Carter Kane

* Kane Chronicles
* Original
* RR
* SOB

### Aliases

Flip-Flops (Sadie) Know-It-All (Sadie), Mr. Wikipedia (Sadie), Blood of the Pharaohs, Eye of Horus

### Relatives

Sadie Kane (Younger sister), Julius Kane (father) Ruby Kane (mother), Amos (Paternal uncle) Narmer (Ancestor)

## Appearances

### Appears in

The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid, The Kane Chronicles: the Throne of Fire, The Kane Chronicles: the Serpent's Shadow

### Debut

The Kane Chronicles: the Red Pyramid

**Carter Kane** is the eldest child and only son of Julius and Ruby Kane, and elder brother of Sadie Kane. After the death of his mother at the age of eight, he spent the next six years traveling the globe with his father and living out of a suitcase, essentially. He would visit his sister and maternal grandparents twice a year in London, with the siblings each envying each other’s lives for their respective reasons. He is the male protagonist of the trilogy, as well as the upcoming Netflix adaptions.

When he was fourteen, Carter became aware of the House of Life and he and his sister brought back a long forbidden form of magic. Following the conclusion of *The Serpent's Shadow*, Carter later becomes the Pharaoh of the House of Life and is one of the three most powerful magicians in the world, next to his Uncle Amos, and alongside his sister. Carter is currently in a relationship with Zia Rashid.

## Biography

### Early Life

Carter was born in Los Angles, California to Egyptologist Julius Kane and his wife Ruby Kane. His younger sister Sadie Kane was born twenty-two months after him.

During his sister’s sixth birthday they got into an argument over who should blow out the candles. During the fight they inadvertently and unknowingly used their magic, causing the cake to explode. Their parents told them that one of them must have punched the cake as a cover up, but neither of them believed that.

### Death of Mother

When he was eight, after his mother died, he traveled all around the world with his dad. His father tried to get custody of Sadie as well, but after six lawyers, two fist fights, and The Spatula Incident, Mr. and Mrs. Faust took sole custody of their granddaughter.

### Living around the Globe

Following that failure, Carter traveled the world with his father, going to various tombs and places and being forced to dress "impeccably" in dress shirts and khaki pants. Carter could only see his sister twice a year and secretly envied her normal life while she envied his.

When Carter was ten, he and his father were in Paris when a riot broke out. His father hid him in a nearby car and told him to keep his head down until he said so. After a few seconds the chaos ended with only the father and son left on the street.

## History

### *The Red Pyramid*

On Christmas Eve, Carter traveled with his father to London for Visitation Day with his sister. There, they encountered a mysterious man and Julius told Carter to get his sister while he talked with the man. Carter got Sadie who was annoyed by their being late and the two spied on their father and the man who he was arguing with about something he was planning to do and the Per Ankh which Carter didn't know what it was. When Sadie revealed themselves, the man left and their father announced that he was taking them to the British Museum for a private tour.
On the way to the museum, Julius stopped the cab by Cleopatra's Needle and revealed to Carter and Sadie that this was where their mother died, which surprised them as they knew very little about her death. Julius promised to "make things right," but before he could explain more about their mother or what he meant, a flash of lightning illuminated two mysterious people and he quickly had them continue their journey to the museum.

At the museum, to Carter and Sadie's surprise and confusion, Julius threw a bunch of stones in the backseat of the cab, gave the driver money and told him to go as far as the money would take him. Carter was even more confused when he saw what looked like people in the back of the cab as the cab couldn't have picked anyone up that fast. Carter and Sadie followed Julius as he met with the curator and was taken to the Rosetta Stone and then ordered them to lock the curator up in his office with a bike chain and stay out of the room as he did his work. They did as they were told, but seeing a mysterious light coming from the room Julius was in, Carter hesitantly followed Sadie in to check on his father and found him with his wand writing the hieroglyphs for "open" and "Osiris, come" on the Stone. After Sadie called out to him, mysteriously recognizing the hieroglyphs, the Stone exploded. Carter watched as Set arrived and spoke with Julius, informing him that all five gods of the Demon Days had been released, not just Osiris. Julius promised that "they" would defeat Set before the Demon Days ended and Carter watched in horror as Julius was imprisoned in a sarcophagus and sank into the ground. Carter tried to throw a piece of stone at Set, but was too scared and Set noticed them and blasted them against the wall. When Set tried to grab him, his Eye of Horus amulet protected him and Set fled. Before Carter passed out, he witnessed the arrival of the mysterious man and girl from earlier and that while the girl wanted to kill him and Sadie, the man reluctantly stopped her without proof of something.

After waking up, the police separated him and Sadie before questioning them and then bringing them back to the Fausts' flat for Inspector Williams to question them. Carter was questioned first, but was uncooperative. Sadie was uncooperative as well, knowing that the inspector lied when he said Carter told them everything. The police didn't believe their story of what happened and Inspector Williams threatened to arrest them before suddenly deciding to deport both Carter and Sadie. The inspector left suddenly and while they were trying to figure out what was going on, the man that had been arguing with Julius arrived and the Fausts realized that he changed the inspector's mind. The man told them that he had to take both Carter and Sadie with them for their safety and while Sadie was reluctant to go, Carter wasn't because he knew he wasn't welcome at the Fausts. Finally Sadie recognized the man as their Uncle Amos, Julius' brother and they went with him. To their surprise, to get them to his mansion in Brooklyn, he took them on an Egyptian reed boat with a short guy wearing his hat and trench coat driving it and even more surprising, they very quickly reached Brooklyn from London on the boat.

At the mansion, both Carter and Sadie were surprised to see that it was perched atop a warehouse and Carter somehow was able to open the door with a raise of his hands. Inside, they met Amos' baboon Khufu who, like Carter, was interested in the Lakers and wanted Carter to play a game against him at some point which Carter nervously agreed to. Amos then took Julius' work bag which Carter had carried since the museum and locked it in his library. Going to bed, both Carter and Sadie were locked in their adjoining rooms. Carter found his ivory headrest uncomfortable, so he took it off the bed.

That night, as he slept, Carter's *ba* traveled to Camelback Mountain near Phoenix, Arizona where he witnessed the demon Face of Horror and another demon waiting for Set to arrive. He witnessed their conversation where Set killed the other demon and then decided to build a great pyramid from which he would launch the greatest storm ever on his birthday to wipe out the continent. Carter also witnesses him ordering the "longnecks" sent to get the "younglings" before they master their powers.

The next morning, Carter was woken up by Sadie's cat Muffin who didn't seem happy that he had slept without the headrest and found Khufu eating something with pink feathers while watching a basketball game. Carter then joined Sadie and Amos for breakfast on the terrace and was stunned to learn that Amos had an albino crocodile named Philip of Macedonia as a pet as well. Carter listened to Amos' explanation of magic and the Egyptian gods and revealed what he had learned from his *ba* vision which Amos explained a bit. Worried about what Carter had learned, Amos decided to investigate, leaving Carter and Sadie behind and telling them that Muffin would protect them and not to go into the library under any circumstances.

At Sadie's urging, Carter reluctantly decided to join her in exploring the library. Sadie managed to get them in by blasting through the doors with the *ha-di* spell Amos had previously mentioned and they explored the library. The two found their father's *shabti*, Doughboy, in his work bag and he explained what little he knew. Searching further, Carter found a book called the *Blood of the Pharaohs* and to their shock, the name Kane was one of the many listed as being descended from the pharaohs which both dismissed as impossible. Searching further, Sadie found the story of the Demon Days which neither could read, but when Carter wished for it in English, a retrieval *shabti* got an English copy for them and after reading it, Carter explained the story of how the sky goddess Nut had created the Demon Days to have her five children Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis and Nephthys after Ra forbade it and how they are the last five days of the year, December 27 through the 31st. Carter and Sadie realize that Set is the god they witnessed at the museum and in the *ba* vision and that his birthday is on the 29th and that Julius meant for *them* to stop Set before then.

At that moment, Khufu goes crazy and investigating, Carter and Sadie discover serpopards attacking the house. They watch as Philip fights them and then breaks the terrace and throws them and himself into the East River to save Carter and Sadie. Carter leads Sadie back into the library and has the *shabti* get the Narmer Palaette to show Sadie the serpopards on the back with Sadie noting the resemblance between Narmer and their father. Carter has the *shabti* return the Palaette and heads out into the Great Room as the serpopards return. To Carter and Sadie's horror, the house's magical defenses are breached and Carter grabs a sword off the wall to defend them with. Khufu is flung off the building trying to defend them and in desperation and remembering what Amos said, Sadie orders Muffin to defend them. To their surprise, Muffin turns into the cat goddess Bast who kills the serpopards. Carter recognizes who Bast is and she has them run from the house to find an obelisk to open a portal to escape through.

Bast, after destroying a wrecking ball she thought was a threat, steals a car to escape from the carriers that are chasing them as she leads them to an obelisk in Central Park. On the way, Bast explains that their parents freed her and she made a deal with their father to posses Muffin and protect Sadie in exchange for being allowed to remain in the mortal world which was the least she could do after their mother died freeing her. At the obelisk, Bast takes on her combat avatar while Sadie tries to open a portal and Carter decides to aid Bast in fighting. Following Bast's instructions, Carter slices the carriers up into tiny pieces with his sword after Bast defeats them. However, Sadie is unable to open a portal and the scorpion goddess Serqet arrives so Bast holds her off while sending Carter and Sadie into the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art to find a temple inside that might protect them. To their horror, Bast is overwhelmed and apparently killed.

Carter and Sadie race through the museum searching for the temple Bast mentioned and chased by Serqet and her scorpions. They meet up with the girl from the British Museum who introduces herself as Zia Rashid, a magician and scribe from the House of Life who Carter is instantly smitten with. Zia leads them to the Temple of Dendur inside the museum where she starts the process to open a portal at noon which is the next time one can be opened and has Carter draw a circle of protection while Sadie sets out the Four Sons of Horus. Following Zia's orders, Carter stays inside the circle as Zia battles Serqet and watches as she binds the goddess with the Seven Ribbons of Hathor. The portal opens, but Zia hesitates to come when Serqet is not banished. However, Carter points out that the portal is closing and gets her to follow him and Sadie through it.

The portal transports them to the Cairo Airport which Carter recognizes. Zia explains how that particular portal can't be used again for twelve hours due to a needed cool down and leads them to a door into the ruins of Heliopolis. On a bridge leading into the First Nome, Zia has Carter go first, warning him that he must pass a test to enter the Nome and when daggers are shot at him, he is able to dodge them or deflect them with his sword. To his surprise, he encounters the *ba* of Nectanabo II who tells him in Ancient Egyptian to "go forth good king" which shocks Zia. Zia introduces them to the Chief Lector Iskandar and Michel Desjardins who had been the man from the British Museum. While Iskandar is willing to listen to them, Desjardins, believing they are hosting gods, refuses to believe them, though Zia backs them up with what happened with Serqet and the fact that more gods may have been released which Carter points out is what Bast said would happen. Carter asks for help in finding Amos, but is told that they can't locate them. Under the order of Iskandar, they are allowed to stay and be trained and Carter is separated from Sadie and taken to the boys dorm.

That night, Carter has another *ba* vision where he witnesses Amos being captured by Set who addresses him with *bon soir*, causing Carter to worry that he is using Desjardins as a host. Unable to sleep anymore, Carter sneaks out and follows Zia, who is surrounded by a mysterious black cloud, to a hidden room where she releases a ball of blue flame. She detects Carter and they discuss her past, how her village was wiped out by a chaos monster that her father accidentally unleashed, how she was the only survivor and how she can't remember any of her life before being found by Iskandar and that all she has left of her family is a shrine made out of pictures from her old life. After learning that Zia has no friends and has never experienced anything a typical teenager would have experience, Carter offers to take her to the mall and see a movie once everything calms down which she admits she'd like. Afterwards, he returns to bed.

The next morning, he is awakened to go to training with Zia. She first takes them to a fountain to cleanse themselves, get tattoos of *Ma'at* on their tongues and to give them magical implements. She allows Carter to keep his father's kit while giving him a new wand and staff as Set destroyed Julius', but tells him to keep his sword which she identifies as a *khopesh*, the weapon of the pharoah's guards. Zia takes them to the library to teach them how to use a scroll to create and summon various things. Carter creates a bird and summons a butter knife while trying to summon a sword. After Sadie nearly roasts her eyebrows, Zia takes them through a portal to Luxor to duel. Carter and Sadie realize that she believes them to be hosting gods which they deny and she demands they prove it. After Sadie turns her staff into a lion and accidentally sets it on Carter, he summons Horus' combat avatar and slices the lion in half, shocking Zia. However, before more can happen, a young trainee arrives with news that Iskandar is dead. Zia warns them that Desjardins will take up command and order her to kill them, but Sadie convinces her to let them go by telling Zia about a conversation she had with Iskandar the night before. Zia tells them to use the nearby obelisk to open a portal and escape and that they only have a few minutes. Carter gives Sadie his staff to use as he destroyed hers while he uses his sword. As Sadie tries to open a portal, a magician summons dozens of sphinxes to attack them and Carter defends them. Carter manages to destroy one, but is tackled by two others as Sadie opens a portal to Paris and escapes. Despite getting at least one broken rib and losing his sword, Carter manages to touch the portal and gets sucked in, but pulls the two sphinxes with him.

In Paris, Carter is nearly killed, but Bast shows up and destroys both sphinxes. As they are safe with the portal needing a twelve hour cool down and the fact that no one would believe they would stay there, Bast heals his injuries and helps them realize that they are now hosting Horus and Isis and Carter and Sadie manage to communicate directly with their gods. Carter refuses to let Horus take control of him and learns from Bast how their mother died by using up all of her life force to shield their father when they released Bast. Bast comes up with the idea to steal a book by Thoth called the *Book of Overcoming Set* from Desjardins to defeat Set and leads them to Desjardins' house. There, Carter turns into a falcon and Sadie a kite to get in and while Carter is able to turn back to human without issues, Sadie can't. With the help of Doughboy, Carter finds the Book, but it releases a plague of fruit bats which attack him. Carter turns back into a falcon and leads the bats away before meeting up with Bast. Carter, Sadie (who manages to return to normal) and Bast run to the Louvre to open a portal to America before sundown which is near as portals stop working at sundown for the rest of the Demon Days. At the Louvre, Carter helps hold off the fruit bats by throwing his wand like a boomerang at them while Sadie tries to open a portal using the Louvre's glass pyramid. She succeeds, but as the portal opens at the top of the pyramid, Bast has to throw him into it.

After traveling through the portal to the Washington Monument, Sadie passes out for a couple of hours and Carter and Bast try to make sense of the Book to no avail, even with Doughboy's help. When Sadie wakes up, she is also unable to read the Book and they explain to her where her portal led them and why. Carter asks about the possibility of opening another one as its not yet sunset in Washington, DC, but Bast reminds him of the fact that the Monument needs twelve hours to cool down and even if it didn't Sadie is too exhausted to open another portal. After they decide to wait until the next day to leave, Sadie tells Carter that a magician chasing them told her not to trust Bast, that Bast abandoned her post and she asks Bast what the magician meant. Bast reluctantly tells them that she was imprisoned with a chaos monster and that while that monster didn't escape thanks to their mother's sacrifice, the magician believes that her place was fighting that monster forever. Bast goes on patrol before they can ask more, but both Carter and Sadie know she's not telling the truth about something. As Sadie is worried, Carter offers to stay up until Bast returns before going to sleep, allowing Sadie the peace of mind to fall asleep.

The next morning, Sadie wakes up to tell them of her encounter with the sky goddess Nut as a *ba* and gives Bast the first-class tickets to Memphis Nut gave them in order to see the god Thoth. She warns them that Nut said Set's minion would becoming and Carter notices the minion: the Set animal. Bast jumps off the Monument to distract the animal, telling Carter and Sadie to turn into birds and meet her at Reagan National Airport. Carter soothes the worried Sadie and they fly to the airport, but Carter has to repeatedly fight off the instinct to hunt and remind Sadie of the same. At the airport, while Carter is able to instantly turn back, Sadie can't so Carter tells her stories about his times traveling the world with their father to help, but Sadie still doesn't turn back. Using their father's bag as an arm guard, Carter carries Sadie into the terminal where a police officer accosts him before Bast intervenes. She gets them through security and teaches Carter how to stow things in a "locker" in the Duat and summon them again so he can stow Julius' bag and not have to carry it around. As they make their way through the terminal, the Set animal arrives and Carter gives Sadie to Bast to fight the animal as a lot of people are in danger. Carter manages to summon his *khopesh* from the Duat and faces the Set animal that he names "Leroy," but even with his combat avatar, he is unable to defeat him so he throws him into his locker in the Duat and joins Bast and Sadie on the plane.

While napping on the way to Memphis, Carter has another *ba* vision where he witnesses the half-constructed red pyramid and overhears Set and Face of Horror talking about Set's plans. He learns that Set plans to have the pyramid done by sunrise on his birthday, two days away and at Face of Horror's suggestion, plans to capture *all* five gods to power the storm, not just Osiris. To do so, Set plans to use Amos to trap Carter and Sadie, but notices Carter and reaches out to grab him, but Carter wakes up just in time.

While making their way to the University of Memphis where Thoth is, Carter relays everything he learned to Sadie and Bast, leaving Bast worried as a mere demon gave Set such an idea. At the University, Carter and Sadie find Khufu who demands Carter show off his "awesome" basketball skills before he shows them to Thoth. Carter plays with Khufu and a bunch of other baboons and turns out to be a terrible player, getting literally walked all over. Carter explains that it is Julius' favorite game and that he does know a lot of statistics despite being unable to play. Khufu takes Carter and Sadie to Thoth, with Bast running off rather than meeting the god. Thoth accuses them of being possessed by their gods, but they try to convince him that they are not and get his help in deciphering the Book. Thoth tells them how Horus and Isis nearly killed each other last time they fought Set, how Thoth had to save Isis' life and how all of this is actually Isis' fault as she forced Ra to retire, causing Set to turn against Osiris. After Sadie admits she doesn't know if Set is the true enemy or not, Thoth realizes that they may really be in control of their gods after all and decides to test them to check. Thoth tells them he needs an item of power from the tomb of a "great magician" and opens a portal which he explains he can do as a god of magic even during the Demon Days.

Traveling through the portal, Carter and Sadie arrive at Graceland, Elvis Presley's house and begin searching for the item of power. They come under attack from two magicians named Jerrod and Wayne and trying to distract them, Carter is turned into a lizard. Sadie puts him in her pocket and protects him as she fights the two magicians. After Sadie defeats them, she manages to turn Carter back to normal. To their shock, the two release balls of yellow fire and crumble and Carter realizes that they are actually *shabti* and part of Thoth's test. Against Carter's wishes, Sadie fixes Graceland, but it costs her a lot of energy. Carter and Sadie find an *ankh* on Elvis' tomb and attached to that, an ancient painting of the Cat of Ra killing Apophis. To Carter's shock, he realizes that the Cat isn't Sekhmet like his father said it probably was, but actually Bast. A portal opens to Thoth and Carter and Sadie head through it to get answers from the god.

Carter and Sadie find Thoth in his new home in the Pyramid Arena in Memphis. Thoth refuses to explain the painting which Carter realizes he left for them as a clue. Thoth explains that the Book can only be read when confronting Set and using the actual spell and that they need two ingredients for it to work: a Feather of Truth and Set's Secret Name. Thoth suggests they visit the Land of the Dead and try to get Anubis to give them the Feather while he suggests that they try to trick Set into giving them his name or else get it from the only other person who would know, his wife, the goddess Nephthys. To reach the Land of the Dead, Thoth tells them to follow the Mississippi River south on a boat that arrives before disappearing.

Carter and Sadie board the boat, the *Egyptian Queen* and find Bast waiting on board for them along with the demon captain Bloodstained Blade. Bast explains that the boat can only be summoned once a year and in times of great need and tells them that they have to give specific instructions to the captain. Carter orders him to take them to the Land of the Dead and as it will take awhile, they settle down for a meal. During the meal, Bast admits that she was on the boat before, the night their mother died and that its where she made her deal with their father. Carter confronts her about the painting and the fact that Bast lied to them, that it wasn't just a chaos monster she had been fighting, but Apophis himself. Bast admits that, explaining that she was ashamed that she abandoned her duty to fight Apophis forever and escaped. Bast explains that Ra bound her to Apophis with his last spell before he left for the heavens and that she figured out that she and Apophis were to fight each other until both were destroyed. Bast explains that their mother, with her power of divination, forsaw that Bast would lose her battle and be destroyed and Apophis would rise and destroy the world. They knew they needed the gods to defeat him and they freed Bast as the first part of restoring the gods. Bast also tells them that she and their father were sure that their mother's sacrifice blocked Apophis from escaping, but they are unsure how much longer Apophis will remain chained up. Carter, after telling Bast and Sadie that he thinks that her following Ra's orders to her death is wrong and thinking that order isn't much better than chaos if you had to get yourself killed for it, went to bed.

When Carter fell asleep, Horus pulled his *ba* from his body and met with Carter on the deck of the boat in his human form. Feeling Carter needed to be taught a lesson, Horus showed him Desjardins, Zia and two other magicians on a plane to Dallas and the plane being ripped apart in the storm before the magicians saved it. He also showed him storms created by Set's chaos over Phoenix and Brooklyn and a dark shape under a river. Horus then showed Carter his and Isis' finding Osiris' sarcophagus, but having Set find them and shatter the sarcophagus, forcing them to flee. Horus explains that Isis and Nephthys eventually managed to find all of the pieces and with the help of Anubis, bind Osiris together again, but he was only able to resurrected as an un-dead god, as the ruler of the dead. Horus explains that the death of his father angered him enough to challenge Set and take the throne and that Carter must do the same, but Carter doesn't want to.

Sadie and Bast wake Carter up as they approach the First Catarcact, the entrance to the Land of the Dead. Following the *Book of the Dead*, the boat travels down the River of Night to the Land of the Dead, going through the Cataract to the great fear of Carter and Sadie. As the boat continues on, they spot lost souls on the banks of the river and Bast explains how they are waiting for Ra to do his nightly journey which he had stopped when he retreated into the heavens. Carter is confused as the sun doesn't travel beneath the Earth like Ra did, but Bast explains that Ra is the embodiment of the sun. Soon afterwards, they are accosted by the giant demon Shezmu who demands they name his secret name or be destroyed. Carter searches in the *Book of the Dead* for the name while Sadie stalls, however, as Carter finds the name, Sadie tricks the demon into giving it up and they are able to pass. Coming to the Gates of the West, they are visited by the *ba* of Iskandar who freezes time to talk to Sadie and thus Carter and Bast have no idea what happened until Sadie unfreezes them and she doesn't explain. At the Hall of Judgement, Carter and Sadie say goodbye to Bloodstained Blade, but at Bast's secret insistence, don't release him from their service. After Bast insults Anubis, he arrives and she runs off, but while Sadie can see Anubis in full human form, Carter sees him with the head of a jackal. Khufu explains everything to Anubis who is not happy to see Carter as he doesn't like Horus. Anubis shows them how the Scales of Anubis are now broken as chaos is overcoming Ma'at and explains how without Osiris, everything is falling apart. Anubis refuses to help them with a Feather of Truth, however, after Sadie can see a New Orleans graveyard under the layers of the Hall of Judgement, Anubis takes her there to talk privately, leaving Carter and Khufu behind. After Sadie gets the Feather from Anubis, he transports Carter and Khufu to the graveyard as well and they reunite with Sadie and set out to find Bast and continue their journey to Phoenix.

After reuniting with Bast, the group steals an RV and Carter and Sadie sleep while Bast and Khufu take turns driving. Sadie refuses to elaborate on what she talked about with Anubis to get the Feather and Bast is anxious as she abandoned them in the Hall of Judgement once again. While Carter and Sadie forgive her, she is unhappy due to her promise to always protect Sadie and by extension Carter if it came to it which she once again broke. Bast explains that they are important as they are the most powerful royal children in centuries and they are the only chance of reconciling the House of Life and the gods and teaching others the Path of the Gods. Bast tells them that everything their parents did was to prepare the way for them. Overwhelmed by everything, Carter heads onto the RV porch to practice with his *khopesh*.

After practicing for awhile with encouragement and advice from Horus, Horus appears to Carter and Horus warns him that another challenge is approaching before they encounter Set. Horus tells Carter that the same forces that Set once sent against him and Isis he will send against Carter and Sadie with Carter figuring that the next challenge will be at a river from his last vision. However, before Horus can elaborate on the possible threat, Zia makes contact with Carter. Zia warns Carter that she, Desjardins and two other magicians are coming after them to stop them and she asks to meet with him, planning for them to try to convince the magician working with her, Mel and then Desjardins to help them stop Set. Zia also informs him that she has something important to tell him in person and asks him to trust her and meet her at Las Cruces, New Mexico before she has to cut the communication due to the approach of Mel.

Bast takes the group to the Rio Grande to summon Nephthys to try to get Set's secret name from her. Both Carter and Horus are worried as they recognize the place as where Set destroyed Osiris and the place in Carter's vision where something was slithering under the water. As Bast and Sadie try to communicate with Nephthys who they can barley hear, Carter spots an immigrant family and gets worried when they suddenly disappear. Investigating with Khufu, he finds them hiding from a giant crocodile. Carter barley dodges the first attack and yells for help from Sadie and Bast before attacking the crocodile with his wand. He misses and starts a fight with the croc, trying to kill it with his sword, but failing to as its hide is too thick. Carter is also unable to summon his combat avatar, however, after Sadie is injured by a second crocodile, Carter manages to knock his over with a wall of force from his wand and then kill it by driving his *khopesh* into its belly while its on its back. Bast manages to kill the second crocodile, but Sadie is left badly hurt and the crocodile god Sobek arrives to attack. Carter, following Horus' advice, confronts him, but Sobek refuses to back down as he supports Set now, believing that Horus is too weak in the form of Carter. Sobek tries to drown Carter and he refuses to give up control to Horus, but he manages to summon his combat avatar and breaks free. Carter and Bast, both in their avatars, battle Sobek together, but are unable to defeat him and are beaten down. Sobek calls for more reinforcements and Bast attacks him again, telling Carter to get Sadie out of there. Bast defeats Sobek and banishes him back to the Duat, but sacrifices herself to do so, leaving behind only Muffin who flies into Carter's arms. The two new giant crocodiles arrive, but Amos arrives with Philip of Macedonia and Philip holds off the enemy long enough for them to escape on Amos' boat.

Amos takes them to White Sands, New Mexico where Carter tells him what happened, but doesn't tell him how they plan to defeat Set. When Sadie wakes up after her injuries have been healed, Amos explains how he was captured and then escaped from Set and believes Set let him go as it was too easy. Amos also explains how Set plans to use Osiris' power to augment Set's storm at sunrise and the explosion of power will be so much that Osiris will be banished so deep into the Duat that he might never return. Carter sadly tells Sadie what happened to Bast and Amos explains that it might take Bast a few centuries to be able to return. This devastates both Carter and Sadie as they have lost so much already and Amos has Sadie go back to sleep for awhile. When she wakes up, Carter and Amos are preparing to go and Carter is putting on a new coat he gets from Amos' supply locker on his boat. Amos sends Khufu back to Brooklyn with Muffin and Philip who is revealed to be a *shabti* and tries to get Sadie to tell him how they will defeat Set as Carter wouldn't tell him. However, realizing that Carter is right not to completely trust Amos and tell him, Sadie doesn't either. Carter then insists they go to Las Cruces to meet up with Zia despite the fact that it is out of their way and is surprised when Sadie agrees with him. Sadie explains how she met with the god of the earth Geb while asleep and he also said they should go to Las Cruces, that something that could help them would be there. With both Carter and Sadie wanting to go, Amos agrees.

Amos flies his boat to Las Cruces, landing on the roof of a church. While there, Carter tries a red-hot tortilla and burns his mouth. Finally, they find Zia who doesn't trust Amos and asks to speak to Carter alone. However, Desjardins and two other magicians arrive and Amos blasts Zia, not believing her protests that she didn't betray them and that it must have been Mel. Carter helps Zia while Amos drives away the other magicians and faces off with Desjardins. Zia proves herself to be on their side by standing up to Desjardins and Amos creates a sandstorm to distract Desjardins, allowing them to flee to his boat while he holds him off. Upon reaching the boat and seeing that Amos is in trouble, Zia casts a pillar of fire spell to chase Desjardins, exhausting her magic and impressing Carter. However, Desjardins, desperate to stop them, summons Sekhmet, which Carter knows is a bad thing as she doesn't stop until her enemy is destroyed.

Carter flies the boat as Amos has his magic coat and he has a hard time controlling it at first. After having to wish Horus a happy birthday to shut him up, Carter tries to get advice from the god on how to defeat Sekhmet, but Horus tells him its impossible. Despite Carter's best efforts, Sekhmet gains on them and part of the boat catches on fire. Zia wakes up and has Carter fly them to a *Magic Salsa, Inc.* warehouse, but Carter crashes the boat after having to flip it upside-down to survive another arrow, causing the bottom to catch on fire. Carter crashes the boat into the factory and helps Zia and Sadie out. Zia explains how in ancient times, in order to stop Sekhmet, the magicians of Egypt tricked her into gorging herself on alcohol, thinking it was blood, making her pass out and turn into Hathor. Zia suggests they burst open some nearby salsa tanks and trick her into feeding on that to turn her into Hathor and defeat her. While Sadie distracts Sekhmet, Carter flies as a falcon to the top of the nearest tank and transforms directly into his avatar, breaking open the tanks and tricking Sekhmet into gorging herself on the salsa. The plan works and Sekhmet passes out and transforms into a sleeping Hathor once full. Needing another way to reach Phoenix with the boat destroyed, Carter comes up with the plan to use the only remaining sixteen-wheeler in the parking lot to drive there and has Zia teach him the spell Amos used to animate his coat for the task. Carter, using the spell and Doughboy, is able to animate his own coat and they start the drive to Phoenix.

As Sadie sleeps in the back, Carter and Zia discuss the events that have happened and how Zia's siding with them will get her shunned from the House of Life. Carter offers her to join them, but she is unsure what they will do even if they defeat Set and save North America. Zia explains to Carter how Iskandar apparently forsaw that she would be in danger as he took her aside after her return from the British Museum and told her that she was in danger and he would take her somewhere safe, but she can't remember what happened next and guesses that Iskandar apparently didn't get time to do anything as soon after she was sent to rescue them in New York. Zia then reveals to Carter that she knows Set's secret name which is what she had wanted to tell him, but asks him not to tell Amos who she believes is being possessed by Set. Zia explains that she has a voice inside of her telling her the name and Carter comes to the conclusion that she is the host of Nephthys, pointing out that Zia was also at the British Museum when the gods were released. Zia is shocked at the idea, but doesn't believe it to be true as the other magicians would've noticed by now and she would've been destroyed. Carter points out his belief that Desjardins is possessed by Set, but Zia doesn't believe that and insists its Amos, telling Carter that only he or Sadie could use Set's secret name to defeat him. However, before they can discuss it more, Amos returns, having escaped Sekhmet.

As they get closer to Phoenix and sunrise on Set's birthday, visibility turns bad from the massive sandstorm Set is generating and magic and the truck's GPS don't work so Carter and Amos go to a gas station for directions. By the time they return, Sadie is awake and they continue their journey to Camelback Mountain and Set's pyramid. Nearing the mountain, they drive into the eye of the storm where there and find themselves near sunrise. In order to sneak up the mountain, Amos turns the group into clouds against their wishes, especially Zia who points out that storm magic is also chaos magic. As clouds, they reach the top of the mountain and find the pyramid nearly complete with the pyramidion the only piece left and that is being lowered into place by two boats. Carter, in the form of a falcon, Sadie, in the form of a kite, Amos, in the form of a fruit bat and Zia, holding onto a giant vulture she transforms an amulet into, attack the boats, killing all the demons on one and turning the other into smoke, sending the demons on it plummeting off. Carter cuts the lines holding the pyramidion to their boat before it can cause the boat to crash, causing the pyramidion to crash to the ground and killing a lot of demons. As the surviving demons come after them, Amos creates a distraction by setting the boat on fire and crashing it into the demons, allowing Carter, Sadie and Zia to escape and reach the pyramid. Inside, Carter seals the doors using the Eye of Horus and they make their way to the throne room through hallways full of terrible drawings. In the throne room, they find their father's coffin as part of the throne and Amos arrives through a vent in the ceiling which he seals. However, Set reveals himself to be possessing Amos as Zia suspected and abandons his body.

Set explains that he was mostly possessing the pyramid and only had a sliver of his soul possessing Amos, but it was enough to trick them and lure them into a trap. Set explains that the storm magic was Amos' way of trying to warn them, but Set forced him to use his own energy for it and Amos nearly burned out his soul trying to warn them. Carter realizes that Set forced Amos to sabotage Brooklyn House's defenses and knew the whole time that Carter's *ba* was spying on him, but wonders why he didn't just have Amos kidnap them. Set answers him that Amos' will was too strong and he would've burned Amos up trying, which he wasn't willing to do. Carter fights Horus' attempts to take control, but when Set insults them, they act as one and hit Set with the Fist of Horus. However, Set isn't hurt and when he goes after Zia who he believes hosts Nephthys, Carter tries to intervene and is magically pinned to a wall. Carter grows worried for Zia as he no longer believes her to be hosting Nephthys as he couldn't sense any divine magic from her and struggles to break free as Zia fails to defend herself against Set and tells him not to resist. Set discovers that Carter is right, that Zia is not Nephthys' host and angrily throws her against a pillar, badly injuring her. Sadie saves Zia from falling to her death and protects her and seeing that causes Carter to finally understand that he can't continue to resist Horus, that they must act as one to defeat Set. Carter and Horus merge in what is a very rare true merge of host and god and learn everything there is to know about each other in that moment. Now merged, Carter breaks free of his bonds easily and stands up to face Set, identifying himself as Carter Kane, Blood of the Pharaohs and the Eye of Horus.

Carter, in his combat avatar, battles Set, causing the throne room to start collapsing and endangering Sadie, Zia and Amos. Realizing this, he turns Set into a fruit bat and himself into a falcon and flies out the pyramid's air shaft to continue the battle outside. However, even merged with Horus, Carter has a hard time against Set. Carter spots magicians from the House of Life battling and failing to win against Set's demon army with only a couple of minutes to sunrise and attempts to prevent the pyramidion from being placed, but is unable to stop the demons. However, Desjardins defeats the demons and tries to destroy the pyramidion, but is stopped by Set who places it himself and gloats as there is only thirty seconds to sunrise at which point he will be unstoppable. As everything looks to be over, Sadie arrives, merged with Isis and opens a portal to Washington, DC, pulling them, Set, the red pyramid, the magicians and the demons in.

In Washington D.C., Set is cut off from the source of his power, the desert and weakened while Carter is re energized by the power of the Washington Monument. Carter attacks Set, holding him off a lot easier than before while Sadie casts the spell from the *Book of Overcoming Set.* Carter successfully holds Set off long enough for magical ropes to ensnare him after Sadie speaks his secret name, gotten from Zia and the army of demons is sucked back into the Duat. However, to Carter's confusion, Sadie stops the spell before banishing Set and with Horus pushing him towards vengeance, Carter is left confused as to why she would falter at such a crucial moment. Sadie then throws the Feather of Truth into the sky where it explodes, revealing what she had noticed: Apophis in the clouds trying to escape his prison by using the chaos energy Set's storm would have generated. In anger, Face of Horror attacks Sadie and nearly kills her, but Carter throws his sword into the demon's side, mortally wounding him. Before he dies, Face of Horror reveals himself to be possessed by Apophis who points out how much destruction he caused just by possessing a demon and promises worse once he breaks free of his prison. Carter and Sadie then turn to Set and try to convince of the truth of how he was actually manipulated and would've likely been destroyed once Apophis had broken free of his prison. They point out how Set once fought against Apophis as Ra's faithful lieutenant and ask him to help them do so again. After Carter threatens to chop his head off, pointing out that that would probably keep him away for a long time and Sadie uses her control over him due to knowing his secret name, Set finally agrees not to return until Carter and Sadie call on him to fight with them against Apophis and swears on his secret name, Ra's throne and Nut's starry elbows before Sadie orders him back to the Duat.

With Set gone, Carter and Sadie go to check on Amos and Zia who Zia managed to shield from the destruction of the red pyramid during the spell. Zia used up all of her remaining energy to shield them and is now dying. Zia tells Carter to find "her" and that "she" would like to go on the promised date to a mall with him and that she is just a placeholder before dying. As Carter grieves over Zia's body, Sadie points out to him that Zia is turning to clay and cracking and as they watch, a ball of blue fire is released from her body like the one Carter witnessed Zia release in the First Nome and Zia crumbles to dust. Sadie reveals that Zia was actually a *shabti* all along with the real Zia hidden somewhere by Iskandar to protect her as she is hosting Nephthys. Carter realizes that the blue light was the *shabti* sending her memories to the real Zia and declares that they have to find her. At that moment, Desjardins arrives with three other magicians to confront them, demanding to know how they could make a deal with Set rather than banishing him and declaring that they are drunk with power from hosting the gods. He also refuses to give Carter the pharaoh's throne which he believes Carter wants. However, Carter and Sadie release the gods into the Duat, astounding the magicians and Carter declares that he doesn't want the throne unless he can earn it, which will take a long time. After initially planning to attack them, Desjardins hesitates and leaves with the other magicians, declaring that enough destruction had been wrought for one day and that the Path of the Gods must remain closed despite Carter and Sadie wanting to teach it again.

Needing to get out of the area before the mortals arrive, Carter turns Amos into a hamster and as a falcon, along with Sadie as a kite, flies them away from the scene to a train station. After Washington is opened up again, Carter and Sadie manage to buy tickets to Brooklyn and return to Brooklyn House, the only safe place they know, where they find Khufu waiting for them with Muffin and having made them up places to sleep. Carter and Sadie lock away their amulets, deciding that they need to learn how to use magic without the aid of Horus and Isis before hosting the gods again, though Carter always examines his amulet which still holds some of Horus' power, tempted to put it back on and host Horus again. They work on rebuilding Brooklyn House and helping Amos who falls into a depression over his possession and helplessness during that time.

After a few weeks of work on the House, Anubis shows up and Carter sees in him in his full human form, not just with the head of a jackal. He takes them to the Hall of Judgement where Carter and Sadie are reunited with their father, now fully hosting Osiris and the spirit of their mother. Julius explains that he planned to host Osiris and then die so that he could return Osiris to rightful place in the Underworld as the first step towards restoring the gods and *Ma'at.* Ruby gives them a *djed* amulet, the symbol of Osiris to awaken the power of the other children who are blood of the pharaohs so as to have more people to train in the Path of the Gods. Julius also gives them advice to give to Amos for him. After saying goodbye to their parents, Carter and Sadie are taken by Anubis to the throne room of the gods where Horus asks Carter to merge with him once again so they can take up rule of the gods and House of Life, but Carter refuses. Carter and Sadie watch as Horus become pharaoh of the gods and he and Isis promise them a gift as thanks for stopping Apophis and Set.

The next day, they find the gift: Brooklyn House completely restored, work that would've taken them months done in one night. Amos, somewhat happier, even comes to breakfast and uses magic for the first time since his possession by Set. He announces his decision to go to the First Nome and get help from the healers there with his problems and leaves after saying goodbye and giving Carter and Sadie permission to stay at Brooklyn House. As part of the gift, Bast returns as well. When Carter is given a selection of clothes from his closet, instead of putting on his new linen clothes or the old clothes he wore traveling with his father, Carter chooses to dress more like a regular teenager. Sadie calls their grandparents and Carter is relieved to learn that despite the fact that she can now go home, she chooses to remain with him at Brooklyn House. Deciding to spread their story, Carter and Sadie travel to a school shown to Sadie in a dream to put the *djed* amulet in a locker to draw more children like them to Brooklyn House for training. Along the way, they are chased by the forces of chaos and record their adventures to be published so the story will get out there.

### *The Throne of Fire*

Carter leads a team consisting of himself, Sadie, and initiates Walt Stone and Jaz to the Brooklyn Museum to retrieve the Book of Ra that is there after learning of its location from Horus after months of asking as part of their plan to revive the sun god Ra. They succeed in sneaking in, and find the statue of Khnum which Horus said would contain a "clue" to location of the Book of Ra. However, Sadie realizes that to release the Book of Ra all she has to do is tap part of the statue with her wand and when she picks the Book up, it activates every reservoir of Egyptian magic in the museum, accidentally awakening a griffin and awakening seven *bau* called the Seven Arrows of Sekhmet. One infects Walt when he tries to open a window on Carter's orders and Jaz uses a lot of energy saving him. The griffin, later named Freak by Carter, recognizes Carter's connection to Horus and he is able to bring it under control after it eats one of the *bau* and goes on a rampage. Jaz casts a spell to banish the *bau*, but one of them is possessed by Apophis who threatens that if Carter doesn't give up his quest to stop him, he will kill Zia where she is entombed in The Place of Red Sand. Carter scares the *bau* away with the Eye of Horus symbol he summons and the *bau* are banished, though it leaves Jaz in a coma. Carter has everyone escape the museum by tying a boat to Freak and having him fly them to Brooklyn House.
Carter ends up feeling a lot of guilt for Jaz's coma and is taken as a *ba* by Horus to see Apophis' prison and the state of Ra's sun boat to show him why its a bad idea to wake Ra. He is also shown how Dejardins is plotting against him with Vladimir Menshikov. This causes him to send Bast to check on the prison and alert Amos, who returns to what's going on as well without explaining to Sadie who he blames for Jaz's state due to her recklessness. Reluctantly, Carter lets Sadie go to London for her birthday and adopts Freak as a pet when he doesn't leave, building him a roost to live on. During a lesson Carter is teaching to the Brooklyn House trainees, Apophis attacks by controlling a monster and threatens to destroy them as he did Zia's village. Carter and the trainees destroy the monster, but Carter is left shaken up by the experience.

After learning that Sadie is in trouble in London, Carter and Walt travel there through a portal from the museum as their portal at Brooklyn House still needs to cool down from when Sadie used it and manage to get to Waterloo Bridge in time to find themselves in a crowd of riot police which Carter uses the sleep spell to put to sleep. Sadie arrives with Bes and Carter is concerned at first until she explains how Bes saved them and that he is a friend of Bast's. Carter sets out with Sadie, Walt and Bes to find a portal to get to St. Petersburg after learning from Sadie that Anubis told her that the second part of the book was there. Walt is left behind at the portal to go back to Brooklyn House for a reason he and Bes refuse to elaborate on but that is dangerous for him and they travel to St. Petersburg.

In St. Petersburg, Sadie and Carter infiltrate Menshikov's lair, the Hermitage Museum using the invisibility spell Carter learned, though he hasn't perfected it and find him busy performing an execration to summon Set. Carter and Sadie steal the Book without being noticed and learn that Menshikov is working for Apophis and trying to free him by learning from Set about his prison and Brooklyn House's defenses so he can attack there. Set points out Sadie and Carter to Menshikov and he releases a *tjesu heru* on them while they release Set. Set holds off Menshikov and Carter battles the monster, losing his *khopesh* and getting bitten before Sadie destroys it. Set, while claiming the poison to be fatal and incurable, helps Sadie carry Carter out to Bes' car and along with giving up the location of the last part of the Book, tells Sadie to tell Carter that Zia's village is called Al-Hamrah Makan.

After learning from Jaz's *ren* and a vision of Isis curing Ra how to cure Carter, Sadie asks Carter for his Secret Name to cure him as his time is nearly up and he reluctantly does so. Learning Carter's secret name allows Sadie to understand him better and she is able to cure him. After explaining about what Set told them about the location of the last piece of the Book of Ra, Sadie reluctantly tells Carter about what Set said about Zia's village due to Carter's obsession with finding her. Carter realizes the name translates to "The Place of Red Sand" and that it was what Apophis was trying to tell him through the *bau*. Despite the certainty of it being a trap and despite needing to stick together to find and use the Book, Carter decides to go find and rescue Zia. Sadie reluctantly agrees, deciding to call upon Walt to help her and they make a vague plan to meet up again in time to use the book on the equinox the next day despite knowing they likely won't have the time as they are going in opposite directions for their goals.

Carter sets out with Bes to find the village and traveling with some Bedouins and using Bes' status as a god, the two are able to learn the location of the village ruins. Along the way, the two discuss Bes' capture by Menshikov's grandfather and Carter realizes that a goddess that Bes was in love with rescued him. Bes tells him to shut up, but gives him advice on his relationship with Zia, telling him that rescuing someone can change the relationship between the rescued and rescuer for the worse. They find it now covered by the Nile and while Carter tries to figure out how to part the river as Bes suggests, they come under attack by water demons which Carter destroys with the Fist of Horus. Using the Fist also parts the Nile and they find the entrance to Zia's tomb. Entering the tomb, Carter finally finds the real Zia in a sarcophagus made of water with Ra's crook and flail and he receives a vision of Iskandar placing her in the tomb and realizes she is being driven insane by horrible nightmares. Carter frees Zia, but her body starts to reject Nephthys so he and Bes place her in the river and release Nephthys to where she truly belongs. Zia wakens, confused as the only time she truly met Carter was at the British Museum after the gods were released and although she possess the memories of her *shabti*, they are more like a movie to her and leave her even more confused. Before Carter can talk to her much, Desjardins and Menshikov show up and imprison Bes. They convince Zia that Carter is the enemy by pointing out that he and Sadie let Set go and her memories from her *shabti* will show that. Carter manages to summon the combat avatar of Horus for the first time without hosting the god and battles Menshikov, but loses and starts to be turned into a snake. Luckily, Sadie and Walt arrive through a portal created by Ptah anchored on Bes. The portal breaks Bes' cage and he scares off Menshikov and Desjardins, saving Carter. Zia passes out and the group sets out for Cairo in the Bedouins' truck with Carter falling asleep on the way.

While asleep, Carter's *ba* travels to the Hall of Ages where he meets with Horus. Horus tries to convince him to take up the throne of the pharaoh and merge with him again and shows him what Desjardins and Menshikov are up to to try to convince him. Carter learns from the vision that Menshikov has gathered an army of magicians, demons and *uraeus* to attack Brooklyn House and the magicians are the very worst the House has to offer including Sarah Jacobi and Kwai. Desjardins gives permission to attack, but shows that he doesn't quite trust Menshikov's plans anymore.

When Carter wakes up, he finds himself in a Cairo hotel room in Pokemon clothes and learns that while Zia repeatedly tried to escape, Sadie convinced her to trust them. Zia reveals she never trusted Menshikov and offers her aid in defending Brooklyn House, planning to travel there with Walt while Carter, Sadie and Bes enter the Duat to try to find and revive Ra. Carter isn't too happy with this, but ultimately agrees as Zia has a chance of talking the magicians down. As they have to wait for sunset to be able to open a portal as its the equinox, Carter watches as the others play senet. Finally, at sunset, Carter climbs with the others to the top of the Great Pyramid to open a portal into the Duat and discusses his relationship with Zia with her. Zia tells him that while she understands why he did what he did and appreciates it, she needs time to sort things out for herself. After the portal is opened, Bes promises to meet them at the Fourth House of the Night and leaves to help Zia and Walt get to Brooklyn House while Sadie and Carter travel to the Duat where they find Ra's now very leaky sun boat and the gods Nekhbet and Babi who had before tried to kill Sadie while possessing their grandparents. The two try to warn them off, but Carter uses Ra's crook and flail to subdue them and make them swear loyalty before sending them away.

Carter travels through the Houses of the Night with Sadie on Ra's sun boat, following the sun god's old nightly path through the Duat despite his reservations about the state of the boat. Carter helps Sadie summon the crew lights and bails the boat out as it leaks a lot. He also explains what the Twelve Houses really represent and how they each act in relation to human sleep patterns. They come across Khnum at the entrance to the Fourth House and Carter watches as Sadie manages to use the Book of Ra to figure out Khnum's secret name and reunite him with Ra. Carter continues to bail the boat and is horrified when they approach the Lake of Fire and tries to get the crew to turn around to no success. Even when Sadie explains that they need to let the boat sail through as its part of the journey, Carter still tries to stop the boat and at first refuses to let Sadie write on his forehead until she explains she's trying to create a shield from the fire. As the shield takes the form of fire itself, Carter panics at first upon being surrounded by it, but calms down and holds Sadie's hand as they travel underwater through the Lake of Fire. Eventually the boat surfaces good as new and docks at the House of Rest where they meet up with Bes.

At the House of Rest, Carter meets with the goddess, Tawaret, who clearly has feelings for Bes and helps to search for Ra in the House after explaining that they only have until the eighth hour of the night to get past the gates of the Eighth House or they will be trapped until the next night. Carter gets to see a lot of the old forgotten gods and is saddened by their mentally degraded states. Carter doesn't like Sadie's idea to start the next part of the spell to find Ra as it could kill her if they fail to cast it fully in time, but goes along with it. Carter is shocked when they find Ra and he is an extremely old man, but helps Sadie complete the spell by giving her the netjeri blade Anubis gave her for awakening Ra. Ra awakens and to their horror, he is completely senile. Thinking that maybe they need to complete their journey and find Ra's last part to allow him to be fully reborn, they are horrified to find a calling card left by Menshikov and that they are too late to get through the gates of the Eighth House.

At Tawaret's suggestion, Carter travels with Bes, Sadie and Ra to the Seventh House where he meets his parents who comfort him and the others over their failure. His parents reveal a possible solution: bargain with the moon god Khonsu for three more hours in the night so the gates of the Eighth House won't be closed and they can continue their journey. In order to do so, Khonsu demands they play senet against him with their *rens* on the line if he moves a piece off the board. Despite their mother's objections, Sadie and Carter agree, joined by Bes as the needed third player. As Carter doesn't know how to play, he lets the other do most of the work while he moves the pieces around. They succeed in getting a piece off the board, but so does Khonsu so Carter prepares to sacrifice his *ren*. However, Bes sacrifices himself for them instead, revealing that he was prepared to all along if unnecessary and Carter watches in horror as Bes loses his *ren*. Quickly, Carter and Sadie win the game and get the needed time and are able to make it through the gates of the Eighth House just before they close once again.

Continuing their journey, Carter and Sadie find themselves in a cavern with demons, Menshikov and Apophis' prison which is sealed by the now mostly dead form of Khepri, Ra's last incarnation. Carter learns that in summoning Khepri to fully awaken Ra, they also free Apophis, but Desjardins arrives, having switched sides and tells Sadie to cast the last spell while he holds Menshikov off. Carter watches the action and Sadie succeeds in casting the spell, summoning the last surviving scarab beetle of Khepri's form, but releasing Apophis who possess Menshikov. He beats Desjardins, but Carter and Sadie defeat him. However, Apophis rises again, burying Sadie in sand. Carter searches for her while Apophis goes after Ra. However, while Carter rescues Sadie, Desjardins rises again and holds off Apophis, using an execration to destroy Menshikov's form and banish Apophis in the end. Carter rescues Sadie and drags Desjardins onto the sun boat as the cavern fills with water and they escape. Carter holds Desjardins' hand as he dies from using all of his life force to temporarily banish Apophis and Desjardins gives him his cape to give to Amos and tells him with his dying words to keep training people in the path of the gods. To Carter and Sadie's sorrow, after everything they sacrificed, giving the Khepri beetle to Ra doesn't cause him to be reborn and they emerge from the Duat at sunrise as Chaos sickness nearly kills them to find Brooklyn House under attack.

After reaching Brooklyn House, Carter quickly takes part in its defense which has been rejuvenated by the return of Ra. Carter helps defeat the enemy and watches as Sadie shocks them into listening to her as they try to flee. Carter helps with the explanation of what happened in the Duat, of Apophis and Ra's returns and Desjardins' death and gives Amos the Chief Lector's cloak as Desjardins asked him. While most of the surviving enemy magicians surrender, Sarah Jacobi, Kwai and a few others leave, promising to spread the "truth" about Desjardins' death and Apophis' rise and to continue to resist them. Carter is relieved to learn that Amos is the most powerful magician in the world after Desjardins and is thus now Chief Lector. He is also happy that Ra's return revived Jaz who helps defend Brooklyn House.

After everything is over, Carter watches Amos leave to go to the First Nome to take up his place as Chief Lector and is joined by Zia who promises to support him. To Carter's shock, Zia touches him on the arm and promises him that they will talk when everything is settled. Carter then journey's with Sadie and Bast to the throne room of the gods to witness Ra's return as leader of the gods. There, Horus publicly embraces him as an ally and brother, but privately warns that while Carter still has his support, if they die he will destroy Carter himself and if they succeed in defeating Apophis without Ra and he lost his throne for nothing, he will place a terrible curse upon Carter's family, one that will be worse than any curse ever placed before. Carter then travels back to the House of Rest and is sad to see Bes in his mindless state and watches Sadie promise to find a way to restore him.

### *The Serpent's Shadow*

Carter leads a team to the Dallas Museum to retrieve the copy of the *Book of Overcoming Apophis* by the magician Setne that is there after Cleo discovers that Apophis has destroyed all the other copies by him. Carter enlists the help of JD Grissom, the head of that Nome who is dubious at Carter's "crack team." They find the Book, but come under attack by Apophis controlling various creatures in the museum while the magicians of the nome battle Apophis' forces outside. Apophis destroys the Book, but following the advice of a mysterious face that appears to her in the wall, Sadie has the team protect a mysterious golden box. Carter puts up a shield to protect the box, but falters when Apophis tells him his leadership will fail in the end. After Sadie distracts Apophis away from him, Carter nearly collapses from the effort of maintaining his shield and battles a cryosphinx with his *khopesh* to no avail. In the end, Sadie casts *[[Ma'at (spell)|Ma'at]* and drives off Apophis, but nearly dies from the effort. She survives and they discover, to their horror that Apophis' forces destroyed the Nome and killed all of the magicians including JD and his wife. Blaming himself, Carter sadly has the team fix the museum as much as possible and then use the nearby Freak to transport themselves and the box home.

After returning to Brooklyn House, the group discusses with Bast the box which she reveals is King Tut's shadow box and holds one-fifth of his soul. However, Bast is reluctant to talk about the importance of that and Carter adjourns the meeting when he learns that Zia is trying to reach him. Zia discusses with Carter the destruction of the Texas Nome and how the rebels are blaming Carter. Zia shows Carter a message broadcast by the rebel leader Sarah Jacobi portraying Carter and his family in an evil light and demanding his surrender. Zia explains how the rebels might attack the First Nome, how weak it actually is and how most of their allies have either been destroyed or defected before having to go to deal with Ra and when Sobek shows up. Later, while Carter is examining the *shabti* he, Sadie and Walt made of Apophis in case they needed to try an execration to defeat him, Horus arrives possessing a pigeon and tells him that its a bad idea. The two discuss the idea and Carter asks if Horus has a better idea to which Horus, who admits a limited knowledge of magic, doesn't. However, when Horus brings up the fact that statues and shadows were once both called *sheut*, Carter comes up with the idea to destroy Apophis by execrating his shadow instead, which Horus likes. However, before they can discuss things further, Horus' pigeon can't hold him any longer and he has to leave. The next morning, Carter explains his idea to everyone and how he figures that this was what Apophis was hiding by destroying the Book. Carter decides to visit Thoth with Walt after the BAG dance that night to see what he knows.

At the dance, Carter is forced to dance with Sadie's friend Lacy and is knocked out when Shu arrives to interrupt Sadie and Anbuis dancing. Carter isn't thrilled to learn that she plans to take the Russian magician Leonid to see Amos, but agrees and also agrees to take Walt to see Thoth and to keep him from doing too much magic.

Carter and Walt take Freak to Memphis to see Thoth and find his pyramid under attack. Carter reluctantly allows Walt to help defend it and in the battle that follows, comes face to face with his resurrected old enemy Face of Horror. The demon is once again possessed by Apophis and is shown a vision of his mother and other spirits being dragged towards Apophis' shadow and of Apophis destroying the world. Apophis offers him a deal: hand over Ra and Apophis will spare him and his family. However, before things can go any further, Thoth kills the demon and the battle ends. Thoth has Carter and Walt take a nap and when Carter wakes up, he finds that Walt is awake and discussing something with Thoth that Thoth says is dangerous and has never been done before. The two stop discussing it when they see Carter is awake and Thoth reveals that he is under attack so he can't help them out. Thoth tells Carter that he is right, that a shadow execration *could* destroy a god or even Apophis himself, but he refuses to tell Carter how to do it or where to find Apophis' shadow as it is forbidden to talk of such subjects. Thoth instead suggests finding Setne who stole a book he wrote called the *Book of Thoth*. The book details the location of all gods shadows and Setne was able to use it to create a shadow execration. Thoth informs Carter that Setne is on trial at sunset in the Underworld and will be sentenced to destruction so they only have until then to get his help. Thoth has Carter and Walt leave before sunrise and the next attack and tells Walt to tell Carter something.

On the ride back, Walt explains that he and Anubis are sure that he will die soon, by sunset of the next day. Carter desperately tries to figure out a way to save Walt and Walt explains that there *is* a way, but that Carter may not like the side-effects. Walt wants to tell Sadie first, but due to his deteriorating condition, he is losing control over his powers and accidental disintegrates the boat. Carter and Walt manage to hang onto ropes hanging from Freak's belly for the rest of the short ride and make it safely back to Brooklyn House.

At Brooklyn House, the two receive a message from Sadie through a *shabti* about the upcoming attack on the First Nome. Sadie also informs them of her decision to visit Bes and how she worries that Amos is possibly channeling Set's powers and that Amos may be under Set's control once more. Carter tells Bast to let the children have one last normal day and then to take them on Freak to the First Nome as Amos will need all the help he can get for the upcoming attack and the trainees, trained in the Path of the Gods are the best they have. Needing to reach the Underworld, Carter reluctantly summons the *Egyptian Queen* for a ride.

Carter and Walt pick up Sadie and Zia at the House of Rest and Sadie is unhappy with Carter summoning the boat again while Carter is unhappy with her decision to try to restore Bes in the middle of a crisis. However, Zia calms him down by taking his hand and reminding him that he once went off on a personal quest in the middle of a crisis and that turned out well. Upon arrival, Carter orders Bloodstained Blade to wait for them to transport them where they need to go. In the Underworld, Carter and Sadie explain to their father their plan and Carter helps calm his father down when he's furious about Anubis revealing the true nature of a shadow by pointing out that Thoth also helped and they figured some of it out themselves. He also informs him that their only other option will be a normal execration which will kill them and likely not work and Julius finally agrees while Zia is horrified. Carter witnesses Setne's trial and works with Sadie to convince Julius to give them custody of the evil ghost to get the Book of Thoth and Apophis' shadow. When he points out that there are four of them and one of Setne, Setne instead proposes the plan that they split up: he and Carter and Zia go to get the shadow while Sadie and Walt go to restore Bes. In the end, Julius agrees to give Carter and Zia custody of Setne to capture the shadow and destroy Apophis.

Carter, Zia and Setne take the *Egyptian Queen* to get the *Book of Thoth* and Carter considers telling Zia how he really feels about her before Setne interrupts. Seeing Setne out of the Seven Ribbons of Hathor, the only things controlling him, Carter panics and ties him up again with Setne revealing it was just an illusion. Zia takes Setne to tell Bloodstained Blade where exactly in Memphis, Egypt they have to go to and Set shows up. Carter demands answers, but Set assures him that he isn't controlling Amos and that Amos actually summoned him and sent him to explain things to Carter. Set explains that while he *is* the God of Evil, he is also the "loyal opposition" and he isn't on Apophis' side. Set warns him of an upcoming attack before disappearing.

After Set disappears, a monster hippo attacks, sent by Apophis and Carter refuses to listen to Setne's suggestion of how to deal with the problem, sure that its a trick. Carter battles the hippo, but loses his *khopesh* and is nearly crushed in his combat avatar before he finally listens to Setne and casts a spell that summons Hapi, the god of the Nile. Hapi dispatches the hippo and helps Carter, Zia and the badly damaged *Egyptian Queen* safely ashore. After Hapi asks how he can help further, Carter has Hapi transport them to the *serapecum* where the Book of Thoth is. Hapi transforms them into liquid to transport them and warns Carter that its a trap.

At the *serapecum*, Carter helps disable various traps and learns the story of the Apis Bulls which were entombed there and is shocked to learn that Setne is actually the son of Ramesses the Great, which makes him a relative of Carter's on his mother's side. Setne leads them to a statue of the Apis Bull and explains that in order to reach the Book, the Bull has to come to life and Carter and Zia have to distract it so he can reach the Book hidden under it. The Bull chases Carter and Zia through the *serapecum* maze before, to Carter's shock, Zia summons the power of Ra and incinerates the Apis Bull. She nearly explodes before Carter calms her down and he casts a spell to dump water over her to cool her down. Carter, joined by Setne with the Book, carries Zia back to the *Egyptian Queen* where he gives Setne permission to give Bloodstained Blade orders so he can tell the demon where to go and Carter can take care of Zia.

Setne betrays Carter and orders Bloodstained Blade to take them to the Land of Demons where the shadow is, but to also kill Carter and Zia. Carter casts a protection spell on Zia and battles Bloodstained Blade, but is at a disadvantage as he can't summon his avatar on the boat and he is unable to summon his *khopesh* back to him. During the fight, Carter is forced to steer the boat towards the shore to prevent it from going over a waterfall and is kicked through a window and into a smokestack, injuring his ribs. After spotting Setne trying to escape with the Book of Thoth, Carter ties him up again and he falls into the River of Night. Carter tries to get Horus to send him a weapon, but due to Horus' powerlessness in that part of the Duat, he only succeeds in sending him an ostrich feather. When Carter tries again to summon a weapon from the Duat, to his and Horus' shock, he ends up with the crook and flail of Ra which are supposed to be with Ra. Carter is still nearly killed due to being unsure how to properly use the weapons and his injuries, but Zia recovers and incinerates Bloodstained Blade. The *Egyptian Queen* crashes into the shore and is destroyed, but Carter and Zia survive thanks to Zia turning one of her amulets into a giant vulture which slows their descent to the beach so it isn't fatal.

On shore, Zia heals Carter's injuries with Nefertum's Balm and the two leave Setne to struggle ashore while they have a make-shift picnic on the beach of the Land of Demons. They discuss how when Zia channels Ra's power it tends to cause her to black-out and its happening more and more frequently. Zia confides in Carter that Ra's mind is trapped inside his senile body and its struggling to break free through her and that she doesn't think she's strong enough to handle it. Carter realizes that Ra has chosen Zia as his host and figures that if Zia becomes Ra's host, he might finally be reborn. The two discuss their food and the date Carter promised Zia's *shabti* at the mall and Zia tells him she wishes they could have their date right then and kisses him to his shock. Zia explains to him that she fears losing him if she gets close to him as she has lost everyone else she cares about and Carter tries to give her the crook and flail, but she declines, saying that they must have appeared to Carter for a reason. Drawn back to reality by the sound of Setne's struggling, Carter and Zia loosen his bonds to get the Book of Thoth and realize that while the Book says that Apophis' shadow *is* in the Land of Demons, they need Setne's help to interpret it. Setne claims that he knew they'd triumph over Bloodstained Blade and that he can help them sneak through the Land without being seen and find the shadow. They reluctantly agree.

Setne uses a glamour to make Carter and Zia appear to be demons and guides them through the Land of Demons. On the way, Carter spots the place where his mother was shown to be hiding in the vision Apophis showed him, but discovers her no longer there. The three make their way to the edge of the Sea of Chaos, protected from being killed by the power of Chaos by the amulet Zia is wearing with the last beetle of Khepri on it. Zia realizes that the spell to summon the shadow is a simple summoning spell and that Setne lied to them, but Setne claims that it *is* complicated for him as he is a ghost and can't cast many spells. Zia summons the shadow, but Setne ties them up and mocks Carter for the trust he placed in him after being betrayed so much and explains his plan to capture the shadow and blackmail Apophis into doing his bidding with it. Setne saves Carter from falling to his death in the Sea of Chaos and Carter and Zia are saved when Sadie shows up through a portal and ties Setne back up and frees him and Zia.

While relieved to see Sadie, Carter realizes from the fact that Walt isn't with her and her reaction when he asks that Walt must be dead. Carter is also hesitant to allow Sadie to capture Apophis' shadow, worried that something will go wrong and she will die, but ultimately allows it. Sadie captures the shadow, but an army of demons summoned by it shows up to attack them. However, an army made up of the old gods from the House of Rest arrive led by Tawaret and Bes who Carter and Sadie are happy to see back to his normal self, but are shocked to see that Setne escaped. Bes transports them in a new limo to the shore of the River of Night where Carter points out that the *Egyptian Queen* is destroyed and they have no boat. However, Ra arrives in his sun boat on his nightly journey and picks them up. On board, Zia allows Ra to take her as his host and he is finally reborn, but having Ra inside the girl he loves freaks Carter out and he moves away. He and Sadie discuss what happened and Carter realizes that Walt allowed Anubis to use him as a host to survive and points out to Sadie that she can now be with both guys she likes without problems while she helps him realize that he shouldn't avoid Zia because she is now hosting Ra. The sun boat arrives in the mortal world at dawn as Apophis rises and the rebels attack the First Nome and they discover Bast single-handedly holding off Apophis. Ra heads to battle Apophis, but tells Carter that it is *Carter* as pharaoh who is the leader of the gods in this fight and that Ra only came back to fight Apophis. Ra has Carter keep the crook and flail and Carter merges once again with Horus and flies to the First Nome as falcon, joined by Sadie (merged with Isis again) as a kite.

At the First Nome, Carter helps the initiates battle their way through the rebel magicians into the Hall of Ages where Amos, merged with Set but in control this time, is battling Sarah Jacobi, Kwai and her elite soldiers. However, the rebels overcome Amos and use him as a hostage to try to end the battle. Carter and Sadie aren't in agreement with their gods over the course of action and as a result un-merged with them. When Sadie is blasted by Jacobi, Carter tries to go to her aid, but is blasted himself by Kwai with a bolt of red lightning. However, when Sadie is nearly killed, Walt/Anubis quickly dispatches Jacobi and with Jaz's help, Carter quickly recovers and rallies the magicians, both good and rebel against Kwai. When Kwai blasts lightning through the Hall, Carter is able to deflect it with his crook and summons his avatar to battle Kwai, but is blasted into a column which collapses on top of him. Luckily, Carter's avatar shields him and he survives. After Kwai sacrifices himself to bring down the Hall after being defeated by Walt/Anubis and Sadie saved the Hall with *Ma'at*, Carter, at Amos' request, takes on the role of Pharaoh of the House of Life and rallies the magicians to his cause. After telling them to wait for his signal, Carter travels as a *ba* to the throne room of the gods where he calls upon the gods to aid him. To his disappointment, none of the gods he's friendly with show up due to their own troubles and among the gods that do show up are Nekhbet, Babi, Shu, Serqet, Khonsu, Neith and Hapi, most of whom he and Sadie have had troubles with before. Using the authority granted to him by Ra and proving his power by using his flail against Serqet, Carter is able to rally the gods to battle and they join the magicians and the other gods already battling Apophis.

Finding that Apophis splintered the Duat into many different layers so that his enemies had to fight him separately, Carter and Zia make their way through it to try to reach Ra's side who is fighting Apophis' true head, but is growing weaker while the Serpent grows stronger. Finding Bes, buried under some rubble, Carter uses a karate chop with the power of Horus behind it to free him, but breaks at least a few bones in his hand doing so. However, upon reaching Ra afterwards, they inadvertently distract her and Apophis finally succeeds in swallowing him and Zia, enraging Carter so much he goes temporarily insane, attacking Apophis by himself with his crook and flail, nearly exhausting his magic, but creating three gashes on Apophis' neck that don't heal, unlike the rest of his injuries. The loss of Ra causes the sun to disappear and cracks to spread across the desert and both gods and magicians to falter in despair.

Carter is affected by this too and loses his merge with Horus again, becoming just Carter once more. However, Bast and Bes are unaffected and demand what his plan is since he is now the leader of the remaining forces, but Carter is too depressed to come up with anything. However, seeing the fireball that is Ra slowly being consumed causes Carter to get angry and he breaks through his despair to ask Sadie about the shadow which she still has. Apophis tries to get them to stop by telling them that the spell won't work when he's at his strongest and they are so weak that they will likely die, which Carter realizes that even with the aid of Horus and Isis, is likely true. However, when Apophis threatens to keep raising his family from the dead and torturing them if he tries, Carter decides to do it as threatening his family is a mistake. Carter blasts Apophis with a column of fire from his crook and flail and asks Bast and Bes to distract Apophis so they can cast the spell and both agree. With the two gods distracting Apophis Carter and Sadie, with Horus and Isis lending them their power and shielding them from Apophis as best they can, start the spell despite knowing it will likely kill them. As he cast the spell, Carter finally understood the true nature of a person's shadow, that it was more than a "back-up disk" for the soul, that it actually stood for a person's legacy and impact on the world, causing him to realize that destroying Apophis' shadow would thus cut his ties to the mortal world and he would never be able to rise again even if he survived. Carter and Sadie succeed in casting the spell, destroying the shadow and Apophis starts to die. As he does, he tells them that they have also pushed the gods away by killing him and starts saying he will devour Ra and take him with him, but Ra and Zia, separated, emerge from Apophis, causing his head to explode. Apophis' influence on the Earth is shattered and the souls that he consumed, including Carter's mother are released and Apophis dies. Horus leaves Carter without a goodbye and Ra confirms that the gods are leaving the Earth for a long time, but asks Carter to look after Zia for him and tells Carter and Sadie that he owes them his life and refuses the crook and flail when Carter offers them back.

After the battle, Carter takes Zia to the healing room of the First Nome where his broken hand is fixed and he stays until he is kicked out. As he wanders through the halls watching people arrive to celebrate from other Nomes, Setne arrives to congratulate him and disappears before Carter can recapture him. Making his way through the Nome with Sadie, Carter encounters a few of his and Sadie's trainees and is amused by their stories and excitement. In the Hall of Ages, Carter is offered the throne of the pharaoh and he accepts, becoming the first pharaoh in thousands of years. However, Carter leaves command of the House of Life in the hands of Amos while he runs the Nome at Brooklyn House and finishes high school.

Afterwards, Carter and Sadie travel to the Hall of Judgement where they find everyone partying to celebrate the destruction of Apophis. Carter is happy and relieved to find his mother there, having survived because they destroyed Apophis in time before she was fully consumed. While Carter is worried about Julius' reaction that they lost Setne, Julius tells them not to blame themselves and that he expected it to happen and had hoped that they would at least get Setne's help with Apophis before he escaped. Carter also sees JD and his wife and is happy to see them so happy, but still feels immense guilt over his role in their deaths. Later, Carter and Sadie visit the House of Rest to discover that many of the gods there have returned to their previous positions and many that had apparently faded from existence reappeared when they were needed again to help Carter, Sadie and Zia in the Land of Demons. They say their goodbyes to Bes and Tawaret who are now together and visit Bast who can't return with them and shows them footage of Horus becoming pharaoh again. Carter thinks Horus ripped off his own acceptance speech and abandoned him when he didn't need him anymore, but Bast tells him that what Horus does will mirror Carter as both are the pharaohs now and that Carter shouldn't take what Horus did personally, that a god wouldn't just do discard somebody like that and Horus simply had to leave. After saying a final goodbye to Bast, Carter and Sadie return to Brooklyn House where they find Walt/Anubis waiting for them and Carter leaves them alone with Sadie.

Two weeks later, Carter picks Zia up for their promised first date at a mall on Freak and takes her to the Mall of America, the largest mall in the United States. Zia is amazed at the mall while several nearby guys are jealous and confused that a guy like Carter got a girl like Zia. Zia informs Carter that Amos suggested she take some time away from the First Nome now that he has everything under control and try to be a typical teenager. Zia reveals that Sadie invited her to stay at Brooklyn House and attend American school and she asks his opinion on the matter. Carter stutters out his acceptance and Zia tells him to shut up, then kisses him.

## *Demigods & Magicians*

### *The Son of Sobek*

A giant crocodile has been terrorizing Long Island, along with other magical disturbances in the area. Carter Kane takes his pet griffin, Freak, to go survey the area. After settling down on the ground, Carter is left behind as Freak flies away with his floating boat. Forced to find the monster, Carter goes into a lake to start his search. Suddenly, the crocodile comes from underwater and swallows Carter whole. Carter plans on using a "word of power" to escape when the crocodile spits him out after it is jabbed in the rear end by Percy. The crocodile soon runs away.

Carter picks himself up and sees the other teenager in the mud. The boy is wearing an orange T-shirt that says *Camp*, but the rest is unreadable. As Carter examines the "camper boy," he soon realizes that he can clearly see his wand and *khopesh*, something most mortals are unable to see. He also notices the strange sword that the teen carries, which is a double edged leaf-shaped blade. Despite meeting almost all magicians in the North American nomes, Carter has no idea who this person is, only that everything about him seemed *un-Egyptian*.

The teen tries to get Carter to thank him for rescuing him from the crocodile, but Carter is somewhat embarrassed and ends up getting angry at Percy's comments instead. The two then get into a small argument over the ownership of the monster, with Percy thinking that the monster is Carter's pet after he said it was *his* monster, but only meant he was chasing it. Percy then asks Carter if he is a son of Ares as he must be a half-blood of some kind. He also asks why his sword is all bent, but Carter tells him it is supposed to be like that. Carter also gets angry at Percy's use of the word *half-blood* (as his dad is African-American and his mom is white), as well as Percy offering to help because last time Carter was eaten by the crocodile.

Carter accidentally uses the "Fist of Horus" to cause a fist to knock Percy right out of his shoes and into the swamp. Carter instantly rushes over, thinking he might have killed Percy, but is hit in retaliation by a huge wave of water. Furious, Percy lunges at Carter with his sword and Carter is forced to defend himself, not able to attack because of Percy's skills with a sword. During the fight, Percy accuses him of being a monster, which Carter says he is not. Percy also asks if he is an escaped spirit from the Doors of Death or if the monster was his pet and Carter was just trying to find it.

The fight ends when Carter uses a magic rope to tie Percy's sword to his head just as Percy hit his arm, causing Carter to bleed. During the small break, Percy comments that Carter must be a half-blood because if he was not, the sword would have passed right through him. Percy also asks if he was a rogue demigod who used to be part of Kronos' Army. After listening to Percy talk for a bit, Carter starts to realize that Percy is not a magician and is something completely different, as Percy keeps using words related to Greek mythology. The two form a truce so that they can go after the crocodile, as it has been terrorizing Long Island for weeks now. The two also introduce each other, eventually revealing their names.They eventually find the crocodile terrorizing a small cul-de-sac with a few kids spraying the monster with water guns and hitting it with water balloons. Carter sees a gold necklace around the crocodile's neck and tells Percy that they need to remove it to stop the monster, as it cannot be killed. Percy tells Carter to distract the crocodile so that he could get it. Carter makes a large avatar of Horus around himself (which Percy calls a giant glowing chicken-man) and attacks the monster. Percy then jumps on the crocodile and tries to unlock the necklace, but cannot as he is not a magician. As Carter's avatar fades and the crocodile crashes into a house, Carter and Percy switch places. Percy creates a massive whirlpool in the center of the cul-de-sac using the water generated by the crocodile. The crocodile is swept up in it and Carter manages to make it to the necklace. As Percy begins to tire, Carter finally manages to remove it and the crocodile returns to its original form; that of a baby crocodile.

Percy and Carter run off with the baby crocodile after hearing some cop cars approaching. Resting at a nearby diner, Percy and Carter watch the news, as they report that a freak sewer incident had destroyed the homes in the cul-de-sac. Carter and Percy wonder if someone is trying to bring them together to cause trouble and agree to keep their respective worlds a secret from each other until the time is right. Carter takes the necklace and the baby crocodile with him, but places an enchantment on Percy's hand so that if he ever needs to contact him, all he has to do is say his name. The two part on good terms, but Carter knows that some day in the middle of the night, he'll wake up to the sound of Percy calling him.

### *The Staff of Serapis*

Though he does not make an appearance, he is mentioned a few times by Annabeth and Sadie.

### *The Crown of Ptolemy*

Carter and Sadie arrived to Governor's island to help Percy and Annabeth stop Setne from becoming a god. They head south and decide to combine Greek and Roman magic to defeat Setne. Carter uses Annabeth's hat to sneak up on Setne and cut his hand off before he got the crown and escaped. The four devise a plan where Percy hosts Nekbet to distract Setne while Carter, Sadie and Annabeth perform a spell to trap him. During the spell Carter is badly hurt. After Percy fought Setne, Carter was seen with a bandaged head and completed the spell trapping him in a snow globe. After the picnic he takes Setne back to Brooklyn house to use as a paper weight and send the crown to the first nome. He then explains that Sadie knows his secret name before she has Carter slap himself. Carter and Sadie then turn in to a falcon and kite respectively and fly off.

## Personality

Carter Kane is very protective of his family and friends and would do anything to ensure their safety. He tends to be a gentleman because of the way his dad had raised him, and is usually thinking of how to solve their next problem. He is funny and usually stammers around girls. He mostly thinks outside the box and puts others lives before his own. He's shown to be much more disciplined and mature than his sister, obeying his father and the rules as well as thinking before he acts.

While lacking self-confidence in himself, Carter is a natural leader, something that he grows into over the course of the series. After learning his secret name, Sadie saw the trait of leadership woven very clearly into his character to the point where by *The Serpent's Shadow*, Sadie was confident in his ability to lead when before she would have feared it. His leadership is noted by several characters including Amos Kane and Ra who both push Carter to become the first Pharaoh in thousands of years. In Ra's case, he states that its Carter's destiny to become the leader of the gods and magicians and shows great faith in him, agreeing with Sadie that Carter is up to the task. After Carter demonstrates his strength to the gods, Nekhbet, who only follows the strong, agrees that he is someone worth following. Once Carter accepts his role as a leader during the fight with Apophis, he is able to rally even his former enemies to his side, turning them against their corrupt leader.

## Appearance

Carter is an African American teenager. He has brown hair, which grew out as the series progressed, and brown eyes.

When Carter was traveling with his father he wore dress shirts and khakis. At the end of The Red Pyramid he started to wear more casual fashion (jeans, t-shirts, hoodies etc). Zia also mentions that he is handsome without trying.

## Abilities

Although not formally trained, Carter is a very powerful magician. He has more experience than the initiates of the other Nomes, and his progress is quickened due to the Path of the Gods. Several gods and magicians have commended him for his immense magical powers and combat prowess: these include Sadie, Julius/Osiris, Amos, Ra, Desjardins, Setne, Vlad Menshikov, Jacobi, Kwai, and even Apophis. Carter's specialty is combat magic although he uses other types of magic from the Path of Horus to fight as well. Throughout his adventures, Carter has faced many monsters, magicians, and fought several gods as well. After *The Serpent's Shadow*, Carter becomes the Pharaoh of the House of Life and Amos admits that Carter had become a very powerful magician, rivalling him and making his father proud.

* **Physical Prowess**: Throughout the series, Carter has displayed himself as having above-average strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and agility. In *The Red Pyramid*, when Carter hosted Horus, he had supernatural reflexes and could deflect daggers and projectiles at high speeds. Later, Carter held his own against the Set animal for some time before being prompted to using combat magic. Against Sobek, Carter was able to leap thirty feet into the air at a moment's notice from Horus, his quick reaction saving him. Even after releasing Horus, Carter still retains his physical abilities such as when he wrestles with the *tjesu heru* and wrings one of its heads, albeit getting poisoned by another. At Zia's tomb, when they were drowning, Carter lashed out and accidentally broke the dwarf god Bes' nose. Later, on the River of Night, Carter defeats many demons with his bare hands amidst his rage at Khonsu for taking Bes. By *The Serpent's Shadow,* Carter has undergone strength training, basketball practice with Khufu, and combat magic training with Bast. Later, he wrestles with the demon Bloodstained Blade and holds his own despite being exhausted from previous battles.

* **Combat Skills**: In *The Red Pyramid*, Carter hosted Horus and learned some techniques with his khopesh from him. Along with his physical prowess, he held his own against the Set animal and Sobek's crocodiles. Later, as the Eye of Horus, Carter became skilled enough to duel Set on equal footing although lost this gained experience after releasing the god. In *The Throne of Fire*, Carter has continued to hone his skills and can fight demons even without using magic. He later fights demons on the River of Night and defeats them in hand-to-hand combat. In *The Serpent's Shadow*, Carter grabs the Apis Bull by the horns and manipulates his weight so his enhanced strength directly subdues the beast. In *The Son of Sobek*, Carter was able to hold his own against Percy Jackson, despite the latter having fought many immortal beings with his skill. Percy himself told Carter that he was one of the few people that could fight him well.
* **Swordsmanship:** Carter is skilled at using a Khopesh. After training for months his proficiency with it has greatly increased.

* **Duat Usage**: After some instructions from Bast on how to create a space in the Duat, Carter is able to store any of his things in his locker. His combination is revealed to be 13/32/33 (taken from retired Lakers). By concentrating harder, Carter can also use the Duat to retrieve something he has lost, like his *khopesh*, although he can not always summon it back. In *The Serpent's Shadow,* Carter has become good enough to instinctively summon his sword at Set's presence, something the god of evil commended him for. With the power of Horus, such as when using combat magic, Carter can dispatch powerful demons like the Set animal to the Duat, something that impressed Bast given the amount of energy such a feat took. By *the Son of Sobek* Carter has mastered this to the point that he keeps emergency supplies in the Duat and is able to summon them at will with ease. He was even able to do this after being magically exhausted from a battle with a *petsuchos*.
* **Hieroglyphic Spells**: Although he is not very proficient in this, Carter can do certain hieroglyphic spells. He can bring a bird to life, summon a knife, cause cameras to blink and diffusing technology. However, Carter himself states he is not good at it, believing it to be due to his status as a combat magician and freely admits Sadie is better at hieroglyphic spells.
* **Divine Words**: If he focuses hard enough, Carter can speak Divine Words, which glow in blue. Throughout the books, he has shown the ability to summon thirteen hieroglyphs: *khefa, Sa-mir, Ha-tep, Ha-wi, Hi-nehm, N'dah, Hapi u-ha ey pwah, l'mun, Maw, Tas,* an unnamed command to bring figurines and *shabti* to life and the Eye of Horus symbol. Carter can also cast a Divine Word to put his opponents to sleep such as when he used it against policemen in London. They later awoke with no memories of the encounter. Carter can also use the Eye of Horus to locate people if he has drawn the symbol on their palm and they have spoken his name. Divine Words can be spoken to use divine magic, such as *khefa* and *Ha-wi* to summon the Fist of Horus. In *the Crown of Ptolemy*, Carter is able to use the Divine Word of *stahp* while invisible under Annabeth's Yankees Cap to cut off Setne's hand and retrieve the Book of Thoth from him. Setne later admits that Carter's use of that Divine Word in such a way was impressive.
* **Falcon Transformation**: In *The Red Pyramid*, Carter could transform into a falcon, since it was Horus' sacred animal. Due to being the host of Horus, Carter could stay transformed longer although had greater difficulty morphing back. He was able to, at one point, transform directly from his falcon form into his combat avatar though it took more energy. In *The Serpent's Shadow*, he seems to be at ease transforming in and out of this form, albeit he cannot stay as long as before, since he is not hosting Horus anymore. In *The Son of Sobek*, Carter does this with little magic reserves, showing that he has mastered the transformation. As a falcon, Carter has sharper senses and receives a massive boost in speed, becoming tremendously fast. In *the Son of Sobek*, Carter retains some falcon feathers after the battle which he states is due to hasty transformations being messy, indicating that transformations done in haste can leave remnants behind.
* **Forceful Transformation**: Carter can transform other people into animals. As the Eye of Horus, Carter can forcefully transform even gods of immense power, like Set, into fruit bats for several seconds. Carter himself has experienced a forceful transformation twice; once, in *The Red Pyramid*, when he faced Thoth's magicians and was morphed into a lizard and again, in *The Throne of Fire*, when he faced Menshikov and the latter tried to transform him into a serpent although Carter's combat avatar provided a resistance to it. In *The Red Pyramid*, minutes after demerging with Horus and low on energy, Carter was able to transform Amos Kane into a hamster so he could use his falcon form to fly him away from the Washington Monument. However, when Amos started fighting it soon after, Carter had to land and let him transform back, not being able to maintain the transformation.
* **Telekinesis**: Carter also has the power to move things without touching them. He first displays this, in *The Red Pyramid*, when he opens the front door of Brooklyn House by extending his hand and the door lifts up, following his movements. He later uses it to open the door of his dormitory in the First Nome. After releasing Horus, Carter can still use telekinesis to move statues, ceiling, beams etc. although it requires more effort. Later, in *The Throne of Fire,* Carter uses telekinesis to evaporate the water surrounding Zia Rashid's tomb. By channeling the power of Horus, Carter's telekinesis becomes much stronger and he is even able to part the Nile, destroying water demons attacking him and Bes. As the Eye of Horus, Carter can use telekinesis to summon his sword to his hand. Carter's telekinesis is also amplified with the crook and flail of Ra, enabling him to force gods such as Babi and Nekhbet to bow, pledge their allegiance to him and deflect Kwai's powerful storm magic despite being in a weakened state. He later uses it in *the Crown of Ptolemy* with a magic rope to effortlessly deflect a stream of fire the near-immortal Setne sends at him. Though its not necessary, Carter generally channels his telekinesis through his weapons rather than his hands though he can do both.
* **Surveillance Magic**: In *The Serpent's Shadow*, Carter displayed the ability to use surveillance magic and lower his vision into the Duat. He used this when heading towards Thoth's base in Memphis and found the demons attacking him to be connected to Apophis through red coils of Chaos energy. He also realized that Thoth was trapped there and his magic was being blocked from leaving his pyramid. Whilst using surveillance magic, he saw Thoth in his ancient animal-headed form. Carter can also tap into the power of Horus to increase his surveillance magic and expand his senses greatly.
* **Portal Summoning (Limited)**: Unlike his sister, Carter is not adept at summoning portals and has only used them once in the whole series. In *The Throne of Fire*, after finding out that Sadie was in trouble, Carter and Walt used a portal at the Brooklyn Museum to transport themselves to London. Carter mentions that it took a lot of effort and openly showcased his dislike for portals. This was never used again by Carter in the whole series. At one point, Bast tells Carter that portal summoning just isn't in his area of expertise as a combat magician so it may not be entirely his fault.
* **Fire Magic (Limited)**: Carter displayed fire magic in *The Red Pyramid*, wanting to burn the sphinx's that were attacking him. In *The Serpents Shadow*, Carter was able to channel fire through Ra's crook and flail, at one point hitting Apophis with a pillar of fire powerful enough to distract him for a few minutes.
* **Invisibility (Limited)**: In *The Throne of Fire*, Carter displayed a limited ability to turn invisible using magic, but unlike Zia's cloak, his wasn't perfect and Set saw through it immediately. It also shot off sparks at times. During *The Staff of Serapis* Sadie references this when talking with Annabeth Chase about invisibility. Carter is later able to become invisible in *The Crown of Ptolemy*, but this is due to Annabeth's magical Yankees cap rather than any magical ability of his own.
* **Xenolinguistics**: In *The Serpent's Shadow*, Carter is able to fully understand Zia when she speaks to the Apis Bull in Ancient Egyptian, not realizing until later that she's speaking another language.
* **Execration**: When working with his sister at least, Carter is capable of casting an execration. Working with Sadie, Horus and Isis, Carter can cast a shadow execration powerful enough to destroy Apophis himself.
* **Statuary Magic (Limited)**: Carter has a very limited ability to perform statuary magic, being able to create *shabti* as shown in *the Son of Sobek*. However, he lacks proficiency with this ability and has only been seen to create a very deformed hippo as a desperate distraction against the *petsuchos* when he was too low on magical energy to do anything else.
* **Communication With Others**: By giving someone the Eye of Horus symbol, that person can contact him simply by calling his name wherever he is and he can find them. It is unknown if he can communicate back with others this way, but can at least be contacted like this. Percy later used this to contact Carter to no apparent effect, but its later revealed to work as it took Carter and Sadie some time to locate where Percy was calling from.
	+ **Animal Charming (Limited)**: Due to following the Path of Horus, Carter can exert a certain level of control over the war god's sacred animals. He discovers this ability in *the Throne of Fire* when he yells at the rampaging griffin Freak and Freak momentarily pauses before resuming his attack when Carter fails to give him any more orders. Using *ha-tep*, Carter was able to force the griffin to calm down and tame Freak to his will. Afterwards, Freak became loyal to Carter who can command the griffin and seemingly understand what he means to an extent.
	+ **Enhanced Abilities**: With the power of Horus, Carter can summon the physical abilities of the war god into himself. Carter describes his skin turning as thick as steel and his muscles becoming as powerful as hydraulic pistons. In this augmented state, Carter's strength is able to rival the Apis Bull's and he has mentioned that he can easily smash the massive dining table at Brooklyn House to pieces. Carter also becomes fast enough to match the Apis Bull's charge. In this enhanced state, Carter also has the eyesight of a falcon and his reflexes are increased. As the Eye of Horus, Carter was able to carve a path for him and Sadie with his immense strength although the entire tunnel collapsed as a result.
	+ **Fist of Horus**: This spell summons the fist of his combat avatar. Carter used this with sympathetic magic both times he used it in the Red Pyramid and the Throne of Fire. He can also use the Fist of Horus by speaking *khefa*, the Divine Word for 'fist'. It was able to hurl Set away, although it did not do any damage, and break the magic-augmented doors of Menshikov's palace. In The Serpent's Shadow, Carter speaks *Ha-wi*, the Divine Word for 'Strike', and summons the Fist of Horus to repel Bloodstained Blade. Later, he used this to send Percy Jackson flying out of his shoes dozens of feet. In *the Crown of Ptolemy*, Carter is able to summon the Fist of Horus from across a field while invisible under Annabeth Chase's Yankees cap to smash Setne into the ground from above. The force of the blow was so powerful it buried Setne completely underground for a few minutes before he managed to free himself.
	+ **Combat Avatar**: By channeling the power of Horus, Carter can summon the war god's combat avatar; a glowing blue twenty-feet-tall hawk-headed warrior with a blade of energy, which mirrors Carter's *khopesh*. Whilst using the hawk warrior, Carter has tremendous strength, endurance, durability, and Horus' aptitude with weapons. Similar to his other enhancements, Carter gains the eyesight of a falcon and sees in red. With combat magic, Carter rivals experienced magicians, magicians hosting gods, and even gods themselves. In *The Red Pyramid,* Carter was able to send the Set animal to the Duat in this form and was later complimented by Bast for his feat. However, the only weakness is that Carter's speed is drastically reduced and he cannot use combat magic for a very long time as it depletes his magical reserves. In *the Son of Sobek* he was only able to maintain his combat avatar for a few minutes while under constant attack by the *petsuchos* and was so magically exhausted afterwards that he feared turning into a falcon would make him burn up. Whilst in the Duat, instead of being encased in it, Carter himself transforms into the hawk warrior since magic flows more strongly there.
	+ **Horus Communication**: Even after releasing him, Carter is able to converse with Horus, which started late in *the Throne of Fire*, when the war god spoke to him in the Duat. The better he becomes at channeling Horus, the stronger their mental communication become. In *the Serpent's Shadow*, their communication is now so good that when Setne tried to use his magical persuasion on Carter, Horus was able to warn the latter. Carter can also get help from Horus on using divine magic although the war god usually only assists in emergency situations.
	+ **Duat Travel**: With tapped energy from Horus, Carter can enter a palace like Menshikov's and bypass the security. To do this, it requires a lot of effort as Carter describes; there is also a need for papyrus and ink to do the proper travels. Carter was the former host of Horus, and became the Eye of Horus later on. He chose to give up the war god at the end of the Red Pyramid and lost some powerful magic. In the last battle against Apophis, Carter became the Eye of Horus again and regained usage of these abilities. These include:
	+ **Controlled Ba Travel**: As the Eye of Horus, Carter can send his *ba* to the throne room of the gods and summon them to combat. He can also change his appearance although the gods see him as Horus the Avenger.
	+ **Chop of Horus**: After fusing with Horus a second time in *The Serpent's Shadow*, Carter displayed use of a karate chop with the power of Horus and it was able to destroy slabs of stone entrapping Bes. However, due to his inexperience with it, Carter broke a few bones in his hand.
	+ **Seals**: Carter had the ability to put seals on doors and gates to enforce them with power. These doors or gates are imprinted with the Eye of Horus. This seal isn't tremendously strong and is only valuable for a short while.

## Magical Items

* **Khopesh**: After taking a khopesh from Brooklyn House, it became Carter's main offensive weapon. During *The Red Pyramid*, Carter loses it in Luxor although retrieves it during his fight with the Set animal. He continues to use this khopesh until getting bitten by the *tjesu heru* in *The Throne of Fire*. In *The Serpent's Shadow*, Carter uses a new khopesh although loses it again in the fight with a massive hippo demon. In *The Son of Sobek*, Carter has gotten a new khopesh and is currently using it. Carter can also use his khopesh to set up a blue shielding spell by stabbing his sword into the ground and channeling his magic through it.
* **Wand**: After getting himself a new kit in the First Nome, Carter used his wand through *The Red Pyramid* and *The Throne of Fire*, until his encounter with the water demons. He later used his wand from his father's tool kit and is still using it. He can summon a shield of force around himself, by focusing his will. By thrusting his wand, Carter can send walls of energy into his opponents. Carter can also send a burst of magic into anything his wand is in contact with to shock them although this does not apply to demigods. This is Carter's main defensive weapon.
* **Crook and Flail**: Once he lost his *khopesh* and wand, Carter used the crook and flail of Ra in a brief fight against Menshikov. Before that, Carter used them to shatter the dazed Zia's staff by making an X formation. By lashing the crook and flail through the air and using his mind, he can direct a telekinetic force towards his enemies, which becomes more effective whilst using combat magic. Additionally, because the flail channels Ra's power, Carter has limited fire magic; such as summoning columns of fire and setting the flail on fire. Carter was even able to injure Apophis after he attacked him in a rage with flail, causing three burn marks to appear on the Serpent's neck that did not heal. Carter was allowed to keep these by Ra after the battle. Afterwards, he left them on the throne after becoming Pharaoh of the House of Life.
* **Julius Kane's Kit**: Once his father, Julius, became Osiris' host, Carter kept his magician kit so as to protect his memory. He later stows the kit in his Duat locker, but takes his father's wand to replace his own lost one in *The Throne of Fire.*
* **Staff**: Carter was given a staff by Zia in *The Red Pyramid*. He never used it in the books. Carter gave Sadie his staff to use to replace her broken one and stuck to his *khopesh*. Sadie uses his staff until *The Throne of Fire* when his griffin Freak eats his staff.
* **Annabeth's Yankees Cap**: In *The Crown of Ptolemy*, Carter was temporarily given Annabeth's Yankees cap which rendered the wearer invisible. Unlike Annabeth, Carter was able to use the cap effectively against Setne and its use allowed him to be invisible to the point that Percy Jackson couldn't see him with Nekhbet's enhanced vision. After defeating Setne, Carter returned the cap to Annabeth.