the surface and rose into the air. Their long bodies stretched out, undulating on the waves of energy cast by the Waters of Chaos. “Thoho,” I said. “I strike your name from the cosmos. I take your life energy and fashion you into something new. Tshamut! I strike your name from the cosmos. I take your life energy and fashion you into something new.”
The bodies of the two snakes, like Amun-Ra’s and Seth’s, changed into pure energy. They wrapped around each other, biting and twisting until they settled.
“Now you will be called Tharu. Tharu, protector of the Waters of Chaos, embrace your new form and take your proper place long since abandoned.”
A new snake materialized before me. This one was thicker of body. His scales winked blue, and his gleaming eyes were yellow. Opening his mouth, he hissed and then quickly sped to the edge of the Waters of Chaos. He circumnavigated the rim until he’d gone all the way around. He then bit down on his own tail, completing the circle that would protect the waters. I caught a glimpse of the spider’s shadow trailing in his wake.
Touching down on the surface of the waters, I said to the watching gods, “My work is complete. As a reward for my efforts on your behalf, I will create a new body for Ahmose, and he will become my companion as I traverse the cosmos exploring all of creation in my new form.”
I placed the hairs I’d saved from Ahmose onto my palm, preparing to summon him and create his new body. “Wait,” Horus said, rising to his feet, gingerly testing out his new limbs.
Pausing, I considered the expectant looks the gods were giving me. “What is it you desire of me further?” I asked them. “The Dark One is dead. I have restored order to the cosmos, as was my duty.”
“We would ask you to return to us the ones who were lost,” Horus answered, which surprised me. He’d been the least involved in the events of the day.
“Of
whom do you speak?” I asked.
“The Sons of Egypt and the Daughters of Wasret.”
“You know that I cannot save all of those that were lost. Some have been remade. This cannot be undone. Content yourself in knowing that, concerning the ones you speak of, their hearts are forever united in me.”
“Then I would ask,” Horus said, stepping forward, “how it is that you can take as your companion one whose heart is permanently bound to another?”
“He will have no choice but to love me, for I carry her heart within.”
“It is a poor gift you take for yourself, then,” he said. “It is but a shadow of love. I would offer, instead, for you to consider a companion you have been long separated from. One you have forgotten.”
I sucked in a breath, my heart raced at his words. Pursing my lips, I asked, “Who is this you speak of?”
“Like Lilliana Young, the son of Isis and Osiris was born an adder stone. But the body of their young child was weak, for there was not enough energy in the Waters of Chaos to fashion another powerful god. So Isis wove a spell. She gave a bit of herself and her husband to sustain the child. When she realized he would still perish despite her efforts, I reached out to her.”
Nephthys moved closer to her sister and threaded her arm around Isis’s waist.
“I made a proposition. One that was accepted. With the help of Isis, Osiris, and Nephthys, a spell was woven that allowed me to coexist with their son, inhabiting the same body. Through Horus I came into the light from the darkness. Like you, I came into being at a time when the cosmos needed me.
“It was I who distracted Seth for centuries so we could have time to prepare for the rise of the second adder stone, but he began to suspect more was at work than just his family being united against him. To protect me further, the knowledge of my true identity was purposely removed from my mind. It was hidden in the Eye and, for a time, Amun-Ra himself carried it.
“To distract Seth, Amun-Ra wove a complicated story where he promised the Eye to the winner of a great contest that lasted for years. When I won, Amun-Ra gave me a trinket, a token. But Seth became suspicious. He desired power and sought ways to steal our secrets. To protect it, the true Eye was hidden inside a Son of Egypt. Amon was imbued with enough power to carry the Eye, but its true nature was veiled from him.
“I’ve hidden in plain sight all this time, awaiting the hour of your arrival. So you see, Wasret, like you, I came into being with a borrowed body of flesh. But unlike you, I am now fully aware of who I am, for I’ve had a chance to study out my origins using the Eye of Horus, a power you might know better as the Eye of Re or the All-Seeing Eye.”
I sucked in a breath. Horus’s body took on a glow as he spoke. It was warm and familiar to me. He drew nearer and captured my hand. Our fingers locked together, and I stared at them, awestruck.
He continued, “The reason I felt bound to Lilliana Young, the reason I pursued her, was because a part of me could sense my life mate when she was near. What I am, the Eye that defines me, does not exist alone. There is a second Eye. Together, the two who wield them see all things. Can you name this Eye, Wasret? Can you name me? Look into my heart and see what I am. See who I am. Open your mind to me and know the good and the bad, the selfish and the selfless, and understand me.”
Horus now held both of my hands in his. He brought them to his mouth and kissed both in succession. I looked deeply into his eyes, sinking beyond them, seeking the truth. There was something about him that was at once comforting and enticing. With my hands in his, I opened my thoughts, and a name rose to the surface. “You are…you are Nekheny.”
Nodding, Horus smiled and pressed, “And who is Nekheny?”
“Nekheny is the consort of the one who wields the Wadjet Eye.”
He squeezed my hands. “And who wields that power?”
“The one who wields that power is…” Suddenly, the energy coursing through me froze. “It is me,” I said, marveling at the revelation that burst into my consciousness. “Wasret is the name mortals have given me, but my true name is Wadjet. The source of my power is the Wadjet Eye.”
The knowledge of who I truly was gave me a ferocious strength, and I trembled at finally understanding my own origins.
Nekheny stroked my face, soothing the tremors coursing through my limbs.
“Come, my longtime companion,” he said. “We must reacquaint ourselves with one another. I have much to teach you. But before we take our leave of the gods, they ask our help in restoring the others.”
Thrilled with the revelation that I had a true companion of my own, I nodded. “I will do what I can.”
I healed Anubis, who had given away much of himself while my companion healed his parents.
I took the hair I’d saved from Ahmose and summoned his life energy. It rose up before me, and together Nekheny and I fashioned him a new body and worked until all that he’d given away when he healed Lily’s body was restored.
Anubis stepped forward then and bowed to the both of us, offering up hair in each of his hands. “These belonged to Asten and Amon,” he said. “Hassan left a token for me from each boy just in case we lost one of their bodies again.”
Raising my hand, I wove the spell for Amon while my companion did the same for Asten. When the young men took in their first breaths and their wandering shadows had merged with their true frames, I said, “I can fashion a new body identical to this one for Lily, but I cannot create bodies for Ashleigh or Tia since their mortal forms are long since gone. I will give you a choice. I can summon the energies of all three girls into one body once more, or I can summon only Lily. What do you wish me to do?”
Amon stepped forward. With no hesitation, he said, “Lily would want them with her.”
“Then let it be as you say.”
I pulled a hair from my own head and fashioned a new body, then called upon the life energies of Tia, Ashleigh, and Lily. Three bands of light rose from the Waters of Chaos and entered my twin. Lily blinked and staggered. Amon took her arm, and she nodded in gratitude. “What…what happened?” Lily said.
Interrupting her, eager to explore my new reality with my companion, I said, “We have done what we could.” I drew out the six bound hearts and handed them to Lily, then offered her a smile. Nekheny kissed the cheeks of his mother and his aunt. “Mother?” he said and held out a hand to the woman who had given him life. “The price has been paid for the spell you cast in reviving your husband. There will be no more barriers between you and Osiris. Thank you for giving me a home and for gifting me with your love. But the time has come for me to leave you.”
Isis wiped away a tear and hugged her son. “Go with my blessing and that of your father. No matter your origin, you will always be our son.”
“And you will always be my mother.”
With a final smile, we turned and together looked to the stars.
Latching on to a beam of light, we rose up into the cosmos to begin our new adventure.
“What? What just happened?” I asked.
Amon was about to speak when a man approached. One I’d never met. “Lily Young,” he said. “I am Aten the sun god, the husband of Nephthys. If you will return to Heliopolis with us, we will explain all that has happened.”
Soon the Waters of Chaos were far behind us, a bright place in a dark, starry field. I pressed myself against Amon’s back and held on to him tightly. My wings were gone, my other powers along with them. Even my weapons had disappeared. Wadjet, who was now my—my what? Clone? Identical twin?—had taken them with her.
I attempted to engage Tia and Ashleigh in conversation, but the two of them were strangely quiet on the journey home. My body felt tight and uncomfortable. It was like I wasn’t exactly me. It could have been the goddess gown I wore, I suppose. Strappy gold sandals aside, gauzy fabric wasn’t really my thing. My hair had even been done up with curls hanging over each shoulder. I felt naked without my harness.
When we touched down, Aten, the new head god,
ordered a feast, and while it was being prepared, he told me everything that had transpired. To say I was shocked was an understatement. I was glad I hadn’t seen Amon and Ahmose die. It had been hard enough to see Asten’s death. When Aten had told us all he could, he took Nephthys’s hand and they left to see to the repairs of their city.
I slumped on a golden chaise, twisting my hands, unsure of what was going to happen to me now. Would Amon, Asten, and Ahmose go back to guarding the way of the afterlife? Could I visit them? The power of the sphinx had left me. Did that mean I could no longer see them? Would I still be connected to Amon in dreams? Our hearts were knit together, that much I could feel, but there were so many unanswered questions.
The Sons of Egypt were called away in a conference with Aten and Nephthys. At the feast, Amon took my hand under the table, stroking little circles with his thumb that shot electric tingles through my body. Isis, Osiris, and Anubis were missing, but I figured Isis was mourning the loss of her son and tending to her husband. Apparently, Horus had seen to it that Osiris was healed completely, but it made sense that they wanted time to be alone together. They’d been apart for a long time. I had no idea where Anubis was. If I was going to be sent home, I would have preferred saying my farewells to him before I left.
When the feasting was over, the few remaining unicorns were summoned. Aten bent down to me and said, “I thought you’d like to do the honors before you journeyed home.”
Furrowing my brow in puzzlement, I glanced at Amon, who just shrugged. He was as confused as I was. Aten praised the unicorns for their boldness in battle, their courage in the face of death, and the weighty sacrifice of their elders. He then declared that the curse on all unicorns was hereby lifted and they would be granted access to the afterlife. In his hands, sand swirled. It gleamed golden and sparkling and formed a perfect alicorn.
“Lily,” he said, “if you would.”
A beautiful unicorn stepped forward, her coat gleaming like bits of diamond were embedded within, approached me, head bowed. She knelt on one foreleg, her long mane shifting over one of her eyes.