"So, Anansi, then? Is he the one who did this to you?" Thrall asked, the small creature looking him square in the face.
"Ah, yes. The spider. I'm gonna kill him! The slippery, sneaking bastard. Look at what he did to me!" He spread his wings and paced around to show off the ashen scars across his plumage. The fire didn't harm him—No, not at all!—but the ash from the gossamer threads still clung to his vanes where they were consumed.
Thrall didn't want to be the one to clarify for him that Anansi wasn't the one who had marred his plumage; it was him. It would only dilute the genuine passion 'Aswad had toward apprehending this legendary figure, and the ashen remnants remained harmless enough.
"So, what happened? How did a lowly spider named Anansi get the better of a mighty carrion crow, servant of the most-high Nephthys?"
"Oh, I'll tell you! You want to know what he did to me?! It's like this;" 'Aswad explained. "I'm flying above the river Nile, carrying a key message from my Goddess to her sister, Isis. When I see this poor little spider trapped on a log in the middle of the rushing river. I'm not one to refuse perfectly good food without reason, so I swoop down intending to grab him and be on my way!
"As I approach, he screams out 'Wait! Do not eat me. I am a servant of Neith, and if you rescue me, I will tell you where to find the secrets of the Dendera lights!' For you who don't know, there is a bronze snake buried deep within the catacombs of the Pyramids in Giza. This staff was told to ignite the temple of Dendera with a living light that dances in the air like imprisoned lightning.
"Once its power was shown to be a blessing bestowed upon man by Set, Horus ordered that the snake be removed from his temples out of jealousy for his Uncle's great treachery. 'Let his name be stricken from every book,' and all that. I don't really pay attention to all the politics; I'm sure you know how it is."
Thrall nodded, as did Xantheaa beside him; with eyes wide with wonder and imagination at what a spectacular sight a bronze snake with life of dancing light may appear.
The crow continued, "Anyway, I was so distracted by how incredible a find that might be, that I didn't think to consider that it may have all been a lie! I figured, the worst I had to lose was a few minutes of my time and a mediocre meal, anyways. So, I flew him off of the Nile, and when we were back on the solid sand, I asked him, 'Where is the secret of the Dendera lights?' and he told me, 'It is too hot here in the sand. Please take me back to my web, and I will tell you there.'
"It was a simple enough request, so I flew him back to the place that he suggested for me. The acacias that grow near the Nile were where he had assembled his web, so I flew him up to the canopy of the tree, and dropped him off there. He said 'It is too bright out here on top of the tree! Why don't you follow me further into my home, and I will share some fruit with you as well to thank you for sparing my life.' I happily obliged. Fruits are my favorite, after all!
"While I followed him, wondering what great delicacies he may have had in store for me, my talon became caught in two clefts of a branch that he had SET UP TO SNAG ME! I shouted for help, since he wasn't far beyond me, but when I looked up from my leg, he was no where to be found!
"He laughed and said 'I've got you now!' before wrapping me up in that strong spider's web like you had seen before. Then, he slipped my letter from the thread tied around my ankle... and disappeared.
"I may not have been able to escape from the branches' hold, if it hadn't been for your loud blinking hexes which blew me out of the tree altogether! and I hurried over here as quickly as I could without the use of my wings. I was searching for clues as to where the damned spider had run off to, for I swear I'm going to kill that lying, thieving insect if it's the last thing I do!"
"Woah, woah, woah! Hold your horses," Xantheaa said, breaking up his great monologue. "If he's a servant of another goddess, wouldn't that mean that he's acting out of order? Denizens should not interrupt one another on official business of the gods. You should complain directly to this 'Nephthys,' and I am sure that she will understand."
"That's where you're wrong," Thrall supplied. "Anansi was never a servant of Neith to begin with. He's from another Universe, just like you and I."
Honestly, to know this of Anansi, Thrall didn't even have to ask. Anansi was a figure of Ghanian folklore. The spider was known to be cunning, and cautious. He had played all manner of creatures; from snakes to elephants to killer whales in his time. Even the very Gods of his world would fall to his trickery every once in a while. It would be very simple indeed for a creature with a brain as small as mouse's torso to fall prey to his wiles; no matter how experienced and prodigious that bird brain might be among its Class, or Genus, or even its very Species. Thrall was certain this "servant of Nephthys" could fall to Anansi's wiles. 'Aswad was currently being played by only the lowest Seraph in all of heaven, after all.
"He lied to him from the very start."
"He lied to me from the very start?!" 'Aswad gasped, in disbelief. How could something lie about the goddess that they served?! It was unheard of! That would be like lying about the number of children you have! It is a source of great pride to have a close relationship with your deity, and every fowl, ape, and feline aspired to have a chance to hear an order from them personally. "I will never forgive him!!!!!"
He spread his wings as if to take flight into the air around them. Xantheaa called out, to stop him.
"Where are you going?! Did you not just say you had no idea which direction he vanished to?"
"O-oh, yeah." he laughed, slowly lowering his wings once more. "Well, what can we do? He must have gotten far away from here, by now."
Thrall spoke next. "I have an idea." Then, he once again, raised his sword. "Avar, Akav, Acharey, Show me where the 'thieving spider' went."