Fury's Goddess

by Alex Archer

  “Run faster, Annja Creed,” Kormi said. “Our path will be cut off otherwise.”

  And then he skidded to a sudden halt. Annja nearly bumped into him. But she righted herself and saw that the way ahead had several shadows in it.

  More men.

  Behind them, pursuers drew to a halt and advanced warily.

  They were surrounded.

  Kormi moved his rumal in vague circles as both teams of pursuers approached. Their shouts at Kormi seemed to echo off the walls.

  Some of the men drew daggers.

  Enough of this, thought Annja. She reached for the sword. Its gray, gleaming light filled the tunnel, and even Kormi blinked in surprise.

  “Where in the world did you get that weapon?”

  “A friend of mine loaned it to me,” she said. “And it’s quite an amazing blade.”

  Annja ducked and whipped the sword around, sending the dagger that had been thrown at her skittering off with a sharp clang. The knife disappeared into the shadows.

  More men approached. Annja was startled. There seemed to be a lot more of them than she remembered seeing yesterday. Or was it earlier today?

  “How many men are in this place?”

  “Perhaps one hundred of us. Why?”

  “I thought there were a dozen.”

  Kormi barked a quick laugh. “Not even close. That was the circle of twelve you saw—the higher-ranked Thuggee members. But Dunraj has many foot soldiers.”

  “And how many friends do you have among his ranks?”

  “Not enough,” he said.

  “There’s an understatement.” A new voice in the tunnel.

  Annja recognized it immediately. “I was wondering if you would show up here.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Dunraj came from behind them, passing through ranks of his men that parted for him. “You don’t think I would let my prized possession escape so easily, do you?”

  “I was hoping.”

  Dunraj smiled. “Ah, hope…such a vain enterprise.” He looked at Kormi. “I must admit I’m surprised to find you here. You shame your ancestors with your betrayal.”

  “You shame Kali by committing the atrocities you do,” Kormi replied.

  “You would unseat me, Kormi? You would see me deposed? Then be the man you claim to be and engage me in combat. If you win, I will die happily.”

  Kormi was a big man, and Annja knew he was a capable fighter, but was he good enough to topple Dunraj?

  He leaned closer to her. “You must get out of here. Do as I said and proceed down the game trail. If you are pursued, there will be many places to defend yourself, places where two men cannot stand abreast. Make your stand there and then get help. It will be the only thing that can save your friend.”

  “What about you?”

  Kormi coiled his rumal and smiled. “It is time I account for my sins. But before I do, I will try my best to kill him.”

  “Can you?”

  Kormi smiled. “One never knows until one tries.” He looked at Dunraj. “I accept your challenge.”

  “Here and now,” Dunraj said.

  Kormi whispered to Annja, “When I say the word, you will cut down the men standing before your exit while I move to engage Dunraj. The combined action should give us both time to make our moves.”

  “Good luck to you, Kormi.”

  “Luck is not a part of my destiny, but it may be yours.”

  “Then I thank you for your kindness and wish you the very best.”

  Kormi looked at her with an almost wistful expression. “I would like to know that I could have called you a friend, Annja Creed.”

  Annja nodded. “I would be honored.”

  “So be it.” Kormi tightened his jaw and murmured, “Are you ready?”

  Annja’s sword gleamed. Her heart pounded but the adrenaline felt as if she was welcoming back a long-lost friend. “I’m ready.”

  “Now!”

  He threw himself past Annja and unleashed his rumal directly at Dunraj’s head. But Annja was already running up the slope toward the men standing between her and the exit.

  They started to mount their attack. Annja cut horizontally through the first man and then cleaved upward through the shoulder of the next. She doubled back with the sword and spun, hacking through the third.

  Blood sprayed the interior of the tunnel, and Annja kept running.

  At last she broke out of the mountain, stumbling into the evening light, and then checked behind her. No one.

  At least not yet.

  Annja ran down the game trail, leaving Kormi, Frank and the mountain in her wake.

  Chapter 21

  Annja ran along the twisting trail, sending loose rock and dirt over the edge that loomed on her right side. She was corkscrewing around the mountain on the narrow path.

  She paused and bent double to suck some wind into her lungs, and something whizzed over her head, rebounding off a rock close by.

  Annja brought her sword up in the next instant, deflecting another shot of lead that had been aimed right at her.

  Several of Dunraj’s men stalked her from farther up the mountain. Each of them swirled their rumals like slingshots, unleashing a volley of lead shot.

  There was no place to run. The next dip in the trail would give her pursuers the tactical advantage of higher ground. And there was no way Annja was going to give that to them.

  Not unless she had no more pursuers.

  Time to make a stand.

  Annja spun and deflected two more volleys of the shot, each one clanging off her blade and skittering harmlessly away. She frowned. At least they’re not grenades.

  One of Dunraj’s men came down the game trail. Judging by the look on his face, he was older and the more experienced. But Annja didn’t have time to waste on pleasantries, because he was already whipping his rumal at her head, the weighted end unfurling, as lethal as the bite of a cobra.

  Annja waited until it was almost unraveled and then ducked and slashed through the cloth.

  Her sword didn’t cut it.

  Annja frowned. That was a first. But then she wondered if the material of their rumal was the same as what she’d been tied with.

  Another end slammed into her side and almost made her drop the sword. The weight behind these shots was devastating. If Annja hung around and took more than a few, she’d be in trouble.

  She rushed back up the slope as Dunraj’s man was trying to recoil his weapon. He started shouting for backup from the other two, and they responded in kind, sending shots at Annja, but she only ducked them as they flew over her head.

  And then she was on the closer man.

  The fury in his eyes told Annja there was no way he’d ever go quietly. He smiled and seemed to wave her on.

  Annja felt the power coursing through her veins, her heart pounding in her chest. She’d been feeling so inactive for so long that the thrill of getting back into combat actually felt…good.

  Try explaining that to your regular dime-store shrink.

  Dunraj’s man circled Annja on the tiny game trail. Annja waited until he’d stepped outside of his comfort zone and then drove straight at his heart. As she suspected, he tried to avoid the thrust by backpedaling.

  And that cost him.

  The game trail ran out of space, and for a moment, the man hovered in the air before dropping off the side of the mountain. His screech stretched out for several seconds until it ended in sudden silence.

  Annja had no time to waste looking over the mountain. Two more of Dunraj’s men were coming down the trail faster. And they probably wouldn’t fall for the same trick she’d just used.

  As the first man came at her, he discarded his rumal and brought out a dagger that must have been a foot long. It reminded Annja of the kukri knives she’d seen in Nepal.

  And as he cut in, it was obvious he knew how to use the blade. He feinted with a downward slash and then abandoned it midstroke, going instead for a straight stab aimed at Annja’s heart.


  She pivoted as much as she could and almost found herself without any ground under her feet. She cut upward with her sword. It rang as it collided with the knife blade, and both of them bounced away from each other.

  Annja was breathing hard and enjoying the strain of exertion. The man wore a smile over a face that looked as if someone had used it to sharpen their knives on. Several vertical scars ran the length of his mug, from his eyebrows down to his neck.

  Whoever this guy is, thought Annja, he knows how to fight.

  He attacked again, this time opting for a quick series of slashes aimed at Annja’s head. Annja brought the sword up, and the man tried to close the distance with her to render the sword’s advantage of length obsolete.

  But Annja shoved him away. As she did, however, she felt the knife blade cut into the back of her forearm and draw blood.

  The wound was superficial, and far better to take it on the outside of her forearm than the inner part with its arteries.

  But Annja had had enough. She drove the man back with a series of downward cuts that forced him to retreat to ward them off. Annja got him into a rhythm and then abruptly brought the sword back up and impaled him with a simple thrust to his stomach.

  Her blade slid in far too easily, and the expression on the man’s face was one of shock.

  Annja jerked the blade out and let the corpse fall to the ground.

  Her last opponent took a look at the dead man and frowned. He’d already seen two of his comrades killed.

  “Don’t do it,” she said quietly.

  But he did. He came flying over the corpse in a frenzied attack that forced Annja to back up three steps to absorb the weight of his attack.

  And then she dropped and cut horizontally.

  Cutting the man nearly in two.

  He dropped, and Annja didn’t wait any longer. She turned and kept moving down the game trail.

  The trail seemed to widen in places and then narrow again as she came around a bend. But she kept her head low, on the lookout for any more of Dunraj’s men.

  The sun was dipping lower in the western sky, staining the horizon with red. She was still far too high on the mountain. To get down, find her way back to the development, call Pradesh and get the cavalry out here, she’d need a lot more time than she had. She couldn’t just run down the mountain or she’d risk death.

  And with Frank scheduled to be sacrificed tomorrow, she wasn’t sure she could make it in time.

  Around the next bend, Annja took a moment to get her breath. The sword had grown heavy, and she put it back in its resting place.

  The trail ahead wandered between two higher elevations, making it look like a hidden valley. Annja got herself together and wandered into it.

  And instantly, a volley of lead shot rained down on her.

  Far above, she spotted more of Dunraj’s men. But they were at least two hundred feet above her. There was no way she could do anything except ward off the shower of lead that was pelting her.

  Annja ran through the valley and then stumbled. It felt as though her foot had caught on something and she’d twisted her ankle. She bit down to keep from crying out in pain, but the stumble didn’t go unnoticed by Dunraj’s men, who cheered from above.

  The pelting stopped.

  Annja grabbed at her leg. They’ll be coming for me now, she thought. Now that they’ve softened me up with the lead shot, they’ll take advantage of the fact that I fell to come and cut me to ribbons.

  Or bring me back to Dunraj.

  She tried to put weight on her ankle, but grimaced. It wasn’t going to work.

  Annja tried to estimate how long it would take Dunraj’s men to get to her. Maybe a minute? Maybe longer?

  She couldn’t stay here and wait for them.

  Annja edged her way toward a giant boulder she saw off to one side of the valley. The going was tough but she was thankful the valley floor was hard shale. At least she wasn’t leaving signs of which way she’d gone.

  If she could just get behind the giant rock, she might be in a position to fend them off or at least keep them bottled up.

  She pulled herself behind the giant rock. It was darker in here, and for a moment, Annja couldn’t see a thing. The sun had already dropped beyond this valley and cast no more light up here.

  That would help.

  She froze in the next instant as she heard the delicate and tentative approach of footfalls on the valley floor outside.

  Annja held her breath.

  Would they think she was still there? Or would they race ahead to see if she’d been able to hobble farther down the trail.

  Annja clutched her knees together and waited in the recessed shadows of the boulder.

  She could hear them speaking now. Whispering in harsh voices that told Annja there were no guarantees they’d bring her back to Dunraj alive. She’d pissed them off enough to make them want to kill her.

  She pressed herself deeper into the rock, willing the ancient stone to accept her into its folds.

  And then she saw the black cloth-swaddled foot appear just outside the rock. These guys were so quiet, it really annoyed her.

  A face appeared next, trying to penetrate the thick darkness.

  Annja stabbed him right through his head with the sword, and he sank without a sound.

  So much for me hiding and them going away, Annja thought frustratedly. She steeled herself for another attack.

  But after several minutes, no one else came to check on him.

  Annja could hear them moving around outside of the boulder, but there was no plan to their search. They were swarming over anything they thought might be hiding Annja.

  And she realized that the corpse in front of her might look as if he was simply checking under the rock.

  She might have a few minutes.

  At least until they decided to move on and one of them wondered why the dead man hadn’t moved in several minutes.

  And then the corpse was jerked out suddenly. And this time Annja knew her hiding spot was compromised.

  But where could she go?

  It was impossible to back up right then. The boulder pressed itself into her spine and enveloped her on three sides.

  All she could do was keep her back to it and hope they could only attack one at a time.

  She saw another face and stabbed at it, but missed. A wicked smile flashed in the darkness, and she felt the bite of a dagger blade on her foot. Annja kicked out and then followed up with another stab.

  She pressed farther back into the rock.

  Was this her last stand?

  Annja could hear them shouting now, probably calling to one another that they’d found her hiding place.

  They would come at her in force.

  Overwhelm her.

  And kill her.

  Annja pressed farther back. Damned foot, she thought. If I hadn’t tripped I could take them all on.

  But no, I had to trip.

  She was so frustrated, she shoved her back into the rock.

  And was surprised—shocked—when a second later she was tumbling backward through the air into more darkness.

  Chapter 22

  Annja hit the ground, and the wind jumped out of her lungs. She continued tumbling down a steep slope until at last she came to rest at the bottom.

  In pitch-darkness.

  Annja got to her feet slowly, unsure of herself at first. But the pain in her ankle had subsided, and she suspected it hadn’t actually been sprained at all, just more of a strain. Her head felt a little bruised but not nearly as bad as it had been the last time she rolled down a steep embankment. This time she was conscious and able to tuck her chin into her chest to protect the back of her skull.

  Thank goodness, she thought.

  But where was she?

  She looked around her but could see very little in the darkness. Annja materialized the sword, and instantly, she got some illumination. But the sword’s grayish glow only expanded so far. And all Annja could see around he
r was the inside of the mountain.

  Had she somehow gotten herself back into the mountain by another route? But if so, then how come Kormi hadn’t told her about it?

  Maybe he didn’t know, she thought.

  He did say something about Dunraj possibly having an entire network of tunnels that no one else knew about. But why would he need those? How come he couldn’t travel like the rest of his men?

  Was he up to something other than ritual murder for his beloved Kali?

  She wandered gingerly back to the slope and looked up. She’d fallen almost thirty feet down the steep incline. Had it not been for that sloped path, she would have simply dropped and died when she hit the ground.

  How long would it be before the rest of Dunraj’s men found their way into the secret passageway? She couldn’t count on them not finding it. And that meant she’d have to find her way out of here.

  She certainly couldn’t go back the way she’d just come, not unless she wanted to have to battle the fifty or so men who were probably crawling all over that rock.

  No thanks.

  Annja held the sword aloft. Its light showed that she was in a smaller cavern than many of the others she’d been in throughout the fortress. Annja hobbled from end to end and then finally saw the passageway that led out of the cavern.

  Annja was confused. The entire place was hard to find and harder still to orient herself to. Where was she going? Where did this passage lead?

  Nothing to do but get busy doing it, she decided. She moved into the next passage, and the air grew darker around her still. But the sword managed to shed some light.

  She’d moved into a tight tunnel that she could barely stand in. The point of her sword brushed the ceiling several times, giving off a scraping sound that seemed to echo back into the other chamber.

  She’d have to remember to keep the noise to a minimum. Once Dunraj’s men found their way into the cavern, they’d swarm all over, looking for her.

  And they wouldn’t rest until Annja was dead.

  Annja worried that she might have wandered into a dead end. But as the passage closed in, she spotted another opening down at the bottom and then had to crawl through it.

  The good thing, she decided, was that anyone pursuing her was going to have to get past a number of hurdles and obstacles before they were able to confront her. And at any moment, they might get tired of chasing and simply give up.