Incoming Storm
Saint-Domingue, Cayes-Jacmel
Cayes-Jacmel Docks
November 4, 1798
Fifteen days, it's been fifteen days since they woke up outside of their sheds and free from their shackles. It's been fifteen days since she's worked in a house, fifteen days since she's had to cook or clean inside a household, fifteen days since she slit the throat of that bastard of her slave master, fifteen days since she kicked one of her overseers hard enough between the legs to make him bleed, and Farah's loved every single minute of those fifteen days.
She remembers waking up on her first day of freedom quite vividly. The sun had been shining down, there had been a nice breeze blowing inward from the shore, and not a single slave master or overseer had been in sight. Just reminiscing on that day brings a smile to her face.
Like everyone else around her she had been disoriented, full of energy and quite fearful. It seemed like the entire slave population of Cayes-Jacmel had been gathered in one place and many had feared that the slavers had something quite nasty planned for them. While many thought it strange that they would gather their 'property' in one place despite the possible dangers and the fact that they would lose a full day worth of work, the cruelty of the slavers wasn't to be underestimated, which is why many thought that they being gathered in one place did not bode well for them. Like many she thought the same until he, a boy who could be no older than ten, walked out of the gaudy medieval castle overlooking the yard where they had been, dragging what seems to be every slaver, overseer, merchant, and anyone else involved in the slave business, by the neck with a chain. He had thrown them on the ground like yesterday's trash before proclaiming them all to be free.
"Still reminiscing about that day?" asks a voice behind Farah, prompting her to open her eyes as she turns to face the speaker.
Shrugging her shoulders with a smirk on her face, Farah answers "What can I say? Just the memory of seeing those bastards in chains makes me happy."
"Are you sure that it's not the feeling of the slave master's blood on your hands as you slit his throat that makes you happy?" asks the newcomer as she stands next to Farah on the ship's deck and looks out into the horizon where the starry night sky meets the sea.
"Dayana, do you love inflicting pain on people? Out of everything that happened that day why is that the one you constantly bring up?" asks Farah as she turns to face her sister in all but blood.
Turning to look at Farah, Dayana raises an eyebrow "You have no room to talk." she says with a smirk, earning a chuckle from her friend. As their laughter comes to an end a peaceful silence falls over the brigantine they stand on with the soothing sound of the ocean waves being the only noise on the entire docks.
"How is she?" asks Dayana as she pats the wooden railing of the ship with her hands.
"Perfect." answers Farah with a beaming smile. "Even with the metal plating she's still lighter than the majority of ships her size, has an amazing amount of stability, and is more durable than even the best warship that's produced today."
"It's amazing what a simple runic array can do." says Dayana.
Nodding her head, Farah points to the pair of sword and dagger sheathed around Dayana's hips. "What about you, I heard that the blacksmiths were successful in implementing rune magic to increase the performance of their creation. How good is your sword?" she asks.
With a smirk on her face Dayana draws her saber and simply places the tip on the ship's railing. When she removes the weapon a cut can be found where the saber touched the ship.
"Not bad, huh?" she says.
"Sure, but next time you damage my ship I'm throwing you overboard." threatens Farah with a glare.
"Whatever you say, captain." replies Dayana before they fall silent once again.
Despite having acclimated to the new situation there are moments where everything feels like a dream to them. They were no longer slaves, their slavers and anyone else involved in the business is dead, and perhaps more importantly, magic is real and gods exist. Farah and Dayana had never believed in the supernatural, at least not to the extent that some of their peers did.
Sure they had seen some of the slaves perform acts of voodoo and had seen the results of those acts, dead or severely sick overseers, but they had never truly considered it useful or worthy of note because it wasn't something that they thought could help them gain their freedom. As for the gods, well the two had never cared about their existence at all. After all a god who lets his people suffer like they did is not a god worth acknowledging much less worship.
However, their views quickly changed after meeting him, a descendant of a powerful line of kings and sorcerers. With his magic he killed a god, freed them, and somehow managed to give them knowledge of things they never knew with that golden eye of his. It's how Farah knows everything that a French naval officer knows about ships and maritime warfare, it's how Dayana knows how to use her sword and saber, it's how the blacksmiths know how to create weapons and other things, and it's how every former slave on the island is almost as skilled as the most skilled workers that used to live here while they were enslaved.
It's not something that the two of them completely understand, but according to their king he pilfered the knowledge from the very souls of those people before imparting it onto them.
"Do you think that we'll be able to do it?" asks Dayana. "Free our brethren and make this island our own." she clarifies.
"It's not a question of whether we can do it or not, the true question is whether the two of us will survive the war to experience it." says Farah.
"So you think it can be done?"
Before Farah can answer her another being does. "Since I claim it so, it will naturally be done." says Atem from behind them.
Hearing his voice the duo quickly turn around and bow.
"My king!" they greet him.
"Stand." he orders.
Straightening themselves out, the duo look at Atem before glancing warily at Bastet and Sekhmet who stand behind him. They had seen the two sphinxes burn an overseer who had to kill Atem despite being no bigger than cubs at the time; suffice to say the two of them will never mistake the sphinxes for a pair of adorable harmless cubs.
"We didn't expect you." says Farah.
"It's only natural considering that I did not announce myself." he says as he walks past them to look out into the ocean. "The sun will begin to rise soon. I thought it fitting to enjoy the final moments of peace before I must attend to my duties. Tell me, what do you think of the mulattos?" he asks.
"The mulattos…" mutters Farah as she thinks about the question. "To be honest I don't really care about them as a whole. While some of them are good and I get along with them just fine, some of them act like they're superior to us slaves. So those ones piss me off, but if they went missing I wouldn't care and I'm not the only one who thinks like that." she answers.
"Yes, that seems to be the major consensus." says Atem before he turns to face Dayana. "And you?" he asks.
"There's a bit of friction between them and us former slaves. A lot of them think that they're superior because they were never slaves and have an 'education'"
"I see." says Atem before he begins to walk away just as the sun begins to peek out of the horizon. As he arrives near the exit he turns his head to look at Farah, "The fleet is magnificent, it is truly a work of art worthy of sailing the seas and defending my kingdom. Take pride in what you have accomplished here, Farah."
"Ahhh, it was nothing my liege. We wouldn't have been able to accomplish this so quickly without your aid." she says with a boy.
"Stand tall and hold your head high! There are times to be humble, this is not one of them." he commands. "I may have provided help with the labor, but the designs and the idea to blend magic into their creation came from you." he says before leaving.
"Thank you!" exclaims Farah as she straightens her posture and holds her head high with a beaming smile on her face.
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Alexandria, Egypt
November 4, 1798
It was a trap, the distress signal was a trap and he had been a fool to fall for it. He had thought that some surviving members of The House of Life had made it to the safe house in Alexandria and had activated the distress signal; so he had come here with Marik, Isis, and Odion in the hopes of regrouping with the survivor to make the trip to Saint-Domingue, but it had been a trap and Michel, a member of The House of Life that everyone thought dead, had betrayed them. He led a group of five enforcers to Alexandria and laid a trap there for him and the children.
Panting heavily as he sprints down an empty alleyway, Abasi looks behind him to see a massive stream of fire hurtling towards him and the children. Not even slowing down for a second, he activates his magic circuits and slaps the walls on both sides, causing them to converge on each other and block the flame. A minor inconvenience for their pursuers, but one that should buy them a few more seconds.
Following the children as they turn a corner, Abasi begins to mentally prepare himself for the sacrifice that knows he will have to make. Even now he can feel Summoned Skull losing the battle against Michel's Archfiend Soldier and the enforcers. Normally his Summoned Skull would easily trump Michel's Soldier, but with the help of three of the top enforcers of the Clock Tower, Summoned Skull has his work cut out for him.
As the group turns another corner into an open street, one of the buildings in front of them is demolished as Michel plows through it with his combat avatar.
"You're making this more difficult than it has to be, Abasi." says Michel as the dust clears revealing him and an enforcer to the group. Michel is a middle aged man with intense black eyes, a face that is beginning to wrinkle. He wears a cream-colored robe and sports a black forked beard that reaches his upper chest while his graying hair falls down to his shoulders.
"Not only are you making this difficult, but you are also putting us at risk of being spotted. This commotion has already woken up this section of the city. Give up before things get worse." says the enforcer, a young man with black hair and blue eyes who wears the military uniform of the British army.
Rather than answer them, Abasi steps in front of the children before clasping his hands together and forms a symbol before incanting "Sayf Kashf Alnuwr: Swords of Revealing Light!"
With the incantation spoken, a stream of light swords fall from the sky and surrounds Michel and the enforcer.
Turning to face them, Abasi kneels in front of the children "The spell won't hold them back for long so I need you three to listen to me carefully. I've been supplying Summoned Skull with an excess of magical energy to help him so I'm currently running low. If we continue like this then we will die. So go!" commands Abasi as a rift silently opens behind the children.
"Father, we can help." protests Marik only for Abasi to push them all into the rift before he closes it.
"Well wasn't that touching?" says Michel as he and the enforcer shatter the swords of light. "Too bad your sacrifice will mean nothing once we catch them." taunts Michel.
Standing up, Abasi faces Michel and the enforcer, "I always knew that you couldn't be trusted, but I never expected it to be to this extent." he says.
"Yes, well what can I say other than that I love winning." says Michel with a shrug.
"Ha, you call allying yourself with the enemies of the Pharaoh winning?" asks Abasi.
"What are you blabbering about? There hasn't been a Pharaoh in centuries." replies Michel.
"You're right of course, or at least you were until seventeen days ago when a member of the Pharaoh's bloodline killed a Heretic God and ascended into a Campione." taunts Abasi with a smirk.
"You lie!" denies Michel with a scream. "There's no way that the new Campione is a member of the Pharaoh's bloodline." desperately says Michel in an attempt to convince himself that it's all a lie. Despite his efforts however he knows that it's most likely true. Abasi is not someone who would ever lie or joke about anything concerning the Pharaohs. He reveres and respects them above all else. So if he says that the new Campione is a member of the Pharaoh's bloodline then it's most likely true, which means that Michel is currently siding with the enemy of a Campione. He, Michel, a man who prides himself on always picking the winning side is currently acting against a Campione. What a truly ridiculous situation.
Dismissing his combat avatar, Michel turns around and begins to walk away from the battlefield.
"Where are you going?" demands the enforcer.
"Anywhere away from here while praying that the newest Campione sees me as someone unworthy of his attention. Don't bother trying to persuade me, I would rather have the Barthomeloi family as enemies instead of a Campione." replies Michel before being engulfed by a shadow and disappearing.
"If you were smart then you would do the same." says Abasi. "If you act against the Pharaoh you won't survive past a decade."
"That may or may not be true, but you won't survive past this night." says a voice from behind Abasi just as a sabre plunges into his back and through his chest. "Anyone who stands against House Barthomeloi is sentenced to death." says the voice as a blade of wind decapitates Abasi.
"Sir." greets the young enforcer with a salute. "The children escaped." says the enforcer.
"It doesn't matter. Based on that fools' words I know where the children are going, I just need to confirm with Lady Barthomeloi whether she wants us to follow them there or not." says the newcomer as he wipes the blood from his sabre with a handkerchief.
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AN: Here's the next chapter, we finally see a brief conversation between Atem and two of his subjects as well as the death of Abasi. As usual tell me what you think and don't be afraid to tell me your theories and speculations.
Per usual the next chapter is on my pat re on, pat re on .com / servant ambrosius (without the spaces). Follow me on instagram at servant_ambrosius. Also there's this awesome platform for lightnovels/manga/webcomics called VoyceMe check out the stories on there. It's new but it has great content and is growing quickly.