Tari's heart pounded hard against her chest as she rushed forward to the scene where the shadow dog creature was creating havoc. So hard in fact, it felt as if it would burst out at any moment. Fear enveloped her for just a moment, but she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind. There were people gettting hurt out there, and she was the only one who knew what was going on and could do anything about it! She can't get scared now! With that determination, she narrowed her eyes and ran on, hoping this fight would be the last against this bothersome creature.
Tari turned the corner and skidded to a halt right in the city block where the creature had just finished demolishing a car. Parts of the car's wheel was still crunching in its immense jaws and the roof ripped off. The sheer size of the black creature was enough to make Tari gulp nervously, but she regained her courage and balled her hands into fists. I can't lose to this monster again! I have to defeat it for once this time!
Taking a deep breath, Tari stepped forward bravely. "Hey, you! Dogbreath, over here!"
In the middle of chewing, the dog monster lifted its head and turned it towards Tari. A low rumbling came from its throat, as if it was saying "huh?". When it recognized Tari's figure, it narrowed its glowing red eyes and lowered its head menancingly.
"You better back off and get out of here, or else....you'll regret bringing your flea bitten butt around here!" Although fear made Tari want to run and hide like everyone else, she knew she had to do her best to at least ACT brave and protect innocent people in the city. But she never knew it would be this hard! She was about to say more, but the creature only growled loudly and leapt towards her.
Tari barely gave off a cry of surprise before she had to duck and roll out of the way, landing hard on the ground. She got up shakily, but not even a second later, the monster was back and swipe down a heavy, thick paw across her back. She was knocked front first into the side of a building, and she grunted in pain as she felt the air knocked out of her lungs. She slumped slowly to the ground and rubbed the side of her side.
"Owwwww..." Tari moaned out as she saw spots before her eyes. Okay, this is not turning out good. she thought with irritation. But I can do this, I know I can. I fought it before, and this time, I'm going to beat it!
With a determined look in her eyes, Tari stood up and turned to face the shadowy creature. "Alright, that's it, you're going down, ugly. I'm really getting sick of you now!" She raised her right arm up high in the air, and the bracelette sparkled brightly in the sunlight, as though letting Tari know that it would be at her side no matter what, and it would fight any enemy to the end. With a flash, the bracelette elongated and turned into her long and shining sword.
The creature was blinded by the light for a few moments, but it soon regained its bearings, and after giving a mighty roar, dashed straight towards Tari, baring its sharp, white teeth. Tari jumped out of the way just as the creature pounced on the spot where she just was. She rolled once, then got up and headed straight for the it. She jumped high, front flipped, and landed behind it. Then she raised her sword and slashed down across its front shoulder as she ran passed it.
The monster screamed painfully, and a deep, long gash appeared across its right shoulder. But no blood ran from the wound, and Tari stared in wonder as the wound began to partially heal. "Damn, I forgot, its body is not fully physical! Now what?" Tari gritted her teeth in frustration.
The creature didn't give Tari any time to decide what to do as it rushed her again, this time its jaws snapping open and shut as it tried to tear into her throat. Not knowing what else to do, Tari raised her sword up defensively just as it was upon her, and the sword dove right into its chest, impaling it nearly to the hilt.
Once more the creature howled in pain and frustration, but this time it seemed to have weakened, and it slumped to the ground clumsily, partially pinning her under it.
Cautiously, Tari pulled the sword out from the still moving figure, and with a painful grunt, pulled herself from under its immense weight. When she stood up, she looked down on it in curiousity. What...happened? Why is it getting weak now? She looked down to where the wound was, and her eyes widened as she saw that it was not healing as fast as the other wound she had inflicted on it.
Tari bit her lip nervously as she tried to figure out this new development. I...must have hit it near some sort of weak spot, but...what? Then her eyes widened as she remembered something she read before coming to Egypt. "That's it! I must have hit it near the heart!" she whispered to herself excitedly. "The ancient Egyptians always believed the heart was the part of the body that held powers and emotion, and was the weak spot. You..you came from Set's heart, so that means your weak spot is the same as his!" With a triumphant grin, Tari raised her sword and made ready to make the final strike, but instead, a flash of light erupted from a few feet away on the right and struck in the chest. She fell to the ground with a painful cry as the sword dropped from her hand and disappeared back into her bracelette.
With eyes blinking as she fought back tears of pain, Tari looked up to see two large figures walking towards her out of the shadows. When they stood in front of her, she gasped in surprise; they had the bodies of humans, but one had the face of a baboon, the other the face of a coyote. They were covered in fur, and wore only a Egyptian loin-cloth and sandals. Both looked down on her with scorn as she struggled to her feet.
"Pardon me, but I believe you are about to destroy something that belongs to us..." The baboon-faced figure indicated the whining shadow creature.
"Who the...hell are you?" Tari rasped out as she finally stood, her breaths coming in shaky pants.
"Who we are does not matter to you, as you will soon be destroyed if you do not get out of our way," said the one with the face of the coyote. "Leave now, and we might consider not destroying you."
"No way! This thing has to be destroyed, and I won't let you stop me!" Although pain wracked her body, Tari stood in a fighting stance.
"Silly, useless humans....always thinking you can defy and overcome your inevitable fates," said the baboon-faced god. "Do you really think you can stand up to us and our master?" He gave a small smirk and raised a furry hand. Power erupted from his palm and swirled around his hand. "Now be a good little girlie and stand aside before we have to harm you."
"Your master?" Tari blinked her eyes in confusion for a moment. "You mean Set? NO! I won't let you take Set's powers back to him!" She raised her arm and her sword appeared once more. "You'll have to take it over my dead body!"
"Is that so?" The two animal-faced gods looked at each other and grinned.
"You know, I've always liked that option. Dead bodies are fine by me," the baboon-faced one said. With glowing eyes and a flick of the wrist, long, deadly looking swords appeared in their hands, ready to cut down anyone who dared stood in their way.
Oh God... Tari backed away fearfully, but never even had a chance to try and retreat before both figures gave out loud roars and rushed out towards her. For long moments, Tari did her best to parry, block, and duck out of the way of their razor sharp swords. She jumped, rolled, flipped and spun in lightening quick speed, but even that seemed to prove futile as the gods slashed down on her faster and faster. More than once she was nicked and cut on her arms and back as she desperately tried to spin out of the way. Sweat poured down her face as the sound of sword clashing upon sword filled the air. And no matter how hard she tried, Tari could not get a single hit on either of her opponents. It was almost as though they were playing with her, studying her, and she didn't like it, not one single bit!
Finally, exhausted to nearly the breaking point, Tari backflipped backwards out of the way of a sword that swiped the air just where her head was, and she fell to one knee, panting hard. "Oh, poor thing, is she getting tired already?" sneered the red furred figure, his eyes filled with cruelty as he looked down on her. "Perhaps she's not as strong as we thought. Perhaps she's nothing but a weakling?" His companion snickered loudly.
Tari felt rage filling her body then, nearly overcoming her exhausting at being called a weakling. She glared up at the two as her eyes narrowed. "I'll show you who's a weakling!" she screamed out. With a rage-filled yell, Tari sprang forward, her sword pointing at the heart of the baboon-headed one.
But just as she was about to reach him, he disappeared in a flash of light. Tari skidded to a halt and looked around her in confusion. But before she could shout out for him to come back and fight, he reappeared behind her, and quickly grabbed her from behind by the neck. As soon as her concentration was broken, her sword disappeared once more.
"Let me GO!" Tari yelled as she struggled in his grasp. But instead of doing that, the large god twisted her arms behind her, and with a vicious grin, turned her to where the other god was approaching the dog-like creature as it stood on shaking legs.
"And now, watch as we set in motion the triumphant return of our master, and the end of your pathetic world!" With a triumphant gleam in his eyes,the coyote-headed god raised both arms as he approached the shadowy creature. Lighted erupted from his palms and swirled around for a moment before it headed to the creature. The light swirled around it for a few moments as the shadow dog looked around, and within a second, the light became a glowing ball, incasing the creature inside. It gave one last howl before it turned back into a swirling cloud of black smoke inside the ball.
"NOOO! You can't!!" Tari yelled, her heart sinking. All was lost now, and it was all because she had failed! How could she face her father, and the other gods who trusted in her? But try as she hard as she could, she was not able to free herself from the iron grasp of the god who held her.
Moments passed, but to Tari, it felt like an eternity. Then the ball floated towards the furry-faced god as he held his hands out towards it. Almost like a loving mother to a child, he gently gathered it in his hands and cradled it for a moment, his eyes gleaming and wide. Before she could help it, tears gathered in Tari's eyes as she felt hopelessness wash over her. I've got to DO something! But with her arms pinned behind her and feeling as though her circulation was being cut off, she could only watch in horror at what happened next.
Still smiling maliciously, the god with the head of a coyote raised a thick, large hand, palm up, and a shot of light erupted from it. It struck the ground in front of him, and for just a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, the ground on which they stood began to rumble, and a split opened right in front of here he stood. The rumbling got louder and stronger, making Tari nearly lose her footing, and the split opening wider and longer, like a hungry mouth leading to a bottomless pit. With a gasp, Tari watched as a thick cloud of black smoke emerged from the split, making it nearly impossible for her to see in front of her.
Within moments, the black swirl of smoke came together in a swirl and began to form a tall, thick muscled figure. When the transformation was done, Set stook before everyone in his full height, his skin nearly the color coal, and his thick bare chest rising and falling with every breath he took. His bald head gleamed in the sun, and his eyes faintly glowed red as he looked around him.
Tari groaned and struggled to break free, to do anything to stop what she knew was going to happen. But she was still in the clutches of the baboon-faced figure, and she had no way of even wiping away the hot tears that now fell down her dark cheeks.
Barely acknowledging her, Set turned to the god holding his powers, and smirked evilly as he bowed his head in recognition. "Sebau," he said, his voice dark and foreboding. He then turned to where Tari and her captor stood. "Nak...you have both done well. When I win this war and taken my revenge, you will both be rewarded..."
Both gods inclined their heads in a bow, their bodies fairly trembling with excitement and gratitude. Then, before Tari could say anything, Sebau fell to one knee, and held out the ball of power before him. Set flicked a wrist, and in an instant, the glowing ball floated away from Sebau and towards him.
Panic now entered Tari's heart then, and with a frustrated cry, she twisted herself around...pain wracking her body, and lifted her leg. The surprised Nak never saw it coming, so distracted was he, and fell sprawled to the ground after Tari kicked him in the face with her heel. He blinked in confusion once, then lay stunned on the ground for a few seconds before he got up again. But Tari was already dashing away towards Set, determined to stop him from getting his powers and regaining his full strength;
But it was too late....the ball of light reached him and was merging into his dark body just as she reached him. She skidded to a halt and watched in opened mouth horror as Set threw back his bald head and laughed in triumph. Immediately he was surrounded by a blinding red light, and he lifted a few inches off the ground, his arms spread out. Red ligtening flashed and spread out all around him and struck various objects and cars. Loud thunder and what seemed like explosions erupted everywhere, making Tari fall to her knee and cover her ears.
All the while, Set's body began to get even stronger inside the red light surrounding him. More muscles grew on his calves, arms, and back. His dark face slowly began to get younger and younger, until finally he looked to be in his early to mid-twenties. Finally, when it was done after what seemed like forever, the red light dissipated, and Set slowly floated back down to the ground.
For a few seconds, Set looked down on himself as he surveyed his transformation. He looked to his left hand, balled into a fist, and opened. Red light still crackled around it as he opened it. He then looked to his right hand and did the same. Just as with his left, the right hand still also had red light crackling and swirling around it. He then lifted his head and stared into Tari's eyes, a sneer spreading across his lips. "It seems all your efforts to stop me has come to nothing, child. Now you and everyone else who stood in my way will feel the full grown strength of my wrath! Nothing can stop me now!"
"Oh no.." Tari blinked her eyes in complete disbelief. Her body shaking, she stood up again and regarded the evil god as he was joined by Nak and Sebau. How could she have let this happen? Why wasn't she strong enough, smart enough to stop this? A feeling of shame and hopelessness washed over her.....that same feeling that had overtaken her since...since that time when she was unable to defend herself from...from...
She shook her head to clear it from that awful memory, determined to not let it overcome her again. There was no way she was going to let him win, not when so much was depending on her! She had to win this, she just HAD to! Taking a deep breath, closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them again, she looked down on her bracelette. Come on, if there's one time I truly need you, it's now. I need you to become something...anything to stop him right now. A sword can't do it now. She closed her eyes once more to think of a weapon to at least give her a chance to fight Set and his thugs...at least until help arrives.
Immediately, her bracelette let out a soft whirring sound, and it elongated after giving off a soft red light. When it faded, Tari was now holding a very large and golden bow, and it gleamed bright and ready in the sunlight. Surprisingly for its size, it was light in her hands, and it filled her with reknewed confidence. Tari looked down on herself and the golden bow in her hands in surprise. WHOA! Now that's a weapon!
She narrowed her eyes and looked up at Set as she raised her bow. "No, you're wrong Set, I'm here to stop you! I won't...I won't let you hurt anymore innocent people here!" With a shaky hand, Tari pulled back on the golden string of the bow, hoping whatever it was going to do, it would do it would work.
Set merely smirked at her, his eyes filled with amusement of the one girl standing up to him. "And what do you think you're going to do? You cannot begin to have to the power to oppose me." He looked her down her body for a moment. "But if you would like to try, please do so. After which, I can show you other ways you can amuse me..." He licked his lips and smiled wider.
Tari gritted her teeth in disgust and anger, and before he could say anything else, she let loose the string. As soon as it snapped, and burst of flame erupted from it, and it swirled and turned into a long, firey arrow. Like lightening it raced towards Set, and Tari's heart quickened as she dared hoped it would strike him.
But it was not to be. Set merely closed his eyes, and just as the fire arrow reached him, he raised a hand, and immediately a shiny wall of energy appeared before him. The magic arrow stroke it, and it simply distinquished in the wall as though it struck water.
For a moment, Tari stared in shock as Set, Nak, and Sebau laughed. They stopped laughing, and Set narrowed his eyes as he stepped towards her. "And now, little mortal, playtime is over, as they say today. Now, prepare to pay for your insolence..." Set closed a fist, and sharp, red light swirled around it as he prepared to fire.
Fear paralyzing her, Tari could only widen her eyes as she stood rooted on her spot. Her mind was blank, and she could think of no other way to get out of being destroyed. Set raised a hand and fired, but just as it was about to reach her, another blast of light shot out and deflected it, sending it flying up in the sky.
Tari snapped out of her daze and looked to her right, and with relief like none other flowing through her, she watched as Isis materialized out of the air and walked towards her. The beautiful goddess's eyes were narrowed and filled with rage and her powers were crackling all around her, as though showing just how angry she was.
"That is enough, Set," Isis hissed out. "You may have gotten your powers back, but you will not TOUCH this girl, or anyone else if I can help it!" With an enraged cry, Isis blasted out shots after shots of powerful energy beams afer Set, but he simply kept deflecting with his shield, covering himself and his thugs.
Nodding to herself and taking the cue from Isis, Tari raised her bow once more and fired, sending the thick, firey arrow straight at Set's chest. Being distracted, Set did not see it coming, and only looked at the last minute to spin out of the way as it grazed his shoulder. It left a medium-sized burnt gash, and his skin crackled with the heat as he hissed in pain.
Set glared at Tari and Isis for long moments as he bared his teeth in rage. Nak and Sebau then raised their own swords, but he held out an arm to stop them. He stood up to his full height, his hand still on his wound, then smirked once more. "I see my diversion did not fool you for long, dear Isis," Set said smoothly. "But in the end, you know I will win. We will continue this another time."
An evil glint entered his eyes as he stepped back. "But before I do go, I will leave you with a little reminder of what I plan on doing once I find what I'm looking for."
Tari and Isis looked at each other in confusion, and just then, Set snapped his fingers. Immediately there was a sound of screams coming from somewhere near where people ran off to when Tari first came to the nearly destroyed city block. Then, two small figures came floating to where Set stood. With horror, Tari realized they were but two small Egyptian boys, looking to be no more than eight or nine years old. They hovered in front of Set, tears streaming down their faces and their eyes wide with fear and confusion.
Isis gasped in shock, and turned pleading eyes to the black-skinned god of chaos. "Set, no, please! Don't! Don't do this...!"
But her pleas fell on deaf ears as Set closed his fist. The two boys' eyes widened even more, and with their bodies trembling, they began to gasp and choke for air, spittle forming in their mouths. "NOOO! Stop it, stop this!" screamed out Tari. She tried to rush forward to help the children, but a blast of light knocked her back. She fell hard to the ground, pain stunning her for a second, but by time she got back up again, the bodies of the two boys gave one last jerk, then went limp. They slump to the hard ground with a sickening "thud".
With a satisfied smile, Set turned his back at the scene, and along with Nak and Sebau, vanished into thin air.
"Oh my God!" Panting, Tari rushed over to the limp children as her bow disappeared back into her bracelette, and fell to her knees beside them. But even without touching them and feeling for a pulse, she knew it was too late....they were gone, their young lives filled with promise cut short.
Trembling, Tari looked up at Isis, hoping beyond hope that the goddess could do something....anything to help them. But the brown-skinned woman could only shake her head, her eyes filled with regret and sadness.
Rage flowed through Tari's body then, and fresh tears falling down her cheeks, she picked up one of the boys in her arms and gently cradled him as police sirens sounded in the background. Now, more than ever, she understood just what was in stake if Set was not stopped. More innocent children will be killed, and the world as she knew it would cease to exist. It was then that she promised in her heart that she would NEVER let Set win, even if it meant her life.
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To Be Continued....
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