Takmet sat up quickly, throwing off the covers. His breathing was heavy and sweat glistened on his body in the moonlight. He had a bad feeling. “Sasaki...” he whispered.

Takmet got up and quietly made his way to the room where the girls were staying. He silently but hastily opened the door. One, two, three..., he counted the bodies on the bed mentally. Sasaki is missing.

He backed out of the room, closing the door again. He leaned against the wall, panic starting to rise. Takmet had no idea where Sasaki had gone. He didn’t know where to start looking. Suddenly he felt something he couldn’t explain, like a presence pulling him in a certain direction. Then he heard the hissing. He whirled his head in the direction of the sound, piercing the darkness with his searching gaze.

The serpent slithered out of the shadows. Takmet’s eyes fixed on it as it came closer and stopped at his feet. What is a cobra doing in the palace? Takmet thought as he remained frozen, watching the rocking serpent warily.

The cobra’s hood flared, making Takmet anticipate an attack. But its hood closed. Then it opened again. Takmet furrowed his eyebrows. That was strange. A cobra usually flared its hood before it struck, but this serpent seemed to be waving flags in his face.

The cobra turned and slithered down the hallway, further confusing Takmet. It turned around to look at him, flared its hood again, then continued on its way. Takmet wrinkled his brow, confused, but he followed the cobra down the hall.

Every once in a while the cobra swiveled around as if to make sure Takmet was following, and indeed he was. He was curious to find out where this odd snake was going. It slithered through the halls to the front of the palace, then outside to the pit. It turned once more to see Takmet still following, then disappeared down the side of the hole in the ground.

Takmet cautiously approached the pit and leaned over the edge, looking down. There lay Sasaki in the midst of the mass of slithering serpents. Takmet’s eyes widened in surprise. The cobras were all around her, swimming over and under Sasaki’s slim figure. Sasaki was seemingly asleep, but Takmet feared the worst. If she had already been bitten, he realized she may be dead.

At that thought his heart skipped a beat. He knelt at the edge of the pit and closed his eyes in concentration. Sasaki’s lithe form slowly rose from the depth of the pit. Takmet was careful not to move her too fast and provoke the serpents to strike again. He instinctively guided Sasaki’s floating body into his arms, forgetting about the spell until he felt the mild burning upon contact with Sasaki’s skin.

She is still alive, Takmet thought gratefully. Though not by much. He searched for bite marks along her body. To his dismay he found several sets, some in awkward areas that made him hesitate to suck out the venom. It was a wonder she was not dead yet. There wasn’t time to wake the physician.

Takmet deduced that Sasaki had been put under a sleeping spell, for she surely would have woken when she had hit the bottom of the pit. The fact that such a strong sleeping spell was used made him connect this whole ordeal with Sekat. Takmet dismissed the sleeping spell easily. Marton had taught him how to complete such simple tasks well. Sasaki twisted uncomfortably in his grasp, the pain of venom flowing through her.

Takmet sucked out the venom from the bites that were not located near her chest or neck. It would be extremely awkward for him to do so. He could not use magic to dispel the venom of cobras, for everything that it affected in the body was too complicated for Takmet’s skill. After sucking out what venom he could, Takmet felt Sasaki’s energy increase somewhat, but not nearly enough to make him let her go.

Takmet brushed Sasaki’s cheek gently. “Come on, Sasaki. Wake up.”

Her eyes stayed closed. Takmet shook his head. He was almost afraid to move her now, but he knew he had to get her some help. Sasaki was tough, but not tough enough to live with a dozen or so cobra bites. Takmet stood with her in his arms and disappeared from the site of the pit. He reappeared in front of Marton’s door.

Just then Yakumi rounded the corner and bumped into Takmet, not seeing him in the dark.

“Oh, I’m sorry Takmet,” Yakumi said automatically.

“Pardon me, Yakumi,” Takmet replied. “I have to be going, though.’

Yakumi saw the limp Sasaki in Takmet’s arms and asked, “What happened to her?”

Takmet hesitated, not wanting to lie but not wanting to explain too much either. “She’s sick. I have to see Marton now, so if you’ll excuse me...” With that Takmet opened the door in front of him and disappeared before Yakumi could get a word out.

Yakumi blinked at Takmet’s abrupt departure. She grinned then and continued walking down the hall, humming to herself.

* * *

In Marton’s room Takmet put Sasaki down on the long chair and went into the mage’s bedchamber. Takmet shook the old man gently by the shoulders.

“Marton,” Takmet hissed. “Wake up! I need your help.”

“Hmmm..huh? Is that you, Takmet?” Marton mumbled, half asleep.

“Wake up,” Takmet repeated.

“What’s the matter?” Marton asked, sensing Takmet’s urgency. The mage sat up, blinking at the light from the other room.

“It’s Sasaki. She is in trouble.”

Marton got up in a hurry and followed Takmet to where he had left the cobra-stricken girl. Marton took one look at the bites on Sasaki’s body and instantly knew whose work it was.

“This is not good,” the mage said gravely.

Takmet sat next to Sasaki and looked up at the mage. “Is there anything we can do for her?” Takmet asked, afraid of the answer. Silence lingered for what seemed like an eternity before the mage spoke again.

Marton leaned over Sasaki, inspecting the punctures on her arms. “She should have been dead long ago. Something keeps her from crossing to the other side. It may be that . . . No, it’s too early for that yet.”

“What?” Takmet asked. “What were you going to say?”

The mage looked into Takmet’s determined eyes. The young man wanted to save Sasaki in any way he could. Marton decided to see how much Takmet really knew without realizing it.

“What did Sasaki do this afternoon? How did her first day go?”

“I will tell you how it went!” He counted on his fingers as he named off each thing. “First she tells me she is Seti’s sister, then we were attacked by the living dead, her friends were temporarily captured, and she invoked Isis’ powers.”

Marton’s face paled at the mention of Isis. “She did what?”

“She invoked Isis,” Takmet repeated. “And it damn near killed her. She defeated all of the enemies in one blow. It was a miracle that she did not die.”

“You’re telling me that...,” Marton whispered. He shook himself out of his shock. “You have seen enough to know. You probably will realize that you have always known.”

“Known what?”

The mage leaned against his desk and thought a moment. “Did anything...strange happen to you today?”

“Other than all of the things I just listed? Not really.”

“No. To you alone?” Marton asked.

Takmet thought for a moment. He cautiously told the mage what had happened to him earlier. “I heard voices.”

“What did they say?”

“It was two of them. One called and one answered. But I felt that the one that answered came from me somehow.”

“This is the beginning then,” Marton sighed.

Takmet stood up. “Beginning of what? In Ra’s name, just tell me.”

Marton turned to his table and began fiddling with odd items. Then he spoke. “Sasaki is more than just a princess. She was chosen to bear the soul of Isis.”

Takmet was shocked silent. The next words he spoke were barely above a whisper. “To what end?”

The old man turned back to Takmet. “To save Egypt from the threat that Sekat and his partner present to the welfare of Egypt. They seek to corrupt and destroy our civilization and Sekat has been doing it slowly over the past three decades. At first with Seti’s father. Now with Seti himself.”

Takmet pondered a moment. “Then what part do I, the one enamored with this..this deity, play in this game of the fates?”

Marton smiled. “Why, you are another piece put down on the side of good. Those voices you heard were of Isis within Sasaki…and the voice of Osiris within you.”

Takmet said nothing. He simply backed into the wall and slid down to the floor, resting his elbows on his knees. Marton let him sit while the mage did what he could for Sasaki’s wounds.

“Is that why I was drawn to her then?”

“You know better than that, Takmet. You love Sasaki. Your heritage has little to do with what you feel for her. You know that.”

“I suppose I do, but hearing it from you reinforces my thoughts.” Takmet looked up at the mage. “So what can be done to save Sasaki? She needs to be saved before Egypt can be.”
“The only reason she is alive is that little bit of Isis she awakened when she invoked her power earlier. Either the person who enchanted the cobras must be killed or Isis must be fully awakened to save her.”

“How do we do that?”

“‘We’ nothing. You would have to do it. To awaken Isis you would also in the process awaken Osiris as well. Your touch would accomplish that.”

“‘My touch’? But I have touched her before. What do you mean?”

Marton only raised his eyebrows.

Takmet caught his meaning and stood up in protest. “No. Absolutely not. There is no way I would do that to her in her condition!”

Marton shrugged. “Suit yourself. Then you will have to kill Sekat. Isis won’t be awakened, but you will have saved Sasaki.”

Takmet clenched his fists. “Very well then.” He turned and started towards the door.

“You’re going now?” Marton asked.

“Now is as good a time as any,” Takmet replied without stopping.

The mage was silent. He knew he couldn’t stop Takmet.