Neith slipped stealthily through the night, keeping to shadows rather than moving in the full moon’s light, stifling the sobs that wracked her young, slight frame. Her destination was a partially flooded temple in a part of the city that had been abandoned since the river’s course changed. The half-submerged district was unstable and forbidden; people said it was dangerous, not simply due to the water damage, but due to an evil presence that lurked there. They said the river had deliberately shifted to wash the evil away, but instead the presence had used the waters for its own purposes, gaining strength.
The abandoned district, and particularly its largest temple, provided a refuge to incautious Neith. No one else went there; no one searched for her there. Most of the temple’s adornments had been carried out by the priests when the original flood swept through the district- the temple was on a slight rise, and had been one of the last places the water reached, giving them time to gather whatever they deemed of value before they fled. The paintings, carvings, and murals remained on the walls and ceilings, but they were covered with dried mud, most of them indecipherable. It was as though the river had claimed the temple, erasing any traces of its former ownership.
Neith ducked through the partly collapsed temple entrance, and ran through the building, stumbling slightly over the debris left behind by receded water. She cast herself down in the central room, on the edge of the pool that occupied half the floor permanently. Her bitter tears pattered against the dried mud that covered the cool stone.
Eventually, the all-consuming spasms of grief passed, and Neith became more aware of her surroundings. She froze momentarily; then, she scrambled to her feet, rubbing the tears off her face and trembling. There was a sound echoing from across the pool- a dull, hollow knocking, seemingly from within the blocks of stone that comprised the temple. It came at regular intervals, unmistakable.
“Hello?” Neith called out, her voice quavering. There was no answer, save for the steady thudding that resounded through the stones.
Sniffling, Neith shuffled a little closer to the pool. Beams of moonlight fell into it, showing it a dark blue-green as always. She knew from previous explorations that the still water was fairly shallow. An impulsive creature by nature, and even more rash than usual in the throes of devastating grief, she toed off her sandals, gathered up the hems of her clothes, and experimentally dipped one toe into the water. Nothing changed; the knocking kept its rhythm. She submerged the ball of her foot very slowly, then the arch, then the heel, waiting after each addition. Reassured by the lack of response to these tests, she put her foot down, and followed it with the other.
Neith waded across the cool water as silently as possible, doing her best to not splash or otherwise disturb it. A pile of debris from the original flood- sediment, loose stones, and the like- had been swept up against the far wall, where her ears told her the sound originated. She emerged from the pool there, fighting for purchase on the rubble until she stood balanced atop it, a hand’s-breadth from the mud-encrusted wall.
The knocking was unquestionably louder there. She started every time the wall was struck, sending a spray of debris skittering down into the water. Slivers of moonlight fell almost directly in front of her, and she squinted ahead, just able to make out one hieroglyph, much larger and more detailed than the rest: a falcon. She distantly remembered that this was associated with one of the old gods, but she could not recall which. The other symbols surrounding it were obscured by the mud. Without thinking, she stretched out her hand and laid it atop the hieroglyph to confirm her impression that they were approximately the same size.
The falcon retreated into the wall under the pressure of her hand, and a rumble rose up. She snatched her hand back, but the falcon continued to glide back until it clicked. A seam suddenly split the wall in two, and, as the whole temple shook, the halves retracted, groaning unwillingly, to reveal a black chamber. When she saw two glowing spheres staring back at her from the dark, Neith tried to turn and flee but only slid backwards. She landed in the pool on her back, feet resting above her on the pile of debris.
The spheres advanced out of the darkness, and a creature with the body of a man but the head of a bird- a falcon, to be exact- emerged. It paused on the threshold, surveying its surroundings, and the two burning eyes settled on her, shivering in the now muddied waters. The eyes were not identical; one was brighter and golden, while the other shone more weakly, silver like the moonlight pouring over the creature.
“Who are you, child?”
“Who are you?” she demanded automatically. Reflecting that this was an unwise response, she quickly added, “I am Neithhotep Mes-en Nebet.”
With a great deal of ungainly splashing and slipping, she got to her feet. The bird’s glowing eyes blinked slowly at her. “I am Heru-ur Kemwer.”
Neith gaped. “Heru-ur? The… the old god?”
The falcon head inclined slightly to the side in confirmation. “The same. Thank you for releasing me, Neithhotep.”
“I heard you knocking,” she explained.
“I have been knocking for long years,” Heru-ur said, stepping out onto the pile of rubble that Neith had lately occupied. She saw that he held an ankh in one hand and a was in the other, just as the old gods were always depicted*. “You come here from time to time. I have heard you, child. Have you never heard me?”
Neith shook her head. “Only tonight.”
“Why are you here weeping tonight?”
“My sister was-… killed. Because- because, mother says the pharaoh wanted her- wanted her dead. So he sent bad men to kill my sister.”
Eyes blazing, the falcon-man raised the ankh and shook it; it shimmered and transformed, its loop lengthening into several strands of colorful beads while its stem broadened into a pendant and gained numerous details. Heru-ur held it out to her- an amulet in the shape of a stylized eye*. “Take my udjat, child. Injustice has reigned for too long in this land. I will go forth and remedy that- but I would be remiss if I did not justly recompense the one who rescued me from my imprisonment. Wear this always, and my eye shall be upon you. I will repay my debt when you require me.”
Speechless, Neith took the proffered necklace. Then, in a ripple, as if the feathers from his head flowed down over the rest of his body, Heru-ur morphed into a falcon, already flying off through the air. The foremost feather of one wing was the color of the was he had held.
“Wait!”
The falcon, to Neith’s surprise, wheeled about and landed on the floor, keen talons clicking against the stone. Its burning eyes fixed on her, somehow twice as disconcerting because they were mismatched. “Can I- can I have something now? I’m very grateful for this,” she added hastily, drawing the udjat over her head and clutching it, “but… just because you promise something in the future doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it. Things happen. People die. You could be locked up again. Nothing… nothing big, just- just something to make it… better. Right now.”
The falcon made a strange noise, ruffled its feathers, and then Heru-ur morphed yet again, into his most fabulous and impressive shape: the body of a lion, with the wings and head of a hawk- a hieracosphinx. The powerful beak was at least six feet off the floor; the beast was gigantic. A deep laugh rumbled out of his broad chest. “You are indeed but a child, yet you speak truthfully. A token of my gratitude, then. Come here, Neithhotep.” He lay down as she waded across the pool, this time heedless of her clothing- she had already ruined it. “Take hold and climb on my back. Let us survey this changed earth together tonight, and I will take you safely to your home afterwards.”
Neith hesitated before burying her fingers into the feathers and fur. “Really?!” she squeaked.
A bird’s face could not smile- and yet Heru-ur’s face did, his eyes shining with a more kindly light. “Really. Up you go.”
Neith clambered excitedly onto his back, without any further encouragement. The instant she was settled, the hieracosphinx rose and loped gracefully out of the temple. It raced down the broken street with terrific speed, spread its wings, and launched itself into the night. Neith shrieked her delight, and the Heru-ur’s falcon head screeched his agreement, both of them reveling in their newfound freedom in the air… and, for the first time in years, Neith smiled.
*Taken from Wikipedia, illustrations of the ankh, was scepter, and an udjat amulet.
an ankh
