fragments touched my skin and I absorbed them. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep, cleansing breath and allowing the weight of my corporeal form to float me back to the ground.
My feet touched lightly upon the battlefield and I moved among the demons and warriors like a ghost, unseen and untouchable. When I exhaled, the scene around me jerked haltingly, awkwardly, as if the players on the field were more like puppets, ones I could manipulate if I could just find the strings.
The stars had given me a gift.
I knew what to do.
I knew how to control them.
Smiling, I tilted my head as I considered the demon ready to strike Amon. A name bubbled up in my mind, filling me with a sense of power. Calmly, fluidly, I spoke, and the sound resonated like a cannon on a battlefield.
“He Who Wields a Sharp Knife,” I cried. The demon froze in place, his cleaver suspended as he turned to me.
“Set down your weapon,” I said gently. Immediately, he obeyed. “Sit down and do not move.”
To my surprise, he did. Turning, I peered at the monster fighting Ahmose. Another name floated up into my consciousness. “Raging Hippo,” I said calmly. “Stop. You will fight no longer.” One by one, I repeated the process, shouting name after name. “Serpent of Mud,” I cried. “He Who Dances in Blood, Teeth of the Wax Crocodile, He Who Burns with Fire, Worms Devour Him, Inert Rebel, He Who Eats Snakes, you will cease fighting immediately.”
Once I’d named all the demons, I turned to the jackals. “Carrion Eater, Crushed Paw, Stump Tail, Eye That Sees Nothing, Biting Flea, Offal Eater, Tufted Ear…” I went on and on, naming each creature that struggled against us. When I reached the leader of the jackals, I closed my eyes and then opened them with a smile. “He Who Voids His Bladder in the Wind.” The head jackal whined, lowering his head. His pack snarled at him softly. “Sit!” I commanded in an authoritative voice. Each obeyed.
The queen screamed in rage, her pretty face souring as she stormed at me. Ahmose and Asten flanked my sides, their weapons raised. Above us the remaining reapers hovered, black cloaks rippling in the hot wind.
The smell of death overwhelmed me as I watched the Devourer approach. I felt no fear. No emotion except curiosity. Some other force pulled this one’s strings. Cocking my head, names rose in my mind.
I pointed to her and said, “The Eater of Hearts. The Queen of Gluttony.”
She staggered but recovered quickly. Those names belonged to her. I knew it. Yet there was an element missing. Some part of her I’d overlooked.
She spat furiously, “How do you, a mere human girl, know of the names in the Book of the Amduat?” she demanded. “No mortal has ever had access to it. Only my master and I know the secret names of those recorded there.”
The queen of the netherworld took a step closer and I licked my lips, attempting to compel her as I had the others. “Stop,” I said.
Her eyes widened but she then smiled, realizing she could still move. “Did you think to best me in my own realm?” she laughed, confidence growing with each step. “You might have control over these mindless underlings but not over me and not over the one I serve.”
“Seth,” I murmured.
“Yes. The barrier is thin now. He’s nearly able to break through, and there’s nothing you or your pathetic Sons of Egypt can do to stop it.” She took in our surroundings and clucked her tongue. “And just look at what you’ve done to my immaculate home.”
“You destroyed my home,” I hissed, thinking of Amon and the Turquoise Forest at the same time. “We destroyed yours.” I waved my arm, indicating the death surrounding us. “I’d say we’re even. Or we will be, once we finish you off.”
The Devourer laughed. “You can do no such thing. I’m the Queen of Hearts, remember?” She took a step forward. “And last time I checked”—she bared white teeth, a feral gleam twinkling in her eyes—“you all had one.”
She snapped her fingers and the white Minotaur, her only remaining loyal servant, stepped forward. “Yes, my queen?” he said.
“Bring me her heart.”
A fiendish look of delight lit the frightening contours of his face. Asten and Ahmose raised their weapons and charged, but he batted them aside like flies. They looked beyond exhausted. When the reapers tried to intervene, he unfurled the qilinbian and cracked the whip.