Amgyptapan

Chapter 21: Hessa Vs Nothile/The Spell Breaks

Ankhsetha looked just like she had from Serina's memories. After a few moments of nothing happening, all at once, the ex-Queen drew her first breath in about four thousand years. Her eyes snapped open as her lungs began working for the first time since her death. The first breath escaped as a series of coughs as Ankhsetha rapidly sat up.

Her restored eyes looked around to view the crypt. The ex-Queen's nose wrinkled and a scowl made its way to her lips. She continued to look around. The scowl deepened as the ex-Queen and Hessa set eyes on each other.

"(Serina!)" Ankhsetha growled in anger.

"(Actually,)" Hessa said in a matter of fact tone, "(I am not really Serina, just her: reincarnated. My name is Hessa, Hessa Canine.)"

Nothile looked between the two women with confusion. The name "Serina" sounded very familiar. As he tried to remember where he had heard the name, his head began to throb in pain. The spell on his mind was working at full capacity.

"(Regardless of if you are truly Serina or not, I simply can not allow you to live.)" Ankhsetha remarked, haughty.

"(I would like to see you try to kill me!)" Hessa taunted.

Ankhsetha laughed and replied with a condescending tone, "(Oh, I do not plan on killing you myself. I will let Nothile have that honor.)"

"(That is cowardice!)" Hessa shouted.

Ankhsetha laughed and said, "(Nothile, be a dear and kill this meddling...whelp for me.)"

Nothile's eyes flashed pink as the command registered in his mind. His body reacted automatically to turn and retrieve the dagger from his chosen sacrifice's corpse. His mind only registered one thing: kill. However, his heart registered another thing entirely: there was something special about Hessa.

Hessa shook in fear as Nothile began walking towards her. She knew that if she didn't get away, she would be killed. The look in Nothile's eyes truly scared her. Hessa began to back up in an attempt to retreat.

"(Nothile, please! I know that you really do not want to do this.)" Hessa pleaded.

"(Oh, but he does. You might want to accept your death, Serina, Hessa, whatever you wish to call yourself.)" Ankhsetha snidely remarked.

'Hessa, remember, a drop of your blood can break the spell and restore order for Nothile.' Serina reminded in Hessa's mind.

Hessa closed her eyes. She needed to control her fear long enough to break Ankhsetha's hold on Nothile. She took a deep breath and let it out. With an air of determination, Hessa opened her eyes.

Hessa focused on Nothile. She figured that getting her blood into his mouth would be easy. Getting him to swallow it would be hard, near impossible even. To save them both, Hessa had to succeed in her task.

Ankhsetha looked on with interest. The demonic female she had identified as Serina reborn, to the ex-Queen, didn't stand a chance in the dark underworld. She smirked. Nothile would kill the naive whelp and that would be that!

Getting into her fighting mindset, Hessa looked Nothile over to determine the best way to accomplish her task. His arms were danger zones. She needed to be able to access his mouth. An idea formed in her head.

Looking around, Hessa recorded in her mind the linen wrappings from Ankhsetha when she had still been mummified. Keeping an eye on Nothile's advance, she looked up to find anywhere to dangle him from, all to no avail. Improving her plan, Hessa dashed to the linen wrappings. She turned to find Nothile running after her.