Soul Reborn (Key to the Cursed Book 1) (24 page)

So far, it had been
easy work killing Menthu’s soldiers. Nehebkau had his hands full as the War
god’s army tried to breach the flanked position. Conversely, Asar had yet to
pull out his blades, which felt unnatural. An intentional ploy to give him the
false sense of confidence, perhaps? Far too experienced a warrior to fall for
those tactics, he remained on alert. Black energy shifted around him. The dark
warriors began to appear in the shadows, moving off to intercept more of
Menthu’s soldiers. Asar had expected them sooner, but assumed they had trouble
with the revens.

Strangely, he felt
a tingle in his chest, and the ache subsided slightly.

A vacuum of space
developed dangerously close to him, interrupting his thoughts. The oppressive
sensation could only mean a powerful god had materialized in close proximity. He
grasped the handles of his swords. The attack would be eminent, but from where?

This section of the
city had withstood the test of time, and there were plenty of shadows for
Menthu and his soldiers to hide. Widening his stance, he moved slowly in a
circle, peering into the shadows. Ever vigilant.

A deep voice from
the darkness coursed through the air. Menthu’s enormous shape formed out of the
black rock. “Asar, I’m surprised to see you here. Where is that beautiful
blonde I keep hearing about?”

Asar had seen Menthu
several thousand years prior. He forgot how unusual this god looked. Conjured
from both worlds Menthu’s skin was a haphazard mix of white and black. He could
not fathom why the Mother Goddess would be drawn to such an abomination of
nature. She no doubt felt empathy for this creature.

“It has been too
long,” Asar said, ignoring his reference to Lilly. “But none too soon, seeing
as you are betraying the only goddess that ever gave a damn about you.”

Menthu scoffed.
“She wanted nothing more than to change me from what I really am. I had no need
for her sickening attempts to care for or about me. She forbids me to use my
powers. What kind of mother would do that to their son?”

“Your powers were
given to you to allow weaker nations to defend themselves, and to protect the
land of our Mother. You failed your commission.” The evidence of that failure
lay in ruin around them. “Instead you were using them to incite war among the
humans for nothing more than your amusement.”

“Why else would the
gods put humans on earth? They are our servants to do as we see fit. They all
should carry the curse." Menthu flashed ragged fangs held by black mottled
gums. "If it wasn’t for your bitch releasing Kepi before my plans were
properly implemented, I would not have had to change my strategy. But that just
makes things a little more exciting.”

Menthu’s temper was
renowned to be one of the worst, next to his own, so Asar played the card he
knew would ignite his own rage. Pride. “Her name is Lilly, and she kicked your
goddess’ ass.”

Flames ignited in
his adversary’s eyes, and the first clash of metal sent sparks flying up into
the heavens. Asar kicked out his leg, hit Menthu in the chest, and sent him
reeling back into the large stone wall. Losing its final battle against time,
the wall cracked in half and crumbled to the ground. Asar had no intention of
letting himself fall to this cretin. The deep ache in his chest was a stark
reminder of what he could lose. Menthu would surrender this night.

The War god jumped
up with a growl. “It seems my dear goddess has misinformed me about your
strength. Surely you should be weaker without your soul.”

“What makes you
think I am without one?” Asar swung his blade around, narrowly missing Menthu’s
midsection.

The War god raised
one side of his lip in a feral half smile. “You standing here before me is
proof enough. You would have been in for a surprise if you returned that black
heart to your rotten chest. Tell me, how does a god come by a new soul?”

Menthu expected
this to be an unfair fight with him at a disadvantage. The War god had probably
cast a spell against his black heart and would be cursed, if it were not for
Lilly’s abilities. An ability he would never share with this macabre.
Unfortunately, Asar could not kill Menthu without his son, but he could weaken
him by taking his soul from his body. “You will soon learn what it feels like
to be soulless, traitor.”

Several of Menthu’s
soldiers approached from behind. Asar quickly countered, but it required him to
turn his back on his enemy. He shot dark energy at the two soldiers,
disassembling their molecular bonds and absorbing the energy back within his
body, then ducked Menthu’s attack, dodging two spears aimed at his chest.

“Now, that is not
fighting fair. Battle between two warriors such as us should be according to
our code.”

Menthu howled.
“Since when do I play by the rules,
death
god?”

Asar moved
offensively, clipping Menthu in the shoulder and spilling a small amount of
blood. It was not a deep enough wound to slow the War god down, but it gave
Asar the satisfaction of drawing first blood. He countered the next clash of
steel with a fist to Menthu’s jaw.

The War god
staggered back, but rebalanced himself to fight. Asar dodged several jabs of
his heavy blade, the last of which hit him in the side. He hissed. Menthu had
dipped his blades in snake venom. He would not be so easily disabled now that
he was full strength, but even at his physical best, his wound should not have
closed in on itself so quickly. He did not have time to analyze the strange
healing power. Two more warriors attacked from behind, knocking him off
balance.

Asar moved with the
momentum, rolling forward onto his feet. He was fighting three warriors at
once, plus Menthu. Trained to handle multiple opponents, he managed to counter
all the attacks, but he was approaching his limit.

As if reading his
mind, another warrior appeared to his right.

Five against one.

Lilly and Bomani
weaved and darted through the ruins toward the Precinct. The clash of battle
rumbled through the ground from the west. Asar. She stumbled, the desperate
urge to go to him fought for control of her body, but she couldn’t—wouldn’t—succumb.

She had a score to
settle first.

Menthu’s soldiers moved
among the columns. Bomani slowed, and she readied her weapons. These soldiers,
an odd mix of human and bovine, were the largest of all the warriors on this
battlefield. With their bull like heads and human bodies they towered over
Bomani, who himself was seven feet tall.

She assessed Bomani’s
tactics in dealing with these monsters. Despite their size advantage, the
beasts moved slowly under the weight of their curved horns more than half the
size of their hulking bodies. If she could avoid the boney spears, she could
use their size to her advantage.

Pivoting into a
crouch, she dodged a blow from its enormous arm, and severed its Achilles
tendon. The bull’s hoofed foot dragged along the ground. Unable to shift its
weight, the bull careened to the ground. She rolled to avoid being crushed by
the thousand pound soldier, and scurried to gain footing, only to be tripped by
its large hand. She swung her blade back and amputated its arm at the elbow. It
screamed at a deafening pitch. Lilly thrust her blade through its neck up to
the hilt. The night was abruptly silenced in a spray of blood.

The slick, thick
black liquid covered her hands, forearms and legs. She quickly scooped up sand
and rubbed it against her skin to soak up the soldier’s blood. Bomani nodded. Overwhelmed,
her hands trembled uncontrollably. She glanced back toward the parade grounds
where her sisters waited. Too far forward to turn back, she said a small prayer
to the Mother Goddess to watch over them and advanced forward to the Precinct.

Seeing a familiar
face, or what was left of it, she halted. The dark warrior’s body lay in a mass
of crushed bone and tissue. The dim energy in his soul flickered as his life drained
onto the desert floor.

She turned to
Bomani with a heavy heart. He shook his head, signaling to leave the fallen
warrior to his death. She leaned over and kissed the dark warrior on the only
intact place on his face. “Rest in peace.” His fading eyes flicked to her face
before they closed.

All these deaths
were unnecessary. The goddess Kepi and the War god would pay for this. Her body
flared with renewed heat. She hurdled over several fallen statues, keeping pace
with Bomani. A few revens crossed her path but were not long for this world
with a simple swipe of her blade. Bomani halted to engage another giant
soldier. She charged directly to where Kepi would be waiting.

She slowed her
approached outside the Precinct of Mut. The only thing left of the temple was a
large field of weathered stone. The outline of a once grand temple and the
distant rim of the crescent lake, Isheru. Her adversary stood in the inner
sanctum of the Mother Goddess’ temple.

A sacrilege.

Lilly walked with
her katana at her side in no rush to the inevitable battle. She wanted nothing
more than to be open about her confrontation. The hum of a distant melody
carried in the cool air, the same melody from their first meeting.

Kepi’s appearance had
changed since their last meeting. Instead of the dark haired human, she had a
flowing blonde mane and pale skin. She focused on what appeared to be tattoos
on her forearms, which would explained the eddy of energy. Kepi possessed a
goddess’ body and no doubt the powers of her host.

No matter. The end
would be the same.

The goddess would
lose tonight.

Lilly fingered the
Mevt dagger at her waist, the same dagger Kepi had plunged into Asar’s chest.
Kendra said there were two daggers. If she had one, then Kepi had the other.
She just hoped the spell was still active on hers. The only way she could find
out was to plunge it into that bitch’s soul.

The goddess ran her
hands along what looked to be a sarcophagus. Asar’s son, Bakari. Rebecca’s
information had been correct for once. The hair rose on the back of Lilly’s neck.
She planned many a trap, and this screamed of one. There was no hiding the
battle waging in the ruins. The goddess had to know that Rebecca had failed to
capture her.

Lilly risked
radioing her sister. “Kit,” she whispered into her communication device. She
received a crackle of static, but no response. “Kit? If you can hear me, I need
a helo at my GPS location. Sending coordinates. I found the sarcophagus. Over.”

The goddess’ back
stiffened. Lilly cursed. Not that she hid her position, but she would have
liked to get a little closer.

The goddess turned
fully around to face her. Blonde hair, green eyes, and pale skin. Almost an
exact replica. The goddess’ new face was round in a china doll sort of way,
unlike Lilly’s more angular features, but at first glance or from behind, no
one would be able to tell the difference.

Lilly closed the
distance between them. She didn’t want to show the fear tumbling in her gut.
Twirling her katana, she stopped about forty feet away. “Interesting look you
have.”

Kepi smiled. “I
thought you would like it. Maybe after I’m done with you, I’ll go offer my body
to Asar. I am sure you cannot fulfill his true desires. Did he tell you how he
liked to fuck me? He was a deviant little bastard.”

Although her words
burned Lilly’s hide, she refused to show it. She pushed the visions of Asar
with Kepi together out of her mind. Despite her efforts, bitter poison leaked from
her fangs. “Try and bait me all you want, Kepi. This ends tonight.”

The goddess threw
her head back and laughed. “Does it end with the three of us in bed together? I
would not mind a go at that. Neither would Asar.”

Lilly bared her
fangs. Kepi’s attempt to distract her from the revens that were approaching
wouldn’t work. She could sense them coming. “He may have bedded you, wench, but
you never could convince him to share himself with you. You don’t know what
you’re missing. I can tell you first hand, it was the most incredible
experience of my life to feel him cum inside me—to have his dark energy surge
through my body. And that was only the
first
time he touched me.”

Kepi screeched and
launched herself into the air. Lilly stood her ground and waited for the
precise moment to kick Kepi dead center in her chest. All the goddess’ momentum
came to an abrupt stop, and the recoil sent her flying farther than Lilly
expected.

She chuckled. “Oh,
now this is going to be fun. You’re not going to run away again are you? I
retrieved my hatchet just for you. I think the last time I used this, it was
sticking out of your skull.” Lilly spun the wooden handle in her palm.

Kepi jumped to her
feet, hissing and baring her teeth. The revens rushed into the temple. A
strange surge of energy generated at Lilly’s core, and lashed outward through
her extremities. The markings on her forearms glowed bright gold. She yelped. The
bolt of energy exited out her hand through her katana and hit all ten revens,
exploding them into a million pieces.

Lilly gasped and
stumbled backward. “Holy, shit.”

Kepi’s confidence
bled from her features. The goddess glanced down at the pectoral necklace hanging
around Lilly’s neck. Her eyes widened. She took off running with lightning
speed.

Lilly took several
leaps and then stopped, looking back at the sarcophagus. If she pursued Kepi,
Bakari would be vulnerable—the goddess could easily double back and move it—but
not following put Asar at risk.

“Damn it!” She
needed Kit and she needed her now. She hit the buttons of her phone to ensure
the coordinates had gone out. They had.

She touched her ear
piece. “Kit or any other available huntresses, please respond.”

The air pressure
fluctuated wildly. A heavy and oppressive weight collapsed down upon her chest
and sucked the air from her lungs. She experienced something similar once when
Asar materialized close by her. Whatever it was, a god or gods, she didn’t have
a good feeling about it. She backed toward sarcophagus and drew out another
short sword. Whoever or whatever it was would have to go through her to get to
Asar’s son.

There were several
bright flashes of light, and three gods dressed in flowing white robes—one
female flanked by two males—appeared out of the shadows, gold pectoral
necklaces hanging from each of their necks. Uncertain of the depths of this
treachery, she could only assume they were guilty. Lilly raised her blades into
strike position. The message: Over her dead body.

The dark haired
female stepped forward with her hands clasped. Hieroglyphics adorned their
forearms. Lilly scanned quickly for weapons, but found none.

Shit.
They weren’t here to battle. They’d come for her.

The female goddess
smiled. A smile Lilly would love to rub off with a swift kick to the jaw.