As the NETERs leave their table and disperse through the Space before joining HORUS in the singing that follows, ENSEMBLE move through CELEBRANTS serving herb tea.

HORUS:

(To ENSEMBLE:) As our friends decide, please give them some tea. Cinquefoil tea is for those who want to go. Basil tea will be for the warriors, blackberry for those who will watch.

ISIS:

(Sings, looking at the Sky:)

We are speechless under your beauty,

Silent in your splendor, reaching for your light . . .

HORUS:

Nothing that lovely in the song and joke routine I was going to do for you about fighting Set. I will be so happy when all of this is done. Imagine being someone who loves to sing, and make music, and being caught somehow in this slamming hog rhythm of Set's music. I can't get out of it. The beat is infectious. Everything sounds like this:

 During the following, the stationary SET KHU turns to face the other singers, and its head lights up again. Not a Prayer MUSIC begins. It sounds like a clumsy, halting composite of We Are All Free and I'm Looking Forward to You.

Not a Prayer

HORUS:    

Because he doesn't have a prayer,

This one's in trouble!

A fool without reverence

Has a heart without joy.

SET KHU:

What I'm about to do to you

Makes for a vigorous song.

To tell you how you're gonna get it

And show you how you were so wrong.

ISIS, NEPHTHYS, THOTH:

You're right!

ISIS:

This music is boring.

NEPHTHYS:

Soon we will be snoring.

THOTH:

When the rhyme stops pouring

And it's time for some roaring,

Set's music has some bounce to it,

But when you try to dance to it,

All together now:

ALL:

It all sounds the same. (Fade Music.)

HORUS:

We are nearly complete. I had so many jokes for you, about how Set is so ugly that (Rim shot on drum), and if you had a nose like Set, you would (Rim shot). But the more of these little word stingers I made, the more I felt like a bag of poisoned stones was hitting my leg as I walked, and releasing a sharp, metal odor up my nose. I have to find another way to talk about Set. Imagine what it's like to be him. Could you bear it? Could I? We're about to find out. For now, the theme of the battle is the Fire of Love against the Ice of Fear. Don't bet against the Fire.

My Love Strengthens Me music begins. ENSEMBLE may join HORUS in singing, as he picks up the MIRROR SHIELD, and holding it at his side, rotates during the song so that the whole AUDIENCE see themselves, and the Map of Light, reflected in the MIRROR.

My Love Strengthens Me

HORUS (Sings):

My love strengthens me.

It is like a kind fire

A waterfall of desire,

A fragrance of peace.

ISIS: (Speaks):

Not so bad.

HORUS (Speaks):

But you heard it, right? It still sounds like Set's music.

THOTH:

It does. What's next?

HORUS: (Sings:)

My love encloses me.

She understands all things

In the stillness of morning --

(Speaks:)

You see? It can just bounce along like this until (Cutting gesture. Music stops.)

(Sings:)

In the sweep of her wings.

HORUS:

I am in a rut with this Red Land Rhythm.

ISIS:

Well, we must have a war anthem, Commander, and the Queen is confident that you will have it ready when it is needed, in a style you like. And it will be better than Set's.

THOTH and ANUBIS:

(Simultaneous): That is not saying much.

ISIS:

You know what I mean. Horus, if you want me at Set's back, opposite to you, where do you want the others?

HORUS:

Nephthys at my left. (NETERS move to form the pattern as HORUS directs them:) As Set is left-handed, you may distract his eye when he throws. Anubis on my right. Ma'at behind me. As Set and I circle inside, you four move like the four points of a square outside. Thoth will be flying directly above the center, and so (Sings):

My Love Strengthens Me (Reprise)

 HORUS:  

My love is a pyramid,

She is safety in the night.

She is a beacon to the Black Land

There is healing in her left hand

And in her right,

Geometry of light.

NETERS, ENSEMBLE, CELEBRANTS:  

(Repeat. )

As these lines are repeated, a PYRAMID of LIGHT beams appears among the four NETERS arranged in a square around HORUS on the floor, and the THOTH KHU above the Space. The PYRAMID rotates as MUSIC continues, and LIGHTS fade slowly to black.

End of Act Four