Dagon-Ja tells the queen that Ra races across the sky in his chariot with Tho chasing him. He guards himself from Tho's sharp beak with his brilliant golden shield. He creates the shield from the seven wandering warriors in the sky that spin around the big star in the center, the star that never moves. Suddenly, the queen sees how she can convince her husband, King Minos, to allow her to travel to Kemet. She leaves excitedly, thanking Dagon-Ja for showing her Ra's shield.
The queen commissions 15 Shields of Ra from the telchines, bronze artisons in Chthonia who begin right away producing the shields. They mix ores of tin and copper with charcoal, and heat the mixture to form bronze. The molten bronze is then poured in sand molds and used to make the shields. A friendly challenge develops to see who can make the most beautiful Shield of Ra. The telchines proudly display their work around Knossos and Chthonia.
Dagon-Ja explains to Queen Pasiphae how to overlap the spirals to make an endless loop, a figure 8, telling her, "It means endlessness." She didn't mention how Ja had talked with her about endlessness and encouraged her to portray it in pottery. The queen is so impressed with the figure 8 design that she commissions artists around Knossos to decorate the palace walls with Dagon-Ja's wave spiral. She considers it a prophecy, fortelling her trip to Kemet and back, but she tells no one. Dagon-Ja is beginning to enjoy her time in Knossos, and her renown. The time has finally come to be presented to King Minos. Just as she thinks things can't get better, she is right. They get worse.
"The king will not see you until you have sworn to worship Ur Nammu," Daedalus tells Dagon-Ja. "I have done everything you guided me to do and I have done it to the best of my ability. This is one thing I cannot do. I cannot turn my back on Ja. I must return to Phaistos," said Dagon-Ja, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. "Not so fast," says Daedalus. "There is yet hope. I know you cannot forsake Ja, just as I cannot and have not. When the queen has need of a person, she makes things possible that were impossible. She has a way of getting the king to do her bidding, and so we must wait to see if she needs you enough to do that." "I will wait," replies Dagon-Ja. Soon, the queen calls for Dagon-Ja to come to her and tells her she needs her help in convincing the king to allow her to sail to Kemet on the Boats of Tho. There will be no need to worship Ur Nammu. The queen has cleared the way.
The king watches and listens as the queen shows him Dagon-Ja's calendar disk pictures of the 14 warriors, each carrying a Shield of Ra, who will protect the perimeter when she sails to Kemet. The fifteenth shield, she tells the king, belongs to him, the greatest warrior of them all. She also tells him she has a large Boat of Tho with an experienced sailor at the helm. She assures him she is guided by both Tho and Ra on her journey to Kemet.
Impressed by her planning, the king grants her 14 warriors to travel with her to Kemet but tells her she has made the journey sound so interesting that he will accompany her, as well. He also requests the presence of Dagon-Ja, to read the calendar and keep them informed of the days passing so they will not overstay the journey. The king accepts Dagon-Ja into the Knossos court and gives her the position of master potter. Dagon-Ja daily gives thanks to Ja but never in the presence of the king for he is still in service to Ur Nammu, the created god.
The queen takes the ladies of her court and her husband in the Boats of Tho, sailing the coast of Chthonia and across the blue waters of the Aegean to Khufu's Tomb in Kemet. With the guidance of Tho and Ra, the court arrives at the shores of Kemet safely and continues their journey on foot to Khufu's Tomb, guarded by the platoon of Chthonian warriors with shields.
Dagon-Ja feels as though she is walking on air. She never believed she would see Kemet in her lifetime, and to travel to see it in the company of the king and queen of Chthonia is beyond belief. The whole of her life begins to seem like a lovely dream and she gives thanks to Ja, who tells her to keep the faith and always be the purest version of herself that she can be. The End(lessness).
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