Kaa also made a trip to the docks to visit the tengu community there. After he had returned the possessions of the Scarabs' former member Koori to her people, their leader had given him a task: to find a golden statue and bring it back to them. Kaa had bartered with the naga Zaid for a statue in the abandoned temple Zaid had chosen to occupy, and he took this to give to the tengu leader. When the tengu who met him at their boats tried to escort Kaa below decks to meet the old tengu woman, Kaa refused and insisted she come up to meet him. He still felt resentment toward the tengu community in Wati for failing to show any appreciation to him for bringing Koori's possessions to them, nor showing him any hospitality.
When the old woman emerged, she still showed Kaa no sign of respect or welcome, and after he gave her the statue he had the feeling she had only given him the task to find it as a way of getting rid of him. This angered him. In response, he told her that if she wanted the statue so badly she could get it herself, and he hurled it as far out into the river as he could, which was not a short distance. Then he told the tengu of Wati that he felt no kinship to them even though he had been born there, and if they tried to retaliate against him or his friends he would return and burn their boats to the water line. No tengu tried to block his path after he departed. He returned to the Tooth and Hookah and meditated for a time to regain his composure.
The next morning Hutt's magic carried the Ruby Scarabs back to the Khepsutanem, with Nyema concealed as a figurine in Sula's belt pouch. The Scarabs intended to take on the roc that guarded the site first, as they had already left the figurine of the roc on the pedestal in the chamber where they had found the ankh-shaped Life Lantern. They believed that placing the figurine in this way would deprive the roc of its ability to cast spells.
They made their way to the roc's nest, a raised area in the center of the Khepsutanem. As they walked, they discussed their target, wondering if perhaps it had been given long life by some magic, as rocs didn't ordinarily live for thousands of years. Sula suggested summoning a roc to fight it on their behalf, as she was now capable of summoning such a creature, but they concluded that this might not be effective since the guardian of the Khepsutanem was an intelligent creature. Azzaria also approached Kaa, who led the group, and asked him if he would teach her about how to disable traps and pick locks. In response Kaa pulled a set of lockpicks from his pouch and presented it to her.
When they approached the nest, Hutt cast a spell on everyone that would permit them to communicate with one another mentally. He also employed a wand to grant them magically enhanced speed. From their vantage point below the nest they could tell that the roc was present and seemed to be resting, but they could see little else. As they prepared to assault it, the enormous bird lifted its head and turned to look at them. The Scarabs had encountered a roc before, but this one was nothing like that creature. Its feathers were shot through with blue and red, and its head bore scales and horny protuberances that were not typical of ordinary rocs. They already knew it must be much more intelligent than an ordinary roc because it was capable of casting spells, though they had no idea how it had acquired its unnatural ability. Azzaria called out to the roc, "Can we talk with you?" hoping that perhaps they could persuade it not to fight or even convince it to leave. It replied, "Intruders! I have my duty."
Sula immediately began to call upon the powers of nature to grant her access to lightning to blast it. Uto, Azzaria, and Hutt all took flight. The roc rose up out of its nest on its massive wings and to their suprise cast a spell of its own. Suddenly all of the Scarabs found themselves flying up in the air in a manner that was so disturbing that Azzaria became nauseated. Kaa realized that if he turned himself upside down he could in essence stand on air, for the spell had caused localized gravity to reverse itself. Hanging upside-down in midair, Kaa breathed a burst of fire at the roc, but the flames washed over it without doing it any apparent harm.
Hutt flew around behind the roc and cast a spell at it, but when it failed to affect the giant bird he shouted, "I got three more! You'll be turned into a duck somehow!" Uto raised the hand of the bronze sentinel and pointed it at the roc. A thin ray of green energy shot from the sentinel's finger without effect. Sula's first bolt of lightning hurtled down from the sky but it too failed to cause the roc any harm. Sula then transformed herself into a huge air elemental and flew to a spot near Hutt. Some unseen force grabbed the rougarou mage, clamping his arms agains his sides and preventing him from casting any other spells. Despite her nausea, Azzaria began to taunt the roc.
A dark blur shot in at the roc, hammering it with blows as Kaa plied fists and feet against the gigantic creature. His attacks had more effect than anything else. When he stopped hitting it he suddenly plummeted into the deep trench that lay beyond the nest, for he had only been held aloft by the magic of the roc's gravity-reversing spell and the area affected didn't extend to the roc itself. As Hutt struggled unsuccessfully to get free of whatever held him, Azzaria flew toward the roc, holding a spell in her hand. The Scarabs had taken the horns of the gorgon they had slain in Isatemkhebet's pyramid and ground them to a powder that could be used to turn a living creature to stone. Azzaria struck the roc with this powder, and then began to batter it with her weapons. The roc's feathers started to petrify where Azzaria had touched them.
After seeing the success of Azzaria's touch, Uto spoke to the roc, telling it that it didn't need to die protecting the Khepsutanem. Though it was difficult to read expression on the bird's face, it seemed to be moved by Uto's persuasion. It turned and flew away from its nest. As the Ruby Scarabs watched, the vast wings vanished into the distance.
The Scarabs searched the roc's empty nest, finding an enchanted headband, a bagger that appeared to be larger inside than it was outside and contained some platinum coins and gems, and a staff of white ash that was comforting to touch. It was obvious what the bag was, but Hutt determined that the headband was similar to one that Uto already possessed, and the white ash staff could cast healing and disease-removing spells. The bag was given to Igby, who then asked the question that had been on all of their thoughts: how could the roc have cast spells if they had left its figurine on the pedestal? Either they had misunderstood what the figurine would do, or someone had removed it from the pedestal. They decided they would have to go back to the room to find out if the figurine had been moved.
When the Scarabs arrived at the room where they had found the Life Lantern, they knew immediately why the roc's spellcasting ability hadn't been inhibited: the figurine sat on the floor beside the platform. Igby examined the area and reported that some large humanoid creature had come through the wall and approached the platform, as could be seen by its footprints. The Scarabs knew that there was a guardian they had yet to encounter and how to summon it. Uto suggested they call it and ask if it had moved the statue.
When the warden responded Uto communicated with it while the others waited. As they conversed, Uto sensed that perhaps this warden, whose name was Tef-Naju, was not entirely pleased to be bound here in the service of Hakotep. Tef-Naju was unaware that Hakotep's spirit had been divided and a portion of it stolen by the Sacrosanct Order of the Blue Feather. After Uto explained this to him and told him that the Ruby Scarabs' goal was to reunite the parts of Hakotep's spirit and lay it to rest so that he could move on to the afterlife, Tef-Naju stated that perhaps his goals and theirs might be aligned if the final result would set him free. He then instructed Uto that they should activate the Khepsutanem and meet him at the Sun Disk when the sun was at its highest in the sky.
It was several hours until noon, so the Ruby Scarabs decided to explore more of the Khepsutanem and identify some of the obelisks known as the Sekhrepheres, which held powerful elementals bound within them. First they went to the chamber they had found before, where a circular dais was meant to receive the Life Lantern. Hutt placed the Lantern in the spot on the dais that appeared to be designed to receive it. It seemed as though the Lantern was meant to sit there. The dais rose from the floor and tilted until it was vertical, then began to float toward the lighted, copper-lined tunnel that led out of the chamber. The Scarabs watched as the disc entered the tube. The lights than lined the tube brightened. When the Lantern entered the portion of the tunnel that was lined with copper sheets, the tunnel filled with energy, with the elements of fire and electricity. A deep thrumming sound filled the chamber, enough to shake their teeth. Kaa had withdrawn from the chamber before this happened, concerned that once the energies formed it would become dangerous to be near where the dais had stood.
After the disc stopped moving, the Scarabs left the chamber and climbed went out to look for the statues. Chisisek's spirit had told them in what order the Sekhrepheres had to be activated to empower the Sun Disk. They found obelisks dedicated to the ancient Osirian gods Horus, Isis, Khepri, Maat, and Sobek before they approached the Sun Disk at noon.
The Sun Disk structure centered on a disk of gray basalt fifty feet across, faintly carved with hieroglyphics. The stone of the disk contrasted with the yellow sandstone of the structures around it. The disk was unusually devoid of sand. Beside the disk stood a masked humanoid figure, more than twice the height of any of the Scarabs. As they neared the figure removed his helmet, revealing that his skin was black as onyx. The Scarabs realized that he was a shaitan, similar to those they had encountered at the desert fortress but in his case a shaitan of the element of earth. He bore a large axe and was attired as a warrior. The shaitan greeted them in the common language, introducing himself as Tef-Naju. After the Scarabs also introduced themselves to him, Uto emerged from the bronze sentinel wearing Hakotep's funerary mask. Tef-Naju recognized it, stating that he had personally placed it over the Pharaoh Hakotep's face. If the mask was not in Hakotep's burial place then what Uto had told him earlier must be true - Hakotep did not rest in the afterlife as he should have.
Uto removed the mask to display his own face. As he approached Tef-Naju, he transformed into his stony living monolith appearance. A long conversation began as Tef-Naju told the Scarabs about the other guardians of the Khepsutanem. At the endless cascade of sand they would find a powerful earth elemental, which was content to spend its life counting the grains of sand in the cascade. If the sand was disturbed it would attack. It could not be negotiated with, but Tef-Naju agreed that if Kaa's passwall ability could let them descend below the cascade they might be able to get past it to reach the chamber that controlled the Sekhrepheres. There they would find a map of the Sekhrepheres. Tef-Naju then explained that on the east side of the Khepsutanem they would find a figure with a secret compartment holding a wand. This want could be used to tap the Sekhrepheres on the map, thus activating them. This came as a pleasant surprise to the Scarabs, as they had thought they would have to go to each obelisk to activate it. They had been struggling to plan for activating all eleven obelisks between dawn and noon of the same day when there were only six members of their party and the Khepsutanem covered a distance of some six miles.
After Tef-Naju told them about the map, he went on to warn them that they would face much greater danger when they entered the Akumemnet, which was the most important chamber in the complex. The Akumemnet was guarded by a black jinni named Agazuberi, who would not be willing to abandon her post. They couldn't expect to persuade her to let them be as they had done with Tef-Naju. Tef-Naju explained that he was prohibited from entering the Akumemnet, so he would be unable to help the Scarabs fight Agazuberi, though he would not be sorry to see her destroyed. Furthermore, the Akumemnet was warded against teleportation magic.
After Tef-Naju finished describing the challenges of the Akumemnet, Hutt asked him if he knew what would be guarding Hakotep in his tomb. Tef-Naju hesitated and finally responded that he might be able to give this information later. He did provide more information about what abilities the jinni had, including an unusual vulnerability to having certain holy texts recited in her presence. When he had finished, he called for his mate, Aiveria, to join them and introduced her to the Scarabs. Aiveria was not a shaitan like Tef-Naju. He told the Scarabs he had summoned her to help him escape his bondage at the Khepsutanem and they had grown close. Earlier he had confessed that at one time in his life he had taken his anger at this bondage out on any who approached the complex, but it seemed that the presence of Aiveria had calmed him and led him to change his ways.
Next: part 45, The Akumemnet
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