Rick Riordan - The Red Pyramid

“Like the kind we have every day?”

“Yes,” Bast admitted. “Like those.”

I took a shaky breath. Twenty-four hours and it would be over, one way or the other. We’d save Dad and stop Set, or everything would’ve been for nothing-not just what Sadie and I had done, but all our parents’ sacrifices too. Suddenly I felt like I was underground again, in one of those tunnels in the First Nome, with a million tons of rock over my head. One little shift in the ground, and everything would come crashing down.

“Well,” I said. “If you need me, I’ll be outside, playing with sharp objects.”

I grabbed my sword and headed for the back of the RV.

I’d never seen a mobile home with a porch before. The sign on the back door warned me not to use it while the vehicle was in motion, but I did anyway.

It wasn’t the best place to practice swordplay. It was too small, and two chairs took up most of the space. The cold wind whipped around me, and every bump in the road threw me off balance. But it was the only place I could go to be alone. I needed to clear my thoughts.

I practiced summoning my sword from the Duat and putting it back. Soon I could do it almost every time, as long as I kept my focus. Then I practiced some moves-blocks, jabs, and strikes-until Horus couldn’t resist offering his advice.

Lift the blade higher, he coached. More of an arc, Carter. The blade is designed to hook an enemy’s weapon.

Shut up, I grumbled. Where were you when I needed help on the basketball court? But I tried holding the sword his way and found he was right.

The highway wound through long stretches of empty scrubland. Once in a while we’d pass a rancher’s truck or a family SUV, and the driver would get wide-eyed when he saw me: a black kid swinging a sword on the back of an RV. I’d just smile and wave, and Khufu’s driving soon left them in the dust.

After an hour of practice, my shirt was stuck to my chest with cold sweat. My breathing was heavy. I decided to sit and take a break.

“It approaches,” Horus told me. His voice sounded more substantial, no longer in my head. I looked next to me and saw him shimmering in a golden aura, sitting back in the other deck chair in his leather armor with his sandaled feet up on the railing. His sword, a ghostly copy of my sword, was propped next to him.

“What’s approaching?” I asked. “The fight with Set?”

“That, of course,” Horus said. “But there is another challenge before that, Carter. Be prepared.”

“Great. As if I didn’t have enough challenges already.”

Horus’s silver and gold eyes glittered. “When I was growing up, Set tried to kill me many times. My mother and I fled from place to place, hiding from him until I was old enough to face him. The Red Lord will send the same forces against you. The next will come-”

“At a river,” I guessed, remembering my last soul trip. “Something bad is going is happen at a river. But what’s the challenge?”

“You must beware-” Horus’s image began to fade, and the god frowned. “What’s this? Someone is trying to-a different force-”

He was replaced by the glowing image of Zia Rashid.

“Zia!” I stood up, suddenly conscious of the fact that I was sweaty and gross and looked like I’d just been dragged through the Land of the Dead.

“Carter?” Her image flickered. She was clutching her staff, and wore a gray coat wrapped over her robes as if she were standing somewhere cold. Her short black hair danced around her face. “Thank Thoth I found you.”

“How did you get here?”

“No time! Listen: we’re coming after you. Desjardins, me, and two others. We don’t know exactly where you are. Desjardins’ tracking spells are having trouble finding you, but he knows we’re getting close. And he knows where you’re going-Phoenix.”

My mind started racing. “So he finally believes Set is free? You’re coming to help us?”

Zia shook her head. “He’s coming to stop you.”

“Stop us? Zia, Set’s about to blow up the continent! My dad-” My voice cracked. I hated how scared and powerless I sounded. “My dad’s in trouble.”

Zia reached out a shimmering hand, but it was just an image. Our fingers couldn’t touch. “Carter, I’m sorry. You have to see Desjardins’ point of view. The House of Life has been trying to keep the gods locked up for centuries to prevent something like this from happening. Now that you’ve unleashed them-”

“It wasn’t my idea!”

“I know, but you’re trying to fight Set with divine magic. Gods can’t be controlled. You could end up doing even more damage. If you let the House of Life handle this-”

“Set is too strong,” I said. “And I can control Horus. I can do this.”

Zia shook her head. “It will get harder as you get closer to Set. You have no idea.”

“And you do?”

Zia glanced nervously to her left. Her image turned fuzzy, like a bad television signal. “We don’t have much time. Mel will be out of the restroom soon.”

“You’ve got a magician named Mel?”

“Just listen. Desjardins is splitting us into two teams. The plan is for us to cut you off on either side and intercept you. If my team reaches you first, I think I can keep Mel from attacking long enough for us all to talk. Then maybe we can figure out how to approach Desjardins, to convince him we have to cooperate.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why should I trust you?”

She pursed her lips, looking genuinely hurt. Part of me felt guilty, while part of me worried this was some kind of trick.

“Carter…I have something to tell you. Something that might help, but it has to be said in person.”

“Tell me now.”

“Thoth’s beak! You are impossibly stubborn.”

“Yeah, it’s a gift.”

We locked eyes. Her image was fading, but I didn’t want her to go. I wanted to talk longer.

“If you won’t trust me, I’ll have to trust you,” Zia said. “I will arrange to be in Las Cruces, New Mexico, tonight. If you choose to meet me, perhaps we can convince Mel. Then together, we’ll convince Desjardins. Will you come?”

I wanted to promise, just to see her, but I imagined myself trying to convince Sadie or Bast that this was a good idea. “I don’t know, Zia.”

“Just think about it,” she pleaded. “And Carter, don’t trust Amos. If you see him-” Her eyes widened. “Mel’s here!” she whispered.

Zia slashed her staff in front of her, and her image vanished.

C A R T E R

HOURS LATER, I WOKE UP ON THE RV’S couch with Bast shaking my arm.

“We’re here,” she announced.

I had no idea how long I’d been asleep. At some point, the flat landscape and complete boredom had zonked me out, and I’d started having bad dreams about tiny magicians flying around in my hair, trying to shave me bald. Somewhere in there, I’d had a nightmare about Amos too, but it was fuzzy. I still didn’t understand why Zia would mention him.

I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and realized my head was in Khufu’s lap. The baboon was foraging my scalp for munchies.

“Dude.” I sat up groggily. “Not cool.”

“But he gave you a lovely hairdo,” Sadie said.

“Agh-agh!” Khufu agreed.

Bast opened the door of the trailer. “Come on,” she said. “We’ll have to walk from here.”

When I got to the door I almost had a heart attack. We were parked on a mountain road so narrow, the RV would’ve toppled over if I’d sneezed wrong.

For a second, I was afraid we were already in Phoenix, because the landscape looked similar. The sun was just setting on the horizon. Rugged mountain ranges stretched out on either side, and the desert floor between them seemed to go on forever. In a valley to our left lay a colorless city-hardly any trees or grass, just sand, gravel, and buildings. The city was much smaller than Phoenix, though, and a large river traced its southern edge, glinting red in the fading light. The river curved around the base of the mountains below us before snaking off to the north.