The "Fellowship of the Weird" gains a new member when Bes (the undersized, overstuffed, protruding-tongued hero of ancient Egyptian legend) returns to the New Word, fulfilling a promise made nearly two years earlier. Soon after reuniting with Andrew, Scott arrives and earns his ticket into the Fellowship by successfully reciting an old Egyptian folktale requested by the impish Wizard of Odd himself. The boys eagerly settle in for a night of "myth-story" and high strangeness when Bes finally picks up the tale of the epic game of thrones between Osiris, Set, and Horus . . . The scene shifts to a bygone era known to the ancients as Tep Zepi (the "First Time") -- an age when the world was steeped in magic and ruled by immortals. It is a time of darkness as Set continues to sow the seeds of chaos in a once peaceful land. Mankind's only hope lies in its newborn prince, Horus (the only son and future avenger of Osiris). Bes's eyewitness story lifts the veil on the mysterious "missing years" of Horus's childhood; years spent tucked away on a secluded floating island with his chosen protectors, who nurture and prepare the young falcon-in-the-nest for a cosmic showdown that will rock the cradle of civilization.