'Aswad hung suspended by his legs, upside down, high up in the annals of the impossible library. He swung shallowly in the wind, as he was towed up, up, up, all the way to the very limits of the sky, until all he could see of the distant earth was a picturesque circle, no larger than the size of his eyeball.
His entire body was wrapped in a tightened cord, so that he could not unfurl his wings, or even open his mouth to crow loudly for help. His captor scuttled haplessly along the eternally expansive shelves. "Oof! You're heavy!" his detainer admonished, clinging dangerously close to the edge of separating from the careful hold he had on the wooden separators that kept the annals of written word so pedantically organized.
He had long since given up any attempt to struggle his way free. There was no escaping from the ivory threads that bound him. "You really shouldn't have come," the small creature said, grunting and groaning under the immense strain of towing such an immense package with his miniscule body. "You could have taken them anywhere in Egypt, but you brought these interlopers right to me. That makes you dangerous. I can't have you mixing up the tale I'm weaving, so I will be taking you out of the picture."
Together, they climbed higher, and higher, until the furthest the crow could see was simply a collection of shelves, and a dizzying blurry expanse beyond. The air began to grow thin without the pressure of the column of atmosphere above him, and just when 'Aswad began having trouble breathing, the insect paused, and attached his silk rope to an anchor on the roof of one of the cubicles.
He crawled over to look 'Aswad in the eye, and smirked. "You know, I was really struggling to find a way to get rid of that daemonic figure, but you went ahead and left yourself defenseless, all on your own! That was really convenient for me."
The crow hardened his gaze. What was this little green thing talking about?! It was Thoth who gave him the information that made him drive Thrall away.
"Yes, The great god of wisdom is who gave you that information, but I was the one who advised him to deliver this specific bit of knowledge, in particular. He never told you how eagerly the seraph would have defended your life with his own, nor the blossoming feelings of respect and adoration that the harpy had begun to develop. She was even considering having you to join them on their mission, can you believe that?!" The bird teared up at the volume of the error his premature judgement had made. He crawled closer, and stared mere millimeters from contact with his eye.
"Knowledge without context, you see, is a weapon. And this weapon is one of which I am an expert manipulator." he grinned, at least as far as his small head could manage. The bird began to thrash about, as if to try to shake the offender loose into the unfathomable depths below.
He only laughed, and attached another anchoring thread directly over his closest nostril. It was a subtle enough gesture, but it made very clear the fact that he could be easily suffocated by this small lepidopteron. The creature on his beak continued, braggartly. "'Why,' do you ask? Oh, I'll happily tell you—because I'll take any small reason to gain an advantage. Lying, cheating, stealing, no matter what it takes! I am the only one who deserves the mystery of the Dendera Lights, and I will be the one who becomes the true god of gods; not your silly little servant and denizen duo.
"I played the hand of a god in order to split the three of you up, and that wasn't even the greatest of my machinations. Your plans are so delicate; so superficial. I will dance circles around your petty struggles, and laugh when the journey meets its end, with me on the throne at the center of the universe, with all the so-called "gods," in chains... Get a good look! You will never come close to finding me, again." and with that, he dove heedlessly off the bird's bill into the great marshy beyond. Someone his size would have no problem surviving the fall from that height, after all.
The confusion of Ghurab 'Aswad was vast, and terrible. Who WAS this Anansi? He struggled and strained again, but he may as well have been in a straightjacket. The silk was woven too thick for him to hope to escape. Just to be sure, this time he took his sweet leisure wrapping the bird in several ivory layers of that sticky stringy thread. It was stronger than steel, at this point. How could he have let this happen?
Down on the floor far beneath, Thrall stepped into a clearing full of dark basalt stones, with water flowing amongst the smooth black pebbles like the ebb and flow of a tidal pulse. He had tracked his fiery associate this far, and pushed aside the reeds that grew blissfully along the edge of the water, to see... the impatient jackal, just standing there, anxiously.
He was staring at a series of polished, obsidian boulders in the middle of the pool, as intently as ever. The promontories were arranged by size—ranging from rocks the size of a household pet to megaliths the size of a minivan—all in a fibonacci spiral, that resembled the outward petals of an unfurling rose, or more likely, the lotus flower; as it floated within the pool of midnight waters. He was at an impasse, for whatever reason, glancing at the edge of the water table as it lapped eagerly at his feet.
"Why, there you are. I've been looking all over for you guys. Not sure why you had to run off like that," Thrall said. The jackal didn't even twitch a single muscle. He must have been close. "What, did you find him?"
The canine inferno swiveled one glowing orange ember within its socket to look him in the eye, but didn't turn his head even one single micron to face him; as if it weren't worth the effort to fully acknowledge such an obvious answer. He then turned his eyes back to the precise spot on the island where the paths of future residence converged.
"Wow, well he sure picked one hell of a place to hide. I suppose that means he knew you are made of flames." Then, he sighed, and unfurled his wings. "Don't worry, I'll get him. Then we can get out of here, and but this damnable figment behind us."
He was still a bit sore from the undressing that the crow had given him. Nothing was incorrect, but he hadn't been able to vocalize how much he had grown to appreciate the crow's company along their short voyage. He could no longer bear to see him as a pawn, even though he did indeed look down on him at the outset. He had proven himself crafty, reliable, and knowledgeable which were traits that Thrall found very commendable.
He soared through the air, trying to follow the path that his jackal had locked its gaze toward. The spider had chosen his hiding spot well, indeed, as his dark-brown carapace blended in nicely with the darker browns of the stones underneath. He scanned, and eventually his eyes settled on a small patch of fuzziness against the glossy sheen of the reflective stones below. "Aha!" He leapt down, and grabbed the polypod, who screamed wildly.
"Argh! No, let me go, Seraph of Proclamation!" Thrall froze, still holding the many-limbed nightmare creature in his hand.
"Why did you say that name?" he asked.
"To grab your attention," the spider replied. "You do know that we are in a library, correct? It is perhaps one of the greatest libraries ever created, and I spent my time here very constructively..."
Thrall did not release the spider, but held his slender, rectangular thorax quite firmly, with his index finger on his back, and his thumb pressing tightly against the coxal joints so that he could not luxuriantly flex his legs within the larger angel's hand. "So, I take it you've read The Bible? Why should I care? Tell me why I shouldn't squeeze the life out of you this very second."
"Do I have any quarrel with you, sire? P-please, do not be hasty. I can give you what you want. You would like to know more about the mystery of the Dendera Lights, correct? Well, I got Thoth to reveal its location to me! P-p-please, Call off your hounds, and let us converse as equals. I have done no wrongs toward you. H-h-have... Mercy." and with those words, a tremendous woman descended on the tide pool, sending a splash of misty water into the air, high above them.
Her crown was adorned with a single quail feather, and her arms were enrobed in a smattering of multi-colored vanes, almost like a shawl made entirely of living primaries. She towered over the two of them, like a man to an infant—her thighs were like two mighty colonnades, holding up an entablature as wide as a large carriage. She was thickly hewn and muscle-bound, as if prepared to dress for war.
This was Thoth's wife—the Goddess of Justice, Ma'at—and she was not pleased with what she found. "The spider speaks true. You have no right to cast judgement, here."
"Bah! I have no time for this," Thrall exclaimed, "I have to 'save him,' in order to free my partner from your husband's hold."
The spider shouted, "Yes, that's exactly right! He was talking about me, you see? I am the one who must be saved(despite your reservations), in order to serve the purpose of Thoth!"
"Save you?" Thrall scoffed. "From whom, myself? I had no intentions of ending your life. I was only threatening to get some leverage. I know how conniving you can be, and quite frankly, I could use that power."
Anansi stared, blankly. "...from your dog."
He glanced back to the shore, where the jackal stood, wating. The creature Thrall designed, was tireless, enkindled, and single-minded. It was specifically designed for hunting Anansi down, and there was no defense either carnal nor supernatural that would stay its pursuit for long.
Also, it was made of literal fire. If it were to so much as touch his target, it would be consumed before it even returned to the summoner, with its prize.
"Oh, I see." Thrall nodded, sagely. For some reason, he had assumed that Thoth wanted him to save 'Aswad... but he wasn't in danger. Thrall just saw him minutes ago, feasting on his favorite fruit.