'I have been wanting in my hospitality. You must bring them ashore at once, then refresh and restore yourselves before I press you further on the story of your travels.'
That evening, in the assembly hall of the fort, Nara held a banquet of welcome for Meren, That and their senior captains. It was also attended by his own staff and the notables of the town. When they had eaten and drunk, Nara rose to address them, and made a fulsome speech of welcome.
He ended by begging Meren to relate to the assembled guests the story of their sojourn in the foreign lands to the south. 'You are the first to return from those mysterious uncharted regions. Tell us what you discovered there. Tell us if you reached the place were our Mother Nile is born. Tell us how it happened that her waters dried up, then came to flow again in such sudden abundance. But tell us, above all, what has become of the magus, Taita of Gallala.'
Meren spoke first. He described all that had befallen them since they had last passed that way so long ago. He told them of how they had reached the headwaters of the Nile at Tamafupa and found the Red Stones impeding the flow of the river. He went on to relate how they had been rescued by That and taken by him to the kingdom of Jarri, where they had gone before the Supreme Council of the oligarchs.
'Now I will call upon Colonel That Ankut to relate the fate of the expedition led by General Lord Lotti, how he and his surviving men reached Jarri, and the conditions they found there.' Meren gave the floor to That.
As was his style, Tinat's account was terse and without embellishment.
In blunt soldier's terms, he described the original establishment of the Jarrian government by Lord Aquer in the reign of Queen Lostris.
Then he told of how it had been turned into a ruthless tyranny by the mysterious sorceress Eos. He ended his recitation with the stark statement, 'It was this sorceress, Eos, who used her black magic to erect the
rock barrier across the tributaries of the Nile. Her purpose was to subdue Egypt and bring it under her thrall.' Pandemonium broke out as the listeners expressed their indignation and shouted questions.'
Nara jumped to his feet to intervene but it took him some time to quieten them. 'I call upon Colonel Meren to take up the tale again.
Please hold your questions until he has finished, for I am sure he will provide the answers to many of your concerns.'
Meren was a far more eloquent speaker than That, and they listened in fascination as he described how the magus, Taita of Gallala, had entered the stronghold of Eos to confront her: 'He went alone and unarmed, but for his spiritual powers. No one will ever know of the titanic struggle that must have taken place when those two adepts of the mysteries were locked in supernatural conflict. All we know is that, at the end, Taita triumphed over her. Eos was destroyed and her evil kingdom with her. The barriers she had erected across our Mother Nile were brought down so that now her waters run again. You have only to look out at the river as it flows past this town of Qebui to see how it has been revived by Taita's powers. With the help of Colonel That our people who had been kept captive in Jarri all these years were released.
They sit with you this evening.'
'Let them stand forth!' Governor Nara cried. 'Let us look upon their faces so that we may welcome our brothers and sisters back to our motherland.' One after another the captains and other officers of Tinat's regiment came to their feet, gave name and rank, then ended with the declaration 'I attest to the truth of all you have heard this evening from our revered leaders Colonel Meren Cambyses and Colonel That Ankut.'
When they had finished Nara spoke again: 'We have heard many wonders related this evening, sufficient to fill us with awe. However, I know I speak for all present when I ask one more question that burns in my mind.' He paused dramatically. 'Tell us, Colonel Cambyses, what has become of the magus, Taita? Why is he no longer at the head of your company?'
Meren's expression was solemn. For some time he stood in silence as though at a loss to explain it. Then he sighed heavily. 'It is indeed my most sad and painful duty to have to tell you that the magus is no longer with us. He has disappeared mysteriously. Colonel That and I have searched diligently for him at the site where he vanished, but to no avail.' He paused again, then shook his head. 'Although we were unable to find his body, we discovered his clothing and horse. His tunic was stained with his blood and so was his saddle. We can only attribute his
disappearance to some malevolent supernatural occurrence, and conclude that the magus is dead.'
A groan of despair greeted his words.
Governor Nara sat still, his face pale and sad. At last, when the noise in the hall abated and all looked to him, he came to his feet. He began to speak but his voice failed him. He rallied himself and began again.
'These are tragic tidings. Taita of Gallala was a mighty man and a good one. I will send the news of his demise to Pharaoh Nefer Seti with a heavy heart. In my capacity as governor of the nome of Qebui I shall cause to be erected on the banks of the river a monument to the achievement of Taita of Gallala in restoring the flow of the life-bringing waters of Mother Nile to us.' He was about to say more, but shook his head and turned away. When he left the banquet hall, the guests followed him out in small groups and dispersed into the night.
Five days later the population of the town and the voyagers from the south assembled again on the spit of land that stood at the confluence of the two branches of the Nile. The monument that Governor Nara had erected there was a column hewn from a single block of blue granite.
On it was carved an inscription in beautifully executed hieroglyphics.
The masons had worked day and night to have it ready for this day.
This stone was erected in the name of Pharaoh Nefer Seti in the twenty-sixth year of his reign over the Two Kingdoms, may he be blessed with life eternal!
From this point departed the revered magus, Taita of Gallala, on his historic adventure to reach the headwaters of Mother Nile and to restore the flow of her blessed waters for the benefit of the Egyptian empire and all its citizens.
By virtue of his spiritual power he succeeded in this dangerous enterprise. May he be praised unstintingly!
Tragically he perished in the wilderness. Although he will never return to our very Egypt, his memory and our gratitude to him, like this granite stela, will abide for ten thousand years.
It is I, Nara Tok, governor of the nome of Qebui in the name of Pharaoh Nefer Seti, the Great One beloved of
