An unceremonised death, then. His ka would still make its way to Iaru, but perhaps not as swiftly as he'd have liked. There would be a time in limbo, before he at last found his way to the land of the dead.
He checked the ba meter on the lance. After Gibbs had used it, there was now just enough charge left for a single shot.
It would do.
The lance seemed to weigh as much as a bar of solid iron. David braced it beneath his chin and groped for the trigger.
There was light, golden light, and a spray of blood.
David lay on his back, feeling the blood cooling and congealing on his skin.
He could hear a babble of voices and knew they belonged to the souls of the dead in the Field of Reeds. The sound grew louder as his ka leapt free of his body.
Leapt free into the purpling sky.
Into the fading sun.
5. Ra
Dawn, as always, brings new hope.
As Ra steps from Mandet, the night-time Barque, to Mesektet, the Solar Barque, he feels a surge of reinvigoration. He stretches out his aching spine and works his stiff joints, and the cold of the night just gone by eases from his muscles, and the pains and woes of age recede. He does not feel young again — he never will — but neither does he feel so old any more.
Aker, at the helm of Mandet, bids him farewell. ''Till this evening, my lord,'' he says with a toss of his leonine mane of hair.
Ra smiles. ''Till then.''
The Solar Barque sets sail. The voyage of day begins again.
Aboard the gleaming golden boat are Ra's regular diurnal companions. Maat, at the helm, gives her father a curt nod. Her expression is seldom anything less than grave, although Ra knows his daughter to have a wry sense of humour, which she reveals in unguarded moments. Her doglike companion Ammut squats at her heels, tongue lolling.