War Of Egypt II • The Persians

Chapter 10: The Forgotten God

   "So what is it like? The Underworld."

   "Are you sure you wanted to come along?"

   "How many gods of the west are there?"

   "I think we made a mistake."

   "I heard the goddess Hathor was once a goddess of the west."

   "It has been a day and we are still walking through the night. Are you hungry?"

   "What is—whoa! Prince Atenosis!"

    Atenosis stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. The girl disappeared behind a form of grey moving mist. Narrowing his eyes, he moved forward with his hands pulling in front of him. He could feel some kind of leaves and shoots in the mist, telling him that he was passing through the heavy vegetation again. Atenosis stopped and heard a muffled scream down to his left. He went over and paused, feeling some empty disturbance in the area in front of him. If Atenosis had normal sight, he could see that travelling through the jungle was not the easiest route for a god and a mortal girl, despite the colorful foliage. Right in front of him was a sandpit and it was swallowing Hetsetut up.

   "Pretty girl?!"

   "Down hemrghp!"

    Atenosis stared down where her voice came from and saw the outline of the sand pit. "Hold on, reach for the staff." He held the staff over, circling the surface, probing for the feel of her human hands. The grip came hard and fast. He then tightened his hand around the staff and easily lifted her out to the edge of the pit. Hetsetut quickly got to her feet and dusted off the sand.

    Atenosis looked at the pit, "are you all right?"

    At first she nodded, but for the convenience of the unseeing god, she told him by word of mouth. He turned around and kneeled beside her, it was becoming a constant habit after being with her for an entire day. When he had spoken to Anubis, he gave him two ways to reach the kingdom that was once Set's. The first way was by flying there, it was an easily done journey in nothing more than a few hours. The second was by walking through the desert for 2 days and 2 nights. And the second easiest way on foot was through the forrest that ran alongside the Nile, then one could simply cross into the Western deserts. Atenosis was planning to fly, but that was before he met Hetsetut.

    He had insisted she stay back in Egypt, but she had no place to stay and no family left. She said she wanted to accompany him on his journey, but only if he would have her. Atenosis knew they would face issues along the road, but somehow he simply told her that there would be no problem if she went along with him. Hetsetut had never strayed away from the Northern Kingdom, she had never seen the outside before. Atenosis thought it was one of the reasons he decided to journey by the Nile. Since they started out, he found that she was stronger than what he was expecting of her. The girl rarely hungered and she never slept a wink, always refusing both whenever he suggested it. Her response was always the same: "it will slow us down, my Prince."

    And so he knelt beside her and cupped her head in his hands, turning it from side to side, examining her. "Did you eat the sand?"

   "No, my Prince," she mumbled back quietly as his hands were obstructing her jaws. "Your hands are cold."

   "Good. Never mind my hands. Sometimes the pits have insects and bugs inside them, it would be a shame if you did eat a poisonous bug or two." He let go of her face and stood up, straightening his shendyt. While he did so, Atenosis heard her let out a disappointed sigh and realized something was wrong.

    Rather than ask about it, Hetsetut once again approached him confidently. "My Prince?" It was something he admired about her. She was direct and confident.