Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Showdown at Karnak

AHEAD OF ME LOOMED TWO LONG ROWS of criosphinxes guarding the entrance to the temple. I glanced one last time into the darkness behind me, heartened to at last see Isis. Surely Sefu could not be far behind. Feeling somewhat braver with the animals at my back, I squared my shoulders and directed the horse toward the first pylon.

Many of the sphinxes were missing their ram-shaped heads, but the ones who still had them seemed to watch me as I passed. Faint, shadowy symbols of power and magic drifted lazily across their surface. The glyphs were corroded with age and decay but still faintly discernible. I would have loved to have stopped to record them, to see what sort of magic held them in place or what they had been charged with, but now was not the time. Perhaps once this was all behind me, I could come back with Mother and explore the temple properly. Although probably not in the moonlight.

The pylon loomed in front of me, a huge, massive wall of cut stone nearly a hundred feet high. I shivered. The Pylon of Nectanebo I. How fitting that I should pass through it in order to rescue the last true pharaoh.

The walls of the pylon were thick, and it seemed to take forever to pass through the gate. I could feel no magic emanating from the structure, only the enduring strength of thousands of years. Immediately inside the courtyard, an enormous mound of dirt was piled up high along one of the pylon walls, as if the workers had abandoned the temple while they were still working on it. It was hard to imagine what sort of threat or power would have caused them to abandon their important work for the gods. Perhaps it was the gods themselves.

Now, that was a disturbing thought. Pushing it to the back of my mind, I focused instead on the large courtyard in front of me. Porticoes of columns ran along both sides. In the back, toward the second pylon, a lone column stood. Just behind it, guarding the entrance to the second pylon, were two enormous statues, their sightless eyes staring straight ahead.

The agents of Chaos could be hiding anywhere. I paused, wanting to see if I could sense another human presence. I didn't think I could, but I was too nervous to risk closing my eyes and really focusing.

I considered searching among the columns to see if anyone was hiding there, then thought better of it. I had already played a game or two of cat and mouse among ancient ruins with the Serpents of Chaos. I was not eager to repeat the experience.

I glanced at my watch. Just past eleven o'clock. I was nearly an hour early. Feeling slightly more confident with this realization, I turned to my left, where Major Grindle had said the Seti Chapel would be.

A squat, square building of stone blocks lurked there, with three dark doorways gaping like giant mouths. That's where I was to leave the tablet—in the rightmost doorway, the altar of Khons.

Instead, I returned to the enormous mountain of dirt piled up against the pylon wall and used my foot to push aside some of the rubble. I carefully laid the satchel down, then covered it up.

At a small scritch of movement behind me, I whirled around. But it was only Sefu, climbing atop the Seti Chapel. "So nice of you to join us," I whispered.

He made a rude gesture, then scampered up to squat on the carved lintel above one of the doorways.

Ignoring him, I went over to find a place to sit and wait. Liking the idea of having a forty-foot-thick wall at my back, I chose a spot up against the pylon. Once I was settled, I searched among the shadows pooling on the temple floor, trying to spot Isis, wishing she would come over and wait with me. Alas, she had disappeared on some unknowable cat business of her own and was nowhere in sight.

Sometimes I thought waiting was the hardest part of all this. The constant rush, rush, rush to get these wretched men what they wanted, then the interminable waiting for them to come get it. Just as I was contemplating the unfairness of it all, I heard a faint sound somewhere beyond the second pylon.

"Isis?" I whispered, getting slowly to my feet. But truly, Isis never made any noise by accident. I saw a shadow move against the other shadows, and then it separated itself, drawing closer until I could make out the shape of a man. Another man followed him, and another. Six in all.

Once the lead figure had passed through the second pylon into the courtyard, he spoke. "You're early."

I recognized the voice. Von Braggenschnott. "So are you," I answered.

He jerked his head toward Seti Chapel, and one of his men trotted over and disappeared into the right-hand doorway. He reappeared a moment later and shook his head. Von Braggenschnott turned to me. "You are playing games, fräulein?" he asked, looking around the courtyard. "Perhaps you do not think we are serious?"

"No games. Just being cautious. You don't think I'd hand over the tablet before seeing that Gadji is safe, do you?"

After studying me a long moment, von Braggenschnott finally said, "Reasonable enough. Bring him!" he called out over his shoulder.

Within seconds, two men appeared, each one hanging fast to one of Gadji's arms and nearly dragging him between them. They had put a black hood over his head, probably so he wouldn't be able to lead his rescuers back to the Serpents of Chaos stronghold, wherever that was.

"Gadji?" I asked. He was the right size and shape and wearing the same clothes, but that would be easy enough to manage.

The hood nodded vigorously.

"Are you all right?" I asked, hoping to hear his voice.

There was a pause, and then the man holding Gadji's right arm reached out and thumped him on the head.

"Stop that!" I said, but it worked. Gadji began nodding enthusiastically. When he reached up to keep his hood from slipping, I spotted the scratch that Isis had given him a few days ago.

"Enough!" von Braggenschnott said. "You have seen him with your own eyes, fraulein. He is safe. Now hand over the tablet if you wish him to remain so."

"Very well." I was dying to look for Major Grindle but knew that would risk exposing him. Instead, I turned my back on von Braggenschnott and his men and walked calmly to the dirt pile. Every muscle was taut with the fear, but I assured myself they wouldn't do anything until I'd fetched the tablet.

When I reached the mound, I bent over and shoved my hand into the dirt, hard gazes boring into me as I felt around for the satchel. When I pulled it from its hiding place, I carried it back to where von Braggenschnott waited, stopping a few feet away. "You release Gadji first," I told him.

Von Braggenschnott waved the fingers on his remaining hand, and the two men let go of Gadji, who stumbled forward.

My eyes still on Gadji, I thrust the satchel at von Braggenschnott. "Here."

He jerked his head again, and a man came forward and took the satchel from me. I took a step toward Gadji, but von Braggenschnott stopped me.

"Ah, ah, ah!" he said, wagging his finger. "Not until I see what you have brought me."

I had no choice but to wait while they unwrapped the tablet, my skin twitching with a nearly overwhelming desire to get out of there.

As his man worked to reveal it, von Braggenschnott narrowed his eyes at me. "I do hope you haven't tried to trick us."

"Not with Gadji's life at stake," I said. Which was true. I would never have dreamed of tricking them. That had been Major Grindle's brainstorm.

The man finally removed the tablet from its wrappings and I held my breath. I could only hope that Major Grindle's magic would hold up under Chaos's scrutiny.

Von Braggenschnott drew closer to the tablet and inspected it closely. Then he smiled, a truly sickening sight. "You have done well," he said.

I let my breath out in a whoosh. "Excellent. I think we'll be going, then." I jumped forward and grabbed Gadji's arm.

"Seize them!" von Braggenschnott shouted.

Two men leaped forward and pulled me away from Gadji. "Wh-what is this? You said we would make a fair trade!" Two others closed in on Gadji, whose head whipped back and forth blindly within his hood as he wondered what was going on.

"I lied," von Braggenschnott said. "Surely that does not surprise you. Besides, you and I have old business to settle between us." He lifted up the empty glove of his left hand.

"I'm afraid it will have to wait." Major Grindle's voice rang out through the courtyard. At his disembodied voice, the Serpents of Chaos looked up, trying to locate him. I looked over at Gadji. "Be ready," I whispered.

"The curse-repelling device, Miss Throckmorton," Major Grindle reminded me. I reached down and adjusted the knob as he called out, "Then the fountain pen, when you're able."

No sooner had he stopped speaking than there was a whooshing noise as hundreds of small sparks rained down on the men on either side of me. They screamed and let go of my arms, slapping at the Rain of Fire's sparks. With both my hands free, I shouted, "Duck, Gadji!" then gave the fountain pen a violent twist.

The effect was instantaneous. A buzzing sound shot from the pen, followed by the screams and cries of the Serpents of Chaos. Something deadly and sharp came slicing through the dark. Von Braggenschnott gave a shout of pain as it embedded itself in his arm, the one that had been reaching into his jacket for a pistol.

"Run!" Grindle shouted as he leaped down from high above. But we were already halfway to the pylon. A man stepped out from behind the chapel—where had he come from?—and grabbed for me. Before he got a firm grip, however, a small, spitting shape hurled itself at his face.

Isis! As her sharp claws made contact with his face, he let go of me to protect himself.

That was all we needed. I dragged poor Gadji toward freedom, not even stopping long enough to remove his hood. I had a firm grip on him so he wouldn't fall.

There was a thud behind us and a ring of steel as a sword was drawn. When we reached the first pylon, I risked a quick look over my shoulder.

"Do not dawdle, Miss Throckmorton! Get to the horse!"

I turned back around, grabbed Gadji's hand, and ran pell-mell toward where the horse was waiting.