The shadows grew long, and creeping, as the dusk bled into evening. Bright patches of light from the reflected sunset gave way into the muted blues and indigo of the blank night sky. Stars outlined the blocky silhouette of the yonder temple like a grinning golem of stone, inviting them into its open mouth; maybe never to return. The harrowing vacancy of its features serving only to heighten their disconcertion, only made worse the fact that he knew that they were coming.
But, of course he would have known! Is it not any man's duty to know, more than he? Thrall had hoped—and it was a futile dream indeed—that they could catch him unawares, and secret the spider away without attempting his notice.
With any other god, it could have been a possibility, but not Thoth; whose business it was to Know. He cursed the blight upon their luck, that he would enter into the presence of someone who approached omnipotence, once again. He had hoped not to reveal the magnitude of his ineptitude ever again.
It terrified him, to be known, as all men are. To have their opinions, thoughts, and very soul read like an unfurled scroll, or to find that every choice they had ever made was but a series of careful feints written in a calculated eon-spanning strategy for some great unknown, unknowable purpose—it is a torture for mortal beings seldomly inflicted but never less excruciating.
What does it mean to be a man, in the presence of a god? It is to be an insect. It is to be reminded that you are nothing—or in some cases, less than nothing. You only exist to serve their whims... and if you are in violation of that great purpose, you are not equitably speaking confirmed to be granted corporeality.
It is to wake up to the fact that existence is a gift, that was availed to you by a greater power, and that gift may be recanted at any given time, with utmost ease. So, discomfit yourself well, lest you find yourself written out of the story of life, for lack of relevant necessity. Always remember that you are on borrowed time, and that the plans of gods are very easily altered in service of their own self-aggrandization.
He whispered something to that effect for the others, as they yet watched the open nihility of the door within the door; swirling with the affect of a stygian, unconditional, surrender. Xantheaa effected an affectation of suitably effective piety but 'Aswad was not so easily affected. He'd already had his effects in order, just in case he found himself in such a position.
As soon as the way forward was opened, the jackal raised its fiery head and howled, before bounding heedlessly into the open door beyond. Xantheaa blinked, and rubbed her eyes. It was impossible. The light from the canine was completely snuffed out, as soon as it crossed the threshold of that temple. It looked like he had vanished from existence, or rather, he had been erased. There was not even a glint of the orange tinted light within that void. He might as well have phased through a black wall, for all that could be observed from across the courtyard.
Nevertheless, they cautiously plodded across the courtyard into the interstice between the relative safety of the outside world, and the domain that wholly existed under Thoth's disposition. Once inside the walls of his temple, all of reality dedicated to reflect his design. Even Gravity himself would bow before the whimsy of the great god of Wisdom.
Tremulously, They trod across the soft earth; footsteps echoing delicately against the courtyard walls. Xantheaa seemed to be holding her breath, before Thrall motioned for her to relax, just a little bit. She couldn't help it. She had never been in the presence of a god before.
"It's okay, my Theaa," Thrall reassured her. "Thoth is a god of great order, and understanding. It is said that he invented the avenue for the procession of the stars, and all of the heavenly bodies. Someone with his great wisdom would not act so rashly as the vengeful creatures that you are familiar with in your world. Our entering into his presence means that he must have a use for us, here. We will surely emerge alive."
The droning void of the open doorway did little to soothe her reservations, but she trusted him. He would not let them walk into a trap, at least. "Okay." She breathed, and picked up her posture, strolling more confidently across the remaining fifty feet they had between themselves and the doorjamb.
Thrall and 'Aswad looked at each other, surprised at how simple that was, and then strode quickly after her. Her certitude in Thrall was greater than either of them had imagined. The sword's light seemed to be swallowed up by that threatening ingress. It was as if the world beyond the door simply ceased to exist—an event horizon of faith. Once all three of them had been assembled, they dove into that inky quadrilateral together.
The space beyond the jamb was modest, and unimposing. Thoth was not a god much known for extravagance. The room was about 140 feet square, and the walls were carved with intricate reliefs depicting the long and storied history of the Egyptian gods and their fabled rise to power; from the birth of Ra to his death, and Osiris's ascension to his betrayal by the hands of his brother Set, and finally the great god of war's deposition by his nephew, Horus.
There was one door directly beyond the one they had entered, and from within they heard that same voice, beckoning them deeper. "Come, venture even further beyond," Thoth invited. It appeared that he was no longer asking. They obeyed, almost mindlessly, like they were entranced by the sound of his voice.
The doorway swallowed them whole, only to spit them into some antechamber, much smaller than the room preceding. If that were its mouth, they were now certainly within the belly of the stone behemoth.
It was so much darker than the previous room. Their eyes had a difficult time adjusting. Then, just as they began to register the form of another door beyond, all hints of visibility were snuffed out, as the door behind them disappeared.
"Yipe!" Xantheaa screeched, in a voice not unlike some imperial bird of prey. "Thrall, Where are you?!"
'Aswad replied, facetiously. "Hey, Who turned out the lights?" He sounded more annoyed than frightened.
"I am right here, my Theaa. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, I hear you. So, Then we are together, as yet." She spread her wings out and wandered toward the direction of the voice, searching for its speaker. "Do not lose me!"
"I won't," he replied, igniting the fury of his sword. Suddenly exposed in the illumination of the heightened flame, she quickly readjusted into a more dignified posture, stowing her wings back against her back.
'Aswad laughed at her. "You have nothing to fear, Harpy. I will protect you from the big, empty darkness!"
"Be silent!" she shouted, feathers ruffling in embarrassment. "I was not afraid, I was simply... stretching out my wings. Searching for the walls! If you haven't noticed, the space has changed around us..."
"Yes, searching for the wall between yourself and a woman with courage!" The crow had become anything but silent in his revelry. Thrall, though, agreed with Xantheaa.
"Wait a minute, she's right." He waved the sword around, in a circle, to illuminate the formerly small space that they had occupied. They revealed no walls whatsoever; not even a ceiling. "The door we entered from has completely vanished behind us. It's like we're standing in the middle of nowhere."
"Come closer," The voice demanded, from all directions at once, growing impatient with their continued hesitation. "And douse that light. It is not welcomed here."
"Closer, where, Lord Thoth?" Thrall asked politely, but he did not relinquish his sword. "I cannot tell the way forward. Please, give us some direction that we may follow your instructions more clearly!"
"You cannot see, for you are blind to things within, without your mind. I offered a hint to remind you of the place you stand today."
"Squawk! Thrall, what are you doing?!" 'Aswad shouted, flapping his wings erratically. He knew, better than anyone, what followed the words of a true god's monologue. "He asked you to do something, didn't he?! Aren't you the one who told us to be on our best behavior?! My great Neter, please have mercy upon us. I will have him snuff it."
Still, Thrall's grip only tightened on the blade. He'd promised to keep Xantheaa safe.
The voice of Thoth simply continued, unmoved by the pleadings of the black-feathered bird. "You think you're safe, but you are mine. Within this place, disgrace you'll find, if our intentions aren't aligned—for even flames know to obey." and the sword's fire extinguished.