Rune Magic

6: Cat Fight

.^^ Cat-Scratch ^^

— James —

All around me, Stone monoliths broke through the soil, cracking through stone and packed dirt, and the scenery changed. I stood now in the center of a desert, and the two elves I held in my hands were nothing but sand, spilling through my fingers.

As the last stone rose, I leapt up onto the top of one of them, and knelt, gazing at the other pillars. One by one, sand blew on each of the obelisks, and collected into beings, each tall and dangerous-looking, or perhaps only mysterious.

When the sand collected behind me, I calmly placed my dagger against the being's throat, before it was fully formed.

She blinked slowly, once fully formed, and hummed, the glowing gold feline eyes a bit off-putting, set into the night-colored face. "A warrior... good. We get so bored, testing only scholars..." She grinned, speaking in an Ancient Egyptian dialect to the man to our left, who had a Jackal's ears.

"A Test requires my consent. I'm returning home, unless you have something to offer me for my participation, and an explanation for why I'm here." I growled in the same language, pressing the knife closer, to make sure she understood I was serious.

She raised a perfect eyebrow, and snapped her fingers casually. My dagger burned white-hot in my hand, but I looked her in the eyes, and held it still to her throat, ignoring the burn.

"I said... that I want an explanation." I snarled, leaning closer. Her sweet scent distracted me for a second, but I shook it off, and growled.

She blinked again, surprised. "He withstands pain very well, also... not exactly arrogant enough to be one of my chosen, but it will do, because he is beautiful." She stroked my cheek gently, and my knees folded in shock at the euphoria inducing sensation of her skin.

I gritted my teeth, standing slowly, and stabbed her in the heart, before she did anything else to my body, any more tricks.

She hummed, seemingly interested at the frost around the wound, which then bled a little frozen sand, not blood. "Not too impulsive... but incredibly strong-willed, and somewhat prideful... yes, he will do as one of mine. Child, stabbing a physical manifestation of a metaphysical goddess really doesn't do you any good." She focused on me, as all of the creatures but three lounged on their pedestals, apparently just spectating now.

One of the few that remained standing had the eyes and talons of a Falcon, while another reminded me of an Ibis, and the third was the Jackal-man.

I grinned, and looked at who must be Bastet, goddess of Beauty, Pleasure, and War. "God's aren't metaphysical. You're a Spirit, souped up by at least ten millennia of Faith and Sacrifices, but you're still a Spirit. Ethereal, not Metaphysical."

The Ibis, or Thoth, god of Knowledge, chuckled. "I told you he was one of mine. A Scholar."

"No, he's a Warrior and a Mage, and as such is solely the territory of The Mighty Horus, God of Magic and Warriors!" The Falcon god Horus snapped his beak rudely at the others.

I snorted. "You call yourself Mighty Horus? I know you're the King of the Egyptian Gods, but goddamn you're an arrogant piece of work, you know that?"

He snarled at me, and Bastet smirked, pulling my face to look at hers. I remained standing, this time, ready for the euphoria. "Exactly. You are of my own, child, and perhaps my lover Ptah's, but no other. Now, to answer your questions, every Master Mage is given Patronage from a God... you have been chosen by me, Bast, Goddess of War, Beauty, and Lust. From this day forth, you will call upon me in your times of need, and I will whisper knowledge into your ears, or power into your veins. In return, when you die, a very long time away from now, I will give you a place by my side in the afterlife." She nodded.