A FEW MONTHS AGO, things would've been different. Sadie could've spoken a single word and caused a military-grade explosion. I could've encased myself in a magical combat avatar, and almost nothing would've been able to defeat me.
But that was when we were fully merged with the gods-Horus for me, Isis for Sadie. We'd given up that power because it was simply too dangerous. Until we had better control of our own abilities, embodying Egyptian gods could make us go crazy or literally burn us up.
Now all we had was our own limited magic. That made it harder to do important stuff-like survive when a monster came to life and wanted to kill us.
The griffin stepped into full view. It was twice the size of a regular lion, its reddish-gold fur coated with limestone dust. Its tail was studded with spiky feathers that looked as hard and sharp as daggers. With a single flick, it pulverized the stone slab it had come from. Its bristly wings were now straight up on its back. When the griffin moved, they fluttered so fast, they blurred and buzzed like the wings of the world's largest, most vicious hummingbird.
The griffin fixed its hungry eyes on Sadie. White flames still engulfed her hand and the scroll, and the griffin seemed to take that as some kind of challenge. I'd heard a lot of falcon cries-hey, I'd been a falcon once or twice-but when this thing opened its beak, it let loose a screech that rattled the windows and set my hair on end.
"Sadie," I said, "drop the scroll."
"Hello? It's stuck to my hand!" she protested. "And I'm on fire! Did I mention that?"
Patches of ghost fire were burning across all the windows and artifacts now. The scroll seemed to have triggered every reservoir of Egyptian magic in the room, and I was pretty sure that was bad. Walt and Jaz stood frozen in shock. I suppose I couldn't blame them. This was their first real monster.
The griffin took a step toward my sister.
I stood shoulder to shoulder with her and did the one magic trick I still had down. I reached into the Duat and pulled my sword out of thin air-an Egyptian khopesh with a wickedly sharp, hook-shaped blade.
Sadie looked pretty silly with her hand and scroll on fire, like an overenthusiastic Statue of Liberty, but with her free hand she managed to summon her main offensive weapon-a five-foot-long staff carved with hieroglyphs.
Sadie asked, "Any hints on fighting griffins?"
"Avoid the sharp parts?" I guessed.
"Brilliant. Thanks for that."
"Walt," I called. "Check those windows. See if you can open them."
"B-but they're cursed."
"Yes," I said. "And if we try to exit through the ballroom, the griffin will eat us before we get there."
"I'll check the windows."
"Jaz," I said, "help Walt."
"Those markings on the glass," Jaz muttered. "I-I've seen them before-"
"Just do it!" I said.
The griffin lunged, its wings buzzing like chain saws. Sadie threw her staff, and it morphed into a tiger in midair, slamming into the griffin with its claws unsheathed.
The griffin was not impressed. It knocked the tiger aside, then lashed out with unnatural speed, opening its beak impossibly wide. SNAP. The griffin gulped and burped, and the tiger was gone.
"That was my favorite staff!" Sadie cried.
The griffin turned its eyes on me.
I gripped my sword tight. The blade began to glow. I wished I still had Horus's voice inside my head, egging me on. Having a personal war god makes it easier to do stupidly brave things.
