The Betrayers of Osiris

Foxglove sheathed her scimitar again. Wolfram put his crossbow back across his back.
"I wonder what they did to get the blood for this place" whispered Wolfram.
Foxglove shuddered.
"I don't want to think about it" she said quietly.

"Prisoners of war..." Fynn said, adding a slightly dramatic effect to it in hopes of making them shudder some more. He was telling the truth, but teasing them was lightening the mood some.

Foxglove shuddered again but only very slightly.
"Should we go to the palace now? We must see if the pharoah and any of the other daughters of the nile have survived" she said.

Fynn nodded. Cape billowing in the dry desert wind, he began walking towards the palace.

"Palace is on that island" Wolfram said, pointing out at an island in the middle of the wide Nile.

"I know where the palace is... I'm the Pharoah's right hand remember?" he said in a slightly irritated voice.

"Sorry..." Wolfram muttered, as they walked.
Foxglove giggled.
"He was probably talking to himself anyway" she explained to Fynn.
Wolfram shot her a look.

Fynn smiled. "I was just teasing. You don't need to apologize." he said slyly. "But shouldn't we wait for the goddess?"

But the goddess was gone.

In the shadow of a brick structure somewhere else, Karma leaned against a wall, watching Minnow. As the jackal woman went about her work, Karma said quietly, "Do you have a report?"

Fynn sighed at his bad luck. It seemed that everything positive that came along dissappeared just as fast. The case was the same as his little sister, who had died at birth right in front of him. He hadn't known what to do. He was no mortal, but he was only half God. His mother was a human and his father was a deity. Everything good seemed to rush on by while the negativity took him over. He supposed it wasn't such a big deal, but whenever his thoughts shifted to that woman's eyes, he felt like he should just not move from that spot. He hoped she'd return.

Lifting a bloodied feather, the jackal pulled about four horses.
"I killed the leader of this attack, mistress." she said as the feather was taken from her hands. "He said that the pharoah wasn't the pharoah at all."
"Pardon?"
"An imposter." came the reply as the jackal mounted a black horse, handing another's reins to her superior. "Apparently leading another faction. My guess is either the Black Hand or the Shadowdancers."

Foxglove seemed to pick up on Fynn's thoughts.
"I'm sure you'll see her again" she said gently.
Wolfram nodded in agreement, feeling it was the only thing he could do since he wasn't as good as Foxglove at being comforting.

"The Shadowdancers, eh? Haven't heard of them for a while. Rumor has it they don't even exist anymore- which, of course, means they're probably behind all this." Karma gracefully jumped on to the horse. "I didn't intend to get wrapped up in any of this- perhaps it's just a coincidence that all this happened when I came here hunting. Thing is..."
Karma sighed.
"I don't believe in coincidences. The way I see it, we can either follow those mortals and see if they lead us to the real pharaoh, or we can go in search of the leader of the Shadowdancers for some answers. Of course," Karma gestured behind her, "you're carrying two extra horses, so it would seem you've got plans of your own."

Fynn led the group onward towards the castle, pausing now and again to think about the days events. The thought occured to him that the acclaimed 'godess' could be a spy and maybe even not a goddess at all. Perhaps she had come in search of information and left after getting what she wanted. If that was the case, then they would face eachother in battle, which was an honor in itself.

They reached the island, and finally, the palace. Foxglove cursed under her breath when she found that the doors were locked.
"I can't believe the pharoah only gave a set of keys to his own daughter, when he was meant to give a set to the rest of us. Damn first Daughter....Show off....bitch...whore..." she muttered angrily, forgetting that Fynn probably had a set of keys.
Wolfram edged away, Foxglove was working herself into a rage.
Foxglove drew her scimitar and slashed at some papyrus reeds.
"...It's her way of venting..." Wolfram whispered to Fynn.

Fynn pulled out a set of keys, dangling them in her face. "This what you're so bent out of shape about? Here, i'll let you unlock the door. Should put a smile on your face again." He smiled slyly, thinking it was most amusing to be teasing her so. It wasn't every day a militant got to pull a practical joke on a daughter of the Nile. He looked back at Wolfram. "This is entertaining" he said, clapping the scribe on the shoulder.

"I'm hoping to go after the fake pharoah -- I lost track of him in the chaos that the first attack made." Minnow said, sighing. "And I'll need help. I'm willing to bet that the real Pharoah is in a heap on the ground."
Rearing the horse and pointing it towards the island, she brought the other two in tow.
"And honour to meet a deity like yourself." she said before heading off towards the palace.

Foxglove sheathed her scimitar and scowled at the keys. She took them and unlocked the door then passed them back to Fynn. Wolfram snickered.
"Oh it is" Wolfram replied "Something new everyday"
Foxglove heard this and glowered at him, Wolfram just grinned.

Fynn smiled as he followed them in, making sure to bar the door behind him. "Throne room?" he asked, assuming that's where they were headed.

"Thank you," Karma said, nodding. "You're not too bad at the craft. So, if you want the fake pharaoh, then I guess we're going after the Shadowdancers."
Karma snorted, apparently at a joke she had made in her own head. "Fake pharaohs, threats to the Gods...what will those Shads think of next?"

"Yeah" Foxglove replied, sounding tense.
Wolfram was staring in awe at his surroundings as he walked along. There were beautiful basalt statues of all the Gods and hieroglyphs were etched in gold on the fine limestone walls.

Being all business, Fynn started walking at a brisk pace, exoecting them to keep up. He was humorless now, with a foreboding that something wasn't quite right in there. They followed behind him.
"This is it. Foxglove, unlock the door... quickly."
It seemed as if any positivity in Fynn's mood had evaporated. He drew his sword, ready for anything that came out at them. He had fire in his eyes.

Reaching the palace, Minnow dismounted and tied the horses outside.
"I trust you can follow." the jackal said before running to one of the low walls and running up for a few steps. Grabbing the top, she hauled herself up before jumpign onto a creeping vine and pulling her light frame up towards the throne room's high windows.
Reaching the top, Minnow looked down at the scene below, where three people were present. Two were up and speaking with eachother, one of them the pharoah who had appeared in the festival, while the other lay in a heap near the throne. At that distance, Minnow couldn't hear their hushed tones or know who was the fake, so she simply slid into one of the dark corners of the rafters and crouched silently, hiding in the shadows.

Karma was right beside her, folded into the darkness.
She jerked her head towards the scene before them: You want to take a better look?
She made eye contact with Minnow, and then took her by the arm. Then suddenly- and quietly- they were enveloped in a cloud of smoke, black as the shadows.
When the smoke cleared, they were still in the shadows- but now it was the shadow between the throne and the wall. From their new position, they could hear the conspirators much more clearly...

"...be dead!"
"We did what was nessecary." the mysterious clocked figure said, crossing his arms in front of the imposter. "The city is next to ours."
"Right. And where will I be by the time you're in your seat of power?"
"You'll be on the way to hell."
"Wh-"
Before the faker could speak, the figure had drawn a long, thin blade and run him through. Staying in the shadows, Minnow's eyes narrowed as she set her hand on the sword at her side. With no-one distracting the person, she could be detected with a careful search.