Earth, Sun, and Moon Saga Ch. 12

Gwen's spells appeared to work in the same way. They were recipes. But, considering her vast amount of experience, she had little need for full, written-out SOPs any more than he needed them for tying his shoes or cleaning a pistol. What he was finding instead were notes, even addendums referencing spells and incantations she likely knew better than he knew his own phone number.

He found a lead. A journal stored at the end of the shelf appeared to be her most recent as it was still half blank. He flipped to the last page.

"Divination repeated three times with the same results. Subject appears to fit the parameters of one chosen by a divine source. More testing is needed to determine that source or what influence it has on the subject."

James had to reread it to realize she'd been writing about him. He had no idea what it meant to be "chosen by a divine source" and would worry about that later. But that phrase had shown up in another book. He went hunting through a journal seemingly about her observations about Sunstone Island. It was dated to the turn of the 20th century and James imagined that it was around the time Gwen and Lenore (and maybe even Ash) set up their home here. Gwen specifically referred to the island as being a divine source, partly why they chose it.

Progress, he thought.

Another journal brought it all together. This one was a bunch of seemingly random observations about the nature of magic as far as Gwen understood it. Most of it was way over his head and talked about how reality as humans knew it was sandwiched between other planes of existence, a decidedly thin layer in an unknowable universe. But it mentioned how a hedge spell worked.

Finally, he'd hit paydirt.

It referred to a type of binding spell that trapped the subject on the other side of a tether. If a tether was something that acted as a door for a god to enter this layer of existence, a hedge spell kicked them back to the other side.

The next several pages were her theories on why hedge spells were temporary.

"Okay, Gwen," James said, talking to himself to get his thoughts straight. "You run into Ammit, and she's carrying her own tether. You get the tether away from her and perform a hedge spell on it to kick her back through to wherever. Then you hold on to the necklace and don't destroy it. Instead, you spend a lot of time studying it and wondering why you can't just keep the door closed indefinitely."

But what if he wanted to open the door on purpose?

A small note at the bottom of the next page caught his attention.

"Note: Make a ward to stop Asari from snooping around the cave. Found her playing with the ankh necklace. She wanted to put it in her nesting place. I don't want to think about what would have happened if she'd put it on."

"Whelp," James said. "Looks like I just found dad's loaded gun."

***

Dear Journal of Despair,

I found her!

Or rather, she found me.

Okay, back up.

So I sorta took a gamble and went back to the yacht to look for clues. Lenore had used her spooky sleuthing skills to narrow down where that witch lady was likely being held but hadn't exactly texted me the address.

I figured the baddies were long gone and I was totally right. I snuck back aboard and found her laptop still open to Google Maps.

My unholy blood queen managed to narrow it down to two addresses in the warehouse district. I took a picture of the screen with my phone and was all ready to leave when I heard a noise from the lower deck (below deck?)

Contrary to what you might hear from anyone else, I did NOT screech like a little mouse. I was totally brave and would have gone to investigate but I've seen enough horror movies to know I needed a weapon.

I was trying to decide between using the bag with the camping fuel canisters as a flail or using chopsticks as stabbers (shut up, it is too a word) when a voice shouted from down below.

"Hello? Who's up there? It sounded like a mouse." Ash poked her head up a moment later and was all, "Oh hey, it's you."

I was just like, "Yeah."

Then she disappeared below again.

So I followed her.

She was rummaging through some compartments and pulling supplies out.

I asked what she was doing and she said she was looking for "the can of whoop ass" so she could deliver it in person.

I'm not exactly an expert on whatever selkies do but this strange energy surrounded her and her hair was just floating around her head.

I was all like, "Woah, can we chill for a sec?" And she was all, "I will murder this entire city to get my sisters back." And I couldn't tell if she was joking or even how that might work but, I gotta say, I respect the feeling, you know?

Anyway, because depopulating major urban areas is frowned upon, I held up the bag of chemicals we stole.

"Our dom daddy had a plan," I say. "We're going to use this to fuck them up.

And she's all like, "What's a dom daddy?"

And I say, "Not important. We need to stick to James' plan. You guys need to stop reacting and start being proactive."

She's all, "I'm not provocative."And I'm like, "What?" and then she's like, "What?" and then she laughs and says, "Okay, ghost girl, we'll play it your way."

And now we've joined forces and I still don't know what to do.

She doesn't know how to drive the boat because, well, she sorta hates them. And my excuse is that I grew up in Iowa.

So we head out on foot and I order an Uber to pick up near the campus. The Uber driver is cool and all but here we are headed toward certain death and he's all like, "Dur, what are you ladies up to today?"

Ash just says, "We're going to kill gods and rescue my sisters," as she's repeatedly rolling her window up and down.

And he's like, "Righteous. I was raised Catholic too."

Then I saw it. I fucking saw it!

"Stop the car," I screech.

"Whaa?"

"Right now!" I yell, putting on my boss-bitch pants.

He does and I leap out. We're in a suburban neighborhood near the college. Like overpriced houses owned by hoity-toity types that will pay a premium for a zip code. But it was near Halloween and many were decorated.

In front of one, a fine mist was being released, making the plastic tombstones in the front yard look extra spooky.

That mist is coming from a fog machine.

A fog machine that I am now the proud owner of.

I got to go. I have shit to do.

Ta-ta,

Angelica

***

James planned his next moves carefully.

There was a sense that he needed to hurry, that every minute he spent reading and then rereading Gwen's journals was another minute Lenore spent in the control of Anubis.

But, if he got this wrong, it was all for naught anyway. Might as well take that extra damn minute and make sure you looked where you were leaping.

The letters on his chest had faded as did the burning sensation. He was thankful for that as the prospect of trying to work with that constant pain was not enticing.

James returned to the cave and retrieved the ankh necklace from the circle of salt on the altar. He held it like it was a live grenade and brought it to the impromptu staging area in the woods just outside the house's perimeter.

When he was ready, he rubbed dirt on the golden necklace and then spit on it. Then he squeezed a whole strawberry from the garden over it, letting the juice drip from his fist and splash across the gold surface.

Then he built the fires.

Three small campfires, ringed with stones, caught and grew easily. He added fuel until they were burning decently hot. He wasn't sure if he needed them but Gwen referred to the making three fires during a conjuration spell as insurance. He wasn't sure what that meant but it didn't hurt. The heat they gave off was a bonus with the fall chill of midmorning.

He hummed as he worked and then mumbled, "Put 'em together and what have you got?

Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo."

He removed his shirt and hung it on a nearby branch. Even with the fires, his skin went cold. The Door Kicker was propped against a nearby tree. He hoped he wouldn't need it.

Using the tip of the silver knife he pierced the tip of his finger and squeezed a few drops of blood onto the ankh where it lay in the middle of the three fires.

How long did ritual blood need to sit for it to take effect? Did it have to absorb?

James knelt on the ground and scoffed. This was so fucking stupid.

Bracing himself, he picked up the necklace and put it on, feeling the blood and dirt and juice against his bare skin.

Nothing happened.

At first.

James detected movement to his left and turned in time to see what looked at first like a mirror appear on the forest floor. Then it folded out once, upward, and then again, to the side with the air filling with an electric charge. James was fascinated by it and couldn't help feeling relieved that it was working. It was like watching a silver sheet of origami paper unfold itself into an animal.

It was only when his brain caught up with the fact that, yes, that was exactly what it was doing that the fear began to sink into him.

Ammit was somehow worse than he imagined.

Her vestige triggered something base and primal in his amygdala. She was easily the size of a grizzly bear and made up of the worst parts of several very dangerous animals. Her back haunches were the shiny gray skin of a hippo, which might have been amusing if hippos weren't more dangerous to humans than lions were. But she was also part lion, as revealed by forepaws the size of catcher's mitts and tipped by sickle-shaped retractable claws.

It was the head that was the real nightmare. Her crocodile head, mostly comprised of pale green armor and teeth, might as well have belonged to a fucking dinosaur.

The shimmery, folding mirror disappeared, leaving only the goddess behind.

James took a deep breath, calming his instinct to run like the fleshy monkey he was.

"Good morning," he said, waving at the monster.

Ammit turned, seeing him for the first time, and roared.

Not the best start.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm James and--"

"Little heart!" Ammit growled. "Return my tether to me and I will consider not eating you alive!"

"Look, we don't have a ton of time--"

Ammit charged him.

James was up immediately, the rope in his hand ready.

He sidestepped Ammit like a matador and tossed the loop around her open snout. He yanked the other end and her jaw snapped shut.

He'd read, long ago, that alligators and crocodiles had extraordinarily strong jaws when biting down but were very weak when opening. James' plan relied on that staying true for angry goddesses.

The far end of the rope was already tied to a tree trunk and when Ammit twisted after him, the loop tightened. She then pulled back, in clear surprise, and the loop tightened even further with the tree holding firm.

James was ready with the next rope.

He darted towards her, looping her paw as soon as she attempted to swipe at the rope holding her face. He ran backward, pulling, and wrapped the other end around another tree, using the trunk as a pulley.

Ammit's chest slammed on the ground next to one of the fires as her foreleg was yanked violently to the side.

He tied off the second rope with a one-handed bowline and rushed around to her other side.

The third rope was already tied off to the base of a big pine tree, so he ran with the free end around another tree as he tied off another hitch loop.

Now behind the goddess, she finally realized she had to move forward toward the ropes to loosen them rather than pull away. He looped a back leg right as she made this realization.

He pulled it tight, back toward the tree, and tied that end off again.

Now Ammit was well and truly stuck, held in place at three points.

She raged against the ropes but to no avail. Her free forepaw couldn't reach any of the three climbing ropes and, so far, their tensile strength was superb. She kicked apart one of the campfires, sending ash and ember across the otherwise damp forest floor.

James, confident the ropes would hold for now, walked back around the bear-sized death goddess.

"Alright," he said with a huff. "Let's try this again."

She studied him with one yellow reptilian eye and yanked on the ropes again.

"Hi, I'm James. And I'm having a historically bad day. What's your name? Ammit? That's a funny name. Say, you wouldn't happen to be the Egyptian demon goddess of the dead? You are? Well, nice to meet you, Ammit. Hey, you might know my friends. Anubis? Qebhet? It's a funny story, actually. See, they've kidnapped the woman I love and plan to sacrifice her to bring another one of you chucklefucks to this world and I would like your help in stopping them. What do you say?"

Ammit regarded him with a mixture of confusion and recognition that seemed impossible for a crocodile to make.

Then she transformed.

James was expecting this and pulled the rope tied to her arm tighter as her foreleg thinned and shortened.

The rope holding her snout closed fell away as her head became human but he looped the rope again and tied off her other wrist before she'd fully transformed. Ammit, for her part, made no attempt to resist.

In her human form she was beautiful, even gorgeous, and very naked. But it was as if she hadn't finished transforming; her sunkissed olive human skin was interrupted by shifting patches of fine golden fur, scales, or that shiny grey hippo skin.

"Are you a god?" she asked, softly.

Because he'd seen Ghostbusters and knew that Winston Zeddemore would be very upset if he said no, James asked, "Why does that matter?"

Ammit giggled. She rolled to her back, relaxing, and seemingly not bothered that she was still partially bound. James tried not to look at her shifting chimeric body.

"I didn't think I'd get another chance," she said, gazing at the sky.

"Another chance?"

"To transcend." Ammit stretched, still not looking at him. "That's the power of this plane of existence. You can remake yourself into anything you want."

"And what do you want?"

"To be real."

"You look pretty real to me."

She giggled again, then propped herself up on one elbow to look at him over, studying him with golden eyes. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Yeah," James admitted. "When you're not trying to eat me."

She smirked. "And you are human. Are you not?"

"Last time I checked."

She held up her bound hands, each secured to a different tree. The rope around her leg had slackened when she'd transformed but she didn't seem to notice. James was sure she could free herself if determined enough.

"You have magic though, yes?"

"I can follow a recipe. And I learned how to tie knots in the Boy Scouts."

"Was that where they taught you priest-craft?"

"Not exactly."

"You control my tether, scout of boys."

"Don't call me that. James is fine."

"Have it your way, Jaaames. You say that you have summoned me to help you against Anubis. I assume he is still trying to resurrect Bastet?"

"Yeah. He's been a bit of an issue for us."

"And you're aware I was his servant, yes?" Ammit's predatory gaze was back. It was unnerving how much that gaze turned reptilian. "His ally?"

"'Was' is the operative word there. You may have noticed it wasn't him that released you."

"Indeed. And you control my tether..." She looked him over, almost dreamily.

"You said that already."

"That means you control me. My fate is in your hands." She tugged gently on her restraints for emphasis.

"Uh-huh, I don't believe you. You just tried to kill me."

Ammit laughed. "I was trying to scare you into giving it to me. I can't kill the priest in possession of my tether."

James knelt next to her, getting closer than his good sense wanted. "I don't need a slave," he said. "I need an ally. You said you were Anubis' servant before. I'm not interested in replacing him. But I am interested in stopping him. And his daughter."

"And what do I get in return?"

James took her wrist and cut the rope. He did the same to the other, well aware that her predatory gaze hadn't left him.

"This." James touched the ankh around his neck. "Freedom."

Ammit focused on the necklace. "And why shouldn't I just trick you? Take it back?"

He took the necklace off his neck and held it out to her. "I was told to release you by the same witch that banished you. She believes you'll help me. And I'm trusting her."

Ammit made no move toward the necklace but was having trouble taking her eyes off it. "I can see your heart, you know."

"That so?"

"It's not so little." She made as if to reach for it but stopped, then put her hand down. "That contract is satisfactory. Keep it then. I'll help you."

"Just like that?"

Ammit looked away from him, from the necklace. "No. There's one more thing."

"Why am I not surprised..."

"This contract must be bound to our flesh."

"That sounds uncomfortable."

"Our two bodies must join as one." To emphasize her point, she leaned back on the forest floor and opened her legs, revealing the golden tuft of hair between them.

"There's a joke here about carpet and drapes but it might be too anachronistic." James put the necklace over his head again. He couldn't be sure but he felt different wearing it.

"You are strange, even for a human. But you are intriguing nonetheless."

She grabbed him and pulled him on top of her. Her mouth found his and her long tongue darted down his throat. He gagged and grabbed her neck in reaction, pushing back from her embrace.

"Some humans may like that. I don't. Don't do that again."

Ammit was unbothered by his hand on her neck and smiled back at him mischievously. Her grin revealed teeth that were just a little too sharp.

She hooked a leg around his waist and James felt his body respond automatically. Ammit was hot and literally so. Heat radiated from her skin and pressing his body against hers was like laying on an electric blanket.

"Have me your way then," she said, breathing heavy. "Make your mark."

James slid his hand off her throat, down her chest, and between her breasts. The top of her chest, along her clavicle, had that same golden fur that traveled down her belly. Absurdly, it made him think of Cheetara from an old cartoon called ThunderCats.

"What are you grinning about?"

"Nothing. Not important."

Ammit explored him as well. Her hands were surprisingly soft and gentle considering her macabre vocation. She managed to undo his jeans and slip a hand inside.

She smiled up at him, clearly pleased with what she found. "Such a big--"

"Heart?"

"That as well."

James leaned down and kissed her and felt her tongue change shape in his mouth. First, it felt, well, normal, but then it thinned and lengthened as it danced off his.

"Neat trick," he said when they parted.

"If you liked that, you'll love this."

She stuck out her tongue and it lengthened obscenely. She licked up his chest and across his neck, finally settling to his earlobe. He shuddered in response.

With one hand she guided him to line up with her opening. When he looked down he saw that inviting space, topped by her shiny clitoris, white like a pearl.

James didn't think of himself as easily manipulated and he had serious reservations about sticking his dick in an ancient death goddess. He was merely human after all. What business did he have with her?

But, laying here on the forest floor, surrounded by the two remaining campfires, his senses came alight. She smelled fantastic, like sage and rain. She didn't smell like death but of growth. Of water and foliage and when he stared down at her, open before him, he thought of reeds, an endless field of them, with soft black earth under his feet and then he entered her and she growled like a cat in heat, which he supposed she was.