The Forgotten God

Chapter 13

Mr Montford's face fell when he saw the disarray of his room. The storm that had shook the core of the building had detached the shelves from the walls, sending them and their contents crashing to the floor. Papers, or what was left of them, floated in pulped lumps on the surface of the bloody waters.

His bookcase had fared no better and, while it remained intact, the various books and objects were past repair.

"Years of work," he whispered as he slumped limply against the wall "lost and ruined."

Marie and Ash gripped hold of him as his legs buckled, his eyes growing distant as they stared at the loss of his life's passion. To him, it was worse than losing his home, it had been everything.

Marie led him over to a chair that had miraculously remained standing, its balance aided by the shelf falling from behind. His arms hung limply at his sides as she pushed him down, his fingertips trailing the water.

"The things in your desk should be OK," she reassured, glancing over, The surface had a wide crack spreading from end to end but otherwise looked intact. "You surely have work in there that's important?"

He nodded weakly in response. "Yes. I don't know how much use it will be though, it's mostly accounts and personal studies. I don't think I kept any books or anything that may help us here."

Even so, he eased himself forward to hoist the drawer and peered at the mess of papers. Most, as he suspected, were overheads and various accounts, kept for reference until he was convinced it was safe to shred them.

Towards the bottom he came across a few pages of print outs, copies of papyrus he had downloaded for the benefit of the new exhibit.

His eyes briefly cleared with a small ray of hope as his fingers clutched at them. Those grainy, barely decipherable images had seemed so low on his importance list when the shipment arrived, an afterthought to decorate the cases and give examples of the artefacts former dwelling.

Ash tentatively flicked the light switch, half expecting an electric shook. The bulb above flickered with dying effort before fusing with a soft pop.

"Sorry, I should've known that would happen," he said sheepishly "I was hoping against hope."

"It'll be best to go upstairs anyway," Marie said "I don't want this one fretting about everything, something I know is going to happen if we stay too long." She nudged him gently. "You're alive, that's the blessing. Your work will recover and who knows, this might be the start of something."

"It is." Mr Montford clutched her arm as he got to his feet. "The start of the end if we don't get a move on. I refuse to allow an ancient, unknown deity dictate the future!" He paused to look at the papers, his face becoming more gloomy. "I have my doubts these will help but...but we have the hope of the other Gods, something I can't believe I am saying."

"Believe in yourself," Marie said pragmatically "that's what my ma used to say. She went to church every service but always said that you have to help yourself to have God help you."

__________________________________________________

Am Heh watched as the scarabs crawled from their grisly feasts, clinging to the walls or whatever dryness that was within reach to avoid becoming a meal themselves for the serpentine creatures that swam the streets. Their fate was of little concern to him, they had done their job and now they were redundant.

The delightful sounds of pain and fear drifted from those concealed in the towering buildings, tending their wounds and cowering in futile prayer.

A smile playing fleetingly as his fingers beckoned to the sky where the thunder still growled like a low-lying beast in the clouds.

Instantly the air was silence, even the wind dared not breathe.

One or two face appeared at the windows overlooking the streets, drawn and curious by the eerie atmosphere that had fallen.

The prayers had turned to silence and soon the silence turned to screams as the sky became dark. Blackness shimmered with iridescent teal as a multitude of strong wings worked with the breeze and the violent cries chorused from thin, hoarse throats.

Onyx orbs surveyed the surface, swooping down to seize shards of flesh that floated there and soon turned to trace the scent of blood coming came from the shattered windows.

The birds were hungry and not of the human world, living prey didn't have to be simply mice or rats and their proud beaks could tear easily through the tougher skin of humans and larger animals.

Am Heh felt his heart fill with delight as the song of agony wailed once again. The glass exploded with the force of the feathered attackers flinging themselves against it, talons and claws targeting the soft eyes and bulging vein in the throat. The floors absorbed the crimson, dripping viscous droplets to the level below and accentuating the horror if the tenant was still alive.

The largest of the birds flew down, blood spiralling behind it as it shed the excess from its claws, before swooping with grand grace to land on his shoulder.

Am Heh nonchalantly stroked the coarse feathers of the pronounced head, tracing about the black orb with his finger.

"You shall be my eyes."

If he felt the cold pain as he turned his claw to pierce the base of his own eye, he made no sign of it. He had always made a point of giving no one the satisfaction of seeing him flinch, even when he stood alone.

The crow tilted its head and watched with intrigue, its gaze riveted on the droplet the God caught on his fingertip. Its body quivered when the warm blood was pressed above its own eye, seeping in and being absorbed. An indignant caw sounded as the unpleasant sensation and the inevitable blur that followed.

Am Heh smiled with rare compassion, hushing the bird with a gentle stroke. "Quiet, you are fine, you can now see for me when I need it." He continued to smooth the glimmering plumage as he spoke, gazing up to where the others began to gather on the eaves and in the sky. "You will be well rewarded, see this as just a beginning."

The bird fluffed itself proudly with apparent understanding. Am Heh could almost see the images that ran through its mind of more meat. Humans were more corpulent than the scraggy vermin that normally fell to them, not to mention fresher, their normal fare being dead for some time, the blood cold in the veins.

"Go," Am Heh lifted his arm abruptly. "Scour the city and show me how it lies. This will be the first of many to fall but my ideas will depend on what is here."

The crow spread its wings, briefly obscuring the dim light from the deities eyes, before taking to the air gallantly, disappearing into the wispy mist of clouds.

The scenes it saw were reflected back into Am Heh's own eyes, the grim landscape of grey buildings and grimy streets, interspersed by the odd relief of green from the more affluent areas and local park.

The sight of the churchyard was on interest with its packed ground of old and new graves and a patchwork of flowers littering the earth with their dying petals.

How useful the dead could be when their corporeal forms were summoned back from their lonely beds.

Humans feared the dead. Almost as much as they feared death itself.

"When the earth spits out the dead," Am Heh breathed with a sinister smile "they will reap the life back from the living."

He continued to watch through the crow's eyes, almost despairing at the grime and generic nature of what was reflected to him. To those who lived there the desolate lands of Egypt would have been displeasing but Am Heh never saw that, this however just added fuel to his belief that humanity was a disgrace.