Shadow of the Sun (The Shadow Saga) (30 page)

The older women laughed with a knowing wink that confused me. Meti admonished, Merit-Aten is too young for this type of talk.”

Ti-Yee sniffed. “Nonsense. Better she learn about men and women from her inner circle than to hear it amongst schoolgirls who gossip about body parts they cannot even pronounce.” Grand Djedti reached down to pet her lionesses, scratching their ears.

The doors to our star temple opened wide as Amaret strode in with a defiant air and a majestic golden crown atop her head. Her carnelian colored robes trailed behind her. Even though she wore ceremonial garments, I noted that her filthy bare feet were calloused.

She seated herself upon a red cushion before a polished obsidian slab in a golden frame with hieroglyphics along the edges. She didn’t even greet us. I watched for Grand Djedti’s eyes to narrow, signaling her displeasure, before she snapped at Amaret’s insolence. The bluish swirls remained about Ti-Yee’s throat yet she made no comment to the seer. Instead, the intimate chatter ceased and all present became reverent.

The prophetess chanted the opening blessing of protection. Her eyes fluttered, and her head swayed as she waved her hands over the black stone slab in large circular strokes. With a great gust of wind, the beating of wings made us all duck in terror before her owl and falcon rushed through the doors and perched upon Amaret’s high backed chair.

Unshaken, Amaret plied her magic to coax the images forth. Her dreamy eyes, the color of a pale blue moon, gazed past the shiny stone. She seemed to have stepped from another world. Her clothes, while Khemitian, appeared to be from days long gone. Her unkempt hair looked wild like an animal’s. She frightened, yet fascinated me.

Meti tilted my forehead downward and whispered, “Never look her directly in the eyes.”

“Why?” I asked, raising my voice.

Meti slipped a hand over my mouth in silent warning.

Grand Djedti’s voice boomed in my head.
“Silence, child. Your place is not to question. Sit and learn. Now, relax your eyes and look through the blackness.”

Startled, I blinked in disbelief. I heard her in my head, yet she didn’t utter a word.

Grand Djedti Ti-Yee sat with folded hands but her determined eyes confirmed it. Blue swirls flashed around her throat.

Amaret began her incantation. “Show to me our destiny, I do pray. Reveal our fate and allow the will of Aten to unfold.”

Then she uttered three words. A chill raced up my spine. Something deep inside me tingled. Everyone in the room united to form a circle around the prophetess. Those words. Ancient. Mysterious. Secret. The moment I heard them, they marked my soul for eternity.

Yet, when I tried to recall them less than a flick of a donkey’s ear later, they had been bucked from memory. A puff of smoke ignited over the obsidian and everyone hovered like hawks vying for the best view.

“I see them,” said Amaret. “Horemheb leads his contingent of over a thousand soldiers brandishing spears through the gates of Karnak at this very moment. In unison, their leather sandals fall upon the earth, making it tremble in anticipation of change.”

“I cannot see anything,” I whispered.

“Relax your eyes. Look through the stone,” said Meti.

“I see it,” declared Grand Djedti Ti-Yee. “Those soldiers hope to make use of their weapons today. Men salivate at the desire of a worthy kill, especially in times of peace.”

The women nodded. Who enjoyed killing of one of his own? I couldn’t fathom that this would be a pleasurable act. How could men be so different than women? Women create. Men destroy. Except for Netri.

The commander directed his men to seize all the ritual tools, riches and artifacts from the Temple of Amun and sort them into great gleaming heaps.

“The piles will touch the sky,” said Meti. “I have seen their locked rooms filled to the ceiling. They horde their riches while the Sesh starve and weep.”

Great Grand Elder Tuya wrung her hands and rocked in her chair.

“It would be a blessing if no one blemished this day with violence.”

I agreed. Peace. At last. Now my family would be safe.

“The northern squadron approaches the first storage chamber.

Pa-Nesy cocked his head, pointed to the door and held up ten fingers. His hearing was so accurate that he could hear field mice washing their whiskers behind a solid wall.

Priestess Khephri-Aten pointed. “Cowering priests hide behind the secured electrum doors. Their way will not be easy. The guards only rattle and pummel those weighty doors.”

“They attach thick ropes to the oxen,” Amaret said.

“The great beasts pulled the doors away from their hinges,” said Grand Djedti Ti-Yee.

“The priests hurl insults at the guards. That one rushes at the guard,” said Mutnodjmet.

The soldier trained in the art of combat flung his sharp spear, impaling the hapless priest against the plaster wall. Meti covered my eyes.

“I had hopes that it would not end in violence.” Meti wanted to shelter me from the cruelties. “Do you wish to go back to bed?”

Tears sprang to my eyes. I had never seen the life pour out of a man.

“She will stay,” ordered Grand Djedti. “Being in line to the throne does not guarantee a life of ease. And being young does not mean you can abdicate your duties by merit of age. We are all responsible for that death. We live in an era of revolution. Peaceful co-existence is no longer an option. His death signifies a death in us all.”

“The soldiers have confiscated all the assets,” said Amaret.

As we watched, hundreds of years of antiquity were carried out of that room. Pa-Nesy ordered the guards to load the golden treasures upon the waiting wagons. “Melt it all down,” he ordered.

“The image of Amun will no longer be needed once the temple closes,” explained Meti.

“The age of Amun The Hidden will be put to sleep. The worshiping of golden images is now outlawed,” stated Grand Djedti. “We shall break the vibration of control so the people will be free.”

Amaret pointed. “See the southern squad has pulled out chisels to remove the name of Amun from the Temple pillars.”

We watched as blank spaces dotted the columns where only a moment before the letters had existed. I witnessed how the workers took care not to destroy any other symbols.

“They must discover where the dark sorcerers hide,” said Grand Djedti.

Suddenly, bald-headed priests ran naked through the courtyard, alarmed by the churning chaos. They hurled stones and cursed at the intruders who threatened them with razor-sharp weapons. The lesser priests conjured spells so that locusts swarmed the guards. Others summoned clouds of biting flies to engulf the troops.

The Western squadron impounded the granaries and butchery stalls. Two priests hurled balls of black light at the soldiers, slaughtering several upon impact. More guards arrived and conquered the two Amun grain counters. They forced their hands behind their backs before hog-tying them. Several of the guards kicked the subjugated officials, leaving them beaten and bloodied. The granaries and vegetable bins could now be confiscated by the military.

The food supply, now under the rule of Aten, would render the Amun priesthood vulnerable. Whoever controlled the food also controlled the temples.

“Ah, the Southern squadron has found the plaque,” said Amaret as she bent over the mirror in utter concentration. “Yes, quickly pry it from the altar.” She waved her hand.

“What is it, Amaret?” asked Meti.

“The
Akhet Hetep
,” explained Grand Djedti, “which means The Empowering Horizon, is the carved stone plaque covered in gold with the secret inscriptions to Amun. The words of power are the most precious and prized possession of the Hanuti. It’s the door where the power of the inner realm manifests into the physical realm through that plate. Look, they are breaking the altar with hammers. Ra-Mesu’s men destroy the Holy of Holies to obtain that Akhet Hetep.”

“We must obliterate all seven of these plaques to render these Amun Temples powerless and break the grid of fear imposed upon the multitudes of Amun worshipers,” said Amaret.

“They have it!” said Priestess Tefnut-Aten, raising her hands.

“Meti, look,” I said, “more priests wait inside that dark chamber and they hold something.”

“Poison flasks,” declared Amaret. “We have no way to warn our soldiers. We cannot stop this.”

“This is terrible,” Tiy moaned as nine priests swallowed the contents in the vials and keeled over dead.

“The priests committed suicide, but at least they did not hurt our soldiers,” Meti said.

Amaret turned. “You do not understand the tragedy of what just transpired, but you soon will.” She again said ancient words of power and pointed so that we could see what other eyes were not privy to. The nine fallen priests belted out a black fog within their bellies. The bleak mist churned in a counter-rotating motion until it grew and circled skyward. Above, the swirls intermingled and created a black sparkling spiral that pulsed.

“Look, the portal of death,” said Amaret. “These priests belonged to a death pack. There is no way to stop this next wretched act.”

The morbid mists launched through the portal. After crossing the barrier, they transformed into gruesome demonic forms. Instantly, they gathered and commenced ear-piercing chants. The fiends opened their mouths. Black smoke poured forth. The evil spirits raced toward us. The demons bounced off the obsidian mirror. We screeched, which only made them more determined. I put my hands up to call forth that blue fire but my spine still buzzed from overuse.

Tefnut-Aten, the Aten Priestess, added her light, making the barrier even stronger. “Allow me to help.”

“Merit-Aten, stop,” ordered Amaret. “You should not filter this much cosmic energy.”

I pulled back instantly, feeling drained, and my perception seemed foggy. But I saw that our impenetrable wall so enraged the demons that they increased their frenetic attack. In my mind I searched for Sit-Amun. I glimpsed her in the mirror and sure enough she incited those demons to attack us. Just then she looked up and tried to see who was watching. She hurled an eerie black orb. It zoomed through the air.

“Beware!” hollered Amaret. “It moves right at us.”

The black orb exploded through our stone mirror and shattered it.

The orb hit Tefnut-Aten. Our temple priestess dropped dead before us.

Burnt to a crisp.