Emerald Moon
an excerpt

“W-what are you doing to me?”

Thoth said nothing, but just glared at the god who had killed his wife.

“What are you doing to me?!” Setesh demanded as he fell to his knees. “Answer me Thoth! Answer me!”

Honouring his enemies last request, Thoth stoically walked to the dying god and whispered into his ear, “I am stripping you of your immortal powers and binding your conscious to the mortal world. You will spend all eternity in the endless cycle of life and death.”

“No...” Setesh whispered in horror as he felt his powers slipping away into the ether. “No...”

And in a matter of moments, the god Setesh as all of Egypt knew was gone. With the tablets safe at last, Thoth allowed himself to walk over to the charred spot where his wife had been. Collapsing to his knees he allowed himself to grieve.

“You did a very noble thing wise Thoth,” Came a gentle female voice. Thoth looked up and saw Isis standing before him with her long flowing black hair and brilliant sparkling green eyes. “I am most impressed.”

“It was a matter of this world’s survival.” Thoth croaked out, his voice breaking. “What choice did I have?”

“You could have chosen to save your beloved.” Isis pointed out.

“That would have meant the ruin of all.”

Isis nodded. “I am well aware, and so you chose for the betterment of all.”

Thoth dropped his gaze to the floor and let out a small shudder. “Seshat...”

“She is not gone.” Isis assured placing her hands upon Thoth’s shoulders. “And neither is Setesh. You shall see them both again someday.”

That caught Thoth off guard. “Do you mean it?” He asked hopefully. “Do you really mean that I will see my beloved Seshat again?”

“And Setesh.” Isis reminded gently.

“Setesh I defeated once,” Thoth stated certainly. “Setesh I will defeat him again.”

“Of that I am certain.” Isis agreed.

“But what of Seshat?” Thoth inquired eagerly, hope fluttering in his chest once more. “When shall I see her again?”

Isis sighed and lowered her eyes. “You shall see her in a time that is not our time, in a place that is far removed from ours. She shall call you down from the sanctity of the moon and together you will have to stop Setesh.”

“How, how do you know all this?”

“It is written into the stars.” Isis stated simply. “You know this.”

Thoth nodded. “I have been so absorbed in my work I had not taken a single moment to even look at the stars,” He shook his head, rage boiling to the surface. “How-”

“Do not question how this is happened.” Isis interrupted. “Just know that it shall be rectified.”

“But how?” Thoth asked. “When?”

Isis shook her head. “I have already told you all you need to know. Now go, return to the moon and await the call. It shall come.”

Knowing that Isis was always right in matters like this Thoth merely nodded and allowed his essence to be captured and enshrined in the sanctity of the moon’s light to wait for the call of his beloved incarnate.

Millennia’s past; the age of the Egyptian gods faded into legend, then myth and then those myths were enshrined within papyrus scrolls and finally codices and books. It was within one of these books dealing with the battle of Thoth against Osiris that Sasha Bailey was putting away.

Sasha was a twenty-three year old library assistant for the McMaster university and she was currently on the fourth level of the humanities library shelving the books back where they belonged. Though, and not for the first time, the stories of Thoth caught her eye. Looking in both directions to make sure that no student or anyone was coming, Sasha sat down and opened the book on her lap. She pushed a strand of her chestnut brown hair out of her amber brown eyes and began to read.

She read about the battle for Osiris and how Thoth had given the goddess Isis a magic incantation that had brought her lover back to life. She also read about how he had gathered all the knowledge of the gods and placed them upon many magical emerald tablets which were hidden away. Oh Seth would love to read this story. Sasha thought to herself as her mind wandered away from the book and to her live-in boyfriend Seth who was doing his master’s paper on the validity of the emerald tablets. It could help him in his search. With a smile, Sasha placed the book away but as she looked up she saw that there was a book on the shelf which was not supposed to be there.

Confused, Sasha put the appropriate book away and took down the odd one out and was slightly shocked at what she saw. There in her hands was a small leather bound book that seemed to be from the eighteen-hundreds. Its gold embossed title lettering had long faded and the common McMaster label was no where to be found. How odd. She thought to herself as she traced the outline of the book. I’ve been working in this library since my first year of undergrad and yet I have never come across this book before. I wonder what it is about. Knowing that there was no time like the present, Sasha opened the book and was amazed at what she saw.

There, before her eyes was a book of Egyptian incantations with the Egyptian hieroglyphs on one side and the English translation on the other. What an amazing book. Sasha thought in amazement as she began to gingerly flip through the pages. Who would have thought that this would have been here? She smiled to herself and slipped the book into her bag. I’ll have to take a look at this later.

Unfortunately for Sasha, later was not later that night or even later that week. It would be a month before she would have a chance to look at the book again. When that time came, it was the dull and dreary last days of November and a light snow was falling. Sitting on the loveseat in their tiny living room, Sasha brought the book out of her bag and took a look at it.

It was as beautiful as she remembered it. Slowly, and gently Sasha opened up the ancient book and began flipping through the pages taking note of the incantations to contact the various gods but it was the one that was to essentially ‘draw down the moon’ that caught her eye.

“That’s odd,” She muttered to herself as she began to read the specific passage. “I thought that drawing down the moon was a strictly wiccan practice.” But as Sasha read the Egyptian incantation she was shocked at what she was reading.

Awaken Oh Moon, and hear my call

I stand here ready to receive your power

Come down to me and grant me your light

For I am your daughter, I am your might.

Sasha re read the passage several times before realising what was bothering her. The word ‘daughter’ had been translated wrong. Thanks to the hieroglyphics on the left page she could re-translate it and was surprised when she came out with the world ‘beloved’. So it should read, ‘For I am your beloved, I am your might.’ Sasha corrected in her mind. It’s a smart little rhyme, she thought as she continued reading on. But I wonder where it comes from.

Putting that though aside, Sasha continued to read and as she read she felt an inkling to go back to the passage dealing with the incantation of the moon. Well into an hour later Sasha finally gave in to the feeling and reread the passage and caught another mistake in the translation. The word ‘moon’ should have read ‘Thoth’ and upon closer inspection Sasha realised that ‘oh’ should have been ‘dear’ as well. In addition the entire line ‘I stand here ready to receive your power’ should have, in her opinion read ‘to receive your power, I’m here standing tall.’

“So the passage should read;

Awaken dear Thoth and hear my call,

To receive your power, I’m here standing tall.

Come down to me and grant me your light

For I am your beloved, I am your might.”

Little was Sasha aware but as she spoke the words out loud, the cloudy sky parted to reveal a low lying yellow moon. She suddenly got the feeling that she was being watched and when she turned to look out her seventh story balcony window she was shocked to see a man with an ibis head standing out there in full Egyptian regalia.

“Holy shit.” She muttered in horror as the sight caused her to fall off the couch and hit her head on the coffee table that her feet had been resting on. Wincing in pain, Sasha gingerly held the back of her head as she peered behind the arm of the couch. There, on her balcony the man still stood but his ibis head was gone and was now replaced by the head of a simple man. He looked to be about six feet tall, with shining black hair, light tan skin and the most amazing blue eyes that she had ever seen. He had no shirt on and wore a simple white linen Egyptian style skirt that fell to his knees and to her amazement Sasha noted that the strange man had no shoes on his feet.

‘Oh god,’ She thought worriedly to herself as she rose unsteadily to her feet. ‘he must be freezing.’ As quickly as she could manage, Sasha made her way open to the door and opened it, letting in a blast of icy November air. “Are you coming in?” Sasha asked accusatorily staring the man down but when he just looked at her with those blue eyes she shrugged her shoulders and prepared to take a step outside when she heard the front door open.

“Sasha!” a male voice called out. “I’m home.”

Her heart stopping out of fear Sasha quickly turned first to the sound of the man to the silent man before her. “Stay here.” She whispered, her order hanging in the cold night air. Then composing herself Sasha quickly closed the balcony door and drew that red curtains blocking the strange man from sight.

“Sasha?” asked the man as he came into the living room. “I called and-”

“Oh I’m sorry sweetie.” She replied turning to face her five-foot seven, black haired, brown eyed, goateed, boyfriend Seth who as always was decked out in a suit and tie. “I was on the balcony.”

“What a good idea.” Seth stated with a smile as he let his black trench fall to the long couch across from the love seat. “I think I’ll join you.”

“No!” Sasha exclaimed, wincing and replacing her hand on the back of her head as the act caused a headache to flare up. “It’s too cold,” she continued with a fake smile, her heart racing a million miles a second. “And besides, I uh hit my head earlier in the day and think that I should go lie down.”

Seth’s face fell. “Well, if you want too. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t go on the balcony.” And before Sasha could protest, Seth had strode past her and threw open the red curtains to reveal a very empty balcony- much to her utter surprise.

‘God,’ she thought to herself as Seth opened the glass door and stepped onto the balcony, I really must have hit my head harder than I thought.’ But as she made herself ready for bed, Sasha realised that she had seen the strange figure before she had hit her head. This meant that her injury couldn’t be the result of the strange sight. But if it wasn’t my head making things up Sasha had thought as she drifted off to bed, what was it?

That night, Sasha dreamed. She left the cold dreary November world of southern Canada and was in a gentle Mediterranean climate of Egypt. She was in a lush green oasis with a cool and clear pond surrounded by palm trees and soft green moss. She was no longer dressed in the simple blue pyjamas that she had been wearing. No, Sasha was decked out in full Egyptian regalia with nothing on her feet, a gold anklet around her ankle, an almost shear white chiffon dress that was tied around her bust with a form fitting Muslim slip underneath ensuring that nothing could be seen.

It was sunset and the sky was aglow in hues of red and pink and as the first star came out Sasha felt as though she was no longer alone. She surveyed her surrounding as twilight descended upon her and in the everlasting seconds she saw that the ibis-headed man had once again returned to look at her.

Unlike in her apartment, Sasha felt only love for the creature and as she took a halted step towards him she felt as though she had known him all her life. She was about to ask the name of the being before her but all of a sudden she was pulled out of her oasis paradise and back into the cold hard reality of her modern life.

Sasha woke with a start and in her disorientation didn’t realise that it was her alarm clock that had woken her up. Shaking and attributing her strange dream to the bump on her head, which seemed to be going down, Sasha turned off the blaring noise and fell back against her soft pillow. She could hear Seth snoring beside her and she wondered how her rather possessive boyfriend would deal with her dreaming of an ibis-headed man.

He’d probably think that I was insane. Sasha decided finally as she got up, noticing that the clock only read 6:15AM. And you know, her mind rambled as she turned on the shower. I think that I’m crazy. I mean dreaming of an ibis-headed man how crazy is that...? But it was when she was stepping out of the shower twenty minutes later that she realised that it wasn’t that crazy. I did see an ibis-headed guy last night before Seth came home... She thought biting her lip as she wrapped a towel around her body and moved over to the sink and oval mirror that hung above it. ...and that was before I hit my head. Though I must have been seeing things- Sasha decided finally as she began to wipe the condensed steam from the mirror. After all, she continued. Things like that don’t exist.

But Sasha got the shock of her life. As she cleared a small space of mirror to see her own reflection she could see, reflected behind her a translucent almost opaque image of the same ibis-headed man that she had seen the night before. Shocked and horrified she whirled around and was confronted with nothing but air. Her heart beating a mile an minute she quickly turned back to the mirror and saw the fading image of the man that had taken the ibis-headed man’s place after she had bumped her head.

Staring horrified at the mirror for a couple of endless seconds, Sasha realised that there was more going on here than met the eye. I have to talk to Seth. She decided finally as she began combing out the tangles in her short, mid-length chestnut brown hair. I have to show him the incantation and explain to him what I’ve been seeing. Hopefully, with all his knowledge of ancient Egypt he’ll be able to give me an explanation of what I am seeing...

It was then that Sasha realised that there was a new mark just in from her right shoulder just on the edge of her collar bone. It looked like an eight pointed star, but the bottom spoke was much shorter than the rest, giving the appearance of a palm leaf instead of a star. Okay, she thought worriedly to herself as she tried to wash the mark off. –that was NOT there yesterday, or ever before.

She knew in that moment that she couldn’t go to Seth about this. Sasha knew that he would lock her up for being completely insane. What I have to do is find that ibis-headed guy or that other guy again. She decided firmly as with shaking hands she proceeded to get dressed. I need to know what’s going on, because something is defiantly going on.

Sasha emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and was amazed to see Seth in their small kitchenette cooking breakfast. “Well good morning my love.” He stated warmly as her turned to smile at her. “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly?” Sasha groaned as she sat down at their small, two person kitchen table. “Not all that well.”

“Your head still hurts?” Seth asked concerned, his brown eyes full of worry.

Sasha nodded. “If the pain doesn’t abate by say tonight I’ll book an appointment with the doctor.”

“I could drive you to the hospital now.” Seth offered as he placed a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of Sasha along with a cup of coffee. “You shouldn’t be silly with your health.”

“I’m not being silly about my health.” Sasha defended. “I’m just giving my noggin some time to heal that’s all.”

“Well I’ve always said that you have a thick skull.” Seth joked warmly. “Maybe this will make you more agreeable?”

Sasha smiled as she swallowed her mouthful of warm coffee. “I’m always agreeable.” She countered lovingly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No.” Seth agreed with a smile of his own. “I suppose that you don’t.” He continued going about his business for a couple of minutes before deciding to mention to Sasha what he had found on the balcony the night. Hey Sash,” Seth began pulling something out of his pants pocket. “I found this on the balcony last night, did you for get it when you came in?”

Sasha was momentarily stunned. She had never seen the fine gold piece of jewellery before. It was a circle with a line across the bottom and for some reason she felt that it was the symbol of Shen which represented eternity and protection. And although she had never seen it before, Sasha felt such a connection to it. It was as through the piece belonged to her. “Uh yeah,” she stated after a momentary pause, trying to feign as much happiness as she could muster. “Thanks.” Sasha said as she took the necklace from Seth’s hands. “I guess I hit my head harder thank I thought last night ‘cause I totally didn’t remember leaving it out there.”

“I guess you did.” Seth agreed, his voice darker than she had ever heard it. “I don’t ever remember you wearing it before-” he continued as he made up a plate of breakfast for himself. “-when did you get it?”

“Oh,” once again Sasha was caught off guard. “I got it a couple of weeks ago.” She lied, gripping on to the pendant tightly in her left hand while she ate with her right.

“Really?” Seth asked as he sat down across from her, not sounding impressed. “I don’t remember you going shopping in the last couple of weeks. Were did you get it?

“Why are you so curious?” Sasha asked honestly, placing the necklace on the table beside her plate. “It’s just a necklace.”

“Oh I know that.” Seth agreed, his voice returning to normal. “But I’m just taking an interest. I thought that you would have liked that.”

“Oh I do.” Sasha stated as she looked down at the pendant, a tale spinning in her mind.. “And if you must know I got off eBay.” She then looked up and when she did, Sasha was shocked at what she saw. There was a darkness in Seth’s eyes that she knew had never been there before. His normally warm eyes were cold, hard and accusatory and although it only lasted for a moment, Sasha was thoroughly shaken.

‘As if things weren’t odd enough.’

Little did Sasha know, that things were going to get a lot odder.