Three winged creatures stood trepidatiously on the glebe for the Temple of Dakka, watching and dreading the moment where they would have to approach its titanic brick-laden Pylon. The thought of what awaited them within its hallowed chambers filled them with a sense of listless terror.
Questions of what Anansi was doing there, how he had arrived, and why he had been granted sanctuary above all things echoed harrowingly within their minds. These things greatly impacted their every decision, moving forward.
"That was ...Not what I was expecting to find at the end of this trail," Thrall admitted. "Although this does explain why he needed the scroll of Nephthys."
"It does?" 'Aswad looked completely lost to the implication. From his perspective, the motivations of the spider were a complete enigma; either born out of spite, or natural kleptomaniac impulse.
Xantheaa confirmed how plainly obvious the deception was, with her reply. "Yes, most certainly. The Spider clearly delivered your parcel meant for another goddess's service into the hands of the god of wisdom. Either he saw it as an opportunity to improve his standing within the citizens of this world, or he was contracted to pilfer it from your confidence from the very beginning—which is equally likely."
"N-no way!" 'Aswad gasped. "Gods stealing from one another is not permitted under the guidance of the great Pharaoh, Horus."
"Yes, ideally, but Thoth was given a peerless opportunity." The seraph explained. "A creature arriving in his domain without being a constituent of another god—especially one as clandestine as the legendary Anansi—is a rare occurrence so miniscule that it is basically non-existent. Someone as well-informed as Thoth would have been more than capable of capitalizing on this rarity."
'Aswad was getting worried. He started looking for any reason that he could escape from this predicament unscathed. "But, surely whichever god they serve would intercede on my behalf, right? It would not be fair for a servant like myself to fall under the brunt of a failed decree, by the conspiracy of another."
"You misunderstand." Thrall, again, clarified. "Anansi comes from a place that is nothing like this. He serves no one, but himself. There is no god to intercede at all."
Ghurab 'Aswad let his features harden. His eyes grew dark, to the point where Xantheaa grew fearful of his intentions. He turned his attention to the pestiferous gate, again. "Then there is no one to avenge him. I see only one course of action for us to take, my friends. Let us bring Nephthys his corpse."
The harpy opened her mouth to argue, but she, too, was growing increasingly impatient with the machinations of this lowly arthropod. He had caused much more pain than a creaturea of his standing should be permitted. Thrall began walking slowly toward the gate, but only then did she rush to block his path with her body.
"What is it?" He asked, ready to just get it over with.
"W-well, I was thinking, um..." she tittered.
"Out with it, woman," 'Aswad pressed. He was in no mood to hear any arguments for mercy at this time. The bloodlust surged from him in waves. "Do you really think that he deserves your pity? Anyone who would offend the gods, or seek to place himself above them is an apostate!"
She pricked up at the implication. Was that not a fitting description for herself, at the current point in time? "No! No, nothing like that," she laughed. "I was just wondering that, since we were going into the presence of a literal god, should we not become a fair bit more prepared? We have no idea what powers he will be capable of."
Thrall nodded. "I can agree with that." He noticed her wingtips shivering in front of him. The trauma of the previous encounter with a hex wielder must still have been fresh in his mind, and he didn't want to heighten her distress. It seemed like an offensive ability would serve to greatly ease her apprehension.
'Aswad crowed in disbelief. He was at the height of his wrath. "You imbeciles, would you wait until he has enough time to plan an escape?! Now is the moment to strike, while we have the advantage!"
Thrall simply hushed him with a wave, and returned his attention to Xantheaa. "What did you have in mind?" He knew that as much bluster that the crow had, he didn't stand a chance without the two of them to defend while he cornered that slippery invertebrate.
"Ah!" Xantheaa smiled, and was relieved that Thrall so avidly defended her position. "I was thinking, that I would like the name for the word that means 'thunder,' if only to defend myself."
Thrall's eyes spread wide at this. He expected to have her ask him to conjure a weapon that she could wield with her feet. Of course, not much could satisfy such a demand.
"Are you absolutely certain?! I mean, you want to dive right into the deep end of a second word, without even practicing it in the real world? Sure, you made incredible strides on the first one, but I don't think that you're appreciating the true magnitude of-"
"Thrall," she interjected. "Trust me. I think I was made for this."
He paused, contemplating for a second, weighing the pros and cons of letting her do something this dangerous, when the bird screamed out, impatiently. "Caw! Do something!"
They were so close, it was maddening to the creature. He pecked at Thrall's head. "Hey! Hey, Do something! Do something, hey!"
"All right! Damnification. Give it a rest!" He waved the creature off his shoulder, and 'Aswad had the prudence to actually dodge this time. Thrall did not seem like the kind of man that you wanted to anger. "The word you're looking for is Raam."
"Ray-ahm?"
"No, Raam."
"Ram?"
"Ask yourself, what does your heart say? Does that sound like a name you recognize? What is a ram?"
"All right. Raam." Then, she ignited into a shower of blinding white sparks. The concussive burst of the thunderclap was almost enough to throw Thrall off of his feet.
"Xantheaa!" He shouted, as the white-hot arcs of excited plasma danced ravenously over her illuminated form. It was all over her; highlighting her every vane, curve, and mantle on her body. Electrified muscles seized in concert, forcing her into a position of emaciated strain. Her whole form contorted into a figure of involuntary seizure, as every group pulled her in opposite directions, at once. She could not move of her own accord.
She opened her mouth to scream, exposing the scintillating glow of caustic lightning arcing throughout her insides. She was burning from the inside out, and nobody could shoulder blame, but herself. "Ngaaaahhhhh!" She cried, in desperation and terror. Several arcs flitted between her teeth, and her talons dug deep into the earth.
Her hubris had overtaken, and set her up for failure. This was a prison of her own design, and nothing could have prepared her for the unimaginable agony of electrocution that she was experiencing.
The power was overwhelming. Within every vessel, cell, and atom of her body, there was a violent pulse of energy suddenly begging to be released, and it had nowhere to go. It was so loud, and omnipresent. Thrall was shouting something to her, but she could no longer hear.
Her eyes welled up with tears, and she shook her head with confusion. The look on her face just begged him, "Save me!" When he realized her deafness, he started gesticulating to her feet.
"Your legs, Xantheaa! Funnel the energy into your legs!" She finally made sense of it. She nodded, and thought about control. Currents followed her command, and instantaneously flowed away from her; for she had grounded herself.