the intruders was sneaking up behind us, and I was grateful for her instincts.
We soon found that when using the power of the sphinx, we were able to strangle our victims, but it was a slow process and required concentration. Also, it only worked on one enemy at a time. Fighting with weapons became sloppy when we tried using them while spearing the beast, but strangulation was an effective power to use from a distance.
Soon Cherty joined us and we worked as one, felling the enemy. I was surprised when a dark creature collapsed at our feet. She was beautiful. Her inky black hair fell to her waist, and she held up her hand in an imploring gesture. Instead of legs, her bottom half reminded me more of an eel. Shiny scales covered her long form that ended in a fin like a shark’s.
I hesitated only a moment, and when I did, she sprang forward, using her powerful tail to propel her up; bared an open, wide mouth of sharpened teeth; and sank them into my shoulder. White-hot pain exploded and a stinging sensation rippled from the wound out across my body. I screamed to see that she had wrenched a hunk of flesh from my shoulder. Cherry-colored rivulets dripped down her chin as she spat and smiled triumphantly.
“Bloody viper!” Cherty cried as he brought the hammer down on her head. She slumped to the deck and the ferryman viciously kicked her limp body over the side.
“What are they?” I asked as I leapt into the fray again, trying my best to forget my stinging shoulder.
“Cold-blooded, voracious serin. And we’ve navigated into a cursed school of them.”
“Serin?”
“They’re usually not so active. Greedy carps!”
“Are they mermaids?” I asked as I dispatched a trio in quick succession. “ ’Cause they look like evil mermaids.”
“They’re distant relatives. If a mermaid is a blue jay, then the serin are vultures.”
“Are they immortal?” I asked, hoping they might be swayed by my scarab.
“No. But they breed quickly. I report infestations so’s Amun-Ra can keep their numbers in check. Usually I can distract ’em with a pretty coin, ’specially one from Amun-Ra. I throw it overboard and they leave me alone ta fight over it. Sometimes killin’ each other in the process, the voracious vixens. Now that they’s gotten a taste a you, they’s unlikely ta give up on us.”
“Fantastic.”
Stowing my short spears in the harness on my back, I summoned my claws and vaulted onto the back of a serin. Ten minutes later the creatures mysteriously disappeared.
Pressing my hand against my bloody shoulder, I hissed, but moments later, I felt something hot against my chest—the necklace Horus gave me, glowing. It warmed my skin, and a tingling sensation crept from my throat over to my shoulder. I watched in shock as my wound began to heal. Soon there was no indication at all that I’d been injured other than the tear in my white tunic and the spots of blood that darkened it.
Cherty was so focused on the Cosmic River that he didn’t notice my miracle healing. I moved up next to him and gratefully took the skin of water he offered, drinking deeply.
He pointed ahead. “There. Do ya see that ripple? Like reeds in a river?” he asked as he looked over the side.
“Yes. What is it?”
“When a large animal, like, say, a crocodile, moves through ’em, it scatters the reeds and draws up mud.”
I stared hard at the river and finally noticed that not all the lights flowed. Some clusters stayed in one place, like glistening plants.
“What’s hunting us?” I asked.
“Menfishers. Horrible beasties that stink of corruption. Pierce one and ya are drenched by his foul water. Their flesh is decayed and their bones are soft. They weave their nets of sinews ta catch those unawares.”
“So they’re like water spiders?”
“Yeah, but they look more like giant silk grubs. Their nets are like aspen trees. They grow from a single root sucker. The queen creates the net and her little minions perch along the web in different spots, waitin’ ta pounce upon those that get caught in it. Once there, they devour your flesh, then swim down ta their queen ta regurgitate the nutrient-rich bits of ya, which are then divided up between the colony’s larvae. They’ll eat pretty much anythin’—the disembodied, serin, kingjacks, and anythin’ else that lives in these waters.”
“Charming.”
Cherty was somehow able to navigate through without much trouble until we neared the end and the ship suddenly reeled to the side.