What the…?
She stood inside a narrow glass chamber, barely tall enough to straighten her spine.
Sand filled it to her waist, heavy and suffocating, pressing against her ribs with the slow patience of an hourglass. A small mound slid from her hair when she shook her head.
Beyond the glass, the world looked painted.
Still. Unmoving.
A frozen catastrophe — war captured mid-breath.
The battlefield stretched out like a mural carved into stone. Soldiers, monsters, gods — all unmoving, suspended between one heartbeat and the next.
The Egyptian Gods lay scattered in a broken heap around Zorc, their colossal forms dimmed and cracked, light leeched from them until even their outlines struggled to exist in the dark.
And there—
Glowing faintly against the void—
the Millennium Puzzle.
It rested against the chest of the most loyal, clever, infuriating, wonderful man she had ever known.
She didn't need sight to recognise him.
She knew him by the way he breathed. By the way his shoulders squared before a fight. By the quiet strength in the way he simply stood.
She would know him blind. Know him in death. Know him at the end of the world.
And this—
This looked exactly like the end of the world.
Her hand lifted before she realised she'd moved.
Reaching for him.
Her fingers pressed to the glass. It shattered into drifting motes of light.
The sand collapsed with it, tackling her to the ground.
Time didn't resume. It only… waited.
Zahra gathered herself unsteadily to her feet, brushing sand and tangled hair from her face.
Her chest tightened as she saw him standing proud and immovable, staring into extinction. His regal cape hung frozen in a phantom breeze.
He looked death in the face. Unflinching.
Not a hint of fear. Not a trace of despair.
There was no breeze for her here. Nothing to guide her where she needed to be.
She stared at him, desperately trying to sense a hint of movement from his face.
A voice echoed through the dark, vast and bodiless.
"You must now make a choice, my child,"
Zahra looked around and saw nothing.
"You can save him, and the world, if you would like."
Her throat felt tight. "How?"
"Because of your sacrifice, your king will soon summon a power greater than the Gods themselves. He will need to merge the biggest powers of Egypt... together."
There was a slight pause in their voice. Heavy. Reluctant to carry on.
"You must fulfil the oath you made centuries ago."
Her heart stumbled.
Her five-thousand-year journey had led to this moment.
"What must I do?" she asked, her voice shaking.
"You must return the life that I gave you."
She choked as her chest crippled and managed barely a whisper.
"My life?"
"The Egyptian Gods were created by me to protect this land and its people. But you… You were created by all the Gods of Egypt. It is why you are so different to the rest. Your whole being is the greatest power. A part of each of the Egyptian Gods, and myself and your father, live within you."
The darkness seemed to breathe around her.
Warmth brushed her hair.
"Gold like Ra."
Lightning thrummed in her blood.
"Power like Slifer."
Might settled in her bones.
"Strength like Obelisk."
The voice grew an air of tenderness.
"Courage like Maahes."
Her mother's voice gentled.
"You were meant to protect the light itself."
Zahra's head felt ready to split.
Looking upon the frozen faces of everyone at war, the terror in their eyes was paralysing.
"To defeat this evil for eternity, I require what I did not have before. Every ounce of my power returned."
She allowed herself to settle on the face of her Pharaoh. Fear crept in anyway.
"Zahra, you are my daughter. I gave you life so that you could live it. Five thousand years ago, you chose to follow him through the sands of time. I did not force that choice on you then, and I will not force you now."
Dropping her gaze to her hands, she could see them tremble. Her chest began to heave, dragging in the air. She was able to hold herself together just enough to speak, but not enough to stop the silent tears tumbling down her cheeks.
A readiness to lay down her life was always there, to make the ultimate sacrifice to save him, but now that the time had come, she felt a sickening feeling in her stomach.
"…Does it hurt," she whispered, "to die?"
"It can, if your end is met with violence. The release of death, however, is not something that can be described with mere words."
She wiped away the tears from her eyes and nose.
She had always expected her oath to be fulfilled in a more 'brutal' way. At least this way he couldn't see the fear in her eyes.
Not fear of death.
Fear of never seeing him again.
Fear that he would forget her.
Fear that one day she would become nothing more than a name he almost remembered.
A ghost.
He would go on. Live his life. Rule his country. Start a family. Grow old. Perhaps only remembering her when he saw a chessboard or held a tournament.
Maybe not even then…
Part of her hoped he would forget.
The thought that he could feel this crippling pain if his love was even half as much as hers—
It would break her.
Her feet moved. Scraping across the outline of her body that still lay in the sand. No wind to blow the indent away.
Sand crunched under her feet as she crossed the distance between them, each step feeling stolen.
Her fingers hovered before touching him — afraid he might disappear — then finally brushed his cheek.
Still warm. Still real.
And she would savour the precious instant.
Her breath hitched.
"I don't know what to say to you," she whispered. "Except… That it tore the heart out of my body, to say goodbye to you once. So I won't this time."
Her thumb brushed his jaw.
"I hope you stay the person you always were."
She memorised him.
Every line. Every scar.
Everything that was him.
She would not let him look death in the eyes any longer.
"Perhaps," she whispered. "…I will find my way back to you again."
She turned away. Straightened her spine and squared her shoulders.
As she looked towards the evil they all faced, a light began to materialise. Small at first, it grew until it was over seven feet tall.
In the brightest part, she could just about make out a woman's face through her squinting eyes.
"Nothing ever truly dies?" It wasn't a question.
The ethereal face seemed to nod in response.
That was all she needed. The thinnest veil of hope. To wear and to hold.
And as she stepped away—
Memories rose.
Her mother's voice. The lullaby.
She released a shaky breath. The comfort smoothed over her.
For one final time, she allowed herself to glance over her shoulder one last time.
Then, she steeled herself. Turning into the huntress she always was. All the while, keeping the face she had memorised at the very front of her thoughts.
With every step, her mother's voice rose softly in her memory.
Sleep now, my little one
Sleep, do not wake
Moon keeps the silence
Dunes gently break
"I will pledge myself to you."
Hush now, my heart.
Rest in my hands.
If I must lose you.
Love understands.
"I will devote myself to you."
Stone stands behind you.
Steady and strong.
Gold light before you.
Guide you along.
"I will heed your every command."
Storm guard above you.
Red wings unfurled.
If I can't hold you.
Let it hold the world.
Freedom, she realised, was nothing but the distance between hunter and prey.
And she had always been the hunter.
Sleep now, my sunlight.
Sleep, do not fear.
Even in leaving.
I am still here.
The time had come to close that gap.
To take the Darkness's freedom.
Sand to bone, bone to sand.
All souls wander home again.
"I will protect you… with my last breath."
In truth, she wished she could see it, the freedom from the darkness. All of this fighting, the waiting through the ages. Everything her mother and father went through…
She wished she could breathe its fresh air.
The wind started to blow and the closer she got, the more she saw the light grow and grow.
And grow.
As she neared, she was greeted by voices welcoming her home. Warm and ancient. One she recognised from not-so-long ago, Maahes.
And when you call me
Soft as you roam
Wind will remember
And carry you home
Unafraid of what would come for her after, she stepped on, smiling in earnest. Her mind set on one goal.
"Let's take him down."
There were no tears or catches in her voice. There was nothing but cold, unwavering steel.
She would do it. She would give her life for the world.
She would give her life for him…
"In every life. In every age. In every world… I choose you."
Then she stepped into the light.
And vanished.
As he summoned the Goddess of Creation, the world roared back into motion.
Wind exploded outward. Sand scattered.
And his eyes dropped.
He saw footprints.
Small. Bare. Feminine.
Leading away from him and already fading in the breeze.
Something tore open in his chest — not memory yet, just absence.
Like something precious had been stolen and he hadn't even known it existed.
The wind struck his face. Bringing a scent that opened his whole existence.
Fresh. Like a spring morning.
And then the memories came.
All of them.
Her laugh. Her temper. Her stubborn, blazing heart.
Her voice saying his name.
"Zahra!" He shouted.
His hand reached out.
In the distance, her silhouette moved towards the light.
Towards Zorc.
Toward Death
Gods.
It was always like this.
Every time she walked away, something inside him broke.
And only now — only now — did he understand why.
"Wait—"
His voice cracked.
It was too late. The light swallowed her whole.
The wind rushed past him, warm.
Her fresh scent even stronger now. And it faded even quicker.
Gone.
His knees nearly gave.
No, he hadn't told her—
Tadal, my friend. Thank you, but you were wrong. I do regret it.
In the beauty of this sunset, he wondered how he had ever failed to see her. From the moment he met her in that alley, something in him had known. Coming home only made it worse.
I regret ever having let her go…
"I never told you…" his voice fractured. "If my life repeats a thousand times… it will still be you."
"You owe me a wish," he whispered to the wind.
"So hear me."
"I wish that I could always find you. That you will always know how much I respect you."
A breath.
"I wish you knew that I always loved you."
The last footprint vanished beneath the sand.
"…Wherever you are."
Silence answered.
And it hurt more than any wound.
Around him, the kingdom cheered.
Light returned. Darkness fell.
But none of it reached him.
Because the brightest thing in his world—
Had just disappeared.
The End
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Well, you made it!
Thank you.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much for getting this far.
I hope you enjoyed the story of Zahra and Atem.
And after this, you may ask yourself.... Do they find each again? Does Atem's wish come true?
I do have plans for an epilogue. A way to tie off all the characters and their stories.
If you are interested in seeing it, please let me know.
Drop a comment with you thoughts!
All my love to you, reader.
Lauren xxx