The desert was chaos.
The dunes pulsed with heat, every grain of sand vibrating with divine pressure. The light from the tomb burned the horizon, a second sun breaking the dawn.
Saijew's group stopped at the ridge above the valley. The glare forced them to shield their eyes.
Ren cursed under his breath. "He's tearing the desert apart."
Poison squinted into the light. "That's not training. That's a war."
Sous drew his sword, the blade humming with judgment. "We won't reach him walking. That's divine distance now."
Saijew dismounted, his cloak snapping in the wind. "Then we don't walk."
Emma stepped forward, wind swirling faintly around her feet. Her hair whipped behind her as she closed her eyes, breathing in slow.
"Give me a second," she said.
The others watched as the air around her shifted, invisible currents forming a ring. Her contract with Amun pulsed, blue light running down her arms. She reached outward, her power feeling the air for its pulse, its movement, its life.
She gasped. "I found him."
Saijew's eyes snapped to her. "Where?"
"Inside the tomb. The pressure there." She hesitated, her voice shaking. "It's not just him. There's another light. Stronger. It's swallowing everything."
Saijew turned to Kahn. "The artifact."
Kahn unclipped a small obsidian disk from his belt, covered in golden etchings. The artifact glowed faintly, its center pulsing like a heartbeat.
"This will open once," Saijew said. "Straight line only. We can't aim without a lock."
Emma placed a hand on his shoulder. The wind around her rose, swirling in tight spirals.
"You'll have one," she said.
The air around them tightened, she was focusing, every gust a thread in a web stretching through the dunes, reaching toward the storm ahead.
Her breathing deepened. "I can see him. He's standing near the altar."
Saijew's eyes narrowed. "Hold it."
The artifact's runes began to spin, responding to Emma's resonance. The air behind her warped, a shimmer forming like heat over sand.
She pressed harder, her hand still on Saijew's shoulder. "Now!"
The disk flared. The shimmer solidified into a circle of distorted light, a portal, flickering between gold and blue.
Through it, they saw the tomb. Magnolia's back faced them, fire rippling off him in waves. Beyond him stood Isamu, radiant and still, his falcon crest burning white.
Sous whispered, "He's facing Horus's vessel."
"His father," Saijew said quietly.
Ren took a step forward. "We're going in?"
Saijew drew his blade. "We're bringing him home."
The general looked to Emma. "Hold the gate open. If it collapses, we lose them."
She nodded, her eyes already glowing from the strain. "I'll keep it steady."
Saijew turned to the others. "Move."
They stepped through.
The world on the other side hit them like a storm, soundless, hot, crushing. Divine pressure bent the air. Fire and light clashed in the center of the chamber.
Magnolia stood before the altar, his fire wrapped around him like armor. Isamu's wings of light extended, blades forming from their edges.
Neither turned as Saijew's team entered.
The ground beneath them cracked, glowing white-hot.
Sous shouted over the roar, "If we get any closer, we'll burn!"
Saijew gritted his teeth. "We'll burn later. He dies now if we don't move."
The portal flickered behind them. Emma's voice strained through the echo. "I can't hold it long!"
Saijew looked at Magnolia, the boy he'd trained, the child of the man he'd left for dead, and saw both Ra's flame and something else moving through him.
He tightened his grip on the sword. "Magnolia!"
The boy didn't turn.
Isamu raised his arm, divine light gathering at his palm.
Saijew lunged forward.
And the tomb exploded again.
The light was blinding.
It didn't roar, it screamed.
When the explosion hit, it tore through the air like the wrath of two suns colliding. The shockwave hit Saijew first. His boots slid across the marble as fire and light crashed into him.
Then came the pain.
A white-hot line ripped through the back of his leg. His body twisted midair before slamming into the wall. The general's sword clattered beside him, its edge melted.
"Saijew!" Ren shouted, diving toward him as the ground fractured under their feet.
The air thickened with divine heat, the portal behind them shrinking with a low hum. The circle of light flickered, warping like a dying star.
Kahn grabbed Saijew by the shoulder, pulling him upright. "Your leg-"
Saijew gritted his teeth, the muscle in his jaw flexing. Blood ran down his ankle, searing into the sand. The wound wasn't clean. It looked carved, the tendon nearly torn.
"I can't stand," he hissed. "Keep the line!"
Emma was on one knee near the portal, hands glowing with strain, sweat dripping down her neck. "I'm losing it! The connection's fading!"
Sous knelt beside Saijew, eyes sharp. "We move him through, now."
Saijew's hand shot up, grabbing Sous's wrist with brutal force. "No. He stays. I'll hold the gate from here."
"You can't-"
"I said no!" Saijew barked. His voice broke through the chaos. "Get the boy!
Poison didn't waste a breath. His eyes darted between Magnolia and Isamu, two divine lights tearing reality apart. His expression hardened.
"Cover me."
Without waiting for approval, he stepped forward. His body began to dissolve. The process was silent, smooth, flesh collapsing into vapor, skin liquefying into a shimmer of dark green.
Ren blinked. "What the hell is he—"
Poison's body compressed into a speck, smaller than a grain of sand. He vanished through the thinning air, slipping past the firestorm like smoke through cracks in stone.
Inside the blaze, the speck rippled once, then reformed, flesh knitting, bones stretching, eyes snapping open.
He appeared beside Magnolia.
The boy didn't even flinch. His arm was drawn back again, the fiery bow reformed in his hand, aimed at Isamu's chest.
Poison coughed once, shaking the residue from his arms. "You know, you're making this a little hard to babysit."
Magnolia's eyes flicked toward him. They glowed like miniature suns. "Stay out of this."
"Not an option." Poison's voice was low, steady, his hand twitching as toxin started to pulse from his veins. "You kill him here, the whole tomb falls. You'll kill us."
Magnolia didn't blink. "Then move."
Behind them, Saijew struggled to keep his focus, the blood pooling under his leg. The portal shrank to half its size.
Emma gritted her teeth, forcing her energy through. "I can't… hold it much longer!"
Kahn's hand pressed to her back, trying to steady the flow. "If it collapses-"
"It won't," Sous cut him off, glaring through the light. "Because that boy doesn't fall until I say he does."
Back inside the chamber, Isamu raised his arm, golden light spiraling around him.
Magnolia's bow flared again.
And Poison stepped between them.
"Enough," he said, his voice layered with venom and heat. "You want to burn the world, fine. But you'll have to start with me."
Magnolia's eyes narrowed. "Then don't move."
Ra's voice murmured in his mind again, faint but sharp.
"If you fire now, you won't hit a man. You'll hit your future."
Magnolia froze. The bow's light trembled.
Poison's glare never broke. "Whatever he did, you're not killing your own blood in front of us."
The flames wavered. The tomb fell silent for a breath.
Then the ground cracked again, the fire and light inside the chamber reaching their breaking point.
Outside, the portal stuttered one last time.
"Magnolia!" Saijew shouted, his voice raw. "End it! Or none of you make it out!"
And inside the tomb, Magnolia's eyes burned with both fury and restraint, his bow dimming as the power inside him raged for release.
The ground shook until it screamed.
The fire from Magnolia's bow warped the air, white and gold folding into itself. Isamu's wings flared again, the tomb filling with divine light so bright it erased the shadows.
Behind them, Emma's voice broke through the storm. "The portal-it's collapsing!"
Saijew's blood pooled beneath him, soaking the sand. The wound along his Achilles tendon throbbed with each heartbeat. He gritted his teeth, vision blurring.
"Pull back!" Sous barked.
The air warped, the portal flickering in and out, until it snapped shut with a hollow, echoing boom.
The desert fell silent. The heat faded. The team was gone.
Saijew lay in the sand, Kahn pressing his hand to the wound, sealing it with golden light. The general's jaw clenched as the magic burned into his flesh.
Kahn's voice was low. "He's gone after him."
Saijew didn't answer. His gaze stayed fixed on the horizon, where two divine lights clashed far beyond sight.
"Then," he finally said, "we prepare for the fallout."
Sous exhaled sharply, turning toward the others. "Get Emma stable. She burned half her energy keeping that portal open."
Ren nodded, kneeling beside her. "She's breathing. Barely."
Saijew's hand trembled as he reached for his sword, digging it into the sand to keep upright. "We train until they return, or until the desert burns through."
The sky rumbled.
And far away, within the shattered remains of the Falcon's Tomb, two figures stood among ruin.
Magnolia's fire dimmed to embers. His bow hung loosely in his hand, the flames flickering weakly before fading away. The air reeked of molten rock and ozone.
Across from him, Poison stood with one hand on his shoulder, steady but tense.
"Look at yourself," Poison said quietly. "You're bleeding from your own light."
Magnolia's chest glowed faintly at the scar's edge, the same lightning pattern that Baron left still burning deep within. "He's still out there," Magnolia muttered. "Father or not, he's one of them now."
Poison tightened his grip. "Then stop acting like a weapon. Think like a soldier."
Magnolia's eyes flicked toward him, the faint gold fading to ember. "You're saying I shouldn't fight?"
"I'm saying fight right," Poison snapped. "If you kill him out of rage, you'll lose your contract. You'll lose Ra. And we'll all die when that tomb goes."
Magnolia stared at him for a long moment, the silence thick between them.
Then he turned back toward Isamu, who now stood at the far end of the chamber, his body outlined in holy light. The falcon sigil on his chest pulsed, steady and cold.
"Fine," Magnolia said at last. "Then we fight together."
Poison grinned faintly. "That's more like it."
The air shifted. Poison's hands darkened, toxin running through his veins until it shone black-green. His body began to hum, the vibration sharp and low.
He cracked his neck. "I'll hit the blood flow. You keep him busy."
Magnolia nodded once. His hands ignited, fire spiraling up his arms until his veins burned like molten gold.
Together, they stepped forward.
Isamu watched them both, calm, unreadable. "Two children against the son of Horus," he said quietly. "Do you even know what you're standing against?"
Magnolia raised his hand, light bleeding through his fingers. "A man who forgot who he was."
Poison laughed, the sound dry and sharp. "And a father who's about to learn how much his son's grown."
They moved at once.
Magnolia's flames roared upward, filling the tomb with radiant heat. Poison's body blurred, splitting into strands of dark vapor that darted through the cracks in the floor, aiming for Isamu's legs.
The collision shook the temple again. Light, fire, and poison clashed in one blinding wave.
Outside, in the desert, Saijew's team felt the tremor under their feet.
Kahn looked up at the horizon. "It's begun again."
Saijew closed his eyes, the muscles in his jaw tightening. "Then pray those two remember what they're fighting for."
Inside, Magnolia and Poison fought in sync, chaos and precision.
One burned the world, the other rotted it.
Together, they held the line against the god that raised one of them.
And for the first time, Ra's voice in Magnolia's mind wasn't commanding.
It was quiet.
"Now you understand, boy. Fire alone destroys. But fire guided… creates."
Magnolia's fire blazed higher. Poison's toxin carved through the air.
The son faced the father. The flame met the falcon.
And the desert trembled beneath their war.
The tomb had gone silent except for the hum of divine energy. The sand in the cracks of the floor floated upward, suspended in the heat between father and son.
Magnolia's body trembled, his skin glowing from the strain of holding his fire steady. His creation, the divine bow, pulsed in his grip like a living thing.
Isamu, no, Horus's vessel, stood before him. His eyes were pure light. Feathers of radiant gold flared from his shoulders, forming into spectral wings that rippled with judgment.
Magnolia took one slow breath and pulled the string back. The bowstring whined like the shriek of the sun itself.
The arrow formed, spiraling with heat and air, its tip blinding.
Poison's voice came from behind him, low, warning.
"Magnolia. If you miss-"
"I won't."
He released.
The arrow shot forward faster than sound, trailing a white tail through the dark. It tore through the chamber and struck Isamu square across the chest.
The explosion was instantaneous.
A wave of blinding light ripped through the tomb, tearing stone from the walls and blowing molten dust through the air. Isamu was thrown back, his body hitting the far pillar with a thunderous crack.
When the light cleared, one of his wings lay burning on the ground, feathers of light fading into smoke.
Magnolia's breath came hard. His arm dropped.
Then, before their eyes, Isamu's remaining wing began to shimmer. Threads of light gathered in the air, wrapping around the burned stump. Flesh and energy rewove themselves, knitting together until the second wing reformed, this time pure white, glowing with a calm, pulsing aura.
Isamu rose again, slower now.
His eyes were less divine, more human. His expression wavered, pain, confusion, regret flickering across his face.
Inside Magnolia's mind, Ra's voice rolled like thunder.
"You are mine, boy."
Magnolia froze.
"However, unlike the golden champion, you adapt to one's contract… but it seems not for long."
Ra's tone was both pride and warning. His presence dimmed again, leaving Magnolia's heart pounding and his breath uneven.
Poison took a step forward. "He's fading. Now!"
Magnolia's flames roared again, spiraling up his arms. Poison's blood shimmered with toxin as he raised both hands.
They moved together, Magnolia unleashing a blast of solar fire while Poison's crimson tendrils shot forward like spears. The attacks struck in unison, slamming into Isamu's chest.
The impact sent him crashing backward, the divine glow around him flickering, and then vanishing altogether.
The tomb went still.
Isamu's body hit the ground with a dull thud. Smoke curled from the cracked stone beneath him.
Magnolia stumbled forward, panting, sweat streaking his face. He reached his father's side as the golden feathers scattered into dust.
Isamu's eyes fluttered open. They were human again. No divine light. No Horus.
He blinked up at Magnolia, dazed. "…Where am I?"
Magnolia swallowed hard, voice rough. "You're home."
Isamu's gaze moved slowly from him to Poison, who stood nearby, breathing heavy but steady. His brow furrowed.
"Who are you?"
Poison hesitated. "An ally. One of your son's, the name is Poison."
Isamu squinted, his voice faint. "…Your eyes." He looked back at Magnolia. "He's the one, isn't he? That necklace…"
Magnolia froze. "What are you talking about?"
Isamu gave a weak laugh, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "So that's why I was getting nicked putting that necklace around your head." He chuckled softly through his breath. "Nadia always said you'd be special."
Magnolia's throat tightened. "You remember her?"
Isamu nodded slowly, eyes glassy. "Every day."
Poison looked away, giving them a moment.
Isamu lifted a trembling hand, resting it on Magnolia's arm. "You've grown stronger than I ever imagined."
Magnolia held his hand tightly, the fire finally dimming from his body.
The tomb's light faded, replaced by the dull glow of dawn leaking through the broken ceiling.
For the first time since the desert had burned, the air was still.
Father and son sat among the ruins of gods, the flames gone quiet, the blood cooling to silence.
And Ra, silent within Magnolia's mind, said nothing at all.