Black Thorn

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Hell. thirty-four hours of absolute hell. By night had fallen and the enemy had relented from their attack, resting for the night to be revjuvenated in the morning. The city meanwhile had come to be forced to clean up the mess left after the conflict. Gore and entrails strewn about the ramparts, soldiers laying as corpses in a pile to the side. In a day or two, disease and stench would spread through the city, but Amen would not do anything about it. The only way to handle it would burning, but Amen deemed them deserving of a proper funeral once it was all over.

Swiping away the gore and bodies from the walls so they would not be so slick at daybreak, this was but a single moment of respite. A few hours was all that remained before Galeer's soul would peer beyond the horizon, and with it, a brand new day of conflict. It was sure to rise red this day. Amen stood by the pyramid, still dedicating the time to finish construction. It was the key to their victory. Their only chance.

Isis sat with the people hiding in the lower levels of the palace, cowering in fear and the sleeping children dreamed nightmares of the sounds from outside. She offered comfort to those in dismay, gave blankets to the cold and food for the hungry. Yet she could not shirk the feeling that she should be out there with everyone else who were risking their lives for this country.

Mastraza leaned against one of the walls of the buildings before the gate. She looked over the carnage and she couldn't help but ponder how many men she would have left to command once all was said and done. How many any would have left. Seeing Amir in the distance she waved a gory hand towards him. A tired wave born from the exhaustion of combat. "Hey! How did you fare?" She tried to exclaim, only to come out like a croak from her dried throat.

Amir noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye and looked down from the rampart to see Mastraza waving at him. Jumping down from the stone wall he landed on the cobblestone street and started walking toward her. The croak of her voice catching in his ear as she asked him how he was doing. Funnily enough, he seemed to be doing better than he had been before the battle started, a warm smile upon his face as he stood before her. "I'm alive, Mastraza," His cold tone not matching the look on his face. "And I'm glad that you are too." He added, his tone warming up a bit if only a little. Grabbing hold of the sack on his belt he offered the goatskin canteen to her, "Here, have a drink. We can't have you croaking out orders on the battlefield can we? Our forces look up to you for morale, after all."

Mastraza happily accepted the waterskin, chugging downa gulp or two of water. Handing it back, not wanting to take away too much of it. "Me? Hah, you are their inspiration. You rose from what many would consider nothing and now you are one of the most powerful people in all of Hetep. At least among my men. I probably can't say the same for Amen's forces... They still seem suspicious of me and my men. They don't like the idea of former enemies residing within their walls. Amen's 'children' and their companies are a bit more accomodating, but not by much." She said with a half-hearted chuckle.

"Amir..." She asked, trailing off before continuing. "I don't want to make you feel bad or angry, but why isn't Isis in the field? I mean, I know why she is, you want to protect her, but she is still an icon among these men. Even many here in Amen's army knows and respects her. I think she would do well for morale." She finished. "We can't afford infighting right now, but I would like to know why you believe it is for the best to not have her here. She would do us much good. Maybe you as well."

Amir's smile immediately fell from his face as she brought up Isis' absence from the battlefield, like a flip being switched the change was instantaneous. "Do me good?" He said in a disbelieving tone, waving at hand at the corpses still littering the streets. "The last thing I need is to be worrying about whether or not I'll find her here at the end of the day. An arrow through her chest, impaled by a spear, disemboweled by a blade, her corpse trampled on without regard for who she was or what she meant to someone else. Worrying about whether she's lying somewhere bleeding out while I'm somewhere far away fighting a battle that frankly, I don't even care about anymore!" He snapped before realizing his mistake. "I'm...I'm sorry, I know this is your home, these are your people, Isis would be furious with me if she heard me say that... But I'm just so sick of it." He continued, pressing his head against the wall.

"When I first arrived here I wanted to save the people of Hetep, I wanted to help, to bring them happiness, freedom. It was stupid and selfish of me to think that. I'm no savior, no hero, I came here with such lofty goals but I wasn't ready for the sacrifices that I would have to make. It's too late for me to back out now, too late for me to regret it all, but I can't help but feel everything would be better if I had never come here at all. Not just for me and Isis but for Hetep as well. I've done nothing but make things worse, fucked everything up and now I'm just trying to help pick up the pieces." He said, lifting his head from the wall only to slam it back down onto it with an audible thud. "She's not on the battlefield because I'm selfish, because I can't bear the thought of losing her all over again. Because even if this battle leaves me a completely different person, even if all the light I have inside me is taken away, as long as she is still alive a part of who I was will still live on in her. Can't you see, Mastraza? I'm a terrible person, all of you are risking everything, dying for this, and here I am worried about my own selfish feelings. I'm even worse than Amen..."

Mastraza simply sat and listened. When he finished she didn't even miss a beat. "Maybe you are." She simply said as she got back up on her shaky legs. "Hetep is in pieces, and it is largely your fault, but considering all we've seen, maybe it was a pot that needed shattering. I am not going to claim that I know Isis by heart, but I know that you are indeed selfish. You think of how you would feel and react to certain events happening. But I ask you to think for at least a moment of how Isis would feel in the very same shoes you have chosen to fill. If a vile man like Amen could do that then I am certain you can too."

"Lets say that you are the one that falls in battle, and she was not there for you or to be by your side in your final moments. What do you think she would go through? Do you think she would be the same woman as before? The same kind of woman you fell in love with?" Mastraza suggested. "She loves you with all her being. I think you know this already, but Hetepians don't take a real partner lightly. According to what she have told me, you have even done the soul symphony together. You are a more important a person to her than anyone can ever hope to become. She is likely lamenting the fact that she can't be here to watch your back. And she will likely break if you fall while she is hiding. She would likely feel betrayed... I am not pretentious enough to say how you should feel or say that I know what you would think, but if I may suggest a question; If you were dead by this time tomorrow, with her still hiding far away, what do you think you would regret most? Leaving her behind? Dying young? Not reaping the fruits of your labour? Or maybe even something so simple as dying alone? I know what Isis would regret in such a case; Not having the chance to say her final goodbyes. And before you ask, she told me this herself when we were in the holy city. She loves you, Amir, and she wants to be with you and be there for you. If you want her to stay there then... At least be honest with her and tell her straight why you feel this way. Surely she has deserved that much from you, right?"

Amir lowered himself to the ground, turning to sit with his back against the wall. He looked over to Mastraza, rolling his head. A large red mark on his forehead from slamming it against the wall. On his face was a sad smile, his eyes tired and tear-filled. "I know, and she does." He said before shaking his head and looked to the courtyard they were in, the night sky above them with millions of stars illuminating a grisly scene. "We made a promise, you know? That when all of this was over we were going to find a place to settle down, raise kids. I can't wait for it, but it scares me all the same. The idea of being a father, if I would be a good one? I'm sure everyone worries about that kinda thing..." He rambled, not even looking at Mastraza as he spoke. He let the silence fall between them for just a bit, letting out a sigh to break it before turning his head back to look in her direction. "You people always have a comeback for everything, you know? I say this and that, then you say something that turns everything upside down in my head. You're right, Mastraza. To be honest, I think I knew the answer from the start. But, hearing it from someone else really helps put things into context and order. I'll talk to her, tonight if possible. I'll let her know how I feel, try to understand how she feels, and maybe we can come to an understanding somewhere in between." He promised, pulling his knees up to his chest. "You stay safe out there too, okay? You promised you'd deliver that message to Seraphine for me after all. If I find you out here tomorrow evening I'll never forgive you." He continued, pushing himself back up to his feet. "Tell you what, I'll sweeten the pot, I'll buy us all a round when this is over. Give us one more thing to look forward to, huh?" He half-joked but extended his hand all the same, the look on his face stone serious, as though making the promise would keep them both safe.

Mastraza gladly took his hand in hers. "I will hold you to that. Try to not lose yourself, friend. I think your kids would feel considerably happier with the man I know as their father than a battle hardened warrior with little sympathy left to spare. Hold strong, friend. I will see you on the other end of this damn conflict. You survive to buy me drinks and I will survive to deliver Serephine's message." She said, determination strong in her voice, her shaky stand getting firmer as if their conversation had granted her new strength. Patting his shoulder, the massive woman walked away towards the few hundred of her men that remained.

Isis comforted the old, the sickly, the women and the young, stilling their fears and worries. She then heard a sound from the entrance of the hidden space. Rushing to the door, ready somewhere to pummel anything that might be threatening to them, she then came to a halt as she saw Amir standing there, bloodied and tired. She did not care. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank the gods... You made it..."

Amir returned her gesture, though he did not hug her tightly lest he not be capable of letting go. Her words saddened him, as though she would think he hadn't or wouldn't make it. "Of course I did, Lah'mi..." He said, soft-spoken in an attempt to comfort her. He patted her back gently, both for her sake and his own. "How are things going down here? Is everyone alright? Are you okay?" He asked, stepping back from the hug but keeping his hands on her shoulders. While he had come down for a different reason he still wanted to make sure they were all okay, also buying some time before he needed to have his serious conversation with Isis.

Isis smiled, flexing her concealed muscles 'neath her skin. "Like I would let anything happen to anyone. No one has made the attempt to enter, but rest assured, they would not have lasted long had they tried." She said cockily, seemingly drawing a smile from some of the sheltered people. "I am happy to see you dear but... I need to know..." She trailed off as she led him out of the room, closing the door behind them. "How is everything going up there? Are we holding ground still?"

Now behind closed doors, he pulled her close into a kiss. Cupping her cheeks in his hands and moving his over them. After holding the kiss for nearly half a minute, he let go, one of his hands falling away but his left remaining and stroking her chin gently between his thumb and index finger. However, there was no smile on his face, "Isis...It's war." He said bluntly, letting his hand fall to his side as he looked at her. "They've broken through the first wall, our vanguard was able to hold them off from the second but not without heavy casualties on both sides. We can't win in a war of attrition. Our only hope is the pyramid but as far as I know we still haven't learned anything about what you said you saw and heard in there." He spoke, clearly distressed by the nigh-hopelessness of their situation. "But we're still holding strong, everyone left is holding strong..."

Isis felt dispair from seeing his look of hopelessness. She wanted to help, she wanted to help so badly, but he wanted her here, and if that was what he wanted, she would oblige... For now. "I am glad to hear it, and, I know, but still... It is good to know the situation." She replied. She was starting to get afraid. Not for the war, not for the fighting, but for her beloved. "What did you want to talk about?"

He raised an eyebrow at her question, not having mentioned he had any other reason for coming down other than checking on them. However, his face softened, knowing that if anyone could read him like a book it would be none other than her. He sighed, knowing he'd been caught and moved to sit down on one of the dusty crates littering the room with a creak of wood breaking the silence that he could feel growing. Hunched over, resting his hands on his knees as his feet dangled about an inch above the stone ground. "About twenty minutes ago I was lured into a conversation with Mastraza and I realized how much of a jerk I've been... Well, no, that's not right. I've known it the whole time, but lately, others have started letting me know that they know too..." He said, shaking his head. "I'm sure you know too."

He looked up toward her, "I asked you to stay here for my own sake. I don't have any excuses, Mastaza was clear that any excuse I had was one that you would have for not staying down here too. You're a warrior, Isis. If anyone should be down here it certainly shouldn't be you, I've known that this whole time but I ignored your feelings and put my own first. I didn't want to see you die again, or Gods forbid to have you die someplace I couldn't see you. But I know you probably feel the same way about me being the one out there..."

"You are not a jerk, dear." She said as she sat down beside him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "You are just under a lot of stress. Even if you don't think so or want to admit it, you still care. You are trying to shoulder so much. This war, our future, my death... It is a lot. It would tear on anyone. But I want you to know that I still love you with all I am. You have done everything you can and more. Now we just need to push a bit further." She said, trying to offer comfort to the man of her life. "We just need to survive a bit longer and then it will all be good. Then we are gonna retire somewhere and live off of the royalties that Amen owes us. When we have a little home then we are gonna get a whole bunch of little bundles to spend our time on. No more fighting. No more conflict. Just us. I am thinking... Seven." She joked. When she had been a child she had been dreaming of raising seven little kids, but later realising that it was unrealistic she settled on maybe four. She had told this story to Amir before and hoped that a bit of light-hearted remembrance would do him good. "I am sure the process will be fun too."

Amir leaned his head so that it rested against hers, she was right about the stress but everyone was under stress and everyone had something to lose. As she finished speaking he couldn't help but start to snicker, remembering the heart attack she'd given him the first time she'd told him the story of wanting seven children. "After all of this, maybe seven isn't as unrealistic an idea as we used to think..." He joked in return, turning his head and placing a kiss at the top of her forehead. "But any at all would be nice, just us and some kids, all of this stupid fighting, arbiters, pharaohs, just memories in the back of our minds. Soon, not soon enough but soon..." He said, his tone warm and pleasant, rejuvenated by the idea of their future together. "Tomorrow I want you to fight beside me. There's no one I would trust more to watch my back than you. It should've been that way from the start, someone else can keep watch over the civilians."

Isis smiled widely at the affectionate display of his lips against her forehead, feeling all the more happy hearing that he was more than up for the idea of good ole proper baby-making. "Well, so long as you are ready for what you are getting yourself into." She replied, somehow feeling a bit more happy over the idea of maybe having seven small little ones. Seven little inheritors of their legacy. She parted from his shoulder when he brought up the idea of her joining her on the field. She was happy to hear it, ecstatic even, feeling that she could do the most good there. "I won't leave it. Stick by me and I will stick by you. Its how we've done it so far and I'd say it have worked out fine while we did. Best team in the world!" She exclaimed, pumping her fist. She looked out the window in, seeing the brightening of the sun rising. In no more than an hour and a half the battle would ensue once more. "I'd say we still have a few moments left together, maybe ten of them... Wanna make out?" She asked, partially joking and partially earnest.

Amir saw the sun rising, and hoped he wouldn't regret yet another decision. At her question, she got a smile out of him yet again. "Slap me if I ever say no to that question, Okay?" He said, not wasting another moment of their short peace together.

## The Second day

Izar approached his friend, standing beside him as the sun threatened to rise over the horizon and begin the second day of conflict. "It's been a very long time since I've born witness to war this brutal, Friend," Izar spoke, a bandaged shoulder as his most obvious wound. "Most wars I've seen are ones fought by people who never wanted to fight each other in the first place. Not since the time of my youth have I seen war fought with hate as its catalyst. It's a powerful ember, Hate. It burns strong, and for a very long time. Sometimes it even lasts into the afterlife according to the legends." He spoke to Amen with a tone that didn't match the gravity of what he was saying, looking up at the pyramid that would be their only hope for victory. "Are we prepared for today?" He continued, his tone becoming more serious as they spoke of more current matters.

Amen took his eyes off of the pyramid, and yet the bricks and pieces fell upon their proper place, all while he looked at his friend, feeling great concern after seeing his bandaged limb. "I agree. We have similar tales of hatred and rage. But I know the heart of my people. They are not hateful in truth. They are simply misled and afraid, riled by the priesthood. Doesn't change anything, doesn't change what must be done. But it is still a horrible thought." He said before looking back at the pyramid. "I don't think anyone can be fully prepared for something as big as this war. But we have done all we can with the time alloted to us. Now it hangs on this things completion... I don't know if it is due to friendship or obligation by this point, but I am very grateful to you, Izar. You put me straight not just once but a second time as well. Same as Triss. I owe you a lot." Amen spoke, sounding as if he was getting a bit emotional.

Steeling his nerves, Amen looked to the ground and kicked the sand. "I have ordered my children to hold the choke points to the best of their abilities. You and the men that do not belong to their companies will fall behind their lines and trigger everything from the traps along the way so well as hold the final lane in case they fall. Offer support however you can, but they will take the brunt of it. I don't want to leave them for dead if it can be avoided, no matter how they may object to it... I guess I wasn't that much of a father." He chuckled without heart to it.

Izar raised his hand, reaching it out toward Amen in a caring way before bringing it down on the man's back with a slapping sound made all the worse from the sweat the coated the pharaoh. "If you really feel like you owe me something you can repay it by not talking like that. Blood or not, birth or not, those kids look up to you and see you as their father. You gave them more than you could ever realize and they know that." Half-hearted anger in his voice, "You wouldn't let my kid die, so I sure as hell aren't going to let yours go either. Not while breath still fills these old lungs of mine. You focus on getting this thing built, I'll hold the line, and we'll both do our best to protect the people we care so much for." He continued, light-heartedness returning to his voice once again.

The sound of fast-approaching footsteps echoed through the room as Amir came running in with Isis at his heels. "I'm not late, I swear! I was just doing some... uh, stuff! That's right! Where do you need us, Amen?"

Amen grew happier to see and hear the lighter tone in Amir's disposition and voice. The only person missing now was Triss, but he knew that she was doing her job with keeping the civilians at ease, and she was certain to be damn good at it. "Glad to see you two still kicking. I take it you have chosen to step to the field?" Amen asked Isis.

"I have. I will stand by Amir and my comrades in battle as a commander, not as a morale booster." Isis proclaimed proudly.

"I could hardly ask for better. Amir, you will be with Izar to protect the eastern choke point. Mastraza is already preparing at the western one. Isis, you need to protect the central chokehold and-"

"Forgive me, Pharaoh, but I must request that Amir accompanies me." Isis requested, thought is sounded more like a demand. "I promised that I would stand beside him until the end of this conflict and beyond. I am not going back on my word."

Amen was a bit surprised, if not by much, but he none the less moved on. "I thought that maybe he would do better in the eastern end, but I am not gonna be foolish enough to part you now. Your bond is sure to be as strong a tool as any strategy right now. Very well. Both of you gather at the central choke point. Rain arrows down on the enemy behind the wall before they breach the gate. Let them suffer losses and disorganization before they take to field with us. Isis, you will lead command together with the Blue Scions and the White Dawn. Be ready, be strong, and hold fast. This day will decide everyones future. On this day the pyramid shall be built and our hopes and dreams will be realized."

Amir nodded, a look of determination on his face at Amen's parting words. "Tomorrow the sun will rise on a brand new Hetep, a better one." He said before turning to Isis, "We gotta get into position before the siege starts. We should go," He told her before turning to walk away.

"You two be careful now, I expect to see you both celebrating our victory at the end of the day." Izar said, giving the best words of encouragement that he could at that moment. Amir responding back with a wave, telling his father all he needed to know before the two disappeared through the door they'd entered from.

Izar sighed, "I suppose I should be off then too. It would be embarrassing to try sneaking in with the troops after the siege horn sounds. I wonder if that's how kids feel when they miss the bell in school" He chuckled, turning back toward Amen. "Best of luck, Amen. We're all counting on you now." He said goodbye before leaving out the same door the other two had left from.

Amir and Isis stood on the ramparts, orders being shouted by both sides as archers readied their weapons for the start of the battle. "I haven't the slightest idea of how to use a bow effectively. So maybe it would be best for us to take to the sky? There would be no better place to keep track of the enemy and raining down cosmic hellfire would certainly disorganize anyone trying to break through the gate. We might be able to hold them off a bit longer if I do, I would be a lot easier if our enemy was a little more scared of death. Then maybe they wouldn't keep pushing at the gate no matter how many we take out..." He said, keeping an eye on the readying enemy forces.

Isis pondered the suggestion as the enemy neared themselves, herself clad in her pristine white, traditional templar armor. "As much as I would love it, you need to conserve as much energy as possible for when Serqet shows up. She is undoubtedly the single most dangerous target in this army. If you are not at your best... Well, I don't want it to happen is what I am saying. And you don't need to know how to use one here and now." She said when handing him one bow. "You just need to shoot forward in a slight upward angle and pray it hits something." Shesaid to him before starting to bark her orders. "Archers! Nock your arrows and hold!" She called before doing the same with one of her own. She was not in too much of a hurry. Their walls here high and magically enhanced, making the enemies arrows having a harder trajectory up. What's more, they had all been handed a mini thunderlance to be used once against the enemy for when they get really close. When they then began to draw their strings and about to fire, Isis barked at them once more, feeling the nerves getting to them, their discipline suddenly lacking. She would not have it.

"I SAID NOCK AND HOLD, YOU FUCKS!" She shouted aggressively. "Does nock mean draw?!" SHe shouted, only to be answered by a startled but firm; "No Sir."

"Does fucking hold mean shoot?!"

"No, Sir!"

"Do you wanna die here today?!"

"NO SIR!" They finished with a strong and bellowing cry.

Isis smiled widely at that. "That is what I fucking want to hear! Draw!" She called as the enemy now were closer and their arrows not quite reaching the mark. Meanwhile, each and every archer on their walls had armed their strings with a special arrow, a marked one. "LOOSE!"

And so the battle began once more. Siege towers in the relatively short distance away closing in with their menacing height. The arrows flew into the air, and with a snap of Isis' fingers, the arrows appeared as if they split into a dozen arrows each, raining down upon the enemy, their cries of anguish audible as they pierced through skin and bone. The jagged arrowheads made it risky and harmful to pull them out. They stood there for some time, shooting down anything that tried to get close to the gate while the towers moved closer and closer. As they approached, the great company of the Majestic Eagles positioned themselves on the ramparts and around the entrance from the gate, ready to defend from both the siege ram and the towers and whatever may come through. The leader of the eagles, Armaer, stood by the ground, shouting an order of his own as the ram barged against the gate. "We are champions of the righteous one! We are the sons of Heqet. Whatever may come through that gate, we shall stand our ground!" He called out as the gate finally broke down and the boarding walls of the towers made ground on the ramparts.

The plan was to fight for as long as they could before needing to retreat. The Eagles would not be so lucky. As soon as the gates of the towers slammed open, their frontline of elites were met by a hail of mighty bullets from the thunderlances, blowing them apart and part of the rear construction of the siege engines. Throwing them to the side,they all started their fight. The men threw themselves at the ramparts, and while they were fiercely ready to fight, the eagles are by far superior warriors, and the soldiers of Khemriq were nothing to scoff at either.

From down below came a flood of men and women and godsends who crashed against the eagle's shields and hammers. Armaer jumped over them to start engaging the godsends, fighting the three of them singlehandedly for the chance of victory, and damn it if he didn't do a good job of it.

Hell had broken lose, and in spite of that, in spite of the deaths, the eagles and the soldiers of Khemriq began to sing. A warriors hymn, a battle prayer for the battle they now were a part of. Further back, Amen was still hastily rushing the pyramid, his face tired and body aching from the work he put into it. But he could not stop now. He needed to be finished. He considered taking back the power he had given Amir to fight better, but decided against it in case Serqet shows up.

Amir watched as everything started to fall back into chaos. He'd hoped the wall would last longer, a few hours at best but yet the gate crumbled under the rams as though made of wet paper. "You gotta be kidding me..." He said to himself as he watched the battle taking place down below. Isis was right, expending magical energy right now would only see him suffer later. Still, there was too much going on for him to be able to do anything with a Bo. So he instead kept trying with the arrows, as good as you might expect from someone who had only held a bow once or twice. "If Alysa was here she'd be kicking ass with this thing..." He mumbled to himself, ducking to dodge returned volleys from the enemy.

Men suffered shots to the shoulders and heads from time to time, but the enemy suffered far worse. The men that got hit would fall off the back of the ramparts, crashing into the ground below. The Eagles were holding up a great fight, keeping the invading soldiers away from the archers. But even the greatest of men can fall to the slightest of inconveniences in the midst of battle. One eagle fell to the ground as he lost his foothold against the slick trail of blood beneath his foot, letting a man get through the lines and rushing towards Amir with a blade. However, before he even had the chance to get to him, Isis brough up her forearm to block the swords edge before bringing her fist around to impact his head, caving in his skull as he was knocked down the ramparts and back down to the enemies. "Just you dare try to harm my man again!" She shouted as she took the discombobulated Eagle's place among the ranks.

Beneath them, the Godsends were starting to gain an advantage on the son of Amen. Not big ones, but small and consecutive ones. The Ascended son then began to fight more fiercely, eventually coming to strike down two of the godsends, leaving only him and one more. But his fortune did not last. THe godsend thrust a spear through the man's heart. Not wanting to be done in so easily, Armaer grabbed hold of the godsend before teleporting into the middle of the enemy host, shouting: "Bervas Narmes!" Or in its translation: "Was Nothing!" Causing a grand magical explosion, sending tremors along the ground as hundreds of soldiers were felled by the blast, frightening and discombobulating the enemy. The eagles seemed stunned for but a moment before a commander looked up to Isis and Amir. "Arbiter! Madu! Fall back to the rear lines! Defend them with all that you are!" He shouted before looking over the once more rallying enemies approaching through the gates, and in the distance, something more..."Hold on ye Majestic ones! For our ascended! For the Eagles! FOR THE PHARAOH!"

Isis took Amirs hand, guiding him down the ramparts, whacking aside the men and women who tried to get in their way. "Soldiers! Fall back. To your positions! Do not let them through the back." She shouted. Minutes later they found themselves by their gathered shieldwalls, only to start hearing the Eagles in the distance shout and scream their defiance, their voices turning lower and lower along with small tremors of the earth. The lack of crying voices could only mean one thing: They were dying.

"Damnit, things are already going worse than yesterday and the battle has only just begun... If those brigands are going to do anything I hope they do it soon..." He said under his breath as they retreated. Upon reaching the shield wall he looked at Isis, their shared glance showing they both knew that the Eagles would not last much longer against their foes and that soon they would be upon them again. He summoned his staff, grabbing a rusted old arming sword from the ground, likely something left by one of the soldiers in exchange for a better one and ripped off part of his poncho. Tying the sword to the end of his staff as best he could, hoping it would prove more useful as a spear than as a weapon that could do little more than wack his opponents. "If they get much further I don't know if we'll be able to hold them off, the deeper we get into the city the more places they'll be able to attack us from and we don't have the manpower to defend every single street leading to the pyramid." He said to Isis, likely something she already knew. "We've gotta hold the line here, and pray we do so enough to get Serqet to come to try to deal with it herself."

Isis simply nodded to this statement. The tremors begun to come closer, but not simply from the front of them, but behind as well. Amen was aware of how the final layer of defense had fallen, as well as his son. He would have wept had his attention not been demanded elsewhere. He was hastening the construction, hurrying even further to complete it, not wanting many more to fall.

In front of them there were still screams, but not from the eagles anymore, but from the men and women who fell for the traps that lured along the streets. Isis could feel how thousands died along the three lanes from the traps, but it did not restrict the approach of whatever colossus was approaching. Then, turning around the corner came the source of the tremors. Great stone constructs, moving like living entities a thrumming with the power of magic and souls and marble skulls of the animals the gods represented. Catching the sight of the ascended and their warriors, they unleashed an ear-piercing shriek that almost made Isis' attentive ears bleed. They charged forward, their screams resonating from the other lanes as well, but these first ranks of them were swiftly dispatched as the proper Thunderlances cut through them like wheat. But there would only be more and more of them coming, together with the host of ordinary soldiers charging with them. They were cut through by the lances' bullets, but they were constantly gaining ground on them. Eventually they came close, men clashing against shields while arrows and bullets rained from the rear. The constructs slashed and fought with the soldiers who desperately tried to keep the enemies at bay. Isis cast water kirin spells in a frenzy, trying to ward them off.

Mastraza faced similar problems, but to a lesser extent. Her templars had decided to take the brunt of the force before the ascended did, and luckily for them, their lane was the least treaded one. Their losses were minimal in comparison to what the rest of the lanes faced. Izar's forces had it about on par with what Isis and Amir faced, but he had the strongest of the ascended in his field, as was necessary when the eastern road was the quickest way towards the pyramid. Amen had not been blind to Izar's injury, he feared for that his friend would suffer worse on that front. But he was also one of the strongest among them, and he needed him to keep hold of the ground.

Izar held out his hand, a bright purple glow around it as he fired off a spell in the direction of the stone creatures the neared their defenses. The bolt of energy cutting through two or three of the entities but their approach did not yield as others stepped over without care or worry for the fallen. "Things aren't looking good, I don't even know what these things are..." He said to himself, orders and general yells rising from the warriors around him. Only able to catch words he knew but the full context was lost to him. Orders, chanting, it all seemed disorganized to him yet the Hetepians seemed fully in focus and ready. Stone against shield, another one of his blast to fight off the wave that had reached the shield wall but again only to be replaced with more of the golem-like beings.

Amir raised the make-shift staff spear, throwing it with all his might into the hordes of men and stone-like freaks alike. The spear flying through the air and shattering the marble head of one of the stones monsters. Calling his spear back, he was disappointed when the staff reappeared but the sword and cloth he'd attached to it did not. "Damn... Isis, what are those things?" He asked, tired of being useless, he shot off a volley of light magic into the enemy forces.

Isis slammed away an enemy with her shield and piereced the side of a construct with her spear. "Forbidden wonders!" She shouted back before sending a surge of water magic forward, washing the corpses and soldiers alike away. "These are Ushabti's. Soul infused constructs. The priesthood illegalized them aeons ago for their dubious practices. Seems they didn't care too much about it anymore." She replied before throwing a javelin through the skull of another.

Seconds turned into minutes which turned into hours of battle. The soldiers were starting to feel the exhaustion of the battle, but they held strong. Then, everything turned for the worse. The ground were piling with the remains of the enemy as they also slowly pushed the defenders backward. Then, on the eastern lines, as the godsends started to push the front lines as well, Serqet took form from around the corner. Bow in hand, she unleashed an arrow which pierced through one of the shields cleanly, leaving a gap in the formation. She unleashed another arrow, shooting through an Ushabti so well as a soldier, leaving anoher gap open. Before anyone has the chance to fill the hole, she would fire another arrow.

Izar was stunned as he watched the defense being cut through by the arrows, the enemy gaining more ground faster in these few seconds than they had all day. His eyes followed to see the person casting it, her imposing appearance easily standing out within the ranks of their enemies. "Looks like trouble..." He thought aloud, trying to figure out why the armored nuisance seemed so familiar to him. Shaking it off as the fatigue of fighting for hours on end, he raised his hand in front of him as another arrow shot down one of the shield-bearers. "Cosmic Ruler: Supernova!" He called out before a molten colored ray of cosmic energy shot out from his hand in a beam. The street, the corpses, the fronts of the houses on either side of the street seemed to disintegrate upon coming in contact with the beam as it made its way toward Serqet.

A loud explosion rang out, catching Amir's attention immediately as he turned to look toward the direction of the eastern front. A towering pillar of black smoke rising into the air from that direction. The explosion was familiar, knowing that his father had just cast an advanced spell. "I don't like that!" Amir said, turning back just in time to throw up his arms and cast a shield of purple magic in front of them as an Ushabti brought down a stone fist toward them. The magical shield buckling and cracking under the weight and frantic casting it was created by but nonetheless held. "Something is happening on the Eastern front, dad wouldn't cast a spell like that after hours of fighting if he didn't need to!" He yelled over the battle happening around them.

Isis looked to her beloved, feeling his oozing worrry from him. "Do you want to look for him? See how he is doing?" She asked as she warded off another frenzy of blows from a godsend, almost buckling 'neath its strength before he was thrown back by a blow from an ascended. "I think they can handle themselves long enough for that."

Back in the eastern front, the area stood clear of hostiles, the beam having vaporized the enemy. Corpses, rubble and soldiers alike were absent from the area, cleared by the mighty spell. The smoke soared away, and in its place stood an all but uninjured Serqet, dusting off her shoulder from fragmented glass flakes and dust. She looked to her bow, the only hint on her of his attack having made an impact, its broken string and wood hanging broken and limply in her hand. Throwing it to the side, she charged forward. The whole line of ascended fired their Thunderlances at the woman, hoping to nail her to the back wall with bullets. Instead, it seemed as if the bulletheads evaporated into nothingness as they got close. Jumping in on them, her blow punched straight through the shield and armor, embedding itself into the soldier's chest. Pulling out, she made a miniature nova blast from her, sending the soldiers backwards and breaking the formation, but not killing anyone. She looked to Izar, the sole being who had resisted the shockwave, and approached. She took note of his injured arm and said; "You break my bow, I break your bones." before slashing her hand through the air towards his shoulder, a radiating heat coming from it.

Amir looked to Isis and then to the soldiers who were fighting for their lives against the unending forces that marched toward them. His leg bounced as he tried to decide what to do, "The Eastern front is getting hit the hardest, we should see if we can back them up. Besides, it could be Serqet..." He made his decision, his staff slapping away the thrust of a spear before he motioned for Isis to follow him to find his father.

Izar responded quickly, throwing up a shield to protect himself from her attack before feeling an unbearable amount of pain shoot up from his shoulder. Bringing him to his knee, He bit down on his own teeth to stop himself from verbally acknowledging the pain as the shattered remnants of his magical shield floated down to the ground like embers. He looked back up to Serqet, keeping a smile on his face despite the clear pain it hid. "I don't know what you're saying," Izar said in the Hetepian tongue, one of the few phrases he did know how to say. Warping back, he landed on the ground about fifty feet away. He held onto his right shoulder in pain, knowing for sure it had been broke. Though it was indeed, his spirit was still strong. "Seven Gates!" He proclaimed, the ground shaking violently before seven towering walls emerged from the ground behind him. "You won't be able to get through these and they won't go away until I say so or I'm dead." He laughed, putting on a strong show despite knowing he'd just used up the majority of all the magic he had left.

Serqet was about to move ahead when the two leaders of the ascended stepped forward to help Izar. They rushed in to strike her down, but she easily swatted them away, their power and size seemingly nothing to her. They began to cast magic and it was only then that she began to feel even the remotest strain in her body. Flurries of blades, spells and armor flashed about as the soldiers kept the once more approaching soldiers at bay. Serqet snatched the thunderlance from one of the sons of Amen, before throwing it towards Izar, hoping to pierce his chest clean through.

Isis nodded towards Amir. "Soldiers! Hold strong. Templars, with me! To the eastern front!" She shouted as they all began running towards the other front, when a voice resonated through their heads. Amen's voice. "Soldiers! Hold fast, stand strong! Your suffering will soon be at an end! The pyramid nears completion! Stand strong! Stand together! Victory is at hand!" It was said before the voice left their minds as he was placing the final stones upon the pyramid. Once they reached the eastern front, turning the corner they would find the two leaders being sorely bested in combat, not a single strike landing as it should while the front lines were being swarmed by soldiers. Fixing her gaze on the mage that had put up the barrirers, she snatched the thunderlance from one of the leaders, her piercing gaze almost as sharp as the egde of the lance itself. Reacting to her look alone, Izar formed a barrier to protect himself from what was coming next while also throwing himself to the side. The lance cut through the air, its velocity slightly hampered by the shield before breaking through and then cutting through the broken arm of Izar, barely leaving a stump to show that there had once been a limb there. Realizing that he was still alive and 'well', Serqet grew tired of this conflict.

Smashing in the ribcages of the leaders of the companies, Serqet then hurled herself into the air, well above the barriers themselves. She had desired to kill the man and break the barriers so the army could swarm through to the pyramid, but seeing the boy and his bitch appear, she made a change of plans. Standing over the barriers, she created a massive orb of magic and hurled it towards the pyramid. The orb crashed against the nearly completed construct, cracking its side, but nothing severe yet. She began to prepare another, stronger one. "AMIR! Keep her away from the pyramid. Deal with her, I will give you that extra might you need." Amir and Isis heard in their heads. Looking to Amir Isis shouted over the chaos: "Defeat her! I will look to your father and the army!" She exclaimed before running off towards Izar and the moaning leaders who struggled to draw their breaths.

## The Rematch

Amir felt sick to his stomach at the sight of his father, but steeled his nerves and raised his staff in a fighting position. He noticed the wall summoned by his father beginning to fade in and out, knowing they wouldn't last long if Izar was low on magical reserves even less time if he... Amir shook away the thought. He ran toward her without a word, clearly ready to fight this fight. He slammed his staff into the ground, taking to the air as he vaulted over her. Reaching the height of his vault he opened his mouth and shot down a breath of light at her before landing on the other side to see her unscaved by his previous attack. Responding with multiple jabs of his staff in her direction.

Meanwhile, Izar lie on the ground. A smile forming on his face as he heard Amen's words in his head, glad that they wouldn't have to keep up the battle for much longer. The pain in his arm felt gone like nothing was there at all. But he couldn't move one way or the other. Instead, focusing all he could on keeping his gates present. He'd heard the voice of his son and his beloved after being hit, having no other choice but to put his faith into them holding that monster back. It was then that he noticed the outline of yet another familiar person, Isis. Though when he tried to speak nothing but coughing came out as though dust had filled his lungs from that last hit he took.

Isis created two water clones to attend to the generals and the soldier formation while she herself attended Izar. "Lie down, sir. Lie down. Don't try to speak." She requested as she performed her magic to seal up the open, gushing wound. All the while she spoke soothing words as to not encourage the man to get up or strain himself. Tightening up the stump with the help of her belt, she began to seal the wound up. *I don't know if you hear me anymore, but, dear gods in the heavens, keep Amir safe!* She prayed in her mind.

Serqet dodged the breath attack, feeling unammused by the approach of the worm that had only had a lucky incident last time. As he came toward her, staff in hand to jab and slam her with, she reached up a hand to block each of them, only for her defense to be broken through near instantly, delivering blows upon her frame in rapid succession. Skipping backward, putting distance between them, she then growled. "You're stronger... The false king's influence no doubt. But that is still not enough. You face a pharaoh, Hetep made flesh. There is no greater power than to rule this land. And all of it..." She trailed off as she raised a fist before crashing it into the sand, shouting: "IS MINE TO COMMAND!" And with that proclaimation did the sand itself change as a substance, turning into glass which then protruded upward as jagged spikes meant to impale him

Amir spun on his heels, an attempt to dodge the spikes. An almost successful one though he was not quick enough, one slashing across his side with a biting cut. The wound wasn't deep enough to be fatal but even if had been he didn't have time to think about it, immediately advancing upon righting himself again with a forward dash. His body began to glow with the power of his shining impact spell, his speed increased by the power of his light magic. "I face a corpse turned puppet!" He yelled, Slamming headfirst into her in an attempt to knock her back.

Izar tried to push himself up barely having the strength to do so as he began to regain his senses. His body hurt and ached, but he couldn't just do nothing while his son fought. "No...I'm fine, it's just a broken arm... I have to keep up the gates. Keep her here fighting as long as possible," He muttered out, clearly having no idea of the severity of his wounds.

*He's in shock.* Isis thought to herself, afraid of what his reaction would be when he realized that the 'broken arm' was really just barely even a stump. Meanwhile, her copies made sure that the children of Amen could still be called alive while also maintaining the frontlines. She then heard something in her mind. A warning from the other fronts. Their conflicts were easing up. Why? Because they were now headed this way. Her mind was frantically racing to find a solution, hardpressed to find one when suddenly there was a rumble of the earth once more.

Serqet stood more ready this time around, taking the slam into her while barely moving from the ground she stood upon. "This all you've got?!" She shouted at him before charging her fist with solar magic, intending to punch his chest hard enough to pierce it. She suspected that it might not work with the Pharaoh's blessing upon him, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Amir felt the impact against his chest, breath knocked from his lungs with the single blow. Sent backward by its force, stabbing his staff into the sand to stop his near-flight. He couldn't give her a moment to rest, not if he wanted a fighting chance. Despite having no air in his lungs to speak of, he dashed forward the moment his feet stopped their backward slide. Hand extended with a ball of light created from his mother's Solar flare spell, the photons vibrating not dissimilar to a Ki-blade and thus making them a cutting object despite their blunt appearance.

"Galeer's Spear-Edge!" Serqet cried out as her extended palm became enveloped in solar magic, going for a thrust to meet Amir's orb spell. She had intended for the spell to surpass him and slice open his arm, but rather than that, she found that the two spells actually cancelled eachother out. *Is he that strong now?* She thought to herself. Quickly springing to action, she grabbed him by the throat and held him in the air, another of her spear-edges in her other hand to pierce his chest. "Death comes, Arbiter. Don't worry. Your sow of a woman won't be far behind." She said with a cold calculated face. She then heard something running up from behind. Turning her head only long enough to face a watery fist to the face, she dropped Amir and fell to the ground and slammed against the barrier made by Izar. "Care to repeat that, bitch?" Isis hissed at the would-be pharaoh while pulling up Amir. She had left yet another clone to attend to Izar so that she could aid Amir in battle. "Don't protest. We are in this together, okay?"

"Together," He croaked out, still trying to catch his breath after Serqet's strike to his chest earlier. "We can't give her any room to rest, gotta lure her into making a mistake then capitalize on that." He explained the plan to her, holding out his hands in front of him and casting 'Zhulong's Radiance'. Small needle shards of light shooting out of his palms in a cone shape toward Serqet where they would explode upon contact with Serqet and the ground around her. "Neither we nor you will die this day, Serqet." He said just loud enough that he was sure she'd hear him. Despite his onslaught of attacks, he did not want to kill Serqet in this fight. But hitting her with everything he had was all he could do to stay alive. However, he was much more confident in their victory will Isis at his side now.

The needles made impact around the ground and upon her body, Serqet being pummled back against the barrier once more. Forcing herself back on her feet, she stomped the ground heavily which caused a tremor in the distance. Amir and Isis heard a voice in their heads once more. *She is attacking the pyramid. Do not relent. Do not stop. Keep her distracted, do not leave her even a second of respite.* Amen's voice was heard.

Isis nodded to a man which would not see the gesture before continuing once more. "Water Kirin's Twin Kraken Palms!" She shouted as she ran towards Serqet, her balms swirling with torrents of magical water. Serqet came for a blow, but Isis dodged it. She knew full well that she could not compare to either Serqet or even Amir by this point when it came to strength and durability, but she could keep up with Serqet's speed at least, moving as fluently as a river to deliver medium hard strikes upon Serqet's frame while also dodging everything she tried to give to Isis in turn.

"I won't give her a moment to breathe!" Amir said, creating five clones of himself using his light magic, all of them creating ropes made of light in response to his mental commands. "Illuminating whip!" He said before they all whipped the light at Serqet, most meaning simply to distract but the true Amir and another of his copies threw the whips toward her feet like a lasso in hope of tripping her up the next time she tried to move.

Isis delived a blow to her chin before dodging away as Amir's whips came close. Serqet was starting to feel angered by their insistance on bothering her. The blow to her head discombobulated her long enough for Amir's whips to entangle her. She felt how she would be put in a very bad place if she tried to move excessively with these bonds, so instead she directed her head upwards and opened her mouth as she cried out: "Galeer's Tears!"

From her mouth came a single orb of solar magic that soared into the air before splintering into a thousand smaller orbs which rained down upon the ground around them and soaring into the distance of the pyramid. Isis jumped over to Izar, putting up a water barrier around him and herself, while her clones did the same for the other individuals in her care. The fiery comets struck against her barriers like a battering ram, and she had to expend a copious amount of magic. The comets struck against the pyramid in the distance, but not with the same might as earlier.

Amen's voice resonated through everyones minds once more, declaring the nigh completion of the pyramid, only a few more stones to be placed before it is finished, but Izar, Amen and Isis received another message entirely. *The pyramid cannot sustain another attack like that! It is already starting to crumble... Damn it! I am gonna start the process! Keep her occupied for just a bit longer. Amir! GO all out!*

Isis reached across the city with her mind, connecting their thoughts together, replying: *Amen, no! We agreed that we would wait! We still don't know what my memories meant! We can't-*

*There isn't enough time left! If I don't do this now then everything is over! Hold her attention. Please! Have faith in me just this once...*

Amir knew that they were out of time, he would have to do it now or not at all. "Isis, our best chance of figuring things out now is saving Serqet." He said as white and gold scales began to grow on his arms like armor with smaller patches growing on his face and hands. He charged forward with staff in hand, jumping into the air with a strike aimed down toward her head. "Stop fighting, Serqet! You've lost!"

The men in the streets stood as petrified to the ground, as if all their strength had been sucked out of their body and all that remained was their stiffened muscles. The heavens rumbled as some etherial force was drawn into the pyramid, shrieking like banshees as they were drawn in. Serqet stood in shock for less than a second before her mind was consumed by rage.

"Like hell that I have!" She shouted back, allowing herself to be struck by the staff so that she could in turn strike back. Unaware of what was really residing inside him she cried out: "Soul Rend!", creating claws of spiritual energy that slashed across his chest, spending all her magic to do this heinous spell. But rather than tearing out his soul, she saw something else accompany her claws: A draconic entity. *It... Cannot... Be...* were the last things she thought before the staff struck her to the ground. The haze of the priests stopped to shroud her mind. Face planted in the sand, she slowly rose back up to her feet, looking around her, an innocent look in her eye, as if she looked upon the world as a sheltered young child. "Where... Where am-"

"VICTORY!!!" Came the cries of the soldiers of Khemriq.

"Victory... What kind of victory?" She asked as the heavens darkened.

Amir felt something ripped from his body, weakness spread all throughout him like a wave and he was unable to catch himself as he hit the ground with thud and puff of sand. Sliding a few feet before resting face down in the sand and hardened pieces of the once molten houses. His magical reserves felt completely depleted, but he knows he hadn't used that much. He could hear the sound of cheering, but it sounded far away. He felt tired, wondering if it would be okay for him to close his eyes for a little while. His eyes shot back open when he saw the gates his father had created shatter, not the normal effect of a spells cancellation but rather what happened when a spell no longer had any magic supporting in. His body shook as he tried to push himself to his hands and knees but alas, he couldn't even move.

Isis rushed over to Amir, using her water magic to try and sustain him while also pulling him back to a sitting position. "Love! Love, look at me, talk to me!" Isis implored, feeling greatly concerned for her beloved. Serqet stepped forward, trying to see what was going on, caked sand slowly rippling off of her as she moved. "C-Can I-"

"Get away!" Isis hissed. "We have won... Just go back home... The day is ours."

"I... I don't understand. What victory? This is my home."

"Amen has won..." Came the voice of one of the sons who had come back to his feet, looking over to the cracking pyramid, radiating power from the fractures. "Gods be praised... The heavens come."

"Heaven..." Serqet thought until her eyes grew wide a look of horror on her face. "YOU CAN'T! YOU HAVE TO STOP HIM!" She suddenly shouted out.

"Enough!" Came the voice of his sister. "You have done enough today as it is. Let us have our victory."

"You don't understand! My brother is about to make a huge mistake! He will doom us all. It will feast on all of us."

Isis perked up at that. "What did you say...? Tell me, Serqet, what is it that you are trying to warn us of?"

Panic oozed off of her being that bordered unto dread. "The Hollow! If we don't stop it, he will-"

She was silenced by what could best be described as the sound of thunder, yet its sound was eerie. Soft yet booming. Haunting yet soothing. Full yet hollow. It did not echo from any one particular point, but rather all around them. The earth rumbled and the ramparts cracked open from the tremors. Sounds of concern and worry resonated in the city until the booming came to a peak as what could be considered a "reverse thunderbolt" rising from the earth that shot into the sky into the most horrifying effect and sight of the day.

## The End

The heavens cracked open, breaking, seeming to shatter upwards, fractures of the heavens falling to the earth, and from this fractured sky came the haunting sound of wails. These sounds of terrified screams and something mixed in between soared down from the torn azure and towards the ground before coming to a sudden stop, as if something was reigning them in. From beyond the murkiness beyond the sky a shadow began to take shape. It started small but was now growing bigger. Whatever it was, it was coming close.

"Oh no... We have to get to Amen. Now!" Serqet screamed, more a sound of desperation rather than authoritative.

Amir felt cold, his skin pale as Isis held him up in a sitting position. "Where's dad? Is he okay?" He said, trying to support his own weight so Isis wouldn't have to. But he could barely do so, his body feeling cold and weak like he'd just awoken from a devastating fever. "What's going on? Did we win?" He continued with the questions, not even aware of the things going on around him nor the conversation Serqet and Isis were having.

Triss entered the pyramid in search of Amen, the rumbling of the city had drawn her from their hiding place and the cheers of victory saw to it her first thought was to seek out Amen. However, as chaos seemed to once more loom over the city her search became more one of desperation rather than celebration. "Amen!" She shouted as the workers stared in shock of whatever was going on outside. "Amen! What's going on?!?"

Amen came running towards her from the other end of the corridor, placing his hand by her arm as he ushered her out. "I don't know!" He shouted back as they ran out of the pyramid to behold what was going on. When they did, Amen was in near shock. The fractured sky, the looming shadow beyond it and the cries from the souls of the damned and lost. "This... This isn't right... I granted them their afterlife... Why are they here!?" He shouted as she moved towards the eastern front to find Isis, Amir and Izar with Triss in tow.

When he arrived the men and his children were too far gone in their horror to notice his arrival. One did not fail to notice however. "Amen you son of a bitch!" Isis shouted as she delivered a mighty blow to Amen's jaw. "We told you to wait!"

"There was no time for that. I was afraid that it would all collapse if I didn't act... What is this!?"

"The Hollow..." Came Serqet's insecure voice. Amen turned around to look at her, astounded that she wasn't actively attacking him right now.

"The... The what?"

"The Hollow. It is what awaited all the dead beyond the veil of death. We were... We were used as a barrier. A way to keep it away from our world. That is why Isis felt so empty when she came back. Same with me. It feasts on who and what we are... It is too grand a force for us."

Amen stood still for but a moment, thinking before turning to his sister. "Share your mind with me. No words. Let me know everything." He demanded. Obliging she put her palms to his temples and did as he asked. Moments later he flinched and drew back from her.

"Well!?" Isis hissed.

"It... It can't be defeated... The gods used us to keep it away because they themselved could not defeat it... And now it is coming..." He murmured as he looked up to the fractured sky. From the murky mist it now descended. What could best be described as a mutated, eldritch devil ray descended from the heavens, a moan of appeasement coming from it. A great voice resonanted in the heavens, its bloated, horrid body rumbling as it did. "It is over. The bells have knelled. Shelter your weak, your young and your felled. Each of thee shall pay the final sum. Cry for mercy. The reckoning as come."

Isis looked at Amen, a look of absolute fury in her eyes. "You brought this upon us! You said you would save Hetep. You said you would protect everyone. You said you would be a savior!" She yelled at him. "What now, oh great Pharaoh?! What are you gonna do now?"

Amen looked up at the heavens once more, looking at the monster in the sky as it came down. He simply stared at it for what seemed like aeons as everyone waited for his response. He then looked down at them, a smile on his face. "I might have a plan. Triss, Isis, my children, gather everyone and get them to the square. Enemies included. Keep them safe. I did this, I will deal with this." He said as he waved a hand, restoring some more of Amir's and Izar's stamina, hoping that they may help to aid in the collecting of the people as he began to run back to the Palace.

Triss caught his wrist in her hand, pulling him to a halt, confusion, fright and dread in her eyes. "Amen! What is going on!? What... What are you going to do?"

He placed his hand on hers in a comforting motion, looking into her eyes that were filled with fear and offered her a smile which seemed genuine but also insecure. "What I've always done. I'm gonna do the best I can. Which often means something very stupid." He said with a chuckle that he did not put his heart into. Pulling himself free he then sprinted back to the palace. He felt a tug around the souls of all those around him. The Hollow was already starting to feast on them. He had to do something. And quick. Sprinting up the stairs until he stood upon the roof of the palace, he looked over the kingdom and the fiend who was about to claim them. Charging his fist with magic he punched into the air, sending a massive wave of magic that struck the monster in the side. It did little more than attract its attention.

Amen pressed his fingers against a vein in his throat, using his magic to amplify his voice before shouting at it. "Over here you oversized piece of shit!" The fiend responded by slowly floating in his direction, still drinking from the essence of those gathered here. He looked down to see the people being flocked towards the square, and he started to panic. What exactly was he supposed to do now? He had essentially bluffed when he spoke of his plan. Then, greeting his ear was a most blessed sound. Prayers.

Isis and everyone else had begun to move the people towards the square, and she could feel the hanging dread in the air. She felt ill at ease, and she had no idea on what to do about this whole thing. She then came to think of something. It is said that the gods are empowered and emboldened by their worship. She didn't know anymore if it was true, but if anything, it might take her mind off of things. She started to pray. Her voice rang out, catching everyone off guard. Her hymn of comfort and love for the gods. A psalm of salvation and deliverance. One other person then caught up with it, then another and another. Eventually, the whole gathering had burst into song, praying to the gods now caught within the pyramid to save them.

On top of the pyramid, Amen heard this song and found himself smiling widely. Linking his mind with his allies, children and friends he spoke to them; *I have an idea. If this goes well, it will at last be over. In any case... Thank you. Thank you all. If nothing else, I'll see you somewhere. Sometime. Thank you, and perhaps... Good bye.* He mentally spoke to them before pressing his fingers to his throat once more, speaking to the devil with a smile on his face. "Okay... I think I know what to do... Let me ask you a question..."

Amir stood in the square with the others, supported by Triss. Looking over he saw his father in even more rough shape than himself, on the ground with his back leaning up against the side of a stone well. Amir heard the singing, Isis' familiar voice starting what eventually turned into thousands of voices. He couldn't fully catch what they were saying, Amen's words being at the front of his mind. "What is that bastard up to now?" Amir weakly asked no in particular.

Triss didn't understand any of what he meant or said but she did not like Amen's tone of voice, the way he said his message in a somber tone. She didn't understand it but it felt like a goodbye or so long. "What's he doing? What did he say?" She asked Amir and then to Isis when he didn't respond, not caring one bit for the singing or whatever was going on.

Isis turned to Triss and stopped her song. "I don't know, Triss... trying to save us again, I suppose. I can translate for you if you want?" She suggested. Triss nodded to that when Amen started to speak once more. He stood atop the palace in his golden and black trimmed armor which he was starting to unclasp, letting them fall to the floor and over the edge of the building. "Do you know what it means to be a pharaoh? How it feels? To walk as a ‘living god’? To be feared and revered at the same time? To feel the earth bend to your every step? To feel the hope and dreams of the nation be placed upon yourshoulders…?" He asked to the beast as he took the crown off his head and looked into his reflection. Even if he didn't know it himself, something inside him was trying to make his peace. "Some would like to call me a savior… Others a heretic. Well I am neither." He spoke as he let the crown fall of the edge and towards the ground. "I am just a man. A man who wants to do right by his people. But one can’t well do that upon a pedestal."

His gaze stiffened and his voice took on a fierce tone. "But you? You have been feeding on us. You have hidden from us. No, that is not right. We have been tributed to keep you away. Discarded, sacrificed, spent, for you! Now... can you hear us pray?" He asked as he held a hand to his ear, listening in to the prayers, now joined by the souls in the sky who sang together. All the living present and all the dead that have ever been joined in unified hope and prayer. "Can you hear them? All the little people. All the living and the dead. Their prayers are all aimed towards one thing: Their salvation. The thing you have deprived them of. And I shall answer their plea. But to do that, I must end you."

"You, the monster who have been feeding on the essence of our lives. Our memories of love and loss, Birth and death, joy and sorrow, dread and courage, so… so... Go on then, feed on me. Eat me if you dare." He challenged. The tug on everyones souls faded, as the beings attention was now fully turned towards the man before it. Etherial tendrils sprouted from its body, reaching for Amen. He looked frightened, but he stood firm. "Well, I hope that you are famished. My life-" He was interrupted as the tendrils pierced through his body, starting to feed of his soul. He fell to his knee, but he kept up his fascade. "May have been short. But I have seen quite a few things." he said, but the fear and sorrow was starting to resonate in his voice. Regret and worry, but he had gone this deep now, and there was no going back. As this happened, Serqet started to run towards the palace.

Amir felt a fit of anger rising in him, "That idiot..." He said, now louder and more purposeful as he pushed himself to stand on his own two feet. "I'll go get him, Triss, don't worry. Isis, I'll be back in just a minute. Take care of the people, keep their spirits up." He said, taking a few steps away and trying to turn into a dragon. He focused as hard as he could but nothing happened, nothing at all. He was confused, even with what little he had left he should be able to transform at the very least. If not fully then at least partially and yet neither happened. "What the hell?" He asked himself, looking down at his hands before shaking his head and looking back up toward Amen. Using his staff as support he began to march toward the palace.

"We've gotta help him!" Triss said, panicked at what she was hearing and more so seeing that Amir wouldn't be capable of flying up there to get him. "If we don't then..." She continued, pleading with Isis and unable to say what will happen if they don't.

Isis didn't know what to do at the moment, but knowing what sort of distress she herself would have felt if it was Amir in his place. "Come then. I don't know if we can do anything, but at the very least we can be there. Support him." Isis suggested, to which Triss nodded.

"We are coming too." Said a voice from behind. The colossal former phoenixes that called Amen father stood behind them with a desperate look in their eyes. "Let us follow. If he is in need, we want to be there for him."

"The more the merrier." Isis tried to joke despite the severity of the situation.Serqet was already halfway there as Amen continued his speech, standing up once more.

"I walked... amongst the heavens themselves. I marked the end of the old gods..." He began, trying to sound proud, but the more he spoke the further he emotionally fell apart. "I've seen the wonders of Hetep’s birth and I watched as its time ran dry. Moment after moment until there was nothing left. No life, no time... Just me!" He shouted out, tears starting to stream down his face as his fascade came breaking apart. "I've walked in realities whose founding laws were dictated by the mind of a mad man! And I've watched... galaxies freeze and creations burn! I have seen thing you wouldn't believe! I have lost and will lose things you couldn't begin to understand." He exclaimed, his voice starting to be resolved despite his emotional state as he took on a braver face, feeling that somehow what he was doing is working. "And I know things! I know what you are in truth. I've seen the cracks in your facade. Oh yes! I know things. Secrets that must never be voiced, knowledge that should never be revealed. Knowledge, that will make parasitic fiends bleed! So come on then! Take it! Take it all, you worm! Have it! You have it all!" He shouted for all the world to hear as the beast drained him even faster, and Amen held the fiend in place.

"I don't even know what you're trying to accomplish besides dying faster than everyone else you lunatic..." Amir said to Amen but knew he could not hear him, now forcing himself to jog though his legs were unsteady and nearly tripped many times. Serqet reached the palace before him as she was not in as bad of shape as he was despite their duel. Entering not long after her, he walked began to ascend the stairs which was easier thanks to the rails on which he could support himself. He wasn't far up when he heard others following not far behind. Looking back to see Isis, Triss, and Amen's children also beginning their ascent up the palace. "Come on, we've gotta get up there before the dumbass kills himself." He said with resentment toward Amen in his voice as he increased his speed up the stairs.

Amen looked down towards his people, only to notice Isis, Triss and his children running towards the palace. *No... You fools. Please, stay away.* He thought to himself, not wanting them to get involved in all of this. The Fiend started to try and retract its tendrils, but Amen refused to let it go. Its etherial limbs were hooked to Amen, and it would not cease flowing into the beast. At this point it was no longer a meal for it, but rather comparable to having food thrust down their throat.

The beast started to moan and groan, making known its displeasure. "Cease this farce. Thine pain are but faded shadows to my scars."

"Oh!? Is that so? Then why the long face?" He replied as he forced more of his being into the beast, the sounds escalating in volume and anguish. "Are you full? Well it stands to reason, doesn't it?"

Serqet came up the final steps, rushing towards Amen. "Brother!" She shouted. Amen waved a hand behind him putting up a barrier like a bubble around the entrance, keeping anyone and everyone back.

Amir reached the top of the stairs along with the others right after Serqet. His frustration grew as he saw the shield surrounding the exit onto the roof. Raising his staff, he hit it against the shield, following up quickly with yet another smack against it. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Huh?" Amir yelled through the shield at the foolish pharaoh standing out on the roof facing the beast from beyond all on his own. "You think you're allowed to just go doing whatever you're doing without letting us in on things? What're you going to do? Make sure you get to die first so you don't gotta see how bad everything gets? Is that the game you're playing?!" Amir snapped at Amen with rage in his voice as he hit and shoved at the shield blocking him from getting onto the roof. "After everything we've done? After what I did for you? I brought your sister back to you! What happened to owing us? How're you going to pay us back from inside some eldritch horror?" He continued, somehow. finding the strength to keep up his assault on the shield.

"You've gotta tell us what you're doing, Amen, we can help you!" Triss yelled out above Amir, her tone was much more controlled than the raging young man in front of her. "Please, don't leave us in the dark, especially not if this is he end!"

"But that's just it. You can't help! Not this time... I am ending this! All of this! I am gonna let this fucker feed on something even his big appetite can't chew down!" He shouted back as the monster kept being forcefully fed by Amen. But as he did, he felt himself growing weak. His magic faltered and the barrier fell. "Please! Don't come close! Don't let it feed of you too!" He shouted as he forced himself to stay on his feet, all that was carrying him was determination at this point. The beast started to scream in anguish. "Hah! You should have known what you were gettin in on before going into a meal, Hollow! Do you know what it means to be a pharaoh!? What that entails…?!" He shouted at it as it screamed once more.

"I am not a mere glorified king. I am a representation of all of Hetep’s potential, its dreams, its wishes and endless futures!" Amen shouted over the beasts wailing. "To be Pharaoh is to carry all that Hetep was, is and could be upon his shoulders. So you see, there is quite a difference between what is and what could be. There is a quantity to one, but there is an infinity of the other! Your terror ends today. Your tyranny ends today! WHY?! **FOR I DECREE: NO MORE**!"

## A Monument to All Our sins

The beast wailed in misery, its body coming apart with all that Amen had to give. His soul was being pulled from his body, but it wasn't simply pulled out. It became fractured, splintered, shattered in a million ways as it was being drained from him. The terror of the monster seemed to split at the seams, its body being pulled apart, like a bloated stomach that was about to burst. Eventually it became too much. In a single terrified roar, the monster came undone, exploding apart in an array of color and overwhelming energies. Soon the monster was nothing more than a memory, not even dust left to speak of its existence. And with that, Amen fell to his knees and fell down to his back. Everything he had was spent, nothing left to give. He could feel himself withering, his soul absent from his body save from a single fading sliver of it. He looked to those around him, forcing a smile as he said: "Did... Did I do good?" he asked with a chuckle.

Amir and the others ran to his side after the display. Triss and Serqet to either side of him, Amir standing slightly behind them, the adrenaline from his anger and the stamina that Amen had offered him earlier beginning to die down. "I don't know," Triss said, tears beginning to fall down her face as she watched him lying on the verge of something more than death. "Why? Why did you do something like that?" She continued, placing her head on his chest. The sound of his slowing heartbeat only furthering her desperation.

"You did good, Old friend." The familiar voice of Izar called from the door to the roof, the one-armed man walking out to join the others after his late appearance. Still not looking as good as he should, though after seeing all that had been going on he couldn't just sit and do nothing. Thankfully, all of Amen's shouting and the giant eldritch horror showed him where things would be most interesting.

He looked to the side to find Triss all but succumbing to despair. He placed his hand on her head that was pressed to his chest, trying to offer comfort with what little strength he had left. "Triss... Love... I am so sorry... Seems like I am going to fail you... Again." He sighed out. Weakly, he reached up his hand to try and wipe away a tear on her face, only for his hand to fall short of the task, barely able to reach halfway there before falling to the floor. "Damn it... Damn it... I am sorry." He said while barely able to contain his own sorrow. "I made such lofty promises. I made such a big deal about a future... It seems I can't ever do anything right."

He looked up to Isis and Amir. "I asked once whether there was still hope for me turning good. Well, I suppose that here and now is as good a time as any... I want... I need to know, here, before the end... Am I a good man?"

"Don't talk like that. You aren't dead, if you can talk you can live." She said, hands shaking, moving over his body as though looking for some kind of wound they could patch up, anything they could do to help him. "We have to do something! Somebody! Anybody! There has to be something we can do. There has to be someone in this city that can help save him. He helped us!" Triss cried out in anguish, looking around at all of them with desperation in her eyes.

Amir's face crinkled, trying to hide his sadness, the despair he felt at watching Triss struggle so desperately. "Tch..." A sound escaped his clenched teeth, he understood how she felt. The pain of watching someone you care about die right in front of you. The desperation you feel, knowing there had to be some way to make things right. It made his heartache and his blood boiled to see his friends going through that same pain. "Damn it all! Stop asking stupid questions and get up!" He said, raising up his staff and trying to use one of his miracles. The staff glew bright and he looked down at Amen with hope in his eyes, but nothing had changed. He tried again, biting down so hard on his own teeth that it hurt. All in an attempt to hold the tears back just a little longer, to save Amen and not have to worry about this anymore. But alas, nothing, no matter how many times he tried. He lowered his head in defeat, falling to his knees. "I'm sorry..." He said, his tone as defeated as the look on his face. The tears now rolling down his cheeks. "You're a good man, Amen. Even if you weren't before, you're a good man..."

Amen smiled. "Thank you..." Using his other hand, willing it to obey in a way his previous attempt could not, he placed it on Triss' cheek. "My love... It's alright... I-"

"Like hell it is!" Serqet cried out. "You cannot possibly be alright with this! You were still meant to live a good life! You deserve that! Brother... Please... Stay... Stay with us." She muttered out as tears fell from her face.

"Life is not about what you deserve... It is about what your choices, and what you are willing to do for those who matter most... I did this without regrets. I did this knowing I would not see a tomorrow. And I did so happily. For those I love... I only hope... That something awaits me after this..."

"It better..." Isis muttered. The children of Amen simply stood in the background, their faces stoic but their eyes filled with sadness. They dared not approach. Dared not speak, as if the act of it would mean the acknowledgement of this reality.

"Thank you all... Triss... I love you. Be sure to remember that, will you?" He spoke softly. Before anyone even had the chance to reply, as they looked into his eyes, they were empty. Life had fled. His soul had escaped its fettering. His hand fell to his side and he breathed his last.

Triss was silent, the only sound coming from her were the hicks and sobs as she continued to cry. He was gone, so quickly, with little in the way of warning, and she couldn't believe it. Everything was gone, his life, his soul, his heartbeat, his smile, the warmth was fading from his body as they surrounded him and soon that too would be gone.

Amir felt his chest tighten, his heart ached and a mix of sadness and anger flowed through him. He was angry at Amen for leaving them behind after everything they'd done, sad that he wouldn't live to see the fruits of his labor. He was angry that Amen would put Triss though the same agony of losing someone that he'd gone through when losing Isis, sad that Triss was feeling so much pain right now. Angry at himself for not being strong enough to do anything, sad that he was once again forced to watch someone die before their time. He held his staff tightly in his hands, wanting nothing more now than to shatter it into a million pieces but he didn't have the strength or will to break it. "It's not fair..."

Izar watched from just beyond the others, his face sorrowful but devoid of tears. He had a hard time believing that the man was gone, his good friend. He had faced death, loss, all of those things before but yet the loss of Amen weighed on his heart. Not only had he not been able to keep his promise of keeping all his friend's children safe but he couldn't even save Amen himself when the time came.

Serqet stepped away, weeping in a corner as she let her own sadness overwhelm her while also leaving distance for Triss. The children of Amen stood tall on the spot, deeming it so that a strong and proud stance and salute would be the best way to honor their fallen father. Isis looked at Triss and found the view difficult. She tugged on Amir's arm and nodded towards the opposite end of the roof. Moving over, she sat herself down by the edge, looking over the horizon, stretched by the sandy dunes of Hetep. "Amir... I can't stay..." She muttered out.

"What do you mean?"

"Hetep... I cannot stay here. I know Amen offered us a home in these lands but... I can't." She said as she looked down the steep fall. "I look at all of this, this symbol of prosperity and peace, of our glorious life and faith. And all I see, are the spectres of those I've lost. My templar order, my friends, my soldiers, my people, even Amen." She said with a saddened and empty scoff. "Who would have thought? I am mourning the man I set out to kill, how crazy is that..?" She whispered, barely able to contain her own tears now. "I don't think I can look at Hetep the same way ever again."

Amir wiped away his tears, looking out at the view that Isis was talking about. His loses couldn't compare to her own, he sympathized with her, but with everything over he didn't see the same Hetep he'd seen before. He sat down beside her, pulling his leg up onto the stone as to face Isis. "It isn't the same Hetep anymore though... so it only makes sense you can't look at it the same way anymore." He had to wipe away his own tears again. He tried to be strong, lest Isis too fall to tears yet he couldn't. "Everyone has given up so much, some have given up their lives. All to help create this new place, this new Hetep for everyone that is left. You see everyone you've lost, and perhaps, thanks to our efforts...they can see you too? Would they want to see you like this? Turning away from what they gave everything for?" He placed a hand over on her shoulder. He knew she'd been through so much, yet she'd kept it all inside. She never cried or complained, she'd remained strong through all of this. "I can't say what they'd say or what they'd want. But if you want to leave this place behind then I'll follow you anywhere you want to go." His hand moved down her shoulder and arm until he placed his hand over her own. "It doesn't matter where, the frozen tundras of Skaedi, the burning deserts of Ishtar, the forests of Aðalbjörg, we can settle down anywhere and I'll be happy as long as I'm with you." He said, a smile forming on his face despite the puffy red of his eyes.

Isis leaned her head against his chest, finding comfort in his embrace. "I came here to save my home... I came here to save an ideal that was a lie. I would like to think that those close to me would want to see me happy now, and I don't think I can be happy here anymore. Besides... My home is with you. And you still have a home back in Ashvattha. Lets settle there. Raise our family. Our kids. I would like nothing more..." She said, her eyes growing heavy with exhaustion and sorrow. "I just want to get away from this. Maybe I can find it in myself to see Hetep for what Amen wanted it to be. But for now... Now I just need distance."

Steps could be heard from behind them all. Up the stairs came Mastraza and a handful of her soldiers. She scanned the area quickly before finding the sight of Amen sprawled out on the ground. She stood uncertain of what to do until she made her decision. In her hand she held the crunched crown. She walked up to Amen's body, being careful and repspectful enough to not disturb Triss too much. She straightened out his legs, placed the crown on his chest and placed his limp hands over it. She allowed herself to breathe out a conflicted sigh.

The heavy steps of the former phoenixes came up, a look of uncertainty in their eyes. "What... What do we do now?" Asked one of them, sadness weighing heavily in his tone. Mastraza looked out over the distance, and then to the side, her eyes catching the sight of a particular construct. "I suppose... All there is left is to give him his rites. I didn't like him much... But he deserves that at the very least. There is also the... There is still the issue of the priests that need to be done with. Many have had a change of heart, but many of the highest ones are of the mind to re-establish the status quo." She said in the new and foreign tongue of the nation beyond the eastern sea, her tongue twisting every once in a while when trying to say the words.

Izar stepped forward, a bit surprised to hear the Hylian tongue from her mouth. His surprise offsetting what likely would have been an improper and rude chuckle at her accent. "Once we get Amen settled and buried properly then I believe that your best course of action would be addressing the power vacuum that has opened up with Amen's..." He hesitated, "untimely demise..." He finished, finding himself incapable of claiming death, as though the word would solidify it all in stone. "Then I suppose the next would be deciding the direction in which Hetep goes from now on. How you deal with the priests will be the first big step in deciding that direction." He started before catching himself. "Forgive me it's not my place to start acting like a politician. I'm sorry if I overstepped."

Mastraza shook her head. "It's alright. We need all the advice we can get right now. I just wonder who will enforce that kind of change though. The priests have always been in power. It will take something more than we can offer to change that... All the same, I guess we should lay him to rest. I guess it would be fitting to let him sleep in the pyramid he worked so hard on. Can't think of a more fitting way. But for that we might need the priests to conduct the ceremony. I just don't think-"

"I will do it." Serqet spoke up, which caught the atteniton of those gathered. "I may not have been fully trained, but I carry the right to make the orders. I am more or less Pharaoh in his stead now..." She said as she looked to her brother. "I just wish he could have done it instead... I'll go and talk to them. See to it that his work won't just be for nothing moments after his victory." She said, trying to keep a brave face before heading out, tears streaming once more.

Amir looked up from Isis at Serqets offer, "Not a chance!" He said loudly and bluntly, whispering something softly to Isis before she let him up from their embrace. "Serqet, the priesthood has been controlling you this entire time. Manipulating you, lying to you. They don't see you as a leader or someone with authority. You're just a means to an end for them. I don't know what you did to me but I nearly died to bring you back to control of yourself, I won't let you go back to them if they still have the power to bend you to their will." He continued. "Isis is a priestess, can't she do it?" He said, turning back to her, "Would you do it?"

Isis got up from her position, feeling even more tired by the prospect. "I... Yes. Yes, I can do it. Probably for the best... No offense, Serqet, it's just that we don't feel safe after you were controlled once." Isis explained, trying not to hurt the girl. She did believe that the woman was genuine in her wants to help, but it was too great a risk to take.

Serqet nodded feebly. "Okay. I understand. I just... I just wanted to help." She muttered. Isis walked forward and patted her shoulder comfortingly. She walked past her and up to Triss and Mastraza. "Triss... We need to move him now. If we are gonna let him sleep soundly, he can't remain here. Do we have your permission to do so?" Isis asked. While it had to be done no matter her response, she wanted to give Triss the chance and opportunity to pass him away freely.

Triss was quiet for a few moments but for the sounds of crying, lifting her head up from his corpse. "I..." She started before hesitating, wiping her face with her sleeve before looking at Amen's face. She didn't have any tears left to cry but it was clear she would have shed them all if she could. "Is there nothing we can do? Nothing at all?" She said through hicks, still trying to calm herself down. "If not...then...then I guess I don't really have a choice..." She spoke, knowing they would have to move him regardless of her wishes.

Isis head fell. She hated doing this to Triss, but all the same, such was their lot. "I am sorry Triss... If Amir's miracles can't do it, then I don't know what... What..." She trailed off as she looked to her right. "OH! ARE WE SHITTING IDIOTS OR WHAT!?" Isis suddenly exclaimed which caught the attention of everyone gathered. "What is it? Why are you screaming?" Mastraza asked with a confused look while rubbing her ears from the sudden yell.

Isis stood up once more before looking to the children of Amen. "Carry him away. We need to get him ready."

"For his funeral?" They asked in return.

"For his ressurection of course! Who better to turn the tides than the man who won the day in the first place?!"

"But... Amir's miracles didn't work." Mastraza stated as if the obvious answer was all they needed to debunk her statement.

Isis just pointed to her left, an incredulous and wide smile on her face. "Are we all just going to forget about the big triangular eye sore of a box he built and crammed the fucking gods into?! If anyone can fix Amen up right and spiffy, wouldn't it be them?!" She exclaimed, a look of amazement on her face. She turned back to Triss with a bright smile. "Do not worry lassie, we are gonna bring that son of a bitch of a boyfriend back to you in short!"

Triss once again wiped at her face, trying to clear it of all the drying tears and snot that coated it as she stood up. "Really? We can bring him back? We just gotta use the pyramid thing?" She asked with a croaked voice despite the clear excitement in it.

Amir raised an eyebrow, wondering if the pyramid may indeed be enough to bring Amen back from the dead. Deciding to have hope, he let a smile come back over his face, wiping away at his own dry and itchy red eyes. "If we can pull this off then that Bastard will be running dry on luck for the rest of his life. I'm gonna punch him in that mug of his when he wakes up..." Amir said, not sure if he was joking or not, time would tell.

Isis nodded fiercely. "Then lets get to it!" She said as the children lifted Amen's body over their shoulders, carrying him by letting him rest against them before the whole company journeyed towards the pyramid. Its side was still cracked and reasonably you would think that it should crumble to pieces in any given moment. Yet here it stood, thrumming with great and raw divine power.

## The Revival

The group wandered into the colossal construct, a clone of Isis going to hold any potential action from the priests. They wandered through the corridors, the runes along the wall glowing with intense might. Eventually they came in to the center of the grand pyramid, a seat of black marble in the center that looked not too dissimilar from a throne, and around it stood the totem pillars in the apperance of the gods' animals. As they neared the throne, the totems crackled with power with the exception for the Phoenix image of Galeer, and in a unified voice there was a single word muttered, dripping with hate and toxicity. "Amen..."

With the uttering of that words came a shockwave that made every person gathered tumble backward, knocking them off their feet. The children only ever so barely managed to catch Amen's body before it crashed to the floor. "What in the-" Came the hostile voice of one of his daughters before totems crackled once more and all the gods of the pantheon stood before them in an etherial shape. "Release us! Release us and leave... You will not dishonor us further by bringing the corpse of that traitor to our presence!" They hissed in a unified voice.

Amir pulled himself to his feet, "Shut up!" He yelled, his own venom in his tone. "This is your own fault, all of this!" He stepped forward with a bravado not even he knew he had. "You, the priests, even Amen himself. All of you lied, you manipulated, you kept us in the dark about the truth and this is where that lead us all. We cannot dishonor you any more than you've dishonored yourselves. The only difference between you and Amen is that he had the humility to admit the wrongs he's done!"

Izar was frozen in fear, wanting to pull back his child from provoking the Gods but he could not move. It had been centuries since he'd last come face to face with the powers of a God, and never did he want to see that power exerted again much less multiple of them. So he sat on the ground helpless and afraid, only able to hope that AMir would not meet the same fate he had.

The gods' presence grew bigger and more potent as their shapes contorted from their anger as they tried to manifest their power while still contained by the pyramid. "You dare, child!?" Hissed the deity of the moon, her face consistently shifting between her dove animal shape and that of the fair woman she prefered. "Our sacrifices are beyond anything you could ever imagine! We have given more than any other to the maintainance of the peace in Hetep!" She yelled at the lad.

"I think the billions of souls would have something to say to that..." Isis muttered to herself, not wanting to get involved in this, letting Amir take the argument unless things turned really sour.

"Watch your tongue girl," Thoth spoke softly in a venomous tone. "As should you boy. You have been given the right, powers and even life of an Arbiter by Galeer. Even contained here, he could rip that right out of you, and your life with you. If you value your life and future, you will do this one thing: SET US FREE!" He shouted, his totem flaring up while Galeer's totem dimmed.

Amir was emboldened by the mention of Galeer, "Not one but two Arbiters appointed by Galeer came to the same decision, decided upon the same course of action. Why was Amen's right as Arbiter not ripped from him immediately following your capture if doing such a thing was Galeer's wish? Why is he not standing before us now?" Amir continued, unabashed. "Besides that, you call this peace? There are thousands, if not millions dead because of your lies, billions of souls devoured. Who put an end to that? Who gave up their very life to save the people of Hetep after giving them the paradise that YOU promised them?! None of this would have happened had you been truthful and honest, had you not promised a paradise you had no ability to give the people who worshipped you! All of this war and death is a culmination of all those broken promises and lies. This pyramid is a monument to your sins, not mine."

The gods were about to scream at Amir once more, their frames almost glitching out of existence as they raised an etherial fist ready to squash Amir benath its might before another voice was heard, a totem radiating a golden glow as the booming sound of Galeers voice rang out: "ENOUGH!"

The other images were almost seeming to get disintegrated as their respective totems dimmed, yet thrumming against their prison as Galeer manifested as a phoenix before them with bright white scorching feathers, his true manifestation. "Why did you do that...?" Serqet asked hesitantly. For what was likely the first time in all of his existence, Galeer seemed conflicted and downtrodden. "Because you are the only ones making sense right now."

Isis leaned over to Amir before saying: "I guess that Galeer is the big boss even as a captive..."

He nodded to her before bowing before Galeer, "I'm sorry, Galeer. I did my best, I did everything I thought was right. I'm sorry if this isn't the path you wanted me to walk, if this isn't what you expected of me. But I had to do this, I had no other choice. There was so much I didn't know, so much I still don't know, and so much I'm still unsure about. Every choice I've made has only made things worse. Even now I couldn't keep my promise to you. I couldn't save Amen. I know that he betrayed you, that I betrayed you. But Amen gave everything for the people of Hetep. He gave up his future, his happiness, his life. If there is anything that can be done for him then I beg you to do it."

"Neither of you have betrayed me. I thought Amen had, but seeing what he was working towards and his success... I can't help but come to the conclusion that he did right. In a most dispicable way, for sure, but in the end he had compassion in his heart. I want to say the same, but the suffering we put our people through... We never saw the options. He did. I thought your only way forward was to strike him down in the name of my ignorance. You took a different path, and by doing so, you saw the options, and you took the better path..." Galeer said, almost seeming like he is humbling himself before a human being. Either way, Isis was astounded by the sight.

"I want to help him. A sliver of his soul met me before he left me. Do you know what he said to me? He asked me if he had done it. If he had made the afterlife a reality. When I confirmed it all he had to say, as he was fading away, was; 'If we have redeemed our people from hell... Do **not** lose them again. To the deepest pass and the darkest inferno, protect our own. As I always sought to do.'" Galeer finished, his body steaming. Isis knew what it was. A phoenix' expression of sorrow and tragedy is to steam the water in their bodies. Their equivalent of crying, more or less. "He deserves more... But his actions have seen his very essence torn apart. I... I don't have the power to put him back together on my own. They do not want to help him, and even if they did, we lack something utterly necessary."

Amir raised his head to look up at Galeer, "But you admit there is some way? What is it that we need?" He asked, rising back up to his feet. "He gave up everything for us, surely we can do anything within our power for him now."

Galeer sighed. "It is not a desirable answer, let me tell you that." He muttered. Loud enough to be heard but low enough to be known that he hates it. "His soul is fractures into numerous pieces, and if nothing is done about it, his essence will simply become part of Hetep, adding to the potency of the next Pharaoh... This can't happen. But to ring his soul together again we will need something to bring the pieces back together. Something of his."

"Like what? What is needed to bring him back? The stories say that items hold the essence of those who made it. Maybe something like that?"

"No... It needs to be alive." He answered as he looked up at the gathered children of Amen with a apologetic look of sorrow.

Amir hung his head, he wasn't sure what it is that they could use to accomplish such a task. Once again, they'd hit a dead end on their path. Part of him knew it was a pipedream but even so he held out hope for a miracle greater than the ones he wielded. "Triss, I'm sorry. Galeer says that if we wanted to bring him back we'd need something of his, something that's alive." He explained, feeling the hope quickly draining from the room they were in.

Triss nodded, letting out a sigh of disappointment as she placed a hand over her aching heart. But what she felt was not the cloth of her clothing or even the softness of her own chest. Rather, it was something square-shaped and hard. Her eyes lit up, looking back up toward Amir and the being she did not know. "Wait, do you think that maybe...just maybe this would work?!" She asked, the light returning to her as she pulled the small box out from her jacket pocket. She nearly pushed past Amir as she held it up, opening it and letting an icy cold chill out of the box to reveal the small egg inside of it. "It's a dreadmare egg, Amen gave it to me. He told me if I kept it in the box I could keep it but if I took it out that it would hatch. So it's alive, and it's his. Will it work?!" She asked Galeer like a child begging their parent's for an answer.

Galeer turned his gaze down to the box held up by the girl they had referred to as 'Triss'. The woman had suddenly shifted the tables. Where he believed a true sacrifice of blood would be necessary to do this, this young bright woman had come up with an idea that may just indeed work. "It... It might..." Galeer trailed off, hovering his wing over the little box, now speaking in a tongue everyone could understand. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before snapping them right back open. "This will certainly work! With this he can be returned."

"NO!" Came the outcrying voices of the other gods from their pillars. "That traitor risked the life of not only Hetep but the world itself. He enslaved us. Enslaved you! That monster has caused too much harm. We will not cure him!" They shouted.

Galeer's gleam in his eyes only brightened. "Lucky for him then that you won't have a choice." He said before turning back to the gathered mortals. "Place the box on his chest and prepare. Amir. Take your seat on the throne. Ask for his return. And when that is done, I implore of you to release us from this pyramid. We can't well do our job behind prison bars." He said with a genuine chuckle as he began to fade away. "Oh, and one more thing..." He said as Amir began to feel a piece of his power leave him, and his miracle staff fading away from his grasp. "I relieve you from your duty as Arbiter. I know your wish to reside away from conflict, to be with your beloved. You can't do that as someone obligated to Hetep and Hetep above all. Fare thee well, son. And good fortune on the rest of your journey." He then turned to Triss. "Thank you, Child. Your affection for one another have saved a son, a friend and a beloved. Take care of him, will you?" He finished before disappearing back into his pillar, leaving them in an empty hall alone. The children of Amen took hold of Amen's body and positioned him in a sitting state against a wall. "Might as well have it somewhat comfy when he wakes." They joked, awaiting for Triss to give Amir the egg so he could do his thing.

Triss nodded as the God faded away, excitement clear and present on her face as she walked over toward Amen's still warm body with a near bounce in her step. Kneeling down, she placed the box upon his chest and stroked his hair. "Don't worry, We'll bring you back like you never left. We'll bring you back and you can keep your promise." She said before planting a kiss on his forehead and backing away. Turning and letting Amir know that his turn was up with a nod, she turned back to Amen and waited along with Amen's children with anticipation on her face.

Amir turned to Isis, "Well, it looks like your idea is gonna pay off. Yours and Triss'" He said with a smile, looking at the throne. It was sort of intimidating, he wasn't sure what it was Amen had been thinking by making the control mechanism a throne but alas, it was just about as grand as everything else in this country. Stepping forward, he sat down upon the throne and took in a deep breath. "Please, Bring Amen back to us. Give him his life back. Once his heart beats again, once breath returns to his lungs, you will be free from this prison for the Gods."

As soon as he had made his wish known there was a horrific shriek as the gods screamed their defiance of the order, but ultimately they were unable to disobey as their power thrummed in the room, igniting the images and runes along the walls. Soon it stopped, with seemingly nothing that had happened. Moments pass of nothingness. Hope was starting to fade from his children when suddenly there was a screech. From the entrance of the pyramid came the image of a spectral phoenix, made of stardust and numerous memories that flew by in an instant. Soaring towards the roof before diving into Amen's body, evaporating the box and egg as it did. Moments later there was a noticeable rise and fall of his chest. His eyes fluttered open after a bit follwing that. Looking around himself, seeing his friends, allies, family and beloved he found himself in a very awkward spot, having made his goodbyes and his peace, only to be put back in the world with all the attention on him. Feeling unsure of how to proceed, he tried his best to crack a very bad joke. "You guys just had to ruin the moment, didn't you?"

One of his sons stepped up and slapped him across the head. "Ouch! Do you know who you are hitting?!" Amen cried out in pain.

"An idiot." He replied simply.

Amen sighed and hung his head low. "Fair enough."

Triss threw herself at Amen, wrapping her arms around him and holding his head against her chest. It sounded as though she were crying but no tears fell. "You big jerk! Idiot! Stupid, foolish king!" Her words not matching the care in which she embraced him. Now you're gonna keep your promise, okay? No more getting yourself killed like that! Never again!" She yelled, strengthening her arm's grip around his neck as though trying to choke him.

Amir got up from the throne and took his place beside Isis as they both watched the touching reunion. Taking his beloved's hand into his own, he interlocked their fingers he leaned his head against her shoulder. "I sure hope Triss doesn't kill him, I still need to punch him in the face after all..." He said, a barely contained smile on his face as he watched the scene unfold. "Looks like I'm not an Arbiter anymore... Got one less thing to brag to your dad about to try and impress him. Think he'll still accept me as his son in law?"

Izar couldn't help but smile from ear to ear at the revival of his friend, waiting for Triss to be done before he too could welcome Amen back to the land of the living. However, he noticed Serqet out of the corner of his eye standing back from the others. With a wave of his remaining hand he caught her eye and motioned for her to join in. "Go to him," He spoke in the Hetepian tongue, jumbled and barely but he was sure the message would get through.

Amen found himself melding into the hug that Triss offered, embracing her in turn just like she was, though with considerably less force and a lot less choking. "Never." He whispered back into her ear. "I won't leave your side ever again." He finished with a kiss to her shoulder as her tight hug didn't really allow for anything else.

Serqet slowly and carefully walked up to Amen and Triss, cautious as if her mere presence would set off a bomb. Amen coughed slightly as Triss finally let go of Amen with her nigh-choke grip, to which Amen took his opportunity to place a tender kiss to her lips. He heard the steps getting closer, to which he turned to find Serqet standing before him. "Sister..." He muttered.

Serqet seemded to be on the verge of tears as she spoke. "Brother..." She whispered with a sniffle. "I am happy to have you back."

Amen smiled. "And I you... So why do you look so concerned?"

Serqet almost burst out crying at that. "Because I have ruined so much. You nearly lost, you died, and you-"

"I would likely have died either way considering all that has happened." Amen said in a weird way to comfort. "But thanks to everyone I am back. And I have you back now too. I'd say things worked out." He said with a chuckle.

"Still, the priests are already squabling on how to recover power and re-establish the old ways again... What are you gonna do?"

Amen looked at his sister with a look that yelled: 'Are you serious?!' He turned his head to look at all those around him until he opened his mouth and uttered a single word: "Nothing."

Amir looked at Amen with surprise, he tried to bite his tongue and have it all be over with yet he could not. "What do you mean you're going to do nothing? If the priesthood regains control the lies will start all over again." He bit, having no idea what could be going through Amen's head.

"Indeed, I thought a big part of this WAS dethroning the priesthood. Wouldn't it be a bit counter-productive for you to do nothing about them? I mean, if I remember correctly, they still have that Demi-Goddess locked up as of now. Unless, creating the afterlife wasn't your own command when you took over the Gods?" Izar asked, raising his remaining hand up to his own chin.

Amen pulled himself up to his feet, knees slightly weak after his death experience. "I am not saying that nothing will be done... I am just saying that I won't be the one to do it." He spoke confidently. "I've given my all to Hetep. I gave them my pride. I gave them my dignity. I gave them my time. When it came to it, I gave them my life. And now they want to make all my work undone. I hold no hate against them for it... But I've got better promises to hold onto now." He said while offering a big, bright smile to Triss.

"But father! What about Hetep? Surely you are not gonna leave it to just rot?!" One of his children exclaimed incredulously.

"I won't. But if I step out onto that field, if I reveal myself to them, if I tell them that I am still alive, I will never be free of them. I will never be able to leave. I will never be able to uphold the promises to my most beloved. I can't do that... Let the legacy of Amen Heqet die."

"Then what are you gonna do?"

Amen gestured towards them and Serqet. "I leave Hetep to your capable hands. Serqet has the bloodrights, she has the training, she has the connection to the gods, one which I can't claim anymore. She has the might of the pharaoh, something which is no longer mine to hold. And you, my children, will be her guardians, her advisors, her generals. Anything she needs."

Serqet looked stunned. "I... I am not worthy. I don't deserve that."

"Life is not about what you deserve. It is about what your choices and what you are willing to do for those you love. So tell me, what do you love?"

"Well... It is certainly not Hetep, not after everything it has put us through... But I do love you... And I will honor your wish to lead. I will be striving to be as good a leader as you were." She said proudly, almost bouncing on her feet.

"No!" Amen replied, pulling her down to earth again. "Be better." he said before turning to those who remained of his children. "Will you do me this honor? To continue and serve Hetep in the name of my sister?"

"Anything you wish, father."

"NO! Not anything **I** wish. What you wish."

"But you made us to be warriors. Servants to your cause."

"And you grew outside of that. You started calling me father. You started to develope intelligence and personalities of your own. You are no servants. You are living, breathing, free individuals. Nothing more. Nothing less. So... What do you want?"

Silence fell for a few minutes before they answered: "We want to honor our father's final wish as king to protect his sister, our aunt."

However, after having said this, they asked: "But how will we make this happen?"

"Easy. You will bury me. Have the priests commit the funeral in a duplicates honor. They will think I am dead. They will let me go. Might go spit on me, but still. Let everyone move on." he turned to his friends and family asking: "Any objections?" His children and sister shook their heads, knowing exactly what part to play.

Amir scratched his head, this wasn't how he wanted things to turn out. He wasn't sure about Amen's plan, if things would work out. If Hetep would ever truly be free if they went down this path, would it be the ending he'd promised Mastraza? He wanted to say something, voice his concerns but he bit his tongue. He was tired, he'd lost his position as an Arbiter, and he didn't want to be a part of this anymore. He wanted to go home, to live out his days with Isis, and just be done with it. He squeezed Isis' hand, letting out a deep breath, he said nothing.

Izar stepped forward, "So then. Where will you go, Amen? If you can't exactly go showing your face around here anymore, I suppose you're planning to return to Ashvattha with Triss? You'll always be welcome there, of course."

"If she will still have me then yes, I would love nothing more. Still have that Dreadmare to give her too." Amen half jokes, happy to have his life and future back.

"Of course! We can go back to Ashvattha and I can show you all the stuff you missed the two years you were gone! We can spend time together, do stuff like we did before! I don't think they'll let you back in Vroldafn though..." She nearly bounced with every word she spoke.

Isis tugged on Amir's hand, catching his attention. "What is it, love? I can tell when something is bothering you. What's on your mind? Is it about the title thing?"

Amir turned his head toward his beloved, "No...No, its not that." He said, voice low for only her to hear. "It's just, Is this right? Even with Serqet and his children at the helm, is Hetep really free? Did we really do anything to help their lives? Sure, they have the afterlife they were promised to look forward to but what of the here and now?" He asked his love for her guidance, "I don't want to be involved any longer but we're the cause of this mess, right? Is it really right to just leave after all this?" He asked her, unsure of what they should do.

Isis nodded, clinging close to him. "I understand the feeling. I don't feel too well about the idea of leaving the nation without further aid to help them rebuild... I think there was an expression back in Ashvattha. 'Sometimes you gotta know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.' Now I think it is time to fold. I mean, most of it is infrastructure and replenishment of resources. We don't know any of that. I think it is for the best to leave this to the ones who know how to go about it."

Amir nodded, he knew she was right. They were unqualified for what it would take to rebuild Hetep, though no less qualified than they had been to try and save it. He let out a sigh, turning his head toward his beloved. "I've never heard that saying before, but I guess you're right. The people of Hetep are strong, they'll figure things out with Serqet's help." He leaned his head against hers, "What about your father and your mother? Should we say goodbye to them before we go back home? There are also some things I'd like to talk about later when we're alone."

"We probably should. I would like to see them before it all." Isis answered without even thinking about what he had said at the end. "What is it you want to talk about, handsome?" She said teasingly. "Getting child's cold feet?" She joked. "I should certainly hope not."

"Later," He responded as softly as he could despite the curt way he said it.

Amen in the meanwhile chuckled at his beloved's enthusiasm. Charming to say the least, he was getting quite excited with the idea of returning to Ashvattha with her, living out his life without the earthshattering responsibility on his shoulders. "I can't wait. I just wonder... Izar, think there might be some way to have my Dreadmares come with me? A home by a river or something? So I can keep a pen with them, that is. They are just as much family to me as Serqet herself. Would also be hard to give Triss her own Dreadmare without something to breed it from."

Izar shrugged, "I'll certainly see what I can do. I can't promise anything of course, Bureaucracy is a rather difficult beast to tame. But I'll do my best, you have my word on that." He spoke with a smile. "How about we all get things set up? I'm sure we all have our fair share of things to do before we go our own ways. Our ship will be ready for us by then, I'll see to that." He said to everyone in the room who could understand him.

Amen nodded as Izar walked away, assumedly going to make the preparations, Mastraza, Serqet and his children left too together with Amir and Isis, leaving only Amen and Triss left in the vast Pyramid. "Might take some time to get homey in Ashvattha again, but that is for another time. I think we are both too young to settle down quite yet. I want to explore. See the things I never had the chance to. See things I could never have seen from a throne. Maybe even finally get to meet your parents? I've put you through enough to have earned a beating from your mom, but I think I can bear it... I hope." He joked at the end, though uncertain if it was truly in jest or just something he was legitimately worried about.

## The Farewell

Isis just nodded. "Come on, dad will be waiting for us." She said as she led them down the stairs and into the mass of people. Her father was not difficult to find with his grand stature and odd appearance. She waved him over, only to find that once he got close that her mother was with him. For a moment she looked furious, but upon the sight of her daughter she immeditately became tearful and ran over. Taking Isis in her arm she was damn close to sobbing. "My girl... My gorgeous baby girl..."

"Hey mom. I'm sorry that I had you worried."

"'Worried'... That's the least you could say." Her mother spoke as she parted from the embrace. Khapri stepped up, a look of shame on his face. "Isis... I-"

Isis did not say anything more to that, just marching up and throwing her arms around him. "It's okay dad. There is nothing to be sorry about for there is nothing to forgive." Isis said, giving him a tight hug.

"I am glad to see you well, darling. I look forward to our return. There needs to be a celebration for you." She said excitedly.

Isis expression fell. "Mom, dad... I am not coming back... I am going back to Ashvattha. I will spend my life there. With Amir."

The two of them looked between eachother with a look of concern before turning back to Isis and Amir. "Are you sure, love? It is quite the step. You have given so much for Hetep. Are you really going to leave it behind?" Asked her mother.

"I am not leaving forever. I just can't live here. Amen dead, my templar order dead, my friends turned on me, my body paraded through every city in Hetep... I can't stay."

"I understand." Khapri spoke up before her mother had the chance. "You have suffered so much for and by your countrymen. I can't blame you for not wanting to stay." He said as he looked to Amir. "I doubt there is any respect for me in there, but if I may ask a single request of you... Take care of my girl. Look after her. Give her the happiness she deserves and I will give you every blessing I can give."

After a few moments of thinking, the mother turned to them too and said. "As do I of course."

Amir smiled at Khapri, half-hearted but with all the respect that he could give, "Of course. I swear to treasure her for as long as I live and even longer than that. You have nothing to worry about, Dad. I'm sure we'll visit again, and next time we come back we'll be sure to bring something better than a bunch of trouble." He said to Khepri before turning to Sercet, "Maybe a bundle of Grandbabies How would you like that, mom?"

Sercet's eye grew wide, a glint of happiness in them. "Getting there already are we? Calling us mom and dad? I can't deny that it feels good. Just a warning: You've promised me grandkids now. You better not disappoint me now, boy." Sercet joked before taking Amir into her arms as well. "Look after eachother. Even if you don't live here, let it be known that there is always a place for you both here."

Amir returned the hug his soon to be mother-in-law gave him, "Thank you, both of you so much. It means a lot to hear you say that."

Izar wandered the bloody streets of the city with the setting sun at his face, walking back to where he had remembered being when he fought Serqet. THough it had only happened a few hours ago at most it felt like a distant memory. Yet the bodies remained fresh, some till bleeding. When he rounded the corner he saw the street that had been their battlefield. Charred sand and brick, once molten stone now black and cool. Gashes in the homes where he had erected the gates to keep Serqet from reaching the pyramid. However, he was not here to reminisce about the days battle. Instead, he searched the ruins for something he had lost. He searched for his arm, but not to have it back. Rather, he wanted what had been attached to it. He overturned some rubble, pushed aside some corpses as respectfully as he could, and looked through the ruins of the houses. He let out a sigh, almost wanting to give up. But he couldn't leave without it, not if he ever wanted to face his wife again.

It was then that something caught his eye, as the sun began to set over the wall a red glare twinkled beneath a cabinet. Reaching under it, he pulled the small object from the darkness. Holding it up to his eye he saw the small red ring Theia had gifted him. The small sliver of her soul still held within the red stone of the ring. He let out a sigh on relief before using her mouth to help him place the ring back upon his finger where it was meant to be.

Triss and Amen stood in the nursery, looking over the Dreadmare's exhibit. The creatures going about their business quietly lazying about in the muck and water. "I'm sorry about the Dreadmare egg, you gave it to me but now it's gone..." She said, moving to place her hand over his own. "But still, had you not given it to them then we wouldn't have been able to save you like we had." She continued, leaning her head against his arm. "Think they'll like it in Ashvattha?" She changed the subject to something more warming, motioning toward the Dreadmares.

Amen smiled at Triss, feeling the warmth of her presence granting him great comfort. "They'll certainly enjoy it more there than they do here. More humid and mild weather you know? More their speed. Besides..." He trailed off before he moved back and around her, wrapping his arms around her waist while leaning his chin to the top of her head, looking down on the Dreadmares below. They had greeted them so softly and gently when they arrived. They had certainly come to appreciate Triss' presence. "And do not worry about the egg. I am not mad. Its a pity that it had to be spent, but at least this way I can give you another and be a part of you raising it."

She snuggled her head beneath his chin, a warm smile on her face as she did so. "Right! Next time we'll raise it together, and maybe plenty more after that." She said, wrapping her arms around Amen. She was happy enough to have him back she felt as though she might cry about it but she held them back, not wanting to ruin their moment together. Soon they would be back in Ashvattha and should luck have it, they might have their home by the river to raise their Dreadmares. And should fate also smile upon them, perhaps one day something more.

Amen parted from the embrace, heading down the steps before standing at the gateway into the pen. Opening it up he urged his Dreadmares out of the hold, but rather than stay, or attack or simply wander, it was as if they knew instinctively what to do. They surged forward and jumped out of the building and straight into the river below, their shadows being seen from the surface as they circled around the boat. "Guess they are as excited as we are."

Amir and Isis waved their goodbyes to her parents, knowing they would see them again someday. "Before we go, there is one last person I'd like to say goodbye to. I'm sure you wanna say Goodbye as well," He said, the two walking hand in hand through the crowds. It was difficult to find someone with this many people going about. But with Mastraza's height, she wasn't too difficult to find. Walking up to the giantess, he waved at her, "Mastraza! It's me!"

Mastraza turned around at the call of her name. She brightened up at the look of her friends. Walking up she started to strike a conversation. "Glad to have had a chance to see you before I take off. I still have a lady to save from imprisonment. Have a message to deliver and all that after all." She said before turning more grim. "Serqet and the kids are doing a good job of controlling the masses, but the priests are putting up a fight for their power. Luckily the people are starting to see through their bullshit... How about you? What are your plans for the future now? The templars could certainly need the reinforcements during this new age." She commented. Isis simply looked to Amir to answer to that question.

Amir's smile faltered a bit at her question. "Mastraza, Isis and I... We're returning home. Back to the place we came from, I know that this isn't exactly the Hetep that I promised. This isn't how I was expecting things to turn out, I hoped for better. But maybe this is better and I just don't see it yet, or maybe I'm just making excuses for my failures. But either way, I wanted to see you again before we left. You've helped us so much on this path, I just wish I could have done better by you." He said, looking her in the eyes despite the desire to look away in shame.

"Done better? You sure seem like you don't know the meaning of the word. You not only helped save hetep from an eternal curse, helped save hetep from the void, and ultimately you defied all odds to do what you felt was right." She said, extending her hand for a what some people from Ashvattha would have refered to as a "bro-shake". "I wish you luck and prosperity in the years to come. You better keep up doing great work back home too."

Amir was surprised by her reaction, nearly too stunned to accept her 'bro-shake'. He extended his hand and bent his elbow to accept the gesture. A smile returning to his face, "You know, if you wanted, you could always come with us?" He offered, "You're a strong warrior, Mastraza, but even more important than that: You're a good person. We could use more people like you in Ashvattha. I think you'd fit in well there, I know Hetep is your home and its people are yours but with the templars all but gone...Maybe starting anew is a good option? Serqet can send my message and free Seraphine. Besides that, the fact that we both survived means I owe you a drink. I'd be honored if it were one from my homeland," He said before turning to Isis, "What do you think, Lah'mi? As long as she minded the doors I think she'd fit in pretty well with us weirdos back home, right?"

"I would think so, yeah!" Isis agreed. Mastraza was all but stunned by the suggestion before smiling widely. "I am very grateful to you, Amir and your offer, but right now, Hetep is in disarray. Templars are not simply warriors, we are guardians of the faith and order. With the priesthood soon removed form power, the Templars will become an independent order. Right now we need more of us, not fewer. I need to stay and help reorganize the future. But once that is done... I'll hold you to that drink. Maybe even find out what to special about Ash-wattah, and if I like it, maybe I'll make it a more permanent holding. But right now, Hetep needs me." Mastraza replied, a wide and beaming smile on her face. "I will look forward to it everyday."

"I understand, I hope to see you again someday. I'll make sure to keep a bottle of the best stuff I can find in reserve for I can repay what I owe you." He said, a wide smile despite how sad it felt to say goodbye. He nearly kicked himself for thinking about how little he could wait to be free of this place in the past few days. Despite it all, the pain and loss, the suffering, he had come to consider Hetep as a second home. To see their people as his own, saying goodbye to all of it, even if it wasn't forever was something hard for him to do. But he had a mother to visit back home, a soon to be wife to wed, and a future to create. "Farewell, Mastraza. But not Goodbye, not goodbye..." He said with a bow.

## Long Road Home

The boat was loaded with supplies, enough to make the long trip back to Ashvattha. Izar guided the crew, Amen helping keep the Dreadmare calm as they loaded them into the cargo hold of the ship. Amir and Isis helped to carry barrels and crates of things they would need on their journey and by the time the moon was high in the sky they were ready to set sail back home.

Amir and Isis sat in their quarters, a small room barely large enough for the two of them and their bed but for the trip, it would be their home away from home. Amir sat upon the bed, a sadness in his heart, one that ached for many reasons. As though finally sitting down allowed him to take in everything that had happened the past few days. However, that wasn't the pain at the forefront of his mind. He looked to Isis, patting the spot on the bed beside him. "If it is alright, do you think we can talk about what it was I mentioned earlier?"

Isis could feel the discomfort and worry in her beloved. As a templar, a priest, but above all, as a lover, she could do nothing short of obliging. Sitting herself down beside him, Isis placed her hand over his own, sligthly scared of what it was that could be bothering him. She had faced down the horrors of the ashen mountains, she had faced death without blinking, she had been paraded through Hetep and she had fought the battle of her life. Yet it could not be compared to her worry of what might have him in the dumps after such a joyous time. "What is it, love?"

He smiled slightly as he felt her hand over his own, taking comfort in her presence. "Isis, for a while now I wasn't really sure what it was I was feeling. I thought maybe it was temporary but now I know it's not. I feel this emptiness inside of me, like something is missing. I didn't know what Serqet's attack had done to me before but now I think I do. The weakness, the inability to transform, I saw it for a moment when she struck me. A draconic form being ripped from my body. I think I lost my dragon's soul...a piece of the soul passed down to my mother by her draconic father, a limited thing that I was meant to pass down to our children. But I can feel it, it's gone..." He said, looking up to her with sadness on his face. "It's basically like losing a grandfather. I only spoke to him once, and now I never will again." He hung his head low, at a loss for what to do.

Isis' heart fell. She could not understand what he was going through. "I won't pretend like I understand that. I never knew my grandparents. I've never known familial loss like that. But..." She trailed off, afraid that what she was going to say next might be the wrong thing to ask, but she felt that it was needed. "I must ask love, and I hope you won't resent me for asking, but what is it about it that you feel afraid, disappointed and sad about with this? Is it that you feel that you are disappointing your family by having lost it? Is it that you are afraid of ending the Zhulong legacy? Is it that you are sad that you lost your chance to get to know your grandpa? Or is it something else? I know you said that it is like losing a grandparent, but I ask since you said that you only talked to him once, and that was at that moment. Can it also be that you are afraid that you won't live up to some sort of expectation for not being able to pass that soul on to our kids?"

He shook his head, "All of the above. Isis, Zhulong raised my mother when she was abandoned by her own parents. He gave his life to gift her his soul and she passed part of it on to me. If it weren't for him I wouldn't even exist, Alysa wouldn't exist, my mother would have died alone and abandoned. But I lost a part of him, a part of my family. Sure, I didn't know him personally but mother told us stories, time and time again she said his name with such fondness and love. Now I was given the chance to know him, the chance to talk to him, maybe learn something new from him. But now I'll never get that chance, he no longer resides inside of me, the piece of him gifted to me by birth is gone. That's why I'm sad." He said, not sure why she would ask such a question. "I'm scared because he meant so much to my mother. Sure, the soul would fade over time with each generation but it could be over a hundred years before that happened. I lost such a large part of him in just a few, how can I tell my mother that? How can I tell her I let the part of the man who raised her die? I don't even know where he is? Was he eaten by that thing? Is his soul floating around somewhere lost within the realms?" He continued, running his hands through his hair.

"And I'm disappointed because now I'll never live up to my own potential. Mom, Aunty Carwen, they spent so many years training me to master my abilities. I wasn't that quick at picking it up, it took me years to master things they were able to in months. But I was making progress... I'd finally achieved Draconification, I'd taken such a huge leap forward and now all my hard work, all their hard work training me meant nothing. My own magic, the natural Ki flowing through me, it's so weak compared to what it was before. I'll never be as strong as my mother now, I'll never live up to her teachings. I tried so hard..." He finished, his heart aching like it was about to burst.

Isis pulled him close to her, her arms wrapped around his frame. "I didn't mean to sound cold or callous. I just wanted to have the whole picture... The loss of a family member is a hard thing, even if I can't comprehend it in full. I understand the loss of a grandparent hurts. I understand that it feels wrong to not be able to carry on the legacy. I understand that it doesn't feel right to have been bereft of something you have worked so hard to make real and you are worried of what those close to you will think of you for it. You are worried about a lot of things, love. You are worried about so much. I can understand all of it, I believe in what you say. But... I am a bit concerned about how the last part holds meaning. I get that you are afraid of having been a disappointement now, but why are you concerned of your own strength?" She asked softly, not wanting to offend her beloved. "We said that we would settle down. No more fighting and no more conflict. So why should how strong you are matter then? As for your mother and aunty... I can't say for sure, but don't you think they would be proud of you? It is a tragedy that a piece of him was lost, but wouldn't they be proud of you for having used their teachings to essentially save a whole continent?"

"I'd rather be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a warzone, Isis. Ashvattha isn't a perfect place and I want to be able to protect you and one day, the kids too. I know you're strong, I just knew the two of us would be even stronger. We've been proving that every step of this journey." He answered her question of why it was he felt the need to be strong despite their plans to settle down. "But yes, I am concerned about what mother will think, hero of another continent or not, I've lost something priceless. Worst of all I have to tell her that on top of everything that happened in Hetep. She'll be furious, dad lost an arm and nearly his life because I wasn't upfront and honest with them from the start" He continued, not sure what he was going to say or how he was going to explain things to his mother and sisters when they returned.

Amir let out a sigh, pulling himself from her embrace he leaned back to lie on the bed. "I've always looked up to her, tried to be like her. I thought that maybe I was getting there when Zhulong's soul fully awoke within me. But now I'll never know if that would be possible. You know my mother, she's so kind and caring but she's also powerful and brave. I just wanted to become like her. Someone who could make the world brighter just by existing in it..."

"Haven't you already?" Isis asked in turn. "Your mere existence has made the world a brighter place. Your kindness. Your benevolence. Your mercy and sweet disposition. My world is above all a place of light and beauty thanks to you." She spoke as she leaned down onto the bed as well, laying her head against his shoulder. "You are amazing. Dragon powers or not, you are nothing short of amazing. And if she turns furious with us for everything that has happened, then I will be there to weather it with you. As your friend, as your confidant, as your lover, and soon, as your wife." She spoke softly with a hand on his chest, feeling his anxious heartbeat. "I am with you. Forever and always."

Amir looked over to her, a small smile slowly starting to crack on his face. "It'll be some time before I'm over this, even longer if mother is angry with me about it. But as long as you're with me then I know I can get through anything. Thank you, Lah'mi. You've made my world a brighter place from the moment you entered it too, even if back then you were just the pretty priestess lady who gave me the gold coin." A half-hearted chuckle escaped him before he leaned down and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

Amen sat below deck, tending to his family of dreadmares, while also looking out the window towards the distance from which his old home was. He felt a bit bad over having left it all behind, feeling anxious slightly over the idea of leaving its future to someone else. Once it had been his argument to stay in the events that unfolded. The nagging feeling that he could not leave it to someone else because he dared not take the risk that someone else could do it worse than he could. But he also knew that he could never be happy, nor could his people be as long as he stayed on his throne. Still, it made him feel... Uneasy. He heard some steps coming up from behind. The steps were light and soft, and it could only be one person he could think of. "Come to see the beauties?" He joked without turning around as he pet one of the blue-green ones.

Triss entered the large cargo hold, approaching Amen and then taking her place beside him. "Mhm, I just wanted to check to see if they're okay. I know they're not used to this sorta thing so I was worried that moving them like this might upset them." She explained, joining him in petting the Dreadmare lovingly. "I'm glad you're here too, I was gonna check on you right afterward. Today has been a really crazy day, I mean, I'm having a hard time believing that it's only been today. It feels like its been a full week... But how're you doing? Don't say you're okay either, I don't think anyone could be okay leaving their home like this, especially not after dying and coming back to life. After fighting a war, then killing some big monster thing. I just don't think okay is the right word to use after all that..." She said, trying to tell him to be honest with her, though in her own odd way.

Amen was about to protest before leaning back until his back touched the floor. "Okay?... No. No I suppose that I am not. I spent a lifetime trying to live up to my destiny and title. I gave up hopes from friends and family, even my own child for the sakes of that bloody pyramid. I always thought I was the best option for all of it. The best candidate. That if I couldn't do it, who would, and if there would be another, could they do it better than me?" He ranted on for a bit as the yellow and pink mare came up close and laid down its head on his stomach, begging for attention. Relenting and scratching it behind the fins got a good reaction out of it. "It still feels wrong to leave them behind. 'Can Serqet do better than me? Can the kids help her do that? Should I have stayed?" He asked into the air. "But I also know that I will never be happy if I stay there. So... I am a bit torn. As for the rest, I didn't mind dying too much. I had my peace made with you all and I got to be around you as I did. It was the sadness and disappointement from you that made it worse for me. But I am back now... All thanks to you, my sun and stars. My voil'wi."

She couldn't help but blush at his praise but she knew he was still conflicted inside. "I know I can't really say this, since it isn't like I know a lot about Hetep, or really contributed much to everything that happened, but haven't you done enough for other people? I know you feel like you have this duty, or responsibility to keep going. It's a lot like how Gwen feels about becoming head of the family, but I've told her this and now I'll tell you too: If you're constantly living for other people then you aren't really living at all. If you spend all your life trying to make other people happy then how're you ever going to find the time to make yourself happy?" She said, lowering herself to sit down beside him cross-legged. "I admit that when you were dying, I was sad because I didn't want to lose you from my life. Not again, not after meeting again after two years apart. It sounds selfish, especially if there was a paradise awaiting you on the other side. I wanted you to live for me. But now that you're alive, now that you're back, I want you to live for yourself. You're free now, free from all those burdens and worries now. Like a bird finally released from its cage and getting a taste of the sky for the first time. Your life is yours now, I just hope that I can be part of it." She said, trying her best to be Inspirational and comforting.

Amen was silent for a moment or two, simply looking up at the ceiling, thinking. Contemplating. He then looked down at his dread-friend, which seemed to get the point across to back away into the pen. After a few more moments, he reached up to take the back of her neck in his hand and pulled her head close so she was now above him. He then reached her and pulled her closer to him. He really wanted to pull her on top of him, but that might send the wrong idea. He looked deeply and longingly into those red wonders. "You are the reason I am leaving. You are the reason that I live. My life hasn't been as happy or carefree as yours. Maybe one day I'll find a reason to live for myself, but until then... I just want to live for you. To live with you. To share in your happiness and your sadness. I want to be there for you when things are bad, and I want to celebrate with you when things go right." He spoke softly, though his expression did barely match the softness of his words. "I've never been regarded as such, but... If you can grant me one wish, love, it is the following. Let me be with you. Let me love you like no one else ever has. Let me adore you, and in time, let me become your morning and evening star... As you've always been for me." He finished, his expression getting softer and more loving and slightly sad and insecure as he continued.

Triss was at a loss for what to say, face red from ear to ear as a result of his love-filled words. She'd never been spoken to like that before, not even by Amen himself, it was something she hadn't quite expected. "I-Uh, Well... I mean, I'd really like to... Yes! I meant yes!" She said, flustered. "I love you, Amen, I do! I... I mean, I'm j-just not very g-g-g-good at all that romantic stuff!" She stammered and stuttered out like she was losing the ability to speak. "B-but I'll get better! Then I'll show you w-w-what you mean to me."

Amen leaned up towards her and planted a chaste kiss to her lips before parting. "You already are and have." He said with a bright smile on his face. He took one of her hands and pressed it against his chest. "It it thanks to you that this heart is beating. It is thanks to you that I've felt a happiness and tenderness that I thought was gone since long." He spoke, reaching a hand up to touch her cheek. "I love you, Triss. Ever so much. I am not too good at this romance stuff either, believe it or not. I am basically just snatching ideas from brighter people than me. So, lets find out about all this together, shall we?"

"Right!" She responded cheerfully.

Izar leaned against the side of the slowly rocking boat as they moved down the river. Staring down into the dark water below them, his hand grasping at the aching stump of what was once his right arm. "Gonna have a fun time explaining this..." He thought to himself, moving his hand away and looking down at the red gemmed ring on his pinky. "Ah, but you won't be too mad at me, will you, Love?" He spoke to the fragment of Theia's soul that resided within the ring. "Well, not too mad I hope. I mean, I brought our boy home safe and sound after all. That is what I said I was going to do." He chuckled, flinching as his stump began to ache even more. "Paperwork is going to be hard like this, I don't even know how to write with my left hand... Maybe I can get an assistant to help me out..." He sighed, turning to face away from the water and look toward the deck. Crew members and what's remained of his guard went about their business, their own problems, their own thoughts, some grieved and others rejoiced. But all who remained were alive and well.