The Red Pyramid Chapter 10 Summary

How It All Goes Down

Bast Goes Green

  • Carter tells us Bast calls out to a bunch of cats who mob the carriers, thereby slowing them down.
  • Bast ditches the car at the Met, and she, Carter, and Sadie run toward Central Park.
  • Bast, Carter, and Sadie find the obelisk. Carter wishes he'd grabbed something warmer, like a wool coat.
  • Bast says that wouldn't be a good idea, as animal products interfere with working magic. Sadie objects that she's kept her leather boots on, and Bast suggests that maybe she has a higher tolerance and perhaps the leather won't affect her magic.
  • Now that they're standing at the obelisk, Bast tells Sadie to work on opening a portal (no, not that portal), since there's a window of lucky time starting right then (11:30AM).
  • Sadie is like, you're the goddess, why don't you do the portal?
  • Bast replies that she's more of a protector than a portal-opener and advises Sadie to control her emotions, since fear is bad for spells. Besides, they need to get out of there before Set summons other gods to help him.
  • Carter asks whether that means Set has a bunch of evil gods on speed dial.
  • Bast says that evil and good aren't accurate terms. As a magician, Carter should be thinking in terms of order and chaos, since those are the forces that direct the universe. And Set, as we've all guessed by now, is all about chaos.
  • A cat runs up and gives Bast some info. She tells the kids that the carriers are close, and also that something else powerful is coming (perhaps another minion?), so they need to get a move on.
  • Bast tells Sadie to work on that portal, and she'll keep off the attackers, since combat magic is her specialty.
  • The four carriers, now scratched and dented, show up. Bast's body begins to glow green, and energy surrounds her until she's encased in a twenty-foot tall glowing version of her ancient goddess form: a woman with the head of a cat.
  • When Bast raises her hand, so does the avatar. She's got sharp claws that look super deadly.
  • Bast cuts into the carriers while Sadie tries to open the portal. Carter draws his sword and leaps in. They hack up the carriers.
  • Sadie still can't get the portal to work, which is unfortunate, since a new thing shows up. It makes a creepy slithering sound.
  • The bushes explode with scorpions, and a woman walks through piles and piles of scorpions toward the group.
  • Scorpion woman is dressed in ancient Egyptian robes, with a huge scorpion sitting on her head as a crown. Bast IDs her as Serqet, the scorpion goddess.
  • Bast tells Sadie and Carter to flee to the museum and find the temple, which might protect them, since this fight isn't going to be pretty.
  • Sadie's worried about Bast, but Bast says it'll be fine and she'll catch up. She doesn't sound too sure about it, though.
  • Carter grabs Sadie, and they make a run for it.