Amneris stood on the edge of a cliff about a half-hour walk away from the forest house. Water rushed past her, creating the sparkling waterfall which crashed into the river flowing gently past her house.

She hated that house; would try to find reasons to get out of it as often as possible. It was filled with too many memories of her life. The one she had prior to becoming an immortal. It was an event she had never stopped searching to undo.

Some of the worst things had happened to her in that house or, to be more specific, in the iron basement. Gilded blood still covered the iron chains dangling from the ceiling down there from when she had first shifted into her god form. Given half a chance, she would knock down the house and set fire to it, inviting her childhood friends – Zane, Ray, Tayla, and Ethan – do have a barbeque over its remains. Still, she knew her Court loved it there. It was their home, even if it could, never really be hers.

She let out a long breath, dropping her black fur-lined anorak onto the stone beside her, allowing for the crisp morning air to chill her arms and back. Amneris stared at her reflection in the stream. Sometimes it surprised her to see how much she had changed from the girl who died in the Kemetic desert over five thousand years ago.

Her eyes were empty, but she hid it will. Her body was covered in a variety of scars, the most noticeable ones being over her eyes, around her waist, and the two long ones running down her spine where wings had once rested. The only reason they remained was because she had them before becoming an immortal – the ones on her back – or the damage had been so great that even her healing abilities could not completely erase them – the one wrapping around her waist.

She kept the one over her eye as a harsh reminded of what had happened when she turned her back. A friend had betrayed her to the Dark King. At least, she had thought of them as a friend. Oh, how wrong she had been. It really was amazing what a lust for power could do to people.

Amneris took a dagger off her leather belt. It was the one she had been given before her first trip to Kemet, a going away gift of sorts from the man she called her father. The hilt was golden and embedded with gemstones that shone in the sunlight. The blade itself was made of an advanced silver metal with swirling patterns carved into it. Those patterns glowed when she used her power while wielding the blade.

She let out a deep breath.

Sometimes she wished she could go back in time and slap her younger self, so she never went to Kemet. The loss would not have been so great and most of the events which took place would not have happened. There was even the possibility the Dark King would not have discovered her until it was too late. She could have caught him off guard, instead of events playing out the way they did.

She clenched her fist, the gemstones of the hilt digging into her palm.

She could not change the past no matter how much she wished. It was quite possible. She knew how to do it. But, it was against the rules of the game. There were times that had to remain unchanged. One of those times was her death along with so many of the battles which had taken place throughout the eternal timeline that was the Forgotten War. While the outcome could be changed through future battles, no one was allowed to change the ones of the past. They had to focus on the future. On what was coming.

No matter how hard it was.

No matter how much it hurt.

They had to try. No, she had to try for the sake of her people.

Amneris took a portion of her hair into her free hand, gripping it tightly just below her neckline. She lifted the dagger and, with a single slice, cut it off. She looked back down to her reflection. A gust of wind blew her now half-messy cut shoulder0length hair across her eyes. She tossed the handful of hair into the wind and, with a flick of her power, allowed for it to burst into flames. The ashes vanished.

She stood for a moment with her eyes close before raising the dagger once again.