between this world and the brilliant white abyss that would lock Set away, trapping his life force. Maybe not forever, but for a long, long time.
To complete the spell, I only had to speak one more line: “Deserving no mercy, an enemy of Ma’at, you are exiled beyond the earth.”
The line had to be spoken with absolute conviction. The feather of truth required it. And why shouldn’t I believe it? It was the truth. Set deserved no mercy. He was an enemy of Ma’at.
But I hesitated.
“Watch for your enemy,” my mother had said.
I looked towards the top of the monument, and in the Duat I saw chunks of pyramid flying skyward and the souls of demons lifting off like fireworks. As Set’s chaos magic dispersed, all the force that had been charging up, ready to destroy a continent, was being sucked into the clouds. And as I watched, the chaos tried to form a shape. It was like a red reflection of the Potomac-an enormous crimson river at least a mile long and a hundred meters wide. It writhed in the air, trying to become solid, and I felt its rage and bitterness. This was not what it had wanted. There was not enough power or chaos for its purpose. To form properly, it needed the death of millions, the wasting of an entire continent.
It was not a river. It was a snake.
“Sadie!” Carter yelled. “What are you waiting for?”
He couldn’t see it, I realized. No one could but me.
Set was on his knees, writhing and cursing as white energy encircled him, pulling him towards the rift. “Lost your stomach, witch?” he bellowed. Then he glared at Carter. “You see, Horus? Isis was always a coward. She could never complete the deed!”
Carter looked at me, and for a moment I saw the doubt on his face. Horus would be urging him towards bloody vengeance. I was hesitating. This is what had turned Isis and Horus against each other before. I couldn’t let it happen now.
But more than that, in Carter’s wary expression I saw the way he used to look at me on our visiting days-when we were practically strangers, forced to spend time together, pretending we were a happy family because Dad expected it of us. I didn’t want to go back to that. I wasn’t pretending anymore. We were a family, and we had to work together.
“Carter, look.” I threw the feather of truth into the sky, breaking the spell.
“No!” Carter screamed.
But the feather exploded into silver dust that clung to the form of the serpent, forcing it to become visible, just for an instant.
Carter’s mouth fell open as the serpent writhed in the air above Washington, slowly losing power.
Next to me, a voice screamed: “Wretched gods!”
I turned to see Set’s minion, Face of Horror, with his fangs bared and his grotesque face only inches from mine, a jagged knife raised above my head. I only had time to think: I’m dead, before a flash of metal registered in the corner of my eye. There was a sickening thud, and the demon froze.
Carter had thrown his sword with deadly accuracy. The demon dropped his knife, fell to his knees, and stared down at the blade that was now sheathed in his side.
He crumpled to his back, exhaling with an angry hiss. His black eyes fixed on me, and he spoke in a completely different voice-a rasping, dry sound, like a reptile’s belly scraping over sand. “This is not over, godling. All this I have wrought with a wisp of my voice, the merest bit of my essence wriggling from my weakened cage. Imagine what I shall do when fully formed.”
He gave me a ghastly smile, and then his face went slack. A tiny line of red mist curled from his mouth-like a worm or a fresh-hatched snake-and writhed upward into the sky to join its source. The demon’s body disintegrated into sand.
I looked up once more at the giant red serpent slowly dissolving in the sky. Then I summoned a good strong wind and dispersed it completely.
The Washington Monument stopped glowing. The rift closed, and the little spellbook disappeared from my hand.
I moved towards Set, who was still ensnared in ropes of white energy. I’d spoken his true name. He wasn’t going anywhere just yet.
“You both saw the serpent in the clouds,” I said. “Apophis.”
Carter nodded, stunned. “He was trying to break into the mortal world, using the Red Pyramid as a gateway. If its power had been unleashed…” He looked down in revulsion at the pile of sand that had once been a demon. “Set’s lieutenant-Face of Horror-he was possessed by Apophis all along, using Set to get what he wanted.”
“Ridiculous!” Set glared at me and struggled against his bonds. “The snake in the clouds was one of your tricks, Isis. An illusion.”
“You know it wasn’t,” I said. “I could’ve sent you into the abyss, Set, but you saw the real enemy. Apophis was trying to break out of his prison in the Duat. His voice possessed Face of Horror. He was using you.”
“No one uses me!”
Carter let his warrior form disperse. He floated to the ground and summoned his sword back to his hand. “Apophis wanted your explosion to feed his power, Set. As soon as he came through the Duat and found us dead, I’m betting you would’ve been his first meal. Chaos would’ve won.”
“I am chaos!” Set insisted.
“Partially,” I said. “But you’re still one of the gods. True, you’re evil, faithless, ruthless, vile-”
“You make me blush, sister.”
“But you’re also the strongest god. In the ancient times, you were Ra’s faithful lieutenant, defending his boat against Apophis. Ra couldn’t have defeated the Serpent without you.”
“I am pretty great,” Set admitted. “But Ra is gone forever, thanks to you.”
“Maybe not forever,” I said. “We’ll have to find him. Apophis is rising, which means we’ll need all the gods to battle him. Even you.”
Set tested his bonds of white energy. When he found he couldn’t break them, he gave me a crooked smile. “You suggest an alliance? You’d trust me?”
Carter laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding. But we’ve got your number, now. Your secret name. Right, Sadie?”
I closed my fingers, and the bonds tightened around Set. He cried out in pain. It took a great deal of energy, and I knew I couldn’t hold him like this for long, but there was no point telling that to Set.
“The House of Life tried banishing the gods,” I said. “It didn’t work. If we lock you away, we’re no better than they are. It doesn’t solve anything.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Set groaned. “So if you’ll just loosen these bonds-”
“You’re still a villainous piece of scum,” I said. “But you have a role to play, and you’ll need controlling. I’ll agree to release you-if you swear to behave, to return to the Duat, and not cause trouble until we call you. And then you’ll make trouble only for us, fighting against Apophis.”
“Or I could chop off your head,” Carter suggested. “That would probably exile you for a good long while.”
Set glanced back and forth between us. “Make trouble for you, eh? That is my specialty.”
“Swear by your own name and the throne of Ra,” I said. “You will leave now and not reappear until you are called.”
“Oh, I swear,” he said, much too quickly. “By my name and Ra’s throne and our mother’s starry elbows.”
“If you betray us,” I warned, “I have your name. I won’t show you mercy a second time.”
“You always were my favorite sister.”
I gave him one last shock, just to remind him of my power, and then let the bindings dissolve.
Set stood up and flexed his arms. He appeared as a warrior with red armor and red skin, a black, forked beard, and twinkling, cruel eyes; but in the Duat, I saw his other side, a raging inferno just barely contained, waiting to be unleashed and burn everything in its path. He winked at Horus, then pretended to shoot me with a finger gun. “Oh, this will be good. We’re going to have so much fun.”
“Begone, Evil Day,” I said.
He turned into a pillar of salt and dissolved.
The snow in the National Mall had melted in a perfect square, the exact size of Set’s pyramid. Around the
