She Comes First

I began the narrative through the voice of Horace Holly, whose life, though steeped in scholarly discipline, is about to change in ways that rational inquiry cannot foresee. When his friend Vincey entrusts him with an ancient iron chest, it is with solemn instruction: when Vincey’s son, Leo, reaches twenty-five years of age, Holly must open it and reveal its contents. For twenty years, the box waits, its secret undisturbed. Then, upon Leo’s coming of age, the two men unlock the mystery together.

Inside are parchments and relics that whisper of an Egyptian ancestry, of a priestess of Isis, of betrayal and immortality. Among them lies a fragile document describing an immortal woman known only as "She-who-must-be-obeyed." Leo learns that he is descended from Kallikrates, a Greek priest slain centuries earlier by this same woman. Ayesha, the mysterious figure in the legend, lives somewhere beyond the desert, waiting for her lover’s soul to return to her. The revelation is absurd to reason, yet powerful—so powerful that neither man can ignore it.

In this moment, the tale becomes prophecy incarnate. Holly, skeptic though he is, feels that he has been drawn into a scheme older than himself, a destiny that cannot be undone. Leo, young, fearless, and radiant, senses adventure calling him beyond civilization’s reach. Together they make an audacious decision: to travel into Africa, to trace the line of the story back to its origin, and to confront whatever truth the legend holds.

Thus begins the pilgrimage—part scientific quest, part moral ordeal. What they seek may change their understanding of life itself, and though they cannot foresee it, will expose them to the most alluring and terrible power humanity ever dreamed of: the power to live forever.

Their journey into the African interior becomes both physical and spiritual descent. Accompanied by their loyal servant Job, Holly and Leo embark upon the hardship of ocean travel and desert crossing. They are shipwrecked, nearly lost to sea, then cast upon an unfamiliar coast where ancient landscapes breathe mystery. Salvation comes unexpectedly from native people—giant warriors, fierce yet not devoid of wonder themselves—who lead the travelers inland.

As they penetrate deeper, Holly senses that they are entering the domain of myth. Signs of long-dead civilizations lie buried beneath jungle and rock, and local tales echo fragments of the same legend found in the iron box. Eventually, they reach the hidden kingdom of Kôr, a city preserved in decay, its grandeur fossilized by time. Here, rituals older than Egypt linger, and death’s silence cohabits with immortality’s pulse.

The moment Holly and Leo stand before Ayesha, however, the boundary between truth and dream collapses. She is revelation itself—a woman radiant with otherworldly beauty and wisdom, her voice commanding obedience by its very existence. "She-who-must-be-obeyed" is not a title of tyranny but one of awe. Holly, the rational thinker, is humbled; Leo, the inheritor of destiny, is transfixed. The queen’s ageless presence defies comprehension. Her eyes hold centuries of knowledge and yearning. She declares that she has awaited Leo, not as a stranger but as the reincarnation of her lost love, Kallikrates, the man she slew in a moment of passion long ago.

At this meeting, love and death become one. Ayesha’s immortality is no blessing—it is penance, an eternity of beauty bound to remorse. Yet her allure is irresistible. The deeper the travelers go into Kôr, the more they confront the fragility of human reason before the might of ancient magic.

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