The Eye of Horus

“Now…repeat what you just said…” Temi says as she softly sits back on the throne.

The throne room, filled to the brim with councilmen seated in high positions, royal guards stationed across the walls, and dungeon guards kneeling down in the center of it all, remains silent, despite Temi’s demand. With Belogun being reported as missing, the interim captain of the dungeon guards, Orion, keeps his head lowered.

“I said!…to REPEAT!…what you just said!” Temi screams, enraged.

Orion quickly snaps his head upward, looking straight towards the one seated upon the throne. However, his head shakes frantically, both due to his fright and inability to speak, after having his tongue cut off by one of Temi’s royal guards.

“...my queen…surely he cannot-”

“Are you going to speak for him?” Temi asks sternly, glaring directly at the councilman who dares to interfere. The councilman quickly shakes his head, and backs down in order to keep his head intact.

Orion continues to bleed out through his mouth, while frantically pleading for the queen’s mercy. Temi stares towards him with intense eyes, before ordering a royal guard to deliver her own version of mercy.

“Now then…you!” Temi yells while pointing towards another of the guards, “Finish what your former captain was saying…”

Temi’s expression becomes even more distinctly frustrated, “And this time…give me some good news…or your head will be next!”

The new captain shudders.

“...t-t-the king-”

Temi’s eyebrow raises.

“...-t-t-the disgraced f-former king managed to escape from the dungeon, and h-h-his whereabouts are currently unknown,”

Temi slams her fist onto the armrest of the throne, causing the guard to yelp quietly.

“H-h-he had some help! An e-e-eastern woman from Tenka! That c-could control red demons!”

Temi lifts her head, “...what?”

Temi glances over at the minister of war, who motions his hand across his neck, to signal that the order was indeed to kill everyone there.

“A-a-and another pair of females!”

Temi’s attention snaps back towards the frightened guard.

“A-a-apparently, t-t-they were a pair of twins! T-t-they even morphed into a weapon! A-A battle axe!!!”

Temi’s eyes light up.

Wait…come to think of it…

The day we sentenced my brother…

Shango…

He didn’t have his axe…

“I warned you,”

Temi’s attention shifts to the divine figure standing with his back resting against the back of the throne.

“What? Don’t tell me you’re somehow afraid of Shango?”

“Shango was a mad king in his time before becoming a god.” The figure softly responds, “If not for me, he would have suffered a cruel fate. So of course, I have no reason to fear such a fool.”

Temi chuckles, “Then it’s Oshé that you fear?”

“I am a god of war…there is none that I fear…”

The figure tilts its head towards Temi.

“But your brother…is someone that you should.”

Temi grits her teeth.

“He had a backup plan?...So what?! What has been set is already in motion! The tides of fate cannot be reversed so easily!”

“Besides…not once has he ever bested me in anything! Not in strength, nor in wit!”

“B-b-but there is good news, y–y-your highness!!”

Temi forcefully removes herself from the conversation with her avatar holder, and snaps her fingers.

“Well then, what is it?!”

“T-t-the disgraced king’s eyes were plucked out by the avatar wielder of Horus, days before he was to be executed! A-a-an order from Captain Belogun! E-e-even if he has escaped, h-h-e will never be able to see again!”

Temi rises up quickly, smiling brightly. Upon seeing this, the councilmen begin to boast praises, encouraging themselves and the acting queen about their current circumstance.

In this world, the ritual for becoming a designated wielder of godly power depends entirely on the pattern within the user’s iris.

‘Eyes are the windows to the soul’. This phrase holds great power amongst the people of Gondwana, as it is through the eyes that humans are capable of being chosen by the gods, and retaining that power. No human shares the same iris pattern. Meaning once a god chooses you, their essence is with you until your eyes are, in other words, ‘closed’.

Normally, it is often seen as an irredeemable act that will garner great punishment from the gods. However, there is the usage of one god in particular, which can allow such an act to be overlooked.

To have one’s eyes removed by the god Horus is a curse to never see again, as the eyes are no longer in a state of mortality, but rather in a stasis between death and life. Without his eyes, no matter how strong Kayin is, and regardless of which state of mind his avatar holder is in…

Shango is out of the game.

“Belogun!” Temi grits out with a satisfied smile, “That slithery brat did his queen well! If he were here, I would kiss him!”

“But how did he find the avatar wielder for Horus?” One of the councilmen shouts out, “That man…Taruk! He’s a mysterious and dangerous entity!”

“C-C-Captain Belogun mentioned working something out between Anubis and Horus!” The frightened guard responds, “I-I-I don’t know all of the details! H-H-He ordered all of the guards to be removed from the area where Kayin was being held, b-b-before it all happened!”

Slowly, Temi begins to clap. Soon after, the rest of the councilmen follow suit, pouring together a sound of praise for the guards that still kneel before the throne. The guards begin to look around them, both confused and relieved by the change of attitude.

“Issue this edict to every land under our great empire!” Temi shouts as she waves her hand across the throne room, “The mad tyrant has fled from his kingdom! Wounded in battle, his eyes were torn from his body! He has no power of his own! Only a few avatar stragglers left to protect him!”

“The one responsible for this usurpation…is the true rightful heir to the empire! Queen Temilade! First child of the late king, Dayo! And designated avatar wielder of Ogun’s avatar!!”

The throne room erupts in cheers and applause from all sides.

“And as queen, I will make my first decree!”

“Whoever manages to find the mad tyrant!...and brings me his head!…I shall make them my husband, and king of Eydo!”

The councilmen gasp loudly in unison, and begin to aggressively whisper amongst themselves. However, knowing it unwise to disgrace the new queen, the applause and cheers returns quickly.

Temi grins.

Finally!...

The throne belongs only to me!

***

“Hey! Where are you going?! Didn’t you say the palace is the other way?!”

“Yes. And that’s exactly why we’re going the opposite way.”

“The one that ordered for my kingdom’s destruction is in that palace! What is there to gain from running away like cowards?!!”

“Suit yourself! Once you make it to the palace, be sure to tell my dead parents that you fought very valiantly! Before you were slaughtered in cold blood by their daughter!”

“Excuse you?!”

“No seriously! Have at it! I’m sure that Ogun, one of the five great god heads of WAR, would love to brew you some white tea and bake you a loaf of bread!”

“...wait, seriously? Your sister’s avatar holder…is a war god?!”

“...yes..”

“...for real?”

“...for real.”

“So what then? Are you just going to live the rest of your life as a commoner? A jester? A monk? Just let your sister have the throne, huh? Is that your plan?”

Kayin turns around and sighs, “The plan is to find an old friend. From what I know, we can expect to find him near the border, so it will certainly be a long-”

“The border?! As in the the border between Gondwana and Laurania?! But it’s literally a battlefield over there!”

Kayin turns to face Kimiko, with a shocked and confused expression, “Seriously?! It is?!”

“HUH?! How could you possibly not know…that…”

Kimiko glances at the scars all over Kayin’s body, as well as the thin dirty rags that cover his lower half.

“Right…you forgot already, didn’t you?”

“...my bad.”

Kayin begins to walk away once more, “Whatever the case, the only chance I have of reclaiming the throne is finding him. Whatever the situation is at the border, we’ll have to work around it.”

Kimiko glares at Kayin’s back, and ponders her current situation.

Am I really going to go along with this? It was only a few hours ago that I was dead set on cutting him open and feeding him to my demons.

Now…I’m following him?

Am I doing this to help him get his title back?

No…this is still for my revenge!

My people…will not be able to rest peacefully in the afterlife! Not until the one responsible for their deaths is sent to the deepest of hells!

Kimiko notices the faint vision of an axe drawing stuck to the back of Kayin, as if it were a disappearing tattoo.

…what is that, anyways? I didn’t notice it in the dungeon before.

Kimiko cracks her neck while walking behind Kayin, “So what’s this guy’s deal, that even a king would want so desperately to find him?”

“...he’s the guy that did this to my eyes…”

Kimiko freezes in place.

“The avatar wielder of Horus…someone I’ve known since I was born…”

“His name…is Taruk.”