**Cairo, Egypt – Three Days Later**
The Nile glittered under the midday sun, its waters calm, betraying nothing of the battle that had raged days prior. Ujjwal sat cross-legged on the rooftop of Amunet's safehouse, his eyes closed, the *Jyoti Mukta* humming like a second heartbeat. Sweat beaded on his brow as he focused on the mantra his grandmother had scribbled in the Vedas: *"Om Dyauh Shanti Antariksham Shanti…"*
*Peace in the heavens, peace in the sky.*
The spear and shield materialized beside him, their glow steady now, no longer flickering with uncertainty. But control came at a cost—every use left him drained, his muscles trembling, his mind frayed. *Godly power, mortal limits.*
"**You're pushing too hard,**" Amunet said, leaning against the doorway. She wore a linen shirt and tactical pants, the Eye of Ra pendant glowing faintly under her collar. "**The Godshards amplify strength, but they demand balance. Even Ra rests.**"
Ujjwal let the weapons dissolve. "The Silent Council isn't resting. Neither is Apep."
Amunet tossed him a mango slice. "**Eat. Your mortal body needs fuel.**" She sat beside him, her gaze distant. "**When I first bonded with the Eye, I burned down a library. Accidentally.**"
Ujjwal blinked. "What?"
"**I was translating a hieroglyphic curse tablet. The Eye… reacted.**" She smirked. "**Three thousand years of history, ash in minutes. The Netjeru didn't speak to me for a month.**"
He laughed, the tension easing. "How'd you fix it?"
"**Apologized. Rebuilt. Learned.**" She tapped the Eye. "**Power without control is chaos. You Hindus have a word for that, no?**"
"*Adharma,*" Ujjwal said softly.
"**Exactly.**"
---
### **The Streets of Cairo – Evening**
Anika dragged Ujjwal through the Khan El-Khalili bazaar, her medical bag swapped for a tourist's satchel. "We've been dodging cultists and gods for weeks. You're *not* skipping out on souvenirs."
The market was a riot of color and noise—spice stalls piled with saffron and sumac, artisans hammering silver, the air thick with the scent of shawarma and hibiscus tea. Ujjwal lingered at a stall selling papyrus scrolls, his fingers brushing one depicting Ra's journey through the Duat.
"**You read hieroglyphs?**" the vendor asked, a wizened man with ink-stained hands.
"No, but…" Ujjwal hesitated. The symbols seemed to *shift*, the Eye of Ra in his mind translating: *"Beware the serpent's shadow."*
"**Take it,**" the vendor said suddenly, thrusting the scroll into his hands. "**No charge.**"
Anika raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you psychic?"
"**Not me,**" the vendor whispered, nodding to Ujjwal's chest. "**The pearl.**"
---
### **Amunet's Workshop – Night**
The safehouse basement was a fusion of ancient and modern—stone walls lined with servers, holographic hieroglyphs flickering above a steel workbench. Amunet projected a map of Greece, red dots marking Silent Council dig sites.
"**They're tunneling beneath the Acropolis,**" she said. "**Hades' Helm is buried there. If they corrupt it…**"
"The dead won't stay dead," Ujjwal finished.
Anika scowled at a drone schematic. "Why not just bomb the site?"
"**The Helm's a Godshard,**" Amunet said. "**Destroying it would shatter the barrier between life and death. Billions of ghosts, unleashed.**"
Ujjwal's pearl pulsed, as if recoiling. *"You must go,"* it whispered, a new voice—feminine, grief-stricken. *"My brother… they took him."*
Amunet froze. "**Did you hear—**"
"Your brother," Ujjwal said. "The Council has him."
Her composure cracked. "**Karim…**" She slammed her fist on the table. "**They'll use him to bypass the Helm's wards. His bloodline…**"
Anika placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll get him back."
Amunet nodded, steadying herself. "**Then we train. Properly.**"
---
### **The Desert – Dawn**
Sand stung Ujjwal's face as he faced Amunet in a barren stretch of desert. Anika watched from the jeep, her camera out. ("*For science!*")
"**The Godshards are extensions of your will,**" Amunet said, the Eye of Ra blazing. "**But they're also alive. Listen.**"
She hurled a solar javelin. Ujjwal blocked with the Kavacha shield, the impact cratering the ground beneath him.
"**Again!**"
He lunged with the Trishula, but she dissolved into light, reappearing behind him. "**Too slow!**"
"**I'm trying!**"
"**Try harder!**"
Anika's voice cut through. "Ujjwal, your *chest*!"
The rune from the Asur's blood-mark glowed, tendrils of black smoke snaking toward the pearl. Ujjwal gasped, collapsing as visions flooded him—a labyrinth of chains beneath Athens, Karim bound to an altar, a shadowy figure whispering in Ancient Greek.
Amunet knelt beside him. "**What did you see?**"
"Your brother. And… a man with a hammer."
Her face paled. "**Hephaestus. The Council has a smith.**"
---
### **Cairo Rooftop – Night**
Ujjwal found Anika stargazing, her laptop abandoned. "Can't sleep?"
"Thinking about your grandma," she said. "If she went through this… how'd she handle it?"
"She died. So not great."
Anika frowned. "You're not her."
He sat beside her. "The pearl's voice… it's changing. Like it's remembering things."
"Maybe it's not just a weapon. Maybe it's a *person.*"
The thought chilled him.
"We'll figure it out," she said. "But first, Greece. And Amunet's brother."
Ujjwal nodded. "Together."
---
### **Farewell to Cairo – Next Morning**
The Netjeri lioness escorted them to a hidden airfield, a cargo plane idling on the tarmac. Amunet handed Ujjwal a khopesh dagger. "**For the chains in your vision.**"
"You're not coming?"
"**The Eye's tied to Egypt. I'll guard the barge.**" She pulled him into a rare hug. "**Keep Karim safe.**"
As the plane ascended, Ujjwal studied the papyrus scroll. The hieroglyphs now read: *"The forge awaits, bearer of light."*
Anika peered over his shoulder. "What's in Greece besides ruins?"
"A smith," Ujjwal said. "And a prison."
---