60
Feeding Time

When the barge came to rest in the capital, we finally knew what faced us. It wasn’t pretty. A throng of boisterous demons crowding a smoky, shadowy city beneath an endless night sky. A malevolent god sneering at us. No good gods to be seen. In a way, none of that was surprising. We’d known this was all a plot of Set’s. And we knew he must have done something to the other gods. What was surprising?

“Rami?” Khufu said. “What are you doing with… with… him?”

Set’s sneer turned into a smile. He draped an arm over Rami’s shoulders. “The prince and I have become great friends. Been hard at work all night. As you can see…” He swung his other arm out theatrically, indicating the whole foul, dark, smoky scene. “Yes, yes, we’ve been having a grand time, haven’t we, Prince Rami?” Rami tried to pull away from him, but Set tightened his grip and continued before the prince could respond. “He’s been a big hit with the demons.”

On hearing themselves mentioned, the demons surrounded the barge. They howled and barked and bellowed. One of them croaked out, “Can we eat them now?”

“Yessss, eat them!” another cried.

Others picked up the call and made it into a chant, “Eat them! Eat them! Eat them!”

Some demons clawed at the hull. A few started to climb on board. When one got a grip on the deck, I stomped on his fingers and he dropped away, yowling. Seret scratched another one, and Gilli used a boat hook to threaten a third until he backed away.

During all the commotion, I caught a glimpse of a vibrant color amid the muted black and brown horns and fur and scales. Blue. A lovely iridescent shade of light blue. I saw it for just a second, before it disappeared behind the screen of demon bodies.

“Just a moment!” Set bellowed. “Silence! I said SILENCE!” He didn’t get complete silence, but the demons calmed down enough for Set to carry on talking. “Little Thea, I must say I am surprised. Didn’t expect to see you again, and in such distinguished company! So kind of you to deliver Khufu, his shadow, and these others to me. I’m sure you have quite a tale to tell. Alas, as you can see, you’ve not arrived at a happy ending. Haha! It’s perfect, though. Now Prince Khufu gets to see the downfall of his family’s rule and the rise of the demons! Such fun, eh, Rami?”

Rami struggled to shape an answer but couldn’t put more than two words together. “It’s not… I didn’t… I’m not…”

“He’s so excited he’s at a loss for words,” Set said.

Something touched my toe. Thinking it was a demon, I yanked my foot away and got ready to kick, but I froze instead. The hand reaching through the railing was blue. Pudgy. I looked over and down onto the small, round face of a miniature blue hippo. I opened my mouth in surprise.

And then something even more surprising happened. Another face appeared beside the hippo. A girl in armor and a helmet, with large brown eyes and a face I recognized. I almost shouted, Princess Sia!

Almost, but Sia put a finger to her lips before I could get the words out. I shut my mouth. With quick hand gestures, she pointed in different directions, using her fingers to indicate creeping forward. Understanding, I nodded. She and the hippo sank down into hiding, and I straightened. We had a plan. Delay as the rest of the hippos got into position.

Loudly, I said, “You won’t get away with this.”

“Won’t I?” Set asked, twisting his face into a puzzled expression. “Let me count the ways you are mistaken.”

I whispered to the others, “Keep him talking.”

Set pushed Rami away so as to have both hands free. He used one hand to count his points on the other’s fingers. “One, Lord Ra is serpent food. Two, with him gone humans have no magic. Three, I’ve imprisoned all the other gods in the Prison of Divine Wisdom. I’ve just renamed it.” He motioned toward the now gold-encased chamber. “Four, demons now rule the everlasting night. And five, Egypt is now mine to rule as I please.” He grinned maliciously. “So, you see, I’ve already gotten away with it.”

I spotted a hippo as he climbed up a nearby obelisk. He moved with stealth, like a cat sneaking up on a mouse.

In a flat, determined voice, Thea said, “We saved Lord Ra.”

For a moment, Set’s face drooped with genuine puzzlement. But he shook it off. “Nice bluff, but that’s impossible.”

Another flash of blue as one of the demons near the barge said, “Who is stepping on my toes?”

“We did save him,” Thea continued.

“That’s right,” Khufu added. “Ash froze Apep and we all helped get Ra out.”

“He’s still alive,” Seret said.

“And he’s way more powerful than you are!” Iset spat.

Set sniffed and asked simply, “Where is he, then?”

That was one question we weren’t ready to answer.

Glancing over the railing again, I saw that two more hippos had snuck in. They crouched low, ready. Another one slipped through a large demon’s legs, holding his nose as he did so.

“I asked a simple question,” Set said. “Why won’t you answer it? If Ra is alive, why isn’t he with you? Why isn’t he soaring up into the sky right now?”

“He will,” Thea said. “He’s coming. He just… um… got tangled up with something.”

“He sent us to warn you,” Gilli added. He puffed out his chest, his usually humorous, round face looking sharp and fierce instead. “It’s your last chance. Call off this attack before he gets here. If you do, the gods may go easy on you.”

Set glanced at Rami. “Can you believe these kids? You have to admit they’ve got gumption. Lying right to my face. I almost admire them.” He turned back to us. “Almost. But not quite as much as I loathe them. Demons, you’ve been patient. And now it’s time for your reward. You may feed now.”