The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1)(126)

The red pyramid was still intact, but cracks had appeared on its surface. The gold capstone glowed, trying to maintain its magic, but we weren’t in Phoenix anymore. The pyramid had been ripped from its source of power, the desert, and in front us loomed the default gateway for North America, the tall white obelisk that was the most powerful focal point of Ma’at on the continent: the Washington Monument.

Set screamed something at me in Ancient Egyptian. I was fairly sure it wasn’t a compliment.

“I will rend your limbs from their sockets!” he shouted. “I will—”

“Die?” Carter suggested. He rose behind Set and swung his sword. The blade cut into Set’s armor at the ribs—not a killing blow, but enough to knock the Red God off balance and send him tumbling down the side of his pyramid. Carter bounded after him, and in the Duat I could see arcs of white energy pulsing from the Washington Monument to the Horus avatar, charging it with new power.

“The book, Sadie!” Carter shouted as he ran. “Do it now!”

I must’ve been dazed from summoning the portal, because Set understood what Carter was saying a lot faster than I did.

“No!” the Red God shouted. He charged towards me, but Carter intercepted him halfway up the slope.

He grappled with Set, holding him back. The stones of the pyramid cracked and crumbled under the weight of their godly forms. All around the base of the pyramid, demons and magicians who’d been pulled through the portal and knocked momentarily unconscious were starting to stir.

The book, Sadie...Sometimes it’s helpful to have someone other than yourself inside your head, because one can slap the other. Duh, the book!

I held out my hand and summoned the little blue tome we’d stolen from Paris: The Book of Overcoming Set. I unfolded the papyrus; the hieroglyphs were as clear as a nursery school primer. I called for the feather of truth, and instantly it appeared, glowing above the pages.

I began the spell, speaking the Divine Words, and my body rose into the air, hovering a few centimeters above the pyramid. I chanted the story of creation: the first mountain rising above the waters of chaos, the birth of the gods Ra, Geb, and Nut, the rise of Ma’at, and the first great empire of men, Egypt.

The Washington Monument began to glow as hieroglyphs appeared along its sides. The capstone gleamed silver.

Set tried to lash out at me, but Carter intercepted him. And the red pyramid began to break apart.

I thought about Amos and Zia, trapped inside under tons of stone, and I almost faltered, but my mother’s voice spoke in my mind: Stay focused, dearest. Watch for your enemy.

Yes, Isis said. Destroy him!

But somehow I knew that wasn’t what my mother meant. She was telling me to watch. Something important was about to happen.

Through the Duat, I saw magic forming around me, weaving a white sheen over the world, reinforcing Ma’at and expelling chaos. Carter and Set wrestled back and forth as huge chunks of the pyramid collapsed.

The feather of truth glowed, shining like a spotlight on the Red God. As I neared the end of the spell, my words began tearing Set’s form to shreds.

In the Duat, his fiery whirlwind was being stripped away, revealing a black-skinned, slimy thing like an emaciated Set animal—the evil essence of the god. But in the mortal world, occupying the same space, there stood a proud warrior in red armor, blazing with power and determined to fight to the death.

“I name you Set,” I chanted. “I name you Evil Day.”

With a thunderous roar, the pyramid imploded. Set fell crashing into the ruins. He tried to rise, but Carter swung his sword. Set barely had time to raise his staff. Their weapons crossed, and Horus slowly forced Set to one knee.

“Now, Sadie!” Carter yelled.

“You have been my enemy,” I chanted, “and a curse on the land.”

A line of white light shot down the length of the Washington Monument. It widened into a rift—a doorway between this world and the brilliant white abyss that would lock Set away, trapping his life force. Maybe not forever, but for a long, long time.

To complete the spell, I only had to speak one more line: “Deserving no mercy, an enemy of Ma’at, you are exiled beyond the earth.”

The line had to be spoken with absolute conviction. The feather of truth required it. And why shouldn’t I believe it? It was the truth. Set deserved no mercy. He was an enemy of Ma’at.

But I hesitated.

“Watch for your enemy,” my mother had said.

I looked towards the top of the monument, and in the Duat I saw chunks of pyramid flying skyward and the souls of demons lifting off like fireworks. As Set’s chaos magic dispersed, all the force that had been charging up, ready to destroy a continent, was being sucked into the clouds. And as I watched, the chaos tried to form a shape. It was like a red reflection of the Potomac—an enormous crimson river at least a mile long and a hundred meters wide. It writhed in the air, trying to become solid, and I felt its rage and bitterness. This was not what it had wanted. There was not enough power or chaos for its purpose. To form properly, it needed the death of millions, the wasting of an entire continent.

It was not a river. It was a snake.

“Sadie!” Carter yelled. “What are you waiting for?”

He couldn’t see it, I realized. No one could but me.

Set was on his knees, writhing and cursing as white energy encircled him, pulling him towards the rift. “Lost your stomach, witch?” he bellowed. Then he glared at Carter. “You see, Horus? Isis was always a coward. She could never complete the deed!”