I used to be just a girl from a poor home in Brazil, the nerd everyone picked on, the girl everyone called unwanted, but now they call me a hero. Hello, my name is Camilla. I was chosen by a few Egyptian gods to protect humanity against demons and other unworldly monsters. I have spent the last three months fighting bad guys and getting my butt beat by villains like Set, the god of war. But no matter how many times I get beat down, I always manage to get back up. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to where it all started…
“Isn’t Egypt beautiful, Camilla?”
“Yeah, Mom, the harsh sun and hot sand are so lovely.”
“Camilla, Egypt is more than sun and sand. It’s about culture and history.”
“I know, Mom.”
Once we arrived at the unnamed temple, my mom and I put up our tents. I started settling in for the night when I heard my mom and the lead archaeologist arguing about money. I ignored them and pulled out my journal. I sat in my tent writing theories about what could be in this new temple.Who did it belong to? Lost in thought, I didn’t notice the sun slowly setting until my mother walked into my tent and wished me a good night. I put my journal into my backpack and curled up on my air mattress. I dreamed of sandstorms and adventures until I awoke to a voice calling out to me. I got up from my bed and walked out of my tent.
“Hello, Mom?”
The voice heightened.
“Camilla, come into the temple.”
Why was the temple calling to me? I started walking toward the temple. Once inside, a beam of light led me safely through the traps and down many stairs.
“Hey, voice guy, where are you taking me?”
The voice didn’t respond. I continued to follow the mystical light down the winding staircase until we reached a large room. Scratched-out hieroglyphics covered the walls and silk clothing scattered around.
“Camilla, the amulet…Take the amulet.”
I looked around the room before I spotted an old desk-like piece of furniture. Something gold laid upon it, surrounded by red silk. I quickly approached the desk and grabbed the gold item. It was a beautiful gold necklace that had four symbols engraved on it. The necklace looked brand new, untouched by time, and unharmed by the sand around it. I slipped the amulet over my head and let it fall onto my chest. All of a sudden a sandstorm erupted. The cold sand swirled around the room as multiple voices started speaking. I closed my eyes and fell to the ground, curling up in a ball with my hands over my head. After a while the sand settled down and the voices stopped. I slowly opened my eyes but, before I could stand up and check my surroundings, a deep voice came from behind me.
“Hello, tiny earth child.”
I hesitantly turned around to see Osiris the god of the underworld standing behind me. I jumped to my feet as sweat dripped from my forehead. I was horrified. What had I just unleashed?
“H…H…Hello lord of the underworld.”
I could feel my heart attempting to jump out of my body.
“Please child, call me Osiris. All that formal nonsense is unneeded.”
“Yes sir…I mean Osiris.”
The lord of death walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He asked me to look into his eyes. Although I was fearful I mustered up the strength to look at him. When our eyes met, I started seeing flashbacks of my life, the good and the bad all my thoughts and feeling rushing through me like a raging waterfall.
“…stop…”
“Just a little more earth child.”
As memory after memory flooded my mind, I started to feel a crushing sense of agony start to creep up on me, I hadn’t felt this way In a long time. I started begging him to stop but he keep pushing into my past until he found it the root of my suffering the memory that made me who I am today: my father’s murder. He broke eye contact with me as I fell to my knees screaming in pain. My eyes flooded with tears.
“You try to fill the void by helping people?”
“…I couldn’t save him, it’s all my fault I wasn’t brave enough!”
I wiped my face off with one of the old silk fabrics that were laying on the ground.
“A broken soul with a heart of pure silk. How poetic. Wouldn’t you say, Osiris?”
This voice was different. It wasn’t as deep, I looked up and to my surprise, there stood Anubis the god of spirits.
“Please don’t look into my eyes.”
He smiled at me before walking over to me.
“No need to be wary of me. I am no threat.”
He helped me up and then walked toward Osiris.
“If you don’t mind me asking…why are you guys here?” I said through sad sniffles.
Osiris turned to me.
“All will be revealed once my son arrives.”
I sighed and walked over to the back wall of the room. Whoever scratched out these hieroglyphs must have been enraged, but why? Before I could ponder the question a loud screech came from outside the room.
A tall falcon walks into the room, he eyes me up and down before looking at his father.
“This is the human?”
“Yes, Horus. She is the one Ra prophesied.”
I walked over to them.
“Prophesied? Wait, Ra the god of Egypt’s creation?”
“Yes, you see Ra had a dream many weeks ago about a girl pure of heart that would protect humanity, from hellish beings and the one we call Set.”
“The god of war.”
“You are very well versed in Egyptian mythology.”
“Well my mom is an archaeologist. We have lots of…”
“I’m sorry to interrupt but I have to raise the morning star soon, so can we get this over with?”
“Yes, of course.”
Horus pulled out an old book from his Shendyt and handed it to me.
“What is this?”
“It’s the book of the dead.”
I flipped through the pages before closing the book and looking back up at Horus.
“So, is it too late to tell you I can’t read Egyptian?”
“Don’t worry child. The amulet will help with that.”
“We must now leave you, but do not fret. We will always be here to guide you.”
And with those last words, Horus flew me out of the temple and set me back in my tent. From that day on I have been protecting humans from themselves and demons.
I’m Avary, an 18-year-old fantasy writer from Florida. I love writing books and hope to get published someday. My biggest inspirations are Lev Grossman, Stephen King, and Walter Tevis, to name a few.