CHAPTER 1

It all happened around 400 BC. Somewhere on the coast of the River Nile, Cairo in Egypt, 

Tydeus, his two hands cuffed with heavy chains connected by a long chain cuffing his two legs, was dragged like an ordinary ram by one of the Iron Mask pirates.

“Move you rascal!” He yelled at him as he pushed other captives who were lined up at the front.

Tonight seems to be the luckiest night for the Iron Mask pirates. This time they caught lots of captives, lined them up and connected them with one long chain, marching them into their big ship.

The Iron Mask pirates are one of the most notorious criminal organizations in all of Cairo and other big cities in Egypt.

Recognized by their black and ugly metal masks, they're mostly responsible for every kidnapping, destruction, chaos, and violence in the cities of Egypt.

Tydeus, one of their long-time targets, has just been caught; this is someone who has always attacked them and ruined their ruthless operations countless times. 

All the prisoners kept walking, dragging themselves onto the bridge connecting the river bank and the big pirate's ship. The pirates continued yelling at them as they moved them into their ship, maybe to throw them into the river or something.

The leader of the pirates, Galdashkeh stood at the entrance of the ship, also yelling and shouting at the captives as they walked in.

As Tydeus was moving closer to him, he shouted at one of the captives in front of Tydeus, “Move or I break your legs right now!”.

The prisoner in front of Tydeus, shaken in fear, immediately jumped into the ship; breaking his leg would be a bad idea.

As Tydeus walked, moving closer to the leader of the pirates at the entrance, the pirate's leader, Galdashkeh walked towards him in a stalkerish manner with a villainous smile on his face. 

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” He said harmoniously, folding his hands and using his fat body to close the gap between him and Tydeus.

“The Great Warrior of Egypt? Haha!” He gave out a loud and sinister laugh.

“Look at you, I told you I'm going to get you myself. You could escape, you could kill my men all you like but one day, just one day, I'm going to get you. Seems today is my lucky day!!!” He shouted as he and the other pirates around him burst into laughter.

“Look at me!” he said forcefully, his voice laced with authority.

“I heard you killed Apophis, the great beast of the dark world; I don't care about that; I will make sure I feed you to the sharks myself”.

Tydeus, who had had enough of his insult, threw a ball of spittle on his face.

“You bastard!” Galdashkeh said angrily as he returned the favour with a slap to Tydeus's face.

*Ta!!!*

The sound of the slap reverberated from Tydeus's thick facial skin, sending his face to the other side.

“You want to die?!” The Galdashkeh said angrily, his voice laced with authority as he drew out his finely sharp and curved sword from his sheath.

The rest of the captives behind Tydeus began looking, some stretching their necks and tipping their toes. They wanted to see the scene about to take place in their front.

“Why is the man at the front getting so much attention?” an old man, one of the captives, asked another captive in front.

“Him? That is Tydeus; many people call him the great warrior of Egypt. Some say he is a god; he doesn't fight men; he fights only demons and colossal beasts”. The man responded to the old man.

“A god? In our land? What type of god would be defenceless, chained like an ordinary animal in front of a pirate?” The old man asked inquisitively.

“Tydeus, the last time my men in my gang and I heard about him, it was rumoured that he killed Apophis, the great beast of the dark world, with his bare hands”,

“I guess that's why they call him the great warrior of Egypt”. The other captive in front of the old man replied to him again.

“Apophis, the great beast of the dark world? Which the legends say Ra, the great god of light, battled for many centuries and couldn't get rid of?”

“Is that the beast you said this lowlife-looking thing killed with his bare hands?” The old man asked again curiously but this time with a little bit of irritation and disgust on his face.

“Look at me, you bastard!” Galdashkeh, the pirate's leader grabbed Tydeus's face again.

“Tonight, you're doomed; I will feed you to the beasts of Nile myself” " he whispered angrily into Tydeus's ear as he forcefully removed his hand from Tydeus's strong jaw.

Without even flinching, Tydeus stood his ground in front of the pirate's leader like the warrior they say he is, adjusting the chains in his hands with his big muscles.

“Now walk your ass into the ship before I change my mind” Galdashkeh, the pirate's leader said again, his voice mixed with authority.

“Move!” The other pirates from behind began yelling at the captives at the back as they climbed the bridge connecting the river bank and their big ship. 

As Tydeus was about to enter the ship, he saw something strange, he looked up to the mast of the ship and saw one of the Iron Mask pirates staring down at him.

The stare continued as a little bird, a sparrow flew to the shoulder of the pirate like it had come to deliver a message to his master.

“Just get in you rascal! You haven't seen the sky before?!” Gryza, Galdashkeh's pirate captain, who has meant Tydeus for a long time for what he did to his arm, yelled at him. 

Tydeus, who had remained speechless the whole time, walked into the ship gazing at Galdashkeh with a weird smile on his face as the pirates took all their captives into the ship and left the harbor.