Anubis Speaks!: A Guide to the Afterlife by the Egyptian God of the Dead (5 page)

and evil—every night—to keep you safe.

Oh dear, were you perhaps hoping for a less scary-looking guide to lead you through the Egyptian dark lands, one without so many razor-sharp fangs? Too bad. You’re in my realm now. And I’m in charge. So pay attention.

We will, soon enough, come face-to-face with the evil one—Apophis, the snake of doom that threatens to devour and destroy the world. In my day, only our dead pharaohs—kings who turned into immortal gods upon their deaths—were strong enough to join the rest of us gods in facing the beast.

You, my little human, are no pharaoh, but I’m allowing you to come along anyway. You may thank me later, preferably in buckets of blood. Meanwhile, take heed; if you scare easily, I suggest you close this book right now and go back to coloring rainbows and unicorns.

Seriously.

There will be blood. And snakes. And

decapitations. And monsters who like to gobble up hearts and squeeze heads until they pop.

Still with us?

Good. Then, please, step into my lair. . . .

9