sand-yellow lion was broader in the shoulders than any of the harbor workers on the Venetian quays. He wore a sword lance as long as a man, its blade reflecting Vermithraxâs golden glow. It looked like a torch.
Seth stepped forward and said something in Egyptian. Then he added so that all could understand, âDo you speak the language of my ⦠friends?â
The sphinx nodded and weighed the sword lance in his hands for a moment, without lowering the point. Hiseyes kept darting uncertainly toward Vermithrax.
âYou are Seth?â he asked the Horus priest in Merleâs language.
âIt is so. And I have the right to be here. Only the word of the Pharaoh weighs more heavily than mine.â
The sphinx snorted. âThe word of the Pharaoh commands that you be taken prisoner as soon as anyone sees you. Everyone knows that you have betrayed the Empire and are fighting on the sideââhe hesitatedââof our enemies.â His short pause was probably due to the fact that he couldnât imagine what enemies of the Empire were left after decades of war.
Seth bowed his head, which might have seemed submissive to the sphinx but in truth was preparation forâyes, what? A magic blow that would shred his opponent?
Merle was never to find out, for at that moment the sphinx received reinforcements. Behind him, through an almost invisible opening between the mirrors, a troop of mummy soldiers appeared. Their images multiplied in the walls like a chain of cut paper dolls being drawn apart by invisible hands.
The mummies wore armor of leather and steel, but even that could not conceal that these undead soldiers were specimens with uncommonly robust proportions. Their faces were ash gray, with dark rings under the eyes, but they did not appear as wasted and half decayed as other mummies of the Empire. Perhaps they hadnâtbeen dead so long when they were snatched from their graves to serve in the Pharaohâs armies.
The soldiers moved into place behind the sphinx. Their mirror images made it hard to say how many there really were. Merle counted four, but perhaps she was wrong and there were more.
The air over the golden network that covered the back of Sethâs head shimmered the way it does on an especially hot summer day.
Horus magic shot through Merleâs mind, and at the same time she had to think that his magic could just as well be directed at them and not against their enemies.
At the same moment the mummy soldier in front raised his sickle sword. The sphinx looked back over his shoulder, visibly irritated by the appearance of the soldiers but at the same time grateful for their support. Then he turned again to Seth, Vermithrax, and the girls on the back of the lion. He now grasped that the Horus priest had not bowed to honor him, saw the boiling air over Sethâs skull, raised his lance, about to launch it at the priestâ
âand was felled from behind by the mummy soldierâs sword blow.
Instantly the soldiers leaped over the sphinx lying on the ground and struck at him from all sides. When there was no more life in him, their leader turned slowly around. His eyes passed over Vermithrax and the girls, then fastened on Seth.
The network on the priestâs skull glowed, and fireballs like balls of pure lava appeared in Sethâs hands.
âNo,â said the mummy soldier. His voice sounded astonishingly alive. âWe donât belong to them.â
Seth hesitated.
âLet them alone, Seth,â cried Merle. She didnât suppose the priest would pay any attention to her, but for some reason he still didnât throw the fireballs.
âThey are not real,â
said the Queen in Merleâs head.
The mummies?
âNot those, either. But I meant the fireballs. They are only illusion. The Horus priests understand that better than anyone: about lies, about deceit. And, in addition, about alchemy and the awakening of the
Seth stepped forward and said something in Egyptian. Then he added so that all could understand, âDo you speak the language of my ⦠friends?â
The sphinx nodded and weighed the sword lance in his hands for a moment, without lowering the point. Hiseyes kept darting uncertainly toward Vermithrax.
âYou are Seth?â he asked the Horus priest in Merleâs language.
âIt is so. And I have the right to be here. Only the word of the Pharaoh weighs more heavily than mine.â
The sphinx snorted. âThe word of the Pharaoh commands that you be taken prisoner as soon as anyone sees you. Everyone knows that you have betrayed the Empire and are fighting on the sideââhe hesitatedââof our enemies.â His short pause was probably due to the fact that he couldnât imagine what enemies of the Empire were left after decades of war.
Seth bowed his head, which might have seemed submissive to the sphinx but in truth was preparation forâyes, what? A magic blow that would shred his opponent?
Merle was never to find out, for at that moment the sphinx received reinforcements. Behind him, through an almost invisible opening between the mirrors, a troop of mummy soldiers appeared. Their images multiplied in the walls like a chain of cut paper dolls being drawn apart by invisible hands.
The mummies wore armor of leather and steel, but even that could not conceal that these undead soldiers were specimens with uncommonly robust proportions. Their faces were ash gray, with dark rings under the eyes, but they did not appear as wasted and half decayed as other mummies of the Empire. Perhaps they hadnâtbeen dead so long when they were snatched from their graves to serve in the Pharaohâs armies.
The soldiers moved into place behind the sphinx. Their mirror images made it hard to say how many there really were. Merle counted four, but perhaps she was wrong and there were more.
The air over the golden network that covered the back of Sethâs head shimmered the way it does on an especially hot summer day.
Horus magic shot through Merleâs mind, and at the same time she had to think that his magic could just as well be directed at them and not against their enemies.
At the same moment the mummy soldier in front raised his sickle sword. The sphinx looked back over his shoulder, visibly irritated by the appearance of the soldiers but at the same time grateful for their support. Then he turned again to Seth, Vermithrax, and the girls on the back of the lion. He now grasped that the Horus priest had not bowed to honor him, saw the boiling air over Sethâs skull, raised his lance, about to launch it at the priestâ
âand was felled from behind by the mummy soldierâs sword blow.
Instantly the soldiers leaped over the sphinx lying on the ground and struck at him from all sides. When there was no more life in him, their leader turned slowly around. His eyes passed over Vermithrax and the girls, then fastened on Seth.
The network on the priestâs skull glowed, and fireballs like balls of pure lava appeared in Sethâs hands.
âNo,â said the mummy soldier. His voice sounded astonishingly alive. âWe donât belong to them.â
Seth hesitated.
âLet them alone, Seth,â cried Merle. She didnât suppose the priest would pay any attention to her, but for some reason he still didnât throw the fireballs.
âThey are not real,â
said the Queen in Merleâs head.
The mummies?
âNot those, either. But I meant the fireballs. They are only illusion. The Horus priests understand that better than anyone: about lies, about deceit. And, in addition, about alchemy and the awakening of the
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