Enid felt the usual weightlessness of the in between. She was holding onto Hazel’s hand as she often tried to do when they were traveling to make sure they would not get separated. Then she felt something inside her yank her in the opposite direction. The force was so violent she lost her grip on Hazel. Her armor didn’t have a chance to react before she found herself slamming into sandstone. When she came too from unconsciousness, she saw that she had landed face down. Her armor completely depleted. She started to move her hands and she hurt all over. She groaned and tried to lift herself up but pain shot through her. She could already feel her body starting to try and heal itself. A few days and she would be good as new. Thankfully whatever infection had been slowing her healing in Scotland had gone away. She was laying face down on an airy terrace, saw torchlight. She should not be mortal yet she was. Her armor was completely depleted. She let the helmet fade back into it. She heard the rush of footsteps and felt the familiar cramps brought on by a demon being in the vicinity. Her pack was a few feet away as was Lucius. She groaned as she stretched her hand out to get her fingers on the gem in his pommel.
Get up!
Enid groaned again.
“I’m trying! God damn it that hurt.”
She managed to get Lucius into her hand and she rolled over and blocked a blow coming towards her. She saw two Hebrew men nearby, based on clothing and skin tone. The rest were native Egyptians. She looked at the guards and priests who just walked in and identified the demon. She wasn’t familiar enough with Egyptian clothing and symbolism to determine if he was a high-ranking magi or priest. He saw her face and turned to flee she kicked a guard out of the way and threw Lucius with all her might, just normal human might and caught him in the chest. There was a flash of light. He screamed and the arm of the body he was inhabiting ripped apart and a black tentacle reached out and stabbed one of the Hebrew men. The real fireworks started soon afterwards. As there was a burst of green electricity that arc off of him but then got sucked into Lucius. The body disintegrated into a green miasma that dissolved rapidly. Lucius fell to the ground. One of the robed Egyptian’s reached for the hilt.
“Don’t!”
Enid’s cry was too late and the moment he picked up Lucius he started swinging wildly at the guards while he managed to not hit a single one they didn’t take an chances. One punched him in the face and he went down. He screamed as Lucius drained his blood and his soul leaving a drained husk. Enid sighed and held her side.
“Or you’ll kill yourself.”
Lucius was in reach so while the guards were distracted by the second light show she slowly dragged him closer with her finger tips until she could pick him up. She looked at who she assumed was the Pharaoh and the remaining Hebrew man and the Pharaoh’s men.
“Carry on, I got who I came for. I mean unless you want to end up like…”
Enid looked at the desiccated remains of the priest. She shifted and the guards stepped back. The pharaoh looked caught between enraged and scared shitless. Enid hoped the latter would win out because she was feeling like trying to fight off six royal guards may be beyond her current capabilities. The Hebrew man looked at Enid and the gleaming white blade and turned to the Pharaoh.
“The Lord has sent one of his host to prove his power and his glory. She slew a minion of evil in your midst do you still deny him? Let our people go.”
Enid found herself hoping Hazel had a better landing. She snagged the strap for her bag and slid it over her shoulders and stood up leaning on Lucius who bit into the stone at her feet slightly. She wanted to scream as she heard the words spoken. Demon was dead she could go now…unless.
“No, get out of my sight and take your brother with you, If your God was truly powerful he would have protected his chosen one. The end Moses deserved.”
Enid rushed to the fallen man’s side and felt his neck. There was still a heartbeat. She motioned for whom she assumed was Aaron to help her.
“Aaron hurry, I can save him but we need to get him out of here.”
The man fell to his knees.
“You are from the Lord!”
“Kneel later, move him now, I can’t do it alone.”
The pair dragged him from the Palace. More Hebrew men saw them and helped lift him. Enid leaned on one who offered her support as they walked to the slave quarter. She pulled out the Atlantean theorizing it would be better at seeing the damage a magical attack has done then the 29th century medical scanners. The tentacle had left a seed and it was spreading. She reached into her pack and pulled out a surgery kit. Used the marker to mark out where she’d need to cut and swiftly started cutting out the corrupted chunk of flesh. Normally she’d use some form of anesthetic but Moses seemed to be out for the count. She pulled out the spray that would start stitching muscle and skin together and sprayed a good amount and collapsed back down scalpel and spray in hand. She tossed them aside and drew Lucius and stabbed the piece of flesh which flashed green and vanished. She dropped Lucius and started to scan Moses cursing her severely bruised arm. No sign of infection. He’d regain consciousness soon. She reached into her pack and pulled out a vial of pain killer and injected herself through her neck and slowly started gathering up the remnants of her hasty surgery. She threw them into a plastic bag from the emergency surgery kit and tied it off. She dropped the whole mess into her pack. She knew she’d need to heal before she could go searching for Hazel. She hoped the wolf-born was capable of fending for herself for a few hours. When the painkillers started to kick in her eyelids became heavy and eventually closed.
Enid was pulled out of a very fitful sleep by someone shaking her shoulders firmly. The pain from her fall was blissfully gone. She held her hand in front of her eyes the glare of the North African sun was blinding after her deep sleep.
“Are you alright?”
Enid blinked a few times, her eyes adjusted, and she was looking up a woman with a dark complexation in a colorful orange dress.
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve been sleeping for over a day.”
Enid shifted suddenly causing the woman to move backwards.
“A day? Shit, Hazel.”
Enid pushed herself up and felt stiff, telling her she was still a mortal. She slid Lucius into his sheath and her pack over shoulders. She pulled herself up.
“What of my husband?”
Enid rubbed her eyes and looked at the still unconscious Moses. Enid rolled her eyes with a sigh and silently cursed her luck. She quickly set up an IV line with a maintenance dose of saline mixed with a 29th century mixture that will sustain a human without food indefinitely. She had a crate of sixty in her pack, though it was down to forty after her daughter used some on her.
“These will keep him fed and watered. Watch him, I need to find my daughter.”
“You need to find her quickly…death comes. It is the night of the Passover.”
Enid sighed.
“Of course, it is.”
Enid slipped a holo-web over her chest and had it go with a faded roman dress. It was plain enough it could fit in here. The woman looked at her with wide eyes.
“I cannot explain any of this, just know I am on your side. I serve the Lord.”
Completely against my will. She pushed the door open and was blinded once again by the full force of the noon day sun. The shimmer of her holo-web would be easy to conceal in the bright sun. She made her way through the slave quarter asking if anyone had seen a girl with white hair. The people were hesitant to speak to her and seemed to be more concerned with the preparing of the Passover feast that God had apparently ordained. She made her way out of the slave quarters and within thirty minutes had a group of Egyptian troops approaching her.
“You, fire-haired one, come with us.”
“Not unless you have my child somewhere, she’s taller than you, white hair?”
“No, Pharaoh demands you attend him, immediately.”
“Do you guys really want to do this when I’m at full strength?”
Perhaps you can charm the Pharaoh into helping you find Hazel?
Enid frowned.
“Fine, but if you touch my sword what happens is on you. I can’t save you.”
The troops quickly surrounded Enid, though none touched her. She found herself in the damaged terrace. The rubble had been cleaned up but the hole was still visible. Sitting on a throne was the Pharaoh she’d seen two nights before. He was flanked by an older woman. She was inspecting Enid with a critical eye. The woman spoke.
“Son, this is the one they said was sent by their Lord God as proof of his power?”
The pharaoh nodded. The woman walked down the stairs off of the low dais and approached Enid.
“She dresses like slave.”
Enid tapped her chest and the holographic dress shimmered away leaving her in her Atlantean body armor. The guards stepped away from her as did the woman.
“Such power! Surely she must serve Isis or Ra. And you said the blade glowed with pure white light?”
Enid held up her hands.
“Look, I’m not here to get in between your… spat with your slaves. I came to slay the demon in your midst.”
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“You speak our language well.”
“I speak all languages, look, all due respect Ramses, Ramses’ mother but my daughter is missing and you’re wasting my time.”
The woman narrowed her eyes at Enid.
“You are insolent.”
“I am powerful, and you are insects to me. I could kill you both before your guards could react. Isis and I have a lot in common, she is, in a way my sister. So, if you have a point to this conversation get to it, or I’m going to leave and if your guards get in my way, I will devour your soul first. No afterlife, just…obliteration.”
The woman stepped backwards, and the guards moved to draw the weapons, but the Pharaoh seemed to sense the truth in Enid’s words and raised his hand, he finally spoke directly to Enid.
“What was that that you destroyed?”
“They only way I can explain it to you is… a minion of Apophis sent to create discord and strife. They feed of it and grow more powerful. The plagues you have suffered because you have resisted releasing Moses’s people, it likely was here to push you into resisting.”
“Surely… if we release his people their God will cease to be Angry.”
“I think you’re past that point now. You’re not going to like the next bit, and there is nothing I can do to save you. You brought it on yourselves with your selfishness and listening to the lies of Apophis.”
“Could there be more amongst my people?”
“Likely, only the truly powerful ones work alone and he wasn’t powerful.”
“Then you must seek them out and destroy them at once!”
“Are you ordering me around, Ramses?”
He seemed to shrink away from her. Enid wasn’t in the mood to play nice with the Egyptians with her daughter missing.
“No but you said you came to destroy them.”
“Yes, and my daughter can help me find them. So, I’ll make you a deal, you help me find her and I’ll deal with your Apophis problem.”
“What does your daughter look like?”
“She is taller than a man, stronger than a horse and has braided white hair. If she is seen, she will be easily recognizable as not fitting in. She should have armor like I have. If your men attack her she is likely to turn into her goddess form which looks a lot like Anubis.”
The pharaoh looked to his men.
“Go spread the word of which she seeks, treat her with respect.”
The guards ran off, it seemed Ramses was content Enid was not here to harm him. The woman looked to Enid.
“Tell me, goddess, does my son live?”
“He’s right there, seems to be fine.”
“My adoptive son, Moses.”
“For now, I did what I could but he does not wake, and I cannot force him. If he wishes to survive he will, if he does not, then he will not. Same reason their God hasn’t whisked them a way to safety, free will. You want my opinion, do as he asks, he claims free will then takes things from you until you submit.”
The Pharaoh leaned closer.
“What did he take from you?”
“My youngest daughter died because I refused his command. You’ve already refused him, when you see what is next, you will wish you had heeded his warnings, and you will be angry and full of rage, but hopefully you will understand as I understood, I have more lose and so do you. Is that all Ramses?”
Enid turned and started walking away.
“Goddess… what is your name?”
“They call me the Dark Mother.”
“Dark Mother what is coming for us next?”
Enid glanced over her shoulder and spoke as a parent, her concern for the timeline be damned.
“Hug your children tightly Pharaoh, tell them you love them, for on the morrow you will regret it if you do not. Do not make the mistake I did. I will be with the people of Moses should you find my daughter.”
Enid walked down the stairs and left Pharaoh staring after her. She realized her daughter could be in an entirely different time, or place on the world. She also knew who could help her find her quickly but it was risky. She was swiftly running out of time before Passover, and she really didn’t want to be out that night. She doubted God’s wrath would find her, but she did not want to hear parents going through what she had so recently. Nor did she want Hazel not protected with her. She walked to the temple of Isis, where she knew she would find the alabaster goddess. Hopefully the fact she carried a true name and a soul blade would give the ancient vampire pause. She tapped her wrist and programmed in the cloaking protocol for the holo-web. It wasn’t true invisibility and tended to shimmer especially in the dark, but it should be good enough for the mortals who did not know such a thing existed.
The grand entrance to the temple of the Goddess was filled with hieroglyphs inlaid with gold, silver, and platinum. Isis didn’t do anything half-assed even in ancient Egypt it seemed. Enid made her way through the entrance and into the temple proper. Priestess and slaves attended to their tasks, preparing for what seemed to be an afternoon ritual. Enid took about thirty minutes to find a set of stairs leading downwards. She followed them into a network of tunnels. She followed the tunnels with the most wear, using her holo-phone to map the path. She came out and saw Hazel sitting on the stairs with Isis having a conversation. Isis’s eyes snapped to Enid immediately, the holo-web could do little against vampiric senses especially considering Enid was sweating from all her wanderings. She tapped her holo-web and the cloak shimmered out of existence.
“A mortal here of their own free will, how intriguing.”
Hazel looked up to Isis.
“My mother.”
“Ah, so the Atlantean vampire who brought Remus to heel can disguise herself as a mortal. No wonder she can evade our searches so effectively.”
“She also the creator of the spirts and their realm, they tend to cloak her from prying eyes.”
“Interesting, come in, elder. I greet you with respect to my domain.”
“Thank you, Isis, I appreciate your warm welcome, be aware this is not my true face, I use it to lure demons to me because it resembles the daughter of someone they hunt. Hazel, we need to go, there is a darkness coming and we want to be protected.”
Isis looked from Hazel to Enid, then back to Hazel.
“Your mother seems to know more then I.”
“She can see the future, so does not surprise me.”
Enid looked to Isis.
“I suggest you if you have anyone you care for, they remain near you this night.”
“Your warning is noted, Elder, I thank you for this wisdom. Will you return so we may have a more formal meeting of the minds?”
“I do not believe that will be possible. We have a task to perform, if I could, I would very much like to, I have heard much of you, and it would seem much of it is untrue. But I promise you, we will meet again, and we will speak at length. I sense I will owe you a great debt in the future. Come Hazel, time grows short.”
Enid motioned for Hazel to join her.
“I look forward to that night, Elder.”
Hazel hopped down the stairs and Enid grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the tunnels. Hazel waved to Isis as her mother pulled her out of the goddess’s throne room.
“Mom what is the rush?”
“The rush is we landed in the middle of a shit storm the worst of which is happening tonight. Hurry. Ever watch the Exodus?”
“No, I saw it but the top review said it was religious tripe, boring and that there are more interesting ways to spend credits, like buying paint so you could watch it dry.”
“Ouch, well too bad you didn’t because we’re living it right this moment.”
“Like Moses? Let my people go?”
“How did you know that?”
“Mom I was going to the Dark Mother’s school board they consider the bible and the Dark Mother’s bible all one big epic. You know those religion classes?”
“I feel…yep I just threw up in my mouth a little.”
The pair reached the surface. The sun was beginning to set so Enid rushed to the Home of Moses with Enid in tow. Enid wrinkled her nose at a streak of fresh red liquid above the door.
“Mom is that blood?”
“Yep. Guess what night it is?”
Hazel closed her eyes trying to remember the lessons then snapped her fingers.
“Passover.”
“Wow, you actually do listen in lessons.”
They were greeted by Moses’s wife.
“You are back, the liquid is nearly gone.”
Enid nodded and hooked up another bag of saline and set the drip speed lower. She removed the nutrition bag and slide the empty container into her pack.
“Mom, you’re using IV in front of… a… local?”
“Can’t be helped, I was a bit to slow on a demon and…”
Enid pointed at the comatose man.
“That is Moses.”
Hazel’s mouth formed an O as she looked down at Moses. She spoke in English.
“Uh mom, like, isn’t he supposed to part the red sea in a few days, lead the Israelites through the Sinai desert for forty years?”
“Yes, so this is the real problem.”
“Well heal him.”
Enid closed her eyes.
“We’re out of the sun, do you see how I’m still breathing, sweating?”
“But I thought…”
“Yea, so did I but the minute I hit Egypt I was mortal. So here we are, Moses in a coma, me a mortal and hey, as if I haven’t seen enough dead children lately, God is about to kill the firstborn of every Egyptian family.”
Enid sat on the bed beside Moses and scanned him with an Atlantean tablet again. Everything was good according to his vital signs. The wound was healing well, brain showed no signs of physical damage. She looked at Hazel who was watching her.
“I just don’t know Hazel. Nothing is physically wrong with him.”
“Maybe its like when you were sick, in Scotland? You were…fighting a battle in your mind.”
“There is nothing I can do for him, and you know what he’s supposed to do.”
“Well why not say you can talk to him while he sleeps?”
“What?”
“Why don’t you pretend to be Moses, like, you lead the people and if they ask how you know…say Moses told you. And any time you’re supposed to go off and talk to God say you saw Moses by your side. You have a bible, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then why not just…look up what you need to do next.”
“I hardly think the bible is a valid history book Hazel.”
“Then call it a guidebook, you are always telling me how we have to minimize damage to the timeline, well Moses being near death is a big fat sword stabbed into the timeline. Also, with the way things were written, according to my religion teacher it was the male patriarchy that informed most of what ended up in the bible and the oral traditions that it spawned during the Grey, with no thought for the women who helped form early Christianity and the Old Testament, do you think the woman who parted the red sea is going to get into the mainstream bible. It will be like everything else; Women will be erased when a man can get the credit.”
Enid blinked at her daughter.
“Sounds like your teacher is a feminist and that you’re telling me to pretend to be a messenger from God, but you have a valid point.”
“Mom, you sent me to a school board that worships a female Goddess what did you expect the teachers to be like?”
Enid sighed and reached into her pack but heard Moses’s wife speaking.
“Please, join us for the Passover feast? We must eat all of it and without my husband…”
Enid nodded and motioned for Hazel to follow to the table. They sat with the family, and everything was placed just as described by God to Moses. The proper prayers were spoken, and they ate. Enid knew what was screaming around outside and tried very hard not to think of it. Enid’s sleep that night was not a peaceful one. Miko’s death played a role in her nightmares as did her father, and the conversation with God when she was apparently dead. She woke covered in sweat. The woman of the house was sitting on the bed beside her wiping her head with a bundle of cloth.
“Are you alright, you cried out many things in your sleep.”
Enid nodded.
“Just a nightmare.”
“What terrible things you must have witnessed, my brother-in-law told me of your slaying a thing of darkness. That the Lord spoke of you to him, that you were his daughter, that you will be his voice until Moses returns to us, and that Moses would return to us, but he has his own battle to fight.”
“Thank you for your kindness and allow us to stay under your roof.”
“What haunts your dreams so daughter of the Lord?”
“Just memories. I will be fine. I should check on your husband anyway.”
Enid saw Hazel was snoozing away, leaning on her bed. She smiled at her daughter.
“She thinks I am not well.”
Enid moved to get off the bed carefully and made her way to where Moses still lay in his coma. She checked the dressing on her surgical wound. Sprayed more of the skin replacement and changed the dressing. His wife watched over her shoulder.
“It is a miracle how he heals so fast.”
Enid nodded, she knew it was a synthetic skin weave that encouraged cellular regeneration by giving human cells a framework and all the nutrients required. She wondered what Zipporah would think of the cellular cloning technology BMC was testing that could stitch flesh together.
“Yes, the Lord is miraculous.”
Enid sighed and looked down at Moses. Zipporah patted Enid on the shoulder and walked to her bed. Enid had always pictured the man differently. Long gray hair, long gray beard, larger than life, but he looked much like the father’s of her teenage friends when she was in high school, a neatly trimmed salt and pepper beard, well maintained salt and pepper black hair. The bible had obviously been wrong about his age, this was no eighty-year-old man. He was perhaps forty or fifty. Enid pulled her injector out and hit him with a T-Cell enhancer, even with her sterile surgical kit, the synthetic skin the rest of her precautions the injury could get infected, and she could not risk him dying on her.
“Moses, if you’re anything like the stories. You are a strong man. A faithful man. Your people need you, not me. So, wake up!”
Enid was unsurprised the comatose man did not even shift in his restless sleep. She stood and checked the saline drip. At the rate she had set, she could get another five or six hours sleep before it needed to be swapped out. She didn’t know specifics of the desert march, but she knew for sure she did not have forty years’ worth of supplies. She climbed into the bed she had provided after kissing Hazel on the top of her head and let herself slip into a deep sleep.