snagged!” he cried. “Quickly! Bring me my hammer!”
Glistening, ropy arms had fastened on to the front of the ship. At the tips of the beasts’ long tubes were sticky bulbs that sucked noisily, creating mucous slicks everywhere they latched on. They looked like the limbs of a thin, albino octopus. When Cherty bashed one of the tips, it slunk back into the black water. Soon another and another burst out and hit the ship, the impact rocking the vessel back and forth like a toy boat.
“Grab the rudder,” Cherty shouted. “We’ve got ta do this quickly or we’ll be grub meat for sure! When I drop the hammer, shove the tiller all the way to the right!”
“Got it!”
“Now!” he cried as he dropped the hammer on a bulbous limb. From out of the depths a giant white slug had reared its head and began to climb along a slick line of its own web. The line was now no longer attached to the ship, and the creature, along with its sticky trap, slipped beneath the surface of the star-filled river once more.
“That’ll teach ya! Ya abominable beasties!” Cherty shouted as he brandished his weapon in the air before making his way back to me. “We make a good team,” he said. There was an appreciative gleam in his eye that hadn’t been there when I’d boarded.
“Yeah. I don’t envy your day job,” I said.
Cherty laughed. “No. I imagine ya don’t. Should be smooth from here until mornin’,” he added. “Rest now.”
Hours later, which to me felt like minutes, the ferryman nudged my shoulder.
“We’re here.”
“The afterlife?” I asked.
“Not quite. We’re at the Isle of the Dead. Just passed the pillars a while ago. When we dock, we’ll be greeted by the guardians of the gates and they’ll take you on to the Porch of Judgment.”
“I see,” I said, standing up to crane my neck and search for a sign of Amon. If he’d been successful, then he would meet me on the dock. Maybe it wasn’t this dock. Maybe there hadn’t been enough time. My heart sank, but I tried to keep the nugget of hope alive. Amon just had to make it.
The Isle of the Dead was a dark place. There was an almost tangible stillness to it. Ancient trees dotted the mountains, and I saw the ruins of old stone buildings. We docked and two men in armor sporting helmets and swords approached. One man’s armor was tinted bronze, while the other one wore silver. After Cherty tied off the ship, he turned to help me down.
“Thank you,” I said, and took his hands.
He squeezed them back, a watery sheen in his gray eyes, and then quickly dropped them and glared at me as if I’d tricked him into displaying the gesture. “It’s me job,” he said gruffly.
Reaching into the ship, he grabbed a bag of food and handed it to me, then turned around to address the guardians.
“This one’s a kicker, a sphinx. Amun-Ra sent her. You need to take her in.”
“A kicker?” the tallest guardian said from behind his helmet.
“A sphinx?” said the other one.
I grabbed my bow and quiver from the secure place I’d left them on the boat as the guard continued. “There hasn’t been a sphinx in—”
The larger man grabbed the arm of the other. “Lily?” I heard his muffled voice say.
The guardians stepped forward and each of them tore off their helmets. My heart leapt in my throat, unbidden tears filling my eyes. The two men came toward me, and when Cherty tried to block them, they easily pushed him aside and knelt at my feet.
“It is you,” the larger man said.
“How did you get here?” asked the other.
I wrapped my arms around both of them, giving each a kiss on the cheek. “Asten. Ahmose. I’m so happy to see you.”
“Girlie!” Cherty hissed as he grabbed my arm, wrenching me away. “No one touches the guardians, Dreamer or Pathfinder. Ya ’ave no idea what terrible things could happen ta ya.” The ferryman put his arm around my shoulder. “The dreamer torments the wicked with the most horrible visions as he guides them to the Porch of Judgment, and the pathfinder, well, let’s just say he’s as adept at leading people off the path as keepin’ ’em on it,” he whispered.
“It’s okay,” I said, smiling. “They’re my boyfriend’s brothers.”
“ ’Ur boyfriend? Are ya tryin’ ta tell me ’ur boyfriend is the revealer?”
“I guess,” I answered with a frown. “His name is Amon.”