Recreated (15 page)

“What's happening?” I called out.

We have reached the far side of the Place Where Dreams Are Born. We've passed the second barrier and are about to embark upon the third and final one. We're at the drop-off.

“The drop-off? What do you mean, ‘the drop-off'?”

Before he could explain further, I saw exactly what he meant. The hard sepia dusted terrain abruptly ended and beyond it was nothing but star-studded night, like we'd reached the end of the world. A place where ships would sail right over the edge of the earth and into the unknown.

“Nebu!” I cried.

Tia screeched inside my head, and if she'd had claws, she would have dug them into my spine.

All will be well, Lady Sphinx. Hold on tightly,
the unicorn said.

With that, the muscles of the stallion's back shifted beneath me, and great golden wings sprouted behind my legs. With an immense thrust, Nebu's hooves left the ground just as we reached the edge of the cliff. He leapt into the sky, legs pumping and heavy wings beating against the wind, taking us higher.

I was on the back of a broken unicorn, an immortal desert stallion. I felt not unlike Bellerophon, who'd dared to ride his beloved horse, Pegasus, up Mt. Olympus to confront the gods. He had failed and was struck down on the journey, but I wasn't going to let that happen to us. With eyes wide-open, I scanned the sky. Our destination loomed somewhere ahead, just beyond the stars.

The ground fell far beneath us, and I had to soothe and calm Tia as best I could even though the height caused me alarm as well. Thankfully, Nebu ascended slowly, keeping us as level as he possibly could. The higher we rose, the colder it got. Tia cowered inside me, trembling, even though it was
my
arms that were prickly with goose bumps and
my
nose that had lost feeling.

When I asked Nebu if we were going to freeze and die due to lack of oxygen, he replied,
You are a sphinx now. You cannot perish from something as simple as frostbite. Besides, you will be warm again soon enough. Remember, our destination is the home of the sun god.

If Amun-Ra's home was anything like being near Amon, I had nothing to worry about. Amon generated warmth like a space heater. Just thinking about him made me feel like I'd wrapped a thick blanket around my shoulders. The little shivers in my muscles subsided.
Perhaps my fears are more of a mental thing than physical,
I thought.

And regarding your question about oxygen, you misunderstand when we are.

“Don't you mean
where
we are?”

I mean
when
. To you this must feel like the atmosphere of your own Earth. The stars surrounding us would represent something like space. But we are not in the place your mind tells you. Just because you inhale and exhale does not mean there is oxygen, and we are not in the when we left.

“Then what am I breathing, exactly? And if we're not a where, then when are we?” I asked.

You are breathing in the light of the stars, and I don't mean the stars in your universe. Stars have a different meaning here. To answer the second part of your question, we are Between Time.

“That's why you called it a Land Between. You didn't mean between places; you meant between times.”

Yes. That's right.

I sensed Nebu was pleased with my ability to understand what he was saying.

Tia was no longer listening. Her brain couldn't process metaphysical discussions such as this. She was a huntress. A warrior. Her instincts told her something was very wrong and she didn't belong in the place we were. A cat needed to feel the ground beneath her paws. She needed to tread known paths and terrain. She had no desire to discover anything about the realm we'd found ourselves in.

Curious, I asked him, “Is this how Anubis travels as well? He journeys between time?”

Yes. All the gods travel in this manner.

“But not the Sons of Egypt, right?”

The Sons of Egypt do have the ability to manipulate time, but to travel in the dark space Between takes a physical toll on them. The gods are not affected in the same way.

“That brings up a question I've been meaning to ask for quite a while. Why don't the gods do their own dirty work? I mean, why give Amon and his brothers the responsibility for something that the gods caused to happen in the first place? They're the ones who banished Seth. They should clean up their own messes.”

Nebu's wings twitched and he shook his head as if he were uncomfortable.
I dare not speculate on the why. I have my theories on the subject, of course, but it's not my place to say anything.

“Well, you can bet I'm planning on saying something. It's unfair what they expect. Their so-called gifts are really just cop-outs.”

Feeling chilled again, I rubbed my hands together and blew on them to warm them up.

The discomfort you feel at this time is nothing compared to the physical challenges you will face in the netherworld, you know,
Nebu said.

“Now you tell me,” I murmured.

Surely you didn't think this journey would be easy.

“No. I guess my human side is showing, isn't it? I'm feeling a little too much like Lily Young and not enough like a sphinx at the moment.”

Perhaps you should ask your lioness for help.

“What? How?”

She can help you regulate your body temperature.

“Really?”

Tia heard his suggestion and her presence bubbled up to fill my frame. A blessed warmth came with it, as if she'd wrapped me in the fur coat of a lion. I was still in charge of my body, but she stayed with me now, right below the surface, despite her fear of being airborne.

Thank you,
I said to her silently.

I apologize for allowing your suffering to continue. I was not aware that I could stop it.

It's okay. We're learning as we go.

“Thank you,” I said to the stallion. “We're feeling much better now.”

You're welcome. Just remember that anytime you need to access the power of the sphinx, you will need to do it together. To harness it requires you to be unified in your desires.

“That's good to know.”

Are you ready, Lady Sphinx?
Nebu asked.

“Ready? For what?”

To enter Duat.

“Oh, that. Umm, sure?”

The unicorn banked and then pressed forward slowly. It looked as if we were entering a horizontal black pool of water. The stars remained fixed but the space between them shimmered like liquid vinyl. Nebu's head and chest disappeared, encompassed by the opaque sludge. It reminded me of being absorbed into the giant worm's mountain where Dr. Hassan had stored Asten's sarcophagus.

As the liquid closed over my legs and flowed up the rest of my body, I couldn't help taking a deep breath and closing my eyes. I'd been absorbed and/or crushed by one too many things since I'd met Amon. Between quicksand, a suffocating lioness, mountains, a stone box, and now the gateway to Duat, I was surprised that I didn't have a worse problem with claustrophobia than I did. Each experience felt like a tiny death. And now that I was a cat, at least partially, I wondered if this was going to use up one of my nine lives.

It's a myth,
Tia's inner voice said.

What is?
I answered, desperate for a distraction as the blackness closed over my head.

That cats have nine lives. They don't. They get one, just like every other creature. The exception being your mate, of course.

Finally the darkness lifted away and we beheld a paradise arrayed in all its glory. We'd entered a new world—one more beautiful and lush than I'd ever seen. A vast ocean shimmered beneath us with the soft golden rays of a perfect sunset. It reflected Nebu's thick wings, my bare white legs on his back, and the green of my dress.

Strange seabirds called out to each other as they dove, trying to catch dinner in a school of fish with scales that flashed brightly under the water's surface. Other, larger animals I couldn't see spouted thick mists of water, then quickly disappeared beneath the ocean surface. The balmy breeze carried on it the scents of a turquoise ocean, golden sands, bright citrus, and tropical flowers, all baked by a summer sun.

The unicorn dipped lower, dragging his feet in the wake; the water, so warm it could have been from a hot spring, splashed over my sandaled feet. Ahead of us was an island surrounded by low tangerine clouds, and jutting up from the billowing mass was a golden city. Carved obelisks, arched bridges, gleaming towers, massive statues, and impressive pyramids with gilded capstones that shone in the waning sunlight dotted the landscape. Though it was sunset, the light generating from each building was easily enough to rival a full moon.

“Is this Duat?” I asked.

Nebu nickered lightly.
No. The city before us is only a part of Duat. It is the Heart of the Sun—the home of Amun-Ra—otherwise known as Heliopolis. To gain entrance to the afterlife and the netherworld, you'll need to travel to the far side of Duat, to the place where the sun sets in the evening.

“The sun is setting now. Can we get there before nightfall?”

We cannot. Even if I could manage to get you there in time, you would not be allowed to obtain passage on the Cosmic River without first calling upon Amun-Ra. He must grant permission to ride on the celestial barque. Without the leave of He Who Came Into Being by Himself, the Protector of the Untraveled Road, you would not be allowed to even remain within the borders of Heliopolis.

Nebu beat his wings and flew above a great wall that surrounded the city, and I could see the movement of people between the buildings down below.

“Who are they?” I asked.

Some are lesser gods. Some are servants who have pledged an eternal devotion to Amun-Ra. Others are his creations.

“Creations? You mean like children?”

In a manner of speaking, yes. Like the unicorn, there are a vast number of creatures formed by the cosmos, and even a few created by Amun-Ra or the other members of the pantheon. Many of them live here in Heliopolis in peace.

“So they're not human, then?”

Some are. Some were.

I dared not ask for more details about that. At least not yet. It was all a little too much for me. “So where are we headed? The capitol building?”

We will attempt to gain entrance at the gateway to Amun-Ra's palatial home. Can you see it there at the top of the hill?

The area of the city where we were headed held the most exquisite, most dazzling buildings I'd ever seen. A colossal temple crowned with an obelisk, carved in the form of a great bird, rose from a mountainside, capped with a sparkling miniature pyramid.

Nebu explained,
The pyramidion on the top of the temple represents the highest point in the city.

“Pyramidion?” I asked.

Yes. It's the peak of the Benben obelisk. Amun-Ra's image has been carved into the large diamond you see there, and all who live in the city look to it at sunrise and sunset to remember that Amun-Ra is the first to be welcomed by the sun each morning and the last to honor it before dusk falls.

“Hmm. I wonder if he's trying to compensate for something.”

Nebu whinnied and shook his mane.
I would be careful what I say in the Golden City,
he warned.
Amun-Ra is not a god to be taken lightly.

I smiled and patted Nebu's neck. “You worry too much. Believe me, I've been trained in the social graces since the time I could talk. We'll be fine.”

It's just that it would pain me to learn that your journey ended before it began. Perhaps I should remain at your side when you meet him.

Threading my fingers through his mane, I held tightly as he gracefully descended to the flagstones below. His hooves hit the sparkling tile, and the air he stirred up as he balanced his weight blew my hair in every direction. He tucked his wings into his side so tightly that they disappeared even from my view, and we trotted down the long bridge leading to the gate, where guards stood with long, dangerous-looking spears crossed between them.

Perhaps, if all goes well, you could pass along a message for Anubis to give to my woman. I do not know if he will deliver it, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

“I could do that,” I offered, wondering about this woman who was loved by a unicorn. “Anubis owes me anyway. What would you like me to say?”

Tell her…tell her that my heart still burns for her.

Even more mysterious.
“If I can, I will share your message.” I slipped off his back and teetered for a moment, trying to gain my balance. Nebu pressed his nose into my hand and I patted his muzzle in gratitude.

Come. Let me guide you as far as the inner chamber if I cannot convince you to allow me to remain by your side while you're here.
The stallion walked beside us as we approached the guards, and he addressed them himself.
This sphinx wishes to gain an audience with
He Who Came Into Being by Himself. We request entrance.

A stone-faced guard answered. “Tonight he has business elsewhere, but perhaps Horus might like some entertainment.”

Entertainment?
Tia hissed, bristling at the idea.
They wish to make sport of us?