Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,66
too dense to see our companions standing above.
The mist swirled all around us, causing the hairs on the backs of my arms and neck to stand on end. I had the constant feeling of being watched.
Lucifer and I followed Isis, who walked with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where she was going. Then she suddenly stopped, her eyes closed, the mist swirling quicker and quicker around her.
“Osiris,” she whispered.
The mist continued to swirl until it formed a translucent man. He had long hair that fell between his shoulders and wore a simple tunic and sandals. “My love,” he said softly.
Isis smiled with tears in her eyes. “I have not been back here for a long time,” she said. “I have missed you.”
“And I you,” Osiris said softly. He turned to Lucifer and me. “You brought friends.”
“This is Nate Garrett,” Isis said. “Son of Brynhildr and Odin.”
Osiris bowed his head. “A pleasure.” He turned to Lucifer. “You, I already know.”
“Old friend,” Lucifer said.
“Are you still as troublesome as you were in your youth?” Osiris asked Lucifer with a playful smile.
“I’ve passed on my troublemaking to this one,” Lucifer said, motioning to me.
Osiris laughed, and the mist broke apart, only to be re-formed once again a moment later.
“We’re looking for the hidden realm gate to Avalon,” Isis said.
“To the west,” Osiris said. “An hour’s ride. Have you seen our son, Horus?”
Isis shook her head. “Please don’t tell me he’s here?”
It was Osiris’s turn to shake his head. “No. He used to come by and talk to me. To many of us. But he hasn’t been here in many years. He hunts Set.”
Isis nodded. “He does.”
“Set will never be found unless he wants to be,” Osiris said. “Horus will search forever.”
“That will not put him off,” Isis said with a slight smile.
“No, he has both of our stubbornness,” Osiris agreed. “Are you happy?”
Isis shrugged. “I got used to being without you, and now that I see you again . . . the pain is as new.”
“I ached for you,” Osiris said, the mist swirling around Isis. “I still ache for you, and one day we will be reunited here. But not today. You must continue on; you must live, Isis. You need to find yourself happiness. Once your fighting is done, what will you do?”
Isis didn’t have an answer.
“Go,” Osiris said. “Go and do what you came here to do. I miss you, my love, but I do not wish to see you here with me for many years to come.”
Isis sighed. “I miss you too, my love. I will not be back for a long time. We are going to stop Arthur from destroying the realms.”
“Arthur?” Osiris asked.
“Asmodeus’s spirit inside the body of a sorcerer,” Lucifer said.
Osiris didn’t move, but a feeling of anger radiated off him. “Asmodeus is a name I remember well. He was a monster. If he still lives inside the body of another, you make sure that this Arthur’s spirit is destroyed just as much as his body.”
“That’s the plan,” I said. I didn’t bother to tell him that we didn’t actually have a plan on how to achieve that.
“Asmodeus was an evil man,” Osiris said. “It took the lives of thousands to stop him when he rode with his devils.”
“It’s just him this time,” Lucifer said. “His devils are dead or gone.”
“Good,” Osiris said. “Lucifer, you stood against Asmodeus before. You turned your back on your blood brothers and sisters to do what was right. You must do so again.” He looked at me. “I can sense the power inside of you,” Osiris said to me. “It is difficult to ignore. Your necromancy sings to the spirits.”
I looked around me and saw the mass of violently swirling mist.
“While I am here, they cannot harm you,” Osiris said. “But when I tell you to go, you must turn and run and never come back down to these parts. Ever. The mist will try to claim you as one of its own.”
“I’m only half-necromancer,” I said.
“I doubt that will matter to some of the more voracious hunters who dwell within this mountain. Necromancy is a beacon of power to these spirits that ignites an insatiable hunger. If you were a full necromancer, I would not be able to hold them back.”
I looked behind me.
“Follow the path to the west,” Osiris said. “Keep going west; do not deviate. The realm gate was locked the last time I saw it.”