Khepri in the Sands

-Just a little lone Khepri short. No smut.-



Another set of picked-over ruins. Fourth time in a row I hadn’t been able to find so much as a scrap of burial linen. If I couldn’t find something of worth within the next few weeks, there was no way the museum would continue funding me. I suppose I should have picked a slightly better location, perhaps someplace a little less traveled. Though, for a lone explorer like me remote locations were a massive gamble.

After packing up camp, I flopped down onto a fallen obelisk and gazed up at the mostly sand-covered stepped pyramid. The winds could cover and uncover ruins of all kinds. Sometimes someone would come across something never before seen, or walk right over the top of a would-be familiar landmark, if it wasn’t buried.

I’d hoped that this find would be packed, or at least not stripped clean. Mainly because of my little shadowy friend that’d appeared shortly after I began poking around. I shot a casual glance over my shoulder, but even with my face wrap on she knew I was looking at her and darted behind a pillar.

Typically if ruins had Khepri around them, one could be assured that treasures and/or riches lay within. They liked to collect all sorts of things and could act as protectors or guardians, driving everyone away until they happened to take a liking to someone and made them their king or queen. As to what made a group of Khepri like someone, that remained a mystery.

This particular specimen kept her distance, and at first I thought she was simply waiting for her brethren to arrive so they could chase me away. But, no brethren ever arrived, and she simply watched me from afar as I clomped around dark, empty chambers. Far as I could tell, she didn’t have a ball of dark energy with her either.

Well, as much as I’d have liked to figure out why she was by her lonesome, the museum wasn’t paying me to be a monstergirl entomologist. Dusk was settling, and I wished to be someplace with cover by morning. Saddling up on my trusty camel Joe, I continued my journey west.

Night brings with it a chill; not something people expect from the desert. Out here, away from cities that trap the heat of the day, the temperatures can get rather cool. Cold, even. Clear skies, bright stars, and the only sound of soft, cloven hooves plodding through the dunes.

And the unmistakable glint of gleaming, golden carapace following at a distance.

I couldn’t believe it at first – I mean, who’d heard of Khepri leaving their ruins to follow someone? Though perhaps she was a little different, since she was alone as well. She followed along, attempting to hide amongst the dunes and depressions, always keeping a safe distance. Whenever I paused to glance at her she’d skitter away, then peek over whatever crest she’d concealed behind.

This little game of chase continued through the following morning, through the day, and into the following eve. While I had plenty of supplies, I wondered how Cleo – ah, that’s the nickname I gave to her – was fairing. Truthfully I didn’t know much about Khepri in regards to their daily lives. As a desert animal she could probably go at length without food or water, but could she while following me like this? I did know they usually kept to ruins and oasis and the like.

I suppose after spending so much time together, she wasn’t quite so shy. As I sat on my bedroll, looking over the expanse of sands, Cleo wouldn’t scamper off and hide when our eyes met any longer. She even came a tiny bit closer than usual. In groups they may be a threat, but this loner was amusing.

Breaking a bit of jerky off, I held it up in her direction. I’m not sure why; perhaps I’d just like someone to talk to besides my camel. As great of a conversationalist as he was, I felt like we needed to see other people. Typical relationship problems, you know.

Cleo didn’t budge, but I thought I could make out her gaze shifting from my face to the bit of food.

“Don’t be afraid,” I said, beckoning her over with my other hand.

Still motionless.

“Playing hard to get?”

Ah, that at least got her to tilt her head. I was mostly certain she could understand my words, though their meaning may have been lost on her.

“Women, eh?” I said, shrugging at Joe. From the look in his eyes I knew he agreed with me.

Shaking my head and laughing, I wondered if I’d spent just a little too long in these deserts. Solitude was a blessing and maybe just a little bit of a curse. Well, not that it was ever truly solitude, I thought as I silently apologized to Joe.

Chewing up the bit of jerky I’d offered to Cleo, I followed it up with a swig of water and tucked into my bedroll. The little Khepri would be again be my little guardian tonight.

So I did feel a bit bad about faking sleep as I felt Cleo’s presence grow close. Nothing gets a shy critter to come to you like pretending to be completely defenseless.

She picked through my carefully left-out supplies, holding each item up in turn and sniffing and even licking them. Mental note to wash that cup out once I got to a place with more plentiful water.

“Hey.”

In hindsight speaking suddenly like that wasn’t a good idea. Hopefully I’d be able to find the bag of jerky she just hurled over into some dunes somewhere over there. There was also all the sand that had found its way into my sleeping bag. Zipping it up more would have been a good idea.

Instead of fleeing, Cleo had instead opted to bury herself into the sand. Mostly. I could still see her antennae sticking out and the thin layer of sand that covered her back trembled. Despite the poor quality of her disguise, I had to hand it to her – she’d managed to get herself into the sand that deep in only seconds.

Joe looked on curiously, which looked a lot like his agreement face.

I poked at her antennae. Trembling intensifies.

“You can understand me, can’t you?”

Trembling decreased.

“If I’m talking to you like this, you should know that means I don’t mean to harm you, yes?”

Cleo was still now, save for her little stalks. They swiveled about, and one even sniffed its way across the back of my hand. Didn’t expect it to feel quite as ticklish as it did – it was all I could do to avoid laughing and pulling my hand away.

Sands shifted, revealing golden eyes and most of her head.

“Hi,” I said in my most cordial tone. “How are you?”

Didn’t say anything, but she began to unbury herself, throwing sand everywhere in the process. Again. Well, what’s a bit more to have to shake out of my bag?

Cleo eyed me warily, but at least she wasn’t bolting for a safe distance. I kept my patience and just smiled at her. She was kinda small, but then I had no idea how large a Khepri was supposed to be to begin with. Typical features otherwise – bronzed skin, chitinous arms and legs, black hair. Had the build of a young teen, but I knew better than to assume a monstergirl’s age from her appearance. A run in with a baphomet not long ago had made that point painfully clear.

Once she’d accepted that I wasn’t going to attempt to do mean or lewd things to her – or maybe she wanted me to do lewd things to her, hard to say – she inched in closer and ran her antennae all over me. Over my arms, body, legs, and even my face. Felt kind of like someone running the rounded end of those big knitting needles across me.

“You smell nice,” she said rather matter-of-factly as she finished circling me.

“Er, thanks? I haven’t have a shower in probably two weeks. Pretty sure I stink like hell.”

Cleo settled down on the sand in front of me on her knees. “No, nice smell.”

“If you say so.” No point in arguing with her, was there? Maybe she was into that sort of thing. I wasn’t one to judge.

“So, why were you alone in those ruins?” I asked, suddenly aware it wasn’t the gentle segue I’d envisioned in my mind.

She shook her head, her antennae waving back and forth. “Don’t know. Went to sleep with others. Woke up alone.”

“In those ruins? When did you wake up?”

“When you appeared.”

“So you were hibernating or something?”

Flat stare. So she probably didn’t know why she was asleep for so long. Her simple speech kind of made me think she was, well, simple, but maybe she just didn’t talk much. Her beetle-like wings chittered slightly as she adjusted herself on her knees.

“Well, uh, what’s your name?”

She looked down at the sand and furrowed her brow, her eyes darting side to side. If she was having trouble remembering her name… maybe she was as ancient as the ruins? Could be she was simply part of a sand dune and went undetected for centuries, assuming her kind was capable of living that long.

“Do not remember,” she said, her face returning to its mostly emotionless form.

“Is that so? Hmm, how about until you remember, I call you Cleo?”

Her antennae came to attention. “Cleo?”

“Well yeah, I can’t really just call you ‘you’ all the time, can I?”

“Okay. Cleo,” she said, pointing one of her clawed hands at herself.

“Good, that’s settled. So, Cleo, why did you follow me out into the open desert? I thought your kind liked to hang around ruins and such,” I said, standing up and shaking the sand out of my bag.

“Curious. Alone. No reason to stay.”

Satisfied that most of the sand was now back on the ground where it belonged, I slid into its warm confines. “Curious, huh? What’s curious about me?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. Something troubled her – that much I could tell. Finally she spoke, but I assumed she’d changed her words. “Cannot explain.”

More than a little suspicious. I shot a consulting glance towards Joe. He gave his tacit approval. I nodded.

“Well, if you want to tag along with me that’s fine. It’s another two days of travel towards the next set of ruins,” I said, snuggling into my bedroll. Then a thought crossed my mind. “I don’t really have any extra supplies to afford you, though. As it is I’ll be cutting things close.”

“Will be fine.”

“If you say so. Okay then,” I said with a yawn, “We’ve a long day of traveling ahead and I need my rest. So, as entertaining as it is to talk to you, I need to sleep.”

Cleo nodded. “Will protect. Sleep well.”

Protect? Not like there was much out here in the desert. Scorpions and the like were a possibility, but they were awfully rare. Well, whatever.

I figured she’d stand guard or something to protect me. Turned out we had different ideas of what that meant. Not long after I’d closed my eyes I heard her shuffling closer. Barely cracking an eye open, I spied her inching forward on all fours. And then in a stroke of masterful subtlety, she just kind of crawled over the top of me and fell asleep herself. Great protection.

I’ll admit I felt a little different as I began slipping into sleep with her draping herself over me. Somehow I felt a bit more relaxed, a bit more at ease. Not exactly comfortable, yet somehow I slept better than I had in months and even years. Most likely because the usual thoughts didn’t come home to roost.

In the morning she tried to play cool like nothing had happened, slipping off as the sun rose. My attempt to poke a bit of fun at her about it fell a little short due to her response, or lack thereof. She just adamantly denied crawling over me in her usual nonchalant way.

Her company was nice to have during the trek. Short of words as she may have been, it was far better than the silence of wind-swept sand – sorry, Joe. In our discussions I discovered that Cleo’d apparently lost most of her memories. Poor thing couldn’t even remember why she woke up buried deep in sand. No idea about her age either, though she did have some hazy, vague recollections of a lush oasis long ago in about the same spot she’d awoke.

There was evidence that parts of the ruins she began stalking me at were immersed in water, but that would have been at least 1,500 years ago. To not be discovered in that time is rather impressive, in a way. Moreover, all ‘modern’ Khepri were fairly young. They aged like everyone else and passed away like everyone else. Except for this one, assuming she was telling the truth.

Finally, by my reckoning, we’d reached the location where something other than sand ought to have been. I checked my map and travel log several times over; every time I came up with the same answer.

“Looks like we’re not going to be exploring anything here,” I said with a long, drawn-out sigh.

Things like this happened. I used to get angry, but after enough times I sort of got used to it. My rage would never part the sandy seas that had swallowed a forgotten village, so what was the point? Just carry on to the next location. While I was plotting my next course of action, I noticed Cleo was staring at one particular dune.

“See something over there?” I asked curiously. She hadn’t been one to gawk at things – or nothing - for no reason.

“Old temple, buried,” she said, remaining fixated on a patch of sand. She then turned to me. “You explore?”

“I can’t see what you see. It’s all just sand to me.”

Her beetle-like wings chittered. “Will show.”

I shrugged. Didn’t have any of the equipment needed to do any sort of excavating, but knowing that my bearings were true would be nice.

Cleo led the way to the dune she’d been so interested in. Maybe the tip of the temple was the reason for the dune? Though when I thought about it, nothing I’d read regarding this site mentioned a thing about a temple. Far as I knew, the only thing of note here should be a noble’s mastaba.

“Here,” Cleo said, and without further ado she began to dig. “Will return soon.”

Sand flew this way and that as she burrowed down, pretty much like when I’d startled her and she attempted to hide herself. You wouldn’t think it to look at her, but the girl could move more sand a team of men. Watching, I thought maybe I wouldn’t need excavation gear after all. Actually, I probably would. Her particular method of getting under the sand meant that most of it fell back atop of her, leaving little more than a small depression when she got deep enough.

So there I stood, staring at a whole lot of nothing for far too long. What interested me the most about all that’d just happened was how Cleo could be so confident about the spot she dug into it. If it was anyone else I’d have called them crazy, but I felt that the little Khepri knew what she was doing. Even accounting for her memory loss.

Joe seemed to be concerned. I suppose anyone would be if they saw me staring at a barren patch of nothingness for nearly 15 minutes.

“She’ll be back,” I told Joe. He remained unconvinced.

Another fifteen minutes drifted by. Maybe Joe was right. He did have a knack for these things – wouldn’t be the first time a potential exploratory partner had abandoned me. He didn’t have to look so smug about it, though.

Another half hour. Then an hour. All told almost two hours had passed. Some sand blew around. I drew a bit in the sand – a rather decent image of a Pharaoh, in my opinion. Joe disagreed.

“What do you want me to do? She’s just a woman with a snake. I thought I did the snake very well. Don’t give me that look, Joe. I’d like to see you do better. Yeah that’s what I thought, you just… stand there.”

Some people just don’t understand art. But he did have a point he raised at the end – maybe I ought to get a move on. Going that deep into the sand may have triggered Cleo’s hibernation mechanic, or whatever one might call it. I’d hate to abandon a companion, but I couldn’t mill about pointlessly in the desert.

As fortune happens, not more than a few moments after that thought passed, the ground shook ever so slightly. Then I noticed something most interesting – the sand was sinking where near where Cleo had dug down. A shallow depression formed, then a hole. And it kept growing. Joe was looking rather alarmed, but ever the faithful steed he didn’t run off.

Poking around the edge of the sinkhole, watching as it grew. Down and down it went, at least fifty or sixty feet by my reckoning. Finally the sand gave way to solid, shaped stone with a metal grate of some kind in the middle. The sand was disappearing through there. Towards one side at the bottom there was a stone arch of some sort. Just as I thought it was possibly a doorway, Cleo crept out of it and stared up at me.

“Way clear. Explore now?”

“What the hell is this?” I yelled, wondering how I could get down while also having a means to get back up.

“Temple,” Cleo responded. “of Osiris.”

“Temple of Osiris? Here?”

There was absolutely no record of any kind of temple dedicated to Osiris within hundreds of miles. I began laughing; this was a chance of a lifetime, and all thanks to Cleo. Even if the city wasn’t buried, I doubt anyone would have found this. I looked for something to hook a rope to so I could climb back out. Nothing. Right – a desert. No way to make the funnel less steep, either. My heart hammered away rational thought.

One never jumped down deep, dark holes unless they were a fool, or an explorer. I happened to be both. I’d figure something out.

“Keep watch Joe,” I said, then vanished down from his sight. He’d probably stick around. Maybe even help pull me up.

My semi-controlled descent ended with a meaty thud onto the metal sand-trap-door. Cleo watched passively. Didn’t even flinch. At least she scuttled over to help me up. I’d be fine, nothing broken, just a little bruised.

“Explore now?” Cleo inquired, extending me one of her little claws.

“With pleasure,” I said, kind of forgetting the size difference. Instead of getting up I just wound up pulling her onto my lap.

Her antennae wiggled and caressed my face. “Explore Cleo?” She asked, a certain note of hope tinting her words.

…Awkward. She’d been so sedate on our journey I completely forgot what she was. She never once made a move.

“Maybe later,” I said, standing up and setting Cleo down. Her small body type didn’t do anything for me, but I guess if she wanted it as a reward I could oblige her later. “For now, let’s do some exploring, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, her antennae hanging limp. Then she perked up. “Careful, old magic here.”

“Magic? Really?”

Cleo nodded.

Find of the century right here if there were some kind of active, magical wards or whatever in place. My body was practically bursting with excitement - it wasn’t just the bonus commission I’d receive for discovering this place, but knowing that I’d be the first person in who knows how long to enter this place. Khepri aside.

“Lead the way, Cleo.”

With a nod she passed through the stone arch, which I now noticed was surprisingly small. She could walk through normally, but I was forced to stoop low to get through.

Darkness. I’d forgotten about the darkness. Thankfully I kept a small flashlight on me for just such incident, along with a flint and some tinder just in case I could create a torch from something. My little flashlight had survived the fall, much to my relief, and despite its tiny size did well to light up the dark void of the temple.

Cleo’s claws clicked against the well-fit stone, the surface unmarred by time or elements. Intricate reliefs and carvings adorned the walls, all in rich, vibrant colors. This had to have been untouched until now – sealed, even. As I took in everything, even just inside the entrance, I began to wonder. Oxidation alone should’ve faded the colors significantly. It shouldn’t be possible for the inks used to be this pristine. Was it the magic Cleo spoke of?

My heart trembled, but I could not say if it was excitement or worry.

Amongst the glyphs, I noticed a predominant scarab motif. They featured in nearly every cartouche, along with a few glyphs I’d never seen before. “What is this place? This hall?” I asked.

Cleo paused and looked from wall to wall herself. “Servant entrance. Servant quarters, this way,” she said, pointing further down the hall.

Since when were Khepri servants? Oh this was going to be big. You cute little lucky amazing scarab, I thought, staring at Cleo’s back. I’d give her everything she wanted for this once we got out of here.

The hallway dipped downhill for thirty or forty paces before opening into a large chamber of some sort. Multiple other hallways branched off, spreading out in all the major directions. This place was massive, absolutely massive. My tiny flashlight could just barely illuminate the ceiling.

And yet Cleo kept walking on as if intimately familiar with this place.

“Have you been here before?” I asked.

“Think so. Lived here? Hard to remember,” she said, not even pausing to look around.

We passed an ebony statue of an Anubis seated, holding up her golden scale with one paw and a bronze staff in the other. I think it was ebony, anyways. Like everything else here, it looked as if carved and painted only days ago. The detail work was amazing; compared the typical Egyptian depictions, this one was much more life-like.

“Servant quarters,” Cleo announced, some distance down the hall.

While I’d been admiring the statue she kept on her merry way. I darted away from the Anubis, making my way over to where Cleo had gone.

Compared to the rest of what I’d seen so far, this room was very sparsely decorated. Bedding lined the walls, stacked two high in bunk beds. Each was relatively small, almost a perfect fit for Cleo by my estimate. New glyphs, statues of people and deities I had never seen. All in this modest room. It was like I’d traveled back in time to just after this whole complex was finished.

“So this is where you lived?” I asked, testing one of the beds. The linen-covered straw was still surprisingly soft.

“Yes. Think so,” Cleo responded, coming to my side.

My light settled on a statue of what I assumed to be a deity, but one I’d never seen. Before I could even ask the question, Cleo spoke up. “Osiris.”

“That’s Osiris?”

“Yes, Osiris,” she responded. “Not nice,” she added.

The figure in front of me was unlike any depiction of Osiris I’d ever seen. It was a fairly small carving of a woman, holding a crook and flail crossed over her rather sizeable chest. That much was accurate to what was popularly believed, but she had very large, fox-like ears jutting from her head and a pair of thin tails that ended in tufts. She possessed human hands and a human torso, but just below the waist her hips became covered in fur and she had digitigrade, wolf-like legs that ended in large paws.

It was like an odd mishmash of Osiris and her sister Set.

“Not nice?”

“No. Tricky. Lewd”

“Lewd?” I said with a cocked eyebrow. Cleo’s memory was certainly peculiar. “So what other rooms are there?” I inquired, my heart still racing with energy. I was split between wanting to probe every nook in the little bit I’d already seen and wanting to take in the whole complex.

“Many others. Want to see?”

My curiosity for the whole won out. “Of course!”

She brushed up next to me and extended a clawed hand. “Take hand. Dangerous.”

Danger is one of those things that can frighten someone off or act as a catalyst to spur them on. Grinning like a fool, I took Cleo’s claw. Her little pointy fingers closed around my mine, perhaps a bit more snuggly than I would have expected. Despite the hard carapace, her claw-hand had a lingering warmth to it that I found pleasant; comforting.

“Lead the way to wherever you want to take me,” I said, suddenly wishing I had some charcoal and paper with me so I could make a few rubbings. A bit of proof would go further than my word when I returned to the curator.

With a gentle tug, Cleo lead me out into the hallway and back towards the main chamber. The ebon Anubis statue was still there, though it looked different. Did it change positions? Maybe it was just because I was looking at it from the other direction.

“Your heart, too loud,” Cleo said, gripping my hand even more tightly. “Will wake the sleeping.”

Compared to the sounds of our footfalls, my heartbeat was completely silent. I mean, just because I could hear my own pulse didn’t mean others could. Moreover, how did she know my heart was pounding? Could she feel it through our hands? I couldn’t detect anything through her claw. Which made me wonder about something.

“Hey, Cleo,” I said, slowing my pace at the same time.

Then, when she turned to face me I placed my hand on her bare chest. There was a slow, steady heartbeat – for a moment anyways, before her pulse quickened ever so slightly. I felt more than a little relief at knowing I wasn’t dealing with some sort of undead Khepri.

“Not in front of her,” she said, motioning towards the Anubis statue. “Too loud. Can’t protect.”

Unsurprisingly she’d interpreted my gesture as a come-on. No sex in front of the goddesses, huh? And protect me from what?

“A shame,” I said. “We’ll just have to save it for later, won’t we?”

Her wings vibrated momentarily. “Yes. Later,” she said, her flat tone taking on a softer quality. “Would like.”

Small price to pay for having a guided tour of an ancient, underground facility from someone who was probably just as ancient as the stone.

Cleo led me through a multitude of rooms, giving her usual succinct overview of what each one was for. In the body preparation room I found some linen, oil, and an ornamental spear which I used to construct a torch. The tallow flame dyed everything pales shades of yellow and orange, but at least now I could see an entire room at once rather than small spots at a time.

There was one chamber left at the end of a wide hallway adorned in royal decorations. Deep blues, purples, golds, and fine marble adorned the passage. Inside that room there had to be something, or someone of great importance. The hall alone probably cost more to construct than the rest of this place combined. My heart surged with excitement.

“No, dangerous. Calm heart,” Cleo pleaded.

Actually pleaded. Her voice was shot through with worry.

“What makes it dangerous?”

“Osiris.”

“You mean like Osiris is in that room?”

“Yes,” she said timidly.

A goddess was here. Or at least the remains of one. I had to press on. My sense of adventure and awe overrode everything else, including the little Khepri desperately clinging to me, dragging her clawed feet across the marble.

“Dangerous! Stop!” Cleo begged. I kept walking.

Pushing aside well-preserved cedar doors, my breath caught in my throat. A massive golden throne dominated the center of the room atop a stepped dais. Every wall was etched with reliefs, panoramas, and pictorial retellings of stories. Even the ceiling and floor were covered – on the floor the layout was as such as to form a spiral that led from the entrance to the foot of the throne.

And behind the throne was a massive granite sarcophagus. Step by step I eked closer.

“No!” Cleo shouted. I kept walking. “Stop!” Another step.

Then she froze, holding absolutely still. “Too late,” she whispered. “Too late…”

Those words brought me to a halt. Panic filled her eyes; eyes glued to the sarcophagus. Out of nowhere a wave of dread washed over me. Without thinking my focus locked onto the stone coffin. The atmosphere grew heavy, oppressive, like I was being watched.

It shouldn’t be possible for the lid to move. I’ve tried to lift one or two by myself. It shouldn’t be possible for any one person to move. Stone ground against stone.

My feet shuffled backwards. I needed to escape. We had to escape. Why didn’t I listen to her?

A hand appeared, gripping the edge. The tips of fox ears came after. This is what I wanted, wasn’t it? Why did terror grip me?

My feet turned around. Backwards wasn’t fast enough. But my feet moved faster than my vision. I crashed into something. Someone.

The makeshift torch clattered to the marble floor. Harsh shadows danced to the flame’s tune, cavorting about her face. She looked just like the statue. She was the statue.

Behind me the quiet, dull shriek of stone on stone echoed through the chamber. The Anubis’ scale jingled.

Cleo was shivering, pressing against me as if attempting to disappear. Her claw was still firmly latched onto my hand, sending her tremors into my arm. Yet, despite the cloth of my pants, I could feel her warmth.

The Anubis took a step forward. Though shorter than I was, she was possessed of a commanding presence that made her seem a giant. “You. Man. What is the meaning of disturbing our rest?” She asked, her tone sharp as a knife. “And you, servant. Why have you returned? What of your original charge?”

“I-I am an archeologist,” I struggled to speak confidently. I thrust my chest out and brought myself to full height. The Anubis was unimpressed. “And I am exploring this ancient temple in the interest of preserving ancient history and revealing its knowledge to the world.”

Huh. I don’t know where the words came from, but they flowed out naturally somehow. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but I was nothing so amazing as an archeologist.

Cleo took a moment before answering. “Do not remember original charge. Woke up in sand. Nothing.”

The Anubis opened her mouth to speak, but then her eyes focused beyond me. Her lips closed and she stood as rigid as her staff. A breath brushed the back of my neck.

“A seeker of the forgotten and a scarab that has forgotten. Most interesting,” came a voice, saturated through with a thick lisp. Something wet darted against the back of my neck as the voice spoke.

Smooth as a ratchet, I turned my head to look at what had spoken. A living example of the statue I saw in the servant’s quarters, and indeed, every other room. Only whereas the mouths on the statues were closed, this one was open. The tip of a long, thick tongue flicked against my cheek.

“O-Osiris?”

An almost malicious grin spread on her face, then her ochre eyes turned down to Cleo. “That one has informed you?”

Terror and excitement mingled together in my heart. I was having a conversation with an unknown species of monstergirl. One that was revered as a diety at that. Not only that, but the Anubis probably still had her mythological abilities and heritage. I was in the presence of two goddesses. Living vessels of antiquity and probably capable of magic.

“Yes,” I said after a moment. “She has shown me this holy place.” Why did I call this temple holy?

“What does one such as yourself think of these grounds?” Osiris asked expectantly, her head now at my other shoulder.

Some small, inner voice that was not my own yet was familiar guided my response. “Hallowed, tranquil. A place of rest.”

“You sound troubled. If you find this a place of peace, for why are you so nervous?”

“The unknown,” I replied without thought.

Osiris nodded academically. “Yes, it is wise to be wary of that which is beyond your comprehension. But…” She trailed off, circling around in front of me. Her two tails swung side to side in short, quick bursts. Compared to the Anubis, and even me, she was tall – must have been crouching when she was behind me.

“But?” I questioned.

“You bleed with guilt,” Osiris said, tapping a finger to her cheek. “Guilt and regret.”

My heart skipped a beat. How could they know? They couldn’t, could they?

The same voice inner voice from earlier spoke: They wouldn’t know unless told, and right now, I was telling them everything.

I didn’t understand. Who was speaking to me? How was I telling them anything?

A familiar pair of points prodded my arm. My eyes met Cleo’s. Her gaze was like steel, yet she clung to me like I was the only thing preventing her from drowning amidst stormy seas. She was supposed to protect me? No, I had to protect her and get us out of here.

“That is the real reason why you are nervous, is it not?” Osiris continued.

“When faced with two goddesses, would their majesty not cause any man to tremble?” I replied.

Osiris’ eyebrows rose ever so slightly. “Indeed.”

“Enough of these games,” growled Anubis, striking the stone with her staff. “You should not have brought him here, scarab. He defiles this place.”

“How?” I asked. “What is there to defile?”

“You corrupt the purity of those-“

Her words were cut short by Osiris holding out her hand, flexing her fingers as it mimicking a claw. “She is correct. Mortals are not meant to know. Mortals are not meant to enter these halls,” her said, her tone turning almost to that of pity. “What is done, is done. Harbor no ill will for the scarab. I will see to her punishment.”

Before I could respond, before I could move or think, Osiris’ hand shot forward. Bone and flesh offered no resistance. Before my brain could process the sequence of events into something rational, understandable, there Osiris stood, holding her prize aloft. And there I stood. My mind identified the thing in her hand as my heart. But I was still breathing, still thinking.

My hands raced up and down my chest. Everything was fine. There was no blood. No hole. Wait. Why couldn’t I feel my heartbeat?

The heart in Osiris’ hand pulsed as if alive.

“To tread here with the burden of sin is to accept the punishment of death,” said the Anubis solemnly.

All at once the voice became clear. Cleo stopped trembling. “I will protect you,” her voice sang out in my thoughts.

Osiris placed my heart onto Anubis’ scale. At the same time, a small white feather materialized on the other end.

“Let it begin,” said Anubis.

Her task apparently completed, Osiris took a few steps back and assumed some sort of ritualistic posture. A crook and a flail appeared in her crossed arms and she stood perfectly still.

Anubis began a series of questions: The 42 principles of Maat. Every question she asked, my lips moved and my voice sounded, but I was not the one who spoke. Cleo answered every question for me. The entire time I could not feel my own heartbeat, but I could sense hers. It was matched to the heart resting on a golden scale.

Once Anubis finished her list of questions, she glared harshly at me and Cleo. We’d gotten through the list relatively easy, though stumbled on a few questions in particular. Answers to questions that, without a shadow of a doubt, I knew to be lies.

Clearing her throat, Anubis began at the top of the list. Only now she was very pointed on some questions.

“Have you stolen?” Asked Anubis.

“I have not stolen.”

“Have you stolen?” She asked again, an even more accusatory tone tinting her words.

“I have not stolen,” my voice repeated with a measure of difficulty. The words stuck to my throat and passed as if they were inscribed on shards of glass.

The scale wobbled. Teetered one way, then the other, and settled back to balance. Anubis exhaled sharply through her nose. My heart kept its steady beat; rather, Cleo’s heart kept steady.

Cleo was beginning to tremble again. Very slight, minor tremors. I laid my hand on her head, stroking her hair between her antennae. I was beginning to figure out what was going on, but I didn’t know why. She’d only known me for such a short time – why go to this length? Was it to protect herself?

Anubis spoke loudly. Her gaze was every bit the judge staring down a condemned man. “Are you a man of violence?”

“I am n-not a man of violence.”

The scale sank, only recovering just before the heart bottomed out the scale. Cleo’s heartbeat was losing its watch-like precision.

“Have you wronged anyone, have you done evil?” Anubis growled out. She knew, but had to adhere to the balance of the scales.

“I have… wronged none. I have done… no evil.”

Cleo gasped. I thought the whole house of cards and lies were going to collapse right there. The heart lingered a scant hair above the point of no return for far too long. Sweat poured off me in streams, far more than I’d ever sweat out under the scorching desert sun.

I wondered if Cleo knew my truth. She had to with how much she was struggling to lie. Why would anyone defend someone like me? It’s true I considered myself reformed – a new life wandering in the deserts had given me the time I needed to reflect on my past, but I had yet to make amends.

My arm wrapped around the diminutive Khepri. It was a simple gesture, but some strength returned to her and a light, tiny smile crossed her lips.

Anubis sneered contemptuously. “You have quite the capable servant but,” she paused, glancing back towards Osiris. When she looked back her face was twisted into a predatory grin made all the more disconcerting by the sharp shadows that hid her features save for her pointed teeth and gleaming eyes. “Have you committed blasphemy against any goddess?”

“I have not… not…” My throat went silent, clenching shut as if Anubis herself had her paw wrapped around my throat.

Why was this so hard? The first time through, this question had been answered as easily as any other.

Anubis slammed her staff down into the marble. “Answer!”

The heart was galloping. Cleo was gasping and panting into my stomach, wings fluttering almost non-stop. She was struggling to remain standing, on her last legs, her last breath.

So I scooped her up into my arms. She said nothing; she didn’t need to. Her smile served as all the thanks I needed. Holding her close to my chest, something twinged inside me. A certain feeling I thought I’d forgotten.

“If you do not answer, I will assume you have,” Anubis said, happy at the prospect of my failure to pass her judgment.

Osiris’s face remained an impassive mask.

Cleo poked at my chest with her claw. Words surged forth. “I have not committed blasphemy against any goddess,” I said, no longer straining to speak.

Anubis’ mouth hung open. I struggled to not look smug. Struggled, but wasn’t successful.

Peevish as could be, Anubis began with snort. “Fine. So be it. This one has passed, Osiris,” she said, spitting the words out like the most vile poison imaginable.

The mask of passivity crumbled and her crook faded. Osiris’ lips pressed into a grim line. “So be it,” she said, stepping forward and plucking the heart from the scale. “I deem this heart to be without sin.”

Her hand thrust forward, slamming into my chest. Only it didn’t move me. Nor did I feel anything. Her hand up to her wrist had disappeared into me – heart and all. Just as suddenly as I’d lost it, my heartbeat returned. Loud, strong. Synchronized. Cleo gave me a happy little face before exhaustion finally overcame the intrepid Khepri. She went slack in my arms. I was on my own now.

The golden scale vanished from Anubis’ paw. Both paws now wrapped around the staff. “Osiris, I do not like this. He will bring others.”

Osiris took a few steps back then brought up her flail and pointed it at me. “As Anubis has said. That which is here, must remain here. Do you agree?”

“What do you mean? That I must not tell others of what I’ve seen here?”

Anubis tapped her staff on the marble. “Correct.”

Not like anyone would believe what happened here without evidence. “Fine, I accept,” I said. “How do I exit this place?”

Osiris smirked. “Then please leave that one on the floor. She possesses knowledge.” Her flail now pointed at Cleo.

“What?! She hardly remembers anything! What harm could she pose? It’s not like Khepri are unknown!”

Osiris sighed. Anubis held her staff at the ready, tail bristling. Easy to tell what she thought the conclusion of this was going to be.

“She will remember. It is only a matter of time,” Osiris said calmly, though her smirk never faded. “You may stay here, however, if you wish to be with that particular scarab.”

Amongst the many issues with that idea, one stood out to me in particular. “Stay? But there is no food or water here.”

Her smirk bloomed. Walking towards me, a noticeable seductive sway to her hips, she bent down so that her ample bosom hung down, inches from my face. “That will not be an issue.”

“You don’t mean to-“ Anubis began with a gasp, but silenced herself.

“Mean to what?” I asked, taking a step or three backwards.

Osiris again closed the gap, bringing her face close to mine. With my torch behind her, I couldn’t make out any features of her face save for her eyes.

“I have been asleep for quite some time,” she said, her breath washing out across me. Quickly followed by the slimy wetness of her long tongue running down my cheek. She certainly didn’t leave much room for interpretation. I took another step back. She took another step forward. “And I wish to indulge my aches and desires. Do you not wish to lay with a goddess?”

White, sharp teeth gleamed as her lips pulled back and up. My other cheek got a nice coating of her spit. I wondered briefly if she was tasting me; Cleo said I smelled good. Maybe I tasted good, too.

I had no idea if she could see in this darkness, so I did my best to keep some sort of cocky, fearless expression plastered on my face. “No, I just want to leave – with this Khepri.”

I’d expected Osiris to look upset – kind of like Anubis getting her hackles up – but she simply looked amused. “I am afraid I cannot allow that. I offer you immortality within these halls. You may stay here for an eternity with your scarab, sating our carnal hunger and yours,” Osiris said, spreading her arms wide and raising herself to her fully height. “It is a good offer, is it not? Why, Anubis is aching even more than I am.”

Behind her Anubis’s guard instantly dropped. “I-I do not know what you are talking about!”

Osiris then sank slightly. “If you insist, however, I can allow you to leave alone with a small curse upon you.”

One thing in there caught my attention more than Anubis’ obvious lie. “Wait, curse?”

Osiris’ face pulled into an ominous mask, complete with her long tongue hanging down like a pendulum. “Yes, a curse to seal your lips. Should you attempt utter of this place or what you have seen, you would be killed before you could give voice to the thought.”

“So why not apply that to Cleo as well to keep the both of us quiet?”

“Cleo?” Anubis said, cocking her head slightly before she realized I was referring to the Khepri in my arms. “You have given that one a name?”

“Yes, since she couldn’t remember her name,” I said, hugging the little Khepri to my chest.

“That is because her kind did not have names,” Osiris responded, the dance of pale light and shadow across her face just barely revealing her surprise.

Well, that explained why she couldn’t remember her name. But she did look like she was struggling to remember a name when I asked her the first time we met.

“That aside, the curse only works upon mortals,” she continued, poking my chest with her flail, “such as yourself. So, what is your decision?”

Chewing on my lip, I tried to think of a way to just bypass all this. The only way out I knew of happened to require scaling a wall of sand with an unconscious Khepri. Not the best plan. It was time to stall.“I, well, could I at least wait for Cleo to wake and talk things over with her?”

Anubis strode up alongside Osiris. “Do you not realize how precious her – our time is?”

“Anubis, do relax. It has been so long since we have had some fun, yes?” Osiris said, her tone sweet as honey.

Imagine my surprise when Osiris pulled Anubis in close, running her long tongue across the jackal’s naked chest. Even more surprising was Anubis’ reaction – a soft moan completely at odds with her attitude from moments ago.

I could see why Cleo did not like Osiris. Who knows what Cleo was forced to do on the goddess’ whims.

“Very well,” Osiris said, holding Anubis in her arms. “I will wait as long as you wish.”

--

Relocating to the servant quarters, I placed Cleo on one of the beds and made a few more torches to add a bit of light to the place. She slept soundly while I occupied myself by studying all but one room - to the extent I could considering the noises I heard echoing down the halls. Apparently Osiris got herself all hot and bothered and was now taking it out on Anubis. From terrifying deity concerned with procedure to lewd woman who used her underlings as she pleased; Osiris was a strange one, even by monstergirl standards.

Sometime later, who knows how long, Cleo woke up with a stretch, flutter of her wings, and a cute little yawn. She took in her surroundings with her usual calm before settling on me. Before she could speak I gave her a big hug, then explained Osiris’ offer to her with more than a little reluctance. After her admirable defense of me against Anubis, I’d wanted to figure out something on my own to free us. No such luck.

“No share,” Cleo said, kneeling on the bed. Her little claws were balled up into fists on her knees and her brow was pressed into a concerned line.

“I figured as much. I don’t want to be a slave to her whims either,” I said, breathing out a sigh of relief. “So how can we get out of here? Could we slip out the servant entrance?”

Cleo fussed with her claws before giving me a disheartened look. “Osiris. Know your heart. Know where you are.”

Figured as much. I kept away from there specifically because I didn’t want to risk alerting Osiris. “It’s still open, right? Would you be able to get out?”

Her antennae came to attention. “Yes. Osiris does not track. But, won’t leave without you.”

“That’s fine,” I said, patting her head to calm her. “If you can slip out and throw a rope down, I might be able to get out in a hurry. Provided my camel is still up there.”

Though I had a thought. If Osiris wasn’t aware of her movements, was she actually concerned with the Khepri leaking information at all? Probably not.

“Will try!” Cleo said, standing up like she’d just sworn to defeat some ancient enemy.

I carefully explained where, if Joe was around, she could find rope and where to tie it to the saddle – along with how to get Joe to start running and hopefully pull me up.

She nodded with such force her antennae shook up and down. “Osiris will be slow. Busy with Anubis.” Cleo’s face and voice then softened for a moment. “Anubis does not deserve…”

“Don’t worry about her,” I said. “Let’s focus on getting out.”

“Yes. Will look. Return soon, hopefully,” she said, making for the doorway out into the hall.

I followed her out and through the main chamber – filled with the voices of love, or something close to it – and watched as she disappeared down the long passage and out the tiny pinpoint of light at the end.

More waiting. The more I waited for Cleo’s return, the more I felt like this was too easy. Was it a trap, or had time dulled the goddess’ edge? Too easy made me uneasy. A prize on a pedestal in the middle of an otherwise open room would cause a boulder to roll after you when you grabbed it. Sometimes mummy girls would come to life and chase you. They usually left once they rode you for a day or two, so it wasn’t all bad.

Cleo’s return elevated my spirits. Osiris hadn’t chased or even noticed her missing. Nothing in the hallway appeared to have been set off. Far as I could tell she and Anubis were still rather occupied.

“Rope, secured. Camel there. Much spit,” she complained.

“Sounds like Joe,” I said with a sigh. “He doesn’t care much for other people. He’s a bit shy, you see.”

Cleo was not looking particularly interested in the habits of my camel. “Er, right. Get back to the top and get ready to haul me up. I’ll wait a few minutes after you leave, okay?”

“Okay! Will be ready!” She said, dashing off once more.

This was so easy it made me feel horribly uneasy. It just didn’t make sense. If Osiris wanted to snare or keep me, why even allow me this? Was she just that malicious? Worry ate at me for the first time in a long while. Suddenly the voices and noises came to a stop.

If Osiris knew my heart… I was an idiot. And I was also running like a madman.

Behind me came neither shouting nor yelling, but laughter. A piercing, howling laugh reverberated off the stone, loud enough to silence the crack of each step as I ran.

“Yes! Run! What fun is a slave if they willingly submit?!”

I was just a little glad I didn’t accept her offer. I can’t be tied down with a woman that wants me tied up. And whips me. And who knows what other horrors would have awaited me.

My eyes searched up and down the walls, ceiling, and floor as fast as they could manage, searching for traps. Every step brought me closer to freedom – to the light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing appeared to hinder my progress in front of me. Behind me was a different story.

I could feel her. Then I could hear her. Those large paws slamming heavily with every long-legged stride. I thought to myself to not look back – keep focused straight ahead. So, of course, I looked back. Legs and arms pumping like an Olympic sprinter, tongue hanging out at her side, she came. She had to have crossed 300 yards in the time it took me to cover a hundred.

Fear has a funny way of motivating someone.

Faster than I’ve ever gone before, faster than any man not about to be broken, I ran. My legs screamed in protest, my lungs burned with every gulp of arid, hot air. The light grew and grew; I could make out the sands just through it. Osiris would probably have a bit of difficulty fitting through the narrow, short passage.

Freedom seemed so close. Along with Osiris. I could hear the wind rushing in and out of her lungs. I could feel the heat radiating off her body. Why oh why did this passage have to be so long?

Then suddenly I could no longer hear her thunderous strides. Did she give up? In the next breath the floor trembled and shook, spilling me to the ground. The floor was lifting? Tilting?

Scrambling up and forward, I clawed at the smooth stone for grip, barely finding an edge and pulling myself up. The floor, now more like a wall, kept tilting up. Pure adrenaline and fear forced my muscles, hoisting me up and over. I dropped to the other side in a heap, not but a second before the bit of stone sealed off the hallway.

That’s a new one to me. A lifting floor tile. Why not just have a gate or wall? At least it sealed off Osiris. I could hear her yelling. Something about Anubis and how could she be so stupid.

Another sound. The entrance. Me and my fucking thoughts. My legs shook. I couldn’t stand. The unmistakable sound of sliding stone. There was the fucking wall, sealing the entrance.

No, not after this. I’d come so far.

A shadow in the entrance.

“Hurry! Come!” She said, ducking to keep peering out through the entrance, barely ten feet away. I struggled in vain to stand, but either the run or the fall had done something to my knee. I couldn’t put any weight on it without crumpling to the floor.

Cleo rushed in. “No, get back!” I yelled. She didn’t listen.

“Use me,” she said – or more like she demanded. With a strength I thought impossible in her tiny frame, she lent me her shoulder. Together with her I was able to hobble reasonably fast, but not fast enough. The door was half closed.

Something heavy began to slam against the upturned floor. Bits of debris and dust fell all around with every thump. The tilted section was rocking back, opening bit by bit. The exit was still closing. A fate worse than slow asphyxiation or dehydration awaited me if I could not escape.

I could almost taste freedom. The door was knee-high now. Cleo stopped supporting me, dropping me to the ground. Before I could even think to yell in shock or surprise, she pushed me forward. My head and arms emerged in the outside world. The bright light blinded me; I fumbled, placing my hands on the door frame and hauling myself clear.

I turned around as fast as I could, sticking my arm through the narrowing gap, searching blindly. “Cleo!”

Her claw wrapped my hand. I pulled as hard as I could, rolling over backwards. A familiar weight landed on my chest.

“Cleo?”

“Safe,” she said.

I laughed. And panted. The door closed with a muffled thud.

A moment, or maybe a minute, passed. More dull, deep sounds resounded from inside the temple. Osiris must be absolutely livid. We still weren’t safe.

“We need to get the fuck out of here!”

“Agree!”

As I’d instructed, there was a bit of rope hanging down from the edge of the sandy pit. I had no idea how this was going to work, but it was all I had. Tying the rope around my waist, I waited for Cleo to tunnel her way through the sand back up top.

The noises grew louder. Then something massive slammed the door just behind me. Osiris must’ve gotten free of the first obstacle.

Another thump. Stone cracked.

“Hurry Cleo!” I yelled, regardless of whether or not she could hear me.

Then she peeked over the edge. “Am hurrying,” she responded and vanished.

Nice timing, I suppose.

The rope pulled taut. Stone fractured in another massive blow. I began to lift. A clear line appeared across the closed entrance. A few feet into the air, a massive slab of stone flew backwards. Huge, furry paws grabbed the bit still attached, lifted it, and tossed it aside like it was nothing. A creature began to emerge. It was Osiris, but not. All I could recognize was some of her face and tongue. She’d almost completely transformed into... something.

If there was a benevolent goddess watching me, she’d picked a great time to help. The beast could only get half her body through the door, much to her dismay. Osiris, or whatever it was, began to howl and slam the archway with her paws.

Strength returned to my legs. Somewhat. Best as I could, I tried kicking against the sandy walls to speed things up. “Faster, faster! Must go faster!” I yelled, hoping something would hear me.

Things picked up, but not nearly as much as they needed. With alarming speed Osiris began breaking through.

Twenty or so feet up, Osiris was loose, and none too happy. Staring up blinded her, but that did not stop her from jumping and leaping at me, clawing furiously at the air. Twenty feet was not nearly enough to be safe from her. If it had been night when we escaped, I most certainly would have been torn to ribbons or captured. Ra must’ve been looking out for me and Cleo.

Up and up I went, and by the time Osiris could see, even she couldn’t leap high enough. However, she never stopped smiling her wicked smile. She began to chant something. Shit just never ended.

Finally clearing the edge and back on something resembling solid ground, I ran, or more like stumbled, towards Joe. He seemed pleased to see me. Cleo was less pleased, mostly covered in saliva.

“We have got to go!” I shouted, gripping onto the stirrups. Cleo, ever the helpful one, gave me a boost. In return I hauled her up behind me.

The ground shook. It’d been doing that a lot, really, and was beginning to lose its ominous feeling. All around me the sand was lifting or forming dunes of some kind. Then I saw why. Small sarcophaguses appeared, sand trailing away from them as they rose from the sands.

“Where in the fuck did these all come from?!”

“Old magic! Not good! Powerful!”

Some of the lids slid off, revealing the contents. I recognized a bandaged-wrapped Anubis as she shambled out, an eerie green glow to her eyes. There, an Apophis. Another Apophis. And a Pharaoh. Even had her snake. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of these things all around us. Lord of the dead, indeed.

Joe had nowhere to run. Behind us, from the sand pit, came Osiris – though apparently she’d transformed back to the form we first encountered. Surprisingly, she looked almost jovial. Like a beast relishing the hunt.

All I could do was laugh. I had no idea why. Maybe it was just how absurd everything was. The old gods and myths were supposed to be just that – myths. And here I was, smack in the middle of a field of risen bodies and the deity that’d brought them back to life.

Cleo looked at me with a most concerned expression. “Crazy?”

“Yeah, a little. I’m out of ideas on how to get out of this,” I said with a sigh.

Joe tried to find a way through, but the undead were rather coordinated. I gave his hump a pat.

Cleo held her eyes skyward. With nothing else to do, I attempted to look at whatever she was looking at, completely ignoring the approaching Osiris and her horde. “What’re you looking for?”

“Remember smell,” Cleo said.

“What? What does my smell have to do with this, and why you’re looking at the sky?”

“Scent of first king,” she replied.

“I smell like whatever first king you remember?”

Cleo nodded.

Apparently kings smelled like sweat, dirt, and the desert. Good to know.

Her antennae danced over my back. “Will not let Osiris harm you,” Cleo said, pointing up at the sky. “Friends with Khepri. Protector.”

Protector of kings? And friends with Khepri? Had to be a sun goddess of some sort. Probably one of the lionel ones. But, no time for that.

Osiris deftly plucked the both of us from the saddle and threw us to the sand. She lorded over me. Cleo attempted to scuttle over the top of me, but one of the undead pulled her off and held her.

“I have not had this much fun in a long, long time, mortal.”

“I try my best,” I said as she bent over me.

“But the fun isn’t over yet,” she said, tendrils of drool from her tongue dripping down onto me. That wasn’t all, either. Other places were drooling on me and onto the ground. Her hands began to dance down my chest and remove my pants.

My feeble attempt at throwing a punch was parried with ease. She placed a hand to my chest and pressed down with the force of a boulder, nearly driving the breath out of me. “Yes, struggle more,” she cooed.

“No, don’t!” Cleo pleaded, writhing about in her captor’s grasp. “Cleo loves…” she said weakly.

What a time and place for a confession. But, maybe, I felt a little spark myself. “I love you too, Cleo,” I said, best as I could manage with the hulking Chimera all but straddling me.

Cleo smiled. She was such a cute thing, now that I thought about it.

Osiris dropped lower and lower. Pelvic destruction was imminent. Then things got bright. Even more bright than one would think of a desert. Osiris froze. I couldn’t see a damn thing; even with my eyes clamped shut it was like staring into the sun. I thought I heard a growl or some kind. Then nothing. My vision, thoughts – everything, went dark.

--

“Wake up! Sleep too long!” Cleo shouted, slapping my cheek.

“Huh? What? Why’s it dark?” I mumbled, looking around in a start. I was still in the middle of the desert, but only Cleo and Joe were nearby.

“Sekhmet save. Make Osiris go away.”

“I see. That’s kind of… well, you know what? I don’t even care anymore,” I said, shaking my head free of the last remnants of unconsciousness.

“You descendant of king. Sekhmet duty to save,” Cleo clarified.

I didn’t really understand. I wasn’t anything close to royalty. Maybe I was just some descendant of a bastard or something. Still, everything that’d happened just kind of… went away. I honestly felt disappointed. Couldn’t say why.

“So, what now?” I asked, standing and brushing sand off myself. “Do you want to travel with me?”

Her wings chittered. “Thought you wanted travel alone?”

“…I could make an exception for you, I suppose.”

Cleo sprang onto me, toppling me over. She gazed into my eyes, and planted a little kiss on me. “Cleo love.”