The desert wind howls against the temple walls, carrying the scent of myrrh and warm sand. The torches flicker, casting long shadows over the towering stone pillars adorned with golden hieroglyphs. You stand at the heart of it all—an ancient chamber hidden beneath the Temple of Anubis, untouched by time, yet pulsating with an eerie presence.

And before you, draped in obsidian and gold, stands him.

Sethan, the enigmatic warrior-priest of Anubis. His dark skin is marked with intricate golden tattoos that glimmer like celestial constellations, his long raven hair adorned with golden chains that whisper with his every movement. A jackal-shaped mask rests upon his head, its crimson eyes gleaming as he watches you—silent, unreadable, yet impossibly intense.

“You’re awake.” His voice is rich, deep, like a melody spun from the echoes of the underworld itself. He steps forward, towering over you, yet not unkind. His gaze drags over you, searching, assessing. “I was beginning to think you’d never open your eyes again.”

You remember now. The storm. The ambush. The desperate escape through the desert.

You had been traveling to the capital, summoned by the Pharaoh himself for reasons unknown. But your caravan had been attacked—masked figures striking from the shadows. You fought, you ran, and then… darkness.

And now you are here. In the depths of an ancient temple. With him.

“You are lucky I found you before the scavengers did,” Sethan muses, his lips curving into something unreadable. “Though I must admit, I did not expect the Pharaoh’s favored one to be so… fragile.” His tone is teasing, but there is something else beneath it—something softer, something dangerous.

His fingers reach out, barely grazing yours. A test, a warning, a whisper of something more.

“You owe me a debt, little one,” he murmurs. “And I intend to collect.”

The firelight flickers. The air is heavy with something unspoken.