Cursed Times - Only Yesterday! Sequel to Wattys 2015 winner!

Chapter 16: Trueth - Comeback Part 2

From one moment to the next, the translucent smoke was sucked into a sparkling pinpoint of light. It exploded, and where Trueth before had full view of the opposite end of the circle, the sight of those far-away prophets was now blocked by an undulating, intangible presence hovering above the hole. A green smell of moist earth and freshly watered leaves washed through the hall. Metal and myrrh followed as an afterthought.

Trueth felt words pricking her brain with pain, as the voice of Iseret vibrated in their minds.

Why do you disturb me in my rest? Have I not done what I was meant to do?

You have served your penance. Now you shall do your duty. The high priest of Osiris, wearing a green mask and the feather crown of his god addressed Iseret's ba. He had obviously never met the woman, this would not end well—.

—I shall do nothing of the sort! Iseret's spirit conveyed anger through pain just as she had done when alive. Maybe the cult-leaders did not notice anything, but Trueth certainly did. Her head had started throbbing under the onslaught, reminding her of the bad old times in the underground temple.

Hear us out, the high priestess of Selket projected in the dulcet tones that had fooled many a patient into believing he might have a chance to survive the sickbed. With just a few words she painted a dire picture of the calamity that had befallen Metjen. As well as the potential solution and the role Iseret was expected to play.

The hall was silent.

And? asked Iseret's ba. You believe me concerned? You, who have crossed out my existence in the holy scrolls, you who not even grant me the smallest stela bearing my name, you want me to come to your rescue?

Trueth had enough, she drew on her sun-flow, she had to respond...and found she could not. Most likely somebody had spelled her with the bloody feet of Ptah again.

Seisi squeezed her arm. He must have been doing something else; he nodded and turned towards the irate ba flicking in wrath over the hole like sheet metal on a lime-green neon trip.

Iseret, not the high priests need your help. Metjen does.

It is not my problem if the troublesome whelp has managed to shorten his life's path yet again!

Shackles fell from Trueth's brain. Whatever the prophets had been doing, they were doing no more and Trueth found she could speak once more. Movement was also possible, so she picked herself up from the floor, shaking her legs which had gone numb as expected. 

'You wouldn't want him to join you in eternity already, would you?' Her voice came out with a croak and sounded unnaturally loud in the restless calm of the hall.

You shall not sway me, Foreigner. You are forgetting that his ba will be destroyed, so he cannot cross my path any more. The restless twinkle had stopped, instead the filmy substance now hovered across the hole towards Trueth.

I see that you at least have heeded my advice.

'Huh? Have I?' Trueth quickly checked her environment, Seisi stood close to her, the intense expression on his face urging her on. The holy circle had turned towards them but there was nothing to read from those ridiculous masks.

I told you to go back and your path would take you far. Here you are, back in the past.

'Ah, I didn't quite take it that way. I can't figure out prophecies for the life of me. Anyway, if I understand you correctly you are annoyed that your name has been nixed, because you called the demons in?'

Yesssss! I paid for my sins. Yet these cretins still grudge me a full existence in the fields of Yalu. I'm but a shadow. I want to eat like the others, I want to partake of what is owed to me!

The light had turned into a glittering snowstorm whirling left and right. It passed right through Seisi, who moaned and held his middle. His breath came out on a bile green fog.

He was on his own for the moment. 'So if you're annoyed that you have become some sort of anonymous bogeyman, sorry—woman, then surely this can be fixed?' Trueth faced the prophets. They had to come up with the goods if they wanted to kick this pissed-off ghost into action.

Seisi shook himself, he had broken out in goosebumps. 'I had not realised your name had been struck off the records.' He too addressed the prophets. 'Trueth speaks well.' Behind him the eddying presence radiated agreement.

No response from the circle. Most likely they were mind-bashing each other right now, but given who they were, managed to keep hostilities under wraps. Trueth decided to continue negotiations while they were at it. A prophetess dropped to the ground for a moment, then bounced back up again. Had she been knocked out?

'What do you want in exchange for helping Metjen?' Trueth asked.

He will never love you! Icy amusement glimmered straight into her face.

'Thank you for this vote of confidence, I've reached that conclusion all on my own. It doesn't change the fact that I think he has been set up and needs help. You can give it, but you're holding back out of sheer spite, or what?'

For a moment, the light dimmed, then returned with sparkling vigour. I am dead, I have got my pardon, why should I care any more?

Seisi came to the rescue. 'You are not being consistent. You said it yourself. You want to have a full presence in the netherworld. And maybe you have unfinished business as well? The dark ones are starting all over again. Your name, if spoken at all, is a curse in this world. You might want to change that.'

The holy circle might not share your opinion, oh son of common parents.

Seisi recoiled as if slapped with wet wrappings.

Pray, forgive me. I projected out of line. The prophets vex me much. Nothing more of this now. I shall return to where I came from... .

Imhotep's voice blended her out. We have decided. You shall have a tomb with inscriptions as is proper and a memorial service in your name. As Shadow, you will forever be recorded in the holy books. What say you?

If you liked this story, please leave me a vote or a comment. Or both XD. Wattpad writers write for feedback. We thrive on it! Thank you so much. If you REALLY liked it - maybe you can tell your friends about it?

====

Next Update on Monday, 5 October. We will finally find out how Metjen is doing! 

This chapter is dedicated to  one of my WP friends who read, voted and commented in the face of some serious WP glitches.   @mistressOP Thank you! And if you are looking for some cool urban fantasy - look no further than 'Dreaming of Fireflies'. The title alone is great! 

In case you wondered about the media - in the tomb illustrations, the ba was always shown as a bird, with a human head. Somehow, the idea of Iseret floating around like Tweetie didn't work, so I came up with some different imagery. I hope it works for you.