I truly hated barbecue. This was all I could think of as I laid sprawled out and stunned on the course ground. This wasn’t good. Why was I running? Where was I? Why do I hate barbecue? Why could I hear the sound of heavy padded footsteps coming closer?

Closer?

My head swam with all these questions as I started to get up. They sounded so familiar. I knew that I needed to start running in the opposite direction of the sound, but my muscles were still a little stunned from my fall.

My head cleared just in time for the creature to emerge from the bushes. It was ugly—the head of a crocodile with the mane of a lion. The lion part of the body ended halfway down its back with the rest of the body of a hippopotamus. They are called ammits. They are the identical offspring of the goddess Ammit, the devourer of the hearts of sinful souls down in the underworld, but her children act as guard dogs for the major prisons back home in Duryona. These creatures still strike fear into me from my days in the maximum security prison Chateau Enfer. The screams from their victims were horrifying enough, but the corpses left were clear messages to never try to escape. The worst part was that because the ammits ate their victims’ hearts, the bodies wouldn’t mummify. The guards would leave them lying there for days until all that was left was bone. They would say bone was easier to clean, but really they just wanted to torment us.

I quickly scrambled back from the horrid creature. Then it dawned on me. Where was its guard? Ammits were always tethered to one and they never strayed too far from one another. Didn’t they come in packs?

“Ah!” A voice called out behind me. “The famous Algea. You have been a hard person to find.” He said laughing. I whirled around. The guard had a dark complexion with piercing black eyes like a falcon, and he stood holding an air of importance. These features led me to understand his godly parent was Horus. From my right another guard appeared. Obviously taller than the first boy, the second guard had long brown hair and was fairer. He had a pocket knife gripped tight in his left hand which was trembling horribly. I shifted my weight when boy two rushed over and kneed me in the gut, then, grabbing me by the hair, held me aloft high enough that I could smell his awful breath. Seriously, I know they have mint back home.

Boy one tutted and walked over slowly. “No funny business now. You aren’t needed alive, but we are being very kind and giving you a chance to come with us still breathing. However,” his face grinned with wicked pleasure, “If you decide that you want to give us trouble. Well…” He nodded to his partner, and I felt a sharp blade next to my ear. “You might lose a few of those pesky fingers, maybe an ear, or more. Do you understand?” I felt the blade being pressed harder and a trickle of blood go down my neck.

As I opened my mouth to reply, a piece of glass came hurtling from the forest and embedded itself in the boy two’s hand, forcing him to drop the knife with a cry of pain. Taking advantage of the shock, I drove my head and into my captor’s hard jaw throwing him backwards into a rock with a sickening crack. The ammit lunged. I summoned my weapon in a flash of light, a beautiful obsidian and gold khopesh. Its curved black sickle-like blade gleamed wickedly in the sun. Its leather grip has conformed to my hand over the years, and the gold inlay along the middle of the blade still shone as if it was new. With two precise cuts the ammit exploded. As sand rained down I turned back to the guard.

“Does that answer your question?” I replied, stepping closer to the still conscious boy, and lowered the tip of my blade to his throat.

“Show mercy! I was only following orders.” He cried raising his hands. He looked pathetic under the threat of my blade.

“Don’t worry, I’ll show mercy, but you will never be able to divulge anything about me.” I meant every word, even though people like him sicken me to the core. I turned to his silent partner, and with my finger I traced a line on his arm. A black mark followed the path my finger set. As I stood up to do the same to the other boy, I felt something wrap around my throat cutting off my air and yanking me back. I landed hard on my ass and dropped my blade. As my lungs screamed for air, I frantically pulled on the whip wrapped around my neck while trying to reach my dropped weapon.

“You thought I would submit to you so easily. Ha!” He crowed. “You will have to kill me first!” He pulled back and pain erupted through me. Holding the whip taut around my neck, he forced my body to the ground with his foot.

“I guess you will die here then. I wonder if anyone would mourn your loss traitor.” He spat.

With each gasp for air, I could feel my muscles contract around something sharp through my stomach. It dug a deeper wound with each of my weakening efforts.

With the lack of air, and now the loss of blood, my head was getting fuzzy. My vision was flooded with tears, pain, and the forest floor. That was when I heard a cry that sounded like a horse giving birth followed shortly by the cracking of bone, and I felt the whip slacken. I yanked the wretched thing off and scrambled to my weapon. Gasping, I quickly stood and turned around to see a tall scrawny boy. Looking at his feet I saw my unconscious assailant.

“Ha! Take that, you piece of garbage!” he said, kicking the unconscious boy.

“Who are you?” I asked, completely confused by this stranger’s sudden help.

“The name’s Seth.” He replied grinning and rubbing his nose. “Now, are you going to put down that sword, or are you going to kill me too?”

He was probably no older than nineteen. He had an undercut with his long straight black top hair pulled back into a bun. He was scrawny and his clothes were too big. Overall, the boy looked like he lived in a box by the side of the road with nothing but rats to eat. However, if you looked closer, his teeth were so white they were almost reflective, and his hair was clean. Basically, a contradictory enigma.

I realized I had frozen and was just staring at Seth. I quickly tried to remember what he just asked me.

“Ah, well, by the looks of it you are the one who killed someone. Not me.”

“What?” He looked back at the boy he just hit over the head. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Indeed, he looked pale as he dropped to his knees.

“I only knocked him out. How?” He was starting to look green and was starting to shake.

“When he fell his head hit a rock. He was gone soon after. It was quick, I assure you.” This statement did not help. He passed out.

I began to try to wake him, but I stopped when I noticed a few hieroglyphs burning in the trunk of a tree a few feet away. They were my mother’s, and I realized that this boy named Seth was help sent from the gods. No, I thought, this can’t be. He’s human. Why would she send a human? My pensive thoughts got interrupted by Seth.

“Hey! You’re hurt!” Seth cried, still distressed after his short nap.

“I’m fine I assure you.”

“You have a dagger in your stomach!” I looked down, and sure enough the dagger was still there. I pulled the dagger from my stomach and appraised it. It was made of steel with a maker's mark at the base near the hilt. I recognized the mark was that of one of King Arthur’s personal blacksmiths. How did he get his hands on this blade? I cleaned the blade and placed it next to its owner. I looked up at Seth. He was obviously still worried about my wound.

“Just give me a few minutes. It’ll heal soon.” I finally replied. When suddenly, I have a face full of dirt and half decomposed leaves. Seth had tackled me and was pinning me to the ground.

“That wound looks serious! You are laying down and staying still! Understand?” I nodded. He released me. I sat up, and was about to tell him I was fine, when he put his hands on my wound to apply pressure.

I winced against the sting his hands caused. I moved his hands away and pulled up my damaged thin chain mail to show my wound. It was bad, but nothing I couldn’t heal with a little magic. I start to quickly write in the air the hieroglyphs to magically heal my wounds.

“What are you doing?” He asked as he kneeled beside me paler than a ghost, but he was forcing himself to look.

“I’m healing myself.” As I spoke my wound started to lightly smoke and heal.

“What the hell!” He exclaimed, scrambling back, “H-how did you do that!?”

“It’s basic magic.” I replied matter-of-factly. I got up and faced him. He was starting to look like he was about to faint.

“But magic isn’t real”

I sighed. “In my world it is.” How could my mother think that a weak human could be the key to finding my missing teammates?

“Your world? What even are you! Are you even human!” He looked truly afraid of me. I was starting to get annoyed with everyone looking at me that way. So I tried a new approach. I softly sat down in front of him. I made my weapon disappear and addressed him warmly. If my mother sent him to help I need to gain his trust.

“Not anymore. You see…” I got cut off by Seth.

“What do you mean not anymore!? How?! Are you a zombie, or maybe… a vampire? Please don’t suck my blood!” He was cowering now. I was getting frustrated, but I took a deep breath and continued.

“I am what you call a demigod. Although….. I am now more god than human. My human side died a long time ago.” He seemed frozen now. I got up to pace back and forth. Eventually I turned back to Seth. “So, have you decided?”

“What?” This seemed to snap him out of his frozen state.

“Are you coming with me?”

“What? You can’t be serious.” He scoffed.

“Of course I am. I think, whether we like it, our fates have intertwined.” I held my hand out for him to take.

“No way! You’re insane!”

“Would you like to stay and keep them company? They may spare your life, though that is unlikely. You could run, but your scent is everywhere so…”

He sighed. “It appears I have no choice.” He took my hand and I pulled him up.

“I live a dangerous life. You might die.” I said with our hands still clasped together. “Fate is not on your side.”

“Tell me about it,” He said rolling his eyes. “But considering I don’t want to keep this psycho's company, I’ll go with you. Just don’t suck my blood.”

I let go of his hand and rolled my eyes. I turned and taking a vile of blood made a door frame in the air. It made a two-dimensional light screen.

“Wait, I changed my mind. The crazy guys look like a great option.”

“Too late.” I smirked and pushed him in.