Zadi murmured some spells as she touched their temples. Her fingers touched the head of each of the teens and the Medjay before she ordered them to open their eyes slowly. She watched each of them closely as though she peered at their soul.
“Tell me how you feel during your initiation.” She beamed at them after a few moments.
“That was an initiation?” Diana asked with a frown. “I thought it was only a meditation.”
“Yes, it was.” Elise smiled amiably at her friend before she turned to the pygmy. “I felt like my spinal was going to burn but my head felt cool.”
“What else?” Zadi was interested to hear anything more from Elise.
“I felt something was on my forehead.” She continued with a slight frown.
The others gasped. Zadi clapped her hands happily. “I did it!”
“You did what?” Elise asked, still confused.
“I opened you
In the next few days, they were taught by Zadi how to execute simple magic techniques. Each of them found something they wanted to master with, as suggested by Zadi.Mazoi learned how to spin his spear and create a whirlpool of air mixed with sands. He could separate the sands and make them into big or small balls to be used as weapons as well. Only the downside was that he could do it when he was standing directly on the earth, not on a tiled floor.Diana learned to use a pair of cudgels using her own magic. She could just let them float in the air, and they wait for her command to strike or to vanish into thin air.As Eric knew martial arts and could use anything as a weapon, he learned to create an invisible body shield, like a liquefied aura around his body.As for Kent, he improved his skills to become faster and stronger. And he could spit fire whenever he wanted to.Zadi was impressed by their improvements in just a so short of a time. Her g
They were all about to sleep that night in their respective rooms of the governor’s house.Outside, the general’s army gathered. Meru entered the gate. The guards identified him as the king’s nephew so they did not try to stop him and let him enter the governor’s house.“What is going on, General Meru?” the governor demanded. His wife was at his heels, concerned on what was happening.Meanwhile, Zadi secretly entered the guys’ room.“Hey, what are you doing here?” the Medjay demanded. It was his first turn to watch. Later, it would be Eric’s.“The king’s army is looking for you! Hurry and gather your things! We need to get out of the house now!” Zadi’s tone was urgent.Kent dashed to the other room and told the girls what was going on. Diana and Elise did not ask any more questions but gathered what they needed aside from the things they had already packed ea
The Nubians, on the other hand, were people of another nation close to Upper Egypt. They had another language, culture and tradition.The previous rulers of Nubia had long fought against the kings of Upper Egypt because the latter refused alliance with these dark people as they were known to be fierce and wretches. They were so relentless in fighting against the Upper Egyptians until the latest ruler decided to associate his nation with Lower Egypt, the long-time enemy of Upper Egypt.And so, the wise King Iry-Hor accepted the alliance with the Nubians instead. He was thinking that once he defeated King Hor-Aha with the help of the Nubians, he could easily defeat the Nubians later on as well. With this thought, King Iry-Hor would make an empire.****The witch priestess finished her evening ritual, and her eyes opened wide when she learned that the foreigners evaded the army that the general led to capture them. She read the as
Zadi complained that she was tired. Her two guards had to make turns in carrying the pygmy who was unbelievably heavy. Elise helped the two guards carry the burden by making Zadi lighter. As a priestess, Diana tried to do her role as well.“Oh, it’s too hot now.” Eric expressed his dissatisfaction as they continued to walk under the scorching sun that noon.Diana procured a cloth that covered Eric’s bag float over their heads as they ambled on the hot desert.“So cool, huh? We don’t need an umbrella… or a parasol. This though looks… primitive enough, right?” Diana said to no one in particular. “But at least this… the cloth is so wide and covers us all. The umbrella is just for one or two people. You couldn’t walk around using a big one because it would be so heavy to hold.”Elise smiled at her description of the umbrella.“Huh, you got a point there.” Eric
Suddenly, the right window of the enclosed litter opened. The witch priestess peered through it. She felt Zadi’s strong powers around the area. She closed her eyes and they opened abruptly. She saw the shield first and then the makeshift tent.“Halt!” She commanded the servants to stop. She knew that Meru, together with his soldiers, was already half a mile away now. She was only left with a handful of soldiers.She could now see the people behind the shield and inside the tent. She recognized the pygmy instantly as well as the four foreigners that were in disguise, clothed like ancient Egyptians. The two girls were dressed like priestesses while the others were dressed as soldiers. An evil smirk lifted from the corner of her red lips.The servants put the litter down, and the witch priestess climbed out of it. She stood under the heat of the sun as she stared at the tent. She aimed her palm in that direction and started to cast a spell.
Elise’s group ascended the stairs carefully, looking out for some more guards that might catch them for invading the sacred temple.The brown wooden floor on the second story of the temple was so clean and polished that they shone. They had noticed the large altar of Osiris with his wooden statue at the center. Incense burner was also placed in the middle of the altar in front of the statue. The altar was filled and adorned with flowers. The mixture of the scent of the incense and flowers was intense. It made them feel relaxed and drowsy all of a sudden.Zadi’s eyes became alert. She threw her eyeballs around the room. She was searching for the priestess of the temple. She must be somewhere nearby.She touched Elise’s hand, and Elise was made aware of Zadi’s suspicions. She then blinked and covered her nose with her hand.The rest of their company was like zombies who went over to the bed, which was on the left side of the altar, t
“We were just seeking… asylum,” Elise protested to the witch priestess.“Asylum?” the priestess echoed in confusion. She looked at Elise and Zadi, back and forth.“Yes. You know, something like… of seeking somewhere to hide, for protection?” Elise’s eyebrows rose.“All the same! You should not have come into the temple of Osiris! You could have hidden somewhere else!” The priestess’ voice went harder.“My! She’s so selfish!” Elise complained to Zadi. “What shall we do now?”Zadi just shrugged.“Well then, can we ask for forgiveness and could you please wake my brother and the others up now?” Elise requested the priestess. She had no idea how to reverse the spell. And in Zadi’s condition, the teen was almost sure that the pygmy couldn’t do anything further.“They shall be my prisoners. And so sh
“We’ll plan our escape a little later, Mazoi. Just take a look at this at the moment,” Zadi said to him.The huge man went to the pygmy’s side and took the papyrus roll from her hands. He looked at it and read it quickly. “Where did you get this? I heard that someone guarded this and thought it was just a myth.”“Yes, but guardian is now frozen down below.” Zadi nodded. “Do you think we can really use this?”“Definitely, yes. I heard that the Book of Gates contains twelve hours, a series of gates that the soul should have safe passage. Each gate is said to be associated with a goddess with a specific title. The book is believed to help those who have departed to make their journey safe to the underworld.”“And we can use it as a last resort to defeat Priestess Nehes.”Everyone looked at Zadi when she finished saying it.“But how is that possibl