Note: If you would like to read ahead, the next three chapters after this chapter are available on P^A^T^R^E^O^N / Boombox117


3220 B.C. (15 E.C.) – Tjenu

His steps were quiet, faint pattering of his leather soles against stone floor the only sound that broke the silence as he walked through the building with the sun at its zenith.

An almost imperceivable smile adorned his face as he walked past the immaculately carved stone pillars, carvings so deep that it seemed as if the images of Neit, the goddess of Wisdom and War, and Thoth, the god of knowledge and hieroglyphs, were mirror images of one another, Neith cast in shadows and Thoth in permanent light from the way the pillars had been perfectly angled to reflect light in such a manner when the noon sun came, and it was a design made to symbolise that wisdom would only come when all knowledge had come to vanish away all shadows of ignorance.

His gaze fell upon pillar upon pillar, beam upon beam, as he walked deeper in the bowels of this new building, of this new representation, taking in every moment with a childish giddiness that he'd not felt since he was in his teens like when he, a book in his lap, imagined walking in the streets of Carthage.

Nur arrived at the central hall, a perfect circular hall with four concentric stone levels that functioned as seats for those who would come to contemplate, to discuss, to discover.

Nur eventually took a seat on the second concentric level, his feet on the first level, his elbow resting against his thigh as he gazed around, the faint smile lost as he sighed and turned to look at the sun, which, at the height of noon was directly above in the middle of the open ceiling, and he closed his eyes and he imagined.

A little while later, he heard several footsteps approaching his location and even as they entered the hall, Nur kept his eyes closed and they respected his silence.

"Do you hear it, Usur-Ha? Do you feel it?" Nur asked without opening his eyes, his commanding voice reaching every corner of the stone circular hall.

"I hear it strongly. I feel it strongly. The cry from the Ibis bird. The powerful and graceful beats of the bird of wisdom." Nur said and he opened his eyes and set them towards the High Priest of Thoth, Usur-Ha, accompanied by another man, Osirtisen, an aged wiseman whose skills in healing and knowledge had reached his notice.

Whilst what Nur uttered was, well, c'est n'importe quoi, bullshit, the sentiment behind his words were not. He could feel and hear the gears of history turning in this place, moving the wheels of civilisation towards Truth, Knowledge and Wisdom.

"Yes, oh, Holy One." Usur-Ha said with a flourish as he opened up his arms and glanced around at the great hall. "I can hear the approval from Thoth well here."

Nur doubted the Gods truly cared much about the happenings of humans on this Earth…for the most part, Nur mused as he thought on that Goddess that he'd not seen since that fateful day which had been…enlightening.

He'd considered endlessly the hints of significant strife amongst the Egyptians Gods, and thought it perhaps the very reason why he wasn't smote – smited? – for his blatant seizing of the Egyptian Faith and claiming to be the son of the Gods.

He was well aware of the maliciousness of Gods in the old tales, particularly that of the Olympians and the Roman version, and he wouldn't be surprised if these local versions of those Gods were several times worse than the tales.

And perhaps in this version of Earth, where he had not been reborn as En Sabah Nur, the pharaohs that claimed divinity may well have suffered for it with short reigns and ill-endings.

In any case, for now, he accepted the inaction for the boon that it was and he'd only continue to hone his mutant abilities, which was still growing every day, and he hoped that he would continue to have enough time to grow strong enough before they turned their eyes back towards his Egypt.

Nur smiled at the man and hummed slightly before he looked towards the sun. "It is more than approval, Honoured High Priest. It is a sign that we have been set a great challenge." Nur said with authority and confidence.

He turned back towards the two men who would prove pivotal in starting a new age of curiosity and he took a small leather ball sewn shut with compressed reed stems and he let it drop, letting gravity take effect and he smiled faintly as he spoke. "To seek the secrets of the Universe."

The two men did not look surprise by his words nor should they have been. For two years, Nur had worked to win over the High Priests of this endeavour of his.

It was a harder win than he had expected, considering the awe and wonder his people had for him, even if he expected that some of the High Priests believed that they were treading on the realms of the Gods with the answers Nur wanted them to seek.

Some believed the answers were already known citing truths such as that Nut gave birth to the Sun each day only to swallow the Sun each evening, with the stars moving across her dress and body at night.

Or truths such as the concepts of Nun, the watery expanse which signified the lack of solidness, Heh, unending time where nothing lived and nothing died, Kek, darkness where there was no light and warmth, Tenem, to wander, where nothing remained…each concepts that defined the universe before creation, before Amun or Ra, depending on the region, came forth and blessed non-existence to existence.

Ironically, this belief was actually not that far away from the truth however he wanted them to ground their beliefs with explanations in the physical world and he worked at an angle they understood and could support, which was for their people to understand the rules of the world and the universe the Gods created for them.

'Why does wheat grow when it is in the sun and when it is watered?'

'Why must we breathe in the air and why can we not breathe the water like the fish?'

'Why does the spear thrown fall back to the earth instead of disappearing in the horizon?'

All questions that may be explained away by religion but Nur wanted them to shift away from that train of thought and truly use their minds and eyes to observe nature.

The people of Egypt already had the core foundations they needed to grow and learn and discover…they only needed a few nudges from him and he would not have it any other way.

He'd keep his assistance as minimal as he could, assisting in theory, in pointing out and encouraging the uses and potential of materials and methods, but for the vast majority, nudges was all that they'd get from him.

There were many reasons for that, such as his wish not to damage or interrupt his people's development, which was a major reason, but one of them, one that held more sway than it ought to, perhaps, was that he did not wish to rob these people of their achievements.

Achievements that would belong to that of the People of Egypt.

Usur-Ha spoke up, his gaze watching the rolling ball towards the centre of the hall "And it is a challenge we shall meet and exceed, Holy One!" the man said eagerly and Nur acknowledged the man with a light nod that was accompanied with a smile.

Every great civilisation had centres of knowledge. Centres of philosophy. Centres of science. In almost every instance they were all but the same side of the coin.

And this building…this Hall of Wisdom, would be the birthplace of Egyptian science and philosophy and knowledge, a building that had used standardised cubit-rod rulers to plan and build, using precisely carved and identically weighted stones.

Nur let his mind wonder and ghosts and silhouettes of people standing and sitting arguing and debating and shouting, filled Nur's eyes, and he watched as a few men began to place a large ball in the middle and a smaller one that sat in a carved circle around the larger ball.

'One day…one day, you'll discover it all with your own merits' Nur thought to himself as he turned back towards the two men. 'I only have to set the stage for you to accomplish what I know you are capable of…'

For the past almost two decades, Nur had come to know them…had come to see them. The way they understood the world…the way they approached life…Nur truly came to understand why these people had known such great longevity in their civilisation.

He knew Ancient Egypt had fallen and risen throughout the ages, likely more times than history remembered, but until only the end of the antiquities really did these people lose their cultural dynasty, a dynasty that had lasted for thousands of years.

And, as Nur watch Usur-Ha and Osirtisen talk amongst themselves, he'd see to it that these people of his would retain what made them so magnificent for as long as he lived…and he had no intention of dying any time soon.

After all…he now lived to see Egypt thrive to become the greatest of all peoples.

Nur smiled to himself ever so lightly as he continued to watch Usur-Ha and Osirtisen talk before a sudden realisation washed over him, a realisation that he'd known in his heart for years and one that his mind had only now became conscious of.

How strange, Nur mused to himself quietly, considering how he'd felt in his old life, having grown numb, weary and uncaring of everything over time, of everyone, with the exception of a very few people, a handful, yet, in this life of his, one that began in one of the harshest ways possible, born numb, weary and uncaring, yet he'd only grown to be more feeling, more hopeful, treasuring the future that was to come.

Hmm…

It would not be wrong to say that Nur…that he truly loved these people as his own.

Once, perhaps, he thought he'd loved Annaba, his home city in Algeria, in this manner but honestly, now in reflection? He'd loved the representation of it, one of a carefree life as a child, not really the land…not the people.

And, in comparison to what he felt to this land, to these people?

It paled in comparison.

Days and weeks rolled on by, each day that came and went brought on a change from yesterday, often times welcome change, like the sight of new buildings having new stones placed, or like Nefer-Tentamun improving in her control of her abilities like she did when she compressed sand into dirty-glass, but at times very unwelcome news, like the news of their struggles in Nubia where his army were bogged down at the third cataphract by a coalition of Nubian tribes unwilling to bend the knee, would come.

Soon, the news became severe enough that Nur would have to travel and deal with the situation personally lest his army lose more men to the arrows of the Nubians.

The day before he left came and went, his Vizier and his wife kept abreast of what was happening and what must be done in his absence, and it soon turned to night, the last night before he departed and after he finished up on his religious duties, he made his way towards his bed chambers, his mind largely focused on how he was to deal with the Nubians.

The Nubians, in this era, were called the Ta-Seti, which meant 'Land of the Bow-people' though Ta-Seti could also mean to refer to the land they inhabited, 'The Land of the Bow'. With the Egyptians, Land and People were almost synonymous which is understandable since the Nile was central to Egyptian life so the double meaning made sense when you understood this.

Nur hummed silently.

Him going to war with these people was overkill.

Truthfully, him fighting against any normal human, be it army or singular, was like a duckling fighting against an adult human male wielding a machinegun.

And the thought of killing such helpless people was…distasteful and he was disappointed in his generals that he could not get the conquest to a point where he would only be present to stabilise the region.

Whilst this was combat, against legitimate enemy combatants, Nur still considered the Nubians as harmless…even if they were pillaging the villages nearest to the 'border' as revenge, as retribution, when they were not frustrating his army in their hit-and-run tactics.

He also intimately knew that people, especially in this far back in history, valued and acknowledged strength and it was something that he'd need to display considerably if he wanted the Nubians to not be the equivalent of the Germanic tribes to his Rome.

And the Nubians, who were a martial people, more so than the Egyptian people, would need to be beaten handily before reforging them into another pillar of Egypt.

And they'd be an incredibly important pillar too.

The reports he received about the Nubians impressed him.

Skilled bowmen that were adaptive and used the environment to attack his kingdom and his army – guerilla like warfare against his larger, more organised army – and resolute when captured, even when his men tortured or killed them.

A proud people with much to be proud of.

No wonder the Nubians had so historically been a problem for the Egyptians when even in this era they were this problematic.

And Nur could see that they were also on the cusp of transitioning away from tribal communities to chiefdoms…if not kingdoms. His war likely hastened that transition too as war bred opportunity, necessity and innovation.

Nur sighed silently…yes…he'd need to end it before it could even begin, he mused to himself as he entered his bedchambers, walking past the guards and the guards who'd followed him stopped and stood by the guards who'd been there.

He continued to walk past a little further until he was in the inner parts of the bedchambers, which had been renovated over the past few years, and he stopped in his steps momentarily when he heard her faint humming and the sound of a comb combing through hair with his keen hearing before he continued to walk again.

She'd heard him absently hum when he'd been twisting polished copper and gold into an arm bracelet, a reward for Nefer-Tentamun's hard work in her improvements in her abilities, with his bare hands one day in their bedchambers, and she'd liked it so much she began to hum herself.

He smiled a little wryly to himself. She had a better voice than he naturally did.

When he arrived in their bedchambers proper, he saw her sitting in one of the chairs by the balcony, the light of burning reeds set in fig fragranced tallow candles illuminating the room, and she was dressed in a light-yellow linen dress, calmly combing through her hair with her cedar tree comb, a luxurious item in this age.

Their eyes latched onto one another, beautiful dark brown eyes, meeting his own, a smile blooming on her face as she continued to hum softly.

He walked towards her and when he arrived by her, he offered her his hand. She took it, the lovely smile on her face growing and a smile on his own face formed.

Even as she neared her forties, time had yet to ravage her. Lines were apparent on her caramel skinned face and her hair sprouted the greys of autumn, yet, to Nur, as he gazed into her loving dark eyes, he did not see her as anything as beautiful.

His eyes moved across her face, taking in the curls of hair that fell on the sides of her face, a lone lock curling from the front to the left side of her face, and Nur's hand rose and he tucked the strand of her hair behind her ear, his eyes still studying her face. Even as time was affecting her, skin on her face slightly looser, wrinkles making their presence known, Nur had not felt the lessening of his desires and his care for this woman and it was partly due to her very spirit.

Even as she had come to understand her mortality in the face of his never aging, never changing appearance, she had not lost herself to envy nor had she changed, keeping that sense of genuineness that made him decide to marry her.

In the face of that, was it any wonder that he kept his want of her, he thought as his eyes moved and took in her delicate jawline, so soft and curved downward like a half arc oval, and as his hand moved to trace the curve of her face, his eyes continued to follow that arc, until his eyes fell on her lips.

Parted and dark-pinked, full and provocative, her lips drew in his attentions like the mirage of an oasis drawing in dying parched men, and he stepped forward, the corners of her parted lips ticking upwards, luring him in with hooks of promise, and only the notice of her dress falling did he have the strength to pull away from her lips and look towards her naked body, a body he knew intimately, a body he cherished.

He closed the gap, small though it may have been, between he and her, his arm moved towards her naked hips, his eyes trailing across her naked body, from her breasts with its silver-coined sized areolas, to her abdomen, to her core, and he felt her hand reach up towards him and guide his head down, his eyes, back to meet hers.

A soft smile was on her face, a happy loving smile, one that came from gladness about his lustful looks upon her despite her aging and Nur brought down his head and took her irresistible lips with that of his, pulling her hips into him.

A soft moan escaped from her throat, a tinkling moan that sounded better than any music he could listen to, and they lost themselves in their kissing, manic and hungry, their tongues dancing a waltz with one another, and he pulled her in further, their passion in their hearts growing, like embers growing into flickers of flame made of lust and desire and need, until, until Ha'Nepthi gasped in his mouth as he picked her up and carried her to the bed, their lips still locked.

A second pair of arms sprouted from his back, his shoulder bones shifting and changing to accommodate the extra pair, and his second hand removed his kilt, leaving him naked as Ha'Nepthi, whilst the other hand moved to roam her body as they fell onto the bed, a delighted gasp escaping from her lips as she felt his extra hand on her body.

His hands roamed on her body with the same hunger and desire as that of claws of a lion digging in the back of a gazelle yet with the sensuality of feathers tracing and circling on sensitive skin. Each motion, each action, he could feel her respond in their kissing, in the movement of her body, the slow arch of her back as his hands worked in perfect sync and with perfect sensuality to bring her to a state of bliss.

Her lips begun to be more forceful as the state of bliss threatened to shatter like panes of glass dropped from height, her nails roaming across his chest with increasing strength until, until…a shuddering gasp escaped her lips, her nails no longer scratching but rather intent on digging into his chest as her shuddering gasp turned into a heartful moan.

Moments later, once the shuddering lessened, her legs, either side of his, curled inward, hooking him steadfast on top of her, her hands moving south until they wrapped around his member, her hips rising and gyrating against his member, against his body, until…

Until, she arched her back, her hand guiding, holding, his member, which she played with, running her thumb over the tip of his foreskin, to her southern lips, and he felt her wetness as his exposed head touched upon her folds.

Another shuddering breathe escaped her parted lips, a breath he'd breathed in with how close their lips still were even in this momentary reprieve, and, it was not a reprieve that lasted long when he pulled at her hips with his second set of arms, his first set of arms wrapped underneath her shoulders, and he pushed himself into her, a pleasing moan escaping her lips, and a hungry moan out of his.

In and out, deep and shallow, he moved, his breathing deepening, her voice rising in volume, her tone rising in pitch…in and out…in and out, their bodies moving as one, her arms digging into his back as his four hands moved across the curves of her body, and so they continued all night long, moving as one, lost together in one another, in a steady metronome made of passion, until he spent himself in her, until sleep took them, with her laying with his arms around her, and Nur let himself fall into sleep alongside his wife, his queen.

-Break-

Arbaab POV (Nubian Chieftain of the Eight Tribes)

The man before him looked half dead as he sat down before Arbaab, sweat running down his dark skin. "Noble chief, there are over three thousand Kemetians up-ahead and I have encountered several scouts patrolling" the scout, Ketti, said to him in a worried tone.

"They have surrounded us." Koloda, his most capable warrior, said grimly and worried murmurs rang around him. "They dwell in the mountains in the East, they occupy the north and now they have managed to get men beyond us in the south."

Their only way to avoid a fight is to swim across the Nile. If the river would not drown many of his men, the crocodiles would feast others. No, braving the Nile is not possible. "We must fight." Arbaab said with a tone of finality.

Arbaab gestured towards his followers.

"And we must do so soon before all three armies fall upon us." If that happened, any hope of surviving, let alone winning would be gone.

Their numbers was twenty five hundred in total, the largest warband amongst the tribes, and it was made of the fiercest fighters in all of Nubia. They could win against superior numbers but not against ten thousand.

"South, North, or East?" One of his men asked.

The North had the most number of men with the East the second most, but the East had many passageways to cover whereas the south had many less and chances of springing a surprise victory was lesser than in the East but the risk was also higher in the East because they could get unlucky.

So…the choice was East or South.

He decided after moments of silence.

"We go East."

And so they marched with great speed towards the mountains, through the dunes and desert, until, the next day, with grim regret, he came to see the sight of an Kemetian army that looked to be hundreds strong…at least.

His men asked what they are to do and he said "We fight. We will fell many of them before they can reach us and by then, the few that remain shall be felled by our daggers!" Arbaab shouted as he raised his flint dagger in the air.

His men shouted in cheer and they nocked their arrows to their bows as they moved towards the Kemetians. As they closed the gap between themselves and the Kemetians, Arbaab noticed that the Kemetians were not moving.

No, that was not true…one of them was moving towards them whilst the others were remaining still. "What are they doing?" Iisib, his brother-by-marriage asked confused.

Arbaab did not respond to Iisib's valid question and instead signalled his men to stop moving and to keep calm and focus. A while later, he saw clearer and his eyes widened when he noticed the grey tinge of the tall man's skin.

"Ha! Isn't that freak of a Pharoah of theirs?" Iisib asked in a laugh "The one they claim to be a walking God? How foolish for him to approach us!" Iisib turned towards the men and proclaimed "We will slay their precious God-King and victory shall be ours!" The men cheered loudly at that and Arbaab shot a look at his brother-by-marriage. Iisib came closer and said to his ears only.

"Brother, if we kill this unnatural man, the Kemetians will lose heart and we will escape, you know this. Let the man die to his foolishness and let us live."

Arbaab wanted to strangle his brother-by-marriage by the throat but he refrained from doing so despite the man speaking out of turn and taking his decisions away from him. "Speak to the tribe like this again, I will kill you. Brother or not." Arbaab said coldly as he stared at this man.

"Of course." Iisib said with a respectful tone and a false smile. Arbaab clenched his teeth but said nothing before he looked away from Iisib. Once the war was over, he'd deal with this troublesome man. Had he known how covetous he was, he'd not included Iisib's tribe in his warband.

"Ready arrows!" Arbaab shouted out and the sound of more than a thousand arrows hitting the side of bows rang around him, his gaze still set on this Pharaoh who kept on approaching unimpeded, crossing the sunbeaten desert ground, the golden collar gleaming in the sun, and Arbaab could see that the man had no weapons on his person.

For a moment, Arbaab hesitated at the strange sight of this tall grey-skinned man, and thought back on the stories he'd heard about this man who ruled the Kemetians.

But only for a moment as reason grabbed hold of him.

"Loose!"

Over a thousand arrows soared into the sky, casting long shadows against the desert ground, and they whistled towards this lone strange man who continued to walk towards unchanged and untroubled despite arrows moments away from killing him dead.

The first arrows fell and sank into the ground near him, then dozens of others, some behind him, some in front of him, and this continued until a thousand arrows all sank into the ground and none…and none had struck this strange man, shocking Arbaab and his men. It was unbelievable! They all missed? 'How?' they all wondered.

"Ready arrows!" Arbaab was the first to recover and his men quickly readied their arrows before they let loose on his command, this time with determination not to embarrass themselves again, yet, once more, none of the arrows found their target.

Arbaab growled as he looked at his men before he returned his gaze towards the grey-skinned man and ordered them to ready their arrows and they did so, anger and confusion rising but nonetheless, they still do so and loosened their arrows.

Again, their arrows missed.

They let loose once more, this time at will, and again none of their arrows hit the grey-skinned man. Twice more they did so, and twice more they failed, and each time they failed, Arbaab could feel the shift away from confusion and anger and embarrassment to one of…fear.

This was not natural, they all knew this now. They were the best bowmen in all of Nubia and for them to miss like this, so many times, was like the Nile flowing in the opposite direction…it was impossible!

Arbaab was not sure who shouted 'attack' but someone did and it was like the feeling of fear disappeared and allowed anger to return, inspiring the men to run forward and welcome this grey-skinned man with dagger and spear.

It was then when everything changed.

The grey-skinned man began to walk faster, then faster a moment later and faster still moments later, until, until he was running faster than any man he'd ever seen running and before any of them knew it, the man was amongst the first line of men.

Arbaab's expression transformed into sheer shock, disbelieving shock, when the grey-skinned tall man, taller than any man he'd seen be, struck against the first of his men, dropping him like a sack of wheat onto the ground, before moving to the next one without once stopping, and slapped the next man against the back of his neck before striking with his other fist against an elbow of another man, the arm breaking in half, and the grey-skinned man moved onto the next men with blistering speed, faster than any man should be able to move.

'Impossible! This is impossible…!' he thought to himself with fear and shock as the grey-skinned monster moved through his men like a dagger through the belly of a fish, dropping tens, dozens, and then hundreds within only moments and Arbaab simply could not believe what his eyes were seeing.

'The tales…the tales were true after all…?' he began to realise and believe.

He heard the stories.

The stories of the god among the Kemetians, a living god walking amongst Men.

Stories and tales he heard once more from the traders.

He never believed the ramblings of this monster, nor did he believe the tales of the family of traders. Traders that went to the Kemetians to trade blue stone in exchange for barley and wheat and he had long thought that he had been cheated out of his three cattle and the gold bracelet.

He'd gotten, in exchange of three of his finest cattle and the gold bracelet, stories and knowledge from these traders who had known of the ways of the Kemetians, and their tongue, and he had much need to know his enemies.

Some of it had been useful and they had struck against the villages in their lands but much of it had been useless, especially the similar tales of that of this Pharoah, a living God amongst the Kemetians.

The grey-skinned monster seemed to have grown as time passed, now towering over the men as he beat them with his fists alone, breaking bone and skull, and Arbaab watched as his men, his remaining standing men, began to throw away their daggers, and fell to their knees before the monster and Arbaab…seeing this, let the dagger in his hand slip, the tip of the flint dagger burying itself into the ground as he watched the towering grey-skinned monster stop in his movement and swept his gaze across the field with his unnatural white eyes, a gaze that turned towards him and Arbaab thought he was looking into the eyes of Death itself.

A little while later…

The sounds of his broken men rang around him as he met the stare of this strange man, a tall and big man who bore white eyes and skin of the lightest grey that dwelled within ashes, without fear showing on his face, even as he felt it heavily in his chest.

Finally, he looked away from the stare and turned back towards his surrounded men, all of whom were either on their knees or holding their broken arm…those that were lucky enough to only suffer a broken arm for there were more than a few that suffered more, whilst the Kemetians were keeping guard as he and his brother-by-marriage sat opposite this grey-skinned monster and the translator, a man that looked like he was of the tribes of Nubia.

Some of them, those worst injured, would die, he could tell from their injuries though the grey-skinned monster could have killed them all. They never stood a chance against him and the monster knew it too. He faced them with his fists alone, twenty five hundred of them, and won without having a drop of enemy blood on his skin.

And he did so without the intent to kill them, likely because, he thought grimly, because they were to be enslaved, forever toiling for this monster.

"What does he want?" Arbaab finally asked when he turned his gaze to the translator.

Why were they not on their way to the Kemetian lands yet?

The grey-skinned monster began to speak in his Kemetian tongue, his arm that bore a strange bracelet moving to rest on the top of his knee, and the translator began to speak "Three quarters of your men shall be taken North."

The translator said and Arbaab felt the weight of resignation sit on his shoulders though not enough for him not to grab the shoulder of his brother-by-marriage to stop him from speaking wrongly lest they all die now.

"These men shall pay the debt of war and defiance for ten years and they will not be mistreated if they do not give cause for such. After ten years, they shall return to these lands with two thousand of my people and build a town in my name." the translator said before continuing to translate.

"One quarter shall work with the men I shall leave in this land who will take it for Egypt. This quarter shall assist my men with all that they need assistance with. Again, these men shall not be mistreated and shall be considered as part of my men, provided they do not give cause for such. You, chief of these tribes, shall be amongst this quarter and you shall be tasked to ensure your tribes follow my decrees."

"Rebel, which shall be considered to mean defying my will in any way, the three quarters will die. The one quarter will die and I will return to these lands and I shall not leave you defeated and alive but instead, I shall leave you and your tribes dead."

"Never! We would rather die than submit to this monster!" Iisib raged as he moved to get up from his seat but before he could do so, the grey-skinned monster's arm moved and it grew impossibly and changed and wrapped around his brother-by-marriage and Iisib was thrown into the air faster and further than an arrow could, haunting sounds of his brother-by-marriage's bones breaking dominating all other sound as the groans of his men and the movement of the Kemetians ceased completely.

Arbaab's face turned ashen as he stared into the sky, almost no longer able to see his brother-by-marriage who was most likely dead the moment he was thrown into the sky from the way his bones were broken.

The quiet voice of the grey-skinned monster broke the silence and soon after the translator spoke. "Whilst I did not understand what he was saying, I understood the meaning behind his words." Arbaab turned away from the sky and turned towards the translator and then to the monster.

"I showed restraint even as you let loose your arrows against me as I walked to you, alone. I showed mercy when I fought your men. I had been merciful when I decided not to kill you and your men and instead spare your lives even when my men would prefer I kill you and your tribes and settle these lands." The monster's gaze turned cold as he spoke further and the translator looked even more nervous as he translated.

"My mercy and restraint knows limits, Arbaab, chief of the eight tribes." Arbaab looked away from the monster's gaze and he flinched when he heard a crash nearby.

"Remember this when others like the man who sat beside you thought he could speak and act in such a way."

Arbaab swallowed lightly. "Some of the tribes will continue to resist. I cannot control them or convince them." He answered knowing the danger his tribe and family could be in at the folly of others like his brother-by-marriage.

The monster made a noise and Arbaab looked towards his direction and saw him look away into the distance before he spoke again. "I understand this. I will not blame you or the tribes you are responsible for, for their actions." The monster turned back towards him and met his gaze, the coldness no longer there.

A big part of Arbaab felt relief but he could not allow himself to feel it truly.

"I will only blame you for that which is under your control, chief of the eight tribes" the translator said and the monster tilted his as if out of curiosity before he spoke.

"Do not look so concerned, chief of the eight tribes. I do not seek to destroy you or your tribes. Just as you collected the tribes under your leadership, so too shall I collect the tribes of these lands into my own. Your tribe, in time, shall become part of my tribe, my tribe becomes part of your tribe.

Just as the Gods have declared so. The people of the Nile must be one people and he shall follow the will of the Gods as they so commanded him to." The monster said with finality and so Arbaab swore his fealty to the monster-Pharoah under the eyes of the Gods with grim resignation.

The days after their defeat were long though none of the men he thought would die, died. Their wounds, grave as they were, were tended to by the monster…Pharoah, who changed his arms like water and wrapped them around the arms and legs of the wounded men, their once misshapen arms and legs re-set back into their proper shape and then had the shafts of the spears tied against them which they said would aid in the healing of the bones back properly.

Arbaab did not understand this grey-skinned Pharoah, who could be a monster amongst men and yet also so very different. Why did he use his…gifts against his enemies and heal them? Enemies he said he would kill if they defied him?

These were thoughts he and many of his tribesmen shared, though he did not know it at that time.

They would spend many days and weeks and seasons to think on it, though one act, one that would have consequences in the years and decades to come, left many Nubians – and Egyptians – in awe when suddenly, on the fourth day, the Pharoah rose in the air and flew away after he spoke to two of his men in his tongue, faster than any bird he'd seen move.

-Break-

3220 B.C. (15 E.C.)

Nur flew as fast as he could, faster than he'd ever gone, his eyes keeping watch on the infrared camera that showed him a large figure overshadowing six others and he watched as one by one, the smaller figures grew still and dead as the larger figure barrelled into them and Nur pushed his telekinesis hard to get him fly faster.

A shockwave occurred as he moved faster than Mach one, then Mach two, the compressed air in front of him getting difficult to manage and he moved himself to a higher altitude, lessening the strain on his telekinesis and he once more increased his speed.

By the time he neared the marked location of the beast he was warned about, there was only one smaller figure moving, the rest of them laying still whilst the larger figure feasted on one of the still figures.

Nur slowed his approach as he arrived and he shifted his mass back towards normalcy though not completely for his foot increased in mass and size until it reached the size of an anchor weighing over five tonnes and he used his telekinesis to balance and control the differential though his control almost slipped when his eyes widened in shock as memories of a similar beast was dragged up to the forefront of his mind.

He just about managed to control himself from slipping and fractions of a second later, he smashed his oversized and incredibly heavy foot against the beast as he fell upon it in a blur. The beast did not splatter into a shower of blood, much to the surprise of Nur, instead, the beast was shot off into the sky, its body intact.

The floating camera followed the trajectory of the beast as Nur restored his body back to its proper proportions and used the moment to turn towards the people and Nur floated downward back towards the ground with a grim look on his face.

Five of the figures were all dead, three of them had pieces ripped out of their bodies, one was half-devoured whilst another was largely intact though Nur barely glanced at the bodies and instead looked towards the sole survivor, a boy that looked to be somewhere between eight and ten years of age.

Nur was going tell the boy to go to the nearest village, which he estimated to be some ten kilometres away north-east from here but the boy looked to be catatonic, likely the reason why the beast had not yet devoured him and likely was saving him for last. Instead he only said "I will be back." The boy did not acknowledge Nur and Nur sighed before he shot off into the sky and sped towards the direction his bracelet was telling him he should go.

He found the best crawling out of the ground as he settled on the ground near it and he took a close look at the beast. The beast had long tail with seven splits in it that seemed to move on its own accord, its body looked like it was made out of green painted braided steel with a trace of a glow on the surfaces of its body.

It bore six glowing eyes, teeth that were as long as hands, and eight appendages that functioned as its hind-legs and its fore-legs with claws that looked as long as sabres.

It looked faintly reminiscent of a chimera, a very strange chimera, but what it truly and utterly resembled, as the beast turned its long and lion-reptile hybrid head towards Nur, a menacing growl escaping its maw, was the monsters he'd seen snippets of in a movie trailer…the monsters of the movie The Eternals.

The beast sped towards Nur, the ground shaking as it did so, and Nur increased the strength of his body and skin to that of hardened steel as he tilted his body in a stance.

The beast leapt towards him with an open maw and Nur jumped back away from the maw and leaned away from the swipe of the claw, barely doing so, and he crossed his arms in defence when he saw one of the seven tail-like things move towards him.

Nur was shocked when the tail jabbed through his right forearm and into his chest, jabbing through hardened steel like a hot knife through butter, and the beast flung him across like a ragdoll, Nur's right forearm dangling as if it was hanging off of his elbow.

Nur righted himself and he quickly moved out of range of the beast when it changed direction and back towards Nur, flying upwards, and Nur turned away from the beast momentarily to simply stare at his nearly ripped apart lower half of his arm before he looked at the hole that been punched through his right side of the chest.

That shouldn't been so easy for that beast to cut through him…it didn't feel like it was done through force…instead…it was as if it bypassed it.

Nur focused on his arm and moments later, bone and muscle and skin began to patch itself and as that was happening, Nur turned his gaze towards the still growling beast, his eyes intently staring at it before a very slow, very wide, grin began to form on Nur's face, a wild, manic grin, a grin that was accompanied with the same kind of manic gleam in his eyes, all thoughts of concerning implications of this thing's existence thrown away.

He'd never fought fully with his abilities. There had been no need to and Nur truly thought that his abilities, which had been growing gradually, was suffering for this lack of challenge to his, well, life. He still held the theory that his abilities were at their best when his life was in danger, when his body was stressed into adapting so that he could survive and this thing…

This thing that could cut through him so easily, was perfect in proving his theory right…or wrong.

And Nur relished in it.