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Strife was not wrong. The figure above was indeed the welcome committee, and a legit welcome committee at that.
“Welcome to the Golden Oasis, Horseman Strife!” The figure declared to the puzzled duo.
The man, if he could even be called that, stood at ten feet tall with broad shoulders, with the head and feet of a hawk. But the rest of his body was human, and covered only by a skirt and a golden necklace. Across his chest were two straps that held two swords on his back. This was an Avenger, a special soldier created by Horus after he overthrew Set back on Earth. The Avenger bowed low to the Rider and his servant.
“Umm, thanks…. is there a reason Ra or Horus is playing gracious host?” Strife asked, still holding Mercy and Redemption.
“Of course. Neither of them want trouble in our grand city, and since things go wrong around you, they want me to act as a deterrent to any who would try to claim the bounty on your head.”
“Yes, because attacking a Horseman is clearly what an intelligent being would do.” Strife reaffirmed, rolling his eyes.
“Forgive Lord Strife. Sarcasm is in his blood. There are precious few he respects.” Jess explained, now next to her master.
“Of course. Now, Ra has asked to strike a bargain with you, Horseman.”
“Tell me more.”
“He has invited you to the Golden Star, his ship, or, as it can more easily be seen, the sun. He wants to discuss offering his help.”
“At what cost? If it’s in exchange for the Seal when I reach it, the answer’s no.”
“I cannot say. Do you accept?”
“Fine. Tell Ra.” Strife ordered.
“He’ll know once he sees you approaching the Sphinx.” The Avenger informed, pointing to a statue in the distance.
“And how do I know this is genuine and you’re not leading me into a trap?”
“Ahhh, you see, I’m leading you nowhere. I’m to accompany you wherever you may go. My presence will give most, if not all, participants of the Race pause.”
“What should we call you, sir?” Jess asked.
“I have no name, none of us do, for we never had reason for one, only our purpose. Whatever you call me is fine by me.” The Avenger answered.
“Hence forth, I dub thee… Birdbrain!!” Strife declared.
“As you will, matters not to me.” Birdbrain replied.
With that out of the way, Strife and Jess dismounted, and they proceeded across the wooden bridge that led into the Golden Oasis. The city was massive, and stretched as far as the eye could see, but eventually, they passed through the streets and tall buildings. Once they reached the very wide and crowded area the river flowed through, Strife paused to get a hold of his surroundings.
The city buildings were all built from all kinds of clay, stone, and brick, some were lined with gold, and some were made with wood. This was the main district, and it was massive, with a single, enormous river going straight down the middle, and being diverted to reach the outskirts, where the farms could be found. Inside, were the original river was, there were many fishermen who were hauling out not just fish, but crabs, lobsters, shrimp, turtles, and even ran afoul of an occasional crocodile. In the city itself, there were shops lined all across the banks of the river, which eventually emptied into an ocean, which had its beach and waters used for pleasure rather than business. The farther you went from the ocean, the grander the city went, climbing the huge hill the river flowed from. Atop the sandy hill sat a pyramid with a golden top, two colossal temples next to it, and a statue with the head of a man, but the body of a lion.
The Golden Oasis was divided into several districts, where you could find each of the services you could want. In the temple district, you could find the religious offering prayers and sacrifices at shrines, statues, and other places of worship, both big and small. Here in the main district, you would find organized chaos, shops everywhere, on the bridges, the banks, the streets, you name it. And each shop had some unique product to offer, whether it be jewelry, food, clothes, or medicine, each of the several shops were selling something you could only find there. And the people were just as numerous. Apart from the people the Pagan gods had taken with them from Earth, there were Makers, there were Colossi, and there were humans from the lands of other Pagan gods. Some of the natives were riding on camels, some on giant scarabs, some on elephants, with each in a hurry to get where they’re going.
But all steered clear of Strife, his servant, and Birdbrain. As they progressed, they saw that eventually, the city itself was built on top of the river, which flowed under and into a cave. From here on out, the river was replaced by more buildings, this time functioning as restaurants, tourist attractions, and houses. This was the populated district, where many people lived their everyday lives. Strife noticed out the corner of his eye was a man holding a strange device. The man pushed something that lit it up, and quickly vanished. Strife soon found himself placing one of his hands on Redemption. But he ignored it, knowing that he’d seen the face of the man who might have summoned attackers. If they attacked, he’d interrogate the human.
Further up the hill they pushed, eventually entering the military district. While it wasn’t off limits, many avoided this place for the amount of not just heavily trained, armed, and armored human soldiers here, but for the many tamed beasts of legend. There were Scarabs, there were crocodiles with a head attachment that allowed them to focus the power of the sun, and there were mummies. And then there were the Avengers, human troops hand-picked by Horus himself to be transformed into living weapons. Just like Birdbrain, they were stripped of their memories and transformed into half-eagle, half-human hybrids, and formed the elite of the Egyptian military. While the humans outnumbered the mythological creatures thirty to one, the beasts made up that difference with sheer raw power. Ahead was what looked like to be a huge complex that was a mix between a skyscraper and cathedral.
Now the three went higher still, and this time, they entered the Pharaoh’s Palace, and were greeted with a downpour of water as they passed the entrance, much to Strife annoyance. The palace was grand, with several hieroglyphs plastered all over the first walls you saw while entering, detailing the events of previous dynasties. Here, the servants were hard at work providing the Pharaoh and his family with their own food, water, and other materials which would be used to make fabric, toys, gems, and the like.
While they never saw the Pharaoh himself, they did see the barracks that housed his personal guards, his treasure room, his classroom where his children were taught, and several other rooms with unique purposes. Eventually, after climbing set of stairs after set of stairs, they reached the top and exited the palace and saw now only a single staircase that led to the Sphinx.
“I must admit, I am impressed with the advancements you’ve made since the Migration.” Jess said, looking around and admiring the new view.
“I beg your pardon?”
“The Migration. The time when the Pagan gods could only grab a few thousand of their followers as the Council first started to activate the Seals.”
“Ah, yes. I still remember that troubling time. We and the other Pagan people struggled finding a world that was similar to our little slices of Earth. Once we did, however, we thrived, and now, every world that houses a Pagan pantheon has more people than the current population of Earth.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Strife saw what appeared to be the shadow of a spear as Jess and Birdbrain continued their conversation. Focusing his eye without shifting his head, he saw that it wasn’t a spear, but a halberd. No, halberds, and the melee part was attached to a rifle, forming the signature angelic weapon. And they were all pointed at the Horseman. In the split second it took Strife to turn around, guns blazing, he heard their leader shout.
“SLAY HIM!!!”
Just as he said that, an angel fell dead, a headshot from Strife. A few more fell shortly before they took evasive action. These weren’t ordinary angels. If they were, they would have targeted Jess, not Strife. Speaking of Jess, she immediately took cover behind a pillar and started chucking fireballs in all directions. Birdbrain took to the skies with no apparent wings, and battled the angels in their element. Strife jumped and rolled everywhere to avoid the bullets from the halberds. The main weapon of choice for Heaven’s soldiers, the halberd was a combination of sword and axe, but the White City made the weapon as a bayonet for their rifles. Not only was the halberd deadly, with sacred metal and potent magic covering it, but the bullets from the rifle it was attached to were just as much.
Strife paused to count his foes. Twelve, two bigger than the others, and one fleeing the battle, probably a coward. Of the two big ones, one had a great sword, the other with a shining, golden Salvation Cannon. These angels had wings as black as tar, in contrast to the usual snow white. These angels were fallen, which means Heaven isn’t out for his blood. Yet. Strife saw that there were many more, but other Avengers took to the skies, with humans grabbing slinging stones and pouches tied to two ropes. Hurling the stones at the angels, the other humans grabbed their melee weapons and stood ready in case one was forced to the ground.
Strife began to fire his weapons, all while making sure to keep a lookout for the fleeing angel. The magic that protected the armor was supposed to be spread out, but condensed at any area of impact it could sense. Luckily, Strife’s pistols were more than sufficient to blast through both armor and magic. One by one, the angels dropped like flies from the holes in their heads, and the one with the great sword charged Strife. Stopping the incoming blade was like trying to stop a full blown train, but Strife pulled it off, being pushed back only a few inches. Now turning the blade sideways, so that the tip wasn't facing either of them, Strife began to push against both the strength and weight of a creature as big as three of him.
“Jess!” He yelled.
The angel looked over to see the demon charging, and began to panic when she summoned her horse, which looked hell-bent on trampling him. Taking his attention off Strife, he jumped back and swung his sword at the horse’s legs, but the animal simply jumped over. He then saw that Strife had resumed picking off his troops, while avoiding their fire. He rose his sword to attack, but found his armor penetrated by a blade of obsidian. Behind him, Jess had a frown on her face and one arm in his back with a blade sticking out.
“No one harms lord Strife while I’m around. No one.” Jess said as she cut him in half. She then turned around to see angels rising up from all over the Oasis. Reinforcements held in reserve.
“Lord Strife! We’re too exposed out here! We need to find cover!”
“No, I don’t! You get inside a building, and cast the Sky Scrapper!”
Jess obeyed without arguing, and once inside, kneeled down and began to pray. Outside, clouds began to block out the sun and red lightning bolts began to strike at every angel within the city limits. As some fell, the humans tried in vain to pierce the blessed armor, and they were killed by the scores for it. The mythological creatures had better luck, but there was a reason the threat of Heaven’s soldiers kept armies in check. Only Birdbrain seemed to be able to go toe-to-toe with the enemy, but even then, he could barely manage one.
However, descending from the sky was a woman dressed in a skirt and loose belly shirt, understandable, given the average temperature here. Along her arms were long, dark blue feathers overlapping each other, giving the illusion that she had wings instead of arms. On her head was a crown and flowy hair, and behind it was a discus that had hieroglyphs etched into it.
This was Isis, goddess of magic. And, living up to her name, she unleashed a stream of symbols at the angels too suborn, strong, or both to fall to the ground. The biggest dropped before the stream reached him, but quickly took to the skies, this time not alone. Two other angels, equal in size and weapon, joined, and all three took aim at the goddess.
“ISIS!! GET-” Strife yelled as the angels fired massive orbs of holy light at their new foe. But she wasn’t called a goddess for nothing. Forming a protective bubble of energy around her, Isis looked like she was hardly paying attention to the Horseman’s concerns. Once the angels stopped to reload, Isis formed a fiery King Cobra and made it wrap around the three, squeezing until they popped. The remaining angels made an effort to retreat, and Jess saw her chance. When they got into a group to run, she called down a massive red bolt that incinerated the remaining soldiers of the White City. With the foes now dead, Isis landed and gestured a bow before speaking.
“So sorry about that.”
Jess ceased her prayers, and the storm followed suit. Isis and Strife were talking and Jess hovered over to join in.
“Avenger Commander!!” Isis snapped.
Strife looked where she was looking and saw that Birdbrain seemed to drag himself to the woman.
“Yes, my lady?”
“How did this happen? You said no angelic scouting party was sighted, nor were there demands from any army of Heaven!”
“Don’t pin the blame on Sir Birdbrain, Miss Isis. These were Fallen Angels. Rogues that broke off from Heaven to act on their own.” Jess interrupted.
“She’s right. The Counsel did say some demons and angels have their own ambitions.”
“You got off lucky. Don’t let something like this happen again.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Isis turned around, a smile on her face.
“I do hope you’ll still trust us after this mockery of our defenses.”
After a brief discussion, Isis created a platform of energy and brought both Strife and Jess to the Golden Star as it made its way past the edge of the world, bringing an end to the day.