The Great Pyramid of Giza didn’t look so great. Photographers did a masterful job of framing the pyramid complex in such a way that the goddamn metropolis surrounding them never got into the shot. Rockslide brought us out of his realm at Alharan Almuqadas, in front of the Pyramid of Khufu. Tourists milled about, taking pictures while vendors adorned in turbans and light-colored robes hawked camel rides, street meats, and myriad other offerings designed to separate tourists from their money.

As soon as we appeared, I wrapped invisibility around us. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice us before I could manage it. Rockslide looked anxious, his eyes darting back and forth. His mouth gaped. Well, gaped more than usual, at least, and he shuffled his feet.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He answered in a low voice. “I hear the souls of my brethren. They harken to me and bid me flee this place.”

“You don’t have to go with me,” I said.

“I have chosen,” he said simply.

I slapped him on the back. Now that he wasn’t in his demonic specter of death mode, I could safely touch him.

“Good man,” I said. “We need to wait for the crowd to thin out.”

We skirted the perimeter of the crowd and found a secluded spot at the rear of the pyramid. Rockslide’s gate made a terrible racket, and a few people stopped what they were doing to try and find the source of the noise. I was forced to use tiny gusts of wind to obliterate our tracks as we walked.

The sun was brutal and beat down on me while we waited. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and positioned Rockslide so that he could provide some shade. He didn’t seem to mind, and I was glad for the drop in temperature. What felt like an epoch passed before the sun dropped below the horizon.

“It’s time,” I said. “This time, try to be quiet.”

Under the cloak of darkness and invisibility, we crept toward the entrance of the pyramid. Rockslide managed to be as quiet as a mobile mountain could be. The door came into sight, and I saw two guards standing on either side of the opening. They wore ancient Egyptian garb that would have made the Society for Historical Anachronisms cream themselves. They each held a long-bladed spear twice as tall as they were with leaf-shaped crosspieces at the base of the blade. I went to move between them, but they crossed the spears to block my path. They both turned their gazes on me.

“Closed,” the guard on the left said.

I froze. No fucking way they could see me. Could they? I backed up a few steps, and the guard’s eyes followed my movement. The spears uncrossed, then they resumed looking straight ahead. I stepped forward, and again the spears barred my path.

“Closed,” the guard on the right said.

I dropped my invisibility. The guards didn’t show any reaction to my sudden appearance. I dropped Rockslide’s as well. They were as impassive as ever. I reached out to move one of the spears. Quick as a serpent, the two guards leaped back, extending their spears and touching the points to either side of my throat.

“Closed,” they said in unison.

I held up my hands. “I don’t want any trouble. I just need to go inside, okay?”

The guards didn’t move a muscle. They obviously weren’t mortal, but even so, I didn’t want to kill anyone else. I stepped back, and they tracked me with their weapons.

“Would it help if I said I’m going to see your bosses?”

They still didn’t move. Fine, the hard way then. I redirected and condensed the ever-present wind, and two battering rams of air blasted the guards apart. They rolled across the sand and came to rest in heaps. I darted through the entrance and heard a loud, piercing cry. Fuck, that didn’t bode well.

Rockslide followed me as we ran through the claustrophobic tunnel. I heard Rockslide’s body grate against the walls as the demon struggled to keep up with me. Footsteps ahead made me pause. A guard charged, her shorter spear poised to skewer anything in her path. I solidified the air around the guard, halting her progress. She glared at me. With her in the way, though, we couldn’t get by. I heard the exterior guards coming up behind me.

I didn’t have time to waste, so I did the only thing I could think of. I wrapped Rockslide and me in multicolored threads and teleported. The world rushed toward us. Nausea came over me as we phased right through the confused woman. We stopped just past her, and she spun, slamming her spear into Rockslide’s back. I heard her pitiful shriek as Rockslide ended her life.

“Dammit!” I screamed. “Don’t kill anyone!”

Rockslide murmured something unintelligible in reply. We followed the ascending passageway until it opened into the Grand Gallery. The incline steepened, and I had to scramble on all fours. My stomach threatened to empty its contents, but I pushed on. I could see the King’s Chamber just ahead. All I had to do was get there and drop into the Osiris Shaft. Get to the shaft, get to the shaft. I repeated the mantra in my head as I continued to climb.

Pain shot through my body as a spear slashed my calf. I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding taking a spear to the neck. The two guards pulled their weapons back and lunged. I had just enough time to pull up a barrier. One of the spears pushed to the side, but the second flashed against the shield and pushed through. Its momentum was reduced, but the razor edge had enough force behind it to gash my right arm. Rockslide stood behind the guards, his arms crossed. He was fucking pouting!

The guard who missed twisted his spear, catching me in the head with the crosspiece. I tried to pull more threads to me, but my head spun, and I couldn’t focus. Two spears sped toward my face, and I closed my eyes. Maybe my soul would end up in the Duat, and I could still help Em.

Two loud thuds echoed in the chamber. I opened my eyes and saw Rockslide standing over me. The guards lay, unmoving, next to the wall. Rockslide scowled at me.

“Point taken,” I said.

I wove threads around my injuries. When I was done, I let the backlash evaporate into the ether. I was past caring about the balance. I stood up and crawled into the King’s Chamber. Khufu’s sarcophagus leaned against the far wall, and what looked like a whirlpool of color flowed into the space behind it and disappeared.

“We need to move that,” I said, pointing to the sarcophagus.

Rockslide pushed it aside, revealing a narrow opening. Threads of reality pooled around the entrance, creating a shimmering barrier. I saw a distorted reflection as I moved to it. The reflection changed every time my eyes shifted focus, showing me untold possibilities. There was no way to latch onto one long enough to see anything definite. When I tried, it felt like my soul was being ripped apart.

“Now for the fun part,” I said, turning to face Rockslide.

He teetered between stepping forward and running away. His usually bright eyes dimmed, and his body shook. A small red globe appeared in his chest and started pushing against his ruby flesh. I looked down and saw two white orbs doing the same in my chest.

“You ready for this?” I asked.

Rockslide’s mouth opened, then closed again. He looked from his chest to the barrier, then back to me. Shaking his head, he backed away.

“It’s ok,” I said. “Go home, you’ve done enough.”

I jumped through the barrier, and my body flew apart. I felt muscles and tendons rip from my bones, then my skeleton broke apart. My screams died on my lips as my lungs exploded. A small pinpoint of light appeared below me, which was odd since I was pretty sure I didn’t have eyes anymore. The light grew larger, and I felt the sensation of falling.

As I came closer to the ground, bits of matter slammed into me. The pain of my disintegration was nothing next to my rematerialization. I screamed and howled as my body was put back together one atom at a time. I cried out one last time and slammed into the ground.

With difficulty, I managed to get to my feet, but something was wrong. My body felt different, but natural at the same time. I swung my arms. They felt more powerful. I jumped from side to side, testing my legs. I was shocked to see that each lunge covered ten or more feet. I looked around, trying to get my bearings.

I stood in Shati Almawt on the banks of the Iteru. The water snaked along the shore until it disappeared over the horizon. If I followed the shoreline, I would find Nafaq Ala—wait, I knew this place. I knew everything. The scattered memories from Em’s wish were gone, replaced with actual knowledge. I knew what I was, what my purpose was, and what I could do.

I shivered, thinking about how ineffectually I’d been using my powers, and how terrifying I would be if I really decided to let loose. I understood now why Alqanun were only created to correct significant imbalances. We could seriously fuck shit up. I also realized that Ma’at’s pretense that I was here to deal with Jinn was absolute bullshit. Something much bigger was going on.

Em’s soul flashed next to me. She spiraled up and down, darting away from me, then coming back. Her orb pulsated as she danced in the air, but each pulse took longer and was dimmer than the last. It wasn’t a massive change at first, but the longer I stood there, the more pronounced it became. I looked at my own body. It was solid as ever.

I started walking, Em leading the way when the sound of a falling mountain came from above. I just had time to look up before Rockslide crashed to the ground. The force of his impact caused a small quake, and I was knocked to the ground.

He raised his head. “I should have listened to my brethren.”

I got up and brushed myself off. Irritated, I said, “Next time, you go first!”