Pulsing, drifting, twisting, at you, awakening you in a daze of confusion and fear. Your mind was a trampling mess of compressed thoughts spilling out over it. The dust storms had risen faster then your people had seen. Sand was ripping apart your world, not the golden sand that surrounded it though. Black sand. Then there was you running with the faint voices of your family screaming to get away. You were caught in the gusts and then there was black. And finally gold in the eyes of some wandering beast; gold that shimmered like the sun but was surrounded by darkness that made night seem like day.
Your body suddenly burst upward and your breath was a loud huff. Everything in your sight was blurry. There was white. You were lying in blue and black, lifting up the colors. They were warm and soft to the touch. Almost weightless yet comforting and thick, covering you wherever you were.
You got up and uneasily walked to the edge over the soft sheets. You were wearing nothing but black shorts, you had no idea where your patched robes were. Stumbling through the cream wall, they were sheers. You had to tug on them to keep your balance but managed to not pull them from their attachments. Your body was thin thankfully, not scrawny yet not well fed. The deserts were home to many like you.
After exiting the sheers you tried your best to focus on your surroundings. Your eyes drifted from shapes to bland colors as they focused. Your breath was still uneasy. As you looked around your eyesight gained slight clarity, slowly, shapes were easier to see and what you could was strange yet beautiful. As you tried to inspect the far white walls a voice destroyed the silence, “I’m sorry you did not sleep well, young one.”
“Wh-who…who’s there?!” you snapped your gaze to the right where the voice came from.
There were bright lights in the direction, between dark shades and tall columns. And between two was the source of the voice who solemnly spoke back to you. “…hhhhhhhhaaa,” he steadily breathed out a sigh. “Last night was quite the ordeal for you…for us both…you would have forgotten, that’s why your dreams of those events turned to nightmares.”
You stumbled away from the sheers breathing heavily as your dizziness returned, “wha-what do you mean?! What happened last night?!”
“Please don’t try to move yet, the strain of the ritual would have taken it’s toll already!” the figure snapped out of concern and equivalent order. He spoke gently yet firmly. You immediately listened to him and tried to focus all your sight on him.
And as you did your eyes went wide. He was a tall and thin man, but had a heavily built back even harder and more muscular than you've ever seen. He wore long sheer robes that trailed across the ground over a short staircase leading up to the pillars, and opaque ones beneath around his waist and reaching his knees. Gold trailed off many parts of his body as did his hair reaching out of his head piece.
But what struck you were not his clothes but him. His skin was deepest black, it looked silk like from a distance. But strangest of all were the tail that protruded from the back of his robes. And two tall ears that stood proudly on his head. He leaned against a pillar on one arm, his other hand pressed against the opposing pillar and his legs were crossed. His tail flicked majestically as its ornaments rang.
A bird flapped above him staring down to him, “go, tell the men. Also, bring back food for my vassal.” He said before turning to you as the bird left with a flock flying past the pillars. That’s when his gaze met yours. The same golden eyes from your dreams, and the beast; a jackal, “Anubis.”
“Many know of my names. Few left who know of my true purpose. But can you remember last night. What pain you brought upon yourself?”
“…no…”you managed to say.
“The let me explain…I also should tell you of what you have gotten yourself into. Do you know how brash and foolish you were? How selfless?! But you may have made the right decision if all goes well.”
“Please, just tell me what’s going on!” you sputtered due to the fact of realizing who you were talking to.
“Hah, do not fear me. Also forgive my words, being trapped in that form for so long left a cold bitterness on my actions and words. We, the controllers of your land really do exist,” he stepped down towards you. “However some of our history has been misconstrued. I, as you know, am Anubis. The Presider of death, and Measurer of life; my existence upon birth has required me to give people the honor of dying. Then sending souls to either by purified or tortured.” He was near you now. You weren’t sure what to do. ‘Is this…’
“This is no dream. Last night you made a pact with me. Osiris cursed me long ago. Not of his own faults but nonetheless his cause. He placed me in that form you met in the storm, an ill nurtured and decrepit black jackal. Forcing me to steal food out of hunger and ravage other animals for sustenance for the past 873 years…that was until…” he kneeled down before you. His face was now eye level with you, being as tall as he was.
You were unable to speak and crossed your brows in bewilderment as he spoke again. “You joined in pact with me. And for that…I thank you…” He lifted your hand and placed his lips on it.
You slowly stepped away, he let your hand pass from his. “No…I don’t even know what happened. Tell me. I can’t remember.”
“True,” he stood back up, “as I said it was Osiris’s doing. Where as I am in charge of the process and honors of death, he is in charge of what comes after. When a soul dies I weigh it to either be purified or tortured until purification after their time of judgement ends. Purification allows for the soul to be reborn. But due to so few needing to be purified, his land was filled with vile torture and eternal damnation.” Anubis walked back to the pillars
“He invaded my land and declared himself true ruler of death. He sealed my power into the once lush land, turning it into the desert that spread to the lengths it is today.”
“You mean, Egypt was once covered in forests besides near the rivers?”
“Yes, until my power over death was placed into it. Killing it…and to my horror…killing the people. I cannot forgive him for that most of all; whether or not those tortured souls rage within him. He was the one that summoned the black sand. In order to declare himself the true ruler he believes that destroying all of Egypt and taking the souls of its people into himself to be purified in despair will make him a true king. Unwilling to accept his own mistakes in destroying the balance.”
“Then what about me?”
“You ran from your home in that storm. I watched from a distance with my servants, also cursed. You came to me and in your mind weakened state allowing to speak through your thoughts. You begged me to save your people. I told you power came at a price. You said you were willing to give any price and I named it.”
You were worried now, you had nothing of value to give. “What did I give you.”
“I needed a large amount of power to even come close to regaining my position. Therefore I needed a soul to bond with. To give me that power I asked for half of your life. And you gave it to me…for your family and for your town.”
“Did you save them? Where are they?!”
“They’re gone away from the desert and it’s influences until this ordeal is over. Osiris can easily kill many outside other of our brethren’s domains.”
You were scared yet relieved, “Thank you Anubis...When you said that I gave up my life, that's why you said vassal to the bird. Half of my life is giving you power. But what can we do now? I can't fight a..."
"Don't say that word...we are a part of this world, not it's rulers."
"Sorry...this is hard to..." you weren't sure what you had gotten yourself into. Standing before you was the king of death who you had apparently saved the night before in a blur of your memories. "I don't know how, or even if I can fight. Still what is it that you intend to do. You saved my family even at my cost."
"You are most welcome. As for what to do; when we bonded you received part of my power. You can command my powers to some small extent. This leaves many options open to us."
"I don't feel very different, but I believe you...then what's our main priority?"
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