Curse of Sekhmet, page 11
part #3 of Casters of Syndrial Series
“That’s her title. It’s not like our titles, though. I think it means ‘queen,’ or the equivalent. Mine is Imonou, by the way.”
“Well, use your royal leeway to make them bring Keira here.”
He talked to the men some more. He was definitely better at picking up the language than me. I wasn’t of much use without my magic. I didn’t have a plan.
When the men started walking south, Painter gestured that we follow. “I think they’re taking us to her.”
No one stopped us from leaving the village. When the four of us were alone, I said, “I suppose I should get to know your subjects a little bit, even if I can’t understand them.”
“Owa kuino?” Painter asked the men.
“Kuina Bane.” Bane, like the other men, had brown hair and green eyes, but his facial structure wasn’t as angular. He couldn’t have been more than seventeen.
“Kuina Kenoa.” Kenoa looked more dangerous because he was missing half his left ear.
We came to the edge of a cliff and stopped. The forest below looked just like the forest we were in, except there were geysers that could be seen over the tree line. I smelled sulfur again. “I really don’t like where this is going,” I said.
“Uhea ola?” Painter asked.
Bane and Kenoa both pointed into the forest in front of us. “How do we get down there without magic?” I asked.
“We climb,” Painter said.
Bane and Kenoa clearly weren’t happy, but they wouldn’t abandon their king, so they followed us down. Fortunately, we didn’t have any problems, since there were plenty of rocks sticking out. “This looks fresh,” Painter said once we were on solid ground. He gestured to the rock edges that we had used. “There’s no settlement. It doesn’t look like it has rained at all.”
“It could have been caused by the earthquake that hit a few hours ago.”
“It was pretty bad.”
We followed Bane and Kenoa for another twenty minutes before we came to a hot springs. Our guides acted shocked to see it. Painter and I looked at each other. After a while, we went around it. The forest was getting more tropical the further into it we walked, which was strange to me. “I was under the impression the north and south poles would be frozen, which is why there is a forest around them.”
“Right,” Painter agreed. “It’s the temperate zone between the frozen poles and the scorching desert. I mean, we’re talking about strange worlds. The laws of physics are universal, but that doesn’t mean we know all of them.”
“I know, but I’m talking about Syndrial in particular. Didn’t you see the poles on the painting in Set’s palace?”
“Yes. They were frozen.”
“Then why does it feel like we’re in the tropics?”
“Global warming?”
The smell of sulfur increased the further south we walked. There were also a few dozen tremors, but no earthquakes. I hoped they were belated aftershocks and not pre-shocks. When we came upon a pool of boiling water, Painter and I shared another look.
We reached a spot in the forest that looked like the site of a battle. There were several trees down and mud and blood everywhere. I didn’t see any bodies, though. “What happened here? Was Keira hurt?”
“I don’t know how to ask,” Painter said.
We had just started searching the mess when I felt someone drop out of the tree and land behind me. I spun around and realized who it was just in time to stop myself from hitting her. “Keira!” I pulled her against me in a hug, but after a few seconds, she pulled away.
“We have to get out of here.”
“Why? Did something attack you?”
“I’ll explain when we’re safe.” We followed her out of the destruction and she breathed easier.
“So, what happened?” I asked.
Instead of answering, she pointed to the area we had just vacated. We all looked in time to see a geyser erupt, spraying boiling water, rocks, and mud everywhere.
“Two of the tribesmen were taking me to the desert when a geyser burst,” she said. “One of the tribesmen was injured, but before we could get him to safety, a giant reptile attacked. We got separated.”
“But you’re okay?”
She smiled reassuringly. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t happen to have your magic, do you?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. I lost it when I entered the forest.”
“What kind of curse can stop a goddess from using magic?”
“Something powerful.”
“Let’s get out of here and we can figure it out later,” Painter said.
“Hang on,” I said. “I’m not a geologist or anything, but I think I have an idea of what’s going on here.”
“With the magic or the earthquakes and geysers?” Painter asked.
“With the end of Syndrial. I think it’s a volcano.”
Painter nodded. “These are all signs of a volcano, and there are different kinds, but I don’t see a volcano threatening an entire planet. Volcanoes erupt on Earth all the time.”
“Well, I know most of them have a peak, and there clearly isn’t one here. My parents took me to Yellowstone when I was twelve and my dad told me about supervolcanoes. What if the entire south pole is sitting on a pool of magma that is about to explode?”
He considered it. “Syndrial is smaller than Earth. You might be right.”
“It would explain what Ahz saw and felt. It’s not very Egyptian, though.”
“We’re in a jungle, being threatened by aborigines. What about the caldera?” he asked. “That would be better evidence of one.”
“That’s only on supervolcanoes that have already erupted once. This one is about to erupt for the first time.”
“You’re right,” Keira said. “I’ve been here for several days and had a chance to investigate. In less than a month, when it erupts, the south pole will blow instantly.”
“Half the world will be covered in ash and lava within two days,” Painter said. “That includes the people in the cities. The atmosphere will be so full of gunk that the sun won’t come out for years. Within a month, the plants on the north pole will die, and then the animals, and then the people. The historians will be the last people standing, but I doubt they would last more than a few months.”
“Unless the volcano blows so violently that it kicks Syndrial out of alignment altogether, or disrupts the magnetic field holding the atmosphere together. Then it doesn’t matter where people are,” I said.
“We have to stop it,” Keira said.
“I don’t see how Ahz can stop it, and he definitely can’t do it without magic. That’s why the gods can’t see it or stop it; the magic-nullifying effect prevents them from detecting it. To save Syndrial, we have to figure out why there isn’t magic here and fix it.”
“Then we have to get the sword from Witness, destroy it and the Book of Names, find out how Ahz can possibly stop a supervolcano, and then accomplish that,” Painter said.
“And break Assassin’s contract,” I added.
Painter rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”
“I wish we could ask them why there’s no magic.”
“These people don’t even know what magic is,” Keira said.
“What about mythology?” Painter asked.
“That’s a good point,” I agreed. “Most civilizations have myths, and if there was ever magic here, it would come across as a myth. They might have stories about what happened to magic and how to get it back.”
“Yeah, except we can’t understand them.”
Keira cleared her throat, turned to Bane and Kenoa, and asked them a question in their language. Painter and I gaped. When they responded, she turned to us. “They do have stories, but they need to get back to the village.”
“How do you know their language without magic?”
“It’s just words. I suggest we spend the night.”
“I second that,” Painter said. “This forest is dangerous enough in the daytime without seismic activity, and we don’t have our magic.”
“Are you saying that because you want to investigate or because you want to spend more time with your new wife?”
“I’m a multi-tasker.”
“What?” Keira asked. “What new wife?”
“We can explain it on the way back to the village.”
* * *
The sky grew dark blue, but not truly black. While that should have made it easier to travel, it was actually the opposite. I kept tripping over shadows. By the time we reached the village, I was ready to go to sleep.
Keira and I sat beside the tribesmen around the fire while Painter was entertained by his new wife in her hut. Keira was clearly concerned about Painter’s wellbeing, but I wanted to give my brother the benefit of the doubt. He could take care of himself. Autrey screwed him over so badly I thought he would swear off women altogether. However, I knew most women weren’t like that. I didn’t want him to be alone forever.
Of course, he had me and always would, but learning to trust someone else would be healthy for him, as long as she was a good woman who wouldn’t betray him. She was obviously tough enough for him and wouldn’t be afraid of his psychotic tendencies.
While we ate more reptile, the tribesmen shared stories and Keira translated them. They had a lot of interesting myths that I copied into my book, but it was the ones about volcanoes and magic that we were really interested in.
These people didn’t believe in the same gods as the rest of the Syndrial natives. Instead, they believed the plants and animals all had spirits, and that there were nature deities to protect them. They even believed the elements had spirits. To them, the wind was as much alive as they were. It was definitely a huge change from the rest of Syndrial’s culture, but according to them, their descendants first arrived after Syndrial recovered from the Asteroid of Rakma, and they never had contact with outsiders until Keira arrived.
Keira and I slept in front of the fire and didn’t see Painter again that night.
* * *
In the ancient days, before Syndrial existed, there was only the sun, named Makune. He was lonely, and the other suns had planets, so he used all the debris he could find and created five worlds. For a long time, Makune was happy with his planets. He was proud of them.
The first world was spoiled, though, and that made her greedy. The second world was beautiful, and that made her arrogant. The third world was massive and strong, and that made her lazy. The fourth world was small and weak, and that made her envious. The fifth world, Ikuna, was not the most loved, beautiful, or strong, but she was also not small and weak. This made her wise, because she could see how superficial virtues blinded her sisters.
Far outside Makune’s reach, there was a darkness that was so hungry it swallowed any light that came near it. Makune warned his planets to stay away from it. The strong world, however, thought that she could defeat the Darkness, so she went to it one day when Makune was asleep. The Darkness looked harmless, but when the planet neared, it swallowed her up in an instant.
Makune was sad that he had lost his strongest planet and warned the others to stay away from the Darkness.
The envious planet, however, thought that she could prove herself by defeating the Darkness when the strong planet failed, so when Makune fell asleep, she challenged the Darkness. Instead of answering her challenge, the Darkness stayed quiet. Then, as soon as she was close enough, the Darkness swallowed her up.
Makune was sad that he had lost his smallest planet, because Makune had seen the beauty in her she couldn’t see in herself. He forbade the others to go near the Darkness.
The spoiled planet didn’t like to take orders even from the sun, so when Makune fell asleep again, she went to the Darkness and asked him what was so special about him. He answered. “Come closer, and you will see.” Intrigued, she did, and the Darkness swallowed her up.
Makune mourned the loss of his planets and felt like he had failed them. He had failed to teach them to resist the Darkness. He begged his two remaining worlds to stay away from the Darkness, and they agreed.
However, the Darkness grew hungry when no more planets came to him, so when Makune slept again, he went to the beautiful planet. “Your beauty has drawn me from afar,” he said. “Won’t you come closer so that I can admire you?”
The arrogant planet answered, “No, because you would swallow me like you did my sisters.”
“Not you,” the Darkness replied. “Your beauty is radiant.”
The planet was flattered. Without her sisters, there was only Makune and Ikuna left to tell her how beautiful she was, so she wanted the Darkness to admire her. When she went to him, he swallowed her up.
This did not satisfy the Darkness, though. He tried to tempt Ikuna, but she had no strengths except her wisdom, and the Darkness couldn’t deceive wisdom. He tried to flatter her by calling her beautiful, strong, and intelligent, but none of this worked. Finally, the Darkness retreated. He had to eat constantly and there were many worlds belonging to other suns that would fall victim to him.
When Makune woke, he was saddened to see that Ikuna was the only one that remained, but he was pleased to learn that her wisdom had defeated the Darkness for good.
Eventually, Makune became lonely again. Instead of making more planets, he wanted Ikuna to make them so that she could pass on her wisdom. She gathered debris to make a moon, and as she did, Makune watched. This moon, however, was molten because of Makune’s heat. Ikuna still loved her moon, but she wanted one that wasn’t burning. Thus, she faced away from Makune when she created her second one. This moon, lacking any of Makune’s heat, was frozen. Ikuna loved her moons of fire and ice, but she still longed for one that was like her.
She thought about this for a long time. Her first moon had too much light and her second had none. She had learned from her siblings that too much of anything led to darkness. Thus, she created a third moon, only halfway facing Makune. This time, the moon was perfect. It had day and night, ice and fire. Soon, it also had life.
* * *
I woke as a hand clamped over my mouth and Painter poked me. I opened my eyes. Painter was crouching to my left and Keira was sitting up on my right. “We need to go now, or they’re not going to let us leave.” The sun hadn’t broken the horizon yet, but the sky was lighter blue, suggesting it was coming. I stood and the three of us snuck away.
We treaded carefully until the sky was light enough that we were relatively safe. It turns out that dawn was the worst time of day to hike through the forest.
For four hours, we were chased by monsters and thrown off course by volcanic activity. We barely escaped the forest. The instant we crossed through the tree line, I felt my magic return to me. I hadn’t realized how much stress my body had been under, as if the oxygen was light, until I had it again.
Painter was suddenly fully-clothed again.
“I’ll return us to the historians.”
“No,” Keira said. “My brethren didn’t just trap me on Syndrial; they prevented me from using any transportation magic, including flashing, portals, and mirrors.”
“Those bastards.”
“Would you like me to kill them all?” Painter asked.
“Yes.”
He pulled out his dagger. “I’ll just be a minute.”
“No, I was joking.”
“Damn.”
Keira smiled. “I bet your new wife would help you take over the God Lands.”
Painter considered it for a moment, and I could see in his eyes that he liked the idea. Then he shook his head and lost the expression. “That would require that she die.”
“How did you get here without magic?” I asked Keira.
“I shifted and ran here.”
“What about the Khapma?” Khapma were carnivorous creatures that traveled very quickly in the loose sand.
“They all fled north. You two go back to the historians and come up with a plan.”
“Not until we know you’re safe.”
“If that volcano blows, no one is safe.”
“No, but those in the north pole will have a chance. Painter and I will escort you there.”
“I don’t think we have time for that,” Painter said.
“We’ll discuss options on the way,” I argued.
“I’m not going north; I’m going to the cities to help people as best as I can.”
“You can’t convince everyone to go north,” I said.
“It will just leave the northerners with more mouths to feed if we fail,” Painter agreed.
“No, that wouldn’t work,” Keira said. “Too many people would die on the way. A lot of them will refuse anyway, trusting the gods to protect them. I will do what I can to help them, though.”
“We should get them off world,” Painter said.
“We can’t immigrate three or four million people to a new planet,” I argued. “Keira, Painter and I will do everything in our power to stop the volcano from blowing. I won’t be able to sleep at night if you’re in danger, too.”
She frowned at me. “I don’t know what you’re worried about. I’m a goddess. If this body is destroyed, I will rejoin the others in the God Lands and create a new body when I have a safe place to, which would be immediately, because I would do it on Earth.” She kissed me. “Go back to the historians and do what you have to do.”
I tried to come up with an excuse to stay with her, but the fact was that Syndrial needed me. She didn’t. “Okay. Just... please stay safe.” I waited until she shifted into her jaguar form and started running before I transported Painter and me to the historians. I sighed, seeing that we were alone. “I guess we walk until we find a familiar room.”
“What are you talking about? I know exactly where we are.”
“Can you find the dragon chamber?”
“Of course.” He started leading me.
