Chaos War (2024)

The Chaos War was a war that was waged between the forces of Ma'at and Chaos with Chaos led by Apophis.

History[]

Beginning[]

A Vision and Desperate Actions[]

Being a diviner, Ruby Kane had a vision of Chaos rising and the return of Apophis. Ruby shared her visions with Chief Lector Iskandar and her husband Julius Kane, however, Iskandar refused to do anything about it though it shook his beliefs. While the Path of the Gods was forbidden, Ruby realized that they needed the gods if they had any hope of stopping the future she foresaw from coming to pass. Ruby contacted the goddess Isis for advice and though Isis could barely communicate with her, she told her that the gods must be released if they are to stop the rising of Apophis. For their first task, Julius and Ruby decided to release Bast who was locked in eternal battle with Apophis and was losing. They realized that they needed to give Bast time to heal from her injuries so that she would be ready to fight when the time came. Using Cleopatra's Needle, Ruby and Julius opened a gateway to Apophis' prison and offered Bast a way out. Bast took it, but the effort caused more energy to be released than expected and Ruby threw up a shield to protect her husband. Though both Bast and Isis offered her extra power, Ruby knew she would be destroyed if she tried so she relied on her own power. Ruby was able to seal the gate and Apophis once again, but used up all her life force in doing so and burned up. Julius made a deal with Bast to allow her to remain on Earth in exchange for her protecting his daughter and she took on the form of the cat Muffin. The House of Life, outraged by Julius and Ruby's actions, exiled Julius and separated his children so that they wouldn't accidentally trigger each other's powers. They also banned Amos Kane from seeing his family again.

Despite the condemnation of the House of Life, Julius continued his work to release the gods in secret, searching all over the world for an artifact powerful enough to release Osiris. The next stage of his plan was to take on Osiris' spirit and sacrifice himself so that Osiris could return to his place in the Duat and restore order to the Underworld, a first step in restoring Ma'at. Six years after Ruby's death, Julius came upon the idea of using the Rosetta Stone to release Osiris and on Christmas Eve, with his children Carter and Sadie accompanying him, Julius traveled to the British Museum and proceeded to use the Rosetta Stone to summon Osiris. Carter and Sadie ended up drawn to Julius' actions and witnessed the Rosetta Stone explode. Like Julius had hoped, he was able to release Osiris who took him as a host, but Set, Horus, Isis, and Nephthys were released as well. Unused to the power he now had, Julius was easily overpowered by Set who took him and Osiris captive in a sarcophagus similar to the one he'd once imprisoned Osiris in. Set attacked Carter and Sadie, but they had been taken as hosts by Horus and Isis who protected them and he fled when Michel Desjardins and Zia Rashid arrived. Unknown to everyone, Nephthys took Zia as a host while Set took Amos Kane as his host in secret. Iskandar found out about Zia being used as a host and entombed her at her old village for her protection, replacing her with a shabti. The release of the five gods also started a chain reaction that resulted in all the other gods being released within a few days.

Manipulation of Set[]

Having returned, Set set out to gain ultimate power by destroying the North American continent using the Red Pyramid and the power of Osiris to create the greatest storm ever which would wipe all life from the continent. He was aided in this by demons and monsters led by his lieutenant Face of Horror. Unknown to Set, Apophis possessed Face of Horror and was using him to manipulate Set so that he could use the Chaos energy generated by the destruction of North America to escape from his prison. Posing as Amos Kane, Set collected Carter and Sadie from their grandparents house and informed them of their being magicians. After Carter had a vision of Set's plans, Set made Amos leave Brooklyn House, sabotaging the defenses on the way out and go to him, supposedly to find out information so he'd leave the Kanes defenseless. He then sent serpopards to attack, but when Sadie called on "Muffin" to help, she was able to turn into Bast and destroy the monsters. Bast then led them away from the house as it was destroyed. The group came under attack by carriers and then Serqet resulting in the Kanes getting separated from Bast who they believed dead. Zia rescued them from Serqet and they escaped through a portal to the First Nome where Iskandar stopped Desjardins from killing them and ordered them trained. However, while Zia trained them in Luxor, Iskandar died and Desjardins sent magicians after them, forcing them to go on the run again. They escaped to Paris where they reunited with Bast who led them to the Book of Overcoming Set, a spellbook that could give them a way to stop Set who they didn't realize wasn't the true enemy. Returning to North America, they began a trek across the continent towards Phoenix, Arizona where the Red Pyramid was. With help from Thoth, they learned that they needed a Feather of Truth and Set's secret name to use the Book, so they traveled into the Duat where Sadie was able to convince Anubis to give her the Feather. Continuing their journey from New Orleans, they tried to contact Nephthys from the Rio Grande only to be attacked by Sobek resulting in Bast sacrificing herself to send him back to the Duat. They were then reunited with Amos who took them to Las Cruces following messages from Zia and Geb. In Las Cruces, they had to battle Desjardins and Sekhmet, defeating the latter but getting separated from Amos again. Continuing their journey with Zia joining them, they meet with Amos on the road and travel to Camelback Mountain where the Red Pyramid is. Assaulting it, Set reveals himself from Amos and that it is a trap so that he can use the power of Horus and Isis to fuel his storm as well. Carter merges with Horus, becoming the Eye of Horus and battles Set. Sadie tries to free Julius from his coffin, only to get a vision of everything that their parents did that led to this moment, ending with Julius himself appearing before her to tell her to destroy the Pyramid even though it will mean his death. Zia, getting the information from Nephthys, also gives Sadie Set's secret name, the last ingredient she needs for the spell. Sadie becomes the Eye of Isis and teleports herself, Carter, Set, the Pyramid, his army and the magicians that are fighting it to Washington, DC, cutting Set and the Pyramid off from their source of power, the desert and stopping his plan at the last second. As a re-energized Carter holds off Set, Sadie begins the spell with her mother warning her to look out for her true enemy. The spell destroys Set's army and the Red Pyramid, but before she can finish it and banish Set, she realizes that Apophis is in the sky, angry because the power he needed to escape his prison has dissipated. Sadie realizes Apophis is the true enemy, not Set and instead of finishing the spell, uses the Feather of Truth to show Carter and Set Apophis in the sky. The spell is broken and Face of Horror attacks Sadie before being mortally wounded by Carter's khopesh. With his last breath, Face of Horror reveals he is possessed by Apophis and Carter and Sadie realize that Apophis was using him to manipulate Set into releasing him.

The Kanes convey the truth to Set who at first thinks it was a trick, but they convince him of the truth. Rather than banishing Set, they decide to make a deal with him: in exchange for letting him leave, he will have a truce with them until the defeat of Apophis and will work with the gods as in the past he was Ra's strongest lieutenant and an enemy of Apophis. Set agrees and swears on his secret name and Nut's starry elbows. Sadie releases him and he returns to the Duat. Desjardins confronts them, angry that they didn't banish Set and believing that they are being corrupted by Horus and Isis. Carter and Sadie willingly let the gods go, sending them back to the Duat as they want to learn how to use magic as magicians before they host gods again. They inform Desjardins that they will be learning the Path of the Gods and teaching it to others now and ask him to stand with them. Desjardins refuses, but decides that there has been enough destruction for one day and leaves with a warning about not following the Path of the Gods. Carter and Sadie find Zia and Amos still alive as Zia shielded them with a protection circle, but Amos is in bad shape mentally from Set's possession and Zia used the last of her power to shield them and dies. However, her "death" reveals her nature as a shabti and Carter decides to search for the real Zia who will have the shabti's memories. Carter and Sadie quickly flee the scene with Amos and return to the ruins of Brooklyn House, the only safe place they can think of. Shortly thereafter, they are brought to the Duat by Anubis who shows them that their father is now the permanent host of Osiris and they are restoring the Hall of Judgment. Julius explains his actions and reveals that he now has the ghost of his wife by his side in his endeavors. The Kanes then visit the throne room of the gods where Horus, after Carter rejects his offer to become his host again, becomes Pharaoh of the gods and promises the Kanes a gift for their actions. The next morning, they find Brooklyn House restored and Bast resurrected. They then set out to start teaching the Path of the Gods to other young people who are the blood of the pharaohs.

Bringing Back Ra and Zia[]

In the three months that follow the destruction of the Red Pyramid, Carter and Sadie learn the Path of the Gods while teaching it to other young people who are the blood of the pharaohs. During this time, Carter becomes obsessed with finding the real Zia as he has fallen in love with her and believes she will have a major role to play. Carter and Sadie decide that the best chance to stop Apophis when he does rise is to bring back Ra, the old king of the gods and Apophis' eternal enemy. Eventually, Horus tells Carter to look in the Brooklyn Museum for the Book of Ra, the one thing that can be used to bring back Ra. With the help of Walt Stone and Jaz, Carter and Sadie raid the Museum and find the Book, but accidentally unleash a griffin as well as seven bau known as the Seven Arrows of Sekhmet. In the battle that follows, Jaz banishes the bau, but falls into a coma as a result. Carter is also able to gain control over the griffin who he names Freak. The group learns that they actually only have one-third of the Book and still need to find the other two pieces.

During an attack in London by Nekhbet and Babi, Sadie learns from Anubis that the second part of the Book is in St. Petersburg, Russia in the Eighteenth Nome which is run by Vladimir Menshikov who Desjardins has given permission to hunt them down. With the help of Bes, the attack is thwarted and he joins them in their efforts to get the Book. Bes takes Sadie and Carter to St. Petersburg where they are able to retrieve the Book, but find Menshikov summoning Set so he can learn the binding on Apophis' prison and the defenses of Brooklyn House, revealing that he is working for Apophis. Set reveals their presence, forcing them to release him to hold off Menshikov who releases a tjesu heru on the Kanes. Sadie manages to destroy it, but not before Carter is poisoned. With the help of Set, she gets him back to Bes and Set reveals that the third portion of the Book of Ra is in the Bahariya Oasis in exchange for Sadie giving him back his secret name. He also tells Sadie to tell Carter that Zia's village is called Al-Hamra Makran. Carter, Sadie and Bes escape to Alexandria where Sadie is able to use Carter's secret name to cure him after having a vision of Jaz's ren. Realizing that Zia is hidden in her village, Carter sets out with Bes to find her while Sadie sets out with Walt to Bahariya to find the third portion of the Book of Ra.

Traveling to Bahariya, Sadie and Walt find an entrance to the tombs with the help of Bast and then locate the most likely location of the Book with the help of the ghost of Mad Claude. However, they are unable to figure out how to open the chamber where they believe the Book is and their reluctance to use the netjeri blade Anubis gave Sadie to free his soul angers Mad Claude. Sadie and Walt are eventually able to open the door with sympathetic magic and retrieve the Book, however, Mad Claude leads an army of mummies to attack them. Luckily, in their efforts to open the door, they summoned Ptah who uses an army of rats to destroy the mummies and save them. Ptah tells then opens a portal to their friends and sends them on their way after telling them to use the Great Pyramid to open a portal later.

At the same time that Sadie and Walt work on getting the third section of the Book of Ra, Carter and Bes locate Zia's village. After a brief battle with water demons, they locate Zia's tomb and wake her. Zia's body rejects Nephthys' spirit so they release it into the Nile River and before they can calm Zia, come under attack by Desjardins and Menshikov who imprison Bes. Carter battles Menshikov who starts to turn him into a snake, but Ptah's portal links Sadie and Walt to Bes, freeing him. Bes then blasts away Menshikov and Desjardins, saving Carter. The group is eventually able to convince Zia of the truth and as they have learned of an impending attack on Brooklyn House, she offers to go there to help out while Carter and Sadie enter the Duat to restore Ra. It is agreed to and at sundown, Carter and Sadie enter the Duat to begin their attempt to bring Ra back.

Arriving at the edge of the River of the Night, they find Nekhbet, Babi and Ra's wrecked sun boat. Carter forces the gods to pledge their allegiance to Ra once he returns and sends them away before they board the boat. Traveling down Ra's old path on the River of Night, they encounter Khnum and use the Book of Ra to restore his ren to him and complete the first part of reviving Ra. Traveling through the Lake of Fire repairs the sun boat and they find Bes with Tawaret at the House of Rest. There they find Ra's main self and wake him, but he proves to be old and senile. Unfortunately, they take too long and Menshikov, who is following them, gets ahead of them and they are too late to pass through the gate of the Eighth House of the Night. In order to get more time, they play senet with Khonsu, the moon god. While they succeed in getting enough time to get past the gates of the Eighth House, it results in Bes losing his ren and basically becoming mindless.

Continuing the journey, the Kanes and Ra end up in a cavern over Apophis' prison where Menshikov and demons are working to free him. Menshikov reveals that Ra's last aspect, Khepri acts as the seal on Apophis' prison and summoning him will release Apophis. Desjardins arrives, but instead helps the Kanes, holding off Menshikov while Sadie performs the spell. While they get the last Khepri beetle, Apophis is released as Menshikov warned and takes him as a host. Apophis and Desjardins battle while Carter and Sadie try to help to no avail. Finally, Desjardins uses all of his life force to cast an execration on Apophis. The execration banishes Apophis for a few weeks to a month and Desjardins dies from the effort after making peace with the Kanes. However, getting the Khepri beetle doesn't restore Ra's sanity and the whole thing seems to have been for nothing.

Returning to the mortal world, they find Brooklyn House under attack by Menshikov's forces. The appearance of Ra revitalizes the defenders and even awakens Jaz. Menshikov's forces, led by Sarah Jacobi and Kwai are defeated. However, they flee instead of surrendering and Amos Kane becomes the new Chief Lector. Ra returns to being the Pharaoh of the gods which draws Carter and Sadie the ire of Horus and Isis due to his senile state. Worse, Apophis is now free of his prison and they know he will return soon.

All Out War[]

Rebellion[]

Following the Battle of Brooklyn House, Sarah Jacobi and Kwai formed a rebellion against the Kanes' leadership of the House of Life. The rebels claim that the Kanes have betrayed them and they should replace them as the leaders. The rebels, believing that Amos is possessed by Set, ignore him and send their threats to Carter instead. They begin recruiting other Nomes to their cause while using the Eighteenth Nome as their base. The rebels also begin destroying Nomes that don't stand with them and blame it on Apophis or the Kanes rather than taking credit for their own actions. Unknown to everyone else, Jacobi and Kwai become seduced by Apophis' promises of power and start working for him. Thus, the rebels work for Apophis though they are unaware of it. Many Nomes go over to their side and the House of Life is left weakened by the rebellion. Apophis' shadow, which grows in strength with Apophis, begins consuming spirits of the dead for power, including Ruby Kane and thousands of others.

Attempts to get a way to stop Apophis[]

Shortly after Desjardins sacrificed himself to banish him, Apophis returns and all out war occurs. The Kanes and their allies in the House of Life desperately search for a way to stop Apophis with their back-up plan being an execration that they hope will banish Apophis too deep into the Duat to ever return. However, they are aware it likely won't work and will kill them if they try it. Finally, Brooklyn House's librarian Cleo notices a pattern: copies of the Book of Overcoming Apophis written by a magician named Setne are being destroyed. They realize that Setne's copy of the book must hold some kind of vital clue and attempt to protect the last copy at the Dallas Museum which is luckily one of the Nomes still on their side. While at the Museum, Sadie is approached by a mysterious face in the wall who tells her they won't be able to save the scroll but to save a cabinet instead. The face also tells her that they need to save him from something by sunset two nights from then so he can help them before being pulled away. Apophis and his forces arrive and an all-out battle occurs. The magicians are unable to defeat the forces of Chaos so Sadie casts Ma'at nearly killing herself and banishing Apophis and his forces. However, Apophis' forces destroy the Fifty-First Nome and the scroll before they leave though the somber magicians manage to save the cabinet.

Returning to Brooklyn House, it is determined that the cabinet is King Tut's shadow box, something that keeps in his sheut or shadow. Carter, while talking to Horus, realizes that if they can target Apophis' shadow which is a part of his soul, they may be able to destroy him. However, they don't know how to do it and decide to talk to Thoth the next day for answers. That night, at a dance, Anubis shows up and tells Sadie about the true nature of the sheut: its a more than just a reflection of a person's soul, it acts as a back-up copy. If Osiris ever needs to reverse a judgment, he can use the sheut to restore the person's soul. If its destroyed, the person is as well. Anubis confirms that even gods have a sheut so its possible to use it against Apophis, but warns they may need more dangerous help than Thoth before being interrupted by Shu who drags him away while dropping off a rebel magician named Leonid. Leonid manages to convince Sadie to take him to the First Nome to take him to see Amos where he reveals that the rebels are working with Apophis and will attack in three days on the autumn equinox at the same time that Apophis will rise.

Carter and Walt visit Thoth for information on using Apophis' sheut to destroy him. After helping him fend off an attack by Apophis' demons led by a resurrected Face of Horror, Thoth confirms that a shadow execration can destroy a god forever. However, he is bound by the gods highest laws to never speak of such things with mortals and can't tell them where to find Apophis' sheut or how to use it against him. As a result, Thoth offers another solution: he explains that a long time before, he wrote a field guide of sorts he called theBook of Thoth. In it is information about all the gods including where to locate their sheuts. It was stolen centuries before by an evil magician named Setne who used it to formulate a number of spells including a shadow execration. Thoth suggests getting Setne to lead them to the Book of Thoth and using it to find and destroy Apophis' sheut. However, Setne is now a ghost and will go before the court of the Underworld and be destroyed before the next sunset if they don't act fast. Carter and Walt decide to plead Setne's case before Julius and Osiris at his trial and inform Sadie who realizes that Setne was the face in the wall she saw who directed her in the Dallas Museum.

A Trial[]

Arriving at the Hall of Judgment, the Kanes, Walt and Zia explain to Julius what they plan to do to defeat Apophis, but before they can tell him that they need Setne's help, his trial begins. As Julius sentences Setne to destruction, he reveals that the magicians need him and they explain their plan in full and Setne's part. Julius refuses to believe Setne will help or to release him into his children's custody, afraid that Setne will kill them at the first chance and escape again. Setne insists he has nothing to gain by Apophis winning and that its the only way to save the spirits of the dead including Ruby Kane who are being consumed by Apophis' sheut. Julius finally agrees to hear Setne out on the condition he holds the Feather of Truth at the time which will prevent him from lying. Setne confirms that he did create a shadow execration but never used it before he died, intending to use the spell to blackmail the gods into doing his bidding. He also tells them that he can lead them to the Book of Thoth which will have the necessary information to locate, capture and destroy Apophis' sheut and promises not to try to escape until he leads them to the Book and the sheut. As he isn't destroyed, he is proven to be telling the truth and Carter believes that together, the four of them can control Setne, especially since Zia knows how to use the Seven Ribbons of Hathor which Setne is bound with. However, Setne tells them that instead, Sadie and Walt should try to use Sadie's plan to restore Bes as a test of the magic and because Walt won't survive long enough to get Apophis' sheut with his curse. After they restore Bes, Sadie can rejoin them with the knowledge of how to correctly perform the spell while he, Carter and Zia go to get the Book of Thoth and the sheut. Julius reluctantly agrees and releases Setne into Carter and Zia's custody.

Bringing Back Bes[]

After learning from Anubis about the fact that a person's sheut can be used to restore their soul, Sadie gets the idea to use the same magic to restore Bes' ren after he sacrificed it so that they could revive Ra. Sadie decides to ask Tawaret about Bes' sheut, thinking she might know the location since she is the person closest to Bes. Tawaret tells her that last she knew it was in the ruins of Sais, but that was thousands of years ago so she doesn't know if its still there. After learning from Setne about how to actually get the sheut, Sadie contacts Isis for a portal to Sais, but instead she and Walt are dropped off downriver from Sais as Isis is apparently unhappy with Sadie. The two travel to Sais on Philip of Macedonia and arrive to find the goddess Neith who offers to help them find the sheut if they can avoid her hunting them until sunset. Splitting up and using their shen amulets to pull each other out of trouble, Sadie and Walt successfully avoid Neith until they are distracted when they stumble across Bes' sheut. Neith catches them so Sadie puts up a protection circle and stalls her with tales of hunting Jelly Babies until sunset. An enraged Neith attacks but is repelled by the circle so she fires arrows at them but they are disintegrated with a touch by Walt. Neith recognizes it as a power of Anubis and is angry, but backs down when Walt reminds her that she lost. Neith leaves placing a hunter's curse on Sadie that some day her Jelly Baby prey will trick her too.

After Neith leaves, Walt nearly collapses due to being near-death from his curse and Anubis appears to tell Walt that this is their last chance for something they have planned. Walt agrees to their plan, saying he can't leave Sadie which Anubis agrees to. The two deflect Sadie's questions and Walt begins the spell to capture Bes' sheut which is rapidly fading in the sunset. Walt realizes that Setne lied and that its actually very easy to capture a sheut and for the shadow execration its the same spell as a regular execration but it needs to be performed in front of Apophis to work. With the last of his strength, Walt binds the sheut to a shabti and tells Sadie to reverse an execration to use it to restore Bes. Sadie manages to reverse an execration spell and the sheut returns to Bes and restores his ren. Walt dies but is resurrected as the host of Anubis, what he and the god had been planning to Sadie's shock and horror. Walt and Anubis open a portal to the others for Sadie, telling her that Carter and Zia need her help and they are too weak to come but will send reinforcements if they can and will meet her at sunrise at the First Nome. Sadie leaves through the portal to meet with Carter and Zia, leaving Walt and Anubis behind.

Getting the Sheut[]

Carter, Zia and Setne take the Egyptian Queen up the Nile towards the ruins of Memphis to find the Book of Thoth. Along the way, Set visits Carter to reveal that he is not controlling Amos who had been summoning him for help, recognizing that Set is a necessary evil. Set explains that while he is evil, he doesn't like Chaos and will help them defeat Apophis. Before leaving, he warns Carter of an attack. Shortly afterwards, they come under attack by a demonic hippo and even with the power of Horus, Carter is no match for it. Carter reluctantly follows a suggestion by Setne and casts a spell that summons the Nile River god Hapi who defeats the hippo and offers his help in reaching Memphis as they will never reach it otherwise due to enemy forces. Carter reluctantly agrees and Hapi uses his Hapi Pills to transport Carter, Zia, Setne, and the Egyptian Queen to the serapeum, the temple of the Apis Bull.

At the serapeum, Carter leaves behind Bloodstained Blade to repair the Egyptian Queen while he, Zia and Setne enter to find the Book of Thoth. Setne has to disable a lot of traps, some of which he has Carter do and finally leads them to a statue of the Apis Bull which is hiding the Book. The Apis Bull wakes up and attacks Carter and Zia while Setne retrieves the Book. Carter is unable to stop the Bull, but Zia destroys it by channeling the power of Ra and blasting it with a comet of fire. Zia nearly combusts as a result before Carter douses her with water. Carrying Zia, Carter meets up with Setne who successfully retrieved the Book and they return to the Egyptian Queen to continue their journey.

Worried about Zia, Carter gives Setne permission to give Bloodstained Blade orders so they can continue their journey to Apophis' sheut. However, this is a mistake as Setne orders Bloodstained Blade to take them to the Land of Demons and to kill Carter and Zia so that he can escape. Carter battles Bloodstained Blade, but proves no match for him even when he unexpectedly gets Ra's crook and flail. Carter manages to steer the boat towards the shore of the Land of Demons but is nearly killed by the demon before Zia recovers and incinerates him. Carter binds Setne to keep him from escaping and he and Zia use her vulture amulet to escape the destruction of the boat. The two have a picnic on the shore during which Zia uses Nefertum's Balm to heal Carter's injuries and they realize that Ra wants Zia to be his host so that he can be reborn. After the picnic, they retrieve the Book of Thoth from Setne and learn that Apophis' sheut is in the Land of Demons, but Zia is unable to understand the map. With no choice, they release Setne who claims that he knew they could stop Bloodstained Blade and that ordering him to attack was the only way to get him to take them to the Land of Demons. Setne tells them that he can understand the map and can guide them through the Land and can even protect them from detection from demons. With no other choice, the two decide to trust him.

Setne is able to protect Carter and Zia by casting a glamour on them so that they appear to be demons. As promised, Setne is able to understand the map and guide them towards the Sea of Chaos where Apophis' sheut is. Normally the Chaos power would destroy them, but the power of the Khepri beetle Ra gave Zia protects them and they are able to safely reach the Sea where they find an obelisk which is where Apophis' sheut is. Zia is annoyed as it turns out they need a simple summoning spell to get the sheut and Setne said it would be difficult and they'd need his help. Setne points out that they did need his help to get that far and its difficult for him as he's a ghost and can't cast a lot of spells. Zia summons the sheut which sends out a distress signal to all nearby demons to help. After the spell is done, Setne betrays them and turns the glamour into a binding, revealing he plans to capture the sheut and use it to force Apophis to do his bidding or be destroyed. Before he can complete his plan, Sadie arrives through Anubis' portal, binds Setne and releases her brother and Zia. Using the knowledge Walt gave her, Sadie is able to bind the sheut to a shabti of Apophis, but as they leave, they find themselves facing an army of demons. However, a restored Bes arrives with Tawaret and an army of gods from the House of Rest to help. Tawaret and the other gods hold off the demons while Bes drives Carter, Sadie and Zia to safety. Unfortunately, Setne somehow manages to escape with the Book of Thoth.

As they don't need the Book for the spell, Carter and Sadie decide to worry about Setne another time and Bes transports them to the edge of the River of Night where they are picked up by Ra's sun boat on its nightly journey. Zia agrees to become Ra's host and he is finally reborn as a result. Ra leads the Kanes, Bes and Sobek who was protecting him back to the mortal world in Egypt to find it under attack by Apophis with Bast single-handedly holding him off. Ra explains that the other gods are divided and in chaos and won't go into battle without their Pharaoh. However, he reveals that that is Carter, not him as he only returned to battle Apophis. Ra sends Carter and Sadie to back-up their friends while he, Bes and Sobek join Bast in holding off Apophis. He also tells Carter to keep his crook and flail for the battle.

Battle in the Hall of Ages[]

Carter and Sadie merge with Horus and Isis once again and enter the tunnel under the Sphinx which has been blasted open to find their friends in the middle of a battle with the rebels who are blocking them from reaching the Hall of Ages where Sarah Jacobi, Kwai and their elite forces are battling Amos. With the help of Walt and Anubis, they quickly defeat the forces blocking them from reaching the Hall of Ages and enter to find Amos hosting Set and single-handedly fighting off Jacobi, Kwai and their forces. While Set wants to destroy them all, Amos is able to hold him back. When Jacobi notices the arrival of the initiates, she orders her men to begin their real attack and they subdue Amos with ropes. Jacobi holds Amos hostage and demands the surrender of the Kanes forces, offering everyone but Carter and Sadie amnesty if they give up, promising they will then fight Apophis together. Sadie tries to convince the magicians that Jacobi is working with Apophis, so Jacobi tries to kill her with a netjeri blade. However, Walt stops the attack and enraged, summons spirits from a crack in the earth to drag Jacobi to the Underworld. Carter and Sadie manage to convince the rebels of the truth and they turn on Kwai who hosts Apophis and attacks, knocking out all but Carter, Sadie, Amos and Walt. He then summons monsters to attack the defenseless magicians, but Walt summons his own creatures to protect them and jackals to attack Kwai. With the help of his jackals, Walt defeats Kwai who uses his life force to cast sahei, causing the Hall of Ages to start to collapse. To save the Hall and everyone in it, Sadie casts Ma'at, restoring order to the Hall and fixing the damage. With Jacobi and Kwai dead, the rebels switch sides and Amos offers Carter the chance to be Pharaoh and lead the magicians and gods into battle. Carter accepts and goes to summon the gods into battle while everyone else prepares to fight Apophis.

Final Confrontation[]

Carter sends his ba to the throne room of the gods where he summons the other gods. Dozens appear, though some can't come because they are busy with their own battles with Chaos such as Thoth. Among the gods that appear are Serqet, Khonsu, Nekhbet, Babi, Shu, Nut, Hapi and Neith, leaving Carter disappointed that more of the gods he is friendly with haven't appeared. Carter demands the gods follow him into battle against Apophis and proves his strength by temporarily blasting Serqet into a pile of burned scorpions. They gods agree and charge into battle against Apophis with the magicians joining them once they appear. However, Apophis splinters the Duat so the magicians and gods all have to face different manifestations of him, dividing the forces of Ma'at. None of the gods or magicians are able to cause any real harm to Apophis who destroys Nekhbet and shrugs off all the other attacks. Carter and Sadie make their way to Ra who is battling Apophis' real head with the help of Bes and Bast, but even Ra is unable to cause Apophis, who keeps growing stronger, lasting harm and he swallows Ra while he is distracted by the appearance of the Kanes. The loss of Ra causes the sun to go out, the temperature to rapidly drop and cracks to form in the world. Everyone but Bes and Bast lose hope as it seems Apophis has won with the swallowing of Ra, but Bes and Bast rally Carter and Sadie who decide to try the shadow execration despite Apophis' threats. Bast and Bes hold off Apophis as the Kanes perform the execration during which Carter realizes that a being's shadow stands for their legacy upon the world and if it is destroyed, they can't be alive so destroying the sheut will cut Apophis' connection to the mortal world and he will never be able to rise again, even if he survives the spell. Apophis defeats Bes and Bast, but they buy the Kanes enough time to complete the shadow execration. Apophis' shadow is destroyed which shatters his legacy upon the world and causes the wars, murders, turmoil and anarchy Apophis has caused since ancient times to lose its power over humanity. The destruction of the shadow also releases the thousands of spirits it had consumed, including Ruby Kane and they return to their rightful place in the afterlife. As the world returns to normal and Apophis starts to die, he warns the Kanes that they haven't just killed him but exiled the gods. He boasts that Ra will die within him, but Ra is able to escape Apophis' body, causing his head to explode. Apophis dies and turns into sand and steaming goo.

Aftermath[]

As Apophis warned, the gods are forced to retreat from the world for a time. Ra has Carter keep the crook and flail and abdicates the throne once more, allowing Horus to become the Pharaoh of the Gods again in his place. At the same time, Carter becomes the Pharaoh of the House of Life though he chooses to let Chief Lector Amos Kane run the day to day operations of the House of Life while Carter continues to run Brooklyn House. As he has taken Walt as a permanent host, Anubis is allowed to stay on Earth when the other gods leave and he and Walt start a relationship with Sadie while Carter starts a relationship with Zia. While Apophis is destroyed, Carter warns the magicians that Chaos is still out there and other threats are likely to emerge. Ruby Kane, who still has visions of the future, warns of rival gods and magic that they may have to deal with in the future. Following his escape, Setne goes on to use the Book of Thoth to start mixing Greek and Egyptian magic in an effort to become immortal before he is defeated and imprisoned by Carter, Sadie, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase with help from Nekhbet.