No! Horus said. You must let me. You are not ready.
Set laughed as if he could sense our struggle. “Oh, poor Horus. Your host needs training wheels. You seriously expect to challenge me with that?”
For the first time, Horus and I had the same feeling at exactly the same moment: rage.
Without thinking, we raised our hand, extending our energy toward Set. A glowing fist slammed into him, and the Red God flew backward with such force, he cracked a column, which tumbled down on top of him.
For a heartbeat, the only sound was the trickle of dust and debris. Then out of the rubble came a deep howl of laughter. Set rose from the ruins, tossing aside a huge chunk of stone.
“Nice!” he roared. “Completely ineffective, but nice! It will be a pleasure chopping you to bits, Horus, as I did your father before you. I will entomb you all in this chamber to increase my storm—all four of my precious siblings, and the storm will be large enough to envelop the world!”
I blinked, momentarily losing my focus. “Four?”
“Oh, yes.” Set’s eyes drifted to Zia, who had quietly retreated to one side of the room. “I haven’t forgotten you, my dear.”
Zia glanced at me in desperation. “Carter, don’t worry about me. He’s trying to distract you.”
“Lovely goddess,” Set purred. “The form does not do you justice, but your choices were limited, weren’t they?”
Set moved toward her, his staff beginning to glow.
“No!” I shouted. I advanced, but Set was just as good at magical shoving as I was. He pointed at me, and I slammed against the wall, pinned as if an entire football team were holding me down.
“Carter!” Sadie cried. “She’s Nephthys. She can take care of herself!”
“No.” All my instincts told me Zia couldn’t be Nephthys. At first I’d thought so, but the more I considered, the more it seemed wrong. I felt no divine magic from her, and something told me I would have if she were really hosting a goddess.
Set would crush her unless I helped. But if Set was trying to distract me, it was working. As he stalked toward Zia, I struggled against his magic, but I couldn’t free myself. The more I tried to combine my power with Horus’s, the way I’d done before, the more my fear and panic got in the way.
You must yield to me! Horus insisted, and the two of us wrestled for control of my mind, which gave me a splitting headache.
Set took another step toward Zia.
“Ah, Nephthys,” he crooned. “At the beginning of time, you were my treacherous sister. In another incarnation, in another age, you were my treacherous wife. Now, I think you’ll make a nice appetizer. True, you’re the weakest of us all, but you’re still one of the five, and there is power in collecting the complete set.”
He paused, then grinned. “The complete Set! That’s funny! Now let’s consume your energy and entomb your soul, shall we?”
Zia thrust out her wand. A red sphere of defensive energy glowed around her, but even I could tell it was weak. Set shot a blast of sand from his staff and the sphere collapsed. Zia stumbled backward, the sand ripping at her hair and clothes. I struggled to move, but Zia yelled, “Carter, I’m not important! Stay focused! Don’t resist!”
She raised her staff and shouted, “The House of Life!”
She launched a bolt of fire at Set—an attack that must have cost all of her remaining energy. Set batted the flames aside, straight at Sadie, who had to raise her wand quickly to protect herself and Amos from getting fried. Set tugged at the air as if pulling an invisible rope, and Zia flew toward him like a rag doll, straight into his hand.
Don’t resist. How could Zia say that? I resisted like crazy, but it didn’t do me any good. All I could do was stare helplessly as Set lowered his face to Zia’s and examined her.
At first Set seemed triumphant, gleeful, but his expression quickly turned to confusion. He scowled, his eyes flaring.
“What trick is this?” he growled. “Where have you hidden her?”
“You will not possess her,” Zia managed, her breath choked off by his grip.
“Where is she?” He threw Zia aside.
She slammed against the wall and would’ve slid into the moat, but Sadie yelled “Wind!” and a gust of air lifted Zia’s body just enough for her to tumble onto the floor.
Sadie ran over and dragged he
r away from the glowing trench.