Epilogue

Ra

The world is darkness. It has been darkness. It will be darkness. I haven’t seen light in so long that I forget its shape, its texture, its feeling. I forget the joy it brings.

Until, finally, after an unimaginably long time. . .a single crack splits open.

And one small ray of energy shines through.

It wakes me from my drowsy half-sleep with its painful, piercingly sharp intrusion. Joy pulses through my core from the pain—because even pain is feeling and it’s been so long since I felt anything at all. My body craves the energy like it craves life itself. I slurp down the single ray and I hunger, I long for more. But that one sip portends great things. A single crack is a beacon—a warning—it’s the hope I’ve been waiting to see.

The time has finally come.

The Warden has been reborn. My prison walls are weakening. The world beckons. I want to break free now—to fly—to soar—to consume—to destroy. I have so many debts to repay.

But it’s not yet time.

Soon.

Very, very soon.

Ah, Sekhmet. As I wake, the sting of your betrayal lashes me again, as deeply as it did the first time. I’ve loved no other as I loved you, so no one else could hurt me as you did.

But I forgive you.

For Amun-Ra is no monster. No, Amun-Ra is a God.

You’ll understand this time. Once you hear me out, once you see, you’ll accept and repent and return and I will welcome you back into my arms with the mercy and generosity I’ve always shown you. Together we’ll set things right. Together we’ll rule them all.

Together, we’ll Bind the world.

The energy from that tiny shaft of light fades, and exhaustion tugs me back downward with heavy hands. Sleep. Darkness. Peace, for now. I use the tiny burst of energy to break the lock on one inconsequential door. I can’t free myself, not yet. But I can free one of my acolytes, my lowest lieutenant.

It’s enough.

I allow the prison walls to pull me down, because I know my time is short now. My sentence is nearly served. My darling daughter, Sekhmet, you’ll come for me.

The world will tremble and obey and worship us once again. Very, very soon now.