He slipped out of the room a moment later, intending to head for the library, which wasn't far from his room, to get some work done, his thoughts still swirling. Set was growing restless for another vision: He wanted to test Simon's boundaries, push him to train harder, to spend more time with the water, but so far, neither of his endeavours to elicit any magic had been to any avail. This made Simon wonder how Set had sent him the vision last time, but the god wouldn't explain, veering him off with complex and vague explanations (which normally made Simon's brain smoke) why the technique only worked when he was in lethal danger. All in all, he was beginning to think that there was something suspicious about that first vision, or at least the circumstances in which it had happened.

  When he reached the library a minute later – it was just across the hallway from his chamber – Set was already there, waiting for him at a table groaning with food, examining his black blade and red blade as he did so. When he became aware of Simon's presence (Simon had stopped in the doorway hesitantly - they didn't normally eat together), he sheathed his sword with one last, caressing gaze and waved Simon inside.

  “Come,” said Set as he noticed his reluctance. “I want to talk to you.” The tone of his voice left no doubt that his wish would have to be fulfilled.

  Simon made his way to the free chair warily, feeling that those words were never said for a pleasant reason. Why did Set want to talk to him? Was this about the visions he wasn't having, but the god wanted him to have? Was he too slow on the uptake? Or was this about the Infinity Key, which surely the god must know the purpose of by now?

  “There have been rumours flying through the camp,” began Set before Simon had so much as sat down. His tone was casual, but the feigned nonchalance couldn't quite conceal the underlying impatience. “Rumours of an old legend, long forgotten, but unfortunately not quite dead.”

  Simon felt his eyebrows rise, uncertain what to say to this strange pronouncement or where it was going. Set was watching him intently, scarlet eyes narrowed, boring into his, as though the god were hoping for any sign of recognition.

  “Have you ever heard the legend of the Traveller?” Set asked abruptly.

  Legend of the Traveller? How was he supposed to have heard about something like that? He'd been in ancient Egypt for barely a week, and Nefertari never let him be a part of any of their secrets...

  “I haven't,” said Simon, bewildered, once he had realized Set was waiting for an answer.

  Set's lips twisted.

  “Of course you haven't,” the god said softly, superiorly, “though it is time you should … The Traveller is a mythical figure, an explorer from a faraway land, an adventurer of the most ancient race. In the old texts it is written he visits Egypt once every ten years, but he hasn't been among us for almost two decades now.”

  “Why?” asked Simon.

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  “That's the question, isn't it?” said Set, his eyes glittering maliciously. “The texts don't say, but there could be many a reason. Old age, death, perhaps he became bored with us...” Set's nostrils flared and he leaned back in his chair. “I was hoping you would be able tell me.”

  “Me?” Simon kept his jaw from dropping by quickly shutting his mouth. How would he know anything about some crazy old legend? Most ancient race? Traveller? He had never heard anything like it … He was an archaeologist all right, but that didn't mean he knew everything – even if he generally liked to think he did indeed know everything indeed. How could he possibly have any information about the Traveller, never mind his whereabouts?

  “He was a time traveller,” said Set slowly, and a switch clicked in Simon's head, as though his numb brain had finally sprung back into action.

  “What, you think – me? But that's ridiculous,“ he said indignantly.

  “It is, isn't it?” Set smiled coldly, his fiery eyes no warmer than icicles. It was remarkable how much like Horus he looked at that moment.

  “Unfortunately, not everyone thinks so,” Set preserved. “The Traveller was a good man, a symbol of hope for the civilization … He brought us technology from home, showed us how to build houses and structures taller than even we gods could have imagined … You have been to Giza, no doubt, seen the structures which were built with his aid … People are hoping things might get better once the Traveller returns … They might put much store into a new boy from the future, don't you think?”

  Under Set's stare, Simon felt his palms becoming sweaty. What was the deity saying? That the folk, the gods, everyone expected something great of him? He didn't even have a mobile phone with him to show them the newest technology, or anything else for that matter … And he wasn't a great magician either … He couldn't even get his own, natural ability to work properly.

  “But I'm – this is a man we're talking about! I haven't even finished university!”

  “And yet, you wear the same pendant as he had with him.”

  At the last word, Set stood, leaning over the table until his face was inches away from Simon's, and Simon could see his white, bared teeth.

  “And there is more, another... coincidence,” Set said, in a tone that left no doubt he didn't believe in coincidences at all.

  “And what is that?” Simon gripped the edges of the table tightly in an effort to desist leaning away from the sickly sweet, iron-clad scent of blood coming from the god's mouth.

  “It is believed that the Traveller was a seer, too, and he certainly had knowledge of the future... as have you... peculiar, wouldn't you agree?”

  Simon stared ahead, unsure what to say; Set's suggestions were getting more hair-raising by the second … What was the god proposing now? That someone in his family, somehow, had been a seer, had been the Traveller? Was this about Avrak Walker again? Couldn't it be a coincidence that they had the same accessories, and similar skills? Surely, this had to be a mistake... Surely, there were more people who could see into the future...

  Simon wanted to scream with frustration. It was impossible – the only family he knew were Morgan and Avrak, and neither of them had ever mentioned anything about this.

  Haven't they? asked a malicious little voice in his head.

  A memory came back to him at that moment, fragments of a warning from a million years ago. Hadn't Morgan urged him to be careful about following their grandfather's map? Did that mean his cousin had known after all? Did that mean this was what Avrak had taught him when they whispered together, leaving him, Simon, out? But what were the odds of that? Surely, Avrak would have discussed those things with the intentional heir of the Infinity Key and its map, not with the other...

  But most importantly at the moment: What was Set expecting from him? There was nothing he could do, not even a single magic trick...

  “What do you want me to do?” Simon croaked, feeling overwhelmed again.

  “You will ride with me tomorrow,” said Set, apparently pleased that he had caught up so quickly, though his cold voice betrayed no emotion, no triumph or euphoria, whatsoever, “and it would do you well to remember where your loyalties lay.”