Wolves of War

15

  The pyramids were gleaming white, their tops shining with gold blinding in the sun, like a jewel atop the King's crown. All of Alexandria was bright with wall paintings that depicted hieroglyphs dating back to the time of the first Pharaoh. The streets were crowded with people clamoring in the market to buy goats and food products. The breeze was scented with myrrh and the surrounding Mediterranean.

Scattered throughout the city were temples to their various deities, stately white limestone and intricate carvings almost as beautiful as Isis. The Goddess herself was moving among the humans clandestinely. She used the body of Queen Cleopatra as she had used many female rulers before. Cleopatra had been vocal about her affiliation with the Goddess, claiming she was the earthly embodiment of Isis. The Goddess didn't mind her giving up the secret, she enjoyed the attention, unlike the other queens, and Cleopatra had given herself over to Isis completely. Which meant sometimes Cleopatra did not speak with her own tongue, nor did she act of her own accord.

As was the case today. In the bright sunlight, Cleopatra and her handmaidens perused a temple built to Isis a few years before. Followers left the offerings on a white bench at the entrance and the handmaidens gathered them into their colorful baskets. Deep in the temple, Cleopatra ceased to exist as Isis took over, her real form appearing. Though Cleopatra was beautiful, she was pale in comparison to Isis herself. Isis preferred her own body, immortal and bathed in a golden sheen when the sun's rays landed on it. When her change was complete, she noticed a shadow in the dark corner, the outline of a jackal lounging in the shade.

"Anubis?" She greeted the Jackal God, in his real form. He was depicted with a human body, but he preferred to travel amongst the people like this.

The Jackal spoke softly. "Come to gather your offerings?"

"Yes, have you come to pay respects?" She teased, her gold sandaled feet made no noise as she walked towards him and petted the Jackal.

"Right, you tell yourself that. It is time you leave the human body and come home. Egypt is falling." Anubis explained, stretching drowsily in the day's heat. "There will be no place for us soon."

"Mark Antony has gone off to war recently. Surely he hasn't lost already." She looked at the Jackal with a serious expression.

"Ra and I spoke. He is coming back un-victorious. The man will probably kill himself in his grief. He was never General material like Caesar."

At this news, Isis felt Cleopatra start to fight to come to the surface. She'd heard of her beloved's name and she was determined to be with him in his pain. Isis frowned. She walked out of the temple with Anubis at her heels. "I shall meet him then at the city gates. This human is already teeming with emotion and I fear she would end her life as well if he does. Dammit, he couldn't wait just a little longer until I had absorbed her free will!"

Anubis looked up suddenly as a large bird swooped upon them, a golden falcon, glowing in the desert sun. Isis threw out her arm to let him alight. "Egypt has fallen to Octavian. Mark Antony lies dead at your tomb entrance." The falcon reported, his voice stern and serious. Anubis had warned her too late.

"That can't be!" Isis yelled in Cleopatra's shrill voice, startling the bird back into flight. She watched him swirl back into the clear blue sky. "Anubis?!"

"I must return, they will need me. Shed the human, Isis, this is no time to be in Egypt," Anubis said as he vanished into a small heatwave.

Isis snarled as the human, whose body she controlled, fought her to get free. Cleopatra screamed deep inside her psyche. "Let me go! Let me go to him! I must join him in the next life."