After a moment, Asten gave me Amon’s reply. He says it is his utmost desire to look upon you again as well and that he will make every attempt to ensure that happens.
Asten’s feathers, gleaming with starlight, winked out as we passed over a city. “Do you think the city’s radar can see us?” I asked Dr. Hassan. “I suppose if they were aware of us, they would have launched a missile by now.”
What is a missile? Asten asked as Dr. Hassan cleared his throat.
“A missile is a large weapon made of metal that bursts upon impact, destroying everything in its range, which varies depending on the yield. In this case, our modern technologies would not apply.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because Amon and Asten cannot be seen by technology,” Dr. Hassan said. “And we are too small to be of any interest to those who would be watching the skies.”
Asten cloaked the three of us in firefly smoke, so the fact that he chose a main street with an apartment building on one side and various businesses on the other as a landing strip wasn’t too much of a concern.
As Asten changed from his ibis form into his human one, Dr. Hassan took measure of our surroundings. “The temple is approximately one mile northward. Do you see the light coming from it?”
“Yes,” Asten replied. “We will approach covertly and Amon will communicate with me the instant he learns of our brother’s whereabouts. Come, Lily. Dr. Hassan will lead us and you will stay close to me.” When I gave him a dubious look, he hurried to add, “Amon insisted.”
The three of us began walking, with me quickly falling behind. Finally, Asten stopped and placed his hands on my shoulders. “There is not much I can do to ease your pain. I cannot heal injuries like Ahmose. Perhaps you will allow me to carry you?”
“It’s all right. I can make it,” I said stubbornly as I hobbled, each step shooting biting pains through my leg up to my hip joint. I wondered if Dr. Hassan was wrong about the biloko not having venom, because my limbs felt like they’d been hollowed out. My blood coursed heavy and thick, pounding against my temples, as if it was no longer circulating but coagulating in my veins. On top of that, I was dizzy, but I attributed it more to the flight than to the itching bites on my leg and arm.
Asten frowned as he watched me take a few more steps and then admonished, “Time is of the essence, Lily. I must insist upon carrying you.”
“Fine, but I’d rather have a piggyback ride.”
Asten frowned. “I believe you misunderstand. I can become the ibis, which is a bird. I do not shift into an animal of a porcine nature.”
With a mutual chuckle and a little help from Dr. Hassan, I was soon settled on Asten’s very warm and very bare back, my legs wrapped around his waist and my arms draped over his shoulders. “This will be much faster. Come, Hassan,” Asten urged as he trotted forward.
Even barefoot, Asten crossed rock and sand, pavement and gravel without so much as a flinch. He moved quickly, pausing only to reassess our direction, and then pressing forward. Dr. Hassan followed silently. When we stopped behind some trees, Dr. Hassan, panting from his exertions, helped me climb off Asten’s back.
“What do we do now?” I whispered.
“We wait,” Asten said, staring intently into the darkness as he listened for Amon’s voice.
Feeling anxious about Amon, I took my notebook from my bag and sketched the temple to try to kill time.
The Kom Ombo temple was not as well preserved as other archaeological sites in Egypt. It rested on a high dune, and the Nile stretched to the east. Kom Ombo looked more like a Greek temple than the Egyptian ones I’d seen so far.