Taweret and the Tales of Heroes

Chapter 13: The Floating Temple of Alexandria Part 2

"I can't believe that Anubis hurt you!" Taweret told Ammit. "Why? Did he felt that you would be useless to him now that you became a mother?"

The demoness shook her head as if she was unsure.

"Anubis and Ammit were always close in the past," Sekhmet said. "I wouldn't be surprised that he was angry at her for becoming a mother."

"You just wanted to do something different," the hippo goddess added. "You didn't want to feel like you were his lap dog. No offense, Ammit, but I know that people looked at you that way. That wasn't fair. I always knew that you were more than that. You had your own path to carve out."

Ammit nodded her head as they took the turn that continued to lead down. The hippo goddess put her hand on the mane part of her head as they were walking together.

"Look, Ammi," the hippo goddess said butchering her name. "I think that I am going to have a talk with Anubis after all this. I might give him a backhand of my own when I am done."

"He is way more powerful than you or any of us," Sekhmet responded.

"You know what I mean. I don't care. I am going to give him a piece of my mind. He shouldn't attack his own like that. As a former mother, you deserve better," Taweret said, looking at Ammit.

".....Thank you...." Ammit said in her deep voice. The words reverberated through the declining stairway.

They reached the next ninety-degree turn. The lioness goddess stopped as she looked at the others near her.

"We know what is coming," Sekhmet told the other two. "This is the final trial. This final third trial will be the trial of combat. We need to be ready for battle."

"Maybe this one is a combat of wits or a training combat sort of thing?" Taweret replied with some nervousness.

"No, this will most likely be an actual battle. The past sleeper temples would have this sort of thing. Even my husband reported something similar on his run awhile back. It was a battle in which the temple draws something from the past and brings it into an arena. Once we defeat it, the trial should be complete, and we will complete the last trial."

"Ah....., why does the last one have to deal with violence?" the hippo goddess said with a little bit of anxiety. "I keep saying this. I am a goddess of childbirth and fertility. I am not exactly a fighter."

"All of us can fight," the lioness goddess said sternly. "You can fight too. I already know Ammit can fight even if she is pregnant. Knowing her, she could still take down an entire army of men easily. You just need to be ready for all this."

"Can't I just sit back and....."

"No!" Sekhmet said, waving her furred hand at her. "You have been more than useful in helping us through these last trials. This one is just as important to have your participation in this. Knowing this trial, this one may be your hardest, but it will be the ones we will be good at. We still need you on this."

"Did I hear a little bit of praise from you?" Taweret chided back.

Sekhmet looked at the torches. "We don't have much light left. We don't have time to go back. This temple must be complete, so we can set others free. The only way is forward. We will do this. Now, you said that you had a weapon. Let me see it."

"Umm...." The hippo goddess reacted as she let go of Ammit and held her hand open. A little bit of smoke-filled her hand as it materialized into a small blade not much bigger than her hand.