The First Gift

The night before Darien, Monica and Brutus got to Alexandria, Darien had a dream that he would receive three gifts from three women while in Alexandria, told to him from a lady of the desert wearing a scarlet dress, feet bare, and a bright red headscarf. The woman gave him a kiss as he woke up.

Monica and Brutus began taking down their tent in the desert almost immediately, and no breakfast was served. The sun was rising, and they got on their trek right away. By the late afternoon, they were in Alexandria.

"You should know that we have someone to find here Darien," Brutus whispered in his ear.

"Really? Who?"Darien asked.

"Phillip."

"I thought I was Phillip."

"No, you're Darien."

They were walking through a small back alley behind the bazaar, completely in shade and near several clay wastewater jugs, when three barefoot thieves with facescarves and daggers appeared on the rooftops. Monica and Brutus pulled arrows on their bows, aimed and fired, and two of them fell. Hitting the ground, they turned int o great columns of fire shooting straight in to the sky, consuming their bodies entirely. The third thief fled in fear.

"Why did he live?" Darien asked.

"Because he didn't need to die." Monica answered.

Darien asks: "But what about the other two? Why did they get to die?"

Monica says: "Because they needed to."

Darien asks: "But why did they need to?"

Brutus says: "Are you like God?"

A barefoot common man in rags runs out to meet them. "Friends, come inside!" And they enter his room off the alley.

Brutus says, "friend, it's so good to finally meet you." And Brutus kneels before the common man, then stands.

Monica says, "it's such a pleasure to meet one so strong in the Lord."

Darien greets, "I cannot help but feel some kind of connection with you I can't, I don't know. I know I haven't met you before."

A voice says to Darien: "He's Phillip."

They sit down on the floor to dinner. Phillip asks Darien, "so why have you come here friend?"

Darien stands and puts his hand on Phillips head. "Are you prepared to receive a noble commitment?"

"Yes."

Darien looks him in the eye, weak and sighing, and begins: "There is an entire country of people to the South of here who have not heard the word of my and your Lord. They are waiting for you, and you must go to help them find a path to a better life. You will be subjected to great tribulation, and the destruction of your flesh, but your blood shall be healing water to the people of this nation.

"Follow the Nile River until it forks, then take the eastern fork. You will enter a great kingdom that will promote the word of The Lord and advance the ways of this earth forever. You will shape empires and rearrange the stars, rock the earth with war, innovation and peace, bring many men to death, and all men to better life. Sadly, your greatest child's people will turn from the Lord, but even they still have much to give this world.

"Therefore, go forth, for God, for Wisdom, for Truth and for Invention. An Empire and a great legacy awaits you."

Phillip responded: "I will do it."

"There's just one more thing Phillip. I've been using your name..."

"I know," Phillip interrupted, "I saw that."

Darien finishes: "Well then, many have much to gain from you, and thank you for your hospitality. You have served two angels with me." Brutus and Monica showed their wings and weapons. "We have much more to do before we leave here. But know that I am so thankful people like you are here to advance us. Just make sure you never mention my name, to anyone."

"I won't. Goodbye good friend, I know I shall not see you again for a very long time."

"Yeah. Right." And Darien, Brutus and Monica walk out in to the alley under a full moon and stars, as steam rises from the nearby homes.

Brutus grabs out: "Hey Darien..."

"Yes."

"Me and Monica have some stuff to arrange elsewhere. Mind if we leave you for a while?"

Darien looks at them for a moment, "Why? Why you?"

"Because we must."

A Voice says: "Let them."

"Alright sure."

As Monica and Brutus leave, Darien takes a left on to the main street. He then starts walking down a small alleyway and after a short distance down, he heres a scream. He runs towards it, and sees four men against a women.

"Get the Hell away from her!" Darien stares coldly.

They simply laugh, and start to rip apart at the womens garment. Darien runs in and grabs one of them, slamming him against the wall while another takes out a sword and cuts Darien to the bone on the shoulder. He reaches out with his other arm and grabs the sword from the startled coward and cuts off his head as another runs forward with his spear, and Darien simply steps out of the way, as the spear drives through the rapist he slammed against the wall. He then takes the sword and tries to cut the spearist in two at the waist, but strikes too softly and too low and is unable to cut through the pelvis. The man punches Darien head, sending him reeling to the other wall. The Voice says: "GET ON YOUR FEET!" and Darien pushes himself beyond his own broken bones and blurry vision to kick the hard bleeding man in the jaw as he's reaching for Darien's new sword. There's one assailant still unaccounted for.

Darien then attempts to grab the sword, but the assailant, in his death throws, gets on top of Darien, and holds him to the ground, then tries to strangle him, but Darien had moved his nearly immobile arm to the right side of his neck and made it hard to push to the other side, while the still useful arm held his sword firm and strong to prevent theft. The assailant tried, but he was losing blood fast. Darien stood firm, though at times he was out of air and losing blood himself, and the grip grew weaker.

Eventually, the assailant fainted, though Dariens vision was blurred. He regained his breath for a second, and creaked his neck, then got back on his feet, and drove the sword through the assailants heart. He saw a trail in the centermud of the dirt alleyway, and pursued it to a small abandoned room, where the girl was being tied up, and the last assailant was taking his time taunting her, telling her his exact evil. He was focused on hate.

Darien walked quietly behind him, and gave a signal with his finger to remind the women to stay quiet. She trusted him and could rest a little. He got behind the assailant, and drove the sword all the way in, then bent him over, and, as he took his last breath, and said "I did not kill you, for I could've gotten nowhere against four men without your stupidity, cowardice, treachery towards your friends and cruelty." And bent him further down the stolen blade of his betrayed comrade. When he died, he turned straight in to soil with a few head of grain rising out of him. Darien took these, and put them in to his rucksack to make in to bread later.

He then untied the girl. "I've got a gift for you, and I'll take care of you" she said. He followed her to an ancient mansion by the Nile. They went upstairs to a small room, where she showed him a beautiful sword many centuries old, with a gold coated handle and a shiny perfect blade that looked like it had been made for a King. "We used to be pharoahs a long time ago, and this was our royal sword. For all you've done, I want you to have it. Now let me take care of that wound." And she bandaged him and treated him with the best medicines she had.

And she asked: "So tell me good soldier, who are you, and why are you in Alexandria?"

Darien answered: "I'm a servant of God, here to spread the word of God to the people of God. Other then that, I can tell you nothing."

"That's too bad. I should probably tell you the story of how this happened?"

"You mean human wickedness?"

She was first silent, then spoke: "We are a family of wealthy merchants, though we were once rulers of all Egypt. My family used to employ theirs as potters, but we fired them due to low quality of work and they threatened to hurt me if we didn't rehire them. I didn't really think they'd do it. My father really loves me, more then any of his other children, and I guess they figured they could play that to their favor and then it didn't work, in part because we didn't really believe them. In any case, thank you so much, I wish there was some way I could repay you..."

"There's no need for that ma'am. It was a duty of God. Are you feeling well? Is there anything else you need from me?"

"No. But you're welcome here anytime."

"You won't see me again, but thank you so much anyways for taking care of me and for this beautiful sword. I will think of you always when I look in to its blade shining bright as the pharoahs throne in the sun." And Darien left as the girl sat silent looking at the wall.

As he walked out on to the riverwalk, The Voice said: "You shall call it the blade of grace, and you shall retrieve the other sword and call it the blade of righteous anger in remembrance of the vile thing that you made in to dirt with it. You shall keep both blades forever."