Asharru and Nutesh waited until the ship disappeared and then darted in its wake. As the dense fog curled around them, the only light source was the ship’s lanterns. Her world narrowed to those beacons of light as the thick mist swallowed sound while the briny, humid air disguised other scents.
But the fog was the best spell they could use to approach the ship unseen. When they reached the boat, Asharru took the lead, swooping close to study the deck, sails, and rigging, looking for the ship’s crew. It took several more passes to be sure of each guard or crew member’s location.
Once she overshot the ship, she beat her wings to gain speed and height once more before circling back to the ship’s stern where Nutesh soared, waiting for her to return from her round of scouting.
“I didn’t see Ugurnaszir,” Nutesh said, “or any who fit his description on the upper or lower decks.”
“No,” Asharru said with a soft growl in her voice as she fought to control her rage and despair. “He will be with Tirigan, Laliya, and Bashaa.”
“They are alive. That is what’s important.” Nutesh dipped lower, and Asharru followed. “There is a narrow walkway that circles the cabins of the upper deck. Do you see what I mean? That’s the best place to land. We’ll be concealed from the rest of the ship there.”
“Yes, I see the walkway.” Asharru’s sharp eyes narrowed upon the guards along the rail. “Tirigan is in one of those cabins, and I think I can track him to which one, once I’m closer.”
“How? Your link with him is that strong?”
“Yes, but even if it wasn’t, I could still guess. See the three guards all clustered around the two central windows?”
“Yes,” Nutesh said, drawing out the word in a long hissing sound.
“Ugurnaszir is known for his entertainments.”
Asharru sounded far calmer than she felt. Inside her gryphon was screaming for the blood of her enemies. She wondered how she still was in control until she realized the beast knew Asharru’s cool logic was more likely to aid their Blade than a bloodbath would.
“I see,” Nutesh uttered in a strange hollow voice. “One day I will eat Ugurnaszir’s soul. You have my word.”
Just like that she was reminded who and what she flew beside. An Anunnaki, but not just any of those fierce spirit creatures; one of the nine judges, oldest of all his kind.
“We’ll do one more fly by and then land on top of those three guards. We’ll kill them and then drop them over the side,” Asharru said.
“Yes to all that except dropping them over the side. The splash will alert the other crew that something is wrong.”
“Fine. We’ll just have to stash their bodies somewhere out of sight.” She closed her eyes for a moment while she flew, visualizing the layout of the ship. “There are two smaller boats suspended by rigging along the ship’s aft and starboard side rails. We can put the bodies in one.”
“That will work.”
Asharru clacked her beak. “Let’s go. Dawn will be upon us shortly, and the fog won’t be as good a cover then.”
“I’ll take the guard on the left. You can have the one on the right,” Hashur said and then added with a laugh, “We can share the one in the middle.”
“Deal.”
Together they swooped down on their selected targets. Asharru drove her guard to his knees and severed his spine with a powerful bite, her beak almost shearing his head from his shoulders.
Then she slashed her front claws across the throat of the middle guard. Nutesh dispatched his target in the same manner.
None of the guards managed more than a gurgle or gasp as they died.
As Nutesh dragged the first body toward the small boat, Asharru chanced a look up and down the walkway, but the way was still clear. She should have been helping, but first, she had to see Tirigan.
As she stalked up to the window, the link she shared with her Blade flared, his emotions bleeding through to her. He knew she was here, and he was afraid for her.
Even now, he was more concerned with her welfare than his own. She sent reassuring calm toward him, hoping he’d understand she wasn’t alone, and she was here to aid in his rescue.
She braced her front paws on either side of the frame. Inside the room was lit with many candles, and it was easy to see. Her perception expanded, taking in the other people in the room. Laliya was bent over Tirigan. Ugurnaszir knelt on the opposite side of the bed from Laliya, his back to the window, blocking Asharru’s view of whatever was being done to Tirigan.
It was probably for the best because her gryphon already wanted to paint the ship with the blood of these traitors, but she needed to think.
Nutesh joined her and leaned closer until his beak was right against her ear. “I can make the glass disappear, but it must be only moments before we attack and subdue the ones inside, or else they’ll realize what has happened and raise the alarm.”
“I understand.” Asharru surveyed the room, noting Bashaa was lavishing attention on a guardswoman. “If we create a distraction, Bashaa can be counted on to subdue the female guard. That just leaves the male guard and the governor.”
“We need a way for one of us to reach Ugurnaszir and that guard at the same time. As you say, Bashaa should be able to deal with the female soldier.”
“Agreed. If I just—”
“Wait,” Asharru cut him off. “Look at Bashaa’s hands. That’s their secret hand-sign language. I think they have a plan.” Asharru cursed the fact she hadn’t yet learned enough of the secret language to interpret what they were saying to each other.
She glanced back at Tirigan. Despite that they had chained him, his left hand was making subtle gestures in response to Bashaa’s motions.
Laliya laughed seductively, and after winking at Ugurnaszir, half turned to the male guard and called him over sweetly. The governor’s attention shifted to watch the guard’s approach.
Asharru studied Ugurnaszir’s hateful features in profile and admitted they’d be branded into her mind for years to come.
While Ugurnaszir was watching the guard’s hesitant approach with a wicked grin, Tirigan turned to the window and nodded, acknowledging that it was happening now.
“Get ready,” Asharru whispered softly. “Laliya is bringing the guard to this end of the room within easy reach.”
Nutesh nodded and placed his paws upon the window’s rippled surface.
Despite knowing Tirigan and his friends were about to act, Asharru was still surprised when it happened.
Laliya’s caressing hands moved from the guard’s chest to his belt where she worked loose the buckle. The belt and attached weapons landed on the floor, but she’d already slipped a long knife from its sheath. Before the guard realized what she was about, she had the knife pressed to the man’s throat.
In the same moment, Tirigan snapped a foot out, his heel connecting with Ugurnaszir’s chin. The governor reared back, toppling off the bed and crashed to the floor with a rewarding thump.
Nutesh’s magic flashed cold across Asharru’s senses, and then the glass vanished, and she was leaping toward Ugurnaszir. She cleared the frame and landed upon the governor just as he was rising. Her weight slammed the air out of his lungs before he could shout a warning.
Slapping a large paw over his face, she muffled any further sounds he attempted to make. When he made to struggle, she discouraged him by flexing sharp talons against his face and throat.
“Go on,” she crooned softly. “Scream and find out what I’ll do to your face.”
Ugurnaszir’s eyes widened, but he made no noise.
“Good. Remain silent, and I may not kill you for what you were doing to my Blade.”
I’ll leave that honor to Tirigan.
Glancing around, Asharru noted Bashaa stood with the female guard in his arms, her own knife pressed against the skin of her throat. He grinned, a charming flash of dimples. “Some people are so easily distracted by the promise of a bit of bed sport. I’ll never understand it.”
“Nutesh, se
cure Laliya’s prisoner and then help get the three of them out of those chains,” Asharru ordered. “We’re leaving now before someone notices the guards we killed are missing.”
The others moved to do her bidding while she kept Ugurnaszir under her paws. She brought her beak close to his ear.
“Don’t think to shapeshift. I’ll crush your skull before the first wave of magic rolls across your skin.”
The governor’s barely perceivable nod answered Asharru’s threat.
She never looked away from her enemy for obvious reasons, but there was a secondary purpose. It kept her gaze from straying toward Tirigan. She couldn’t take away this newest indignity, but she could give him a moment of privacy to compose himself.
Soon the chains hit the floor with a loud thud. Her ears told her when Tirigan rolled off the bed and tied a blanket around his waist.
“Asharru, are you unharmed?” he asked in a low whisper as he approached.
“Yes. Fine now that we are all together again.” She looked at him and then met his eyes. “And you?”
“I will be once we’re safely away from this place.” He reached out and grasped Ugurnaszir’s throat.
Asharru released her hold, sheathing her claws and settling on her haunches to wait for Tirigan to finish. “Kill him swiftly. We must be away.”
He nodded, his gaze hardening as it returned to the governor. Dragging the older male up onto his knees, Tirigan began to throttle his abuser.
Asharru had never witnessed a man killed in cold blood before, but as a future queen, she would be required to oversee many unpleasantries. She would watch until the end.
With another part of her senses, she watched as Laliya, Bashaa, and Nutesh tied and gagged the other two soldiers.
Ugurnaszir’s struggles grew less, but just then a hue and cry went up outside the cabin. Within moments someone pounded on the latched door. Tirigan cursed under his breath and dropped the unconscious governor to the floor.
“If I’m not overstepping, I must ask the future queen of New Sumer for a ride,” he whispered. “Nutesh can carry Laliya and Bashaa.”
Asharru nodded in agreement and held one wing away from her body so he could mount. Tirigan leaped up and settled in place, grabbing fistfuls of her thick fur to help secure himself once in the air.
Laliya and Bashaa were already mounted, and Nutesh turned toward the open window. “Stay low along my back,” he ordered his two passengers.
“You ready?” Asharru asked Tirigan.
“Yes. Follow them as closely as possible. I’ll try to summon a shield to cover our retreat.”
Asharru noticed Tirigan didn’t sound like his usual confident self. “Trust your instincts, my Blade. You’ll do fine.”
Behind them, the door splintered and gave way, but she was already bounding across the room. Two strides and she was out the window, following close on Nutesh’s tail. She landed nimbly on the walkway outside the cabin. Then bunching her haunches, she launched herself over the rail.
Nutesh was just ahead of her, his wings beating hard to gain height and speed.
A series of thuds came from behind her. Glancing back, she spotted where arrows fired from the ship struck a glowing barrier just beyond the tip of her tail.
Tirigan wasn’t finished yet, though.
Shimmering golden power ignited inside his fist. When it bled between his fingers, he raised it above his head. A bolt of raw, untamed power struck the ship and burned through the upper decking.
Asharru climbed higher into the sky, breaking through the cloud cover, and the burning ship was no longer visible. She flew away at top speed. While it had been a temptation to stay and watch the ship burn, they couldn’t risk others on board rallying and giving chase.
At least she and Nutesh had a good head start. The other gryphons back aboard the boat would have to shed their weapons and clothing before shapeshifting and coming after them.
Once she’d put some distance between herself and her enemies, she craned her neck to look at her blade.
“You did well even without your sword to channel your power.”
Tirigan nodded absently and then his gaze took on an unfocused look. “My sword wasn’t on the ship.”
“They must have left it back in the slaver’s tent.”
Tirigan closed his eyes, and his magic tingled along her feathers and fur for some moments before he opened his eyes again. “It’s not still back in the tent. It’s that way.”
He pointed west out over the open ocean.
She saw no islands in that direction. “They threw it over the side, didn’t they?”
“Yes.” Anger tinted his voice but then he sighed. “We are all alive, and that’s what matters most.”
Asharru agreed wholeheartedly, though she knew something about a Blade’s abilities; the sword might not be as lost as Tirigan feared.
She continued back toward Nineveh at top speed, well aware they were still far from safe.
After they’d been flying long enough for the sun to rise above the horizon, she called out again. “Can you still feel the sword?”
“Yes. It’s stronger. We’re closing in upon its location quickly.”
“Good. Guide me as we get closer.”
“Why? It still won’t do us any good even if we know where it is. There’s no way to reach it at the bottom of the ocean.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. As a Blade, your sword is a part of you, a part of your magic. If we get close enough, you will be able to summon it from the ocean’s depths.”
Tirigan’s fingers tightened in her fur for a moment before he eased his grip. “I wasn’t aware that was possible.”
“I will share with you all that I know about Blades as soon as we are home and safe.”
“I will hold you to that.”
Chapter 3
Tirigan scanned the surrounding sky for any signs of danger as Asharru winged her way closer to the crystalline sword’s location. He sensed no pursuit, for which he was grateful.
An aerial battle wasn’t something he wanted any part of, not without his sword, many more guards to protect Asharru, and days upon days more training. Once they returned to Nineveh, he would fix that weakness. Aerial battles were yet another area he would need the new guards trained in.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible just yet. Asharru wanted his guard to remain a secret until they’d finished the first level of their training. He agreed that the less their enemies knew, the better.
The logistics of training in secret was a problem for later.
Now his only concern was collecting his sword and returning Asharru safely back to her palace and learning what had happened to the other guards.
“Do you know what happened to Kuri and Hunzuu?” he asked with a heavy heart.
Asharru tilted her head to train one dark eye upon him. “I don’t know, but I fear the worst. I remember nothing from when I lost consciousness in the tent until I woke up on Ekurzakir’s ship.”
“How did you escape?”
Asharru looked ahead again as she answered. “Your gift, that deadly little hair ornament. My captors didn’t realize what it was. Nutesh and I cut free of our bonds and shifted to our gryphon forms.”
She fell silent, but he sensed there was more to her story.
At last, she continued. “I also begged for Ishtar to lend me her power because this went beyond political ambition or civil uprising; this is a war between goddesses. Ishtar agreed. And since her sister had already violated more than one of the laws governing the world, it allowed Ishtar to respond. She filled me with her power and allowed me to burn our enemies to ash.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you, and that I did not sense Ugurnaszir’s trap. That won’t happen again.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Our enemies had Anunnaki helping them.”
“You saw them?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know for sure? Ugurnaszir is cunning. He might ha
ve found mortal means to accomplish his goal.”
“Nutesh told me.”
Tirigan half turned so he could glance behind him where the other gryphon was carrying Laliya and Bashaa clinging to his back.
“Nutesh is an Anunnaki.”
“What!” Tirigan’s magic rose within him. Only years of mastering himself allowed him to hold back the power.
“Easy, Tirigan,” Nutesh shouted over the wind. “I’m not your enemy. While I came to repay a debt to Ereshkigal, I no longer serve her in this.”
Tirigan’s one brow wedged itself nearly up to his hairline. “Explain yourself.”
“I am one of the nine judges. First and oldest of my kind. I do not take orders from Ereshkigal or any of the younger gods. But as I said, I owed a debt. That is the only reason I came. But once I came to know Asharru and her friends—even her Blade—I began to see you as friends and allies in the war against evil. My plans no longer align with Ereshkigal’s.”
While Nutesh had been explaining, he’d drifted closer to be heard over the whistling wind. Tirigan didn’t miss when Asharru issued a sudden, unfriendly hiss, warning the male to back off.
Nutesh corrected his flight path.
What was that about?
Tirigan reached for the link between them and touched her thoughts. A wash of emotions struck him, turbulent and combative as if she was still locked in a battle he’d been unaware of until now.
“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked loud enough to carry, not caring if the others heard.
“Ekurzakir dosed us with the fertility drug,” Nutesh answered while Asharru remained silent. “He wanted royal cubs sired by his son’s seed, cubs he could later raise to serve Ereshkigal.”
Tirigan’s gaze snapped toward the Anunnaki. If that male had forced himself upon Asharru, Tirigan would kill him, supposed ally or not.
Asharru made a strange growling purr and craned her neck to watch him. As their link flared again, he had the distinct impression Asharru knew of his response and liked his sudden bout of possessiveness.
“Nutesh and I escaped before the drug could take hold.” Her ears flicked forward, her earlier grumpiness dissipating. “With Ishtar’s help, I killed Ekurzakir’s daughter, Nuannin, for her treachery. That is the first justice of many for Kadashman. While I missed my chance to kill Ekurzakir with magic, if he survived the burning of the ship, I will have him hunted down and present his head to the rest of the nobles, so they see what happens to traitors. I won’t rest until he is dead.”
The Blade's Shadow (Ishtar's Legacy Book 4) Page 2
