Location: Southern Egypt — Black Dunes Exclusion Zone
The desert winds howled like a warning.
A convoy of armored vehicles rolled across a landscape scorched by sun and secrecy. The lead jeep bore the insignia of the International Mythborne Observation Bureau (IMOB)—a crescent moon and sword intersected by a phoenix feather.
Inside, Dr. Farah Halim adjusted her scarf, shielding her eyes from the rising storm. Her voice crackled over the radio:
> "Team Alpha, confirm site perimeter. No entry without full psi-seals. I repeat: NO CONTACT with the structure until I finish scans."
The structure in question jutted from the sands like a bone tearing through skin—an obsidian-black pyramid, half-buried, pulsing faintly with violet light. It hadn't been there yesterday.
She turned to the man beside her, a quiet, broad-shouldered archaeotech named Jovan. His normally calm demeanor had shifted.
"You feel it too?" Farah asked.
Jovan nodded once. "It's not just Mythborne. It's… divine. And angry."
---
Unearthed
The team descended into the newly revealed tomb, guided by flickering torchlights and glyph scanners. Dust rose with each step, choking and thick, laced with magic.
The carvings on the walls showed scenes older than Egyptian dynasties—creatures with jackal heads, rivers of starlight, great wars fought in the sky.
And one name, repeated over and over in golden hieroglyphs:
Anpu.
> "Not Anubis," Farah whispered. "Anpu. The original."
They reached the burial chamber, sealed by three stone rings. Each ring bore a different symbol: a heart, a scale, and a jackal's eye.
Dr. Farah reached for the translator glyph—but before she could activate it—
The rings began to turn.
---
The Awakening
A deep boom echoed through the tomb as ancient locks gave way.
A gust of wind—unnatural, cold, and reeking of ozone—swept through the chamber, extinguishing lights.
Then, from the sarcophagus at the center, came a heartbeat.
Not human. Not godly. Something in between.
The lid slid open without touch.
And from within, a figure rose.
Tall. Wrapped in ink-dark robes. Eyes glowing like molten gold. Skin the color of polished onyx.
Anpu, the original Jackal of the Dead, stood in silence, staring at them all.
One of the guards raised a weapon.
> "Stay back!"
Too late.
Anpu extended a single hand.
Shadow surged from the floor—grasping, writhing. The guard screamed, then vanished, his body unraveling into black dust.
The others opened fire—futile.
Jovan moved in front of Farah. "Run. Now."
She stared at Anpu, mesmerized. "He's not just awakening. He's remembering."
---
Interlude – Avalon
Back in Avalon, Isaiah sat in a chamber overlooking the floating gardens. His body still hummed from training, but his mind was elsewhere.
He watched birds dip in and out of clouds below, the storm far behind them now.
Lucian joined him, holding a tablet.
"We've lost a research team in Egypt. Another shard may have triggered an ancient seal."
Isaiah nodded slowly. "You want me to go?"
"You're not ready for full field ops. But I need you to understand something…"
Lucian turned the screen to him: it showed a distorted image of Anpu's form, recorded in the tomb moments before the blackout.
"That's not a new Mythborne. That's a Primordial. Older than the shards. Older than memory."
Isaiah stared at the image. "And he's awake now?"
Lucian nodded. "And very likely angry at everything he sees."
---
Back in the Tomb
Farah had escaped the collapsing tunnel by inches.
Dust coated her face as she crawled into the light above, gasping.
Only Jovan remained, half-crushed under stone but still breathing. He held out a hand, clutching something small.
A glyph chip.
She took it, confused. "What is it?"
He wheezed. "His… memories. He let me see. A test."
Farah frowned. "A test?"
Jovan coughed blood. "We judged them. In the First War. The shard-bearers. Some passed. Most… burned."
Farah's blood ran cold.
Then the ground trembled again.
Far below, Anpu stepped into the sunlight for the first time in over ten thousand years.
He looked up.
And he smiled.
---
Elsewhere — The Woken Hand
In a dark temple half a world away, the man in gray knelt before a ring of fire and shadow.
Wraiths whispered around him as the flames twisted into the shape of a jackal's head.
A deep voice spoke.
> "I have returned."
The man bowed lower. "Master Anpu. The shards awaken… as do your enemies."
> "Let them. I will not judge them this time."
> "I will consume them."