Chapter 17: Banishing the Darkness

Ahneith stood across from Elise in a golden field of reeds. They stepped forward, smiled, and shared a high-five, uniting the past and present.

“Egypt has no need for tyrants who see it as a land to rule and not a people to defend,” Elise declared. Setesh took a step backward as Elise’s demeanor changed. “Come, Setesh. Ptahmose has spent ages lying to you. I am your friend. I always have been. My first thought upon being invited to the pharaoh’s palace was you, to share his generosity with my dearest friend.”

“Enough! I will not stand for your false, honeyed words any longer, Ahneith!” She lashed out at Elise, making wide, furious strikes that Elise dodged and parried with relative ease.

Elise replayed their old sparring session, making the same moves as before, hopeful that her friend recognized them. Her hopes were quickly dashed when Setesh fell into the same trap as before. Elise disarmed and knocked her to the ground in less than a minute.

Setesh looked up at her in bitter rage. She finally remembered their old sparring session when Elise offered her a hand. Instead of being pulled down, Elise pulled her up and spun her around to hold her from behind. Setesh didn’t sense any hostility, but she still struggled to break free.

“I promise that we’ll talk later. I have to save the world from Ptahmose’s evil first.” Elise freed her and returned her sword.

She turned around to join Neferu, only to stop when Setesh called out to her. “You were my world!”

Elise turned around and saw tears in her friend’s eyes. She smiled sadly and made a promise. “And you’re still my world. That’s why I have to stop Ptahmose and free you from his control.” Setesh took a step closer to her, but a sense of anguish and weakness overcame her.

Julia and Chloe worked together to bring Apophis’ offspring down. Chloe’s mastery of magic impressed Elise. Her arrows flew through the air and formed arcs, striking the cobra’s eyes and blinding it. The creature writhed and whipped around in agony. Julia stabbed it through the head with an ethereal blade, ending its rampage before it could destroy the school.

The vampire landed on top of her prey and stood triumphant. “Ah, it feels good to return to the old ways.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t forget: this was a team effort,” Chloe stated.

An explosion from above drew Elise’s attention to Neferu’s battle with Ptahmose. She used a barrier to defend herself from a vicious onslaught of dark magic bolts and used an opening to summon a magical heron to attack her nemesis.

Ptahmose destroyed the heron in an instant, mocking her efforts. “A futile effort. You are nothing without your father’s protection. Egypt would have burned with you as its ruler. The people should thank me for taking the throne.”

Elise gritted her teeth and stabbed her sword into the ground. “Come forth, tools of the pharaoh. Kheperkare, grant Neferu your strength.” A warm light formed before her, revealing a golden crook and flail. They soared through the air and floated before Neferu.

“Father,” she breathed. Neferu tied her sekhem scepter to her waist and accepted her father’s gift. She looked down, smiled at Elise, and planned to thank her later. Neferu then faced Ptahmose and crossed the crook and flail over her chest.

Ptahmose laughed at her display. “You believe that fool’s old toys will defend you from me? I’ll take them from your remains.” He held his was sceptre aloft and conjured a blazing orb reminiscent of the sun above him.

Neferu didn’t move, even when Ptahmose hurled the false sun. She let the flames envelop her and invoked her father’s weapons. The sun collapsed inward, absorbed by its intended target. She cloaked herself in a flaming aura and smirked. “My father calls out to me from Aaru. He has planned your demise for these past millennia.”

The crook and flail glowed and cast an ankh behind Ptahmose, trapping him in place. A stream of darkness poured from his chest and flew toward Neferu. Ptahmose struggled in vain to break free as his power was purified and absorbed by his hated nemesis.

“Now I see why he wanted me to steal the pharaoh’s crook and flail,” Setesh breathed in awe. It wasn’t fear that she felt, seeing her lord reduced to nothing before her eyes. Rather, a sense of relief washed over her. She saw Elise make a move, ending the battle for her heart.

Elise ran toward Julia and leapt. Julia caught her foot and threw her high in the air. “The Duat awaits, Ptahmose!” Her blade glowed as it bisected Ptahmose and the ankh, disintegrating his vessel into flakes of light as his soul was banished to the darkness.

Neferu caught Elise before she could fall and helped her to land safely. “That was worth the four thousand-year wait. I got to kill a giant cobra, and I got to see that wretch lose everything,” Julia commented.

“And I’m definitely getting that promotion,” Chloe added, holding Ptahmose’s was sceptre. “Especially because our backup never arrived. Either Ptamose knocked them out, or he brought more monsters and distracted them from the school.”

Elise ran after Setesh before she could leave. “Wait! Don’t go. Not again.” She didn’t want to see her friend leave again, not after they finally reunited.

Setesh turned and took Elise’s hand. “I cannot face you yet, Ahneith.” She smiled and planted a quick kiss on Elise’s lips, surprising her former enemy. “It was never your friendship I wanted,” she confessed before vanishing in a whirlwind of darkness.

Chloe sighed in exasperation. “Elise, honey, how many girls do you intend to introduce into your harem? Our house only has so many rooms.”

“Oh, I’m in! Let me join!” Julia volunteered. “If space is a problem, I own so many homes around the world. A lot of them are mansions and castles.”

Elise blushed and turned to face them. “We’re just friends! I remember everything now, we were friends!”

“Uh-huh, I heard that before. Did she use her tongue?” Chloe shot.

“N-no!”

Chloe exchanged looks with Neferu. “Yeah, sure, ladykiller. We believe you.”