title: The Quest (Novels of Ancient Egypt)
author:  Wilbur Smith 
description: Fans of bestseller Smith's ancient Egyptian series will welcome the fourth book in the saga, which picks up where <i>Warlock</i> (2001) left off. The powerful magus Taita and his loyal ally, Col. Meren Cambyses, have returned to Egypt after a journey of many years only to find the country beset by a series of plagues that include giant flesh-eating toads and river water turned to blood. Pharaoh Nefer Seti asks the pair to findand eliminatethe source of his country's torment, a mission that sends Taita and Meren on a perilous quest in which they must contend with fierce creatures both natural and supernatural. Once again Smith deftly blends history, fantasy and mythology, but newcomers should be prepared for grisly deaths and mutilations. <i>225,000 printing.</i><i>(May)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  The Quest
  Wilbur Smith
  
  —
  Two lonely figures came down from the high mountains. They were dressed
  in travel-worn furs and leather helmets with ear-flaps strapped beneath their
  chins against the cold. Their beards were untrimmed and their faces
  weatherbeaten. They carried all their meagre possessions upon their backs. It
  had taken a hard and daunting journey to reach this spot. Although he led,
  Meren had no inkling where they were, neither was he sure why they had
  come so far. Only the old man who followed close behind him knew that, and
  he had not yet chosen to enlighten Meren.
  Since leaving Egypt they had crossed seas and lakes and many mighty rivers;
  they had traversed vast plains and forests. They had encountered strange and
  dangerous animals and even stranger and more dangerous men.
  Then they had entered the mountains, a prodigious chaos of snowy peaks and
  gaping gorges, where the thin air was hard to breathe. Their horses had died
  in the cold and Meren had lost the tip of 