Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret

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-Cupcake kicked up a cloud of sand behind them as she carried Amir across the vast land of Hetep toward the Holy City in hopes that he might be able to tell his beloved of the revelations he'd been blessed with upon his clones withdraw from Khemriq. The Mule breathed heavily, tired from the endless riding, trying its hardest to keep up a good pace. Amir noticed this, leaning down and gently patting the creature's side to acknowledge its courage and sturdiness in his time of need. However, he wouldn't simply let it run itself to death, not if he could help it. Were it to fall and not be able to get back up his progress would be all but halted. So he used both hands to grab hold of it before turning them both into light in the same manner he had when he and Isis had escaped the harbor. Shooting into the sky, they shot off into the distance at speeds that made them look as though they were shooting stars in the bright blue sky.

He could not keep this up for long, bringing them back to the ground several dozen miles closer to their destination. But it wasn't enough, so he did it again, shooting off as he had before. Another several dozen miles before they landed, the sand turned to glass beneath their feet as the hot light cooked it immediately. Still, not enough, he did it again! Half the distance this time before he needed to stop. His own breaths matching the mule's now, his body aching as he overused his magic to get as far as he could. It had been weeks since turned away from his original destination and ran toward the Holy City, weeks of near-endless travel with little in the way of food, water, or rest. He looked like a mess, eyes dark and baggy, nearly sunken in. "Just..." He trailed off, resting his head onto the mane of the mule for a moment before shooting his head back up. "Just a little further then we can rest for a bit, okay?" He spoke to the mule, his only companion during his travel aside from a few merchants he'd met here and there. "Just a bit further," he repeated as though trying to inspire himself rather than the mule.

After some time further, veiled by the heat and borderline madness that was creeping in, stood a grand city, rivaling and surpassing even the great citadel city of Khemriq itself. Pyramids of marble and gold, statues of onyx and temples of materials Amir wouldn't be able to identify. As he approached the city, the guard force stood ready to meet him with force. As he got closer, they were called off by a voice that was both familiar and twisted at the same time. From the distance ran a figure towards him, a blurry image of tired hallucinations and heat waves. When the figure got close, it revealed itself as the Templar Captain Mastraza, though considerably more scarred than when she had been seen before. Pulling out a skin of water, she handed it towards Amir. "You look like crap, friend. How long have you been travelling?"

Amir blinked his eyes, trying to focus them beyond the haze and dizziness that threatened to overtake him. "The whole time..." He said sleepily as his shaky hand took the skin from her hands. He raised it to his lips and drank, though most of it washed over his face. The cool feeling of the water sent a shock through his system, feeling the urgency course through him once again. "I-I need..." He started before trailing off for a moment, he shook his head. "Isis, I need to see Isis." He said as he tried to get off the mule only to fall to the ground in a heap, not strong enough to hold himself up any longer.

Mastraza quickly sprung forward to lift him up to his feet again, starting to support him towards the city. After some time of walking, they came within the walls, but instead of taking him to some sort of barrack or headquarter, she carried him to the side towards a medical station. She layed him down on one of the bunks and waved for a nurse to care for him. "Wait here, I will fetch her for you." She said before parting from him.

About an hour later she returned with Isis and a priest in tow. Isis rushed over to her beloved, clutching his hand in her own, holding him tightly. "Amir! What happened to you? Did Amen do this? I swear I will rip his heart out if he did!" Isis hissed with great concern for her love.

Amir waited, time feeling like it wasn't moving at all, not even having felt the IV being put in or hearing the doctors and nurses talking as they did things to him. It was all a blur until he felt a familiar hand holding his own. Then it was as though his head had breached the water, he could hear her even if he was slow to respond. "What? I- No, this wasn't him...This wasn't Amen, I never met the man in person." Amir managed to say, his throat feeling as though there were rocks churning against each other inside of it. It was then that he noticed someone else beside her, someone unfamiliar. He managed to roll onto his side with a groan, looking at Isis, she was indeed a site for sore eyes and were beauty a cure-all he certainly would have been feeling much better at the sight of her. "Oh, Lah'mi. I must know what has happened in my absence. Then we need to talk, just the two of us." He said, trying to force a smile but his lips did not curl.

Isis looked down to the floor, unsure of how to proceed. She looked up to the priest beside her to answer for her. "To put a no finer point to it, things have gone to hell." The aging priest said, his voice ringing soft and uncertain, as if he was unsure of what to make of the man before him. "The ghouls of the Ashen mountains are growing more and more daring. Just recently they even crossed our walls and began a ramage within their confines. It... It was not a pretty sight. Isis and her templars have been invaluable in the repelling of them, not to mention their campaigns to attack at them."

"Something which have not gone without cost." Mastraza said as she pointed to the scars on her face.

"No, it hasn't. We have lost fourteen of our fifty templars so far." Isis confirmed. "But the instructions are simple: So long as the ghoul threat exists, they cannot help and dedicate soldiers to the cause. Until they are dealt with, we are stuck in limbo here. But with you here, we can surely turn the tide." Isis said with a joyful smile and hope in her eyes. "But until then, you should just rest. Recover and get ready." Isis said with finality, but even so, she did not let go of him, nor did she intend to.

Amir felt guilt rising inside of him, not only had his actions lead people to die here, he didn't know if helping the priests now would be the right thing to do. So long as they remained occupied, they wouldn't be able to stop Amen.' *But what of the Demigod Amen had mentioned? Why did the Gods create the Ghouls? To stop us from reaching him or her?* ' Amir thought to himself, squeezing Isis' hand back with all the force he could muster at the moment. "Yeah, I just need..." He trailed off again for a moment, "I just need a little bit of time. I'll be up on my feet before you know it. But what of you, Lah'mi? Are you okay?" He asked, placing Isis above all even with everything going on both with himself and whatever was happening on the mountain.

"I am doing as good as I can. But with you here, my burden is lightened immensely. A few scratches here and there, but nothing I can't handle. You know me, I am a bit too strong and stubborn to be done in by some filthy, scum bred ghoul to do me in."

"Quite the understatement for someone who got gutted in the latest raid." Said the priest with a tone as if he was complimenting her for her strength and bravery. "You running at them, sword in hand with your entrails almost leaving your body must have been a horrifying sight for them."

Isis cringed at the mention. "Yes, well, I didn't want to say that right now when he is **fucking** recovering!" She hissed back.

"No need for foul language, Ms Madu." He replied as if ignorant to the error of saying such a thing.

He gritted his teeth, forcing himself up into a sitting position despite the pain it caused to do so. "No, now is not the time to sugarcoat things nor is it the time to put me above anyone else. This is all my fault, I shouldn't have let you all come here at least not without me in tow. It was a mistake and with what you're saying I nearly paid for it with more than any of this risk could possibly have been worth! Hell, with fifteen dead I might already have..." He He said, having a hard time trying to convey his frustration with a voice that sounded like sandpaper. "I don't have time to rest or recover, we need to talk, in private." He said, eyeing the priest as he finished speaking.

The priest and Mastraza nodded. The priest left the station and Mastraza helped him back up on his feet once more. "You and Isis can borrow the room in the barracks reserved for us Templars. I will tell them to leave until such a time when you two have figured out your business." She said as they led him towards the barracks that was positioned about half an hour away from their current location. Once inside, Mastraza called off her templars and took away to the training grounds, leaving Isis and him alone in the room. "What is it babe? You seem so distraught. Is it about the wound? It was really nothing. Barely even a scar to show for it. I am fine, we are fine, and you are here with me again." She said sweetly. "Did you get the Xybron to cooperate?"

Amir fell back into a wooden chair, feeling the weight off his feet was like a blessing and he let out a sigh of relief in response. At her question, he shook his head, "No...well, sorta about the wound but no, that's not what I'm so distraught about either. About the Xybron, no, I never met them." he said before falling silent for quite some time. After more than a minute of what was clearly deep thought had passed he looked into the eyes of his beloved, a clear and present flame of passion behind his eyes as he began to speak to her. "Isis, I love you. I love you more than anything else, more than the sunshine, the cool breeze, more than life itself. So there are things I need to say, things that might be hard to believe, things that may make you hate me. So I need to know before I say them that you trust me to be honest with you, to tell you the truth no matter what the circumstances. I want to know that you believe in me. So please, Lah'mi, tell me, do you?" He asked, a look of anticipation in his eyes as he stared at her, knowing what she would probably say but not knowing if he would believe her.

Isis was starting to get very concerned. "How could I ever hate you?" Isis asked sincerely, but as he went on, she could not help but fear that something truly terrible had happened, or said. "You... You never met the Xybron? They were such a key point in our plan. We went such different ways and took so many risks because we needed their help. W-What is this all about, Amir? I... I do trust you. I trust you above all else in this world, you should know that. Which is why I am very concerned that you would ever think otherwise. You should already know how much I love and trust you. We have been through so much together. I would never think anything else or expect anything less than absolute honesty from you. So tell me love, what has you so concerned that you would doubt all this?" She asked, almost hurt as she gestured between them.

He was sad to have hurt her, sad that deep down inside he worried he still did not trust her fully. But he got what he wanted, confirmation, and so had but one last thing to do. He summoned his staff, its rainbow glow appearing in his hand before he slammed it to the ground, using a miracle. For the next ten minutes, neither God nor man would hear what went on in this room, only Isis and he would be privy to what was to be said or thought. He looked up at her, his eyes glistening with tears he was too dehydrated to have been able to shed before he spoke to her. "The Gods lie."

He said it so matter of factly, not missing even a beat as he went on to explain everything that his clone had experienced in Khemriq. The argument he and Amen had, the revelations that he'd become knowledgeable of. He told her of the ghouls, of the DemiGod on the mountain, he explained that Amen did not want their faith destroyed. He told her everything, spilling his guts to her without stopping so much as to take a breath until he was near to turning blue. Only then did he stop, readying himself for whatever she might have to say to him.

Isis blinked as he finished his rant. Through his entire blur of words that very much sounded like heresy from any other tongue, but from his, it sounded like absolute honesty. She tapped her foot against the floor, looking around the room as if the walls would hold the answers she wanted. "Like I said, I trust you. I trust that you are speaking the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." She said with a sound of defeat. Her eyes were sad, as if her whole world was crumbling. She then looked back to him, on the verge of tears. "At least... I believe in you and trust that you speak what you perceive to be the truth... Amir, come on. Why would they lie about something like that? What proof is there? Because Amen said so? Sounds more like a plot to turn us against one another more than anything. To break our spirits before we an stop him... What concerns me more than anything however is what you said about the Pyramid... Is it really a prison?"

He shook his head, "Why wouldn't they? I remember something that Galeer told me when I first met him, or perhaps it was shortly after that. He said that they'd given up so much to be able to become a part of our lives, to be here with us the way they are. What if they're incapable of living up to their promises? A sacrifice they made to be closer to us? I don't know, and I don't agree with Amen's methods but I do think he is telling the truth. I read the Apocrypha, skimmed it, but read as much as I could nonetheless. Both Triss and Amen confirmed they'd seen the tree it described in Vrodalfn during his trip to Ashvattha, the same country they visited before he rushed back here. If we need more proof, then we need to clear out these Ghouls and find the Godsend atop the mountain. If that Godsend does truly exist then there has to be some reason that they're up there, some reason that the ghouls are keeping us from reaching him. You don't have to believe me fully right now, I didn't believe any of it myself at first." He said, paying attention to the time they had left.

"But we need to help the priest stop the ghouls regardless of what we believe or not, either way, we will either have gained new forces to fight against Amen or we will discover the truth ourselves without relying on his word. We can decide what we do from there. Part of me hopes he's wrong, to believe he is lying. But even Galeer himself has told me that of all the awful things Amen had done, he does not lie." He said, standing up from his seat and walking over to her. "You're the only one I can trust with this information, the only one that I would be willing to tell until we knew for sure one way or the other. But we have a way of knowing here, so, will you learn the truth with me?" He said, holding out his hand to her.

"Then he is deceived as well. There is a reason that they are called apocrypha. That they are not official texts of the gods: They were not true. They were heretical monsters who did anything they felt like whenever they felt like. You say the tree is true and their creation? That confirms their heresy in my mind. We even have a celebration where we get to meet the dead ones from our life. How could that be if the afterlife does not exist? If it is only a 'Howling Abyss'?" Isis asked, trying to deny this whole thing, feeling in her heart that it was wrong.

"Regardless of that," She said as she walked up to him, taking his hand in her own, putting on a brave smile. "If there is a truth out there about these matters, then I will hunt for it with you. Besides, regardless of whether there even is a truth in these words, we still need to hunt down and fight the Ghouls and whatever leads them." She said softly. "I don't think there is a demigod up in that mountain, but if there is, I will pry the information out of him with my bare hands."

He pulled her into a hug, "Thank you, Lah'mi, thank you for this. I can't tell you how I feared telling you this, how many times I went over how I would say it in my head to keep me from passing out from exhaustion. I'm sorry for being so scared of telling you, for worrying what you might think or say. We came here with such a clear goal in mind but now it feels as though everything has been turned on its head. I didn't know how you would react and I'm sorry for doubting that you would trust in me. I won't ever do something so stupid again, can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" He said through tears as he held her tighter, still weak from his weeks of nonstop travel but still, he gave it all he had in him.

Isis returned his hug in full. "There is nothing to forgive. This is nothing. My faith might have taken a bit of a pummeling, but I remain strong both in spirit and my affection for you. Don't worry so much. But then again, we haven't even had a big fight yet, so it makes sense that you might be a bit scared over my reactions. I still love you no matter what." She said soothingly. She was about to raise his chin to give him a kiss when there was a heavy knock on the door. Parting from her boyfriend, she went and answered the door. Mastraza and the priest from earlier stood there. "I thought we asked for some privacy." Isis accused.

"Forgive me, Ms Madu, but his reverence said he didn't have time to wait." Mastraze excused herself.

"Captain Madu, Lord Arbiter, it is imperative that you follow us. We have something to show you, as well as reveal something important."

Isis looked to Amir, uncertain of everything by this point. She nodded and waved for Amir to follow. Walking through the winding streets and numerous citizens, all clad in far finer attires than the rest of the kingdoms they had been to. Once standing before a soaring pyramid, they entered an entrance that immediately transported them to the construct above. Walking through the hallways, they eventually came across a heavily armored woman, clad in armor that seemed to be made out of gold, and carrying a flail. "Revered Serqet, our allies have arrived." The priest said with a voice of reverence that one would assume would be reserved for gods.

The woman turned to the two of them. She was tall, but not incredibly so. Her hair was a bright silver and her eyes radiating gold. "Lady Isis. Arbiter. I am Serqet Heqet, risen from the beyond to help you retake the kingdoms from the fallen Amen."

Resting a hand on his beloved's shoulder to keep himself well balanced he stared at the woman with wide and clearly surprised eyes. His head moved from side to side, his surprise turning to pure confusion in the face of whatever he was seeing. Part of him just wanted to turn around, head back to the hospital and take a nap just in case everything that he saw from the point he fell from his mule was little more than a result of heatstroke. But he couldn't very well do that, unfortunately. "I-Well, I don't know..." He trailed off, the floating pyramid, and now the living dead. He knew it wasn't impossible but he also knew the story Amen had told, of the death of his dear sister. "Why?" Was all he could think to ask, "Why now? After all this time? Why have you risen now?" Amir asked, a near accusatory tone in his voice as he stared at the woman who looked far too familiar yet was completely different all the same.

"Amen has gone too far. The priesthood have, by mercy of the gods, raised me from paradise to enact holy vengeance against Amen. The rage of Hetep shall be turned towards the fallen king. I was not brought here by choice, but now, as I stand here, I can't help but feel that this must all come to an end."

The priest stepped forward. "Lady Serqet is our final and most potent weapon to be used against Amen. As he carries a piece of her being within him, she shares the same rights and powers of the Pharaoh. His own might kept us at bay before. With her grace by our side and a greater army still, he will be quelled and his burning hatred quenched."

Amir felt anger burning within him, his pupils becoming slits but for a moment as he clenched his teeth. His brow was furrowed, his hands shaking even more than his legs, "How dare you, what gives you the right to raise the long dead and bring them to your cause? To call them a weapon? As though they are nothing but puppets to be controlled, this is horrid!" Amir hissed at the priest wanting little more than to reach out and grip him by his collar. "As an Arbiter, a chosen child of Galeer, I forbid this madness lest we be no better than Amen himself!"

"A bit late for that, Lord Arbiter." Serqet said calmly. "I understand your frustration and maybe even dismay. While it may not have been my choice to return, it is my choice to now remain." She said as she walked forward and raised a cold, metalclad hand to calm him. "And while wholly within your right to demand of them to not do this, and within your might to make it happen, you don't rule over me. I am as much Pharaoh as Amen by now. You have no authority over me." She said.

"Besides, we have bigger troubles than that of morally ambiguous deeds. The ghouls are amassing and preparing for an attack. We must go in and crush them in their lairs before they overwhelm our home, to then move on towards the rest of Hetep." She said as she used magic to display a magical map over the floor. It showed the city, the mountains, and within the mountains, an absolute sea of red. "While barely recognizable, each and every red dot there is a ghoul ready to attack. We are estimating a host of hundreds of thousands. And we need you to help us root them out and kill them, ridding us of their threat once and for all."

Amir shook his head, "We will defeat whatever these creatures are. You are correct to prioritize that at the moment." He said before pointing at the priest, "But you acted out of turn, without right. I will see to it personally that when this is over you and anyone who helped you in this revival will step down from your positions without delay. You will not play with the lives of others, certainly not to turn them into weapons." He said before turning to Serqet, "And if I cared at all for the title of Pharoah I assure you that I wouldn't have come here nor amassed an army to fight against the current one. I may not hold authority over you but know that I do not acknowledge you as the true ruler of Hetep, future or otherwise." His tone harsh and rough. "How do we plan to attack? A simple charge would only see us slaughtered. We have not the forces to spare nor enough in general to matter in a battle of attrition."

Serqet seemed more than displeased with his attitude, but move on from it. "You would be correct. Facing them head on will only cause us to suffer heavy casualties. If push comes to shove, I hope you will be able to spare a miracle or two to help us ward them off. All the same, we can't wait till nightfall, lest we risk them overwhelming us in the dark of night when it is safe for them. We need to strike now, and we have prepared for it. The sun is their enemy, and we will take this chance to destroy them once and for all. Some infiltrators have managed to steal some of the powder created by Amen. We will use this powder to blast the entrances to their underground lair, trapping them below and eventually starving them or we can move to crushing them with the power we will bring at a later date." Serqet said, turning to Amir and Isis. Raising a hand, she radiated a dim light from her palm, which upon contact, seemed to restore Amir's vigour and strength. "We will move out effective immediately. We can't waste any light. Are you with us?"

Amir felt the strength return to his body, as though he had a week's amount of rest in less than an instant. The feeling was altogether pleasant as it was wrong to him, but he had no time to dwell on this as he looked up to Serqet. "Yes, I will help irradicate the Ghouls that threaten the Holy City." He said, looking over to Isis with a nod. Partly to let her know he was alright, and secondly to let her know that they still had their own plans they would have to achieve during this time.

"Then let's get to it." Serqet said as she waved for everyone in the room to move out.

## Tough Choices

Amen looked over the construction of the pyramid from his menagerie. With every day they continued to near completion. Despite the satisfaction of that, he had no joy to spare. Something wicked was coming, and he was not certain of how to handle it. He heard steps from behind, the ones of Triss and Izar, his two dearest and most beloved companion and friend whom he had summoned to meet with him.

He turned around to greet them, but he did not find the strength to talk to them so happily. His face said it all: Something bad either had or is about to happen. "Thank you for coming. I... I need your advice, guys... It is a heavy subject, but I think I need your word above all to know how to proceed." He said with a deep sigh. "The ghouls are amassing and preparing to attack the Holy City. Isis and Amir among their forces, ready to move against the ghouls and fight them. I... I don't think they can do it."

Triss was, at first, unsure how to respond when asked to give her opinion on such an important and possibly life-threatening matter but quickly piped up to speak from the heart rather than with any sort of strategy. "Well, you have to help, don't you? I mean, I know you and Amir didn't get along for a while there but you can't just let them die. Besides, the Holy City is super important, right? It is called the Holy City after all. Isn't this the chance to show you still care about Hetep and the Gods?"

Izar brought his hand up to his chin, a smile on his face as he looked a Triss. "Hm, The young lady may be right. While I think you underestimate my boy, he has much of his mother in him after all, this may very well be a good chance for you to show that despite recent events you still want to protect the people of Hetep. Even those who might oppose you, but I still speak from a place of clear bias. I would rather Amir have your help than not if the odds are stacked against him. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

"Of course I do, friend..." Amen answered, a look and tone of defeat in him. "I do intend to help him and Isis at the very least but... *Sigh* I really must be a wretched human being. I am conflicted. A part of me says that this should be done. My officers, children and nobles all agree on one matter..: That I should let this happen. That if they fall or lose their numbers, then my victory is guaranteed. I know it is wrong. I know it is despicable, against everything I value... So why am I contemplating it!?" He said with a blow to the railing. "If I let the city fall then I can reclaim it later, and by that time, I will have won. If i go to their aid, then they will invade, and if they do, I may likely and well lose, and everything will be for nothing." He sighed. "I am not saying that I will do it, but I need your help right now. If I go, I will likely lose. If I don't go, I may lose my humanity for eternity... And yet it seems so hard."

Izar shook his head, approaching the man to stand beside him, "You're counting your losses before anything has been decided yet, Friend. There is no guarantee of your loss regardless of action or inaction. I agree, your chances of loss are certainly increased by helping them you need to decide if what is lost outweighs what might be gained. As far as I can tell, Amir is still on your side and he has his miracles or whatever they are remaining. Let him die and you will lose them and a powerful ally. Help him and while there may yet still be an army at your doorstep you will have retained not only your humanity but a friend who may yet show you his true potential. This is me strictly speaking as I would have to look at it were I in your shoes, as your friend I would ask you to help my child see tomorrow if it is within your power. But if you want purely my unbias advice then all I have to say is this, "Evil acts are not always foolish, nor are acts of good always wise. Yet we must always strive to be good."

He rubbed his eyes as he contemplated Izar's words. "As I said, I intend to save the two of them no matter what... It is the rest that conflicts me." He said as he turned to Triss. "Lah'mi, forgive me for putting this on your shoulders when all you ever wanted was to just come and see me under better circumstances. Yet I must ask you what your advice is. While I may know it already, letting it come from your mouth would be more effective I suspect."

Triss bit her thumb, the idea of giving her opinion was one thing but to all but be the one to choose was quite another. "Well, I..." She started before trailing off, "I don't know... I don't want people to die, but if they live then they're going to come here and hurt you. I don't want that either but those are the only two choices..." She said as she trailed off again to think. "The Amen that I knew, the one that I got to know and...really liked. He would try to help people if he could. Even if he didn't get anything out of it, even if he wasn't entirely sure he could help. He would still try because it was the right thing to do."

Amen was about to answer when suddenly came another voice. "Father!" Amen turned his face towards the source of the feminine voice, and there, coming around the corner of one of the pens came all of his 'children', the men and women made from the phoenixes in his care. "Alyria, please, this has nothing to do with-"

"This has everything to do with us. Do you really think that we are just gonna let you go into hostile territory like that?" Alyria said, a pale woman with pristine skin and blue and white hair. "The risk is too great. We both know that the, granted tragic, sacrifice of the city is the only way for us to win. You can't let this woman and emotions dictate your better judgement."

"If my better judgement is as better as you say, then why am I doubting myself?"

"Easy, you have a soft heart. That won't help you now. You need a heart of steel and a spirit of iron. You need to be unwavering, unflinching and immovable before the difficult tasks. We both know this." Alquam spoke up. "If we let up, we may well lose everything. Leave a continent at the mercy of liars and deceivers." He finished, and as he said this, Amen seemed to falter in his determination.

Triss pointed at the group, "How can you say that?! His heart isn't soft, it's kind and warm. If he didn't care as much as he did would you people even be around? Would you have been treated so well? To the point that you call him father and that he calls you his children? It's at times like these; When things are difficult and hard, and there isn't really a clear choice, that being the best person you can be is the most important thing you can do. I know he hasn't been the best person as of late, and that got him into a lot of trouble, so shouldn't now be the time when he shows people that he isn't the bad person they think he is?" She said with confidence even if her speech wasn't well structured.

"And what if his kindness gets him killed? What then? What if they don't let him live long enough for him to explain? What good would that do anyone? For being someone who claims to care for him, you seem quite liberal with his personal safety." Altaria accused.

"For shame!" Amen cried out. "How dare you!? Triss has been me more loyal than almost anyone could dare to claim, the dearest friend of my heart. You have the gall to make such accusations?" Amen spoke up, willing to take quite the beating it would seem, but when that extended to his beloved Triss, it seemed to be too much for him to accept

"What was it your father, once said? 'A good man makes a poor regent. Drown a baby or two and you may just become an emperor.'" Alquam said, always the more fierce and almost vicious of his children.

"And what a great job he did in his reign, almost bringing down this kingdom to ruin and executing my sister for a false dream! I will not aspire to be like him nor work in his shadow. No more!" Amen replied fiercely, catching his son off guard, as if he was unaware that he could get like this. Amen offered Triss a warm gaze that quietly said: 'Thank you for your confidence.' Amen straightened himself. "But he is right in one regard: They may well just try to slay me the moment I arrive, even if I come to help. And I have my reasons to believe that will be their intent. They recently... They recently resurrected my sister, Serqet. And somehow she is almost on my level of power. If my feeling is correct, they will aim to use her against me."

"I-if that's the case then you need to save her too. She's your sister, if they're using her against you then surely it is against her will. I mean, you said time and time again how much you cared for her..." Triss said, all the more intent now that even more was on the line.

"Resurrected? From where? The void you were talking about? If she has any memory of it she might be good evidence to prove to others just how right you are. Besides that, even if this doesn't end well for one or both of you, perhaps this is a chance to say things that may not have been said or take back things that were said that you didn't mean?" Izar said, just trying to offer his input.

"I agree. Making her attest to the reality of the Void and pulling her to my side would be great boon. I would also love to be reunited with her. Yet I fear that it won't be that easy." Amen said. "I feel her. We are connected in some way. My dear sweet sister, her being clinging to the mortal world again... And all I feel is rage and hate. Towards me."

"She is likely under influence from the priests who brought her back. They are probably twisting her memories and affecting her feelings to resent father." Amalia said, stepping up, orange hair and green bright eyes, taller than all her siblings and all but free from any and all scar tissue. "All she wants is to see Amen dead at her feet. The priests are likely then going to use her as a puppet to put on the throne as the new Pharaoh."

"Then stopping her should be our most important secondary objective, Amir might be capable of using one of these miracles or whatever you call them to break the spell that is being held on her. If he has any left by now that is." Izar said, trying to hide how angry it made him to think about forcing someone back to life to use for your own means. "Regardless I believe she should be stopped, if not for Amen's sake then for her own. If she is truly a puppet then I can think of few worse fates to befall someone."

"All the more reason to let the city fall." Alquam spoke up once more. "If they are defeated, then the threat against us are effectively neutralized and she will be put back to rest."

"At the cost of what?" Amen asked. "There are millions of people living in that city. Civilians, women and children, kids yet unborn who has not had the chance to come into the world and know its graces."

"Father, you knew from the beginning that conventional methods would not be enough to save Hetep. Even now you can't save everyone. You are Pharaoh, but you are not god." Altaria replied. "Their sacrifice will be the price for our future."

Something snapped inside Amen at that statement. He walked past his friends and grasped the collar around Altaria's neck and pulled her down to face to face level. "A grand statement. An easy statement from one who is not SENTENCING THEM TO DIE!"

Alquam stepped forward in turn, a contained ferocity in his eyes. "From the ones you would **SEND** to die. Throw us in there and we would be the first to spill ghoul blood, but our own would also muddle the soil along with theirs. We are your spear and shield, but we are not gonna accept being thrown away like simple tools."

"You claim loyalty until things stop going your way. It is as Triss said, he created you, allowed you to call him father, he stood up to my son when he referred to you as nothing but things. If you think he is making this choice lightly you think very little of the man you've chosen to call father." Izar said, a tone of disappointment in his voice as he stepped forward. "I did not trust you when we first arrived here, Amen, nor did I trust you when I first heard of your plan. I made a mistake, and I'm done not trusting you. I do not wish to die in these lands, so far away from my home. But should you choose to go to the Holy City I will gladly join you in that endeavor. Consider my magic yours to wield until the time that this is over with. As friend and ally, I will help you."

"I will too!" Triss shouted out, "I don't know what use I'll be but I couldn't forgive myself if I did nothing. If your children will not help you then Izar and I will have to be enough." She said, more confident in her words even in the face of what may be their end.

Amen was on the brink of tears when his friends stepped up for him. Smiling warmly, he parted from his children and spoke: "You honor me, friends. But if you insist on coming along, I must bring some allies of my own. Just as you would never forgive yourself for doing nothing, nor can I come to terms if you fell and I had not made proper preparations." He turned around. "Alquam. We stand on opposite ends of this argument, but I must as you to join me in this endeavour. You and your Crimson Carrions will be invaluable in this fight. Will you stand with me?" He said, pressing a clenched fist against his son's chest. "Will you be my spear? Will you be as wolf by my side?"

Alquam looked to his father, seeing the determination and strength in his words. He had offered him his advice towards the cause because he seemed unconvinced and torn. He wasn't anymore. "Until my dying breath. So let us have blood and gore matted upon our fur and bare teeth against our foe. I'll amass my troops. I can bring my full two hundred even on this short notice."

"Good. Altaria, gather two gate-orbs. We must be able to enter and leave within short notice. We will save The Holy City, retrieve Isis and Amir, and purge and Ghoul that would dare to rise from their rotten lairs!" He exclaimed. "For better or for worse, the conflict is reaching its zenith. And we shall see it to its end." Amen said with pride, something he hadn't felt for a long time. The children saluted and scurried off to fulfill their duties. He then turned to Izar and Triss. "If you have any final preparations or words to say to anyone, now may be the time to say them. We are walking into the maw of hell. I would not have you risk leaving this world with regrets at heart."

Izar smiled at his friend, "It is far too late for that I'm afraid. As I'm sure you and I both know. Birds of a feather and all of that, after all." He said, reaching up and patting his friend on his shoulders. "But yes, I must prepare just in case this is my true end. No do-overs this time I'm afraid. I and my guards will join you when it is time to head out, I will tell them of what we shall do." He walked away, leaving the menagerie behind.

Triss shifted nervously, she could think of several things she would like to do, that she would have liked to have done. She looked up at Amen, the man with which she may end up sharing her final moments. Something she may not even be opposed to under different circumstances, but to die before she could truly live would certainly leave her with more than her fair share of regrets. Taking a deep breath, she approached Amen in an almost run. Jumping up and wrapping her arms around him so that her feet dangled a few inches above the floor due to his height. Upon which she planted a kiss upon his lips, pressing her own strongly against his for several moments before release and letting herself fall back onto her feet. "I-I know I said that I would wait until you made it back to Ashvattha, but that might not happen anymore even if I really want it to. I don't want to be a downer or anything like that, with Izar, Amir, his girlfriend, you, and your children I'm sure we have a pretty good chance and all. It's just that it's still a possibility and stuff..." She went on until she realized she was rambling. Stomping her foot down, she huffed with a face as red as cherry, "I don't just like you, Amen. I haven't for a while, I really like you...but more than that. I love you, in a romantic kinda way. I have for a while, I just didn't know for sure until after you were already gone."

"I don't want this to be the end, not just yet when there's still so much I haven't gotten to do or see yet. But it's like you said, if we do we should do so without regrets. I can't do that if I die here, but I can leave as few as I possibly can." She continued, fists held at her side and clenched tightly as though saying all she was saying was truly difficult for her.

Amen reached forward and took her hands in his own. "Those words... Those actions... It is more than I dared dream of. More than I could hope for." He reached up to place a hand against her cheek. "I will risk anything within my right to risk if it means letting you come out unscathed. I will not allow you to pass from my arms, nor this world, so easily. I love you as well, Triss." He said as he placed a chaste kiss to her forehead. "Now come. We have a kingdom and some friends to save."

## An Ending Encroaching

It had been half an hour since they had arrived by the entrance to the Ashen Mountains. Even so, the effort had proven far more difficult than they had anticipated. There were more caves and tunnels than they had powder for. As such they had begun to try and divine which tunnels were the most important and weight carrying. But even so, it was a long and perilous task, for while the sun yet stood high in the sky, the ghouls in the caves were starting to grow restless and daring with the scent of living meat outside. Even as they prepared, their unnerving glow from their eyes lit dimly the within the dark tunnels.

"Be ready! If they start to get too feisty we must be prepared." Serqet called out. She looked towards Amir and Isis who stood beside her, attentively on the look out for any danger, and in their own task, for the demi-god which supposedly his around these parts.

Amir looked about, careful to keep Isis in arm's length, feeling overprotective as a single mistake could easily cost them everything now that they were on the precipice of two fates, learning the truth or meeting their end. "I am, we are, just focus on setting the charges lest this all be for naught." He said confidently even as he inwardly doubted what he might be able to achieve even at his full strength. He had trained long and hard, that was true but even so in the face of thousands upon hundreds of thousands of enemies, he wouldn't stand a chance. His eyes scanned, working double as it watched for signs of unfriendly movement as well as any evidence that a Demi-God did indeed reside here. "Lah'mi, do you see anything of note?" He asked, not turning to look to her as he spoke.

"Not yet. Just... Those horrible, horrible eyes of theirs. We need to be quick about this. At the very least we should hurry and blow a bit of this and try to take them on in the next morning. We are a bit late on the process-!" Isis said before cutting herself off, her nerves obviously getting to her. She had ordered her templars to protect the back perimiter, ready to defend against anything that came their way and allow the other men through. The rest of the ten thousand dedicated soldiers stood behind them in turn. "Do you hear that?" She asked

"Do not worry. There is nothing here besides them waiting for nightfall." Serqet said confidently. "There are still many hours of daylight left to take use of. Soon they-" Serqet suddenly cut herself off too when the sounds Isis had spoken of had begun to be heard by the rest of them. The sound of footsteps. The men stared into the cavern from which it came. "Torch, now!" Serqet called out.

The men lit a torch and waved it within. The ghouls hiding within scuttled backwards before one could get a good look at them, hissing their discontent. The sound of steps got louder until one could see a pair of bare feet walk towards them. Then the legs took form and eventually a grant man with an eagle's head stood before them, his very being radiating power. As he stepped forth, clouds began to gather above in the azure, but none of them took note of it while the foreign man stood before them. The soldier gathered their weapons and turned them towards him. He stopped clear in his tracks. "Whoa now. No need for hostility."

"Speak your name and purpose and we will consider it." Serqet hissed as she got down from her elevated position and took place beside the soldiers and look upon the tall man. His skin had grown cold and pale, as if he had spent an eternity of his life hidden away from the sun.

"Serqet, my lady, I don't think this is wise!" Isis called out to the would-be-pharaoh, yet her words fell on deaf ears. When her warnings went unheard, she waved for her templars to stand ready.

Amir's eyes filled with an odd mix of both relief and dread. Relief in the sense that for at least the moment he felt validated in his trust of Amen and dread as now he was unsure of what to do in the face of a possible Demigod and a clearly all too trigger happy corpse. He walked forward calmly, placing a hand on Serqet as he did so. "Rise," He said, casting a spell that would lift her a few meters into the air and hopefully give her time to cool herself while he did what he needed to do. He continuing walking past the Templars, casting a luminous cloak around himself to hold off any Ghouls that might dare to come close to him. He walked until he stood before the eagle-headed man, just beyond two arm's length. "So, is it true that you are the Demigod who lives on this mountain? I am Amir Tasya, I am not from these lands but I have come here with a purpose to save it nonetheless. May I hear your name? And learn why it is that you are here?" He spoke calmly even as his eyes darted from side to side in fear of the Ghouls who lied just beyond the light he radiated.

While Serqet grew ever more furious by Amir's actions, the Demigod smiled an unnerving smile. "I was interested in seeing who it was that proved so brazen as to invade upon my home. I would think that you would have done the same." He said as he looked around at the soldiers who were still pointing their weapons at him. "My name is Almaer. Demigod born of Aisha, goddess of the moon and tides."

Serqet did not take long before she had broken loose of the spell Amir had set upon her. Sparing him one short vile glare, she returned her attention to this Almaer. "Why would a demigod reside in such a vile place like this? Surrounded by monsters and cretins?"

"Because they are my people. Just like they are yours." He said as more clouds grew upon the horizon, quickly approaching. "The ghouls are nothing more than people who were cursed and wronged by the gods. I wished to set them free of their curse, so I came here."

"And what conclusion did you come to?" Serqet spoke somewhat accusingly.

"That it goes deeper than I could ever have imagined. Their corruption and madness has defiled them from body to soul... Did you know that some of them dream of the lives they once had? Dreams of families and friends, all torn apart by monsters, without knowing why these lucid dreams keep returning to them." he said, sounding almost as if he was amused by the prospect."

Amir raised an eyebrow, "So you are here of your own accord?" He was rather surprised by the statement, having expected to find a man chained with an eternal legion of Ghouls to make sure none could free him. "You say wronged and cursed by the Gods, could you explain what it is that you mean by that? If they are indeed incurable would it not be more humane to put them out of their misery rather than to allow them to fear the light and devour those who they once resembled?"

"Well, you see, it is simply beyond My capabilities to help them. The Holy City holds the secrets to changing their fate. The original ghouls were cursed by the gods for heresy, for having scribed the books of apophis and more. These scribes were turned to ghouls as an everlasting warning for what the price of that heresy was. However, the ones behind said crime are long since dead. What remains in here are but the damned descendants of the original ones, forever suffering for the crimes of their forefathers. I would see that error rectified." He finished as even more clouds began to gather, slowly starting to darken skies.

Amir finally noticed the darkening skies and summoned his staff, "It doesn't have to be this way. Neither Ghoul nor man need be harmed if only you would take a few more minutes to hear me out. You have waited so long, what is a few more minutes to save a few extra lives?" He said, ready and waiting for the man's response. "Don't do something you'll regret."

"Oh... I don't think I'll regret anything at all. But go ahead. Tell me, what is it that you propose?" He asked smugly as the ghouls behind the glow of the torch were slowly starting to make their way closer, not quite revealing themelves, but their rancid breaths and red eyes showing and sensed quite clearer. The men around started to get tense as it transpired, Serqet placed her hand on her sword at her hip, and Isis stood ready to intervene at any given moment. "But you better make it quick." He said as he reached behind his back and pulled forth an ornate silvery dagger. "Because I wonder which miracle of ours is greater, yours or mine."

Amir smiled a nervous smile, "If these ghouls are indeed human, and I am taking your word on that. Then it is true that they need our help, no man or woman should suffer for the sins of their fathers. Let us return to the Holy City together with you in tow and we can figure out how to help them ourselves. As you have miracles capable and at the ready, then there is no risk to you in coming with us. You hold all the cards here, Almaer, I just want the outcome that will see the most people saved at the end of this. If you have any requirements for coming with us, surely we can accommodate you." He said slowly and carefully before speaking to Serqet without taking his eyes off of the Demi-God, "And you will do nothing stupid that will get us killed, will you, Serqet? Can't hope of becoming Pharaoh if you become a corpse again after all."

Serqet looked at Amir with disdain. "I was not brought back to become Pharaoh. I was brought back to destroy the enemies of the gods. These creatures have already murdered thousands of our citizens-"

"And you've killed millions of them." He replied with venom coated kindness in his voice.

"Irrelevant. The gods are on our side. The heavens and their voice have decreed the end of these fiends. Their will be done."

"*Tsk, tsk, tsk.* How incredibly disappointing."

"Serqet! Don't throw everyone's lives away! This is absolute folly! This is-"

"**GAAAAAHHHH**!" An earpiercing cry came from behind them, and as they turned around, they could see one of the men being dragged away into the cave. "HELP MEEEE!" He shouted in dismay, one woman rushing forward to help, only to be attacked and dragged away as well. In that moment of shock and confusion, like blackened lightning did the ghouls behind the demigod jump forward, tearing at the bodies and flesh of the soldiers who only moments ago had held him at spearpoint. Reacting quickly to this development, Mastraza pulled Amir, Serqet and the remaining soldiers back towards her in an attempt to keep them safe.

The Demigod stepped over the bodies that were currently being eaten alive, torn at by shriveled, hungering wretches, skin like coal and eyes like the fires of hell, murmuring their gibberish of a language as they ate away at their prey, reeking of rancid flesh and rotten bones and remains carried on the spikes upon their backs. "Now, lets try diplomacy one more time."

 *'Fuck, Fuck, fuck! This woman is crazy and this Demigod isn't any better.'* He thought to himself as he tightened his grip on his staff, sweat beginning to bead from his forehead. He tried to think quickly, think of some way to get out of this without everyone being slaughtered. "Then let us leave it to vote! The way we do most things in my country. Any soldiers or Templars who stand with me and not being eaten alive, raise your hands. Any who wish to face thousands upon thousands of ghouls with no hope of defeating them and a Demigod, well, feel free to do so. Almaer, I ask that you spare those who do not wish to fight you. We can figure this out together, lessen the losses of life as best we can. You want to help these people turned Ghouls, let's do that. Okay?" He tried his best to speak calmly and rationally but the fear in his voice was clear and present. "Okay?!"

Most of the army was either too terrified or too angry to properly register what Amir just said, but the ones who did, threw their hands into the air, a full good thousand or so men and women who were properly scared shitless. "Ohhh... That sounds like a good idea, indeed. Voting... All but unheard of around here. But... You made one critical error." He said as he leaned forward and snapped his fingers. "You assumed that I cared for these hetepian scum to begin with."

"SOLDIERS! TO ARMS!" Isis called out, taking control of the situation as there was a scuttling sound resonating through the mountains. The templars formed a wall of steel and muscle as they awaited whatever was coming. "Amir, if you can, use a miracle to protect our men! Serqet, detonate the charges!"

"You do not give me ord-"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS, SERQET!!! NO ONE HAS GOT TIME FOR THIS! NOW DO IT!" Isis cried out as she took position among the templars, Amir and Serqet standing behind them. Holding sword and shield, the templars stood ready for anything, with Isis and Mastraza behind to give orders. THey were ready. Serqet muttered a single word, and all the charges detonated, cascading an ocean of rock and stone over the demigod and its approaching army.

The foundation they stood upon started to crack and groan as the floor in front of them began to cave in, only barely keeping them out of range from falling below. After some moments of anticipated wait, it became clear that things weren't going to be ended that easily. More sounds of clammering feet and hands came from ahead, and below one could hear the clawing hands of the ghouls trying to claw their way up from beneath the rubble. Then, ahead came a nigh literal tidal wave of ghouls running towards them. "HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Isis commanded. Seconds passed that felt like hours as they came close. No one wanted to be there, but no one wanted to flee either. Within short did the ghouls clash into the front line of templars, clawing at the wood and steel, their finger breaking and bleeding as they did, yet they did not stop.

Amir felt all the fear disappear at once as it was instead replaced by a far more powerful emotion. In an instant, he could feel his blood boiling inside of his veins. His consistent attempts to offer peace spat upon, his teeth grit, his muscles twitched, and in an instant, he was gone. Using the speed boost of the Luminous cloak he all but teleported above them, taking in a deep breath that filled his own chest cavity. He knew a miracle would be meaningless right now as he would only be countered by the DemiGod's own. So with an exhale he yelled with all his might, "Be wiped from the Earth! Light Dragon's Violet Blast!" A column of light bursting forth from his mouth and engulfing many of the ghouls in his concentrated blast of magical light as he moved the beam from side to side in hopes of relieving the pressure on the frontmen.

Aimed a bit further back as to not catch the templars in the area of effect, the ghouls already clammoring at the wall of shields were slowly starting to get through. One shield fell, causing the templar behind it to be dragged off into the pile of ravaging cannibals. The back line quickly filled up the spot left open, but this was not a single instance. It was starting to happen on other fronts as well. Isis used her Water Kirin magic to help her beloved to stem the flow of Ghouls. "Water Kirins Tidal Surge!" She bellowed as she spewed a torrent of water fromher mouth, flooding the way forward, washing away the ghouls. Hundreds if not thousands of ghouls fell by Isis and Amir's hands. Serqet in the meanwhile aided furhter by causing further cascades of earth and stone falling from above to crush any ghouls coming forward.

Many a ghoul fell, and as the backline of the ghouls were interrupted in their flow of death, the templars were starting to break free of their predicament, with the nearby ghouls falling before sword and spear. The demigod in the distance stood like an unbreakable mountain before the flood and falling rocks, swatting the boulders aside like one would a fly. With a wave of his hand, a magical chain flew forward towards Isis, who while occupied with giving orders and keeping the ghouls at bay, were struck by and wrapped around with. Pulling her towards him, he delivered a mighty blow to her gut. Gasping for air and trickling blood down the corner of her mouth, she was not about to be done in so easily. Spinning around, with a magically enhanced water leg she delivered a kick to the side of the demigod, causing him to falter slightly. Swarms of ghouls were running towards her, making her summon forth two of her shield, firmly strapped to her arms and began to block and pummel her way through the ghouls. "DO NOT RELENT!" She cried over the gibberish cries of the sea of ghouls who were starting to gain ground once more. "THAT MEANS YOU TOO, AMIR! DO NOT STOP FIRING!"

Amir did as he was told, firing beam after beam into the horde of ghouls but even so he could not just stand by and do nothing to help his beloved. His skin felt like ice but his blood boiled in his veins, tears were hot as they ran down his cheeks. Everything appeared to be a blur, lights, sounds, all of it assaulting his senses at once. He needed to think, just a moment of peace to think of a way out of this. He blinked for but a moment and all of it seemed to disappear at once. He felt a hand caress his face, soft and warm like that of a mother. His own mother to be exact. He opened his eyes expecting to see her standing before him but was disappointed that it was not her nor perhaps even Isis who stood before him. Nor was what so gently caressed his face even a hand but rather a whisker, one his eyes followed back to see it belonged to a giant golden dragon.

This dragon, it seemed familiar but he had never seen it before in his life, nor had he ever seen a dragon beyond his own mother before. Yet even still he felt as though he knew this dragon and that it knew him. "So you've finally made it this far, son of my daughter. To think it would take you this long to awaken that which has been inside you all along." The dragon's voice hooked the ground itself but in this void of pure white, he didn't even know if there was a ground to begin with. "You're my mother's...father?" Amir asked but no words seemed to escape his lips.

"I am Zhulong, adopted Father of Theia Zhulong. And you are her son, inheritor of my soul. Why is it that you have awoken today?" Zhulong said, his voice deep and booming but even so cared with it kindness and curiosity that did not match his appearance.

"I don't know..." Amir responded, looking down at his feet with a defeated look on his face.

"You would not have awoken my soul if you did not know why. Our time is short here, say what needs to be said."

Amir looked back up at the Golden Dragon, "I need the power to stop this madness, to save people who will die if I can't. I can't let them die, I can't let Isis die because of my mistakes, because I wasn't strong enough. I just can't..."

Zhulong laughed a hearty laugh, uncoiling himself and looking down at Amir. "You remind me so much of her, Amir. But I suppose that makes sense all things considered. If you want power, then be strong."

Amir was about to respond when he opened his eyes. The entire event having seemed to have taken place in the brief moment that he had blinked. His body now glew with a light so intense that it turned the ghouls nearest to him to ashes. He felt something happening, his body changing as the light seemed to crackle like lightning. As the light exploded from him what took his place was a large and imposing dragon. Scales of Gold and silver alike covered its body, wings flapping hard enough to create powerful gusts of wind as it kept itself floating above the horde of ghouls. He could feel it, a massive surge of power. Had he not known better he might have assumed it to be limitless but even so it might just be enough to help turn the tide. Immediately be began to fire bursts of his ascended light magic from his mouth into the hordes of ghouls each being followed by a loud roar as he made his way over to Isis. Landing on top of her, he folded his wings over them so that she would only have to deal with the ghouls that he had trapped with her. The thousands of others clawing and biting at his metallic scales as he kept up his volleys of light magic as he had promised.

Isis took but a moment to look away from the demigod and the ghouls to take note of the colossal golden dragon that enveloped her. A moment of panic set in before she realized that it wasn't going after her. Having been too occupied with her fight, she had not borne witness to his sudden transformation.

Th demigod stepped forward, no longer concerned about the woman as he stared at the giant reptile. "Fascinating. I wonder if your blood will make me stronger yet!" He cried out as his body turned a even lighter white and streaks of black took form across his skin like veins under ones skin. Jumping up he flew to Amir's face and delivered a blow so powerful that it nearly knocked him off his feet. "Let's see how you match up to us now, Arbiter!" he shouted.

Isis' eyes flew wide open as she heard that word. **That** was her beloved Amir? What exactly had happened? A few of the many questions that flew around her head, but realizing the very real danger they were in, she came to a simple conclusion: Win first, ask later.

"Let's see how you handle this!" The demi shouted as he seemed to tear at the very fabric of reality, opening rifts from which great avians, phoenixes, dark, vile and corrupted surged through beginning to peck and try and rend at Amir's body with steel rending strength, trying to dig into him and tear the very flesh from his body.

Amir let out a cry as the creatures summoned by the demi-God began to rip and tear at his scales, blood leaking from the places they were able to penetrate as he flapped his wings in an attempt to keep them at bay. He roared and gnashed his teeth at them like a man trying to swat away a fly that just couldn't hit. Realizing he was getting nowhere, he raised his head to the sky and shot out a giant ball of purple energy that flew up into and past the clouds before turning his head toward the DemiGod. He opened his mouth to speak, to express his rage and contempt, but all that came from his mouth were small bubbles of light that flew up into the air and popped without doing anything else. Amir was extremely confused by this, not knowing why he could not speak in this form but there was much he did not know or understand yet anyway. So he decided to express himself in more...Violent ways. Amir roared loudly at the DemiGod, the ground beginning to crack around the man as Amir increased the gravity that acted on the man by ten times Firdaus' normal gravity.

The Demigod still stood his ground, but he noticed that the strength he held was substantially decreased, only about on par with an above average templar. Realizeing that his strength would no longer cut it, he began to conjure copious amounts of chains from the ground, trying to reach up and tie down the great dragon. As Amir struggled and shattered the chains that enveloped him, even more came to continue the task, the sheer multitude of them eventually becoming strong enough to hold him to ground if all things went as intended.

However, a demigod and a horde of ghouls was not the only part of their problems anymore it seemed. As they fought and endured, they heard a voice from the rear lines. "ISIS! FALL BACK! WE MUST FALL BACK!" Came the voice of Mastraza.

"FALL BACK!? ARE YOU INSANE!?" Isis cried back.

"SERQET HAS ORDERED IT! SHE WON'T TELL WHY! FALL BACK!" She cried out once more as the soldiers could be heard falling to purpose and retreating back to the city, yet the templars, what remained of their consistently thinning lines, stood strong, waiting for Isis to return to the fold. Then the ultimate nightmare happened. Bursting from the ground came a new back of ghouls, but these were considerably worse. Standing over fourteen feet tall, they began to smash and tear at the templar line from the rear, with an army of ghouls swarming them from the front. Their time was numbered to be certain. They held their ground well, using strength, steel and magic to hold them at bay, but it was a loosing endeavour. By this point the army was halfway back home to the city. With resources dwindling and soldiers following suit, it certainly seemed like the end was upon the lot of them. "ISIS! ... IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR!" Mastraza called to her officer, expecting the end to be here at any moment.

**BOOM!**

A resonating sound of something best desribed as thunder echoed around the mountain, and as it left, a bit over a hundred ghouls and terrors lay dead on the ground.

**BOOM!**

Another round of thunderous echoes, and with it, several hundred more fell dead upon the bloodied, slippery pavement of entrails and rotting flesh. Turning around, Mastraza looked to find a host of a few hundred soldiers. Clad in bright red armor with golden trim, standing taller than any hetepian she had ever seen, with exception to the Alquam creature she had seen back in Seraphine's realm, and in their hands, the most odd weapon she had ever seen. Bright glowing spearpoints of crackling blue. Held in a weird position, the man Alquam in the very same armor stood behind them giving shouting their orders as the back row was cleared. "FALL BACK, TEMPLARS! FALL BACK! THE CRIMSON CARRIONS ARE HERE!" He cried out as the Carrions mobilized forward, forming a phalanx around the entrance to the mountain's opening. The templars began to break formation and run through the openings, and once safely through, the Carrions continued their volleys with their thunder lances, while holding bright golden shields up to bar the way for the ghouls and terrors that ran forward.

Mastraza pushed her way through the soldiers until she saw Amen himself together with two other strange people beside him. She was about to raise her sword against him when he spoke: "Where is Isis and Amir?" He asked calmly as the ghouls tore at the shields to no avail. "They are back up there. I think... I think the lizard is Amir." She said uncertain of why she wasn't dead yet.

"Fall back to your men, protect the city. We'll take over from here." Amen said as Mastraza nodded with uncertainty as they ran away. "So he is a dragon now? An... Interesting development. AMIR, ISIS! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!"

Upon hearing Amen's words, Amir tried to take flight. Breaking at the chains but not fast enough to keep them from stopping his escape. He roared, flapping his wings, using his hands to pull, teeth to bite, and tail to swing away at the chains that tried to bound him. It was upon hearing a whistling sound that his sharp maw curled into a grin, the result of his purple ball of energy he'd shot into the sky would soon greet them. The sky turning red behind the black clouds as a meteor fell from the sky, followed by a few others that rained down into the ghouls and one falling directly at the Demi-God. He used this moment of distraction to escape, ripping himself away from the chains and grabbing hold of Isis with his hand before taking to the sky long enough to land not far from Amen. He sat Isis down as gently as he could before stretching his neck to meet Amen. He opened his mouth to speak but again came nothing but bubbles of light that popped without doing anything else.

Isis appeared ready to tear Amen to pieces as she saw him. It took the realization that he didn't raise hand against them and that his forces was currently holding back the flow of ghouls from flooding them and by extension, the city. She held herself to ground, but she did not like it. Another horde of great terrors coming down the mountainside, but before they had so much as a single chance to lay a finger on their shields they were mowed down by their thunderlances. In but moments, thousands of ghouls had already fallen to their weapons.

Above the lines of Ghouls came the Demigod, stepping forward with seemingly nary a scratch on him. The phoenixes seemed all but annihilated, but he was still standing, and as he did, the battle was not won. "There are just about a million or two ghouls beneath us. They are digging their way towards the city. So long as that freak is alive, they will keep coming." Amen spoke. He turned around to his friends, together with Amir and Isis. "Amir, I need you to stem the tide. My Carrions can essentially keep fighting until the end day, but their numbers will eventually swarm over them, breaking through our lines. Isis, keep you Templars in the rear and defend in case of a surprise assault. Triss, I want you here. Offer help and cleanse out any ghoul that would try to pierce through our lines. They are grand soldiers, but they lack magic besides their inante one. Izar-"

"You do not order me around, Monster." Isis hissed.

"There is no time for petty conflicts and wounded feelings. We need to fight. Here. Now!" Amen shouted back. "Izar, I want you with me to take on that would-be-god. I am not certain of how strong he is and if I can best him. I am certain of our united victory however. Are you with me?"

Amir nodded, turning toward Isis and giving her a nudge with his head as if to say that they needed to do their part before blowing some light bubbles into her face with a clear girn on his maw despite the pain from his torn scales. With that, he took to the skies to provide aerial support to Amen's troops.

Izar watched his son fly off, in awe at how much he had grown in his months here in Hetep. However, now was not the time to be a proud father, there would be time for that he the day was won. He turned his head to Amen with a nod, "Aye, I said I would follow you into hell today. Getting to commit some heresy along the way will just be the cherry on top." He jested as he readied himself to follow Amen.

Amen nodded, and in unison did they soar towards the demigod, Amen more so performing a jump of epic proportions while Izar took to the sky with his cosmic magic. Landing by the demigod after having cleared a path with his stardust magic, Amen immeditaly ran forth to deliver a mighty blow to him. It was blocked with some difficulty, the earth trembling beneath them from the impact. "You are weaker, Pharoah. Did they pyramid take this much out of you?" He said with venomcoated humor. "Let's get this going!" He shouted as he disengaged from Amen, casting a chain spell to grab hold of Izar and Amen to then slam into eachother.

Meanwhile, while thousand upon thousands of ghouls fell, they were now beginning to close the distance and near the carrions. The ghouls clashed into the line of golden shields, pushing the super soldiers back, sand making a considerably more poor footing than the rock the templars had stood upon. "HOLD!" Isis called out to the Carrions in perfect unison with Alquam. "HOLD!"

The Soldier started to slowly stop losing ground, standing more and more firm upon the sand until they came to a perfect halt. "PUSH!" They cried once more, the soldier throwing their shields up, slamming the line of ghouls back, sending them flying in the air while crying out their fright and pain. As the shields were raised, the back line of soldiers fired a volley of their thunderlances into the ghouls, cutting through nearly a thousand of them in that noe instant. Brining their shields down, they contiunued their process of Hold, Push and Shoot. Starting to gain ground now rather than losing it, they pushed forward, and the few amount of ghouls that managed to climb over the shields were swiftly dealt with by Triss.

Izar felt the chains wrap around him as he was sent flying toward Amen, reacting quickly, he cast Cosmic body upon himself and trusted Amen to find some way out of his own predicament. The chains passing through him as the pulled himself from their bindings before solidifying once again. Kicking up sand as he landed he pushed forward to run toward the Demigod as he drew his twin scimitar. Immediately throwing Hikari at their opponent which gave off a loud back and flash of light as it flew in front of the Demigod. Hoping this would stun him for a moment, Izar swung his other sword. A sickle shaped black magic shooting from it, tearing up dirt and sand from the ground as it headed toward the target.

The man was struck by the black magic, and while not causing and tearing or cutting, it did leave him bruised. Amen used his own magic to create a short range nova of magical energy, shattering the chain before they even had the chance to do anything to him. Capitalizing on Izar's attack, he dashed forward and attempted to make another blow upon his head. Not quite making it in time, the Demi delivered an uppercut to Amen's chin, but yet again, he made the most of it and spun backwards, delivering an uppercut of his own with his foot. Stumbling backwards, the demi cast a new spell. Dark miasma began to manifest around him as he sent it forth in a torrent of darkened smoke. Only slightly touching Amen as he dodged, he already began to feel a certain weak numbness in the upper arm which had been touched.

On the other end of hte battlefield, the ghouls bodies were starting to pile something fierce as they threw themselves to their deaths. Tens upon tens of thousands of ghouls layed dead on the ground as the Carrions stepped over their corpses, consistently moving forward. But things were starting to turn grimmer and grimmer for the carrions. Bigger and bigger ghouls started to become a comoditiy, surging forward. Still holding strong, yet the front lines of the Carrions were starting to crumble, soon leaving it up to the second phalanx to pick up the pace. Amir kept firing his mighty magic upon the horde, destroying tens of thousands with his own assaults, yet it didn't stop. They never seemed to end. "Hold fast brothers, hold fast!" Alquam called out. "There are but a few hundred thousand left among them. Our Pharaoh and Allies are leading us to victory!" He shouted to which the Carrions bellowed their battlecry as they began to fight with renewed vigour.

Back in the city, the soldiers within were re-assembling. Letting them breathe out and preparing for a renewed attack, the would-be-pharaoh heard whispers in her head as she mad herself ready. Taking a bow in hand and a sword to her side, the soldiers stepped back out upon the field. Serqet strung her bow and placed a mighty, enchanted arrow upon it and let loose. Yet, rather than to aim for the enemy, they struck upon the back lines of the Carrions, piercing ones chest clean through and then causing an explosion, killing, damaging and disorienting their line of soldiers. Isis, growing more furious by the second called for her templars to form a line, aiming to hold back their new enemies advance while the Carrions continued their defense. Amen, taking note of this shouted up to his draconic friend: "AMIR! DO NOT ATTACK THEM! DESTROY THE GHOULS!" As he kept trying to destroy his own adversary.

A puff of smoke shot from Amir's nostrils as he forced himself to focus on the ghouls, having known from the start that he would regret working with Serqet and her self-righteous attitude. Keeping his attention on the Ghouls he continued to pound into their forces with volleys of his magical breath with occasional meteor rains to help thin the herd as best he could. He didn't know how long his magic would hold up or what he would do when it ended but he couldn't let up until he had no choice. He wanted nothing more than to end that Demigod, for which he had come so far to find and now regretted doing so.

Izar saw the mysterious black smoke and backed away, "Are you alright, Friend? Not going to let yourself be beaten by some birdbrained Demigod are you?" Izar quipped as he threw his hands to the side before raising them up and then throwing them down toward the ground. "Quicksand!" He yelled as the earth beneath the demigod become viscous and unsolid. Trying to pull him down into the earth.

The demigod found himself slowly descending into the once solid ground, but he only laughed at them for it. "You think sinking sand is gonna slow me?!" He cried out as he turned his own body into that vile miasma and soared into the sky. "I am just getting started!"

His miasma began to spread over the battlefield, and as it moved and touched the numerous corpses of the ghouls, they began to rise once more, eager to continue what had been interrupted. In the back line, the firing of the Carrions did not relent as Serqet kept shooting them in the back. Unable to relent, Alquam had to leave his men to try and fight back againt the woman. Jumping over the line of templars that now wer engaged with the opposing forces, tired from the previous battle, they didn't have much strength left in them. The rows of Carrions were also starting to crumble as their front was getting shook and disoriented from the neverending assault from Serqet's enchanted arrow. Isis accompanied the giant man, knowing that if Serqet remained on the field, they wouldn't stand a chance of winning.

Engaging the copy pharaoh Isis and Alquam began to fight their damndest to best Serqet. But it did not take long for them to see that it was all but hopeless. While able to distract her from shooting more arrows, they were not blind to the fact that she was seemingly infinetely more powerful than them. After some fighting, Serqet delivered a mighty blow to Alquam, sending him backwards with a select amout of broken ribs. Isis in the meantime tried to stab Serqet in the chest with her sword, only for it to be caught in her hand, to which she delivered a lighter blow to her throat, interrupting her breath suddenly and making her vulnerable. Serqet delivered a final powerful hit to her head, knocking her unconscious. She then grabbed hold of her ankle and passed her on to some soldiers who began pulling her back to the city, after which she began to fire her arrows at Amir, their magic potent enough to pierce his hide. Aiming for his chest and wings to either kill or cripple him down to the ground.

Amen watched all this chaos unfold and he made a decision that may or may not pay off. "Izar, get back to the men. I can handle him from here! We need to leave now! I will create an opening. GO!"

Izar reluctantly nodded, moving back from their fight and letting Amen engage the enemy, "Don't die out here, Amen. Not by yourself," He said as words of encouragement as he ran toward the line of men holding off the ghouls.

Amir watched the events unfolding out of the corner of his eyes, immediately averting his attention fully to Serqet the second he saw Isis fall. Making a wide turn he headed down the mountain toward the woman who had gone far beyond being on his last nerve. He watched her pull back the string of her bow and fire. Thinking little of it he was stricken with immense pain when the scales on his wing were torn away. Spinning to avoid the next shot he dive-bombed her. opening his giant maw and letting out a roar as he got within inches of her before suddenly erupting into a blinding flash of light. The once-massive dragon gone as Amir slid past Serqet with staff and wand in hand, holding the two Holy relics above him as he cast his miracle. Both relics glee, their sign that his miracle had been used.

The Ghouls all at once exploded into clouds of ash and dust as Serqet's soldiers also dropped to the sands, knocked out by the same miracle. The Demigod dropped to a knee before Amen, weakened greatly by the sudden and amplified miracle. Amir turned to face Serqet as she did the same, "Your actions have endangered all of Hetep, your heart is filled with naught but hate and malice. You are no creation of the Gods but I will gladly send you to meet them." He said coldly as he readied his staff to fight.

Serqet rose back up to her feet as if the Miracle had barely done more than temporarily discombobulated her, dust and shattered glass falling around her. Standing tall once more. "Says the one who would defend evil, spite and malice." She spat.

Amen saw the whole thing go down, and with everything noticably going to hell, he swiftly expelled a ray of stardust magic, causing the devil of a Demigod to disintegrate into nothingness, his suddenly weakened state making him beyond vulnerable to Amen's attack. He was now free to return to his comrades when he saw something that caused him even more despair.

The gates behind them opened up and from them came a squad of godsends, walking out from the confines of their sacred city, tall and powerful, and above all, rested and ready for battle. One of them whom Amir would recognize as Isis' father, stepped up and moved among the pile of knocked out soldiers to then find Isis, unconscious and burried beneath a pile of barely living men. Lifting her up he began to walk back to the city. Amen approached what little remained of the carrions and looked to the wounded Alquam. "Amir! We can't fight this! We need to go!"

"A Pharaoh who would see his man die defending those who would see him dead or the woman who would shoot those very men in the back while they held monsters at bay. It is no question in my eyes who among us is the lesser and the greater evil." Amir said, wanting nothing more than to retrieve Isis before it was too late but he knew his foe was powerful, that equally powerful foes would seek to stop him if he did race to her side. He felt anguish in his heart as he fought the urge to run in blasting magic. He couldn't leave her behind, he knew she would do the same for him even if it meant running into certain death. "I can't! I can't leave her behind! She'd never let them take me, I can't let them take her!" He said, deep conflict in his voice. He let his magical aura loose, the sand forming a crater around him as he flexed his magical power. He knew that what he was about to use was risky, even his mother being incapable of maintaining it for long. "Tempestuous Light!"He yelled as he became coated in a blinding white light, the sand around him turning into glass in an instant. Before anyone could react to his sudden shift he was gone, glass raining down as a path of glassed sand went from where he had been all the way to the crowd of Godsends. "Great Dragon's burning fist!" He could be heard yelling as a powerful blast of white light cut through the group of Godsends, sending people, rocks, and sand into the air without discrimination.

None of the Hetepians on the field were even remotely blinded by the dazzling light, burning through sand and cutting throug the air with uncanny precision and heat. Serqet moved in the way of the spell, arms crossed to defend aganist it. Despite her awesome power, she could do little else than hold her ground, the air starting to stink of seared hair and skin. As the spell fell from being, all that remained was hte glassed ground and a would be pharaoh whose melted skin and flesh proved a ghastly sight.

Amen crushed the gateway stone, throwing it to the ground, opening the gate for them to escape through. "Amir! We can't win now! We must retreat! Come! They won't harm her, trust me!" Amen cried as he jumped forward to Amir as Serqet was about to cast a spell of her own. Blocking it with his Stardust magic, he began to pull at Amir's shoulder, trying to encourage him to follow. "They won't harm her! She is too valuable. We need to go, now!"

Amir hissed at Amen's touch, turning to face the man with rage in his eyes. At that moment he hated Amen, his cowardice, his lack of concern for Isis. He hated Serqet, her holier than thou attitude, her self righteous way of carrying herself, the fact that she hadn't been reduced to ash by his attack. His light burned all the hotter for it, his emotions feeding it as though it were a flame. "I can't, I won't! I'll become a corpse before I let her go!" He roared with venom in his voice. He shrugged away Amen's hand, readying another larger than life attack. He would end this, end Serqet, and save Isis. Energy began to amass in his hands, his hands absorbing all light around them and leaving a black void where his hands were supposed to be. "Give her back!" He roared as the void became a gigantic ball of light. He moved his hand to throw the ball leaving his hand right before it shattered into nothing. His radiant aura disappearing from him as he fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Amen's eyes flew wide, but he did not allow himself to waste as much as a second, taking his arm over his neck, he began carrying him away. With Triss, Izar and Alquam standing left to leave, Amen urged them inside as he followed in their tracks. Closing the gateway behind him, he let Amir down on the ground, before tending to his own hand, scorched and burnt from the touch to his shoulders. He slumped back against a wall, feeling exhausted, mentally if not physically. He began to chuckle with a lack of emotion in his voice. "So much for being the better man... We lost more to the city than the ghouls."

Alquam spoke up. "At least now they can't claim you to be a heartless monster without angering the heavens anymore."

"You mean the heavens that we are rebelling against..?" He jested emptily. He looked to his friends, happy at least to see them having made it out alright. "How many of our carrions are left?"

"Out of the two hundred we brought? Around fourteen by my count." He replied with dismay as he looked towards his champions and children.

Amen struck the floor. "Damn it. Serqet damn near cost us everything. Priests or not, that malice threatened not only us and them, but all of Hetep... Izar, Triss... Wake him up. I am sure that he has an earful for me."

Izar picked up his son and held him in his arms, checking his pulse and breathing to make sure that he was alright. Triss shook at him in an attempt to wake him from his state to no results. After confirming that he was indeed alive Izar looked up to his friend and Triss, shaking his head. "After everything he did, even his mother would have been on her last legs. Chances are that he used up all of his magic, he won't be waking up anytime today and possibly not even tomorrow. Only time will tell, his dragon soul is the only reason he's still alive I'd wager. He's lucky to have awakened it when he did but it takes a toll on the body, even more so when he continued to push himself. He needs to rest now, preferably a hospital where he can be monitored to make sure he recovers without complication." Izar said, returning his gaze to his son, weak and exhausted from overusing his power.