Often times the history of our species can become rather muddled. Events seem to overlap and I myself can get them confused if I’m not paying attention. I saw the look in your eye the first time I mentioned Egypt. That quizzical yet confident look. Well done! Your researching hasn’t led you astray. I’m guessing you already know the outcome of the story I’m telling but that isn’t your question. No, your question is more complicated than that. Your question, is how?
Believe it or not, your Egypt was rather similar, that’s the first time it’s come back around too. Not every iteration has all the parts and pieces of the one before. Some end long before the time frame we are now speaking, others far after. Genuinely, we seem to recycle a lot of names. For an imaginative species we tend to return to what comforts us.
I apologize for getting a tad sidetracked. Yes, this Egypt and your version are strikingly similar. The pyramids, the culture, the sand, it brought quite the tear to my eye watching it come and go. There was however one difference. You see every iteration there is something unique, something different. It can start in a few and many, advancing us further along at a rapid pace. Other times it may be our downfall.
If Iridina was won with technology, Mandahar with brawn, then Egypt was won with brains, brains and sacrifice. Egypt stood a beacon amongst this world. An impossibly beautiful civilization where all within its walls aspired to better themselves every day. The only thing more beautiful than the city proper, was the Queen herself.
She had come to power at a young age, wasting no time in adapting to her new role in stride. She was cunning, determined, just, and gracious as one could be. A leader whose people truly loved her. While she loved her people with all her heart, she was not above doing what needed to be done.
There were rumors in Egypt long before “The Night”. Rumors of those with, gifts one would call it. There are tales of children being snatched from their homes in the evening. Mother and fathers waking to find empty cribs. Those walking late at night feared the quiet alleyways, lest they be taken in darkness. Whisper even alluded to the Queen being one of the “gifted”.
It was true.
This version had found its moment. There were those in Egypt with gifts, the ability to make fire dance at their fingertips, including the Queen. The denial had been a story, a story told by all within the walls. Those gifted were cared for by all of the citizens, as almost none would make it to this day. You see there were few who were gifted, and even fewer who could harness its power without bodily harm. A great advantage, poorly executed in this version.
She knew though. She knew it would take more. The Queen would use what she had to her advantage, she knew what her people would do for her, she knew her home. She damned the rivers coming from the mountains, gathering the water. Her plan was in place, but when to spring the trap?
Egypt would see the first mega horde we know of. The beasts numbered in the millions. They stood shoulder to shoulder stretching along the entire horizon. The time had come for those long hidden to show themselves to the world as Egypt reached it’s destiny.