Twin Spirits of Kemet

**The following is an excerpt from the archival records of the Olmec heiress known as Rukhaya, of Earth Realm:**

*Timbuktu Dynasty Prophesy: On the falling of the winter sun and the rising of the easter moon, the dog star of the south shall burn brighter than two suns twice under the banner of the Olmecs, first for a man-child, the second for a woman-child. The former blessed by Djehuti, god of wisdom and truth; the latter by Sekhmet, goddess of the duality of spirit. The goddess Auset herself shall be present at these births. Blessed is the house of Olmec for twins of the spirit realm shall be born in human flesh.*

*The humidity moistened my cheeks as the wind blew through the lush trees in the garden. It was like a gentle kiss of a mother to her daughter. Had I just been visited by Auset? Was she telling me “good morning”? Those were her ways when she wasn’t in physical form: a blessing of a sweet date from the date palms, the smell of the freshest flower, and the dew in the morning wind. She is my spirit guide and from time to time she would greet me.*

*Sitting on a bench in front of the reflecting pool, I read over my lessons for the day. The flower and herb bushes alternated between the sago palm trees that lined the opposing sides of the pool as the sun shone brightly in the east. The clouds in the sky floated like boats on the Nile across my view. It was a beautiful day.  A day not meant to be spent inside at a desk practicing spells on papyri. And yet this was the fate of my brother.*

*In the distance behind me, I heard a frustrated yell that disrupted the peace of the morning. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! I hate this!” said Seph as his voice echoed off the granite walls through the columns and past the bushes in the garden. I giggled to myself. I knew how hard our lessons were for him.*

*I placed my papyri on the seat and dismissed my attendants. I turned around to walk back through the garden and past the great columns that lined the outside of our home, the Palace of Olman. The white granite stuck out in the green that surrounded the palace lands, which were situated off the bank of the Nile. The tall columns read like a story carved with the history of our great people. I entered the great doorway and walked down dimly lit hallway. A statue of our mother and father sat at the end of the hall. My father holding the crook and flail, my mother carved with her hand on his thigh, a carving that defied the statues of the previous Timbuktu dynasty where love was not expressed in royal art. Our father always had a stern look; his sharp features hand down to my brother. Mother, on the hand, had the high cheekbones and the tender lips of the Olmec dynasty, features passed on to me. Above their head the great symbol of Kemet, the Eye of Jereth. It served to protect the palace and was always placed in highly regarded areas such as the entrance to our parent’s wing, and the entrance to the Great Room of Sacred Knowledge, a room my brother and I had not yet reached potential to enter.*

*I made a left into the Great Hall where Seph was studying. There were four major columns in the room that served as support for the ceiling but also as a reminder of the power of the four elements-earth, air, fire and water-and each column were decorated according to one of them.  The walls of the perfectly square room were painted with the battles of old: the spiritual enlightenment of our father, Jereth as he ascended to the spiritual realm, the unification of Earth Realm under the Nation of Kemet by the Kushite Dynasty; the spiritual enlightenment of our people under the Timbuktu Dynasty; and the banishment of the Palefaces from Earth Realm by the Olmec dynasty. I shuffled my sandals across the blue, red, green, and black tiles. Posted near the far wall, Seph was reciting a protection spell.*

*Standing with my arms wide open I bellowed, “My brother! I could hear you in the garden.”*

*“Rukhaya! This is so frustrating. The needle keeps pricking me. I’m sure I’m not saying this right. Why can’t I just dodge this thing instead of using this…this stupid magic!”*

*I picked up the spell and read it thoroughly. I immediately spotted the error. “That is because you’ve written here ‘rapitaten amun aki’ when it should be ‘raspitaten aki amun’. Ha ha ha ha ha hahaaa!”*

*Seph snatched the paper from me. “Thanks. You could have saved me an hour.”*

*“Oh I’m sorry. I was reviewing my equations for the great pyramid complex of Luxor. You know Imhotep wants these calculations by the end of the day. Do you think Daddy will be proud of me?” Seph merely shrugged, his shoulders signifying that he really wasn't sure how father would receive my success.*

*As a son of the house of Olmec, my brother was slated for greatness and I adored him. Like a moth to a flame I followed him throughout the palace grounds.  The officials hated when they saw us coming. They knew we would do something to make their day harder. My brother, the strategist, was always plotting against Lord Wintertide. It was fun and our father delighted in it. He saw the potential my brother would have as General and Pharaoh of the realm, and yet always, kept hope that Seph would one day soon develop his inquo.*

*Mischief One and Mischief Two is what my mother used to called us.  Not a day went by where she did not receive a report of us repainting the walls, stealing the swords, or loosening the bolts on the carriage wheels. While I was a savant at the mysteries, my brother was a savant of battle strategy and weaponry. I, unfortunately, did not possess the war skills necessary to make father truly proud of me the way he was proud of Seph. Still, we were almost inseparable. We were like twins, though neither of us knew the prophecy said long ago under the Timbuktu Dynasty.*

*Time flew for me through our studies but was the opposite for Seph. Time stood still and he’d suffer though the hours of lessons like a zombie or ghoul. Around sunset, we finished up archery. The long bow of the southern region had become a key weapon in the unification of the Earth Realm, and Seph was a master at wielding it. And nothing excited him more than when he was perfecting his battle skills. That made me smile. Inside, I knew he smiled for me when he saw how savvy I was with spell casting, mystery science, and magic. We could always feel each other’s presence. We always knew how each other felt. It was a gift and a curse.*

*As dusk approached, Seph watched as I observed James across the bank of the river.  Hiding in the tall grass, I should have known that (Brad) would know where I was. Creeping slowly as not to make a sound, Seph unlocked the stalking ability of Sekhmet as he loomed behind me. Lost in a daze, I could not hear my brother nor feel his presence.  James, a boy 2 years older than me and a year younger than Seph, he too was strong in his battle sciences. I watched as he practiced the long sword and shield with his father. His swift moves hypnotized me as his arms swayed and his legs bent in the wind dodging the swipes and jabs of his attacker. Lost in his movements, my brother had the upper hand. With arms raised high, he brought them down on my shoulders letting out a loud shout. “RAAAAH!”*

*I jumped to high heaven revealing my position across the bank to James. Stunned by the sound he immediately paused his training and looked up to see me stunned and my brother laughing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath. Realizing that I had been watching him, James smirked and continued to practice his training with intensified passion. Red with embarrassment, I hurried back into the palace with my brother joking behind me, teasing me about my crush.*

*SILENCE IS NO LONGER GOLDEN*

*The still of the night always got to me. The day went well but at dinner, the whispers between father and his adviser, Lord Wintertide, bothered me.  The look on the man’s face was one of disgust and jealousy. I never liked the way he looked at (Brad) as if my brother had somehow taken his place, a place that never belonged to him. I always felt like Lord Wintertide had a hidden agenda, a secret desire to overthrow my father and rule Kemet for himself. It was almost like an intuition, a warning whispered from Auset herself on the winds of Kemetian air.*

*Although the day had been wonderful, the night air was colder than usual. I looked out of my window onto the shores of the Nile and across to the city of Kemet. It was still and silent, a silence I had not heard or seen before. I shuddered and thought to sneak across the palace to my brother’s room, which was on the other side of the Great hall. There I always had comfort and solace. He never turned me even though I knew he’d tease me come morning. With the guards securely protecting the Great Room of Sacred Knowledge, I made my way across the palace. The door opened as I approached. Initially startled, I realized it was my brother standing there in his undergarments.*

*“I knew you were coming. Come on. I’m tired.” He threw a pillow at me and there beside his bed, a pallet had already been made for me on the floor.*

*It had not been ten minutes after I settled in for the night that both Seph and I awoke suddenly. Auset had manifest in front of us. With index finger over her mouth, she firmly whispered, “My children! The palace has been invaded!” She then drifted back into spirit plane out of our sight.*

*Suddenly we heard the guards fighting. I hopped up off the floor and fled closer to my brother. Holding me in his arms, we sat in fear as we waited for the next sounds. BOOM! The door flew open. Five Veyards, vile filth of the Earth Realm and banished Palefaces, had entered the palace seeking entrance into the Great Room of Sacred Knowledge. Thwarted by the guards, they tried to flee and escape, and had accidentally stumbled upon Seph’s room. Immediately, his training and deep-seated instinct to protect me kicked in. Seph raced for the wall where his longbow hung, but it was blocked by the Veyard. He backed up to me and as we stood back to back we prepared for battle. No more worrying about being in the bottom of the class, everything we were taught came flooding into my memory. I could now hear my brother’s thoughts. He asked me if I was ready and I mentally replied to him that I was ready. And so we fought back. We fought for our lives. We fought for our family. We fought for our people. We fought for Kemet.*

*Outnumbered, I was pinned to the floor. Feeling helpless I left my body. It was a weird feeling. In an instant, all time stopped. I was now floating over the room. I could see my brother battling for our lives. We were losing. I didn’t like. It. Suddenly I realized: INQUO! My energy had elevated. My chakras were opened. And like hot water the powers of Sekhmet flooded into me. A rage had come. I was no longer meek and quiet. Now I was immense. A strength I had never felt before. A power I had never felt. My soul glowed red with the power of fire and pure light guided by my rage. I floated back into my body and my eyes began to glow. Light emanated from my hands. White hot I grabbed the Veyard and slung him off of me. His body hit the wall like a stuffed scarecrow. In that moment, the Veyards pulled out a knife and held it at my brother’s throat. I began to speak with the voice of the goddess Sekhmet:*

*“Let him go or suffer my wrath!”*

*Un-phased by my newfound power , the leader replied, “We will kill him! Let us go or be forced to watch his blood flow from ear to ear.” He slowly dug the knife into the side of my brother’s neck. Unsure of what to do, Seph’s quick wit shot out.*

*“I am a Prince of Kemet. You kill me and your people shall endure a war the likes they have never seen! And my sister will annihilate you where you stand. That does not work for you. None of you! But if you take me with you as protection, I can guarantee that no one hurts you and allows you safe passage from our realm.”*

*The Veyards thought it over between themselves. Realizing that they did not achieve their mission, they thought their king would still be pleased with a the prince as a prize.*

*“Very well. But your sister must leave the INQUO state.”*

*As the leader made his demand, Lord Wintertide, the Pharaoh Ard and Queen Sing entered the room. Stunned by the state I had achieved and the knife to my brother’s throat, my mother pleaded for Seph's life. I scanned the room and seeing the pain in my parent’s eyes, I cut off the energy from Sekhmet. My hands returned to normal, my eyes ceased glowing and I slowly stopped levitating. With a smirk on his face the leader, still holding the knife to Seph’s throat, backed out of the room with the other three remaining Veyards following behind him. I watched as my brother was carried away.*

*They grabbed a carriage and took off out of Kemet headed to the temple where teleportation took them back to the Veyard Realm. In the moment my brother disappeared from my sight, something stirred in me. It was a feeling I had never felt before. Hatred. Every fiber in my being had been turned, distorted and twisted. Every Veyard would pay. And I vowed destruction of their realm until my brother was returned to me…ALIVE. If anything happened to him, their people would no longer exist. The sympathy of my elders left my body.  All Veyards would either be executed or sent off to Michael Island, the land of the mischievous Earthling deviant whose lust was never satisfied.*

*But still I wondered - how had they been able breach the protection of Earth Realm? Only those with ties presently in Kemet could enter our lands."*

**So ends the first account of Queen Rukhaya, defender of Earth Realm**