The Hidden Mountain Pass

Another day had passed and darkness had once again set in. You had vivid memories of vampirized vegetables. You shiver. You hoped that you were far away from that creature.....actually you hoped that there weren't any vampires around at all. You looked up at the full moon hanging huge and bright against the starlit sky. Suddenly a figure leaped across it, the moon highlighting its figure in a silver glow.

He landed near you and looked at you without saying a word. He didn't move a muscle, you weren't even sure he was breathing. Vampires don't breath either, do they? And they can stand inhumanly still..... You step back from the silent cat creature.

"It's alright. He's actually a vampire hunter. I've heard his name is D. Not much of a name is it. Course he doesn't talk much either. I on the other hand love conversation! My name is Nile of the Feathered Night." She fluttered her soft white feathers. They looked very warm. That's when you realized that even though it was night, it was extremely warm for a mountain location. You mention something to that effect.

"That's because the drigus desert is not too far from here. But I'm sure that's not why you've come....." she purrs. She then turns her attention to the poor vampire hunter. Poor because her attention was a little more intimate than he was interested in. After a few attempts of slipping off to one side, he finally hissed at her. She seemed to take that to mean he was extremely interested. Finally he left completely.

"He doesn't know what he's missing......" Nile muses. "Come, I'll take you to meet the gods."

The gods? How could you resist?

As you tumbled through a kind of portal, she explains the history of her species.

"Eero Cats are a breed of Egyptian cats who live in the reaches of the Atlantian Deserts. We used to be a race of normal desert cats," ::sniff:: "until some of them discovered a shrine which gave them powers. Each of these Eero Cats drank from the fresh waters of this shrine and became the gods of the Eero Cats, each possessing the name of the god whom they represent. The rest of us have names based on something Egyptian by tradition, that is why I am called Nile of the Feathered Nights. But I could not be given the name of a goddess. D is different. He's a characterization. Don't ask, I don't know where he comes up with these things. He's just.....different. I like different." Purrrrr.

Suddenly, without warning, you just *popped* out the portal. It was still dark, only now you stood on sand and in front of you was a temple.

"No, this isn't the Atlantian temple I spoke of. This temple was built by SunBlind at our request to house our gods."

You stare at the dragon winged god. He had a dragon's mask upon his face, and unlike the other two Eero cats, his coat was grey, not brown. He had a very commanding presence. You weren't sure if you should grovel before him or not.

Nile made a bit of a curtsey and introduced you.

Quickly she explains that it was her idea for you to come. You bend down to whisper to her that perhaps you should leave, it didn't seem that humans were quite welcome here.

The other god was white, with a moon marking on one hind leg. He was almost not impressive at all. He also seemed younger than the other one.

At your puzzled look, Nile whispers the story to you while Thoth continues to chastize Khons.

"Khons was the god of the moon. There is a legend which tells of him playing the ancient game senet against Thoth, god of magic, and wagering a portion of his light. Thoth won, and because of losing some of his light, Khons cannot show his whole glory for the entire month, but must wax and wane. That's sort of left him under the control of Thoth, and Thoth continues to treat Khons as if he were a child...."

She stops when she notices the other two watching her.

And so the god of the moon stalked off insulted and went to sit on the steps of the temple and pouted. Thoth shook his head and muttered something.

Suddenly as flame like glow appeared at the dark entrance of the temple......

The Eero cat god that appeared wearing the mask of a falcon could only be the representative of a single deity. Ra.

Thoth growled.

He bowed with a flourish and a flash of flame. Khons winced at the light, then glaring at the sun god, slinked off to where he could lie in the silver light of his moon. Ra sighs.

Ra glares at the god of Magic and Wisdom who shuffles uncomfortably. Ra obviously dominated the other two, even though his voice did not dominate your mind quite in the same way as Thoth's did.

The next voice you heard was soft and musical. Feminine. And she spoke using her voice, not her mind

"Don't you see you're frightening the poor mortals with your pityful whinings. You'd think you were children rather than gods. Come here young one, I will not harm you. I am Hathor of the Guiding Music."

You were drawn to her, her soft voice captivated and soothed you. The chain along her tail tinkled sweetly every time she moved. You sat beside her and lay your head upon her soft lilac fur. She then began to sing. It was unlike anything you had ever heard before. Soon you felt as if you were flying, travelling through worlds you were just barely aware of, going places you had never imagined.

And then, as if waking from a dream, the gods along with Nile, shimmered and faded till you could see them no more.