Soul Awakened by Jean Murray

abundance of courage and absolutely no fear. There was only one exception, Bakari’s tomb. Her sister could sense Bakari’s draw of living energy off her soul, similar to the way she fed Asar’s. It was the Underworld’s curse, forcing them to feed off the one thing they were commissioned to protect. Luckily, their mother had seen to it that the sisters had enough energy to feed their hunger. Asar told her that Bakari was feeding off her in the same way, but she never noticed.
    Tracing one of the glyphs on the sarcophagus, her mind started churning. Their mother had made them to serve a specific purpose. Lilly’s healing energy grew Asar a new soul from which to judge.
    If Kendra was destined to free Bakari from his prison, what made her different from Kit? Kit had the same demi-blood running through her veins. She started to pace the length of the sarcophagus. At the head of the tomb she directed her question to the sleeping god.
    “So what makes me different? You like auburn hair?” Kendra rolled her eyes at herself. “I’m sure it’s not because I’m short.” A snort sounded outside the cell. She glanced up to see Ari and the two guardians staring at her with unusual interest. “I’m glad you guys find this entertaining. A little help would be appreciated.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot in the silence that hung between them. “I thought so.”
    Ari cleared his throat. Kendra shifted her gaze to him. “You have something to say, Ari?”
    “No, Madame.”
    Narrowing her eyes at him, she pursed her lips. “Are you sure about that?” He clamped his lips tighter and shifted his eyes to the ground.
    Kendra turned to the sarcophagus. “I guess we start from the beginning then.” Lifting up the text gingerly in her hands, she opened the delicate parchment to the page she had marked. The black demotic text contained spells to inflict injury, manifest plagues, and more importantly, raise the dead. Bakari for all intents and purposes was in a death-like state, locked in darkness.
    She had the right spell, but no matter how she read the incantation the crypt remained sealed. “So what’s missing?”
    She resumed pacing. “Okay, let’s go back to what the Nehebkau mother stated, we are the key . Lilly unlocked the goddess Kepi’s tomb. My mother wanted to thwart Menthu’s plan before his army grew too strong. Unfortunately, the reven’s curse had to be released upon the earth. Kepi returns to take her revenge, stealing Asar’s key to the Underworld, ripping out his soul, and kidnaping his son.”
    She rested the text on the lid and pushed the sleeves of her robe up to her elbows. “But, Bakari is dangerous. He’s the only god with the power to kill other gods.” She fisted her hand and slapped it into her palm. “Kepi has to lock him away, but not kill him. So she uses the demotic spell to place him into hibernation, until she is ready to use him against the Pantheon.”
    She shifted her gaze to Ari. His intense black eyes watched her silently. She waved her finger. “There are no coincidences in the world of gods, though. Is there, Ari?”
    “No, Madame. If a god wills it, it is done.”
    “So there wouldn’t be any coincidence that I am expert in Egyptian Mythology? My mother, the Mother of the Gods, made me for this very task.”
    “Yes.”
    “Then why the heck can’t I open this thing?” She groaned and slapped her open palm on the sarcophagus. A loud clap bounced off the walls and vibrated through the tomb. She cringed. “Sorry.”
    Frustrated, she sat hard on a stack of books. She rested her elbows on her knees and perched her chin on her palms. “Kepi had to have read the incantation for four days, sealing his crypt with blood. Blood of a male ass to be specific.”
    She had carefully laid out the ingredients for the awakening spell on the floor in front of her. Reversal spells were tricky. They required ingredients that were in opposition to those used to