Xantheaa and Thrall's eyes both widened at the implication. This confirmed the importance of that item within their mind's eye; for it was the third occasion that its name was levied, unbidden, before them. What was an educated guess before was now a fully unavoidable fact.
The fates had powerfully centered their focus upon these so-called Dendera Lights.
Thrall laughed, darkly. "...and how, pray tell, did that spider who is a foreigner suddenly discover the location of one of the most powerful artifacts within your entire world?"
It appeared that Thoth had suddenly broken out in a cold sweat. "W-well—You see... I might have--"
Ma'at shook her head at her husband's impropriety. "The great God of Wisdom; reduced to a stumbling fool before the possibility of sacrificing his treasured possessions." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Spit it out, already, you soft-skinned bastard."
"But you do not understand!" he pleaded, defensively. "He was prepared to lay down his life in order to save yours before, so I thought it prudent to employ him as an emergency measure. When I saw that your life was in genuine danger, I figured-"
"You have figured nothing but the shape of our own allurement!" Ma'at exclaimed. His posture was perceptibly cowed by her rebuke.
Xantheaa still looked a bit confused by the whole thing; still in a defensive stance from the astonishing might of a goddess bred for war. "I am sorry, I do not understand. Are we no longer fighting, or...?"
Thrall explained, "It appears that the great Egyptian god of Wisdom was blinded. The spider somehow convinced him to reveal the location of the artifact in order to get a head start on us all." His hands balled into fists as he recollected the events prior. It became more and more ridiculous as the sequence fell into place within his mind, and he finally understood. "We were all just manipulated to get to this point! Even your astonishing act of rebellion was planned ahead of time. I had his body in my hands..."
"My... actions were manipulated?" She scowled. It appeared that she not only was so pathetic to be played around with by the wiles of the gods, but even a mortal she had never met in person was able to levy her innate weakness to his own benefit. The very idea was unmollifiable. A spark leapt, unbidden, between the vanes of her left tertial feathers and their secondaries. Her fury grew so intense for a moment that she had subconsciously activated Raam again—just a little bit!
"Now, we do not know this for sure!" Thoth explained, face flushed with embarrassment and a minor amount of worry at seeing her cause further damage to his sacred realm. He had already seen what her powers were capable of, and it would take weeks to reorganize the space in the domain already! "There's no need to get too excited straightaway, alright?! W-we could still expect to see him arrive in my court with the assistance I charged him with retrieving."
Thrall narrowed his eyes at the Ibis-headed suitor before him. "Is that so?"
"Y-yes! In fact, I will stake significant honor on the fact that his character is true. I am the god of Wisdom, after all. It is my role to know these things!"
Kurozel could only sigh in shame and disappointment for the sorry state that this so-called god had been reduced to. He had witnessed true omniscience once, and what remained before him was little more than a pale reflection of the truly terrible magnitude of His power. "It isn't your fault. Men can only understand so much of the grandeur that is true Knowledge. Do not confuse your Wisdom for Truth. I dare say this is far beyond the bounds of your role already!"
Thoth shook his head. "What do you mean?! These words are nonsense!"
"Do I speak nonsense? ...or is this a truth too grand for your library to hold? Only time will tell." and he wielded his sword aloft, feeling the innate pull of the flames against his grasp. "Come, I will lead you to the truth."
Ma'at held her arm out before her husband's chest, feeling the innate danger that a sword created by God carried even within this hallowed ground. There was a weapon that could even inflict her with wounds that could not be repaired with the powers of this world. "How do we know that you, too, will not lead us into a mire of thorns; you Fallen Seraph?"
He simply grinned back at her, reducing his order back to the state of a feeble Angel; whose arms were so vitiated, it seemed to struggle even holding the sword upright. In that state, he couldn't be fast enough to hit a fly on the wall; let alone the incarnation of Justice. "If it pleases the court, I would simply like to enter some evidence into the registry. My honor has been challenged, and I move to defend myself. Do you object?"
She frowned, nodding at the fact that he revealed his shapeshifting capabilities unbidden as a subtle show of force; lowering her arm to respect his candor. He must be capable of even more terrifying forms than the one he held even when he first arrived here if he so flippantly degraded his potency to a lower form.
She now knew that Xantheaa wasn't the only dangerous creature within this sanctuary. His sword would be dangerous to overcome, if he were alone, but the two of them together? It was very possible that she could even be obliterated if terms soured between the powers assembled.
There was no sign of this secret fear as she understood it within her voice as she responded with the full authority of her title, nevertheless. "I will allow it." she replied, turning to help Thoth to his feet, and then staring the young harpy in the eyes as she continued. "I will reserve my judgement until this so-called 'evidence' is interred."
"How very gracious and sensible of you," Thrall smiled back; completely reading through every nuance of deception she had displayed through the subtlest changes in her posture.
They were more powerful than her, and she knew it. Now, he knew it too.
"You can relax now, Xantheaa." Thrall said, as he closed his eyes to focus on the pull of the sword. "We have an understanding with these great timeless monsters."
She shook her head, still slightly shuddering in her chest at the trauma of having her throat exposed under the goddess's might. "Are you sure?" She probably would never feel safe in this woman's presence ever again.
He reached out, with eyes wrenched shut, and patted her lightly on the shoulder. She almost jumped. "H-how are you doing that?!"
His smirk grew wider at her reaction. "I told you before, my Theaa—I see with more than eyes." The golden hair of this form was growing slick with the sweat of his concentration as he slowly scanned the horizon with extrasensory prowess, and he lowered his voice to a whisper in hopes that their hearing was not as powerful as his own. "Our friends here have shown their full potential in order to defend your might, but we have yet to expose all our strength. There is no further harm that can be done while I am with you. Now, please be at ease! I struggle to focus with my body forced into this pathetic shape. His hearing is so weak that I—Ah!"
Ma'at suddenly turned fully to him at that proclamation, but he was quick to assuage her fears. "Don't worry, I just found what I was looking for. Let's go!" and he flew off toward an eastern wall of impossible bookshelves. The others quickly followed.
Again, they found the jackal restlessly pacing against a part of the wall. Its eyes were locked on a vantage far into the white expanse above.
"There you all are. What have you found?" Thrall asked, carefully stowing the sword away at long last. His arms had long grown sore of holding the thing in his state.
The jackal snarled at him, snapping at the air overhead as if disgusted at the very concept of vacancy. "Well, I'm sorry! I had no idea you would have any use for wings. Besides, it didn't seem appropriate at the time."
Thoth and Ma'at locked eyes at one another. "Such strange magicks..." she breathed.
Her partner nodded. "So, what did they say?" He was hoping it was some good news for once.
Thrall turned back to face them. "'Aswad was taken far overhead. We'll have to fly for nearly two miles to get him."
The god cursed. That meant that Anansi was taking secret measures without his awareness. Ma'at scowled, and gathered all her strength in her thighs again, until they were thick as a milling stone, and before Thrall had finished speaking, her form had disappeared into the ether overhead.
The heavens trembled, and shuddered with a calamitous crack, after her passing broke immediately through the sound barrier. Then, almost an instant later, she landed with almost enough fury to extinguish the jackal entirely. Their dense bones flickered in traumatic response at the rancorous brunt of the force of winds they had to subject themselves, and slowly a kindling sound began filling the air as the stringy muscles on its back stitched itself back together from the fulminous power of the word itself.
The two visitors were thrown from their feet once she vaulted mightily into the troposphere, but even Thoth stumbled after that landing. "Ma'at, You know how I hate it when you do that."
"I will not hear it! Look at the state of this loyal creature who was interned under your care!" and she opened her hands to reveal a tattered, ruffled mess of black and gray feathers; tightly wound in a mass of silk thread. He was barely conscious—having been hung upside-down with mouth and a single nostril sealed in a thinning atmosphere for who knows how long. "If he were to wait for these mortal beings to rescue him, it may have resulted in his untimely passing. What will you then say to Nephthys for this gross negligence?!"
The crow was slowly coming to, especially after the loud outburst that Ma'at had given less than a yard from his head. He blinked slowly, and tried to speak but it came out muffled before he realized his current circumstance.
Thoth meekly replied. "It is not so sweet, to offer a crow some fruit, only to taunt death." The silk suddenly dissolved into a dark mist that smelled of licorice and the vile stench of carrion.
Ghurab coughed as he finally took his first breaths after such a loathsome time. As soon as he regained his senses, he climbed to his haunches, and bowed low to the beings before him. "My greatest Neter, Ma'at. I am not worthy to be rescued by the likes of you. Please have mercy on me, and my assembled party for causing you such evident distress."
She nodded back at him, wordlessly, and he hopped from her palm to the floor below. Then, she turned to Thoth with a baleful expression, as if to say 'Do you see what we would have lost?' The god of Wisdom knelt to be closer to his level, to ask. "What is it that you would need to amend the spirit of anguish that has overcome yourself within the presence of my favor? Ask anything, and if it be within my power, I will provide it to you, oh loyal servant of the goddess who guards the undead."
Ghurab appeared almost crestfallen that a god would bother to offer such a powerful boon to someone as meager as himself, then he looked around the room. Nobody objected, so he finally spoke freely. "Isn't it obvious? The only thing I've desired is Anansi's head."