Keep Ditanu close? Fine by me, Iltani thought. She had no plans to let her king out of her sight if he was about to go into battle. She flexed her fingers around the hilt of her new sword and came to her feet, lurching a bit before she found her balance. She doggedly made her way toward Ditanu.
She misjudged the distance and stumbled against the king. His arm circled her shoulders and held her snug against his side.
Kammani and the king faced off, falling into a heated debate. One Iltani couldn’t follow, too distracted by the warmth and power still pouring into her from the sword.
As her strength returned, so too did her awareness of her surroundings and those new senses Ishtar had gifted her with.
“Iltani is in no condition for a fight, not yet. I don’t care if she’s Ishtar’s Blade. She’ll get herself killed if she stays with me.”
That was most definitely Ditanu, sounding about as surly as she’d ever heard, too.
They didn’t have time for this. Iltani’s new senses thrilled a warning. “I can fight. We don’t have time to argue. The cubs are in danger.”
Iltani looked straight into Ditanu’s conflicted eyes.
“Let’s go save your cubs.”
Iltani didn’t wait for his response, instead following the magical guide implanted within her by a goddess.
Chapter 12
Iltani ran through many corridors, down flights of wide ornate stairs and out into a small courtyard filled with a crush of fighting bodies. One part of her consciousness wondered how so many of the enemy had managed to make it this far into the island, let alone this deep into the temple. Then she spotted four great grappling hooks anchored onto the north cliff wall.
As she watched, two more enemies heaved themselves up and over the wall, to drop down behind more of their kind.
They were outliers to judge by their motley dress. Pirates and mercenaries Ditanu had once called them. Never should such ones as these been able to make it this deep into gryphon territory. Even Uruk, island of the priestess, the farthest of the islands, should still have been safe under the massive dome which hid and protected the kingdom of New Sumer from the outside world.
Something had gone terribly wrong, for the impossible had happened, and the outside world was here. Iltani doubted this rabble was the worst the outside world had to throw at them.
As if in answer to her silent worries, a loud sound echoed over the water.
A part of the temple wall behind and to the left of her position blew apart. From her present position, she couldn’t see the boats, but there certainly were boats out in the harbor, for that was cannon fire. Given the distance, that last shot was probably range finding. More luck than accuracy. She couldn’t risk the king’s life on a hunch. “We need to move.”
Behind her, even over the noise and screams, she heard Ditanu snarl. She reached back unerringly and wrapped her fingers around his wrist. Her gifts warned her of something else. “Don’t shift. There are archers on the walls and roof. You’ll be too good a target.”
“My people are pinned down,” Ditanu growled. “We need to do something to even the odds, now.”
Ditanu was correct, but it wasn’t just his people pinned down. If they moved away from the sheltering bit of ledge, they were currently pressed against, they would be picked off within moments. Neither she nor Ditanu had armor—and while magic could protect the body from conventional weapons, they didn’t know if this enemy possessed magic-spelled armaments. Best not to find out with an arrow through the heart.
Mostly to herself, she muttered, “Next time we do the blooding ceremony, we do it in full armor.”
Ditanu peered around her shoulder to survey the massacre in the courtyard. “If we’re quick, we can scale the wall and be upon the archers within moments.” He gestured to Etum and three of the other Shadows with him to follow his lead.
Again, Iltani felt Ishtar’s presence within her, guiding her actions and body. A plan unfolded before her mind’s eye. “Ishtar has a faster way.”
With Ishtar’s intent still clear in her mind, Iltani held out her hand and pressed it to the wall. A bright flash of magic raced up her arm and vanished into the stone. Nothing happened for three beats of her heart.
Then there was a motion on top of the temple as the enemy archers toppled over the edge, dead or unconscious, she didn’t know, but they were certainly dead after they collided with the stone cobbles of the courtyard.
Ditanu arched an eyebrow at her as he rushed past. By the time Iltani matched his long-legged strides, he was already dispatching any enemies stupid enough to get between a gryphon and his cubs.
She kept pace with him, her sword’s tip clearing a path before her, slashing and gutting any enemy foolish enough to come too close to her king. The crystalline blade cut like any other sword, but she felt its power, the promise of destruction far beyond what a normal sword could deliver.
Five more opponents rushed down a flight of stairs, only now realizing the king was in their midst.
Iltani dispatched the first while on Ditanu’s other side, Etum felled his own opponent. Ditanu was busy with a third.
Iltani let him have the kill, but she was ready should Ditanu falter. He shoved the body off his sword while Iltani and the other Shadows made their way up to the next landing.
Here they met with more Shadows.
The newcomers swiftly surrounded their king.
Eluti joined his twin, Etum, at the king’s side. He acknowledged his brother and Iltani but made his report to the king. “Burrukan sent us to find you. He and the remaining Shadows are in the lower temple with your consort and the cubs. They are safe for now, but Burrukan wants you and your cubs off the island immediately. The lamassu have awoken and Burrukan ordered them to deal with the landing boats and the main ships.”
While a lamassu guarding the king’s side would have made Iltani feel more confident about his safety, even she agreed those great stone beasts were best where Burrukan had assigned them. A lamassu was best fighting out in the open. Close quarters were no place for them.
After all, one didn’t bring siege machines to a sword fight. The great stone behemoths were fierce fighters but could easily level the entire temple, trapping both friends and foes under half a mountain’s worth of stone while trying to defend the royal line.
“How many are we up against?” Ditanu shouted over the din of battle as they continued to fight their way closer to his cubs.
“More than should have ever made it this far,” Eluti growled. “Seven ships, riding low in the water. They’re armed to the teeth with both cannons and men. Twenty-four cannons on the biggest three.”
Ditanu cursed under his breath.
Seven ships. Not enough to seize and hold any of the city-states, but sufficient to bloody the rocks.
They could only have one purpose in mind: assassination.
Her heart and spirit throbbed along with the power beating in the glowing length of her sword.
One didn’t have to take control of the city-states to defeat the Gryphon Kingdom. One merely had to kill the royal line, wait for all its defensive magic to die and then conquer the disarrayed islands one at a time.
Ditanu’s grim expression reflected the same thoughts. He renewed his efforts to get to his cubs and Iltani and his Shadows kept pace.
As they descended to the lower levels of the temple city, they encountered more enemy troops and the vicious rounds of cannon fire. It ripped through delicate lattice walls, glass windows, and people with equal destructive abandon.
When they weren’t dodging pieces of the temple raining down from above or enemy soldiers popping up in their path, they were forced to wade through throngs of panicked nobles and servants.
As if cannon fire wasn’t bad enough, there were men with longbows among the enemy.
Ditanu snarled another curse. “Order the temple evacuated. It will make the task of picking off the enemy easier for both our soldiers and the lamassu.”
&
nbsp; “Burrukan is already seeing to that,” Etum replied. “He ordered me to secure you.”
“Secure? Really?” Ditanu said as he leaped over another fallen soldier. “What did Burrukan actually say?”
Etum chuckled, finding humor Iltani wasn’t feeling. “His exact words to me were ‘go find our king and drag his ass back here. The young fool has no business in the thick of the fighting.”
“Burrukan, diplomatic as always.” Ditanu gave a humorless laugh, his attention on the fighting. “I want our archers to pick off those human ones down on the beach.” He made a sweeping motion with one arm “We have injured down there. I want them taken to safety and evacuated with the rest of my citizens.”
“As soon as we deliver you safely to Burrukan, I will see to it myself.”
“Good.” Ditanu motioned the rest of his guards forward.
As promised, the way to Burrukan, the cubs, and Ahassunu was relatively clear. Still, Iltani didn’t allow Ditanu more than an arm’s length from her side.
They arrived at the main gate of the lower temple and guards opened the large doors and escorted the king’s company inside.
Burrukan was instantly at his king’s side, updating him on everything he knew. Which, Iltani frowned, wasn’t much. She didn’t know what else she expected. He had been on the island the whole time. As much as she doubted Burrukan, she knew in her heart he wasn’t the enemy, and her newly heightened senses still did not label him a threat.
Motion to her right had her glancing away from her king, and she spotted Kuwari as he came hurtling toward her. He skidded to a halt, sliding into the side of her boot, but it didn’t deter him from regaining his feet and latching onto her leg.
She reached down and gave him a reassuring rub between the ears, but turned her attention to what Burrukan was saying.
“We’ve mobilized against the enemy and are getting between them and our people. The south harbor is overrun with enemy ships, but many of the revelers have made it safely to the north side of the island. The lamassu have cleared that harbor. Many nobles and their families are taking to the air as we speak.” Burrukan stepped to one side to make room for Ahassunu to join them. “We’re ensuring that the young and most vulnerable are among the first into the air. Once they are safely out of the way, it will free up more of my men to clean out the city and capture or kill as many of the outliers as possible.”
“I want some taken alive,” Ahassunu said, fury edging her voice, making it deeper. “I want to know why my cubs were placed in danger and who is foolish enough to involve themselves in this action.”
Once again, Iltani found herself silently agreeing.
Kill most of the invaders, but keep a few alive to discover who they were working for and what possible reward would be worth their lives.
“We’ll take some alive,” Ditanu agreed, “but first I want anyone with wings to help those that do not. Get everyone off this island and meet back at Nineveh. Once my people are safe, and we know this is an isolated incident, we’ll return here and bleed our enemies.”
The enemy, by the sound of fighting outside, was getting closer. Iltani grabbed Ditanu by the shoulder and dragged him toward the back wall of the lower temple.
“No more talk.” An impending sense of doom was throbbing in Iltani’s veins. “We need to get you off this island now.”
“I can take care of myself,” Ditanu argued. His lips thinned and parted—more a baring of teeth than a smile. His gryphon bloodlust was rising. She could see it in his enlarged pupils. Now that he saw his cubs were safe, he was succumbing to the battle lust which was both a blessing and a curse to all gryphons.
He shoved his sword hilt at one of his shadows and began to strip out of this clothing. “Iltani, you will go ahead and see my cubs to safety. I and half of my Shadows will take up the rearguard.”
Magic flared around him as he shifted to gryphon form.
“Ditanu, no.” Iltani started toward him. “Ishtar said we must stay together. Go with your cubs.”
“The enemy is too close. I will not risk them overtaking us while you and my cubs are trapped in the tunnels.” Ditanu’s words held the slight hissing inflection all gryphons had. “Take my cubs and their mother to the beach. Get them into the air.”
Iltani wasn’t happy, but she was too pragmatic to stand and fight about it while their enemies closed in on them.
Scooping up Kuwari, Iltani ordered Etum to grab a cub while Consort Ahassunu drew her sword with one hand and picked up the last cub with the other.
Iltani paused and looked over her shoulder to where King Ditanu and two dozen of his Shadows flanked him. Several were in gryphon form now. All others had swords and bows at the ready.
“Go,” he ordered as he shifted in an intense flash of light.
Frowning unhappily, her crystalline sword held before her, she darted through the north doors where Priestess Kammani and several of her apprentices had already uncovered a dark tunnel. Iltani raced forward, now guided by the goddess. As the torch-bearing priests led the way, the Shadows accompanying Iltani followed close on her heels.
Leaving her king felt wrong, but she had the wherewithal to know the fastest way to get him to follow was to carry his cubs from him. Instinct would keep him close, even overriding the seductive call of battle lust.
She raced through the tunnels, following the priests, all the time wanting to shout for them to hurry. Sounds of battle came clear to her even here.
After one violent boom echoed down the corridor and rained dust down upon them all, Iltani decided the tunnels had just been breached somewhere.
“If they continue to use the black powder, they’ll bring down the temple around our ears,” Kammani said.
Iltani cast a worried glance at the stone ceiling above and hoped the fools didn’t collapse the temple upon them until after her king was out of danger.
The stone underfoot gradually became less steep, and ahead she spotted the metal brackets of two great reinforced double doors reflecting the torchlight.
They’d reached sea level. Both Iltani’s sense of smell and Ishtar’s new gifts confirmed as much. Ahead, two of the Shadows were lifting a heavy cross beam out of its holders while a priest unlocked the door.
The first of the shadows to emerge onto the beach were met with shouts of relief from the nobles already there. Shadows that had been ordered to help with the evacuation raced up to Iltani and the others.
Iltani ushered the rest out onto the beach and was just starting toward shore when another great boom echoed out across the ocean. Overhead, a piece of the upper temple shattered. Large chunks of stone began their destructive journey down the side of the cliff, the devastating force doubling as other boulders and debris joined the slide.
“Move,” Iltani shouted as she tightened her hold on Kuwari and sprinted toward the ocean surf to get away from the avalanche of stone.
Those without wings followed her lead while those in gryphon form took to the air, grabbing their wingless neighbors and dragging them into the air with them.
With a small part of her mind not focused on tracking her king’s progress, or running for her life, she noticed the sky was black with wings.
Ditanu and his men were now on the wing as well, which, she decided, was presently the safest place to be with the temple tumbling down from above.
Another explosion rocked the temple loosening more chunks of masonry. Just how much of that damnable black powder had the outcasts managed to bring with them? In her arms, Kuwari whimpered.
Then another echo rumbled across the ocean. This time, the sound came from behind her, not from within the temple.
A ship rounded the island’s north cliff wall, sailing toward Iltani’s position.
She shouted warnings to the others on the beach. Eluti must have heard her for he sprinted up to her.
“Why are you not with the king?”
“He sent me to get you and Kuwari.”
Seeing Eluti’s arrival
as the blessing it was, she shoved Kuwari into his arms. “Take him, get him to his mother. I can’t fight like I need to and keep him safe at the same time.”
“Ditanu gave me orders,” Eluti said as he fought to hold the struggling cub in his arms. “You need to come too.”
“I don’t have time to argue. Go.”
As her magic stirred, burning along her body, setting all her nerves to tingling, a lamassu winged its way over the ravaged temple’s wall and flew straight for the new threat. Somehow she, or more likely Ishtar, had summoned the great stone beast.
Iltani, her magic now a maelstrom flowing around her body, drove her sword into the ground between her feet.
“Get going,” she shouted to Eluti.
With a curse, he ran with the cub tucked safely in his arms.
Iltani turned her attention back to the ship.
A heartbeat later, both she and the lamassu knew they were too late to stop the ship from firing its next round of deadly cannon fire.
Much closer now, the ship’s weapons were that much more destructive. A volley of cannon balls ripped through more of the temple’s delicate stonework, reducing it to rubble while those still on the beach could only watch in horror.
Out of the corner of her eye, Iltani spotted the consort just as she took wing with one cub grasped in her front paws. Iltani sent a wave of force rushing toward the space between Ahassunu and more of the incoming projectiles. The mortal weapons struck Iltani’s barrier and fell harmlessly into the ocean surf.
In the time it had taken Iltani to toss up the protection between the consort and the invaders, the massive lamassu had reached the ship. It had clasped its arms around the tallest mast. Its weight and momentum threatened to capsize the ship, exposing a large section of its wooden belly.
Iltani eyed the target a moment and then launched her magic, shaping it into a spear filled with all her rage. The spear flew true and impacted the ship, gorging deep into the wooden hull.
Queen of the Gryphons: Ishtar's Legacy: Books 1 & 2 Page 12
