the_kane_chronicles__book_one__the_red_pyramid

Rooster Foot took a nervous step back. I couldn’t blame him.
“We will build my temple here,” the fiery man said, as if nothing had happened. “This
mountain shall serve as my place of worship. When it is complete, I will summon the
greatest storm ever known. I will cleanse everything. Everything.”
“Yes, my lord,” Rooster Foot agreed quickly. “And, ah, if I may suggest, my lord, to
increase your power…” The creature bowed and scraped and moved forward, as if he
wanted to whisper in the fiery man’s ear.
Just when I thought Rooster Foot was going to become fried chicken for sure, he said
something to the fiery dude that I couldn’t make out, and the fiery dude burned brighter.
“Excellent! If you can do this, you will be rewarded. If not…”
“I understand, my lord.”
“Go then,” the fiery man said. “Unleash our forces. Start with the longnecks. That should
soften them up. Collect the younglings and bring them to me. I want them alive, before
they have time to learn their powers. Do not fail me.”
“No, lord.”
“Phoenix,” the fiery man mused. “I like that very much.” He swept his hand across the
horizon, as if he were imagining the city in flames. “Soon I will rise from your ashes. It
will be a lovely birthday present.”
I woke with my heart pounding, back in my own body. I felt hot, as if the fiery guy were
starting to burn me. Then I realized that there was a cat on my chest.
Muffin stared at me, her eyes half closed. “Mrow.”
“How did you get in?” I muttered.
I sat up, and for a second I wasn’t sure where I was. Some hotel in another city? I almost
called for my dad…and then I remembered.
Yesterday. The museum. The sarcophagus.
It all crashed down on me so hard I could barely breathe.
Stop, I told myself. You don’t have time for grief. And this is going to sound weird, but
the voice in my head almost sounded like a different person—older, stronger. Either that
was a good sign, or I was going crazy.
Remember what you saw, the voice said. He’s after you. You have to be ready.
I shivered. I wanted to believe I’d just had a bad dream, but I knew better. I’d been
through too much in the last day to doubt what I’d seen. Somehow, I’d actually left my
body while I slept. I’d been to Phoenix—thousands of miles away. The fiery dude was
there. I hadn’t understood much of what he’d said, but he’d talked about sending his
forces to capture the younglings. Gee, wonder who that could be?
Muffin jumped off the bed and sniffed at the ivory headrest, looking up at me as if she
were trying to tell me something.
“You can have it,” I told her. “It’s uncomfortable.”