Through the dim light of a torch lined hallway a man walked. The torches were exquisite things, two brass cobras spewing out flames. Under each pair of cobras were the walls of tombs, with names inscribed upon them. The names were most unusual, though, for they sounded more like titles then names. "Devourer", "Hunter", "Slayer", "Armored One of Immense Girth" and many other similar names. They were so called for this was the hall of the tombs of the greatest of crocodiles who dwelled at the temple or nearby. The giant crocodiles were buried here, for this was the Great Temple of Sobek.

As the men went further into the hall, he encountered a giant staircase leading down into the earth, and so he descended. He went through another hall similar to the one above, and continued this for many levels. Upon reaching the tenth level, the light was very dim, and the air stagnant and musty. The torches were very spaced out, for these were the tombs of the mightiest crocodiles who lived when the embalming was first taught to man many ages ago. The names emblazoned upon the wall were like great sentences, "The Giant Reptile Whose Jaws Encompass Boats" being among the shorter of the names. At the end of this great hall were enormous doors of the blackest stone that were of a darkness that swallowed the light that hit them. The man opened up the doors, and felt the haunting hieroglyphics etched into them that seemed to whisper to him in voices not heard but known, and he kneeled before a throne that was fully twice his height. He placed the burning incense he was carrying before himself, and prostrated himself. He began to chant and went into a deep trance.

After 3 full hours, an unusual haze filled the cavernous room, and a form began to coalesce upon the gilded throne. Many seconds passed, and a golden skinned, radiant being was before the man. His body was large, even fat, but muscled as well. The arms and legs were like tree trunks, somewhat wrinkled, but thick and powerful. The hands ended in club like fingers that had saurian claws at the tips. The head was quite unlike a man\x92s, for it was that of a gargantuan crocodile.

"Sejem, why have you summoned me?" asked the immense figure before him.

"Oh, mighty Sobek, I seek your council," begged Sejem.

"Ask, humble servant," decreed Sobek.

"Master, our lands are invaded constantly by the foul Hittites, what must we do to scour this scourge from the land?" Sejem begged meekly.

"Your request is heard, and I shall have my other earthly followers guard the rivers and the lakes and the streams and the marshes. I advise you to go to the temple of Sehkmet and receive her guidance as well," the crocodile god rumbled, his low voice reverberating through the temple and causing the black doors to shake.

"Yes, Great Master of the Rivers," the man said in reverence.

Sobek nodded to the man, and his form began to dissipate into the air, filling it with a cloud of golden grey smoke. Sejem remained prostrate until the air cleared. He then rose upward, and walked out of the mighty temple of Sobek.

* * * *

Sejem, priest of Sobek, went to his friend Rawa, devotee of Sekhmet and a lieutenant in the army, as well as Gezes, priestess of Sehkmet and talked with them about what Sobek had told him. They had decided to go to the temple of Sekhmet, and summon her to see what should happen.

They walked into the large, open-air temple, with large pillars that illustrated the strength and rage of Sekhmet in gory and vicious detail. Even the path leading to the altar showed her slaying thousands of Nubians in vicious flame and oppressing heat.

Behind the altar was a throne that had gilded lion heads upon the armrests and a great scene of battle etched into the back.

Sejem and Rawa stood dozens of feet behind Gezes as she poured the jar of sacrificial lamb\x92s blood into the mouth of a statue of the terrible goddess of rage, destruction, and slaying. After doing so, Gezes bowed in humble acquiesce and prayed quietly to her patroness. Several minutes after doing so, a burning, flesh searing sphere of light burst into existence on the throne, and it unfolded into the form of the most beautiful mortal woman\x92s body, but with the head of a ferocious lioness whose eyes were like that of the sun.

"Gezes, devotee to myself, what do you summon me for?" she snarled.

"Oh, terrible mother of rage who slays our enemies, we beseech you for help to end the scourge that is the Hittite menace, and Sejem, priest of the mighty Sobek is here with me to offer supplication and thanks to you, great lady," she said in a fearful whisper.

"Sobek has already had his crocodiles set to defend you, what more do you need?" she growled out, her anger growing.

"Our warriors seem unable to stop them, we wish for you to grant them each the most minuscule portion of your Divine and Endless Rage so that they will be able to smite the Hittites and offer up the blood of the fallen to you in a glorious sacrifice so that you may drink your fill!" she said, still bowing before the burning fury of the lioness headed one.

Sekhmet looked over to Rawa, snarled quietly, and spoke in her terrifying voice, "I shall grant Rawa a parcel of my rage, and he shall be able to make himself half man, half lion, and he will rend his foes before him and what blood he drinks shall be blood that I drink. I shall grant the rest of your army a fury that will not be quenched until all of the Hittites are slain and laid to rest in my temple, where I can come forth and devour their flesh!"

"We give the greatest thanks to you, lady! We shall give every fallen warrior to you in praise and thanks!" Gezes said in the most heartfelt of thanks.

Sekhmet\x92s eyes burned even more brightly, and her body started to glow as well, and she became a sphere of damning heat once more, and the sphere burned itself out.

Once Sekhmet had left, Rawa doubled over in pain, as his body changed. His eyes went from soft, deep brown to a harsh white which seemed to shine on their own, and his jaws jutted out into the powerful muzzle of a lion. His hair grew out into a large mane, and his hands become paws, tipped with lethal claws. His body swelled with new muscle and his clothing tore apart, and his feet grew out so that he walked on the ball of his foot and toes. After many moments of a terrible roaring, his body had stopped changing. He lifted himself up, and roared in triumph. He looked like a lion, but he walked upright and retained his wits.

"Rawa! Are you okay, friend?" Sejem asked frantically, running over to his childhood friend.

Rawa roared in a rage, "I seek the deaths of the Hittites! I will not rest until they are driven from the earth and I have devoured every last one of them! Vengeance will be ours!"

Sejem thought silently to himself of his actions of this day\x85

* * * *

Sejem watched the river that the Hittites had used in an earlier invasion to attack the city. Several hours after he had begun his vigil, he noticed hundreds of troops walking, with camels towing boats behind them. The boats were detached from their carrying sleds, and placed on the water. Moments later, the boats were filled to capacity with soldiers, and they set off across the length of the river. Halfway across, the vessels were attacked by hordes of crocodiles, who rammed into the flimsy boats or snapped at oars, or even hopped into them. In mere seconds, confusion reigned as the warriors were slaughtered and devoured by the angry crocodiles, provoked by the will of Sobek. In minutes, the entire invading army was reduced to gore and the waters were filled with blood, bone, sinew, and flesh.

* * * *

Rawa stood at the front of his fellow soldiers. Everyone awaiting the Hittites was filled with a burning rage, wanting to slay them, Rawa especially so, his eyes glowing with the divine fury of Sekhmet. As the Hittites approached over the barren and fiery sands, Rawa let slip a menacing roar, and ran forward, upon all four of his limbs, as the angry lion does. The troops behind him bellowed in magnificent anger, and rushed forward like rising floodwaters. The Hittites were not expecting such a thing, and they quickly readied themselves for the charge. However, even this preparation was inadequate, as Rawa jumped into the air, and easily went over their spears, and he bit into the throat of one man, and savagely tore another man\x92s chest open with his claws. The Army of the Pharaoh quickly met with the Hittites, and in their blind, inspired fury, they slew the Hittites with ease, swords cracking ribs and cutting muscle, spears impaling torsos, and arrows imbedding themselves into flesh and bone. After but an hour, the entire legion of the Hittite army was reduced to dead flesh. Rawa drank of much blood, and the Egyptians gathered all the corpses onto oxcarts, and took them to the temple of Sekhmet, where she feasted happily upon the dead.

* * * *

In distress over still being partially man and partially lion, Rawa sought out Sekhmet, he went to the temple, and bowed in acquiesce. He begged the powerful and fearless goddess for hours. At the cusp of day and night, she appeared before him, incandescent with anger, as she always was.

"Why do you seek me, Rawa? I gave you the strength and power to kill without fear of reprisal, and you have not upheld your obligation to me for your transformation and the rage given to your countrymen. You must go forth, and slay all of the Hittites before you are given back your old form," Sekhmet said to him, her teeth bared.

"Yes, mightiest of the pantheon\x85" assented Rawa, trembling as a child does before a disciplining parent.

And as the sun set below the horizon, so did Sekhmet become darker, until she disappeared from the view of the mortals.

* * * *

The following day, Rawa rallied the troops, and told them to relieve themselves of Sekhmet\x92s rage, they must find the remaining Hittites, slaughter them, and bring them to her temple once more. The armies, still tempestuous in their fury, agreed wholeheartedly and followed Rawa into the scorching deserts, looking for the camps of the Hittite menace.

A day after the entire army had left, the Hittites had attacked the city, however, to spite the soldiers, they killed only the women and the children. Even Gezes, close friend of Rawa and fellow priest to Sejem was brutally raped and murdered, her corpse set upon her own alter and her innards stuffed into the broken statue of Sekhmet, and her head placed upon the throne of Sekhmet.

However, the camps of the Hittites were found as their soldiers were ransacking the city. The camps were slain in the most brutal of ways, which would be best not to be read by the eye of man. Needless to say, every man, woman, and child suffered hideous deaths, and Rawa drank blood like a camel drinks water after a great trek through the desert sands. Rawa\x92s belly was distended and grotesque in its appearance after their slaughters. His muzzle was bloodstained, and his eyes burned with the terrific flames of the sun.

As the Army of the Pharaoh entered the city, they were beseeched by grieving farmers, priests, scribes, and many other men. They were told of the horrors wrought by the evil Hittite army. Rawa sought out Sejem, for he knew that Sejem would tell him all of what happened clearly, for Sejem\x92s emotions never wrecked him like it did other men. Rawa looked everywhere, in every house, in the deepest levels of Sobek\x92s temple, and in the fields. He started checking the temples of other gods last, for he knew that Sejem didn\x92t wish to ever anger other gods by entering their temples as being devoted to another. He wasn\x92t to be found in Anubis\x92s temple, nor Osiris\x92s, nor Ra\x92s. Finally, he looked into the Sekhmet\x92s temple, and found Sejem, upon his knees, weeping hard. Rawa ran up to him, and placed his hands around Sejem\x92s shoulders.

"Old friend, what is wrong?" Rawa cried out, fearful for the first time in his new form.

"They killed Gezes\x85she\x92s been lost to us\x85" Sejem sobbed out, great convulsions wracking his slight form.

Rawa looked up, and saw the horrible scene before him. He fell backwards, his mouth agape in surprise and horror. He too, began crying as a great depression grabbed a hold of him.

* * * *

That very evening, Rawa set out, tears still flowing from his eyes and grief still upon him. He hunted without tire for the Hittite armies. By midnight, he had found one legion of them, and he set upon them. His rage was powerful enough that weapons had no effect on him, and his blows separated men\x92s heads from their bodies or their trunks collapsed in on themselves by his might. In only an hour\x92s time, he had killed 400 Hittite warriors. He still hungered for vengeance, though. He still sought out more of the Hittites. When the morning sun drew itself up, he found more warriors, and slew them all. He continued like this for days, killing even those who didn\x92t appear to be Hittites. A month later, he returned to the city, blood-soaked and with a dead spirit. His emotions had been crushed, and all that was left of him now was the shell of a lion. He no longer even walked upon 2 legs. Sejem went up to greet his childhood friend, fearing he had lost him too, but Rawa didn\x92t even raise his eyes to meet the gaze of one he had shared much affection with 4 months ago. Rawa simply went to Sekhmet\x92s temple, and collapsed before the altar. Sekhmet appeared, and returned him to human form, and took her rage from him, and left as quickly as she had appeared. Rawa, though, was still dead. After lying for hours, his spirit left him. Sejem watched him for his final hours, and wept, having lost his best friends. He went deep into the temple of Sobek, into the throne room, and climbed atop it, and hid himself from the world forever more, always wondering if he was responsible for the horrors visited upon the city and his friends.

* * * *

Upon reaching the afterlife, Sejem was greeted by Sobek, who was not in the form of a man with a crocodile\x92s head, but as an enormous crocodile, who was fully the length of the side of one of the great Gaza pyramids.

"My servant, your life was horrible, and you regretted much that you did. So that you may continue to think of it, you shall be reborn as a crocodile and those thoughts alone shall occupy your mind. However, you will be unable to restrain yourself from eating, or drinking, and your life shall be long, this way you will have over 100 seasons to think of your mistakes. I shall see you again soon," Sobek rumbled as the thunder does, and dipped below the surface of what appeared to be the Nile.

Sejem then passed out, and awoke as a baby crocodile, and lived upon the Nile.