Resurrection

By: Chris Nardone
September 11, 2008

“Pack up and head out. We don’t want you here.”

“I just rode in, Sheriff. I ain’t leavin’ ‘til I feel like it.”

Chick Lahane crouched behind a barrel on the boardwalk of one of the stores on Donner’s main street. Not ten paces away, his uncle, Sheriff Don Flynn confronted Bill Holly just outside the livery barn. Holly was an outlaw and killer and word had spread he was in town. Chick wanted to help his uncle, but Flynn insisted he do this alone.

Lahane ran a nervous hand through his sandy blond hair as he continued to watch the confrontation. Bill Holly, a big man with a close-clipped mustache and beard had a cocky strut to his step, scoffing at the lawman’s warning.

“Perhaps some time in jail will change your mind,” Flynn stated.

“Hell, Sheriff! I ain’t gonna sit in no jail.”

Flynn pushed back the flap on his coat, exposing the sixgun on his hip. “I guess there’s only one thing left then.”

“If that’s the way you want it, lawdog!”

Chick Lahane flinched in terror as a shot rang out. Lahane saw the bullet plow into his uncle’s side. Flynn cried out in pain as he tried to turn toward the alley and the apparent source of the gunshot. There was another roar and Chick saw his uncle’s head explode into a gory, red spray. Then the body was tumbling to the ground.

“No! Uncle Don!”

Chick couldn’t stand it much longer. He crept cautiously into the alley between the building and the livery. Bill Holly was grinning widely with hands on hips. A crowd began to slowly converge on the kill zone as Chick kneeled next to the body of his dead uncle. Standing in the alley was a well-dressed gent with a long mustache and wire-rimmed glasses, his gun hanging at his side. Lahane saw Bill Holly give a mock salute the man.

“Nice goin’, Pat.”

“As always,” the man replied. This was Pat Holly, Bill’s brother and fellow thief and murderer.

“It’s about time this town saw a change. What do you think, Pat? Think we can tree this burg?”

“Whatever you say, dear brother!” Pat Holly chuckled dryly as he and his brother trudged off down the street. Chick Lahane continued to kneel over the form of his uncle. A murderous gaze followed the two outlaw brothers as they disappeared through a haze of dust on Main Street.

“Murdering bastards!” Lahane muttered.

* * *

Late evening found Chick Lahane back at his Uncle Don’s ranch. The townsfolk of Donner had been stunned into immobility by the sudden demise of their peace officer. Most folks figured the Holly’s would just ride out, now that they’d murdered a town sheriff. Others were waiting to see if the Holly’s had anything else planned. Lahane moped around the ranch the rest of the day, not wanting to see or talk to anyone.

He remembered back to when his uncle had invited him to stay. Chick had nowhere to turn. He’d just finished serving a year sentence in jail for holding the horses during a holdup. He’d been impulsive and stupid, willing to do anything to feel like he belonged. His uncle Don tried to make a difference in the world by serving the law. Now Chick felt he owed it to the man to do something about this injustice.

He was lounging on a cowhide settee in the front room when he heard a rider galloping up to the ranch house. Quickly grabbing a Winchester rifle, he went to the front window. When he peered out into the yard, he saw it was only Zeke, an old-timer from town who was good friends with Chick and Don Flynn. The scruffy, bearded man wearing suspenders and a beat-up Stetson dismounted and stepped onto the porch. Lahane opened the door to greet him.

“What brings you out here, Zeke?” Lahane asked.

“I’ve got news from town,” he replied. “The rest of the Holly boys rode in.”

“Tag and Alvin?”

“Yep. Runnin’ around town like they own it. The mayor doesn’t know what to do.”

“How about the rest of the town?” Lahane inquired.

“A bunch of scared sheep,” Zeke spat. “No one’s gonna stand up to the Holly’s. They’ve got this place treed!”

A dark look came across Chick’s rough, tanned features, his gray eyes narrowing. Zeke saw this and raised a curious eyebrow. “You got somethin’ in mind? Ever’one hereabouts knows you’re slicker than possum shit with a pistol. If you need any help, I’ll be at your side, yuh hear?”

“Thanks, Zeke. I sure appreciate it. Thanks for stopping by.”

Moments later the old man was putting spurs to his mount and galloping off in a cloud of dust.

That night, Chick Lahane couldn’t sleep very well. It had been the same thing for the last few weeks now.

The nightmares. At least that’s what he thought at first. When he did eventually dose off, images began to filter into his subconscious. They were the oddest things and he couldn’t quite grasp what they meant. He saw a tall, statuesque black-haired figure clad in some sort of sheer, pleated gown. She wore an ornate headband, big earrings, and a multi-rowed necklace made of gold. Underneath she had some sort of skimpy outfit on that looked ancient. Like something similar to what a harem might be clad in…but not really that, either. Bracelets and rings adorned her hands in majestic fashion.

The beautiful woman’s face, etched in worry, pleaded with Chick. He could see she was trapped in a small room, trying to get out. She held out her hand to Chick. He tried to grasp it, but couldn’t. He could now see tears sliding down her soft cheeks. Then she finally spoke.

“Help me!”

Lahane bolted upright in bed, bathed in sweat.

* * *

The next morning, Chick Lahane ambled down the dusty main street of Donner clad in black broadcloth trousers, a checkered shirt and black Stetson. He wore no gun, as his mind was still swimming with ideas of what to do about the Holly’s.

When he got into the Mustang Saloon, things got worse. Going to the bar, he called over the barkeep and ordered himself a whiskey. After some quiet small talk, he learned of three new hardcases in town. Their names were Gosling, Stant and Renner, and they sat directly behind him at one of the card tables. Then a shot rang out, startling Lahane and everyone else in the saloon. Some folks bolted for the exit, while others cleared the way. It was Renner who stood over the dead man—the mayor of Donner.

“Little weasel thought he could cheat me!” Renner growled.

Voices murmured throughout the saloon of the mayor being killed. “Damn right I did,” Renner said. “Anyone have a problem with that?”

No one in the saloon spoke. They were too afraid of what might happen. Chick’s gaze met Renner’s. He gave the killer a sneer, then promptly walked out, heading for his Uncle Don’s office.

He’d made his decision.

About ten minutes later, a buckboard rolled into town. Driving was a thin, pale man with bloodshot eyes. Seated next to him was a fairly attractive brunette woman with tanned skin, clad in a bright green dress with a plunging neckline. The wagon pulled up to the saloon just as Renner came out.

The woman jumped down from the wagon and attended to a long, rectangular box in the bed of the buckboard. Renner leered at the beautiful woman before him, pushing back the hat on his head. “Howdy, ma’am,” he greeted, touching the brim of his Stetson. “Welcome to Donner.”

She looked at the man with a curious, but cautious gaze. “Why, thank you.”

“What do you have in that box there?”

“Personal belongings is all.”

“Mind if I take a look?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“I think it is.”

Renner moved for the box and the woman stepped in front of him. “Please, sir, don’t do that!”

Renner’s face turned ugly. “Listen, lady, my friends own this town! I can do whatever the hell I want, so get outta’ my way!”

A voice from behind Renner caused the killer to whirl around. “I’d do as the lady asks, Renner.”

Renner saw Chick Lahane standing five feet away wearing a linen duster and a tied-down gun on his hip. He also noticed the star pinned to the coat.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Renner challenged.

“Evening the odds!”

Renner grappled for his gun, but Lahane swiftly drew his and put a heavy .45 round through Renner’s skull. It exited in a crimson torrent as the corpse tumbled to the dirt. Chick walked over to the woman and her driver. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

The woman’s face was one of shock, her eyes large and afraid. “I…I’m fine,” she stammered. “Are you the law here?”

Lahane looked down at the star on his coat, glancing back up at the lovely lady before him. “I am now.”

The woman nervously looked up and down the street as patrons filed out of the saloon to the sounds of the recent gunshots. “Is there someplace we could talk?”

Keeping an eye on the other two hardcases as they gave Lahane stares of death, Chick motioned the woman down the street. “My office.”

* * *

The brunette woman sat opposite Lahane in the Sheriff’s office, while her driver waited outside. “That’s my driver, Amon,” she explained. “If you find him sort of quiet, it’s because he’s mute.”

“And who are you?” Lahane asked.

“My name is Lilith.”

Lahane touched the brim of his hat, nodding to Lilith. “The name’s Charles Lahane. Most folks call me Chick. What is your business here, Miss Lilith?”

“My father died recently and it was his life’s work to find a rare artifact. It’s a solid gold piece called ‘The Head of Coronado’. Cortes supposedly gave it to him in the fifteen hundreds. I’ve sort of taken up the task of finishing what my father started.”

“I hate to tell you, Miss Lilith, but this is really a bad time to come to town,” Lahane explained.

“Why?”

“The Holly brothers hit town yesterday. They shot the sheriff, my uncle.”

Lilith’s face paled. “Don Flynn was your uncle?”

“Yep. Is something wrong?”

“I have reason to believe the artifact is buried in your uncle’s old mine.”

Chick frowned, surprised at what she was telling him. “Golly. He hasn’t been in there for years. Everything has been pretty much mined out.”

Lilith shifted nervously in her chair and Lahane got a glimpse of something around her neck. It was a magnificent emerald medallion and Chick gulped when he saw it resting next to the lovely well-formed breast of this beautiful lady. Lahane felt himself going beet red as he stared. He snapped his eyes back up to Lilith’s face. “Uh, what do you have there?”

Lilith smiled seductively at Lahane, knowing she’d caught him gazing at her bosom. “It was one of my father’s greatest finds in Egypt. He gave it to me as a gift.” Her hand moved to the medallion to push it back under her dress, then smoothed the front of it quickly, trying to act prim and proper once again. “If this artifact is in your uncle’s mine, do I have your permission to go inside and look for it? The museum I work for would compensate you generously.”

Chick smiled at her. “Tell you what, Miss Lilith. If you find it, you can have it.”

Lilith beamed widely, almost clapping her hands with glee. “Great! Thank you very much, Sheriff.”

“You’re quite welcome.”

* * *

That night, Lahane was doing his rounds of the town, making sure buildings were secure and also keeping an eye out for members of the Holly gang. As he strode up an alleyway, he heard a low growling noise coming from somewhere up ahead.

“What the hell?”

As he walked further up the alley, the growling got louder. It sounded like an animal of some sort, but it raised goose pimples on Chick’s arms. Could it be a coyote? A mountain lion that got lost? Here in town?

“Naw! Can’t be!”

Coming up to the main street of Donner, the sound stopped. Everything seemed still. Lahane couldn’t even hear the crickets. Stepping up onto the boardwalk of the nearest building, Lahane spotted the slightest movement from across the street. His hand was going to his gun when he heard a shot and saw the stab of flame.

Diving prone, a slug smacked inches from Chick’s head as he pulled out his six-shooter. Two more rounds whistled in and struck the building just above his body. Crouching behind a post for the building overhang, Lahane saw a man come around the corner of the building off to his left. It was the gunman known as Stant. He snapped off a double punch of bullets, splintering wood from the boardwalk inches from Chick’s prone form. Lahane sighted down his sixgun and let go with two .45 slugs that ripped into Stant’s chest and flung him to the ground.

Lahane decided to chance it with the shadowy gunman across the street, if that’s where he still was. “Who’s out there?” Chick yelled. “That you Gosling?”

“That’s right!” came the reply. “I’m gonna git yuh, Sheriff!”

“Give it your best shot!”

Gosling came out of the shadows from across the street aiming his pistol. Just as Lahane brought up his weapon, he heard a deep-throated, animal-like bellow near Gosling’s position. It was a roar of ultimate fury and Chick was stunned as he watched Gosling yanked violently back into the shadows. The outlaw screamed in horror as Lahane heard an ungodly squishy-ripping sound.

“Jesus,” Lahane gasped.

Against his better judgment, Lahane got up and crept forward across the street with careful, practiced steps. The gory chorus continued, as it sounded like Gosling was emitting wet, gurgling noises. Lahane got across the street without any gunfire meeting him, entering the alley where he thought he’d heard the pitiful sounds of Gosling.

“Gosling? Are you okay?”

Seeing a lantern hanging from a peg on the nearest building, Lahane lit it, searching for the outlaw. When he stopped at the end of the alley, something on the ground caught Chick’s eye. He moved forward, his chest pounding with fear and his breath caught in his throat…becoming sick to his stomach.

Lahane stared at a ghastly, quivering mess that used to be Gosling. “Oh, God!”

Gosling’s corpse had been ravaged. It was a mass of blood, bone, skin tissue and mashed intestines. The bloody meat shuddered in the eerie lantern light. The fingers on what was once a hand still twitched spastically. As Lahane heard some of the townsfolk coming near, he heard a heavy thumping noise. Looking up between the two buildings, Chick saw a large, dark and hairy bi-ped figure leap from one building to the other. In moments it was gone.

Chick Lahane stood there shaking in fear.

* * *

After the late-night action, Lahane tossed and turned in his bed and thought about his predicament. He’d invited Lilith and her driver, Amon to stay out at his ranch. What did he think he was doing? Was he was falling for a pretty skirt? That was bad news, considering his previous luck with women. In his teenage years, he’d been thrown out of whorehouses on two separate occasions. And another time, when he thought he’d found the woman of his dreams, his wanderlust kicked in and sent him out with the boys on a rustling excursion.

Such a rebellious youth he’d had.

When Chick had finally dozed off sometime after midnight, he kept seeing visions of Gosling ripped to pieces. Later on, he began to see the beautiful, exotic brunette woman again. It was the same as before. She was trapped in a small cubicle, desperate to escape. She once again reached for him, but Chick was unable to touch her. Her face was etched in pain once again, tears sliding down her cheeks. Then she finally spoke.

“No trust!”

Lahane awakened in a cold sweat, his heart pounding like a war drum. It took him a few minutes to settle down, but just as he was about to try and get back to sleep, he heard a rustling noise. It sounded like it was coming from outside. It could be anything, but then again, maybe the Holly’s had decided to take the war to him now.

Lahane got up and reached for his gunbelt next to his bed, buckling it on. He looked toward Lilith’s room but heard nothing stirring from there. Creeping into the front room of the ranch house, he glanced around, his ears straining to hear the slightest noise. Then a figure appeared in the front window and Chick noticed the lean, dark man with a ragged scar down his cheekbone as Alvin Holly.

Cursing, Lahane dived to the floor as Alvin ripped off rounds from his gun. Lahane shoulder-rolled as Alvin kicked in the front door and got a bead on his target. Out of the corner of his eye, Chick saw Lilith at her bedroom door. At the exact moment Alvin squeezed the trigger on his sixgun, bolts of light shot from Lilith’s hands and enveloped Lahane. Chick was in total shock as Alvin’s bullets disintegrated on contact with the glowing light. Alvin’s eyes bulged out from witnessing the strange event.

“Holy Christ,” Alvin gaped.

Lahane managed to bring up his gun and trigger a .45 round that zinged past Alvin’s cheek. The outlaw took off into the night. Lahane went to the door to see the retreating figure running past the yard and leaping the front gate on the fly. That was when Chick saw the large, dark, hairy figure in hot pursuit. When Alvin dipped down a hill, Lahane heard the man screaming bloody murder, followed by a monstrous roar. Seconds later, Chick heard a wet, gurgling sound…then nothing.

“Get back in here,” Lilith said. “It’s not safe out there!”

When Lahane came back inside the house and shut the door, he heard sounds coming from his other room. Amon poked his head out and looked to Lilith. “It’s okay, Amon,” she reassured him. “Go back to sleep.”

Chick Lahane stood directly in front of Lilith with a wild gleam in his eyes. “Who in the name of God are you, lady?”

Lilith couldn’t meet his gaze. “It’s not important.”

“What I’ve just seen defies all the rules and laws of sanity and reality and…”

“You don’t understand what you’re dealing with,” Lilith said. “The concept is way past you.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” Lahane snapped. “I’ve been seeing some strange crap in the last day and I want some answers. I want them now!”

“You probably won’t believe it.”

“Try me.”

Lilith took a deep breath, gazing into Lahane’s eyes. “My name is not Lilith. It’s…Isis.”

Lahane wasn’t always the best student in school, but he remembered snippets of something…

“Eons ago my lover Osiris was murdered by Seth. Seth cut Osiris into fourteen pieces. I was able at the last second to dispatch those pieces from our Netherworld into your world to stop him from gaining power. It’s been my duty all these centuries to search out those fourteen pieces and bring them together.”

“Why must you do that?”

“According to the prophecy, I must find the pieces of my lover so that we can bear a son. He will grow up and defeat Seth, thus restoring order to the Netherworld.”

“And if you’re not successful?” a sheepish Lahane asked.

“Because I’ve involved your mortal world by sending the pieces here, both this place and our Netherworld will be consumed in darkness.”

“Come again?”

“Evil will prevail and all mortal humans will be slaves of Seth.”

“And that box in your wagon contains the other pieces of Osiris?”

“Yes,” Lilith/Isis said. “After all this time, I have thirteen pieces. The head of Osiris is the last one.”

“Who killed Gosling?” Lahane asked. “What I saw last night was…was…”

“It’s Seth,” Lilith/Isis answered. “Killing that man in town and the one who attacked you here is just a warning. He’s letting you know he can get you if you continue to help me.”

“Where does your driver fit into this?”

Lilith/Isis waved her hand. “He’s not important. He’s an immortal servant of Osiris who is bound to assist me.”

Lahane exhaled loudly and plopped himself down on the cowhide settee, cupping his head in his hands. “What about the myth we all learned about in school? You’re saying all that is fiction? That the story was never completed? Lilith, or Isis or whoever you are, this all sounds crazy! Just crazy!”

“I realize that. But let me show you.”

She came forward and placed her hands on Chick’s temples. In seconds, his vision clouded over. When things cleared, he saw the interior of a massive stone palace, like he would imagine in ancient Egypt. Lahane came around a corner and saw a human-like form with an animal’s head standing over another human figure wearing a strange pointed headdress. The animal form raised a long sword and began chopping the prone figure on the ground. A movement caught Lahane’s attention off in a dark corner. Chick gasped when he saw a hideous, winged creature observing the whole event…

Lahane’s vision returned to normal as Lilith/Isis removed her hands from his head. “Do you believe me now?”

“Yes, I guess I do,” Lahane replied. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll lead you into the mine to look for the head of Osiris.”

Through all this incredible revelation, Lahane forgot to mention to Lilith his dreams of the beautiful, trapped woman. Maybe he’ll mention it tomorrow, he thought.

It was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

The next morning, Amon drove the buckboard out to the location of Don Flynn’s old mine. Lilith/Isis, with some sort of extra-sensory power directed them down a chamber until she stopped and pointed at a crumbling wall of rock.

Lahane and Amon hacked at the rock with picks and axes. Chick kept looking at the shoring timbers, hoping they’d hold the ceiling up long enough so they could find the artifact and get out of there. After a few more minutes of digging, Lilith/Isis spotted something lodged into the rock. Lahane started to go forward, reaching out for the misshapen stone, but Lilith/Isis nudged him aside and pulled the object from the wall.

Lahane stared at the black, obsidian-like head with that pointy headpiece. “Soon now,” Lilith/Isis chuckled. “Very soon.”

Chick didn’t know what to make of that as the beautiful woman laughed out loud, a feral grin forming. All of a sudden, a voice went off inside Lahane’s head.

“Please! Help Me!”

Lahane was getting a bad feeling about this whole situation as they made their way back out into the hot morning air. Immediately they saw three figures dismounting from their horses. It was Bill, Pat and Tag Holly.

“There you are, you son of a bitch!” Bill Holly yelled.

“Take cover!” Lahane commanded.

The trio took cover behind a clump of rocks as the Holly boys opened fire. The slugs whined off the stone as Chick jacked a round into the Winchester he was carrying.

“You killed our brother!” Pat Holly growled. “We’re gonna skin your hide!”

“Get in line, shithead!” was Chick’s curt reply.

Lahane appeared and blasted off a trio of .44 rounds that made Pat Holly dive for cover. Amon rose up as if to rush them, but Lilith/Isis put a hand on his shoulder. “No. The Sheriff can handle it.”

“Can you give me a diversion or something?” Lahane asked. “There’s more ammo in the wagon.”

“I will,” Lilith/Isis replied.

As Chick bolted for the cover of the wagon, there was a puff of smoke between Bill and Pat Holly which confused and disoriented them. Tag came up and capped off a .45 bullet that tugged on Lahane’s sleeve. Chick cut loose with a heavy rifle slug that punched through Tag’s sternum and exited in a crimson spray. Rolling behind the wheel of the wagon, Lahane reached in for another box of shells.

“Tag?” Bill Holly shouted. “You okay?”

“He’s dead, Bill,” Lahane answered. “Nothing but buzzard bait now!”

Pat Holly emitted a howl of anguish as Chick recharged his rifle. He watched the well-dressed Holly brother come around from cover and charge into the open. He fired two six-guns, one right after the other, yelling and screaming curses the whole way. A hot round plowed inches from Chick’s head as he lined up and squeezed off a .44 bullet that took Pat through the neck and blew out a red geyser. As the outlaw wobbled on rubber legs, Lahane calmly put another slug through his belly, rupturing his innards into mush.

Bill Holly fired off a few more rounds when he saw his last brother go down. One burned a furrow across Lahane’s arm, but he didn’t break his target acquisition. He sent a double tap of .44 bullets into Bill Holly chest-high. The leader of the Holly gang perished without a whimper, slumping slowly to the ground in a cloud of dust.

Lahane casually checked on the dead bodies, but something in the sky caught his attention. It was a mass of roiling black clouds, seemingly moving his way at a high rate of speed. He raced back over to where Lilith/Isis and Amon stood around the rectangular box, now lying on the ground next to the wagon with its cover removed.

“Wow, that storm sure came out of nowhere,” Lahane said.

Lahane cringed as he looked at the other thirteen pieces of Osiris, searched for over the centuries by these immortal beings, their task now almost fully complete. Chick was beginning to get worried now as the clouds roiled almost directly above their position. He almost missed Lilith/Isis pull out a dagger from the folds of her dress and hold the head of Osiris high in the air.

“We have done it, Seth!” she yelled. “We have won!”

“What are you doing?” Lahane asked.

“Stand back, mortal!” Lilith/Isis growled.

Chick Lahane had come this far, and now he had no idea what to do. Something was happening here. Something which was out of his league of understanding. Then that voice went off inside his head.

“Take the medallion!”

Just as Lilith/Isis was about to plunge the dagger into the head of Osiris, Lahane quick-drew his six-gun and let off a .45 slug that knocked the dagger from her hand. He pounced on her as Amon hissed loudly. Chick’s hand was around the medallion she wore and he gave a hard yank. As Amon stepped forward to attack Lahane, a bright light enveloped Chick the moment his hand touched the emerald medallion.

Seconds later, Lahane found himself in a stone passageway that ended in a stone door. Hieroglyphics covered the walls, and Chick immediately recognized them as ancient Egyptian. Lahane saw a circular indentation in the center of the stone door. He noticed it resembled the medallion he had in his possession. Pushing the emerald disk into place, the door slowly slid open.

Lahane’s breath came in raspy spurts as he beheld the mysterious, dark-haired woman of his dreams before him. She came to him, her smile full of emotion and relief.

“I knew you would come,” she purred. “And now you are here.”

“Are you Isis?” Lahane asked. “The real Isis?”

“Yes,” she answered, motioning to the medallion he held. “This is my medallion.”

Chick’s heart pounded fiercely. This woman’s beauty was leaving him breathless and her proximity was having an amazing effect on him. No, he wasn’t sexually excited. It was a feeling of complete awe. A kind of euphoria one might feel if he was sitting in an opium den. Immortal beauty of heart-stopping proportions.

It was now he noticed dimples at the corners of her mouth when she smiled. She had a mole just above her lip. And her eyes were the same dark green color of the medallion. “I…I don’t understand any of this.”

“You were being deceived by Seth’s accomplice and mistress, Ammut. It was only by chance I was able to send Osiris’s pieces into your world. Soon after, I was captured by Seth and Ammut. They took my source of power from me, this medallion. They imprisoned me here for what would have been all eternity, then went forth into your realm to find the pieces for themselves. I tried over time to reach other mortals who might help me.” She smiled brightly once again and laid her soft hand across Lahane’s cheek. He closed his eyes and sighed. “You were the only one who had the power to respond in time.”

“Amon, he’s…?”

“Amon is Seth,” Isis finished for him. “He may act helpless, but he is a beast of unspeakable power.”

“Why didn’t he just kill me instead of those two outlaws?” Lahane wondered.

“Ammut needed you to invite her into the resting place of Osiris’ head. That was the only way she could take it. The bad men presented a threat, so Seth made sure no harm would come to you.”

“And if they win? Was what Ammut said true?”

“Yes,” Isis replied. “Darkness will consume our world and yours. If I cannot mate with Osiris, there will be no one to defeat Seth. Thus, the prophecy will be broken.”

“How can I help?”

“You must place the head of Osiris in the box with the other pieces. Then you must place my medallion around his neck. The Resurrection will commence. Seth and Ammut’s plan will be foiled.”

“But, how can I stop them? They’re immortal!”

Isis reached out and placed a hand on Chick’s gun. For a brief moment, the weapon felt warm to the touch. “You will be able to kill Ammut, but you can only wound Seth. It is not his time to die. Go. Go into battle to save your world.”

“I will.” He couldn’t help himself. He went forward and planted his lips on Isis’ soft, warm mouth. A bright light enveloped Lahane once again. It was then he found himself back in the desert facing Ammut and Seth.

“The sister got to him,” Ammut snarled. “Now he must die!”

Both figures transformed before Chick’s eyes. The attractive features of Ammut turned ugly and grotesque. Her face stretched into an elongated, crocodile-like creature with cloven hooves and wings that sprouted from her back. It dawned on Lahane this was the creature he saw standing in the corner of the palace observing the death of Osiris during the flashback earlier. Amon/Seth contorted into a hairy, hulking figure with a pig snout and long, donkey ears. His mouth was wide, sporting rows of sharp teeth.

“I hope this works,” Lahane said.

He aimed for the Ammut creature just as she launched herself into the air, coming straight for Lahane. He triggered a .45 bullet that plowed through her face and exited in a yellow spout. The winged monster shrieked in pain as Chick sent another hot slug through her rigid, bony skull, erupting it into a gory mess. Lahane sidestepped the tumbling creature as it crashed into the dirt.

Seth roared in fury, leaping into the air and slamming into Lahane with full force. Seeing stars and trying to get his breath back, Lahane saw his sixgun just out of the reach of his hand. The beasts’ mouth opened wide, ready to take a large chunk out of Lahane’s body. His hand reached desperately for the sixgun as the hairy figure came down hard on his hips, pinning him to the ground. Lahane’s hand felt the cool, hardwood grips of his gun, and he swung it around, firing a slug into Seth’s shoulder. The immortal beast howled in pain as Lahane gave him another .45 round to his midsection. With that, Seth rolled off Lahane as he scrambled to his feet, grabbing the Head of Osiris from the ground. A few loping strides and Chick dumped it into the box in the buckboard. But, Seth tackled Lahane, his mouth opening once again. Lahane was able to get his forearm up to ward off the blow, but sharp teeth sunk deeply into the skin.

Lahane cried out as Seth began ripping flesh from his forearm, blood running in warm streams. With his life on the line and his hand in danger of being gnawed off, Lahane willed himself to bring up the gun in his right hand.

“Eat this!”

He squeezed off a bullet that snapped Seth’s head back. Then he emptied out his revolver into Seth’s chest that flipped the creature onto the ground. Seeing the medallion in the dirt after having lost it during the scuffle, Lahane tossed away his spent revolver and scooped up the disk with his good hand. A few staggering steps brought him to the box with the other pieces. With pain and blood loss wracking his body, Lahane spotted Seth recovering, turning his pig-like head toward him, crouching for one final death leap that would crush Chick’s body like a twig.

“The game is over, asshole!” Lahane spat.

He dropped the medallion around Osiris’ neck just as Seth pounced into the air. Chick put up his good hand to ward off the final, desperate attack. Seth’s body froze in mid-air, suddenly enveloped by a bright, red light. Taking a few unsteady steps back, Lahane watched in amazement as the light evaporated Seth into thin air. The black clouds above parted and the box with Osiris was gone in a flash. Lahane noticed the blue sky returning and saw there was no sign of Ammut’s corpse. He also noticed his left hand completely healed and felt no pain.

Walking back to the buckboard, Chick Lahane heard a voice in the hot, dusty air. It was the soft, purring voice of Isis. “You are only a mortal, but you have done an immortal deed. You have saved our world and your own. Now, I have a son who will grow up and defeat Seth. You will be forever known in our realm as…The Resurrector. Go in peace, Charles Lahane.”

Lahane put his battered Stetson on his head, touched the brim of it to no one in particular, and rode off back to town.