The Quest

But recently I have learnt that before he died he told strange tales that were disbelieved by all who heard them so they were not reported to me.

He raved about vast lakes and mountains at the end of the earth … and a volcano set beside the greatest of the lakes. It is from this legend that Demeter and I divined the whereabouts of the witch.' He went on to describe his meeting with the hunchback Tiptip.

Nefer Seti listened, fascinated. When Taita had finished, he thought for a while, then asked, 'Why is the volcano so important?'

In reply Taita described Demeter's captivity in the witch's lair on Etna and his escape.

'She needs the subterranean fires as a forge in which to fashion her spells. The power emitted by the immense heat and sulphurous gases enhances her powers to godlike proportions,' Taita explained.

'Why have you selected this particular volcano to examine first of all the many hundreds?' Nefer asked.

'Because it is closest to this very Egypt, and it sits upon the source of the Nile.'

'I see now that your reasoning is solid. It all fits together neatly,' Nefer Seti said. 'Seven years ago, when the Nile dried up, I remembered all that you had told me of my grandmother's expedition so I ordered another legion to march south on the same mission to reach the source and discover the cause of the river's failure. The officer I placed in command was Colonel Ah-Akhton.'

'This I did not know,' Taita said.

'Because you were not here for me to discuss it with you. You and Meren were wandering in foreign lands.' Nefer Seti's tone was a rebuke.

'You should have stayed with me.'

Taita adopted a repentant attitude. 'I did not know you had need of me, Majesty.'> 'I will always have need of you.' He was readily appeasedI 'What news of this second expedition?' Quickly Taita seized his advantage. 'Has it returned?'

'No, it has not. Not a single man of eight hundred who marched away came back. They have vanished more completely than my grandmother's army did. Has the witch destroyed them also?'

'It is more than possible, Majesty.' He saw that Nefer Seti had already accepted the existence of the witch and did not have to be convinced or encouraged to pursue her.

'You never fail me, Tata, except when you are on a jaunt to the gods alone know where.' Nefer Seti grinned at him. 'Now I know who is mine enemy and I can move against her. Before, I was helpless to lift these terrible afflictions from my people. I was reduced to digging wells, begging food from my enemies and killing toads. Now you have made clear the solution to my problems. I must destroy the witch!'

He jumped up and continued to pace as restlessly as a caged lion. He was a man of action, eager to take to the sword. The very thought of war had lifted his spirits. Taita and Meren watched his face as the ideas came to him in floods. Every once in a while he would slap the scabbard at his side and exclaim, 'Yes! By Horus and Osiris, that is it!' At last he turned back to Taita. 'I shall lead another campaign against this Eos.'

'Pharaoh, she has already gobbled up two Egyptian armies,' Taita reminded him.

Nefer Seti sobered a little. He resumed pacing, then stopped again.

'Very well. As Demeter did at Etna, you will work a spell of such power against her that she will fall from her mountain and burst like an overripe fruit as she hits the ground. What think you, Tata?'

'Your Majesty, do not underestimate Eos. Demeter was a mightier magus than I am. He struggled against the witch with all his powers, but in the end she destroyed him, seemingly without effort, as you might crush a tick between your fingernails.' Taita shook his head regretfully.

'My spells are like javelins. Thrown at extreme range, they are feeble and easily deflected with a flick of her shield. If I come close enough to her, and am able to discern her whereabouts exactly, then my aim will improve. If I have her in my eye, my dart may be good enough to fly past her shield. I cannot touch her at this great distance.'

'If she is so all-powerful as to destroy Demeter, why has she not done

the same to you?' He answered his own question immediately. 'Because she fears that you are stronger than she is.'

'I wish it were that simple. No, Pharaoh, it is because she has not yet struck at me with all her strength.'

Nefer Seti looked puzzled. 'But she killed Demeter, and she grinds my kingdom between the millstones of her malice. Why does she spare you?'

'She had no further use for Demeter. I told you how when he was in her clutches she sucked from him, like a great vampire, all his learning and skills. When at last he escaped she did not trouble to pursue him vigorously. He was no longer a threat to her, and had nothing more to offer. That is, until he and I united. Then her interest quickened again.

Together we had become such a significant force that she was able to detect me. She does not wish to destroy me until she has sucked me dry, as she did Demeter, but she could not lure me into her snares unless she isolated me. So she struck down my ally.'

'If she wants to preserve you for her foul purposes, I will take you with my army. You will be my stalking horse. I will use you to come within striking distance, and while you distract her, both of us will attack her,'

Nefer Seti proposed.

'Desperate measures, Pharaoh. Why should she allow you close enough to her when she can kill you from a distance, as she did with Demeter?'

'From what you tell me, she seeks dominion over Egypt. Very well. I will tell her that I have come to surrender myself and my land to her.

I will ask to be allowed to kiss her feet in submission.'

Taita kept a grave expression, although he wanted to chuckle at this naive suggestion. 'Sire, the witch is a savant.'

'What is that?' Nefer Seti demanded.

'With her Inner Eye she is able to scry a man's soul as readily as you read a battle plan. You would never come close to her with such anger displayed in your aura.'

'Then how do you propose to draw within range without being scried by her mysterious eye?'

'As she is, so am I a savant. I throw no aura for her to read.'

Nefer Seti was becoming angry. He had been a god long enough to resent any check or restraint. His voice rose: 'I am no longer a child for you to baffle with your esoteric cant. You are too quick to point out the flaws in my plans,' he said. 'Learned Magus, be kind and gracious enough to propose an alternative so that I may have the pleasure of treating it as you have treated mine.'

'You are the pharaoh, you are Egypt. You must not walk into the web she weaves. Your duty is here with your people, with Mintaka and your children, to protect them if I should fail.'I 'You are a devious and crafty rogue, Tata. I know where this is moving.

You would leave me here in Thebes, killing toads, while you and Meren set out on another adventure. Am I to be left cowering in my own harem like a woman?' he asked bitterly.

'Nay, Majesty, like a proud pharaoh on the throne, ready to defend the Two Kingdoms with your life.'

Nefer Seti placed his clenched fists on his hips and glared. 'I should not listen to your siren song. You spin a web with as strong a thread as any witch.' Then he spread his hands in a gesture of resignation. 'Sing on, Tata, and I perforce will listen.'

'You might consider giving Meren a small force to command, not more than a hundred picked warriors. They will travel fast, living off the land without recourse to a lumbering supply train. Numbers alone are no threat to the witch. She will not be concerned by a contingent of this size. As Meren projects no complex psychic aura to arouse her suspicions, she will scry him as a bluff, simple soldier. I will go with him. She will recognize me from afar, but by coming to her I am playing into her hands. In order to take from me the knowledge and power she desires, she must let me come close to her.'

Nefer Seti growled and muttered under his breath as he stamped up and down. Finally he confronted Taita again: 'It is hard for me to accept that I should not lead the expedition. However, your arguments, convoluted though they are, have swayed me from my good sense.' His glowering features cleared a little. 'Above all men in Egypt, I trust you and Meren Cambyses.' He turned to Meren. 'You shall have the rank of colonel. Choose your hundred, and I will give you my royal Hawk Seal so that you can equip them from the state armouries and remount stations anywhere in my dominions.' The Hawk Seal delegated Pharaoh's royal power to the bearer. 'I want you ready to ride with the new moon at the latest. Be guided in all things by Taita. Return safely and bring me the witch's head.'