Anubis

Anubis

 

Anubis copyright c.2015 T.A. Chase

Part Thirty-Two

Anubis touched Jamil’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. As long as Kellan and you don’t touch it, we’ll be fine.”

Jamil nodded, though Anubis could tell Jamil struggled with not being the one to open it. Gesturing for Thoth to continue, he held his breath as his brother opened the cover. There was no surge of power or ‘wrongness’ when he did so and Anubis relaxed a little.

“Nothing that I can feel,” Thoth informed the rest of them.

“Good.” Bastet took up a pair of the gloves Jamil had tossed on the table. “Now let’s see what makes this copy so special, our enemies will kill for it.”

“How many copies of the Book of the Dead are there?” Jamil asked while Bastet turned pages.

Anubis snorted. “Millions of modern day printings, but this isn’t modern.”

Kellan nodded. “You’re right. Plus this isn’t the typical book we’re used to seeing, even with ancient versions. It’s almost as though all the other ones were translated from this one.”

Bastet stiffened and Anubis heard Kellan inhale sharply.

“What?”

Without saying anything, Bastet held the book out to him. He took it and glanced down to read the page they’d been looking at. As his mind translated the words, worry settled into his very soul. This wasn’t good.

“You can read that?” Jamil asked Kellan, who shook his head.

“No, but Bas and I are connected mentally, and he lets me know what it says. The Earth Warriors are given the ability to read any language ever used.” Kellan flashed Jamil a bright smile. “It comes in handy with some of the books they have in their library.”

Jamil didn’t look like he believed Kellan, but Anubis couldn’t go about convincing him right then. He finished reading the page then handed it to Thoth. He removed his gloves before beginning to pace.

“I didn’t realize there was such a spell in the Book,” he commented.

“Neither did I,” Bastet said. “I know it isn’t there in any of the other copies we have, or even the ones that are available nowadays.”

“So when was it removed? Is this the only book that has it? Did the people who copied it know the danger of the spell?” Anubis rubbed his hand over his head as he thought.”

Jamil took the artifact from Thoth and frowned. “I can’t read this. It’s not any of the ancient Egyptian languages I’m familiar with.”

“No. From what I can guess, it comes from a culture far older, which would make it one of the oldest books—and languages—ever recorded.” Thoth flopped onto the couch.

“Seriously?” Excitement caused Jamil’s voice to shake. “This is a major archaeological find. The Jordanian government is going to have a field day.”

Bastet glanced at Anubis and as much as he didn’t want to say it, Anubis knew he had to be the one to burst Jamil’s happy bubble.

“Sorry, Jamil. The world will never know this book exists.”

“What?” Jamil clasped the book tightly to his chest as though he expected Anubis to wrench it from his hands. “Why not? We can’t hide this away. There is so much we can learn about an unknown civilization from this manuscript.”

Thoth laughed. “If it was just an older version of the Book of the Dead, we’d let you have it. We have other older copies in our library. But unfortunately, the spell on that page you’re looking at means we have to hide it away.”

Jamil squinted at the faded words. “I don’t understand. What’s this spell and why do you think it’s dangerous?”

“It’s a spell to raise the dead,” Kellan told him.

“So what? There are a ton of spells out there to do that and none of them work. No one can raise the dead or bring people back to life.” Jamil sputtered to a stop when Thoth shook his head.

“All of the known spells don’t work. Mostly because no one has the power to make them viable. But there are some spells that even a nonbeliever could use and they would work.” Thoth gestured toward Jamil. “The book you’re holding has one of those.”

Jamil shot Anubis a questioning glance and he nodded. “Thoth is right. You might think it’s crazy, but looking at Bastet, Thoth and I, do you really think there aren’t ways to bring the dead back to life? We are examples of what can be done with enough power and belief.”

“But you said the gods created you. I’m pretty sure they aren’t inclined to help anyone else who might try this.”

Anubis sighed. “They aren’t the only gods around, Jamil. There are others who wouldn’t have a problem helping a mortal cast this and some of them are ones we don’t want to have that kind of foothold in the world.”

He watched as Jamil set the book down then tore off his gloves. He’d known the moment he’d dug the book out of the dirt that it would never be seen by anyone other than the other Earth Warriors. Well…and Kellan. He hadn’t planned on allowing Jamil to see it.

Anubis knew it went against everything Jamil stood for to hide a priceless artifact like that away from the world. As much as he understood, Anubis wasn’t about to let Jamil change his mind. The spell wasn’t the same as the one that had created Anubis and his brothers. It didn’t imbibe immortality on people, but it could help create an army of the undead which would give the person controlling them extraordinary power.

“Are you like the Vatican, hiding books away from the world to make sure they don’t give people radical ideas?” Jamil accused.

Bastet chuckled. “I’ve been in the Vatican’s library, even the secret one with the banned books, and I have to say our library is far more impressive.” He turned to eye Thoth. “Though I did see a book there we might want to think about collecting. I’ll talk to Isis about sending Amun after it.”

“You’re going to steal a book from the Vatican?” Jamil sounded outraged.

2 Responses “Anubis”

  1. Clarissa Johnston says:

    just lovin this one…thanks T.A!

  2. josexpressions says:

    aaaaaaand we’re stuck ’til Tuesday? mean! 🙂 great excerpt – thanks! have a nice weekend.

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