It was the first week of the Shemu season.
The peasants started the harvest that day. That year, the great river provided his people with an aboundance of food. All granaries would be full and all people would be happy, for they had to fear famine no more. In some weeks, a grand festival would be held there, in the capital city of Avaris, and it will coincide with the Sed of our leader, Ramses The Great. The Gods will surely be proud and bless their Khemet sons. As the sun sets to the West, the marvelous temples shine with the touch of Re, the sunlight.
As the night falls, Seti returns home, to his riverside cottage, to his wife and children. Nefertari, his wife, is weaving linen on the flat roof, watching the sunset, while Khetti and Kya, the twins, played with Bast, the cat. As he enters, he places some incense in the house altar, dedicated to Ma'at, the Truth Goddess. It seemed to be the perfect day. The family had their evening meal, wild birds hunted by Seti himself on the river, with different fruits and wine. Then, as Nut embraced the sky and enticed everyone to sleep, something happened. All of them were asleep, lest for Seti and Bast. Both felt something strange happening. The altar, devoted to Ma'at, was shining in a blinding glow. The light was so strong Seti couldn't barely see at all. Then he heard a voice, calling him.
- Em-hotep, Seti! It is I, Ma'at, your goddess! I come to you with a quest.
- What trickery is this? What's happening? What dream is this?
- This is no dream, Seti. I appear to you with a sacred task for you to fulfill. Hear me and do what I demand you, you are destined to this. Although these seem to be very prosperous days, a greater danger is coming. Set, the god of vengeance, prepares a war between gods and mortals. His struggle with Osiris and Horus still goes on, and it's gaining epic proportions. All of the World balance is in danger. It is on my hand to prevent it, so that justice can prevail. But sometimes a god is so powerful that can be rendered useless. This is where you fit in.You were born under my command, to help me in situations like this one. You are no regular mortal, Seti. If you think backwards, you always had everything. I gave you that everything. Now it's time for you to return the favor and help me.
- But... what can an humble servant like me do to help a goddess like You? Indeed, all my life I felt honored and gifted by You, thus my devotion, but how can I have the power to stand between the gods?
- You will find out, in time. Your quest is to find Set, for now. You know where to find him.
- I don't! How can I find a god?! And if I find him, what will I do?!
- You will know it all in time. I must leave you now. I appreciate your help and know that you will be rewarded when it's all over.
- But..
Seti couldn't finish his phrase, as the goddess disappeared in a wink. The altar stopped glowing, and Seti was still astonished with what happened.
- How will I find Set? I don't know how can I make it happen...
Seti notices the Shu Feather laying in front of the altar.
- This wasn't a dream... She was really here! But I still have to think of how to find Set... tomorrow I'll go to the temple, perhaps a priest can help me.
Nefertari and his children were deeply asleep. He laid down, kissed his wife forehead and went to sleep.
The morning after, he went to the temple, in the capital city of Avaris. There he went to the master priest and told him about the vision of Ma'at and the sacred quest to find Set.
- You can't really just find a god, you know? Either they will appear to you, or you can summon them in one of their forms.
- What do you mean, oh grand priest?
- Set can assume many forms in this world. He's mostly represented by the black dog, the bestial hippopotamus or the great crocodile, among other forms. I'll ask my scribes for a papyrus containing the spell to call forth the god, but beware not to upset Him, or else you will suffer tragic consequences!
- Thank you noble priest. I shall go to the river and try to summon the god. Ankh wedja seneb!
- Ankh wedja seneb, Seti.
Seti passed through the temple's library, where he met the scribe. After getting the papyrus, he left towards the river. Wandering through the city, he got stopped by the Royal Guard and entwined in the mob.
- Halt! You can't pass here. Our almighty Pharaoh, Ramses the Great, will be passing in this avenue in a moment. You have to wait.
Ramses was going down the boulevard with all his court. Musicians, dancers, Royal Guards, slaves bearing statues of the Pharaoh and the gods, priests, all in an endless parade. The Pharaoh chariot, hauled by two beautiful black horses, was entirely made of gold, finely inscripted some protection prayers in hieroglyphs. His vests were made of the finest white linen, ornate with golden threads. His nemes, adorned with the double crown of the Serpent and the Vulture, was dyed in blue and yellow, symbol of the sun and the water. Closing the parade were thousands of war prisoners, captured during the Retenu campaigns against the Hitites, preceded by the treasures and war trophies. The might of the Egyptian nation was clearly shown, no one would stand above us.
After the parade passed by, the Royal Guard let the mob go to their lives again. Seti continued on his way down to the river. By the outskirts of the city, he could still see the pharaoh parade moving towards the palace.
The river was calm, flowing towards the great sea. Some fishermen passed by on their boats made of reeds. As Seti reached the riverbank, he could watch the birds flying and the luxurious vegetation flourishing nearby. He sat down by the shaduff, facing the horizon, and unwrapping the papyrus, which had been offered by the temple's scribe. Then he started summoning the dark god:
- Come oh glorious one; I have placed thee before me; that thou mayest come to me, and the deeds of thy ka's that thou mayest assume thy royal dignity, glorious in thy magic, mighty in thy strength. Come forth oh mighty one; show yourself before this humble mortal!
The sky then started to turn red. Dark clouds covered the sunlight and the river, once flowing calmly, now was agitated and nervous. A great crocodile rose from the waters and moved towards Seti. Its eyes were glowing in a red, demoniac bright. Seti was not afraid though. He trusted his goddess Ma'at and her Feather would protect him.
- I am Seti, sent from the goddess Ma'at! I demand you show yourself to me!
The great crocodile kept moving towards Seti and furious winds stormed the area.
- I do not fear you oh merciless one! I am blessed by the justice of Ma'at, you shall not harm me!
- Why are you summoning me, you pesky mortal?
The crocodile spoke in a hissing, thunderous sound, echoing in Seti's ears.
- I was sent by the great goddess Ma'at to find you. She sent me on this quest to help her retain the balance of the world. What do you want me to do for you oh dark one?
- You naive mortal... there is nothing you can do to prevent your fate to come true! This is not your war, mortal. Do not mess with divine affairs. Ma'at was a fool to send you to me, she should have known how useless you are!
Then, the spirit of Set, embowed by the crocodile body, attacked Seti and swallowed him whole. Screaming in agony, there was nothing Seti could do. He would just trust his beloved goddess to save him. Then he remembered the Shu Feather he was carrying. A feather might not be of much help against a 15 foot long crocodile, but he believed in his goddess and her magic. As he was swallowed, he stuck the Shu inside the crocodile, reaching for his heart.
- Be cast aside crocodile, spawn of Set! Be gone!
As the feather touched the crocodile's heart, the mighty beast spat out Seti and got blown away in a fiery turmoil. The winds kept raging on and the waters got even more tumultuous, as the irate god was angry. As the windstorm moved the sand, it started pilling up on a mound, shaping on a living image of the god. Seti was laying on the ground in front of the sand mound, terrified by what was happening.
- No mortal can ever threaten a god! You will regret this in the burning pits of Duat and this time your goddess will not save you!
Then, as the sand poured down on Seti, a wave, coming from the raging river, swept down all the sand. The water itself formed a living image of Ma'at.
- Step away oh dark one! This is no ordinary mortal and shall not die by thy hand! He his my chosen one and he shall live. No god has the right to kill a man without cause!
- It is you who I should kill! Why are your bringing our struggle to the mortal plane? There's nothing they can do about godly issues! And he is NOT your chosen one! You know it better than I do, wretched goddess!
- How dare you, demon?!
- How dare I?! How dare YOU! Gods should NEVER interfere in mortal affairs! Your divinity should not be wasted on human issues, you whore!
- Watch your tone with me! You will regret every single word you're saying!
Ma'at then stroke Set with a thunderbolt. Set fought back, and the two gods kept struggling against each other, ignoring the mortal beholding them. Seti watched the two gods fighting each other, and when the divine images clashed, he just ran through the riverbank to take cover. He couldn't believe he was the actual reason for a fight between the gods. Tired from running, he stopped in a reed marsh to recover his breath. Suddenly, an enormous hippopotamus rose up from the waters and moved ferociously towards Seti.
- You will not escape me, mortal! You'll pay for what you've done!
And then Seti was devoured by the hippo. No magical feather to save him this time, and no goddess to help him either. This would be his ending. But his errand was far from over...
