Sita tightened her grip on the serpent staff.I must go to him.
“Here,” she said, transferring Sami’s arm to the man’s shoulder. “Follow the others and make sure he gets out of the valley safely.”
Neither Sami nor the man made protest as she left them, taking off toward the village center at a run.
She dashed through the side streets, alternating from one to the next to avoid the ushabti marching through them, searching for survivors. Sita had almost reached the main courtyard when she saw a small, familiar form huddled in an alleyway.
“Aya?” she said, touching the girl on the shoulder.
Aya gasped, then burst into tears of relief when she saw who it was. She reached out for Sita, who gathered the girl into her arms.
“You’re all right,” Sita said soothingly, rubbing her back. “What happened to Zev? Why aren’t you with him?”
Sniffing, Aya said, “Once he found Elyas, he told me to run home and join the other children. But the stone men came, so I’ve been hiding, and…and…” She became too overwhelmed to speak.
“Aya, youmustget out of the city. The others went—”
“No!” Aya shrieked. “I’m staying with you!”
“Aya…”
The girl clung to Sita’s arm. “Please.”
Sita sucked her teeth in exasperation. “Fine,” she said, not wishing to waste any more time arguing. She grabbed Aya’s hand. “Come on!”
They had only taken a few steps when Setnakht’s booming voice echoed through the alleyway. “Kill him, my ushabti,” the voice said. “Make a home for your blades in his flesh, so that his body may better remember its demise.”
Sita knew at once to whom the spell was directed.
Heart thumping, she ran as fast as she could, pulling Aya behind her.
Almost there, Sita thought.Almost—!
They arrived in the courtyard in time to see the first spear go through Karim’s body.
Sita gasped.
No!
She collapsed against a wall, shielding Aya’s face from the sight as the second spear struck its mark.
She felt the third and final spear in her own heart as it shattered to pieces.
She watched Karim fall to his knees and slump forward, the spear in his chest preventing him from tumbling to the ground.
“No…not again,” Sita moaned.I already lost you once, she thought, despair claiming her.Didn’t I order you not to die?
“Sabba?” Aya said.
The girl was peeking between Sita’s fingers at the bodies strewn across the ground.
“Sabba!”
Before Sita could stop her, Aya ran into the courtyard and dropped to her knees beside Elyas’s still form. In the courtyard, Shesmu and the ushabti continued to hunt and kill the men who remained. The girl’s movement attracted Shesmu’s attention, and he started toward her.
Sita rushed to Aya’s side. The girl had her arms around her grandfather’s body, her head on his chest as she sobbed, calling his name.
“I’m so sorry, little one,” Sita whispered, softly, gently, each word suffused with sorrow. “I’m sorry, but we must go. We can’t help him now…” Her words trailed off as Elyas’s bloody, trembling hand lifted from his chest to rest on the back of his granddaughter’s head.
