Chapter 17: Nocturnal Light

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“The Dragon is beyond good and evil, beyond our comprehension, and paradoxically still a phenomenon we can approach...”

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-Ordo Draconis et Atri Adamantis

 

 

 

Approximately 2700 BCE

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“In the beginning, God created the heavens.

Then They created the earth. After this They created humanity.

Upon realizing Their mistake, God created vampires.”

 

-Akhethotep

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The scribes of old had many names for Sekhmet. She was hailed as the “One who loves Ma’at”, the “Lady of Life”, the “Eye of Ra”, or the “Lady of Pestilence.” All of these names held truth in them, but the name for Sekhmet which was closest to the truth, according to those who knew her the best, was “She who is Powerful.” All ancient myths contain ancient truths, even if the meaning of these truths have been lost or corrupted over time. The intersection of the truth and the myth regarding Sekhmet was not that she was the first vampire, but that she was the first known vampire to master biological immortality by utilizing cellular transdifferentiation. Sekhmet herself used many of the stories of the human gods of the time in order to explain her extraordinary powers. As a vampire, she could inflict catastrophic destruction in her wake. But she also symbolized rebirth in the way she transmuted human life into vampiric life. These seemingly contradictory aspects of her character represented the complex duality of her existence. In this way, her duality was on full display as The Eye of Ra, being the feminine manifestation of the male Egyptian Sun God. The Eye was both beautiful to behold and fearsome to face. As the vengeful face of the Sun God, the Eye of Ra inflicted crippling wrath upon those who defied the will of the divine, but The Eye could also bring renewal and new life in its wake.

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As the first biologically immortal vampire, Sekhmet was absolutely convinced in her superiority over all other forms of life. Drunk off the blood of those she damned, she lost any trappings of humility. She was dismissive of humanity, merciless in her hunt of them, and her thirst for blood was unquenchable. She would inflict untold misery up and down the Nile and then claim it was in service to the Sun God of the humans. That is, as she was the Eye of Ra, she was inflicting his vengeance upon humanity; that humanity had somehow failed him. As such, any anger and sorrow humanity felt over their plight should be directed at the Sun God, not at her. The more Sekhmet killed, the more her bloodlust grew and the more her rage consumed her. Over time she became the embodiment of its primal destructive force. A force she was not able to contain within herself.