love EGYPTIAN FAIRY TALE

[Tsuki]

Name: Neith

Age: 17 

Work: priestess at Sekhmet temple

Name: Ontar

Age: 20

Work: lone warrior under the protection of Horus-mesenu. 

Ancient Egypt map where the story take place. 

 

[Tsuki]

She would never grow tired of that vision. The Nile Delta stretched before her eyes, the land was fertile and the green crops rich. The animals grazed freely while the farmers reaped the fruit of their hard work. Memphis was a huge city for her, that came from a small rural village of Heliopolis. She would never get used to it, even after 10 years. Neith was born into a humble family of farmers, from an early age she had shown a deep curiosity for all that revolved around diseases and magic. At the age of five a strange symbol appeared on her left wris: the priest told her parents that they had been blessed by Sekhmet, the powerful one. At the age of seven she entered in the temple dedicated to the goddess and she dedicated her life to the medical arts. That day Neith was returning from a visit to her birthplace: she would arrive in Memphis within an hour, while enjoying the cool Nile breeze, watching her little Horus hover over the Kebenti.Fatigue began to be felt as Ontar finally reached his goal. It was nothing more than a spur of rock a little higher than the road but for him it meant that even today he was able to endure a day of training.

At the age of twenty, he had just been admitted to the border guards of Menfi after five years spent practicing in the swamps of the Delta along with fifty other young recruits. Often closed in himself, no one knew much about his origins or why one of the ten best recruits asked to be included among those who every day traveled the city limits in search of thieves, ferocious animalsand live a life of sacrifice, while he could have led the "good life" as a guard of temples. When he got off his horse, his mind, divided between his thoughts and senses, returned to reality again. Dismount, prepare bivouac and take care of the horse. Everything had to be in his place, before sunset rose, so that he could observe with due attention the great Ra sinking into the Nile and prepare body and mind for another night of guard ready to transform into the living arm of Hor- Mesenu. The only god worthy of respect as far as Ontar was concerned. The god to whom he voted his life when he was only five years old in front of a blazing fire.Now that everything was ready his searching gaze scans the Nile far a little more than a league. A lonely kebenti is walking along it and above it, a hawk almost always escorting it. Struck by the singular scene, he tries to understand who could possibly be driving the small boat.

An hour passed quickly.  Neith took her saddlebag with her and recalled Horus, who perched on her shoulder.

"Thanks old Uub for the ride, see you at the next trip".  She greeted the navigator with joy and jumped down to the dock toghther with Zuberi the black dog.

"Well guys let's go to recover Ka".

Neith had left her stallion at the nearby temple of Horus.

Once there she knocked on the door, and the elderly priest opened the door: "Here are your medicines, I have come to collect my horse".

"Sure, my child" the old man welcomed the priestess, limping towards the fence behind.

He had been her patient for five years now, so he could afford to use that diminutive.

Seeing the owner, Ka let out a neigh of joy.

Neith loved every single creature and took care of them too whenever possible.

That day Neith had to leave the temple of Horus in a hurry and go to the market where she bought an endless series of spices, herbs and amulets to combat various diseases: the next day she would take them to the temple.

The girl arrived at her home just before sunset.

The house was less than half a league from the Sekhmet temple, it was little but it was confortable and in the vicinity of a small oasis with drinking water and some fruit trees. 

Neith loved her refuge, and was proud of it, although everyone thought it was a bad omen to leave a woman alone without a husband at the head of a house. 

Once she settled down Nala the lioness, popped out from the trees to receive some attentions. She took care of the house really well. 

After some greetings, the young woman went down to the nearby oasis to cool off, and then got into bed and slept until the sun was high in the sky.

Ontar sharpened his sight towards the distant boat "A priestess and an elderly nothing strange" and yet he was attracted to it and followed the Kebenti with his eyes until it disappeared in the port of Memphis.  When the great Ra sank into the Nile the guard took meditative pose, taught to the adepts of Hor-Mesenu.  All senses alerted as darkness fell. He seemed more and more part of the quiet landscape: no sound except the deep breath of his mare Aer.

The night passed quietly. 

When the darkness began to fade announcing the awakening of Ra, Ontar put a hand to his belt and quickly threw one of his knives.  It stuck a few fingers from a crouched figure who ended up rolling quickly on the ground and then burst out laughing. 

"Ontar sooner or later I will be able to take you by surprise". 

The guard got up and while showing one of his rare smiles he replied saying "Assier you are noisy, I have heard your arrival from 100 paces". 

He then held out his hand to the soldier to help him stand up.  Assier was a guard like him and was one of the few who had managed to be friend with Ontar.  The two guys had diametrically opposed characters, but during the hard training in the swamps they had managed to team up and help each other especially against other recruits with a particularly warlike character.

"Before you go back to the barracks go to my mother's place, she has some stuff to give you" Assier said before recalled his horse left behind.  

"Your mother is too good to me I have to find a way to thank her" Ontar replied. 

"Damn with this nonsense. Wwr are brothers now and she wants to thank you for keeping me at bay" instinctively Assier raised his hand to the scar on his  shaved head and Ontar did the same with the scar on his face.

After the pleasantries Assier started his guard shift while Ontar headed to the Bazar of Menfi where his friend's mother kept a shop. 

"How long I've sleep?!" 

Neith started to collect her clothes: she had to get dressed, feed the animals and run to the temple to work and...and...

"Damn!" the girl remembered that she had taken a week and still had 3 days left. 

Her hearts calmed down.

She looked into the garden: Nailah and Horus were hunting.  Neith had breakfast and got dressed: she put on a simple linen long tunic and a pair of strange shorts. The seamstress, while emphasizing the inadequacy of the garment for a woman of her rank, had created them especially for her.

After putting the sandals and a few jewels, the priestess summarized the list: bread, legumes, dried fruit and cheese.

"Ka, Zuberi" that day she would be escorted by his young stallion and her tesem.

In the city her point of reference was Faiza's shop: she sold everything she needed and, most importantly, a sweet fig bread that made the dead resurrect.

She would also get a small one for temple offerings.

That morning Neith felt happiness waving inside her soul: she was riding at full speed, under the hot desert sun, only the fresh morning breeze caressed her skin. 

Maybe her speed was too much.  It was definitely too much!

The young woman runned through the gates waving at the guards, who yelled at her to slow down.  Ka was young didn't want to slow down: he seemed to be possessed by Sekhmet himself. Neith was reaching the bazar, luckily she had not yet run over any passer-by.

"Ka slow down!" the woman yelled as she pulled on the reins.  The result was that the horse stopped abruptly and reared.

He was a mass of muscle weighing five tons, black like Anubis and strong like Osiris.

Ra shone his rays on the raven mantle: the show was breathtaking, too bad it all happened exactly in front of a guard.

The hooves fell a few feets from the guy.

Neith was in trouble! 

[Ozark27 Banned]

That sounds like a Egyptian type thing that most ancient Egypt people would want to be a part of it they weren’t even doing something in pertaining to it, but it’s cool

[Tsuki]

Ontar crossed the gates of Menfi at a small trot: stopping to take clean clothes from Faiza also meant being able to enjoy a lucullian breakfast very different from what was served in the barracks. In a short time he was at the market and as always a grimace appeared on the boy's face: his senses suffered a shock every time due to the intense noises and smells of that part of the city.  Near the shop, the soldier saw a horse galloping wildly towards him.  Ontar was about to order Aer to sprint to avoid danger when he heard the rider of the black beast scream and the horse rear up to stop.

'Let Seth take him' he thought 'who is this madman running around town like this?'

The boy had a great desire to tell him something but when the horse alighted he could not speak: in front of him there was a girl with long green hair blessed with a shocking beauty. When the man looked into her eyes was crossed by a current that he had never experienced and his whole body didn't want to move especially. Neith got off the steed and looked into the horse eyes, a light flashed into her gaze and the stallion froze. The woman was angry and in trouble: she was aware that  stepped nearly a border guard judging by how the boy was dressed. His golden eyes struck her, 'Hawk' she thought. 

"Sorry!"  the priestess bowed her head.  She expected a lecture, but the guard said nothing.  He looked dazed!

"Hey, guard!? My name is Neith, I'm a Uabu at the Sekhmet temple. The only thing I can do to apologize is to offer you my services....". 

Suddenly a shrill voice rose from inside the shop: "Anubis will be my witness if I find who does all this din!". 

Faiza froze when saw the two staring at eachother.

"Ah it's you! What are you up to?! You scare my customers!".

"Faiza sorry, it's my fault". 

Neith said, blushing.

"Ka is a little lively these days. Anyway, I came to collect my usual basket, plus the one for the temple."

The woman handed over the baskets.

"I also pay a loaf and a glass of beer for that guard". 

"Ontar, the guard's name is Ontar". 

"Well then I'll pay Ontar's breakfast" she smiled

"There is no need..." the woman said looking at her hands.

 Over the past year Neith had given Faiza a lot of care due to a severe muscle problem and much of her performance was paid with food. Once out of the shop the man was still there. The girl fixed the baskets on her back, climbed on the stallion's and called Zuberi. The dog came munching a fish collected by the merchant a little further back.

"Goodbye Ontar, forgive me again!". 

She waved her hand before heading to the temple. The boy watched her go without yet understanding what had happened.  He usually would give the girl the proper lecture reminding her of the city laws but those eyes had blocked his mental processes.  After fixing Aer, Ontar went into Faiza's shop.  "Goodmorning mother..." he greeted her with a gesture of reverence. Faiza will get angry if he dared to call her by her name after learning how he helped her son.

"Do you know that Uabu?" Ontar asked. The woman nodded, "Why?" she asked looking at him with a half smile.  The old shopkeeper had enjoyed the scene of Ontar dazed in front of Neith and since she knew him she wanted to tease without exaggerating.

"Nothing" Ontar replied still troubled "simply I never seen anyone ride like that in the city."  "That priestess is a good girl who has cured me from a chronic pain I've been carrying around for some time. She's a free spirit but she has a magic touch. Now sit down and eat something while I go get your clothes".  Ontar obeyed promptly, brought back to reality by his rumbling stomach. 

'As soon as I can I should talk to her' he thought while devouring the cheese bread cake placed in front of him by Faiza.  Once finished, he greeted the woman who stroked his face saying in a joking tone "Come back soon darling and don't think too much about the Uabu on the black horse".  The gaze that Ontar gave to her was so stunned that Faiza laughed loudly enough to make all the customers look up.  The soldier went out frowning. Once outside it took him some time to realize that after he came out of Faiza's shop, he was heading Aer to the Menphis temples area instead of the barracks where the captain was waiting for him. Ontar muttered something, when he was forced to turn the horse in the middle of the street under the gaze of the passersby. 

[Tsuki]

Neith headed for the temple area of Memphis. Sekmeth temple was detached from the others and was located in the north of the city. The temple was surrounded by a large wall, so that it was isolated from the world and therefore kept pure and sacred.Between the outer wall and the temple stood many subsidiary buildings to meet the needs of the structure itself.In the Sekhmet temple the library served as a study center because it contained sacred writings, medicinal recipes and healing rites.

The structure was small so the amount of staff was not comparable to the city temples: in addition to the priestesses, you could find doctors and the few disciples selected to undertake the path of Sekhmet.

Outside the temple lived only a few artisans, workers and peasants.Once inside, Neith immediately headed for the bookstore to look for her teacher.The priestess had just finished the morning rites.The priests, after having purified themselves with numerous sacred bath, went to the temples to worship the gods.

The high priest had the task of opening the sanctuary, washing the statue of the divinity, dressing and perfuming it.Bowing before Sekhmet, she sprinkled it with incense and recited hymns of worship.The statue honored with a real lunch, which was burned by a fire.Finally the high priest sealed the door again and, having erased the traces of her footsteps, retired.Every day of the calendar year, a different statue of the deity was worshiped in the temple of Sekhmet.  Tuya sang litanies and made offerings to the goddess by interacting directly with her figure.

"Good morning teacher," Neith bowed her head.

Tuya was a woman around her fiifty, long silky raven hair decorated the soft smile and the clear look that resemble the spring that bathed her temple.She wore a white linen dress and sandals, plus she wore the characteristic sash on her chest, indicating that she had conducted a religious rite.

"Little Neith what brings you to the temple so early?" she betrayed her agitation for a split second .

"Mother, did something happen?".

Entering the temple the young girl had felt a cold thrill running under her skin.

"The Powerful is awaking" few words and nothing more. 

Ontar arrived at the barracks and took the horse to her stall where he removed the harness and groomed her properly, with more attention than usual.  When the animal turned her head towards him he said "Don't look at me like that, I'm just doing my duty" but he knew very well that he was lying to himself.  The reality is that he was looking for any excuse to delay the meeting with the captain.  He liked to be a border guard but his superior never missed an opportunity to remind him that he had the skills to make a career.  While the man was getting ready to clean the floor, from the entrance of the stables came the voice of the captain. 

"Ontar just the person I was looking for!". 

The guard turned to him, hiding guilt and annoyance in .  "Captain, I'm at your service" said the boy, paying due reverence to the superior.

"Don't make fun of me Ontar, you know I hate the label as much as you do" he underlined "U would say your Aer is more than okay so come to my office right away, we need to talk!" 

Ontar could not help but follow the captain into the office and sit down waiting. 

"Let's get straight to the point: we have received several reports from the farmers who live closest to the delta. They say that during the last few nights strange beasts have come from the swamps to kill their animals and ask for the intervention of the guards, so I want you to take  three other guard and go to the area to take care of whatever's causing trouble".

"Captain, you know very well that I work well alone ...". 

"Ontar you must stop with this attitude" shouted the superior "You are an excellent guard but you must stop running away from others! You have excellent skills and as a soldier in the service of our great Pharaoh it is your duty to learn how to make the most of them! Alone you have come this far but now is the time to fully accept your duties.  Choose your squad and do what your superior asks or you can leave your weapons and drop the army if you prefer!”. 

The captain's steely gaze passed him from side to side. Over months, Tonka had carefully observed the boy. He still could not understand him completely but one thing he was certain of:  more than anything Ontar want to be a guard.The young man looked down resigned.

"As you want captain. I like to be paired with Assier, then I would like one of the veterans, Ico if possible. For the third guard I should go and see who is on rest today.".

"I will send Iath to replace Assier and I will give you Naru together with Ico. Now go and rest some hours, you will leave two hours before sunset!". 

Ontar was still shaken by the captain's threat: if they had thrown him out of the army he would have felt lost, without a purpose in his life.

"The Powerful is awaking". 

Those words rang in her head like an alarm.The Goddess was not always kind to the people and they revered her with fear.Sekhmet was a solar deity, expression of the duality between disease and healing, chaos and order, for this reason she was revered as the deity of epidemics and medicine.She was also called the goddess of war, she fought alongside the pharaohs in the form of a lioness and killed her enemies with her own fiery breath.It was said that her reputation as a destroyer was so widespread that even the other deities feared her ferocity.After the intervention of Ra in ancient times, the "taming of Sekhmet" was left to the priests.  The rites provided for a daily regularity so her anger was kept at bay.  Only in this way the protective side of her could turn benevolently towards humanity.

Tuya performed the rituals with spasmodic perfection: every single day.If the goddess was in turmoil despite this, could only mean one thing: chaos and darkness were upon the Egypt.Neith was lost in her thoughts when she felt a sharp twinge in her left wrist: so strong that it made her sway.When the girl looked at herself, she saw that a spider's web of purple-red capillaries spread from the symbol of the goddess.Tuya took her arm.

"As I feared Neith: the warrior lioness is awakening.

We cannot allow this to happen.  Do you remember the legend of Ra?  Well, if we were not able to control the goddess the same massacre would happen.".

Meanwhile she put some red clay mixed with beer on the girls' skin.

As the pain subsided, Neith whispered: "Teacher, do you know its origin?".

"No dear, not yet, I'm working on it. Tonight a group of soldiers will leave for the delta on a mission, after that we will know more.".

Tuya got up and walked to the sacred room where the lioness was placed.  The statue was made of black stone, but two ruby-red eyes soared above it like the gems they were made of.  She was awe-inspiring.

Neith did not understand why the priestess was taking her to that sacred place. In the room Tuya knelt at the feet of the goddess and activated a mechanism which opened a secret compartment.The woman took the bundle inside.

"Father Ra. I'll give my uadj to whoever is worthy of it.". 

"Mother?!.

Neith knew what the teacher was offering her.

"Take it my dear child, no one is more worthy than you in this temple. It is a powerful weapon, a symbol of vigor but also capable of extreme destruction. Neith you possess a natural power, you have trained since childhood, you are thr heir of the lioness on earth, if times become dark use this weapon to bring back the light and appease the wrath of our goddess. "

Neith took the wrapper, broke the seals and touched the old papyrus stem topped with a dried flower.Suddenly a golden light ran through her veins and Sekhmet's scepter came to life under her fingers.It would be her weapon and her protection against the future that was looming over Egypt.