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The Journey of the Dead

Samosa was ready. Even though he was dead, he could still sense everything that was happening through his spirit. He sensed when the Embalmers took out all his organs. He felt the all important scarab amulet be placed over his heart, and finally he felt his customised Book of the Dead be slipped into his lifeless hand. The last thing he sensed in the living realm was the nerjeti blade being laid across his mouth in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, and then all he could see was darkness. He could still feel it though, and he felt an icy cold wind whipping him from all directions as he was sucked into the icy abyss. 

Samosa was ready. Even though he was dead, he could still sense everything that was happening through his spirit. He sensed when the Embalmers took out all his organs. He felt the all important scarab amulet be placed over his heart, and finally he felt his customised Book of the Dead be slipped into his lifeless hand. The last thing he sensed in the living realm was the nerjeti blade being laid across his mouth in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, and then all he could see was darkness. He could still feel it though, and he felt an icy cold wind whipping him from all directions as he was sucked into the icy abyss. 

All vision returned, as his transparent feet hit the ground. He was in a large, dark cave. His only source of light was the massive lake of fire separating the two banks. He looked over the river, and his heart dropped. On the other side, a large boat was taking other dead souls to the hall. He was on the wrong side. He would have to make the journey alone. He curled his hand into a fist, and then realized he still had his Book of the Dead in his hand. Samosa smiled. He didn’t need a boat. He could do this. He set off towards the dark abyss in front of him, ready to tackle this challenge.

Pretty soon, demons of all kinds began to attack. Luckily, with Samosa’s spells from the Book of the Dead, he was able to repel these attacks with bright blasts of light. The further he went, the more demons he had to fight. He went through nine of the twelve gates of night, magical gates that Ra, the sun god, passed through each night. As Samosa passed through the 10th gate, he frowned. A short distance away, a particularly nasty demon awaited. He was known for terrorizing the souls of the dead, but he was rarely seen. This demon was “He-Who-Dances-In-Blood”. Samosa unraveled his Book of The Dead and kept approaching.

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The demon turned around and smiled. He-Who-Dances-In-Blood normally appeared as a red ghost-like cloud, with a terrifyingly evil face. When he saw Samosa, his mouth split into a broad grin. “Ahhhhh, what do we have here?” The demon said, his voice sounding like an avalanche rumbling down a hill. “Another soul for me to devour?” Samosa looked down at his scroll, and yelled “Begone demon! I wish not to fight you, but if I must, I shall bring my wrath down upon you!”  He-Who-Dances-In-Blood let out a cold laugh. “You lie petty spirit, and let that lie be the end of you!” 

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Samosa began to chant, casting a spell that would banish the demon. However, He-Who-Dances-In-Blood was fast, floating towards him with his ghostly talons outstretched, ready to tear Samosa to shreds and devour his soul. Samosa began to chant faster, and he began to glow with power. As the Samosa neared the end of his spell, He-Who-Dances-In-Blood was already upon him. “ I name you, demon!” Samosa yelled. As he did, He-Who-Dances-In-Blood slashed at him with his claws. Samosa winced as his spirit's body now had deep claw marks engraved into his torso. Samosa continued his spell. “I name you He-Who-Dances-In-Blood, bane of the underworld…” Samosa winced again as He-Who-Dances-In-Blood slashed at him. “... I banish you! May ye…” Samosa yelped in pain as the demon slashed multiple times, each time tearing his spirit to shreds. “... may ye never torment me again! BEGONE!” Samosa yelled.

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Samosa crouched on the edge of the 11th gate. Past the gate was a small sand dune. However, instead of a giant cliff wall blocking the side of the dune, a large ocean of scarabs scuttled around. These scarabs were the prison of Apep, the giant serpent monster of destruction. The scarabs stopped him from leaving the underworld, but Apep could still reign supreme here.

Samosa had an invisibility spell especially for avoiding Apep. But he winced. He was still weak from the demon attack. He was not sure how long he could hold the spell. As he held out his scroll, a large serpentine body rose out of the scarbs. Samosa looked on in terror at the boat ahead, as a large serpent head rose out of the scarbs and began to attack. The guards on the boat tried to stop him, but Samosa knew they would fail in the end. He cast his invisibility spell and walked on.

His spell flickered every time Samosa winced in pain. Soon, he reached Apep, relentlessly attacking the boat. Samosa's nerves affected his spell, his figure flickering in and out of visibility at an alarming rate. When he reached the underside of Apep. The serpent stopped mid strike. His nostrils flared as he bore down on Samosa. Samosa stopped and cowered below Apep, no doubt in his mind this would be the last thing he would see. Then suddenly, and blinding flash out light spread through the cavern. The mighty Ra, king of the gods, rode his boat through the river, completing his nightly journey.

Apep rose and struck at Ra, but gods like Horus the Falcon and Sobek the Crocodile held him back by striking him with long spears. The light of Ra flowed into Samosa, healing his wounds. Courage returned, Samosa sprinted past the 12th gate, and lined up to have his turn to be judged in the Hall of the Dead.

As his turn came, Samosa spoke with the 42 assessor gods. He spoke of a crime he did not commit. He felt very grateful for the scarab amulet that was placed across his heart in the physical world, inscribed with the words “Do not bear witness against me”. It stopped his heart from revealing when he was lying. After clearing the assessor gods, he walked into a room. The centre of the room was taken up by large scales. Facing him on the other side of the scales was Anubis, the jackal headed god. Next to him was Ammit the Devourer. Part crocodile, part leopard, part hippopotamus. Samosa’s heart would now be weighed on the Scales of Ma’at against the feather of truth. If his heart was heavier, weighed down by his wrongdoings, Ammit would devour his soul, and he would be gone forever. 

Anubis produced the feather of truth in his hand, before reaching his hand out to Samosa. A large red heart appeared in his hand, and he set both on the scale. The two sides wobbled for a bit, before coming to rest equally next to each other. This was the moment of truth. After some consideration, the scales would decide his fate.  One painstakingly long moment passed. Then two. Finally, the side with the feather moved down, outweighing his heart. Samosa breathed a sigh of relief. He had done it. Suddenly, a son of Horus flew in, having the head and wings of a falcon. He grabbed Samosa and flew him upwards. As the world faded around him, Samosa felt excited to leave the world behind him, and could not wait for what was to come.

The End

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