Get out your popcorn, tourists beware, here comes a paranormal adventure with a historical twist, set in Egypt--and Britain.
From Chapter 29 'Darkness': 'Did I just try to dive into that goo to get at a dead guy?' Trueth asked.
Define dead,' Me...
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'Oh heck, what do we do now?' Rani-Ra said. Seisi lay prone on the backseat of the car, his head next to the door. Rani-Ra used a dubious-looking handkerchief to wipe sweat off their guest's brow.
'To be honest, I wasn't sure the whole trip was such a good idea,' Ranofer said. 'But he insisted, he wanted to report to this posse of super priests.'
Trueth said 'Seisi seems to be sure he'll meet those guys again. Never mind, let's go back home. He's tough, he'll pull through.'
'Ranofer can drive,' Rani-Ra said, carefully moving Seisi's legs aside to join him on the seat. He groaned and stirred, then smiled with his eyes still closed. Not at Rani-Ra. At Trueth who was still watching him from the open car door.
'A vision,' he breathed, a beatific smile on his face.
'He's really not well,' Trueth observed and climbed into the passenger's seat.
Seisi recovered swiftly, keen to continue the visit of the demon world. Ranofer put his foot down.'You're going nowhere, mate, but home.' As he was driving, this resulted in a sudden spurt of speed which further raised the spirits of their intrepid guest.
Trueth could not help but admire him.
When they turned into the street in front of the house, the Jeep nearly collided with a mass of rickety cars, dusty pickup trucks and people blocking the road. Ranofer swore, braked and parked right next to the nearest obstacle. His passengers disembarked and gaped at the drama unfolding in front of them.
People were weaving in and out of the bushes at the front of the Al-Nour garden, spilling onto the pavement. The fence had been trampled, and the din of many voices echoed from the garden. A few of the invaders Trueth recognised as Servants, the others had been among the group of supporters that had helped to restore the shrine after Iseret's last stand.
'Oh, what shall we do,' was the gist of the wailing coming from the milling multitudes. A confused wave of thoughts and emotions rolled into her head and made her stagger.
'Pray, let me help,' Seisi's voice said next to her. He waved his palm in front of Trueth's forehead, shining gold flared up in her mind, abruptly shutting out the distraught babble.
Their visitor turned towards the lost lot from the temple. 'Pull yourselves together, good people. You are not taking the right approach. I ask you to elucidate your problems instead, to the noble Trueth and myself.'
Seisi's comment sparked off another cerebral explosion. He contained it with a scything motion like the one Metjen and Iseret used when they wanted to stop things at once.
Nefer, Isis, Gebu and Khafa between them confessed they had let go of the veil again, they lacked the strength to keep it up. Iseret had left them, had claimed she needed to prepare for the journey. According to Nefer, Nebmutef had spotted more gangs from the outside world advancing on their shrine. With Metjen agonising over his family's woes, Nebmutef had no choice. He sent the remaining Servants to their homes in Cairo and Sakkara village before he invoked a spell that sealed their sanctuary.
