The Forgotten God

Chapter Twenty-One

The deluge had receded. The drains bloated with the copious liquid they had swallowed. Puddles lingered, the lasting remains that they couldn't digest.

Kyle stayed some way behind Babi as they ascended out on the streets, feeling strangely self-conscious at the possibility of being seen with the dwarfish, misshapen brute.

His own fair-weather friends had always pulled the eyes with their numerous tattoos and piercings, not the mention the coarse vocabulary they weren't afraid of using. But he had always blended well, it was a way of life and none of them were strange enough to belong to a sideshow, whatever his grandmother might have said.

The humiliation of being put down was still strong also, slowing his step as he seethed.

Babi didn't notice. His slaves always remained behind him on at his feet, the latter he made some allowances for considering his diminutive size. To tell someone they were not to be higher would mean them crawling on their bellies like the worms they were.

As appealing as that thought was, it wasn't functional.

Nor was the towel wrapped about the bulk of his waist, covering his lower regions. It was thicker than the clothes worn in the old days and not as easy to move in, especially as the hem became saturated with water. He put up with it, it was a small irritant at the end of the day.

He gazed around, enraptured by the destruction and his grin widened every time he saw the shade of a human, living or deceased, stiff in the shadows.

Pausing by the drain he ran his finger through the slick fluid that clung to the kerbside, beaming in delight at the blood trickling over his beige pads.

"Glorious," he drawled, rolling his tongue to capture the droplets, shuddering at the metallic tang that followed. "I taste the essence of beasts know only to Gods and heroic mortals. And fear. The wonderful, wonderful fear you exude when you see the end of your life before you."

"There were strange things when the road was flooded," Kyle confirmed sullenly. "Snake like things from what little I saw. I wasn't going to get up close to them."

"The children of Apep," Babi said "I am sure he aids the turmoil here well."

Kyle had no clue as to who Babi referred to and didn't feel inclined to ask. The God, if that was what he was, didn't seem inclined to elaborate either.

A sudden quake caused the street to convulse, sending sprays of broken stone and dust up in waves. For a moment the road was the image of a concrete sea, rolling and roiling as if a whirlpool churned beneath it.

Kyle dropped to his knees and moved as far as he dared away from the building. There was no safety here, either risking the offices and homes falling or being consumed and swallowed by the living earth itself. Situated on the edge of the kerb he was at risk of the abandoned cars also.

Flattening himself down, he covered his ears against the roar, resigning himself to whatever happened. There was no point in panicking, in running. One thing he did believe in was fate, the end of which he couldn't exhort.

Babi's screeching laughter joined the crescendo as he clambered onto the shell of a rusty pick-up truck to survey the event further. The owner still lay within, killed when some of his load was flung forward, breaking his neck. The girders and bricks were a fine playground for the apish deity but that could wait.

"You humans are so foolish," Babi crowed, jumping heavily on the already dented hood. "Yet, it works in my favour this time." He froze and turned back to Kyle. "You will find me other followers. By your looks, you must have unsavoury acquaintances. I can offer them much, but I expect them to work for it."

"Yeah, well, work isn't something my friends like too much, not is it means breaking a sweat," Kyle rubbed the back of his neck. "They pretty much get by on dealing and a few cowboy building jobs. Cash in hand and nothing to declare. I hate to admit it but I'm the only one who actually had a bona fide job, albeit never for that long."

Running the gauntlet of police and shady criminals who were willing to cut his throat was not something he had felt like doing. Flogging a packet of c******s now and again was risky enough, the remnants of his own personal use mixed with ash from cigarettes to bulk it out. He sold it cheaply to the drunks and tramps who didn't care what they smoked, they were just glad of anything that satisfied the craving and rotted their lungs more.

"Then you will have to convince them, won't you?" Babi said patronisingly "I have no use for you if you cannot give me more aid."

"I have to find them first!" Kyle snapped, meeting the fierce glare with one of his own. "Look, I'm willing to help because of what you can do. But don't expect me to perform miracles or do things with a click of a finger, ain't that easy! Even in normal times those guys are difficult to find."

Babi snarled, baring the large canines still stained from the blood of his meal. Kyle stiffened but held his ground. Eventually Babi slid down, reaching into the driver's window, looking for any broken flesh he could feast on. Finding none he pushed the corpse back.

"Then find them. I am fairly sure you have some idea of where you mingle." He grinned crookedly. "Or are you so addled that you can't tell your left from your right?"

Kyle clenched his fists, his nails almost breaking the skin of his palms, but he nodded, admitting defeat.

"Scouting the alleyways would be the best," he muttered "even if we don't find who I know, we may come across others that are desperate."

-------

Shu was not the most patient in times of stress, pacing some inches over Atum's plush carpet, to and fro, chewing his lower lip.

"Calm yourself," Atum took a sip of dry wine, liquid courage he called it, although perhaps at times it was liquid foolishness. "Why stress yourself when you have done all you can?"

"I know, I know," Shu stopped and dropped down, sinking onto the nearest chair. "Why worry about what you have no control over?" He gave a bitter laugh. "No control, what a thing for a God!"

Atum smiled placidly. "Even Death himself must bide his time, despite being the mightiest of all. None have full control over anything, the roads of life twist and split. We must choose what path and navigate its pitfalls and hazards. Not one of us has ultimate power over all."

"When will I know when to return to the mortals?" Shu asked sullenly, reaching for his own glass that had remained untouched.

"The potion you gave him is linked to the bearer. Both you and the bird will know." Atum looked amused as Shu drained the glass, his hand shaking. "So, go easy on the alcohol. I hardly want you crashing somewhere, and Thoth would never forgive you if one of his birds came to harm."

"If that should happen, I will make certain I only break myself, not his ibis," Shu rolled his eyes. "That would be far preferable."

Atum chuckled, gazing over to the clock. Despite his calmness, he too was impatient. Every minute that passed them by was a minute more of damage to the earth and more lives potentially lost. Unlike the mortals in their times of strife, he didn't look on it as colleterial damage. It was needless loss of life.

In his active years perhaps, he may have thought differently, but having seen the progress of his children and humanity he had mellowed in opinion.

"I'd rather no one break," he said eventually, his voice tired. "But we shall have to see."

-------

Am Heh's eyes scanned the crumbling graveyard, the disused chapel sinking as the earth opened beneath it. The occupants had been forced upwards, their coffins breaking and exposing them once again to the sun that had been shut out for years.

The skin was stretched and clinging to bone, the flesh sunken and wasted away. The older were far more decrepit, becoming one with the soil and the life within it.

"Some might be of use," Am-Heh muttered to himself as he ambled closer, the smell of decay not perturbing him. "They will last long enough for what I need them for."

The cast iron gates parted as he approached, the hinges squealing. They were seldom used anymore and rust had taken over. Whilst the churchyard still had mourners and the odd funeral due to instructions in a will, the land was mostly left untended and the old memorials were lost in a mass of weeds and ivy.

Those below were dust now, or crumbling bone. If any ancestors remained, they were long forgotten. Memories didn't bow down or perform duties.

"I have gotten nowhere by hesitating," Am-Heh whispered to himself as he dragged a claw across the prominent vein in his wrist. Blood spilled from under the jagged point, cascading in droplets onto the parched ground.

'Come soul, bereft of life, O you wardens of the sky! If you delay letting thy soul see thy corpse, you will find the eye of Horus standing up thus against you...The sacred barque will be joyful and the great god will proceed in peace when you allow this soul I seek to ascend, vindicated to the gods... May it see thy corpse, may it rest on thy mummy, which will never be destroyed or perish.'

The ruby dew sank into the earth as it was eagerly consumed, the weeds wafting and seeming to reach out for the bleeding wrist, hungry for more as the soil heaved erotically beneath as it began to spit out the dead.

Glassy eyes peeled open, revealing empty sockets, but the ability to see was not down to eyes alone and the gifts of death and their new master were enough to guide. Their hearing was beyond the skills of the normal human, even beyond the blind. Each beat of the pulse, each sway of a blade of grass could be heard.

Not many dragged themselves from their lonely bed. In the last few years only five people had been laid to rest there and they were the only ones intact enough to respond.

"Weak," Am-Heh looked at them in disgust, their bony visage and decaying flesh abhorrent. "But you will have to suffice for now." His eyes narrowed as he moved closer. "You will seek out the Djed pillar, if you and others are to claim back life and my own soul to spread then it is vital."

The five made no reply but their heads tilted as they listened and followed the movement of the being who spoke.

Am-Heh circled them as hypnotic as a cobra and just as deadly. The legs shook, the lack of muscle making it hard to support the weight of the skeleton.

No. They would certainly not last the day, but hopefully long enough to gain the amulet he desired. The crows would have to work again and find a newer selection.

"Go," he ordered coldly. "Let us see if you can earn your release."