The next morning, all of us, except Hei Lian who didn't need to eat, were having breakfast as the train pulled into the station of our first stop in Egypt – the walled city of Uruk. The Egyptian Empire was divided into four city-states: Sumer in the east, Assyria in the south, the northern state of Babylonia and the Egyptian Capital in the west. We would be cutting through Sumer and the Capital on our journey to the Caliphate, but the Huaxian team would be getting off here.

As our train whistled to a stop, a team of Egyptian delegates moved forward to greet us. The people of Regiis and Huaxia were generally fair-complexioned. With how restricted international travel was, I had seen very few people with darker skin tones, even at the Capital. But as we had travelled further and further west, I had started noticing an increasing number of people with dusky complexions. But once in Egypt, it seemed that the proportions had been inverted. Among the workers at the station and the delegates, the lightest tone I could find was a light brown. And the man who seemed to be the leader of our welcoming committee had skin the colour of midnight.

All the men were dressed in loose white tunics and colourful headscarves and everyone had jewellery of some kind. From the books on Egyptian culture that I had read, I knew that the colouration of the scarves was indicative of status. Blue and green were noble colours while red and yellow was for mortals. Gold ornaments and embroidery was reserved for the royal lineage while mages were allowed to wear silver. Commoners had to make do with iron and copper.

“Hello,” said the leader of the delegation in heavily accented Latin, as he stepped into our compartment with the rest of the delegates arrayed one step behind him. “I hope we aren’t disturbing your meal.” He flashed us a smile, his teeth seeming way too white set within his dark face.

“Oh, no. Not at all,” I said, standing up to greet them. “In fact, why don’t you take a seat. You must be hungry having to wait for us so early in the morning and it’ll take the workers some time to unload our train.”

After a few polite refusals and my repeated insistence, the four of them took their seats at the table.

“I am Rashid Hamal, the vice-city lord of Uruk,” said the leader. He pointed to the two young men on either side of him. “And these two are the sons of the city lord, Adeel and Arman.”

He nodded in thanks as Phobos set a plate of snacks in front of them along with steaming cups of tea, then turned to Shang Qing. “We will be in charge of your welfare for the duration of your stay. If you face any problems, please feel free to contact any one of us. The boys are well versed in both Latin and Mandarin so one of them will be with you to serve as your translator at all times.”

I couldn't help but notice that Rashid had skipped over the introductions for the last member of his party – a woman in a hooded white cloak. A veil of translucent gauze covered her face beneath her dark brown eyes and my soul sense told me that the water and light elemental mana was quite active around her body. The mana fluctuations were quite familiar. Extremely similar to those around my mother when she still had her bloodline. It seemed that the Cult of Bubastis had decided to reach out, after all.

Wiping the crumbs of his last sandwich off his lips with a napkin, Shang Qing nodded slightly in acknowledgement. “So, what can you tell us about our Trial of Fire?”

One of the city lord’s sons, Adeel replied, “The Trial of Fire is always simple and crude. It’s no different this time. The greater your destructive power, the higher you’ll score.”

His brother Arman continued, “The desert might seem dead, but it is actually teeming with life. In Regiis, they call it the First Forbidden Zone, here, we call it the Scarab Sea. Scarabs are tiny little insects with extremely hard shells and a ravenous appetite. The vicious little creatures sleep the winters away, buried deep in the sand, and once it’s spring, they emerge to breed. And when they do, they are very, very hungry. And they don’t really care what they eat. From flesh to cacti, even stone, nothing is off the menu. Every spring, they sweep through the desert, leaving nothing but ruins behind. We call it the Scarab Tide.”

Adeel pointed out of the window at the towering reddish-ochre sandstone walls of Uruk. I could hear the pride in his voice and radiating off his soul. “Uruk is the first line of defence against the Tide. We have been for hundreds of years. While other cities like us have been razed and rebuilt several times, our walls have never been breached.”

“So,” said Shang Qing, unemotionally, “we are to join the resistance against the Tide along with the other teams… and the one with the highest kill count wins?”

Adeel was slightly taken aback at the monotone voice, but he recovered quickly. “Uh, yes. That’s about it, more or less.”

Shang Qing nodded. “I see.”

“Any more questions?” asked Rashid.

Shang Qing shot a look at the hooded delegate, then at me. He finally shook his head. “Nothing for now. We’ll ask more once we visit your fortifications.”

Emptying his cup of tea, Rashid stood up. “It seems the workers are done with their task. If you’re ready, then we’ll head out now.” He turned to me and held out his hand. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“It was no trouble,” I said as I stood and shook his proffered hand. Letting go of my hand, he bowed slightly to each of my wives before walking out of the compartment.

Shang Qing walked up to me and gave me a traditional bow with cupped fists. “Train hard, Felidae,” he said. “For I will. And the next time we meet, the result of our fight will be different.”

I grinned and returned the bow. “We’ll see.”

He turned to where Hei Lian had come out of her compartment and was leaning against the wall and watching the proceedings and gave her a deeper bow. Then, turning around, he left with the rest of his companions.

Walking over, Hei Lian took a seat. “Really now,” she said, fixing Ceres and me with a glare. “I didn’t think you’d take my joke seriously...”

I couldn't help but blush at that. We’d done a thorough clean with wind and incense after the fact, but apparently, it hadn't been enough.

“Anyway,” she said, turning to the conspicuous addition to our compartment. “Who’s the new girl? Another contender for what's inside your pants?”

The girl pushed her hood back revealing coffee skin, a breathtakingly beautiful face, pure white hair braided with silver and diamonds, and two fluffy feline ears that twitched as they were freed from the confines of the hood.

She turned her soft brown eyes upon me. “I hail from the Order of Bubastis,” she said, her voice rich and mellow, her Latin perfectly unaccented, “the lord of light and healing. You might have heard of us from your mother. The blood of our ancestors flows in her veins.”

‘Not any more,’ I thought, my soul sense subconsciously brushing against the crystal containing mother’s bloodline in my pocket.

“I have come to invite you back to the fold…or, if that is not possible, gain your friendship.”

She sat there silently after that, staring unblinkingly at me, waiting for my response. I could sense nothing from her with my passive soul sense. It was like it wasn’t a living person facing me, but an extremely well-crafted doll.

To be honest, she gave me the creeps.

“Your organization, your purpose… all that’s fine, ya. But who are you? You want us to be friends, but you haven’t even told us your name,” said Deimos slightly impatiently.

She turned to Deimos with the same unchanging expression. “I am the Saintess,” she said. “I have no name.”