Born of the Gods

Chapter Eighteen- A Greater Path

The flames flickered on the walls and the jackals stared down at me. They all ranged in colors from a pure white to a shadowy black. There was one that stuck out, however. The jackal was light brown with a black trail beginning at its forhead and I could only assume led down its back. Its was armored with leather scaled with blackened copper pieces. They glinted in the torchlight and almost made it look like he was on fire. 

The jackal bared its teeth and stood. It barked an order to the two that stood at its side. Two armored jackals ran up to me. They glanced behind me and I turned to see Sophia and Tarik standing behind me. Their weapons were drawn as well. The jackals looked at the weapons and growled.

"Drop them or they will rip your hands from your arms," much to our surprise, the obvious leader shouted to us as he strode up.

"What do you want?" I asked angrilly.

"I should ask you the same thing," the jackal growled, "This is our home." Its voice was harsh and quiet, as if he was trying to whisper as loudly as he could.

"We have our reasons," Tarik said.

The jackal turned to him and seemed to grin. Then his smile faltered. "Who are you three?" it asked.

"That's none of your concern," I said glaring at it.

The jackal looked as if it wanted to rip my throat out. "Oh, but it is. Damned demigods," it spat. "I should kill you where you stand." The two next to it growled and prepared to lunge. I raised my bow and Tarik and Sophia held their swords.

 "But I won't," the jackal said darkly and reluctantly, "I could smell Osiris on that one as soon as it entered the room." It pointed to Tarik. "I don't think he would be too happy if I killed his son or its friends. I cannot, however, excuse you from killing my kin."

I almost sighed in relief. Sophia and Tarik both looked slightly more relaxed. 

The jackals that flanked their leader backed off a little and seemed to calm slightly. "Come, I must show you something," the leader said.

"You're Anubis," Tarik blurted.

"Yes," the god said as he turned and walked to the other end of the room. A thick wedge of stone fell as Anubis pressed his hand on the wall. He walked through, assuming we'd follow. I slowly began to walk forward. One foot touched the sand which stirred and shifted as my weight pressed on it. Tarik and Sophia followed quietly.

"You will just excuse them for their actions?" shouted a jackal from behind us. It was striding towards us in armor similar to Anubis's but it lacked the copper and was completely shaded red. 

Anubis stopped, slowly turned, and began to walk towards the challenger. "I will deal with them as I please," the god spoke angrily.

The red one grinned maliciously. "They killed our people and you're just going to let them walk away from it?" it asked. "Will you all so easily forgive these demigods?" The jackal yelled to the crowd. 

The other beasts sitting in the stands began to shift in discomfort. They clearly didn't want to defy their leader but they also clearly disapproved of letting us live. Soon several started arguing in the stands and a fight broke out. Soon it was pulled apart.

"The outsiders come to our home, slaughter our people, and then cause fights!" shouted the red jackal, "Will you just let them get away?"

There were yells of anger from the stands. Some seemed in our favor, but most seemed intent on our death. Apparently they didn't take murder lightly. Several of the larger beasts began to make their way down the stairs and formed a small group behind the large red jackal.