than I did. Each experience felt like a tiny death. And now that I was a cat, at least partially, I wondered if this was going to use up one of my nine lives.
It’s a myth, Tia’s inner voice said.
What is? I answered, desperate for a distraction as the blackness closed over my head.
That cats have nine lives. They don’t. They get one, just like every other creature. The exception being your mate, of course.
Finally the darkness lifted away and we beheld a paradise arrayed in all its glory. We’d entered a new world—one more beautiful and lush than I’d ever seen. A vast ocean shimmered beneath us with the soft golden rays of a perfect sunset. It reflected Nebu’s thick wings, my bare white legs on his back, and the green of my dress.
Strange seabirds called out to each other as they dove, trying to catch dinner in a school of fish with scales that flashed brightly under the water’s surface. Other, larger animals I couldn’t see spouted thick mists of water, then quickly disappeared beneath the ocean surface. The balmy breeze carried on it the scents of a turquoise ocean, golden sands, bright citrus, and tropical flowers, all baked by a summer sun.
The unicorn dipped lower, dragging his feet in the wake; the water, so warm it could have been from a hot spring, splashed over my sandaled feet. Ahead of us was an island surrounded by low tangerine clouds, and jutting up from the billowing mass was a golden city. Carved obelisks, arched bridges, gleaming towers, massive statues, and impressive pyramids with gilded capstones that shone in the waning sunlight dotted the landscape. Though it was sunset, the light generating from each building was easily enough to rival a full moon.
“Is this Duat?” I asked.
Nebu nickered lightly. No. The city before us is only a part of Duat. It is the Heart of the Sun—the home of Amun-Ra—otherwise known as Heliopolis. To gain entrance to the afterlife and the netherworld, you’ll need to travel to the far side of Duat, to the place where the sun sets in the evening.
“The sun is setting now. Can we get there before nightfall?”
We cannot. Even if I could manage to get you there in time, you would not be allowed to obtain passage on the Cosmic River without first calling upon Amun-Ra. He must grant permission to ride on the celestial barque. Without the leave of He Who Came Into Being by Himself, the Protector of the Untraveled Road, you would not be allowed to even remain within the borders of Heliopolis.
Nebu beat his wings and flew above a great wall that surrounded the city, and I could see the movement of people between the buildings down below.
“Who are they?” I asked.
Some are lesser gods. Some are servants who have pledged an eternal devotion to Amun-Ra. Others are his creations.
“Creations? You mean like children?”
In a manner of speaking, yes. Like the unicorn, there are a vast number of creatures formed by the cosmos, and even a few created by Amun-Ra or the other members of the pantheon. Many of them live here in Heliopolis in peace.
“So they’re not human, then?”
Some are. Some were.
I dared not ask for more details about that. At least not yet. It was all a little too much for me. “So where are we headed? The capitol building?”
We will attempt to gain entrance at the gateway to Amun-Ra’s palatial home. Can you see it there at the top of the hill?
The area of the city where we were headed held the most exquisite, most dazzling buildings I’d ever seen. A colossal temple crowned with an obelisk, carved in the form of a great bird, rose from a mountainside, capped with a sparkling miniature pyramid.
Nebu explained, The pyramidion on the top of the temple represents the highest point in the city.
“Pyramidion?” I asked.
Yes. It’s the peak of the Benben obelisk. Amun-Ra’s image has been carved into the large diamond you see there, and all who live in the city look to it at sunrise and sunset to remember that Amun-Ra is the first to be welcomed by the sun each morning and the last to honor it before dusk falls.
“Hmm. I wonder if he’s trying to compensate for something.”
Nebu whinnied and shook his mane. I would be careful what I say in the Golden City, he warned. Amun-Ra is not a god to be taken lightly.
I smiled and patted Nebu’s neck. “You worry too much. Believe me,