Author Games: The River of Night

Task Two Entries: Of the Underworld

Anka Tahirah

They said she had been chosen, but she didn't understand why.

Why? Why her? She was nothing special – not in her own eyes, anyways. She was no High Priest, just one of the many priestess of Osiris in the city, one of the many in the whole of Egypt. As she walked along the shadowed paths that led to the Underworld, the topic was the only thing that came to mind when she had searched for something to distract her from, well, everything. It was a way for her to address the situation in a calm and collected manner, one that she had learned from another chosen one, a man by the name of Lucius. Apparently, her skin had been a shade of ghastly white when the twenty-one of them had been led to the sacred tomb of Aneski, a site that Anka Tahirah had heard of many a time, but never seen. She had been trembling when the news was broken to her about where she was going, and had felt herself grow faint when they'd set foot in the chamber. She wasn't supposed to be here. She couldn't have been chosen. There must've been a mistake.

She couldn't have been chosen to save the world.

Not her.

Not Anka Tahirah.

Yet, here she was, and as Lucius Horatius had so wisely said, there was nothing they could do but fulfill the god's will for them all.

And so she kept walking. The group was silent. Upon first glance, it was clear to the woman that all the chosen were from different backgrounds and ethnicities, with different duties, ages, and occupations. There were nursemaids and petty thieves, soldiers and travelers. It didn't appear to matter to the gods about the history of their own selected – not many were dedicated followers as she was. Of course, none of them were a priestess of Osiris, and had not been required to give their lives over to their patron god. Yet, the fact that she was travelling with the poor as well as the wealthy caused shivers to travel down her spine, for if the gods were willing to ask mortals, especially the unbelievers, for their assistance in divine affairs, then the situation concerning the disappearance of Ra was bigger than anything she'd ever heard.

And if the gods couldn't handle it, what made them think that she could?

"Be careful," came a voice from in front of her. There was a slightly shuffling noise, and the low rumble of murmurs, before the same voice called back, "There's a slight decline in the ground. We're heading deeper."

No one had to ask what that meant.

They were nearing the center of the chamber, where the legendary River of Night was located. At the end of that river, lay her patron god's kingdom.

The Underworld.

"Anka," Lucius' voice from behind her snapped the woman out of her stupor. She felt a gentle nudge on her back, a silent instruction to move forward. Mumbling an apology, she lifted her low-hanging robe and shuffled forward, keeping her free hand on the wall so that she would not lose her way. Being near the end of its line meant that one was always updated about new dangers, but carried the risk of being left behind to wandering away. The twenty-one of them had been given three torches before heading into the winding, twisting hallways, which had been distributed to the front, middle and end of the staggering line. Lucius held one, and the flickering flames were enough for her to see her way around relatively well, but still. She wanted to be careful. Especially after that...