"Tell me," Wepwawet said. "Do you feel any pangs of conscience for what you have done to this foolish human you once considered your master?"
"Are you here to make us change back?" The impostor wanted to know.
"Normally, I wouldn't dream of interfering," said Wepwawet. "I will reserve my decision until we have finished our conversation."
Jared struggled in vain to follow the discussion between the impostor and the strange thing.
"He never cared about me," the impostor said.
Wepwawet laughed. "You didn't exist until his brother twisted reality to bring you into this universe," the deity pointed out.
"Just the same," the impostor said with a little shrug of the shoulders.
"Look what you've done to him," Wepwawet said, reaching down and encircling the sheepdog's neck with one hand. He brushed back the hair from the dog's eyes. "Look at those dumb, animal eyes! Do you see even a glimmer of humanity left there?"
Jared squirmed and whined, wanting free of the unwelcome embrace.
"Get away from my brother and my dog!"
Wepwawet turned in surprise at the sound of the firm, steady voice coming from Kevin's slight, pre-teen body.
"Yes, and what will you do if I refuse?" Wepwawet asked with scornful dismissal.
Kevin had been hiding a container of salt behind his back. He shook the container and collected a handful of salt crystals, that he flung at the corporeal form of Wepwawet.
The god shrieked and his form blinked in and out of existence. Kevin produced a sheet of paper on which he had scrawled some words. "I'm going to banish you," Kevin answered calmly.
"Be careful, Kev," the impostor said, delighted in the unexpected turn of events. With Wepwawet banished, there would be no chance of Jared ever reclaiming his human body. The impostor's continued existence in Jared's human body would be guaranteed!
Despite his dulled thoughts, Jared came to the same conclusion. He barked at his brother, begging him to listen. "No! He help me!"
"Be quiet, boy," Kevin said. "I need to concentrate."
A shimmering form tried to manifest itself again, but failed. "You're making a mistake, human," a disembodied voice warned.
"I don't think so," Kevin said.
"Hurry," the impostor urged. "He's tricky."
Despite the command to be quiet, Jared disobeyed. He barked loudly. "Kevin! No trap me! Get bad me!"
Kevin recited the words he had translated and then copied from a website. Wepwawet's furious screams diminished as Kevin advanced through the litany of words intended to exile Wepwawet to a spectral plane of existence.
"Your brother will pay..." Wepwawet began.
"I don't think so," Kevin said defiantly.
Jared barked. "Kev! Listen! Me Jared. Help!"
Kevin ignored his barking dog and finished the recital. Wepwawet vanished, forever, in a cloud of foul-smelling smoke.
Kevin's friend Charlie ran from the back door to join the scene, having been instructed by Kevin to stay out of harm's way. "That was so bad-ass!" Charlie exclaimed. "What was that thing?"
"It doesn't matter now," the impostor said. He had rushed to Kevin's side to give his kid brother a big hug. "Thanks, Kev. I really appreciate you."
The sheepdog stood in stunned immobility and felt his hope drain slowly from his brain.
Kevin hugged his brother back. "You know I've got your back," he said.
No! Oh no! The sheepdog wandered over to a few traces of soot and ash in the grass of the lawn. He sniffed them and realized that the strange thing was gone. Oh no! No!
Kevin grabbed his dog around the neck in a celebratory embrace. He looked up at his older brother. "Now, you are safe and Shaggy will always be our dog," he said.
Shaggy whimpered, but Jared looked down at the dog and slipped something from his pocket. "It's all right, boy," Jared said. "Look what I've got you!"
Jared offered the bacon treat to the sheepdog, which took it with some reluctance. The resistance to the siren call of the bacon didn't last long.
Shaggy began to crunch his bacon treat as the two brothers walked with Charlie back inside the house. The sheepdog looked up in time to see and hear the back door close behind them. He whimpered and sought out more comfort with bacon.
THE END