Khenmet jumped toward the ledge, her fingers catching the stone with practiced precision. With a single, fluid motion, she pulled herself up onto the sloped roof of the governor's palace in the city of Pe.
The city sprawled below her larger than Thebes, richer too. Pe was the jewel of Lower Egypt, the seat of Rama‑Tut's power in the north. If Thebes was the throne, Pe was the blade that enforced his rule. And tonight, Khenmet intended to break that blade.
She crouched low, her form blending with the shadows, her robes fluttering gently in the wind. Her sandals barely touched the rooftops as she parkoured across the palace tiles vaulting over awnings, using columns as leverage, diving and rolling over gaps, her eyes always scanning for sentries.
Two guards stood near the rooftop hatch.
In a flash of movement, her crescent blades whispered through the air. One guard crumpled before he even knew what hit him. The second had only begun to turn when Khenmet was on him, a hand over his mouth and a blade in his ribs. His death was silent.
She slipped inside.
The palace interior was dark, lit only by wall torches and the occasional lantern. She moved through the servant corridors, sticking to the shadows, assessing the structure and counting her steps.
The governor's quarters lay deeper in the western wing, guarded, but accessible. The guards here were minimal; most of the city's garrison and also ones nearby had been pulled away to chase Scorpion's so‑called rebellion in the Delta.
Scorpion was gallivanting around the Delta, raiding settlements and taking what he pleased, draping it in the cloth of revolution. When they learned of this a week ago it had left En Sabah Nur in a fit of rage years of his work spent uniting the clans, only for Scorpion to twist it to his own ends.
Khenmet paused in a shadowed alcove, her breathing slow and even. Her thoughts settled on the governor, whose death by her hand would throw Pe into disarray. She knew how the nobles and merchants here worked power vacuums, greed, chaos. It would open the door wide enough for the rebels within the city to act.
They had been in the north for nearly a month now—she, En Sabah Nur, and the Green Lantern. What surprised her most was the restraint the emerald warrior showed. She had expected him to fly straight to Thebes and challenge Rama‑Tut again after his defeat. But he hadn't.
Instead, he traveled with them, following her plan to move from town to town, village to village, reigniting the rebellion. They did so with great success, defeating Tut's men and cowing his nobles, becoming a beacon of resistance. When she asked why he followed her strategy, he simply said it let him see and explore the towns and their people, that he had learned from his mistake, and that he couldn't do it alone—he needed to prepare himself as well.
The man wielded the power of a god perhaps stronger than even her own gods yet he did not act like a deity, but like them, a simple mortal.
Khenmet moved through the palace halls like a shadow as she approached the governor's quarters, slowing when she neared the high double doors stamped with the seal of Pe. She had to be careful—the governor would surely have been gifted some weapon by Rama‑Tut as a sign of favor, and she had no intention of letting the man use it against her.
She drew a steadying breath and slipped inside.
The sharp, metallic scent of blood hit her immediately.
Tensing, blades raised, she scanned the dim chamber. Velvet drapes rustled in the faint breeze, and oil lamps flickered against the walls. Then she saw him, the governor, slumped in his gilded chair, robes drenched in crimson, mouth frozen in a silent scream.
Khenmet moved closer and crouched beside the body. No signs of a struggle. A clean kill.
A single stab to the heart.
The weapon remained lodged in his chest a ceremonial dagger, simple in shape yet etched with sigils. She drew it out carefully and lifted it to the lamplight.
The metal bore the carving of a crocodile's head.
Ammit. She realised.
Before she could process further, a voice echoed behind her.
"You took too long."
Khenmet whirled, slipping instinctively into a defensive stance, blades poised.
A figure emerged from the shadows tall, swathed in black armor. His eyes glowed with an eerie violet light, and his smile was edged with mockery.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"My name is Menes," he said, stepping into the pale glow. "And like you, I serve the true gods."
"Ammit?" she asked, eyes narrowing.
Menes nodded. "There are others. You are not alone in this. The gods are stirring. The time of The false pharaoh is ending."
She eased her blades a fraction but kept her guard. He radiated no hostility at least not toward her.
"We need to talk," he said. "All of us."
"Meet me near Khonshu's shrine, along the Nile," she replied.
Menes gave a faint, amused nod. "I know it. We will come."
And with that, he seemed to dissolve into the darkness.
Khenmet exhaled slowly. She had not killed the governor herself, yet the result was the same: the man lay dead, and chaos would descend on the city's rulers.
She turned and vanished once more into the palace corridors, heading for the shrine. The Lantern and En Sabah Nur would be waiting.
=====
Khenmet returned just before dawn, and she wasn't surprised to find both her companions awake.
The Green Lantern sat on a rocky slope just above the campfire, deep in conversation with En Sabah Nur. As Khenmet drew closer, she slowed her pace, curious.
En Sabah Nur had led a hard life since childhood. When she first met him three years ago, he had been just a boy—a boy already building a rebellion, forced to act older than his years. Yet around the Lantern, he seemed like a boy again. The Lantern believed Nur possessed a dormant power and wanted to awaken it to use against Rama‑Tut.
En Sabah Nur embraced the Lantern's words wholeheartedly, following every instruction from the green warrior. The Lantern treated him like a younger brother. Khenmet could tell the gray‑skinned youth wasn't used to such kindness, but over the month they had traveled together, she had seen En Sabah Nur grow to look up to the Lantern.
She paused just below the ridge and listened.
"You only protect what's yours by being the strongest," En Sabah Nur said.
The Lantern tilted his head, expression unreadable. "So you believe in survival of the fittest?"
"It's not a belief," Nur replied. "It's nature. Lions don't ask the gazelle for permission. They take. They survive."
A beat of silence stretched between them.
"You disagree?" Nur challenged.
"Yes," the Lantern said. Then, after a pause, he added, "But…I understand why you believe it."
He glanced over his shoulder. "You know, Priestess, you can join us."
Khenmet smiled and stepped forward. "I didn't want to intrude on such a meaningful discussion."
The Lantern returned her smile. "I think you'll have a lot to add."
Khenmet stepped closer, the fire painting her face in amber hues. "The governor is dead," she said simply.
Nur's eyes lit up. "Good. Then we move on Scorpion."
"The Lantern has tracked him," Nur added. "He's taken a fortified temple of Ra near east of the Delta."
"And Rama‑Tut's forces?" Khenmet asked.
"Closing in," the Lantern answered. "They're about a day behind. The fool doesn't even know he's about to be boxed in."
He studied Khenmet, emerald gaze narrowing. "Why do I feel you have more to tell us?"
She met his eyes. "The governor's death wasn't by my hand."
"Then whose?"
"A man named Menes," Khenmet replied. "Ammit's chosen avatar."
Nur scoffed. "So the great gods finally crawl out of hiding after we mortals did most of the work?"
"Do not mock the gods, En Sabah Nur," Khenmet warned. "Menes said there are others more avatars. They'll be here soon."
The Lantern's expression shifted. "Oh?"
To her surprise, he rose, hovering a few inches above the ground. "I'll be back soon."
"Where are you going?" she demanded.
He didn't answer. With a surge of emerald light, he was gone, leaving Khenmet and En Sabah Nur alone.
She glanced at the nomad.
He merely shrugged. "Well then," she muttered, "we wait."
======
They didn't wait long.
Four figures approached from the north. Khenmet stepped forward to greet them, recognizing Menes at once.
At his side strode a tall, broad‑shouldered man with skin like polished bronze and eyes that burned brilliant blue. "Rahi," he introduced himself, "chosen of Thoth."
Beside him walked a dark‑skinned woman with thick braids coiled into a crown. "Tefari," she said, bowing her head. "avatar of Taweret."
Last came a regal woman draped in fine linens, a diadem of lapis and obsidian resting on her brow. Her presence was both nurturing and immense. "Neferet," she said softly. "Chosen of Isis."
Menes's lips curved into a smirk as he turned to En Sabah Nur. "And this must be the infamous nomad, the one who was captured."
Nur folded his arms, glaring in silent defiance.
A sudden chill raced down Khenmet's spine.
She straightened. "They're here."
From the canyons behind them, a blinding light rolled across the dunes.
Khonshu appeared first, exactly as he always did. Isis followed, radiant in a mantle of gold, her wings unfurling behind her. Taweret came next motherly yet fearsome, her towering form crowned with a hippopotamus head. Last strode Thoth, ibis‑headed and wrapped in scroll‑patterned robes, his gaze cool and calculating.
A presence stirred behind Khenmet. She turned and saw Ammit approaching a terrible beauty: crocodile head, lion's paws, and the sinuous coils of a serpent. The goddess's eyes locked instantly on En Sabah Nur.
"You have done well, Khenmet." Khonshu said as he stopped in front of her.
She knelt. "Thank you, my lord."
Nur did not kneel. He remained upright, meeting the gods' eyes without flinching.
Khonshu's glowing gaze swept the gathering. "Where is the Lantern?"
"He said he would return soon," Khenmet replied evenly.
"I am quite intrigued to meet this Green Lantern you speak of, Khonshu," Thoth murmured.
"As am I!" Taweret boomed, her massive frame swaying with childlike excitement. "He sounds fascinating."
Isis inclined her head in elegant agreement.
"We shall wait for his—"
Khonshu's words broke off as Ammit glided forward, eyes fixed on Nur. "You, boy have you forgotten to show respect to your gods?"
Khenmet's pulse hammered. She had hoped to avoid this.
"I worship no gods," En Sabah Nur said flatly, defiant as a desert storm.
The ground trembled. Khenmet glanced toward Khonshu, searching for intervention.
Ammit's slit pupils narrowed. She advanced, scales whispering. "Oh? Then perhaps I should—"
The desert exploded in emerald light.
Gods and mortals alike looked skyward.
The Green Lantern descended in a torrent of green flame, he was now encased in emerald armor. In his hands gleamed a broad sword of green.
Khenmet's breath caught; he seemed more godlike than the deities beside her.
"Step away from the boy, Crocodile," the Lantern warned.
Ammit turned, baring dagger teeth. "You dare address me in that tone?"
"Yes," the Lantern replied, a crooked smile playing on his lips.
Khenmet's eyes widened. Lantern, what are you doing? Fear twisted in her chest.
Ammit snarled, her voice thick with contempt. "You insect. I will—"
"Ammit, no," Khonshu interjected. The moon‑god stepped forward, his crescent staff glowing softly in the first light of dawn. He turned his gaze on the Lantern. "And you as well, Lantern. We are not here to pick a fight."
"You would let him live after such disrespect?" Ammit growled.
Khonshu's reply was calm. "The Lantern lies beyond our reach at least on this plane."
Ammit glared at him, then retreated with a low hiss.
Khenmet released a quiet breath as the tension eased from her shoulders. She had seen the Lantern clash with Khonshu once before—briefly, but enough to know he could stand against a god. A battle here would be ruinous for their cause.
Isis's serene voice drifted across the gathering. "That is enough, Ammit. The Lantern is the reason we have any chance against the interloper."
The Lantern descended and touched down beside them. His emerald sword flickered once before dissolving into light. "I'm glad to see the Ennead finally taking the field."
Taweret let out a warm laugh. "We never left, silly merely watched from a polite distance."
En Sabah Nur gave a scoff of disbelief.
The Lantern ignored him. "I'm heading for the Delta. The nomad clans will be annihilated by Tut's forces soon."
Thoth nodded. "We will see that the rest of the North rises with us. Even now the city of Pe rebels. The presence of our avatars will stiffen the people's resolve."
"Good." The Lantern surveyed gods and mortals alike. "Then we're agreed."
His gaze settled on Khenmet. "Are you staying?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Understood." He dipped his head in a small, respectful bow towards her and her only. "Then I'm off to the Delta, and afterward… to Wakanda."
The name drew an immediate response.
Isis spoke sharply, concern in her voice. "Wakanda? That is unwise. Bast—"
Khonshu raised a hand, silencing her. "No. The Lantern is right. Rama‑Tut's forces have begun to encroach on Wakandan lands. If he can win them to our side, our task becomes far easier."
Isis frowned but held her tongue.
Without another word, The Lantern rose into the air, the emerald radiance of his ring flaring. En Sabah Nur lifted with him, encased in a translucent green sphere.
"We are to meet again at my sanctuary in one moon's time, before the final push," Khonshu declared.
The Lantern nodded. He looked down at Khenmet. "Stay safe, Priestess."
She gave him a confident nod and watched him go, a smile curling at the edge of her lips.