HOURS LATER, I WOKE UP ON THE RV’S couch with Bast shaking my arm. “We’re here,” she announced.
I had no idea how long I’d been asleep. At some point, the flat landscape and complete boredom had zonked me out, and I’d started having bad dreams about tiny magicians flying around in my hair, trying to shave me bald. Somewhere in there, I’d had a nightmare about Amos too, but it was fuzzy. I still didn’t understand why Zia would mention him.
I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and realized my head was in Khufu’s lap. The baboon was foraging my scalp for munchies.
“Dude.” I sat up groggily. “Not cool.”
“But he gave you a lovely hairdo,” Sadie said. “Agh-agh!” Khufu agreed.
Bast opened the door of the trailer. “Come on,” she said. “We’ll have to walk from here.”
When I got to the door I almost had a heart attack. We were parked on a mountain road so narrow, the RV would’ve toppled over if I’d sneezed wrong. For a second, I was afraid we were already in Phoenix, because the landscape looked similar. The sun was just setting on the horizon. Rugged mountain ranges stretched out on either side, and the desert floor between them seemed to go on forever. In a valley to our left lay a colorless city— hardly any trees or grass, just sand, gravel, and buildings. The city was much smaller than Phoenix, though, and a large river traced its southern edge, glinting red in the fading light. The river curved around the base of the
mountains below us before snaking off to the north. “We’re on the moon,” Sadie murmured.
“El Paso, Texas,” Bast corrected. “And that’s the Rio Grande.” She took a big breath of the cool dry air. “A river civilization in the desert. Very much like Egypt, actually! Er, except for the fact that Mexico is next door. I think this is the best spot to summon Nephthys.”
“You really think she’ll tell us Set’s secret name?” Sadie asked.
Bast considered. “Nephthys is unpredictable, but she has sided against her husband before. We can hope.”
That didn’t sound very promising. I stared at the river far below. “Why
did you park us on the mountain? Why not closer?”
Bast shrugged, as if this hadn’t occurred to her. “Cats like to get as high up as possible. In case we have to pounce on something.”
“Great,” I said. “So if we have to pounce, we’re all set.”
“It’s not so bad,” Bast said. “We just climb our way down to the river through a few miles of sand, cacti, and rattlesnakes, looking out for the Border Patrol, human traffickers, magicians, and demons—and summon Nephthys.”
Sadie whistled. “Well, I’m excited!”
“Agh,” Khufu agreed miserably. He sniffed the air and snarled.
“He smells trouble,” Bast translated. “Something bad is about to happen.”
“Even I could smell that,” I grumbled, and we followed Bast down the mountain.
Yes, Horus said. I remember this place.
It’s El Paso, I told him. Unless you went out for Mexican food, you’ve never been here.
I remember it well, he insisted. The marsh, the desert.
I stopped and looked around. Suddenly I remembered this place, too. About fifty yards in front of us, the river spread out into a swampy area—a web of slow-moving tributaries cutting a shallow depression through the desert. Marsh grass grew tall along the banks. There must’ve been some kind of surveillance, its being an international border and all, but I couldn’t spot any.
I’d been here in ba form. I could picture a hut right there in the marsh, Isis and young Horus hiding from Set. And just downriver—that’s where I’d sensed something dark moving under the water, waiting for me.
I caught Bast’s arm when she was a few steps from the bank. “Stay away from the water.”
She frowned. “Carter, I’m a cat. I’m not going for a swim. But if you want to summon a river goddess, you really need to do it at the riverbank.”
She made it sound so logical that I felt stupid, but I couldn’t help it.
Something bad was about to happen.
What is it? I asked Horus. What’s the challenge?
But my ride-along god was unnervingly silent, as if waiting.
Sadie tossed a rock into the murky brown water. It sank with a loud ker- plunk!
“Seems quite safe to me,” she said, and trudged down to the banks.
Khufu followed hesitantly. When he reached the water, he sniffed at it and snarled.
“See?” I said. “Even Khufu doesn’t like it.”
“It’s probably ancestral memory,” Bast said. “The river was a dangerous place in Egypt. Snakes, hippos, all kinds of problems.”
“Hippos?”
“Don’t take it lightly,” Bast warned. “Hippos can be deadly.”
“Was that what attacked Horus?” I asked. “I mean in the old days, when Set was looking for him?”
“Haven’t heard that story,” Bast said. “Usually you hear that Set used scorpions first. Then later, crocodiles.”
“Crocodiles,” I said, and a chill went down my back.
Is that it? I asked Horus. But again he didn’t answer. “Bast, does the Rio Grande have crocodiles?”
“I very much doubt it.” She knelt by the water. “Now, Sadie, if you’d do the honors?”
“How?”
“Just ask for Nephthys to appear. She was Isis’s sister. If she’s anywhere on this side of the Duat, she should hear your voice.”
Sadie looked doubtful, but she knelt next to Bast and touched the water. Her fingertips caused ripples that seemed much too large, rings of force emanating all the way across the river.
“Hullo, Nephthys?” she said. “Anyone home?”
I heard a splash downriver, and turned to see a family of immigrants crossing midstream. I’d heard stories about how thousands of people cross the border from Mexico illegally each year, looking for work and a better life, but it was startling to actually see them in front of me—a man and a woman hurrying along, carrying a little girl between them. They were dressed in ragged clothes and looked poorer than the poorest Egyptian peasants I’d ever seen. I stared at them for a few seconds, but they didn’t appear to be any kind of supernatural threat. The man gave me a wary look and we seemed to come to a silent understanding: we both had enough problems without bothering each other.
Meanwhile Bast and Sadie stayed focused on the water, watching the ripples spread out from Sadie’s fingers.
Bast tilted her head, listening intently. “What’s she saying?” “I can’t make it out,” Sadie whispered. “Very faint.”
“You can actually hear something?” I asked. “Shhh,” they both said at once.
“‘Caged’…” Sadie said. “No, what is that word in English?”
“Sheltered,” Bast suggested. “She is sheltered far away. A sleeping host.
What is that supposed to mean?”
I didn’t know what they were talking about. I couldn’t hear a thing. Khufu tugged at my hand and pointed downriver. “Agh.”
The immigrant family had disappeared. It seemed impossible they could
cross the river so quickly. I scanned both banks—no sign of them—but the water was more turbulent where they’d been standing, as if someone had stirred it with a giant spoon. My throat tightened.
“Um, Bast—”
“Carter, we can barely hear Nephthys,” she said. “Please.”
I gritted my teeth. “Fine. Khufu and I are going to check something—” “Shh!” Sadie said again.
I nodded to Khufu, and we started down the riverbank. Khufu hid behind my legs and growled at the river.
I looked back, but Bast and Sadie seemed fine. They were still staring at the water as if it were some amazing Internet video.
Finally we got to the place where I’d seen the family, but the water had calmed. Khufu slapped the ground and did a handstand, which meant he was either break dancing or really nervous.
“What is it?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“Agh, agh, agh!” he complained. That was probably an entire lecture in Baboon, but I had no idea what he was saying.
“Well, I don’t see any other way,” I said. “If that family got pulled into the water or something…I have to find them. I’m going in.”
“Agh!” He backed away from the water.
“Khufu, those people had a little girl. If they need help, I can’t just walk away. Stay here and watch my back.”
Khufu grunted and slapped his own face in protest as I stepped into the water. It was colder and swifter than I’d imagined. I concentrated, and summoned my sword and wand out of the Duat. Maybe it was my imagination, but that seemed to make the river run even faster.
I was midstream when Khufu barked urgently. He was jumping around on the riverbank, pointing frantically at a nearby clump of reeds.
The family was huddled inside, trembling with fear, their eyes wide. My first thought: Why are they hiding from me?
“I won’t hurt you,” I promised. They stared at me blankly, and I wished I could speak Spanish.
Then the water churned around me, and I realized they weren’t scared of me. My next thought: Man, I’m stupid.
Horus’s voice yelled: Jump!
I sprang out of the water as if shot from a cannon—twenty, thirty feet into the air. No way I should’ve been able to do that, but it was a good thing, because a monster erupted from the river beneath me.
At first all I saw were hundreds of teeth—a pink maw three times as big as me. Somehow I managed to flip and land on my feet in the shallows. I was facing a crocodile as long as our RV—and that was just the half sticking out of the water. Its gray-green skin was ridged with thick plates like a
camouflage suit of armor, and its eyes were the color of moldy milk.
The family screamed and started scrambling up the banks. That caught the crocodile’s attention. He instinctively turned toward the louder, more interesting prey. I’d always thought of crocodiles as slow animals, but when it charged the immigrants, I’d never seen anything move so fast.
Use the distraction, Horus urged. Get behind it and strike. Instead I yelled, “Sadie, Bast, help!” and I threw my wand.
Bad throw. The wand hit the river right in front of the croc, then skipped off the water like a stone, smacked the croc between the eyes, and shot back into my hand.
I doubt I did any damage, but the croc glanced over at me, annoyed. Or you can smack it with a stick, Horus muttered.
I charged forward, yelling to keep the croc’s attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the family scrambling to safety. Khufu ran along behind them, waving his arms and barking to herd them out of harm’s way. I wasn’t sure if they were running from the croc or the crazy monkey, but as long as they kept running, I didn’t care.
I couldn’t see what was happening with Bast and Sadie. I heard shouting and splashing behind me, but before I could look, the crocodile lunged.
I ducked to the left, slashing with my sword. The blade just bounced off the croc’s hide. The monster thrashed sideways, and its snout would’ve bashed my head in; but I instinctively raised my wand and the croc slammed into a wall of force, bouncing off as if I were protected by a giant invisible energy bubble.
I tried to summon the falcon warrior, but it was too hard to concentrate with a six-ton reptile trying to bite me in half.
Then I heard Bast scream, “NO!” and I knew immediately, without even looking, that something was wrong with Sadie.
Desperation and rage turned my nerves to steel. I thrust out my wand and the wall of energy surged outward, slamming into the crocodile so hard, it went flying through the air, tumbling out of the river and onto the Mexican shore. While it was on its back, flailing and off balance, I leaped, raising my sword, which was now glowing in my hands, and drove the blade into the monster’s belly. I held on while the crocodile thrashed, slowly disintegrating from its snout to the tip of its tail, until I stood in the middle of a giant pile of wet sand.
I turned and saw Bast battling a crocodile just as big as mine. The crocodile lunged, and Bast dropped beneath it, raking her knives across its throat. The croc melted into the river until it was only a smoky cloud of sand, but the damage had been done: Sadie lay in a crumpled heap on the riverbank.
By the time I got there, Khufu and Bast were already at her side. Blood trickled from Sadie’s scalp. Her face was a nasty shade of yellow.
“What happened?” I asked.
“It came out of nowhere,” Bast said miserably. “Its tail hit Sadie and sent her flying. She never had a chance. Is she…?”
Khufu put his hand on Sadie’s forehead and made popping noises with his mouth.
Bast sighed with relief. “Khufu says she’ll live, but we have to get her out of here. Those crocodiles could mean…”
Her voice trailed off. In the middle of the river, the water was boiling.
Rising from it was a figure so horrible, I knew we were doomed. “Could mean that,” Bast said grimly.
To start with, the guy was twenty feet tall—and I don’t mean with a glowing avatar. He was all flesh and blood. His chest and arms were human, but he had light green skin, and his waist was wrapped in a green armored kilt like reptile hide. He had the head of a crocodile, a massive mouth filled with white crooked teeth, and eyes that glistened with green mucus (yeah, I know
—real attractive). His black hair hung in plaits down to his shoulders, and bull’s horns curved from his head. If that wasn’t weird enough, he appeared to be sweating at an unbelievable rate—oily water poured off him in torrents and pooled in the river.
He raised his staff—a length of green wood as big as a telephone pole.
Bast yelled, “Move!” and pulled me back as the crocodile man smashed a five-foot-deep trench in the riverbank where I’d been standing.
He bellowed: “Horus!”
The last thing I wanted to do was say, Here! But Horus spoke urgently in my mind: Face him down. Sobek only understands strength. Do not let him grasp you, or he will pull you down and drown you.
I swallowed my fear and yelled, “Sobek! You, uh, weakling! How the heck are ya?”
Sobek bared his teeth. Maybe it was his version of a friendly smile.
Probably not.
“That form does not serve you, falcon god,” he said. “I will snap you in half.”
Next to me, Bast slipped her knives from her sleeves. “Don’t let him grasp you,” she warned.
“Already got the memo,” I told her. I was conscious of Khufu off to my right, slowly lugging Sadie uphill. I had to keep this green guy distracted, at least until they were safe. “Sobek, god of…I’m guessing crocodiles! Leave us in peace or we’ll destroy you!”
Good, Horus said. “Destroy” is good.
Sobek roared with laughter. “Your sense of humor has improved, Horus. You and your kitty will destroy me?” He turned his mucus-filmed eyes on Bast. “What brings you to my realm, cat goddess? I thought you didn’t like
the water!”
On the last word, he aimed his staff and shot forth a torrent of green water. Bast was too quick. She jumped and came down behind Sobek with her avatar fully formed—a massive, glowing cat-headed warrior. “Traitor!” Bast yelled. “Why do you side with chaos? Your duty is to the king!”
“What king?” Sobek roared. “Ra? Ra is gone. Osiris is dead again, the weakling! And this boy child cannot restore the empire. There was a time I supported Horus, yes. But he has no strength in this form. He has no followers. Set offers power. Set offers fresh meat. I think I will start with godling flesh!”
He turned on me and swung his staff. I rolled away from his strike, but his free hand shot out and grabbed me around the waist. I just wasn’t quick enough. Bast tensed, preparing to launch herself at the enemy, but before she could, Sobek dropped his staff, grasped me with both massive hands, and dragged me into the water. The next thing I knew I was drowning in the cold green murk. I couldn’t see or breathe. I sank into the depths as Sobek’s hands crushed the air out of my lungs.
Now or never! Horus said. Let me take control. No, I replied. I’ll die first.
I found the thought strangely calming. If I was already dead, there was no point in being afraid. I might as well go down fighting.
I focused my power and felt strength coursing through my body. I flexed my arms and felt Sobek’s grip weaken. I summoned the avatar of the hawk warrior and was instantly encased in a glowing golden form as large as Sobek. I could just see him in the dark water, his slimy eyes wide with surprise.
I broke his grip and head-butted him, breaking off a few of his teeth. Then I shot out of the water and landed on the riverbank next to Bast, who was so startled, she almost slashed me.
“Thank Ra!” she exclaimed. “Yeah, I’m alive.”
“No, I almost jumped in after you. I hate the water!”
Then Sobek exploded out of the river, roaring in rage. Green blood oozed from one of his nostrils.
“You cannot defeat me!” He held out his arms, which were raining perspiration. “I am lord of the water! My sweat creates the rivers of the world!”
Eww. I decided not to swim in rivers anymore. I glanced back, looking for Khufu and Sadie, but they were nowhere in sight. Hopefully Khufu had gotten Sadie to safety, or at least found a good place to hide.
Sobek charged, and he brought the river with him. A massive wave smashed into me, toppling me to the ground, but Bast jumped and came down
on Sobek’s back in full avatar form. The weight hardly seemed to bother him. He tried to grab her without any luck. She slashed repeatedly at his arms, back and neck, but his green skin seemed to heal as quickly as she could cut him.
I struggled to my feet, which in avatar form is like trying to get up with a mattress strapped to your chest. Sobek finally managed to grab Bast and throw her off. She tumbled to a stop without getting hurt, but her blue aura was flickering. She was losing power.
We played tag team with the crocodile god—stabbing and slashing—but the more we wounded him, the more enraged and powerful he seemed to get.
“More minions!” he shouted. “Come to me!”
That couldn’t be good. Another round of giant crocs and we’d be dead. Why don’t we get minions? I complained to Horus, but he didn’t answer.
I could feel him struggling to channel his power through me, trying to keep up our combat magic.
Sobek’s fist smashed into Bast, and she went flying again. This time when she hit the ground, her avatar flickered off completely.
I charged, trying to draw Sobek’s attention. Unfortunately, it worked. Sobek turned and blasted me with water. While I was blind, he slapped me so hard I flew across the riverbank, tumbling through the reeds.
My avatar collapsed. I sat up groggily and found Khufu and Sadie right next to me, Sadie still passed out and bleeding, Khufu desperately murmuring in Baboon and stroking her forehead.
Sobek stepped out of the water and grinned at me. Far downstream in the dim evening light, about a quarter of a mile away, I could see two wake lines in the river, coming toward us fast—Sobek’s reinforcements.
From the river, Bast yelled, “Carter, hurry! Get Sadie out of here!”
Her face went pale with strain, and her cat warrior avatar appeared around her one more time. It was weak, though—barely substantial.
“Don’t!” I called. “You’ll die!”
I tried to summon the falcon warrior, but the effort made my insides burn with pain. I was out of power, and Horus’s spirit was slumbering, completely spent.
“Go!” Bast yelled. “And tell your father I kept my promise.” “NO!”
She leaped at Sobek. The two grappled—Bast slashing furiously across his face while Sobek howled in pain. The two gods toppled into the water, and down they went.
I ran to the riverbank. The river bubbled and frothed. Then a green explosion lit the entire length of the Rio Grande, and a small black-and-gold creature shot out of the river as if it had been tossed. It landed on the grass at my feet—a wet, unconscious, half-dead cat.
“Bast?” I picked up the cat gingerly. It wore Bast’s collar, but as I watched, the talisman of the goddess crumbled to dust. It wasn’t Bast anymore. Only Muffin.
Tears stung my eyes. Sobek had been defeated, forced back to the Duat or something, but there were still two wake lines coming toward us in the river, close enough now that I could see the monsters’ green backs and beady eyes.
I cradled the cat against my chest and turned toward Khufu. “Come on, we have to—”
I froze, because standing right behind Khufu and my sister, glaring at me, was a different crocodile—one that was pure white.
We’re dead, I thought. And then, Wait…a white crocodile?
It opened its mouth and lunged—straight over me. I turned and saw it slam into the two other crocodiles—the giant green ones that had been about to kill me.
“Philip?” I said in amazement, as the crocodiles thrashed and fought. “Yes,” said a man’s voice.
I turned again and saw the impossible. Uncle Amos was kneeling next to Sadie, frowning as he examined her head wound. He looked up at me urgently. “Philip will keep Sobek’s minions busy, but not for long. Follow me now, and we have a slim chance of surviving!”
