wildlife or people, but there were plants and trees that peeked out from crevices and behind arches. The fresh scent of a desert just after a thunderstorm wafted over me. Though the landscape was bathed in soft light, the sky was dark, illuminated only by the thousands of stars overhead, and I realized then that the dreamy quality of pastel light on the sepia terrain had been created by them.
“It’s beautiful. Do you live here?” I asked.
No. This is a part of the Land Between. We have passed through the first barrier and have entered the second. This is the Place Where Dreams Are Born.
“Interesting. Will we fall asleep here, then?”
No! To sleep in the Place Where Dreams Are Born is to forfeit your life and become a dream. You will cease to exist unless a mortal conjures you in his slumber.
It didn’t sound too bad when I thought about it. It was a good way to die if you had to. Plus, I could rely on Amon dreaming about me at least once in a while.
It is imperative that you remain awake while we are in this realm, he warned.
“Then perhaps you should tell us a story,” I suggested as I patted him.
Okay, I will tell you one of my favorites: the story of Geb and Nut.
As he regaled me with the familiar story, I heard Amon’s voice instead of Nebu’s. I closed my eyes and pictured his handsome face, his lips next to my ear, as Nebu narrated the story of a god and goddess and of a love so strong it took tremendous power to separate the two beings. Even then, with the vast heavens between them, they clung to each other by their fingertips and their gazes remained always fixed upon the one they loved. I wiped away a tear leaking from the corner of my eye, and before I knew it, Nebu stretched out his legs, lengthening his stride.
“What’s happening?” I called out.
We have reached the far side of the Place Where Dreams Are Born. We’ve passed the second barrier and are about to embark upon the third and final one. We’re at the drop-off.
“The drop-off? What do you mean, ‘the drop-off’?”
Before he could explain further, I saw exactly what he meant. The hard sepia dusted terrain abruptly ended and beyond it was nothing but star-studded night, like we’d reached the end of the world. A place where ships would sail right over the edge of the earth and into the unknown.
“Nebu!” I cried.
Tia screeched inside my head, and if she’d had claws, she would have dug them into my spine.
All will be well, Lady Sphinx. Hold on tightly, the unicorn said.
With that, the muscles of the stallion’s back shifted beneath me, and great golden wings sprouted behind my legs. With an immense thrust, Nebu’s hooves left the ground just as we reached the edge of the cliff. He leapt into the sky, legs pumping and heavy wings beating against the wind, taking us higher.
I was on the back of a broken unicorn, an immortal desert stallion. I felt not unlike Bellerophon, who’d dared to ride his beloved horse, Pegasus, up Mt. Olympus to confront the gods. He had failed and was struck down on the journey, but I wasn’t going to let that happen to us. With eyes wide-open, I scanned the sky. Our destination loomed somewhere ahead, just beyond the stars.
The ground fell far beneath us, and I had to soothe and calm Tia as best I could even though the height caused me alarm as well. Thankfully, Nebu ascended slowly, keeping us as level as he possibly could. The higher we rose, the colder it got. Tia cowered inside me, trembling, even though it was my arms that were prickly with goose bumps and my nose that had lost feeling.
When I asked Nebu if we were going to freeze and die due to lack of oxygen, he replied, You are a sphinx now. You cannot perish from something as simple as frostbite. Besides, you will be warm again soon enough. Remember, our destination is the home of the sun god.
If Amun-Ra’s home was anything like being near Amon, I had nothing to worry about. Amon generated warmth like a space heater. Just thinking about him made me feel like I’d wrapped a thick blanket around my shoulders. The little shivers in my muscles subsided. Perhaps my fears are more of a mental thing than physical, I thought.