HalfWorlder #Wattys2017

Chapter 19-The Torey speaks

The solar barge drifted through the low cave tunnel I had spotted into the next marble hall. Light from the solar storm danced around the cavern like it was trapped here. Maybe it had been for generations? It illuminated the swirling marble whose color mimicked the aqua waters beneath it so perfectly. Its brilliance made the room feel alive and otherworldly. Even I could tell how abnormally beautiful this place was.

"The water's high tonight," Wep commented as his boat just cleared the tunnel ceiling we drifted into. I nodded at him and reached up to touch the rock. It was smooth and cold. My hand slid across the hard stone until we exited into another cavern, this one even grander in proportion than the last.

A long white pier cut through the water. Pristine lake water sloshed against its moorings and, on the shore, a grand marble villa was carved from the cavern wall. It was strange but oddly perfect. The turrets and balconies and the rise and slopes of the roof lines were somehow both a natural expression of the rock and the finished plan of a master architect.

Wep steered the boat toward the pier. Even with the current that ran through the cavern lake, he was able to pull the boat alongside it without so much as touching the dock. He simply had to reach out and pull the boat in to tie it up. He was an expert boatman.

Our ancient brown barge stood in stark contrast to the rest of the cavern's occupants. Three other vessels were anchored here. These were newer, cleaner, perfectly white, and adorned with colorful pillows piled high on the decks, just like the feluccas above us on the River Nile. When our old boat was secured, we climbed out and walked the long pier to the shore. The Eye of Horus was carved above the villa's great doors – the symbol of the ancient cult of Anubis.

"Mother? Mother?" Wep called out. He ran up to his house and walked in the front door leaving us alone on the beach. Alexandra raised her eyebrows at me, but followed Wep toward the house. I decided to take a walk down the sandy beach instead. I'd had enough of Wep's antics for a while.

"I'm taking a walk," I said. But no one cared, which bothered me ever more. I kicked a rock as hard as I could and walked down the blue and white flecked beach toward the place where the cave wall ended in a curve into the water. I needed a few minutes alone to think.

Turned out, I wasn't alone.

Stretched out at the end of the bank was a huge dog that looked like a Doberman, but was far too big for that. The creature was black as night and its coat was sleek and shined like someone rubbed oil into. It had the tall pointed ears of a Dobby, but the color was strangely gold inside. This matched the dog's only adornment – a heavy gold ribbon knotted at its throat.

It was a marvelous specimen, but I slowed, worried about its posture. Its ears twitched, listening, and it sat up, alert, as I approached, its long black neck straining up at me. Its fur was slightly raised too and bands of muscle rippled beneath its skin. I tried to slow my walk, but feared stopping or turning would startle it to action anyway.

I walked on, drawn to the massive creature like a weak moth to the flame that would burn it. I put out my hand for it to smell me. I was too close now to do anything else, but it snubbed me and turned away instead.

Wep and the others ran up from behind. He looked back and forth between me and the dog who glanced up at Wep noncommittally and stretched – all its previous intensity melting away in the slow movement. The animal reached forward with his paws, craned its neck in a low bow and lengthened out its back legs. Its toes spread out languidly the way dogs do, but then I got the shock of my life. Delicate women's fingers grew out in their place. Its front legs morphed into mocha-brown arms, the back legs became long graceful legs, and the dog's black coat became the coal-black oiled hair of a beautiful woman. She stood up from her crouching position and extended her hands toward the ceiling to complete the stretch.