The Forgotten God

Chapter Thirty-Three

Atum sat back, slowly sipping the potent cocktail of hard liquors. The fluid burned boldly in his throat, taking the air before settling in his stomach.

"From what you describe, I doubt the humans did such damage. I have seen them make some mess when it comes to murder but to tear another to pieces, even a cadaver, would take more strength and brutality than they possess. Unless they are mad and frenzied."

"They were certainly not either of those," Shu stood rigidly near the window "and there was an aura in that room, of something unhuman. I fear that Am-Heh has awoken or encouraged something else also, much like when a mortal dabbles with the unknown and opens the gate to those who lurk near it. The damage was not his, it was too crude. Even before, he had a certain finesse in how he did things."

Shu fell silent, a lump rising to choke his throat as he recalled the descriptions from those who had seen the c*****e that had been left in the furious wake.

"That is secondary, at least for now," Atum said firmly, swirling the remaining alcohol "the mortal he has is the key to this. He needs to infiltrate Am-Heh's trust again. Those on the ground need the guard the relics with their lives, there is one there that must be kept safe at all costs, for it will unlock powers that even I baulk from using." He got to his feet, no longer appearing the silver fox of an older man, the vehement power of a warrior exuding instead like a rich perfume. "They need to retrieve it, to get it to me. Meanwhile, I will work on finding the stone that completes the ritual. If Am-Heh refuses to back down from this folly, then it will be invoked."

The words fell as cold as the icy hail on earth, pointed, brittle and painful as they pierced the heart. Shu knew what it meant and it was a choice no creator ever wanted.

Atum saw Shu's forlorn expression and forced a weak smile. "If he has the sense I instilled in him, it will not be something I fall to. Trust me, Shu, it is a last resort. I cannot bind him in a statue like before, his fate is in his hands." His face became stony. "Now go. Aid them."

----

In the confines of the museum the air grew stagnant, as though the oxygen was being pulled away and replaced with tear gas.

Mr Montford gasped, feeling frantically for his pulse which, although far faster, beat steadily. It did little to relieved the panic as he felt clawed fingers tighten about his throat and his eyes bulged to behold the beast appearing before him.

Marie and Ash heaved nearby. The breath torn from them and replaced with burning heat, forbidding movement and enhancing the smell of rot that festered behind the door. As hard as they tried, they could not move forward, as if walking in a dream, wading through tar.

"Give me the amulet," Am-Heh's voice cut through the atmosphere like a blade "do it voluntarily and you'll stay alive for now, resist and I simply snap your neck."

"I-I can't." The reply was choked. "I-I can't!"

Am-Heh gazed at the terrified face and slowly a cruel smile perked his lips. The light faded from the room and the sound of snarling echoed from the dark corners.

"The hounds are hungry," he whispered amidst the growls "they have relied too long on rats or dead meat. And the dead, they have not eaten at all."

Outside the earth shifted and moans came from beneath the soil. Bony fingers clawed at rotting wood and compacted debris, desperate to feel the air on their faces again.

Even down below they could smell life, and their minds retained that memory, overtaken with the desire to feel warm blood coursing through them, in whatever way that was.

Am-Heh's grip burned into Mr Montford's skin as he turned him around to face the starving eyes of two shadowy hounds, almost translucent as they stood between one world and the next. Their fur glistened in silver as if bathed in stars, sparkling sinisterly as they lurched forward.

"Am-Heh, stop this!" Shu's voice rang out, echoing in the large room and carried by the whirling wind that signified his arrival. His eyes riveted themselves on the other God, his chest heaving his adrenaline and fatigue from the speed he had travelled. "This is madness! These people have done nothing!" His voice softened, reaching out pleadingly. "Please..."

"Cease your begging," Am-Heh cut him off, tossing Mr Montford heedlessly to the side. He stumbled blindly, falling into Ash and Marie and sending them all to the floor.

Ash groaned, hitting the ground first with the others on top of him, but as he tried to move away, Marie stopped him, shaking her head weakly.

A ring of fire rose from the ground, surrounding the two Gods in a wall of sheer heat. Shu's breeze kindled the flames, their tongues reaching high into the air and hissing like angry cobras as they weaved and twisted.

"You think I care about these weak-willed fools?" Am-Heh spat, taking a step nearer and into the flames, the fire curling about his legs like the tides of the sea. "Perhaps they are not the ones who slighted and betrayed, but they are the ancestors. And as their new scriptures say, the children pay for the sins of the parents."

He lifted his arm and a tongue of flame and fury flew from his hand, crashing into Shu's chest with a force that would have broken a human body into pieces.

To Shu, it was like a mallet had collided into his ribs, molten and heavy, knocking the air from his lungs and flinging him backwards into the wall. The room shook, the plaster cracking and folding inwards.

Am-Heh moved slowly, keeping in the confines of the fire, his blood burning and his skin radiating his anger. Shu stared at him, appearing as a devil in a hellish vision crafted by later Christians. For the first time in his existence, he felt helpless, realising why only Atum had any control of him.

"Am-Heh," he breathed, his eyes fixated on the other. "There is a reason for this! I never believed you did what you did for nothing! I-"

These words were turned into a strangled choke as fingers closed round his neck and lifted him from the ground. Unlike with Mr Montford, they were tighter, the claws slicing through the first layer of skin and sending crimson droplets running down in slow rivulets.

"I do not answer to you," Am-Heh breathed, moving his knuckle enough to flick a warm drip onto his lips, running his tongue to capture the coppery bead. "You are nothing to me." He looked up. "The sky will tremble and the sun will turn black, the signal of what is to come. And perhaps the death of a God."

Outside, the hail and fire suddenly ceased, as quickly as it had appeared. The sky became dull and the sun seemed to seep with tar, becoming black as coal, only a halo of violent, b****y light surrounding it. The ghostly forms of the dogs howled gleefully, the sensations that rolled in the air reminding them of their former home.

Shu looked across and blew a cold breeze towards them. It was weak, his airways constricted and oxygen coursing to where it was needed most. The fire rose higher, but it was enough to dissuade the beasts from approaching, unaccustomed to such a chill nipping their skin. They were animals of fire, animals crafted to bear the burden and heat of the desert and lava filled craters. Coldness bemused them.

Mr Montford rolled over. Reaching out he grabbed whatever debris he could, pulling himself to his feet. Panting hard he held the amulet aloft.

"Let him go, or I smash it!"

Am-Heh whirled around, the ring of fire roaring as he did so, reaching with rosy talons towards the shaking man. His face spoke of his fear but he held his ground like a steel warrior.

"Hand it to me, or I will have you torn limb from limb, mortal!" Am-Heh moved forward, his hounds following in the ether they were caught in. "I have no qualms about releasing them, or even using my own power!"

The air trembled, and dust cascaded from above, along with strips of age-old paint that had been on the list of odd jobs for months.

"Go ahead," Mr Montford clenched his jaw to hide to rising panic. "But as soon as I see sign of that, I will hurl this into the wall. I daresay this is one of a few you need, but it will be one you go without!"

Am-Heh hesitated, his hand poised to strike and fingers sparkling with heated energy. Slowly he lowered it, the fiery ring lessening and the hounds fading slightly, although their ghostly forms still prowled irritably.

"And you still have our friend," Ash chimed in from his grounded position, still half under Marie. "We want him freed; I don't know why you took him, perhaps you think it'll give you more sway over us. But we want him back. Unharmed." He sounded braver than he felt, spurred by his employer's nerve.

"He is unharmed, and he will remain so," Am-Heh answered with genuine conviction. "But you can help him and yourselves more by handing the relic to me. You are correct there are others I desire, but one is better than nothing."

Shu thought quickly. If he was to succeed in Atum's orders, then the humans could not perish. It was worth relinquishing one needed object to spare them.

"Give it to him." He commanded in his firmest voice. "No arguments," he added brusquely as Mr Montford made to protest. "No questions, just obey me."

With great reluctance, Mr Montford handed it over, stepping as close as he dared to allow the creature to pluck the relic from his trembling hand.

"The other is not here," he heard him mutter to himself. "No. Perhaps one is, the other has been removed. Yet it is not too far."

"Can you call your zombies off?" Ash asked, his voice lacking the strength it had before. "Or tell them to leave us alone at least?"

"I can only advise them," Am-Heh didn't look up, tracing the fine curves of the ladder with his index finger. "They will obey their instincts eventually." He pushed the piece into his pocket carefully and clapped his hands sharply. The hounds vanished but the cries of the dead continued. "They will so as I bid and then I have no more use with them. Avoid them and then destroy them, I don't pander to you."

"Thanks." Ash sneered. "Glad to know the Gods are with us."

Am-Heh looked up sharply, giving a low growl. Beneath Ash, the floor began to bubble like molten metal, his clothing melting and fusing to his skin. Scrambling up Ash clawed at the smouldering fabric, a howl of pain cutting through the air as a loathsome odour left him.

Without thinking, Marie tore off her thin cardigan and threw herself on him, wrapping him in the cooler folds and restraining the fidgety fingers that were causing more harm as they tugged the sticking fibres. Several patches of skin had already been torn to reveal a fleshy mess beneath and blood seeped from deeper wounds from desperate fingernails.

The coolness of the floor he was tackled to soothed the burn but not the sting that seared deep into his vein and made his blood feel as if it were boiling in his body.

"Silent wind, cold in flight, soothe the mortal in his plight."

Ash shuddered and closed his eyes. His body relaxed as invisible hands, hidden in a chilly air, pressed onto his burns, as curative as the finest medical care and as calming as soft music or the sound of gentle rain tickling the window panes. Sleep took over and his breathing settled. A small trickle of salvia ran from his lips as his eyes closed, sinking deep into a dreamless coma.

"Is-is he alright?" Marie asked as Am-Heh faded away with an annoyed snort. Her embrace continued, stroking through the tousled hair as a mother did with her child.

"Yes, but he must rest for now," Shu reassured her "which will give me time to enlighten you to what Lord Atum has said, and to give you your tasks, you must help, it will cut time."

---

"This is the best you could find?"

Babi eyed the three assembled men with scorn. From initial scrutiny there seemed little promise in any of them, except perhaps the two heavier ones, brawn was useful to some extent but not as much as brain power. That was something he couldn't really discern from looks alone but he didn't have high hopes, especially as the scent of intoxicating substances stung his nostrils.

"They're strong, clever and totally ruthless," Aiden insisted, feeling a phantom pain in his leg and trembling at the thought of repercussions. "Honestly!" He cringed. He was lisping. His mouth dry and his tongue sticking to his teeth. "Great one?"

He laughed nervously and slunk back, hoping the shadows would embrace and hide him. They didn't, remaining unmoving and cold.

"People are scared witless of what we can do," Harrison said sharply, restraining himself from being ruder. "I've had guys giving us their girlfriends for the night to put their debt off. Not to mention a finger or another form of a pound of flesh." He smirked, looking at his henchmen proudly. "And of course, a couple of good old-fashioned suicides."

"How impressive," Babi said sarcastically, amused at the flush of anger that rose in a red stain over Harrison's features. "But I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I am, if anything, a God that is open to taking chances." He loped forward, pulling himself up to his full height, which only reached midway on Harrison's chest. "Mainly because I can ruin you in second, and not just mentally."

Harrison looked at Kyle who nodded solemnly. "But from I gather, the reward is worth it."

"Indeed." Babi beamed, showing the rows of pointed teeth. "So, if you retrieve the amulet of the ladder, the Djed pillar and the buckle of Isis. Or at least find the location of the last, for I can retrieve it if I know that. Then I will the powers I need to defeat the blight on this world and bring glory to those who warrant it."

Aiden shuddered from his place in the corner whilst the others gave a small round of applause, muttering their ideas of the rewards and how amazing this all was, their eyes filled with greed and glowing at the very thought of riches, women and untold wonders.

Aiden felt differently. The phrase that it would be given to those who warranted it didn't seem like a promise. More like a threat and hint that there was only one that warranted the boons, and it wasn't them.