Rick Riordan - The Serpent’s Shadow

S A D I E

SADIE KANE HERE.

If youre listening to this, congratulations! You survived Doomsday.

Id like to apologize straightaway for any inconvenience the end of the world may have caused you. The earthquakes, rebellions, riots, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, and of course the giant snake who swallowed the sunIm afraid most of that was our fault. Carter and I decided we should at least explain how it happened.

This will probably be our last recording. By the time youve heard our story, the reason for that will be obvious.

Our problems started in Dallas, when the fire-breathing sheep destroyed the King Tut exhibit.

That night the Texas magicians were hosting a party in the sculpture garden across the street from the Dallas Museum of Art. The men wore tuxedos and cowboy boots. The women wore evening dresses and hairdos like explosions of candy floss.

(Carter says its called cotton candy in America. I dont care. I was raised in London, so youll just have to keep up and learn the proper way of saying things.)

A band played old-timey country music on the pavilion. Strings of fairy lights glimmered in the trees. Magicians did occasionally pop out of secret doors in the sculptures or summon sparks of fire to burn away pesky mosquitoes, but otherwise it seemed like quite a normal party.

The leader of the Fifty-first Nome, JD Grissom, was chatting with his guests and enjoying a plate of beef tacos when we pulled him away for an emergency meeting. I felt bad about that, but there wasnt much choice, considering the danger he was in.

An attack? He frowned. The Tut exhibit has been open for a month now. If Apophis was going to strike, wouldnt he have done it already?

JD was tall and stout, with a rugged, weathered face, feathery red hair, and hands as rough as bark. He looked about forty, but its hard to tell with magicians. He might have been four hundred. He wore a black suit with a bolo tie and a large silver Lone Star belt buckle, like a Wild West marshal.

Lets talk on the way, Carter said. He started leading us toward the opposite side of the garden.

I must admit my brother acted remarkably confident.

He was still a monumental dork, of course. His nappy brown hair had a chunk missing on the left side where his griffin had given him a love bite, and you could tell from the nicks on his face that he hadnt quite mastered the art of shaving. But since his fifteenth birthday hed shot up in height and put on muscle from hours of combat training. He looked poised and mature in his black linen clothes, especially with that khopesh sword at his side. I could almost imagine him as a leader of men without laughing hysterically.

[Why are you glaring at me, Carter? That was quite a generous description.]

Carter maneuvered around the buffet table, grabbing a handful of tortilla chips. Apophis has a pattern, he told JD. The other attacks all happened on the night of the new moon, when darkness is greatest. Believe me, hell hit your museum tonight. And hell hit it hard.

JD Grissom squeezed around a cluster of magicians drinking champagne. These other attacks he said. You mean Chicago and Mexico City?

And Toronto, Carter said. Anda few others.

I knew he didnt want to say more. The attacks wed witnessed over the summer had left us both with nightmares.

True, full-out Armageddon hadnt come yet. It had been six months since the Chaos snake Apophis had escaped from his Underworld prison, but he still hadnt launched a large-scale invasion of the mortal world as wed expected. For some reason, the serpent was biding his time, settling for smaller attacks on nomes that seemed secure and happy.

Like this one, I thought.

As we passed the pavilion, the band finished their song. A pretty blond woman with a fiddle waved her bow at JD.

Come on, sweetie! she called. We need you on steel guitar!

He forced a smile. Soon, hon. Ill be back.

We walked on. JD turned to us. My wife, Anne.

Is she also a magician? I asked.

He nodded, his expression turning dark. These attacks. Why are you so sure Apophis will strike here?

Carters mouth was full of tortilla chips, so his response was, Mhm-hmm.

Hes after a certain artifact, I translated. Hes already destroyed five copies of it. The last one in existence happens to be in your Tut exhibit.

Which artifact? JD asked.

I hesitated. Before coming to Dallas, wed cast all sorts of shielding spells and loaded up on protective amulets to prevent magical eavesdropping, but I was still nervous about speaking our plans aloud.

Better we show you. I stepped around a fountain, where two young magicians were tracing glowing I Love You messages on the paving stones with their wands. Weve brought our own crack team to help. Theyre waiting at the museum. If youll let us examine the artifact, possibly take it with us for safekeeping

Take it with you? JD scowled. The exhibit is heavily guarded. I have my best magicians surrounding it night and day. You think you can do better at Brooklyn House?