"We'll find them. They're magic; I suspect they'd be tied to us as we are to them and the gods, so it would make sense that they would know where to find us," he said, hoping he sounded confident. While he couldn't be sure of the validity of his theory, he was more convinced than not. Khnurn exited out the dusty byroad and peered around. Several buses lay silent along the side, uninhabited as of yet. There was a man snoring in a stall near them, but the sign next to him read "closed." Khnurn didn't see a list of hours, but the sun was still barely beginning to show itself--

Oh. The sun was out. Now that he had made note of its presence, he began to feel rejuvenated. The night had been tiresome -- perhaps because of their thousands'-year sleep -- but he felt as though his strength was returning much quicker now. With a new pep in his step, he hurried along the road while periodically checking for their guardians. A speck in the sky caught his eye, and he pointed it out to Zahra. "Could it be Tet?"

The falcon hadn't entered the city with them, but as it could fly, perhaps it had just been circling while they did their business. A raptor's sharp eyes would be helpful in locating the others, if it was indeed the creature. It was drawing nearer, and Khnurn didn't feel any alarm bells going off at its approach, though he only returned to complete comfort after the speck screeched and swooped towards them. Beneath the bird's shadow was the yellow street dog that had gone with them into the city. The creature shifted mid-stride into its original golden jackal form, and the grumpy sphinx materialized not far off.

"That's three of them. There was also the horse, the wolf- uh, Ta, and a couple others, I think," Khnurn noted. He should've paid better attention. A tingling, uncomfortable sensation crawled up his back, and Tet released an unwelcome trill, streaking past the two humans. Khnurn whipped back around to see what had gotten into the bird and grabbed Zahra's arm in alarm. A hunched creature, shriveled like a mummy but emitting a dark, almost sandy mist was creeping towards them. Red light thrummed through the cracks in its body, and as it gave up the pretense of subtlety and stealth, it reared its dry head and began racing at them on all fours.

"Do you think we were blessed with combat skills, by chance?" he asked, his voice higher than he wished it to be. He pulled out his keychain and it elongated into the dual khopesh. Aw, he'd been aiming for the bow. It was too late now, though; Apophis's minion would be on top of them in the time it would take for Khnurn to fumble around with a bow and arrows. Khopesh it was; maybe Zahra would have better luck in the archery department.