Then the cat lunged...and Carter’s form flickered. He rose off the ground, surrounded by a golden holographic shell like the one Bast had used, except that his giant image was a warrior with the head of a falcon. Carter swung his sword, and the falcon warrior did likewise, slicing the lion with a shimmering blade of energy. The cat dissolved in midair, and my staff clattered to the ground, cut neatly in half.
Carter’s avatar shimmered, then disappeared. He dropped to the ground and grinned. “Fun.”
He didn’t even look tired. Once I got over my relief that I hadn’t killed him, I realized I didn’t feel tired either. If anything, I had more energy.
I turned defiantly to Zia. “Well? Better, right?”
Her face was ashen. “The falcon. He—he summoned—”
Before she could finish, footsteps pounded on the stones. A young initiate raced into the courtyard, looking panicked. Tears streaked his dusty face. He said something to Zia in hurried Arabic. When Zia got his message, she sat down hard in the sand. She covered her face and began to tremble.
Carter and I left our dueling circles and ran to her.
“Zia?” Carter said. “What’s wrong?”
She took a deep breath, trying to gather her composure. When she looked up, her eyes were red. She said something to the adept, who nodded and ran back the way he’d come.
“News from the First Nome,” she said shakily. “Iskandar...” Her voice broke.
I felt as if a giant fist had punched me in the stomach. I thought about Iskandar’s strange words last night: It seems I, too, can rest at last. “He’s dead, isn’t he? That’s what he meant.”
Zia stared at me. “What do you mean: ‘That’s what he meant’?”
“I...” I was about to say that I’d spoken with Iskandar the night before. Then I realized this might not be a good thing to mention. “Nothing. How did it happen?”
“In his sleep,” Zia said. “He—he had been ailing for years, of course. But still...”
“It’s okay,” Carter said. “I know he was important to you.”
She wiped at her tears, then rose unsteadily. “You don’t understand. Desjardins is next in line. As soon as he is named Chief Lector, he will order you executed.”
“But we haven’t done anything!” I said.
Zia’s eyes flashed with anger. “You still don’t realize how dangerous you are? You are hosting gods.”
“Ridiculous,” I insisted, but an uneasy feeling was building inside me. If it were true...no, it couldn’t be! Besides, how could anyone, even a poxy old nutter like Desjardins, seriously execute children for something they weren’t even aware of?
“He will order me to bring you in,” Zia warned, “and I will have to obey.”
“You can’t!” Carter cried. “You saw what happened in the museum. We’re not the problem. Set is. And if Desjardins isn’t taking that seriously...well, maybe he’s part of the problem too.”
Zia gripped her staff. I was sure she was going to fry us with a fireball, but she hesitated.
“Zia.” I decided to take a risk. “Iskandar talked with me last night. He caught me sneaking around the Hall of Ages.”
She looked at me in shock. I reckoned I had only seconds before that shock turned to anger.
“He said you were his best pupil,” I recalled. “He said you were wise. He also said Carter and I have a difficult path ahead of us, and you would know how to help us when the time came.”
Her staff smoldered. Her eyes reminded me of glass about to shatter.
“Desjardins will kill us,” I persisted. “Do you think that’s what Iskandar had in mind?”
I counted to five, six, seven. Just when I was sure she was going to blast us, she lowered her staff. “Use the obelisk.”
“What?” I asked.
“The obelisk at the entrance, fool! You have five minutes, perhaps less, before Desjardins sends orders for your execution. Flee, and destroy Set. The Demon Days begin at sundow