The Pharaoh

Chapter 21

The cold was the only thing my body could sense. I couldn't see anything, I couldn't hear anything, and I couldn't taste anything... but I could feel the coldness.

This coldness was strange and switched between being the small chill that you would enjoy on an evening walk to being stuck in a walk-in icebox with no way out. Every time I was about to scream and freak out from the icebox feeling the calm evening chill came instead. It was maddening.

There was a loud snap, which drew my attention to a couple of steps in front of me, and a blue flame came to life. The fire illuminated Anubis's face and made all feelings of coldness leave. The god smiled and his purple eyes seemed excited. "I can't wait to see your guys' reaction," he admitted.

"Reaction to what?" I responded.

He tilted his head and replied, "Well to the realm of the dead of course. I have never crossed with a living mortal being before. It's incredible to experience something new when you have lived as long as I have."

"Let's just get this over with," Aiden grumbled in response.

Anubis nodded his head and said, "Very well, Pharaoh."

The blue flame that flickered slightly on the god's index fingertip swelled into a small ball of flame that engulfed his hand. I took step towards Aiden as the heat became too hot to withstand. Anubis then swallowed a large gulp of air and blew.

The flames flew by me and I ducked with a terrified squeal. "Woah! What the Ra was that?" Aiden exclaimed angrily.

"I promised your safety as well as your wife's there was never anything to fear," the god said calmly.

"You threw fire at our faces!" He argued.

Anubis rolled his purple eyes and replied, "Over your faces. I just had to light the entrance."

Aiden opened his mouth to argue but quickly shut it again. He thought for a moment then asked, "Light the entrance?"

The god of death nodded then pointed behind us. I briefly looked at Aiden's bewildered face before looking behind me.

Blue flames were lit on thousands of black candles. They were on either side of a beautiful smooth white pathway. To the left of that was a dark red river that had light blue figures of people crossing it. Some were carried by lavish boats while others were in coffins. At the end of the river, there was a glowing pink light.

"It's beautiful," I mumbled.

A cold hand landed on my shoulder then Anubis said, "Yes it is. The realm of the dead is opposite in color to that of the living but other than that many things are identical to that of the living realm."

"Where is Osiris' palace? Or the fields of wheat for that matter?" Aiden wondered.

Anubis pointed towards the glowing pink light at the end of the river and then answered, "Right before that light is where I weigh people's souls. As you probably know, souls cannot see their rewards until they have been deemed worthy."

"Osiris' palace is after that pink light? Seems like we have quite the walk then," Aiden said.

"Not as long as you might think," Anubis replied, "Well, shall we get going?"

I nodded and Anubis started to lead the way down the stone walkway. As we continued to walk, Aiden gently brushed his hand against mine. At first, I thought it was an accident but after a few more seconds he did it again... then again... and again.

"You know pharaoh," Anubis started, "Life is quite short. You should just hold her hand."

My face was hot with embarrassment but Aiden just chuckled and replied, "You know what... I think you're right."

He then grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. Strange... I've kissed this man but this strangely seems more intimate than that. This wasn't lust whatsoever, it was just pure affection.

I was completely still as I ogled our intertwined hands. What was this?

Aiden squeezed my hand and I looked up at him. "Are you alright?"

I nodded and Anubis chimed, "Great. Let's get a move on. This pathway is faster than the river but if we just stand around we'll never get there."

We all started walking and I noticed that the white stone pathway was moving. It was pushing us forward and making each step we took faster. "The ground is moving," I pointed out as we continued walking.

"Ahh, indeed it is," Anubis responded, "Thoth added this feature when I added the opening to the underworld. I don't quite understand it but it does make traveling on this path a lot faster."

"Incredible," Aiden marveled, "Thoth truly is a genius."

Anubis nodded and agreed, "That he is."

We continued walking and got closer and closer to the pink light. Eventually, I could see that the pink light was actually coming from a pink sun that was cast lowly in the sky.

I awed at the beautiful scene approaching when Aiden suddenly fell to his knees as he clutched his forearm. His jaw was clenched tightly as he let out agonizing muffled groans. I fell to my knees next to him and frantically asked, "What's wrong? What's going on?"

His teeth were grinding together as he gritted out, "My forearm. Ra's mark."

"The mark must be taking place. This is the farthest place where a living mortal can be in this realm," Anubis theorized.

Bright silver light escapes through the gaps between Aiden's clenched fingers that covered the tattoo. He let out a faint scream and then fell flat on his back. After he landed the silver light disappeared and his tattoo's blue iris was now a gray iris, the same color as his eyes.

Aiden huffed and puffed for a few moments before getting up on his knees. He stared down at his tattooed forearm and said, "I guess this means it worked."

I put my hand out and said, "Here let me help you."

He grumbled a thanks as he shakily got up. He took in a few deep breaths before giving us a reassuring nod.

After we saw that he was okay, Anubis led us forward once again. As we continued onward the pink sunlight was all around us. I looked over at the river, wanting to see what had to be a beautiful watery reflection, but I didn't see water anymore.

Instead, there was a dock with a ginormous old-school scale. It easily was bigger than me and it shined a beautiful gold. One of the scales was a white pristine feather. Off to the side of the scale was a line that went so far back that I couldn't see the end. Souls waiting to be weighed.

"Ignore it, Alison," Anubis told me, "It is not your time to worry about that."

I forced my gaze back to the stone pathway and continued to walk. I kept my eyes done on the white stone and just followed the sound of my companions' footsteps. We walked for a while longer before the sounds stopped. Once the sounds ceased I halted my step and allowed myself to look up.

A ginormous castle made entirely out of gold leaned over me. There were several peaks with the middle one being the tallest one. Columns came down in swirls on every corner and looked almost like fabric. The door was wide and the top was rounded upwards. The castle was magnificent... except it had no windows. The only opening in the entire castle was the door. "Welcome to Osiris' palace," Anubis presented.