Nigkala Tales Pt. 32: What's Isis Doing?

I walked the prescribed distance, then prostrated myself. I waited for him to speak.

"Who are you? The living should not be here for judgment."

"I am Nigkala, a priestess of Isis, and I bear gifts from her, and a message."

"My sister sent you? Why does she not come herself?"

"Yes, my lord, she did. She knows another will try to kill you, and she cannot come herself at this time. I, however, am strong enough to make the journey, and faithful enough to do as she commands."

"Stand. It is clear you are strong, to enter this realm while still living. How did you find me?"

"I followed the Pharaoh, at a distance. I waited for him to depart, before I entered, as his business is not my business."

"Curious. You seem to show no fear of me. Why?"

"I fear what you can do. I trust Isis would not send me into likely danger without telling me. And lastly, I have dealt with several gods in person. I know how powerful I am, and how little that is, compared to a god. Respect is the best way to deal with a god, and so I freely give it to you, and trust in your graciousness."

"Such trust could be easily broken."

"I am aware."

"So, you mentioned gifts? What offerings do you have for me?"

I pulled out the crook and flail, and said, "These were created by my own hand, but the enchantment is from Isis, herself. It is her gift, not mine. I am simply the one to bring them to you."

He gestured, and another in the court, approached me, and I handed them over. They were then briefly examined, before being taken to Osiris. He, too, examined them. "These are finely made, and from quality materials. I can sense the enchantments, but do not understand them. What do you know of them?"

"Isis knows one will come to kill you. She has enchanted these to protect your life. I know they need to be close to you, preferably carried, to work. That is why she asked me to craft my best for you. Now that you have them, and know who sent them, I add my entreaty to hers, please accept them and keep them close."

"And if I don't?"

"Then she will be distraught. But there is nothing I can do about it, beyond telling her what happened here."

"And if I kill, then judge you?"

"I can do nothing to stop you, and it would distress her greatly."

"I sense you are holding back something."

"I am. However, all I've said is true. What I hold back is best held back. Please don't command me to tell you, as I don't think it will help."

"Odd. You believe what you say. I sense no falsehood in you. Can you show me some evidence she truly sent you?"

I concentrated, called on her power stored in the ankh, and levitated a foot off the ground. Then I caused the feathers to come forth. He gave a quick in-drawn breath at this. I held it for a minute, then released her power and settled back on the floor.

I said, "She has trusted me with this power."

"My sister almost never lets her priestesses have that power. She does trust you. Very well, I shall keep these close."

"Thank you, Lord Osiris." I bowed deeply, then backed out of the room.

Once out, I turned and walked slowly out. I waited a few minutes, to see if anything significant happened, but nothing did. I then walked away for an hour, before removing my dress and breaking into a distance run. What took seven days to get here, took only half a day to return. When I got back to where I entered, I dressed and cast the spell to return me to the world.

Some had sought me, but having secured my abode before transitioning to the Duat, people just assumed I was meditating, or otherwise busy, when they came. I just used a little magic to unsecure it from the outside. Renewing the magic spells in the place, I rested on the roof. When the sun set, I went to bed. In the morning, I joined in the daily rituals, and saying I needed to get busy.

Over the next few days, while the ankh recharged from the spell to exit the Duat, and the further display of power with feathers, I kept busy, inquiring what had gone on while I was meditating. I was also making copies of a number of things at the library, so I could bring them with me when I returned. I also made many pearls, and amber, so I could have wealth to spend for my upcoming trip. Lastly, I took a lot of pictures of every walk of life, of every kind of building, and even of the ships at the docks.

Having finally gathered all I intended to take, I informed the temple that my time here was finished, and that Isis desired me upriver. A few days later, I was a passenger on a boat going upriver. When we pulled into the city that would become the future Cairo, I got off. I needed an ox-cart to carry all my stuff. After leaving the docks, I slowly altered my appearance with magic, and I whammied the driver to think I always looked as I appeared now. By the time I was staying at a traveler's inn, I appeared as a Sumerian warrior.

I stayed there for nearly a month, as I first replaced my illusionary attire with the real clothing and armor, but without the metal bits. For that, I bought the metal, and worked it with magical tools, and added it to my clothes. I bought several daggers, some as my weapons, and others as artifacts. I also went all over this city taking pictures, as well. I finished my information gathering, and hired another ox-cart to take my stuff out into the desert.

We left early, and went for half a day. Then I stopped, and had the driver help me unload, before returning to the city. Once he was well away, I created a solid illusion of a cart, with large, soft wheels that would easily cross the sand, but with a low-enough deck for me to easily lift my stuff onto it. I then put on the harness, so I could pull it, and began to walk even further out into the desert. In the meantime, I commanded the sand to remove all trace of our passage. I went slow, and well into the night. I then went beneath the cart to sleep.

When I woke, I conjured up water to drink, and quenched my thirst before pouring the rest over me. It was already the hottest part of the day, so I waited a few hours in the shade, before pulling the cart further. It took three days to get where I wanted to be. Sand everywhere as far as the eyes could see, and off the regular travel routes. I was also about as far from Cairo, as it was from the sea. This was where we had agreed I would make my return.

I spent nearly a day moving the sand away and shaping sand below the ground level, creating a sandstone structure to hold all the artifacts. After it was set, I covered it with sand, and went a distance from it, so the magic of the ankh would not affect it. Concentrating, I created a small sandstorm. I used my own magic to add wind to it, so it would spin and grow. At the same time, sand was being taken from where I stood, so I descended as the storm grew. When it was deep enough, I released all my magic, and slowly released my control of the sand.

The storm slowed, and the sand started to fill in. I then invoked the ankh's power to return. Suddenly, the sand poured into the hole and covered me, and I held my breath. It seemed only a few seconds later, that I heard Isis.

"Becky Sue, I am here. It is time to exit your secret hiding place."

I found I could not move a muscle, but I used the skill I had learned to cast magic with a pair of imaginary arms, and I created a portal beneath me, and the other end was nearly a mile up. Suddenly, I was falling. So, using Isis's power, I levitated to stop my fall. Then I used An's power, to sweep the falling sand to the side, before I slowly came down and landed.

"I met Osiris, and gave him the crook and flail."

"Great. Let's go find them." She handed me my backpack. "Here's your modern stuff."

"Yes, but give me a few minutes. I have a message to send first." I used Everest's power to sense where the buried sandstone was, and walked directly over it. Then I got out a phone and got a GPS fix, that I texted to my friend, John Maxwell, the archaeologist. I informed him it was a treasure trove of well-preserved Egyptian artifacts. I them put the phone away, and swapped my outfit for a modern one. When I was ready, I nodded to her.

"Give me your ankh." I took it off, and handed it to her. "Yes, as I suspected. They are still in the Duat." She then cast a spell, and I recognized we were there. "Come, follow me." She then lifted a bit and let her feathers appear.

I too did the same, and when she zoomed off, my own response was to follow, and in moments, I was slightly behind her. We arrived in seconds, and found several demons having an argument. I felt I would have to fight soon, so I prepared, while Isis got their attention. As she spoke, I studied them to see what I would need to do to take them down. The spells I cast, I did so with virtual arms, so they would not see me casting.

Finally, the talking was over, and Isis said, "Send forth your champion."

Their leader replied, "Why, you are no fighter."

"I am not, but she is." At that, I summoned an obsidian sword and dagger with the standard enhancements. Then, I smiled. Secretly, I summoned sand behind them, so I would have some available for combat.

"Only one? You will need to kill all of us to get what you want."

I spoke, "Give the command, and step up and away from the field of battle, and I shall deal with them."

That got laughs, for there were nearly twenty of them.

"I give the command." Isis then levitated up.

I pulled in Inanna's power as a warrior, then caused the sand to spin around us all. I added wind from An, to make it a miniature tornado, and pulled it in. This caught them by surprise. There was a lot of yelling, then they attacked. They tried fire, but I intercepted it with sand. Then they tried lightning, but I easily absorbed it, then sent it back tenfold at them. That knocked two down, but then I added lightning into the swirling sand, and pulled it all the way in, so then no one could see.

I switched to other senses, and began to spin. Faster and faster, I spun; then I moved into them. They were angry at being effectively blinded, and they tried to attack me, but they often hit each other at first. I added more lightning into the twister, and aimed it at them. Five minutes later, I calmed the storm and stopped spinning, because they were all dead, or nearly so.

The leader was nearly dead, and I heard him say, "How? She is not a warrior goddess!"

"I serve several, including a warrior goddess, and have served as her champion. Your only chance was not to fight." I looked up, and said, "Come, my lady, and retrieve what you desire."

She slowly landed on the ground, and walked to another, who had died, and stood over him. Suddenly, the body rose, and the possessions floated off, one at a time, until the crook and flail floated to her. Then she dropped the body. I backed off, then cast a spell to clean myself.

Isis said, "Time to leave." She then levitated up, and brought forth her feathers. I did the same, and when she left, I followed. She came back to the place we entered, and then while still in the air, cast the spell to return us. We then flew to Cairo, and landed. No one seemed to notice us, until we entered a large crowd.

"Why did no one notice us?"

"I made us invisible to anyone on the ground, and as we landed, I made us unremarkable for a time. This allowed us to blend in and now, no one knows we weren't here moments ago. Come, let's get a cab to the airport."

I soon spotted one, and called it to us. I opened the door for her, and entered next. She told the cabbie to take us to the airport. I bought a pair of first-class tickets for the next flight stateside, to New York. I would have got a second set to fly cross country, but she wanted to see the city. We had hours to wait, so we went to a restaurant and enjoyed a meal, then to a lounge where we rested, awaiting the flight. Rather than deal with customs, I whammied the guards to see nothing of note in what we had.

Soon after the plane went on autopilot, I convinced the crew to give us a tour of the cockpit. Despite her being out of sync with modern technology, she understood flight, and they picked up on that. When we got back to our seats, I explained to Isis what she didn't understand. Soon, she went to sleep, but I had a bit of fun. I made sure to clean up well before returning to my seat and relaxing myself by meditating. After landing, we went through customs again, and I did some more whammies.

I got us a nice hotel near Central Park. While not the penthouse suite, our suite wasn't far from it. She spent a week checking everything out, especially the tall buildings. While I was with her, I was more keeping her company, as I was already familiar with most of the places we went. Often as we waited, I texted back and forth with John, and told him all about the cache of Egyptian artifacts.

Isis and I went on the tour bus, and enjoyed being shown the sights of the city. Eventually, we got home, and she got right to work. For several days, she stayed in Death Valley, and then I got a call from her.

"Becky Sue Tate, my priestess, come to Death Valley. You are needed."

I hurried, and soon passed through the gate to the valley. Entering the Pocket Industry, I stopped in shock. I saw Osiris standing next to her. Recovering, I looked at her and saw she had gone all out with the makeup, and looked like she had when she took me over.

I bowed deeply, then said, "Welcome. Much has changed since last you walked this earth. I serve your sister," I nodded to her, "as one of several. My primary allegiance is to Inanna, of Sumeria."

Isis said, "Brother, you met her once before, not long before you died. She came to you in the Duat and gifted you with my presents."

It took him some time, and he stared at me. I could feel he was examining me. Eventually, he said, "You are human, and not very old, but many centuries have passed. How can you be the same?"

Isis spoke, "She is the same, because I sent her. Inanna called her from the past, and sent her back. From that, I learned how to use my own power to send her back. It cost her more than a year of her life to deliver my gifts. She also aided me in restoring your body."

"She did? Did you not already know how?"

"I did, but the magic I used then, merely animated your body. But Inanna's magic is different. It actually restores your vitality by bringing your body back to life. Becky Sue also discovered where Set had hidden your great member. It was when she sought me out and gave it to me that I began to have hope. It seemed that by happenstance, she and two other Inanna priestesses decided to have fun with it. But because it was alive, all three got pregnant."

"I have three more children?"

"Four. Becky Sue bore twins."

"And they are mine?"

"Yes. The other two are half gods, but hers are full gods, for I was hiding within her at the time."

I could see he was in shock, like many fathers are, when they learn they have kids. Summoning some sand from the desert, I created a glass. Then using Aja's magic, I created fresh juice. Stepping up closer, I offered it to him. He took it, and drank it all. I stepped back as he was drinking, and when he set the glass down, I refilled it remotely.

Suddenly, he went past me and out, saying, "I need space!" Isis followed, and I collected the glass and brought up the rear. He had only made it about twenty feet away, when he realized we were in a desert. He fell on his knees, and seemed to cry. "Everything is so different. In there, it was cool, like the evening, and here it is like the deep desert! How it is possible?"

Isis walked over, and leaning down, she comforted him, saying, "I, too, had to learn how different everything is now. Man has learned to do many things once only done by the gods. They can fly through the air; they can make a place cold, hot, or somewhere in between. They use machines to do what animals were once used. They use other machines to talk across vast distances. Our land, once thought to be so wide, is now but a small part of the world."

They were quiet for several minutes, before he stood. Turning to her, he asked, "How do you cope?"

"I almost didn't. I hurt her, but she forgave me. When it came time to deal with divine children, she offered me a chance to help raise them. I once again took up residence in her body, but instead of taking it over, she allowed me to share it, for the children's sake. Even though I wanted to teach them the old ways, she translated them to the modern ways. For example, learning to ride and control animals became learning to ride and control machines. Look over there, and you'll see them." She pointed at the mini dune buggies.

"She also taught me about this world, and was always kind and patient to explain everything. She knows far more than any advisor of old. And she is wise, for she has lived a very full life. I am constantly surprised at the lessons she adds, that teach the children wisdom. Soon, they will begin the change from being a child into an adult, and having met some of her other children, she has done well there, also."

"They are that old? How will they know their father?"

"They are ten years old, and they consider her mate as their father."

"What!"

"Peace, brother. She is Inanna's, and her children are sired by many men. They all know that their father is most likely not their sire. Your children know this, all four. But they need a father figure, and she gives them her mate."

"I have children, and they don't know me." He looked like he might cry again.

"No, brother, they know you. Not only the Osiris of ancient Egypt, but also the god who sired them. We have been teaching them many things, including magic and languages. Few in the land can speak Egyptian, but your children do. They also know that they are gods and goddesses, and that they are different. Becky Sue could not teach them alone. Nor could I, as I am in hiding. Soon, you, too, must hide, for other gods have chosen to take an interest in the children."

"Why should we hide? Don't they fear the combined might of Egypt?"

"They do not, for that might is just the two of us. With your second death, I was unable to bring you back. Then Egypt declined, and so did we. I retreated, leaving my power in an artifact while I slept in the Field of Reeds. She accidentally summoned me, and I woke, thinking all was normal. But I had slept far longer than I knew. When her daughter challenged me with words, I called upon the others to prove her wrong. No one answered, and I knew I was alone. For the wrong I had done her, I allowed her some of my power by relocating to her body, but I went back to sleep, and remained so until she woke me for the children. Their need gave me a reason to live. But by then, the other gods had already acted."

"What have they done!"

"Little yet, as Becky Sue declared her intent to fight for the children no matter what they decided."

"She would be like a gnat challenging a mountain."

"I think she could prove difficult, but you are right. She would lose, and she even admitted it, but her sincerity moved them to delay judgment. Until then, they have watchers, whom she has charged to teach, to ensure the children won't cause trouble with the way things are. They fear change, and I sympathize with them, knowing how much change has affected me."

"What must we do?"

"We must hide from the other gods until we are ready. Before I had the idea of sending her back to save you with my gifts, I had planned to announce myself when we meet with them at the children's coming of age. Now, you can join me. For now, the children think me a god's representative who knows magic. They know I am teaching her, as well. It is my thought to introduce you as my mate, and just have you about. I think my reveal will startle them, and I intend to make your children into the new gods of our pantheon. With you by my side, it will be even easier, and I think they will let us be. Oh, they'll watch us, but to do something, I think not."