Wolves of War

13

  Along the Upper Egypt Nile delta, a couple hundred miles south of Memphis lay the city of Lycopolis. It bustled during the day with people bringing wares to the market and offerings to the temples. Anubis and Wepawet were patrons of this city and often they summoned Aspen to guard the tombs nearby when looters threatened it. But it was not them who had summoned her this time.

The day grew warm as the sun rose above the horizon, forcing the vendors in the market to roll out their awnings and shelters to avoid the blistering sun. Goats and slaves were being taken up on the auction block at the end of town, chickens in crude wooden cages squawked as they were bumped along the street on the back of short gray donkeys. Aspen moved among them, her white linen dress fluttering on the light breeze from the Nile. Her appearance was subtle; they saw nothing but one of their own moving among the city masses on the day's errands. They couldn't have been more wrong. This morning she was on her way to meet Sobek by the Nile, where she would be ferried to Sekhmet's palace further up the Nile. Aspen wasn't a huge fan of Sobek; the two clashed a lot. She thought he was arrogant, and he didn't care for female warriors as strong as Aspen.

Sobek was sunning by the ferry boat in the rising sun when Aspen approached. After he assured himself no one was looking, he took his human form and spoke to Aspen.

"Ahh, Aspen. It has been a while." He said as he stepped into the ferry.

Aspen stepped into the cool water before she hopped in. "So, why you? There had to be someone more pleasant to send."

"Sekhmet woke up bossy this morning," he retorted and dipped the oar into the murky waters to push off. Sekhmet had seemed odd this morning. He had thought her intoxicated, which was possible. He couldn't help but wonder why she had summoned her General to her palace. There was unrest in Egypt at this time, but it did not involve her so far as Sobek knew. "Why does she need you? The war coming has little to do with us."

Aspen relaxed in the boat, shrugging at the crocodile God, "Who knows? Maybe Sekhmet intends to end humanity again."

"That worked well for her last time." Sobek scowled. He well recalled the disaster that was Sekhmet attempting to end humanity. Isis had come up with the idea to use red beer to intoxicate her and Ra had poured it out in the Nile to bait her. It had worked, but Sekhmet had never forgiven or forgotten it. She still seethed with rage towards humanity and vowed it's end.

"That's because she didn't have me on her side," Aspen said, digging into her small rucksack from the market. Sobek glanced back to see her eating an apple and frowned deeper.

"Such arrogance," he mumbled. "Unbecoming of a woman. The idea that a female could be a warrior, even if you are a wolf is ludicrous."

"Is that why you don't like me, then? You don't like strong women?" Aspen was goading him now, she knew that was exactly why the crocodile God hated her and that and he and Sekhmet also detested each other for various reasons.

"What if this is another coup attempt on Sekhmet's behalf? Will you take part in the wiping out of humanity?" Sobek didn't quite know why he was asking. Confirmation, perhaps. He already knew the sociopath lioness was serious about this.

"I don't see why not. The humans have proven themselves unworthy of my mercy. They have attempted to loot the Lycopolis tombs three times this past month. And for what? Weapons that mortal men cannot wield?"

"When they are gone and it's just us Gods, then what?" Sobek's oar made slight splashing noises as he pushed the ferry downstream towards Leonopolis where Sekhmet lived. "The pantheon leaders created humans as slaves. If we wipe them out, then they will create something else. I shudder to think what sort of asinine creatures they will create next."